Career Planning Guide
Discover what to do at every stage of your college career to set yourself up for meaningful, full-time employment or graduate school upon graduation.
This is only a general guide. To customize a plan for you, schedule a meeting with your career coach.
Undergraduate Career Planning Guide
- Activate your Handshake account. Handshake is UC’s career platform.
- Attend the Part-Time Job Fair. Use Handshake to apply to on-campus and local part-time jobs.
- Join campus clubs and organizations.
- Pursue volunteer opportunities that interest you.
- Visit the Career Studio, located in TUC 310, to meet your career coach, get feedback on your resume or attend a workshop.
- Complete career assessments to explore your values, skills, interests and personality type.
- Browse "What Can I Do With A Major In...?" to discover possible career options.
- If you're interested in attending a professional school (like medical, dental or law school), visit the Pre-Professional Advising Center (PPAC).
- Get a free professional headshot in the Career Studio.
- Create an account in LinkedIn and in Bearcats Connect. Upload your free professional headshot, fill out your profile, and connect with family members, professors and classmates.
- Meet with your career coach to develop your career plan and explore how you can get experience through co-ops, internships, research, service learning and more as a UC student.
- Identify careers that seem interesting. Ask people in those careers about their work and career paths in informational interviews.
- Update your resume to include summer jobs, extracurricular activities, etc.
- Attend career events with employers, such as career fairs, information sessions, tabling and networking events, workshops, etc.
- Search and apply for internships, co-ops, etc. in Handshake. Start early, since you may need to apply to 30 to 100 opportunities to get one. Also, notify your LinkedIn network that you are seeking and ask for referrals to job openings and to people who could help you.
- Schedule a practice interview with a career coach or conduct one virtually through Big Interview.
- Take on leadership roles in your favorite clubs and organizations.
- Talk to your professors and build relationships.
- Explore study abroad, service learning, undergraduate research, and international experiential learning opportunities.
- Schedule a career coaching appointment to discuss your career plans.
- Update your resume to include your college experiences (high school experiences tend to drop off your resume at this point).
- Connect with people you met through co-ops, internships and part-time jobs, as well as through clubs and classes, on LinkedIn and Bearcats Connect.
- Use Handshake to search and apply for internships, co-ops, etc. Start early, since you may need to apply to 30 to 100 openings, or even more, to land one.
- Continue to develop your skills and gain experience through leadership positions in clubs and organizations.
- Take advantage of study abroad, service learning, undergraduate research, and international experiential learning opportunities.
- If you are considering graduate school, talk with professors or meet with your career coach to discuss the process and ask questions.
- Study for graduate school entrance exams (GRE, GMAT, etc.) and take practice tests.
- Meet with your career coach to finalize your resume and/or graduate school documents.
- Begin applying to jobs on Handshake, LinkedIn, Indeed and company or organization websites as early as possible. Expect that you may need to apply to 30 to 100 job postings, or even more, to get a job, and that several months can pass between applying and getting an offer.
- Attend career fairs and employer information sessions to meet campus recruiters. This allows you to make a strong first impression and can give you an advantage in the application process.
- Notify your LinkedIn network of the types of opportunities you are looking for and ask for referrals to job openings or to people who could help you.
- If you're pursuing graduate school, take entrance exams, secure letters of recommendation, write your personal statement and submit your application.
- Schedule a practice interview with a career coach or conduct one virtually through Big Interview.
- When you know what you’ll be doing after graduation, notify the people in your network and thank those who helped you along the way!
- Regularly attend career events hosted by UC, including workshops, employer visits and career fairs.