Colleges have tons of resources that students barely take advantage of simply because they don’t know they even exist! One that some students overlook is the career services center of their school. These centers actually offer amazing benefits and resources including networking, career exploration, and job search preparation, among others.
What are College Career Services?
College career services are departments within schools that help prepare students for life beyond college. They deliver a number of different solutions to students including career tests, mock interviews, resume writing assistance, and more. These departments may also be able to match students with jobs and internships in the community.
Benefits of Using Career Services in College
1. It Aids with Career Exploration
Have you decided on a major, but aren’t sure what career would be best for you? Or maybe you’re not even sure what to study or what to do after graduation? Or perhaps you know your career goals, but aren’t clear on what major would best suit your needs?
Career services can help you explore majors, find careers, and understand the education required to enter those jobs. The department can work with you to go through your options as well as your goals, discuss expected salary, job projections, and more. Some even offer “career tests” which can give you some insight into your skills and strengths and direct you on the jobs that fit you best.
2. It Provides Networking Opportunities
The professionals at career services can help students create connections that assist both with their college experience and with entering the workforce. They can also provide recommendations in specific fields on who to contact, good companies to work for, and create long lasting contacts within the school itself.
The importance of networking can’t be understated, and a college career services department can help you make sure you’re taking advantage of this vast and invaluable network while you’re still in school. Some career services may even be able to help you connect with local organizations within your community or at a national scale. These connections might lead the way to internships, shadowing opportunities, or even full fledged jobs.
3. They Aid with the Job Search
One of the best benefits of career services is the job search preparation and assistance they offer. The experts help students understand what to look for in a job, but also how to work on their skills so they better fit what the employer is looking for in an employee. In addition, career services can aid students with identifying the best tools for their job search. They are able to assist with LinkedIn profile creation, job searching techniques, and more.
4. They Can Assist with Resumes and Cover Letters
Writing a resume is not as easy as people think! It’s a lot more than simply writing your job skills down, your words per minute, and your past experience. You need to know how to use the job descriptions provided to your advantage, while also formatting your resume so it’s not blocked by the artificial intelligence many employers use these days. Just using the incorrect terms can result in you not receiving a call back!
Cover letters also need to be carefully crafted to highlight why the student wants to work with the employer. With job seekers having to send off more resumes and cover letters than ever before in order to land a job, these skills are invaluable.
5. Practice with Mock Interviews
Interviews can be scary for some people, especially if you’re new to it. But practice makes perfect, and that’s the case with job interviews, too. Career services can hold mock interviews with students to help them get used to answering the most common questions in their future career field. The staff in career services are able to gently direct students on how to best answer these questions, and correct them if a question is answered poorly. The more practice the student has, the more comfortable they are going to be during the real deal.
In addition, they can assist with tips on formal wear, posture, and overall body language.
6. There’s No Extra Cost
Career services at your college are included in your tuition cost, so use them! Many of the resources they supply can cost hundreds of dollars if not more from other sources. For example, professional resume writing starts at $100. Networking groups may charge membership fees. Other services can cost a pretty penny, too.
College isn’t all about the classes on your schedule. Community colleges, four-year schools, and universities all offer the benefits of using career services and similar resources to their students. Even if you think you have your career figured out, they do more than offer career tests. You can learn some invaluable skills all for free before you even leave college! These skills can prove to be beneficial for decades to come, too.
Are you unsure about job outlooks, salary averages, or even what major or career to pursue? College Raptor has a Career Finder tool. This allows you to see expected salary and field growth, required education, and other facts about the job and related industry. We also offer a college Major search tool that can break down what the major is all about, what type of degree it relates to, and the top majors for that field.
