All students are in some stage of academic and career planning; which also means they are in various phases of exploration and decision making. Some are just beginning to think about the career and life decisions they will need to make, while others are taking action to implement the decisions to which they have made a commitment. How students go through these developmental phases during their college years is unique to the individual. This article, and the two that will follow, outline a career advising framework that entails three aspects of the career-advising process. The 3-I Process integrates the career component into academic advising. INQUIRE, INFORM, and INTEGRATE are natural phases in the academic and career decision making process. Regardless of the type of student or the type of career concern that needs to be addressed, communicating with students is at the heart of advising. It has been said that 90 percent of a working day is spent in some form of communication, such as listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Advisors may be the most informed people on campus in certain areas, but if they cannot communicate effectively, their knowledge will not be useful. Good communicators are able to: (1) Concentrate on what the student is saying; (2) Screen out distractions; (3) Focus on nonverbal messages; (4) Listen for the key points the student is trying to make; and (5) Reflect back to the main ideas that are presented. This article also provides examples of questions advisors might ask in the areas of self-knowledge, occupational information and decision making, to assist students who may be struggling with career plans.