In your role as UMBC faculty or staff, chances are students approach you with questions related to choosing majors, finding internships, applying to graduate school, or locating jobs.
The UMBC Career Center works with students at every academic level, from first year student to the graduate student. Our services include coordinating campus recruiting, on-campus interviews, career and professional skills education, the graduate school application process, and applied learning opportunities (i.e. internships, co-ops, and research).
Students may connect with the Career Center in many ways. This section highlights several services we offer, with suggestions for how you may refer a student to our office. If you can’t find what you are looking for here, feel free to Contact Us.
We look forward to assisting you and your students!
Partner with the Career Center
Partnering with faculty and staff, and with colleges and departments, plays a critical role in helping us prepare UMBC students to be active participants in planning and implementing their career decisions. We are very interested in building relationships with you to help students reach their career goals. Contact Us at any time to discuss how we can work together on a program or initiative to best meet the unique needs of your students.
Encourage Students to Review our Recruiting and Career Events Calendar
The Career Center provides numerous opportunities for students to build career-related skills and connect with employers through career events which are taking place on-campus and virtually. Students benefit from faculty encouragement to participate in these events. Faculty members also frequently attend career fairs to meet recruiters and stay current on employment trends.
Request a Workshop for your Class or Department (In-Person & Virtual)
The Career Center offers various workshops presented by both our Career Center paraprofessionals/peers and by our professional staff. Whether you are looking for a 20 or 50 minute workshop, we will work closely with you to meet the needs of your class. You can also access our library of past workshops.
Refer your Students to Work with Us
Learn about what we do at the Career Center. Refer students who are asking questions about changing majors, writing resumes/CVs, locating internships/research, or starting their job search or graduate school application process. The Career Center is located on the 2nd floor of the Math/Psychology Building. Career Center professionals are available for in-person, virtual (WebEx), and phone (WebEx) appointments. Students can schedule an appointment on-line via their Handshake account, by stopping by the Career Center or by calling our front office at 410-455-2216. Career advising is available every weekday, with a variety of time-slots offered, including drop-in resume review hours from 2-4pm Monday through Friday. Select evening hours are also available during the Fall and Spring semesters. See our current list of hours.
Encourage Students to Join Retrievers Connect
Retrievers Connect is a professional networking platform, just for UMBC students and alumni. The Career Center, in partnership with the Office of Alumni Engagement, are providing this platform as a way to connect alumni volunteers with students and other alumni to foster the career success of the UMBC community. Students can access a broad support network of UMBC alumni to provide career advice, possible internship and job opportunities, and more.
Incorporate a Career Assignment into your Curriculum
Students become more motivated and interested in their studies if they know more about their field and available career opportunities. Adding career exploration to your class will help make the connections between academics and the world of work for your students. Consider using or adapting one of the professional development assignments to supplement your students’ experience. For example, you can have your students:
- Write a resume and/or cover letter and schedule an appointment for a career advisor to critique.
- Schedule and attend a mock interview to receive valuable feedback on communication skills.
- Use the Big Interview platform to record answers to mock interview questions and send to you for feedback.
- Create a list of questions to ask employers at a career and internship fair to gather new information and build a professional network. Attend a job and internship fair.
- Research internship and career possibilities using What Can I Do With My Major sheets, Handshake or other online resources to help connect the classroom with a future position.
- Join Retrievers Connect and send a message to at least one alumnus.
- Take the 16 Personalities online assessment and complete this reflection 16 Personalities Worksheet.
- Create a LinkedIn profile and schedule an appointment for feedback and to learn tips for navigating the site.
- Attend a career workshop or employer info session. The Career Center is willing to track attendance.