Your senior year of college can be incredibly bittersweet–and overwhelming. One of the things that becomes more and more stressful is the idea of what comes after you graduate. For those who don’t go on to pursue a higher degree, a career is usually the way to go. This can be incredibly stressful, especially if you don’t know what resources are at your disposal. For that reason, we’ve compiled seven college career hunting resources to help you out.
Career Center
Almost every university has a career center with a career counselor at your disposal. This should be your first step when searching out college career hunting resources. Your college career center was created for this very purpose: their goal is to prepare you to find a career after graduation and take the right steps to get there. It’s best if you start going to the career center your first year. They have all sorts of career tests and resources, many of which can help you figure out what you want to do. Additionally, they have people to advise you, connect you with others in the field, and walk you through job hunting tips. This is often the department that runs career fairs, so they will have everything you need in one place (as well as contacts!).
Essentially, you want to at least visit the career center’s website to see what they offer. They will likely be your best bet at navigating the “hidden job market,” aka the jobs that aren’t always posted on job boards. Most of the time, their services are offered to you at no cost, so take advantage of it!
Academic Advisor + Major-Related Resources
I’ve written before about how academic advisors are critical to your success, and I will repeat it again. Your major advisor is a critical part of your academic journey. Generally, they are the person who posts major-related career and internship opportunities, and they have been in the field for a while. This means that they have contacts and have seen what other students are doing. Whether this simply gives you career inspiration or explicitly gives you career contacts, it is very useful.
You can ask the advisor your questions, see what kind of opportunities others are taking, or figure out where many people get hired. By talking to this person and viewing the resources your major homeroom posts, you’ll find information most relevant to you and your experiences. You can also figure out what to do to boost your resume before you graduate.
Indeed/Monster/Handshake
When you search for a job, you generally have to go to the typical places. Indeed and Monster are great places to see what options are out there. Their entire purpose is to give you a place to search for and apply to jobs. This generally works well, and it’s a necessary part of the process. However, the reason that these websites aren’t my favorite college career hunting resources is because they’re extremely impersonal. You don’t get face to face contact with the recruiter, and there’s no way to make yourself stand out. Additionally, you’re applying to the same jobs as the vast public, so there will be hundreds (or more) applications, many of which are subjected to ATS.
ATS, or Applicant Tracking System, essentially screens your resume for keywords. If you don’t have these keywords, you’re usually immediately out of consideration. This can make it more difficult to find a job, despite the work you’re putting in.
Handshake is a little bit different, since it helps you to connect more with alumni from your university, is connected to hiring fair events (see below). Personally, I didn’t use it too often, but I liked the idea that it was created for college students. It makes it easier to network, and it also does a good job of matching you with potential internships and jobs based on your profile. If your school offers this service, it’s a good thing to create. Even if you only use it passively, recruiters can see your profile and you can see the events your school’s career center is putting on. This could help in the end.
LinkedIn is a great platform to get started with. I would recommend starting your profile as soon as you can in your college career. Add to it as you get more work and internship experience, education, certificates, and qualifications. This is great to have as both a passive and an active tool. Passively, you can scroll through, add updates occasionally, and make suggested connections. Actively, you can use it to network, ask for informational interviews, research people within your field, comment, read articles, and apply to jobs.
For me, LinkedIn was great to use as a networking tool and a way to see what was out there. For example, when I was applying for jobs in teaching, I found teachers who worked at schools I wanted to work at. I then saw their backgrounds, connected with them, and held informational interviews. This was extremely useful, and I recommend it to anyone during their college career search!
Mentorship Programs
Some universities offer mentorship programs. My university, SDSU, had this opportunity through our Career Center, and it was also a critical part of the Leadership Certificate. The Aztec Mentor Program was helpful for me because it matched me with a professional who I met with for a semester. He gave me job search advice, resume tips, interview practice, contacts, and much more. I got very lucky because my mentor was someone who actually did hiring within his company and was an executive. He had a different perspective, and it helped me to refine my career search. Although he was in a different field from mine, he was able to introduce me to contacts within my field, which was very helpful in the end.
I would recommend these programs during your senior year. If you’re like me, you’ll find someone who has a wealth of knowledge. If you find someone in your field, they might have connections that they can directly make for you, and they might have more narrow insight. Either way, this is a helpful tool that adds someone else to your team as you work toward what comes next.
Informational Interviews
In this article, I wrote about the importance of informational interviews and how to carry them out. This is one of my favorite career hunting resources, and you can start doing it early on in your career. An informational interview is essentially a meeting with someone in your field where you ask them questions about their job. It’s a great way to find out more about a specific role, how to be marketable within the field, what working at a specific company is like, or what your options might be. It isn’t an invitation to ask for a job from the person.
I’ve included it in this list of college career hunting resources because it is a fantastic way to learn and network. Usually, the person you’re interviewing will want to help you. They might mention that you can use their name as a reference. If they’re very friendly, they might suggest people or companies to contact or advise you on your career search. While this is indirect, it helps because it gives you the knowledge of someone who’s been there and done that.
Career Fairs
Most universities have career fairs. Some hiring websites also have career fairs. This is where it helps to stay updated on your major’s home page and the other news sent by your university or college. Usually, there are career fairs once a semester, and specific colleges usually host their own career fairs. This is helpful for many reasons.
First, you are only competing against other college students. On platforms like Indeed and Monster, this is not the case. Second, you get face time with recruiters! You’re able to physically hand them your resume and give them a reason to remember you. This is incredibly useful when trying to get hired, as you can make yourself stand out from other candidates. Third, some career fairs offer you on-the-spot interviews. This is incredibly useful, as it means that you get to skip the resume scanning stage and put yourself into consideration much faster.
Additionally, you have the home field advantage in a sense. These career fairs take place on campus, in an environment that you are familiar with and comfortable in. That’s much different from showing up at a random office where you’re out of your element. You get to see familiar faces and you feel the comradery of the misery of job searching. Best case, you get a job out of a career fair. Worst case, you find out what’s out there, make a few connections, and get some practice in interviewing. For that reason, I’d say it’s one of the more useful college career hunting resources.
A Final Word
The search for a job is almost always stressful, even when you have options. When graduating from college, it’s even more stressful; however, you likely have more resources available to you than you think. Did these college career hunting resources help you? Let me know what you use to find jobs in the comments!
