For years, I’ve encouraged students to visit the career center of their college or university as soon as they arrive on campus. There are several reasons why, but for other college graduates “of a certain age,” I’d add that this “is not your father’s career center.”
Career Center Defined
College career centers provides an array of services to help students and alums craft and navigate their toward and through their careers. This includes guided career exploration, choice of major, and job search strategies. A good career center should also help students connect their major—whatever it is—to the world of work. The specific services offered can vary from one institution to another, but generally, a college career center offers the following:
Help in Clarifying Career Choice or Major
Many students enter college with a major in mind, but they may change it. Others start college without a clue about their career or their choice of major. I’ve often believed that the choice of career or general career direction should come before the choice of major. But in any case, students may need help in deciding on a major or how that major can apply to their career. Career centers are the perfect place for this exploration.
Whether the career center uses career inventories, one on one counseling, or a combination of techniques, students often find the professional staff’s advice helpful.
Interview and Resume Preparation
Career center staff provide guidance on creating effective resumes and cover letters tailored to specific industries, helping your student stand out to potential employers. Beyond the resumes, career centers also help by offering mock interview services so students can get a dry run prior to important interviews.
Internship Opportunities
Securing a first position after college isn’t easy. But students who take full advantage of their college’s career center can get a leg up by participating in internships opportunities in their field of choice. These are often brokered by their college’s career center. Internships provide students with a structured introduction into a career field, and within a specific firm. Many career centers boast about the high number of students who secure their first jobs after college at the firms where they interned.
Career centers also sponsor job shadowing programs and other shorter-term career immersions, helping students learn more about potential careers.
Job Search Strategies
Students receive support in developing effective job search strategies in the career center, including guidance on resume writing, cover letter crafting, and interview preparation. These skills are essential for a successful transition from academia to the workforce. And it isn’t just job postings or on-campus interviews, either. Career center staff clue students into other strategies and tools, such as job boards, popular online job search engines, and using LinkedIn’s alumni tool to find alumni of their university who may be willing to connect them to positions at their companies. Career centers also sponsor networking events where students practice the techniques to connect successfully with potential employers.
One platform that many universities use with their students is Handshake. Once students build a profile on Handshake, they can apply for vetted positions in their field of choice with employers across the country. This product is available to students at universities which contract with Handshake, currently over 1,400. If your student’s school is a Handshake partner, encourage them to check it out!
Career Fairs
One opportunity your student’s career center is likely to sponsor is a career fair. During a career fair, scores of employers visit the campus to show what they’re looking for, and post the job opportunities they have available. Some of these roles may be for student shadowing or internships, as well as full-time employment. Students attending career fairs can practice how to approach potential employers, as frightening as that may sound to them. But a side benefit of career fairs while they’re early in their college career is they get the practice they’ll need when they’re looking for full-time employment after graduation.
Why Visit the Career Center as a First Year Student
As I stated, students should visit their college’s career center during their first year. For one thing, when your student connects themselves with important campus resources—the career center being one of many—they become a known quantity. And at schools with many thousands of students, when your student makes themselves known to an office, they’re someone staff and faculty will watch and watch out for. Students visiting the career center can also learn how the previous year’s seniors found jobs, or be encouraged to attend events and programs in the center. Getting this headstart gives your student an incredible advantage in preparing for and finding the job and career they want.
And if there’s one thing career center staff have told me repeatedly, it’s that they wish students had come to visit them sooner. Your student should be one of the ones who does.