HThe Center for Career Exploration and Success is here to help you throughout your four years at Miami — whether it be with resume help, meeting with a career advisor, or prepping for Career Fair — there’s something for everyone at every year.
We also recognize that career paths can be non-linear, meaning everyone is at a different stage, and that’s great! Please know this is just a general guide and is not meant to be reflective of every student’s experience. This advice is helpful whether you fall under the “traditional” experiences of students your year or not.
First Year Students:
This is the time to take care of all of the basics. Even if you aren’t sure what you want your career path to look like yet, it’s important to be proactive so you’re prepared for any opportunities that come your way.
- Create a resume: Starting with your resume is most important! After your second year, anything you did in high school will fall off your resume, meaning you need to figure out how to leverage what you’ve done/are doing now to start building a good resume. Not sure how to go about this? Stop by our drop-in hours with Peer Career Coaches to have your resume reviewed and get help creating one!
- Create a Handshake account and pick your career clusters: Go to Handshake, login with your Miami credentials, and follow the steps. You’ll want to upload your resume and fill in your interests. Handshake lets you look for internships and jobs, see upcoming career center events, receive messages from employers, and more. Career clusters are groupings of common occupations that fall within broad career sectors. Career clusters allow you to create your own personalized career plan. When you select them in Handshake, you receive targeted emails about events, jobs and internship opportunities in your areas of interest.
- Schedule an appointment with your Career Advisor: Everyone has a career advisor based off of their major and you can schedule appointments with yours right in Handshake! Career Advisors are full-time staff here to help you navigate your career journey in any way they can.
- Put your resume in VMock: VMock is a resume reviewer tool that is all online. You can input the current resume you have and it will essentially “grade” your resume based off of the words you use, formatting and design.
- Utilize the First-Year Friendly Table at Career Fair: Career Fair can be intimidating to anyone regardless of what year they are. CCES recommends that you attend Career Fair as soon as you can in order to get more comfortable with the process and environment. To help you out, we’ve implemented a first-year friendly table that gives you a “behind the scenes” look at how career fair works – you don’t even have to be a first-year student, just a first-year attendee!
Second Year Students:
By this time you probably have a little bit better of an idea of what you’re looking for. We recommend having your career clusters confirmed by the beginning of your second year at the latest. This is also the time to start thinking about internships, job shadows, interviewing, etc.
- Complete a Basic Interviewing Workshop: The basic interviewing workshop provided by CCES gives you tips and techniques to help you ace your interviews. *Please note: in order to participate in mock interviews or on-campus interviews with employers, this workshop must be completed.
- Do a Mock Interview: Mock interviews are conducted by trained student assistants at CCES. You’ll simulate an entire interview and then receive direct feedback on what went well and where you can improve.
- Attend workshops related to your career clusters and interests: Throughout the year, CCES hosts various events related to different career clusters, such as IMPRESSIONS events for Arts, Communication, Media and Design or training for the Teacher Job Fair among many others. Employers often come to campus to host information tables, networking events and workshops. We also have resume labs, LinkedIn labs, and interviewing workshops. A full list of events can always be found in Handshake.
- Meet with the Peer Career Coaches: At this point you’re probably part of an on-campus organization, involved in research, or have a job. These are all great things to put on your resume! It’s always a good idea to make sure your resume and LinkedIn look good. Peer Career Coaches can help you with formatting, wording and expanding upon your experiences on your resume to make sure it’s in its best shape.
- Attend a CCES Event: CCES hosts multiple events throughout the year, including the Presidential Career & Leadership Series, Job Shadow Day and more. These are great ways to build your resume, learn new skills and make connections early on!
Third Year Students:
By your third year you’re probably on a more clear path. Maybe you’ve had an internship or did some job shadowing. Maybe you studied abroad and it opened your eyes to all the possibilities of your major, or you’ve decided you want to go to graduate school. Wherever you’re at, this is the time to make sure you’re taking all the necessary steps to get to where you want to be.
- Apply for internships/field experience: This is the year that most employers are looking for when hiring for internships. Utilize Handshake, LinkedIn or your previous connections to find an opportunity that seems right for you. Need some extra help? Schedule an appointment with your career advisor!
- Attend Fall and Spring Career Fair: Career fairs are one of the best ways to find an internship opportunity. Hundreds of companies come to our career fairs each year to recruit Miami students. Don’t forget about our niche career fairs, like the Teacher Job Fair or the Government, NonProfit and Social Services Career Expo and more!
- Network, Network, Network: There are so many ways you can network with people in your industry. You can find people on LinkedIn, Handshake, Miami Alumni Connect, etc. and simply ask to get coffee or for an informational interview. Or, check out some of the many employer info tables throughout the year. You can always find a full list of upcoming events on Handshake.
- Update your Handshake profile: Make sure the resume you have uploaded into Handshake is the most up to date. In addition, add which cities you’re interested in working in, what kind of jobs you’re looking for, and change any other outdated information.
- Participate in a career-related program outside of the classroom: The career center offers various Career Treks throughout the year, which are a great way to explore new cities you might be interested in and connect with employers. Academic departments also offer various opportunities that provide a similar experience and sometimes you can even get class credit. Miami’s study abroad page lists all the opportunities available, including international and domestic programs. CCES also hosts a Job Shadow Day! CCES matches you with an employer based on your interests and you’ll get to experience “a day in the life.” Our next Job Shadow event is happening August 2020.
Fourth Year Students
Your fourth year is generally the time you’ll be looking for full-time jobs or applying for graduate school. This is the time you really want to use all resources at your disposal to your advantage.
- Attend Fall and Spring Career Fair: Hopefully at this point you’ve attended Career Fair at least once. Connect with employers you might know from previous networking or attend the booths of those who you’re really interested in. Many employers do next-day interviews following Career Fair!
- Meet with your Career Advisor: If you’re worried about finding a job or deciding on your graduate school options, this is a great time to meet with your Career Advisor. They can provide insight into where to look for jobs or how to make the most of your grad school application.
- Search for jobs on Handshake: Handshake, or LinkedIn, are great ways to find the kinds of opportunities you’re looking for. You can filter by employment type, job function, city and various other credentials.
- Don’t panic! Figuring out your post-grad plans can often be a point of stress for many students. The important thing to remember is that opportunities are out there. CCES is here to help you maximize your options and be as prepared as possible. Stop by early and often to get the most out of what we offer!
Regardless of where you’re at in your career journey, it’s never too late to visit CCES! Our doors are always open to help students at any stage in the process, even if you’ve never visited before. Stay up-to-date with new events on our website or through Handshake, and don’t be afraid to stop by in person (we’re located in 0045 Armstrong Student Center – under the stairs by Cafe Lux).