This session shows the process of developing undergraduate students professional identity in the preparation for their intership. This process is part of a 10 year class evolution, complemented by a theorical basis, now part of a 4 year doctoral research. Work stability is broken, so is the opportunity to form a professional identity. The implications are seen in the decision-making aptitudes young adults have. At the end, we have an array of young adults jumping from one experience to another, with no real connection between them, a direct consecuence of a lack of professional identity. If a student has a defined professional identity, it can understand where he can create a value proposition through time. This person can understand the value of hard work, specialization and learning, generating a sense of mastery in the activities he does. This presentation will not only display our process, based in Self-knowledge, Self-efficacy and market exploration, it will show the importance of the professional identity in the students decision-making. At the end, this is a learning process. Our goal is not to help them “find their selves”. Is more to teach them a process where they can redefine their professional identity whenever life needs them to.
