Career Advising

Career Services provides career advising and testing to students. Career advising is a one-on-one process that emphasizes assessment of self, exploration of options through internships and other experiences, and job-search skills. Career Services believes that selecting a major/career path based on one's skills, interests, and values is the foundation for both an effective job search and building a successful career throughout one's life. Topics of discussion range from:

• Career testing to clarify major/career options
• Exploration and evaluation of options
• Resume/cover letter critique
• Interview skills
• Graduate school selection
• Job/Internship search strategies

Apointments with Career Services staff are advisable and may be easily arranged by completing a profile on Miami CAREERlink and then clicking the 'Career Advising' tab. Express 15-Minute Career Advising Drop-In hours are available on the student home page.

Peer Advising

Career Services provides drop-in peer advising, available at our Career Resource Center in 200 Hoyt Hall. Career Assistants (undergraduate students trained in career development) are available to provide a variety of services without an appointment including:

• Assistance with Career Resource Center materials
• Interpretation of the eDiscover career assessment program
• Advising related to career/major-related questions
• Referrals to additional Career Services resources and services

While no appointment is necessary, students may call and set up a time to meet with a Career Assistant at (513) 529-4645.

Self-Instructional Guides

Career Services provides a series of booklets to assist students with their job search or graduate school plans. Known as the Miami University Career Development Series, these comprehensive instructional guides are available free of charge, and include the following:

• Resume Preparation
• Cover Letters & Other Job-Search Correspondence
• Interviewing
• Job-Search Strategies
• Careers in Nonprofit Organizations
• The Graduate School Option
• A Career Guide for Liberal Arts Students
• Employment Guide for Teacher Candidates
• A Job-Search Guide for International Students

Career Resource Center

In providing comprehensive career information to Miami students, Career Services maintains an extensive Career Resource Center in 205 Hoyt Hall. This library contains information on a wide variety of career fields and literally hundreds of employers. Among the resources available are books concerning:

• various occupational options
• industrial outlooks
• job-search strategies

For students with an interest in attending graduate or professional school, the Career Resource Center contains directories on virtually all schools in the United States. A variety of reference guides and files containing information on internships and summer jobs are also available.

In addition to these printed materials, numerous videotapes are maintained for student viewing. Some of these tapes are instructional in nature and address such topics as:

• resume preparation
• interviewing
• job-search strategies
• profiles of employers that recruit at Miami

A listing of Career Resource Center materials can be accessed through Career Services Web site. Students are strongly encouraged to use Career Resource Center materials as they conduct their job or internship searches or plan for graduate school.

Job-Search & Career Exploration Workshops

As a means of assisting students in organizing and conducting a successful job search, Career Services sponsors a series of workshops pertaining to various aspects of the job-search process. These workshops are repeated at a variety of times throughout the academic year and focus on such topics as:

• job-search strategies
• resume preparation
• interviewing techniques

Attendance at these workshops is strongly recommended, but students are also encouraged to arrange individual appointments with members of the Career Services staff for personalized assistance with their job-search concerns. Students who need accommodations (e.g., sign language interpreter, materials in alternative format, etc.) for any of the workshops or functions sponsored by Career Services should contact the Office of Disability Resources at 529-1541 (V/TTY) at least 48 hours prior to the event.

EDL 100 & EDL 302

Career Services offers two levels of career development courses: EDL 100 – Career Development and the College Student and EDL 302 – Career Entry Skills/Post-College Planning.

• EDL 100 is a two-credit sprint (eight-week) course. It takes students through the exploration process of learning about one’s self (through testing and assignments), learning about majors and careers, and learning how to find the best “fit” between themselves and potential career paths. It is open to first-year students and sophomores.
• EDL 302 is a two-credit semester-long course. It is designed to assist students in making the transition from college to the world-of-work. Resume building, cover letters, job-search strategies, and interviewing skills are a few of the learning outcomes. It is open to juniors and seniors.

On-Campus Recruiting

While students are discouraged from restricting their job-search activities to on-campus interviewing, this remains one of the most well-known and popular services administered by Career Services. Each year approximately 250-300 employers visit campus to interview registered graduating students for entry-level positions with their organizations. Some employers also use on-campus recruiting to identify intern candidates. On-campus interviewing is an inexpensive and convenient means of establishing initial contact with prospective employers.

Miami CAREERlink

When students register and upload their resume(s) on Career Services' Miami CAREERlink, employers have access to their resume in the Master Student Resume Book. Many employers use the Master Student Resume Book to identify candidates and invite them to interview on-campus. Students also gain access to job and internship listings of employers who may not come to campus to recruit. In addition, Career Services notifies registered students of upcoming programs, career fairs, and information useful to their job/internship search. It is important for students to routinely (at least once a semester) update their account and resume(s).

Both intern candidates and graduating students should register on Miami CAREERlink. It is in your best interest to register as early as possible.

Career Fairs

As an extension of its on-campus recruiting services, Career Services sponsors three career fairs each year:

• The Fall Career Fair is held every September and is one of the country's largest collegiate career fairs. The event gives students the opportunity to obtain career advice and explore career options with more than 150 employers. Many employers use this event as a prelude to their other recruiting activities at Career Services each year.
• The Fall Career Fair is complemented by the Spring Internship & Career Expo (Spring ICE), which is held in February. This event provides students with the opportunity to discuss full-time and internship positions with selected employers.
• In addition, Career Services hosts a special job fair for teacher candidates in late March. The Teacher Job Fair provides an excellent opportunity for aspiring teachers to meet with several school districts all in one day and to interview with those in which there is mutual interest.

Each of these career fairs is held in Millett Hall and all interested students are encouraged to attend.

Optimal Resume

OptimalResume is a comprehensive, web-based application for students to create, present, and manage resumes that is fully customizable to achieve maximum impact. It not only helps students build their best resume, but also saves them significant time and helps create an online marketing presentation of their skills and abilities.

Mock Interview Service

To assist students in preparing for the employment process, Career Services provides an ongoing mock interview service. One-hour appointments can be arranged by calling 529-3831. These practice interviews are digitally recorded and then critiqued by a trained interviewer. Students receive helpful insights on how to improve their interviewing skills and become more comfortable with the interviewing process.

This service is staffed by professional interviewers who volunteer their time to interview, evaluate, and provide helpful advice to Miami students.

Internship Services

A variety of services are available for students wishing to pursue internship opportunities. These services include:

• individualized career advising to discuss the internship-search process
• on-campus interviewing for selected internship opportunities
• various workshops on internship-related topics

Students wishing to research employers and internship opportunities should visit the Career Resource Center in 205 Hoyt Hall. Numerous resources, including employer literature, internship files, and directories are available.

CareerSearch

A powerful online database of more than 2 million employers from every major sector of the economy. Students and alumni may search for organizations by industry type or geographic location and receive business profiles and contacts. The results can be saved or downloaded in a convenient format to use in targeting a job or internship search. Call (513) 529-3831 for the username and password.

Vault Online Career Library

The online Career Library helps to make researching employers, industries and career topics more efficient. It contains over 80 downloadable Vault Career Guides and Employer Profiles in addition to:

• company profiles
• career advice articles
• industry and occupational profiles
• access to the Electronic Watercooler where questions may be posted and insider information can be found

WetFeet Career Library

Wetfeet assists job seekers with hundreds of articles on compensation, interviews, career and company profiles, as well as resumes and cover letters.

Credential Services

Students seeking teaching or administrative positions in the field of education, as well as candidates seeking admission to graduate programs may wish to utilize the Interfolio — an intuitive, fast, and secure online service — to maintain their confidential credential files, dossiers, and letters of recommendation. Most teacher candidates elect to maintain their own credentials as part of their professional portfolios, but for those who wish to establish a confidential file with Career Services, complete instructions are available upon request. Credential files typically contain students' letters of recommendation from professors and previous employers, and are mailed to school systems and institutions of higher education as requested for a nominal fee.