5 Reasons To Use Your University's Career Services

A surprising number of university students (both home and international) fail to utilize one particularly great resource available to them throughout their studies - their university's career services!

Most universities will have a university career center that provides a team of dedicated professionals whose job it is to chat with you about your future. Through activities like self-assessments, fairs, events and workshops, they will help you to find your direction and get on the right path.

The benefits of using your career services? A lot. The following five reasons highlight the importance of career services in colleges and why you should take advantage of them while you career paths that suit their skills and preferences.

1. Explore career options & find a direction

Even if you're studying quite a specific degree or qualification, the possibilities of what you could do with that qualification can be overwhelming! How do you navigate so many options? Perhaps a sit-down chat with your university's career center may be a good start.

Through discussions and self-assessments, the university career service team can help you to explore your skills, your interests and your qualifications and help you narrow down the seemingly infinite career paths one could take and help find a direction to aim towards.

They can advise you on the best way to approach these careers, which qualifications you may need, any extra-curricular skills or activities that could make it easier to find employment once you graduate, and where to actually find jobs! A benefit of using career services at your university is you can get a clear picture of what your career goals are and what steps you need to take to achieve them. 

2. Find an internship or work placement

Your university's career center will be the best place to go to enquire about local and international internships or work placement opportunities. Companies and organizations that are looking specifically for student interns are likely to contact university career centers to share these opportunities. The career center can put you in touch with the employers and even help you prepare an application.

3. Attend career fairs & events 

Any good university career center will offer fairs and events aimed at careers and employment throughout the academic year. Career fairs give you the opportunity to network with a range of potential employers, explore your possibilities and gain valuable (and potentially life-changing) insight into different careers and industries. The importance of career services at college lies in its ability to connect students with potential employers and give them a glimpse of an industry before graduation.

TIPS FOR ATTENDING CAREER FAIRS:

• Prepare a virtual copy of your CV that you can quickly send via email or on LinkedIn.
• Make yourself look presentable - you never know who you might bump into!
• Research who will be presenting and make a plan - you may not have all day to spend at the fair so budget your time wisely. 

4. Build your resume and develop interview skills

Another benefit of using career services at your university is that they can help  you find and prepare for interviews. They can assist you with all sorts of valuable things like building your resume and writing a compelling cover letter. Sometimes university career centers may hold workshops or simulated interviews aimed at developing your presentation skills and boosting your confidence in an interview situation. Some will even help obtain credentials or endorsements from professors or university staff in order to support your application. With the benefit of using career services, you can increase your career opportunities and prepare for the upcoming job hunting. 

5. Get insight into starting your own business

Perhaps job-hunting and getting employed at someone else's company is not what you're aiming for. Maybe you're studying with the intention of becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business. University career centers can help you with this too!

A benefit of using career services is that there is a lot of useful information available for you to explore. Whether it's wanting to know more about applying for loans, business planning, registering a company or how to start up a business in the first place, the career center will be able to help you (or at least point you in the right direction).

These are just some of the invaluable services that the university career center can offer you as a student. It's never too early in your studies to start considering your options, but it can be too late. So don't hesitate to book a consultation with your university's career service if you need information, help or a bit of career inspiration. They're there, so use them!