Career Center

By Parker Blackburn

When students pick the university they are going to attend, they usually pick based on a variety of factors. Some pick because of the location, others pick because of their major and some pick based on a gut feeling. Whatever the reason is that brings students to the University of South Carolina, the Career Center supplies students with the resources to help them advance professionally, build life-long development skills, and help build mutually bene cial networking relationships between job seekers and employers.

The Career Center o ers primary resources such as resume and cover letter reviews. A er making a career studio appointment, students will be matched with a peer educator that guides students in creating the resume that best suits them. They will also help students write a resume tailored to the kind of job or internship they are applying to, and help students navigate how to best stand out in their speci c eld.

“I think that a vital part of my job as a career studio peer educator is resume and cover letter reviews, because you don’t learn how to properly write a resume in any of your coursework,” said Tanya Andrews, a fourth-year English student. “Students are going to want to come get their resume and cover letter checked at least once a year as they gain experience and knowledge, and we’re here to teach them how to take the experience they’ve gained at Carolina and tailor it to appeal to potential employers.”

If students are unsure of the career path they want to take, the Career Center o ers career coaching, a process in which students are matched with a sta member at the Career Center to guide them through the complex process of choosing a career. Career coaches are then able to give students a career assessment that determines students’ values, ambitions and career interests to help students make steps towards the major and the career that is right for them.

“We want students to engage with us from the very beginning,” said Helen Powers, the director of the Career Center. “We want to talk with you about your goals and validate that you’re on the right path. We want to help you evolve and serve you throughout your growth at USC. You are a student at USC regardless of your background and we owe it to you to give you good information, to train you up, to prepare you to exit this institution being socially and economically mobile.”

The career center aims to be as accessible as possible, o ering appointments online and inperson through their job listing management platform, Handshake. Handshake also allows students with an account to search for jobs and internships vetted by career studio peer educators, attend events such as career fairs and seminars, as well as work on network engagements. Job fairs are o en held at least once a semester and can be found on Handshake.

“Some majors have job pathways that aren’t always so clear,” Powers said. “So my job is how to get students to think about jobs and opportunities they never would have thought about before.”

To do this, the Career Center held an event called Explore and Engage, a virtual, hybrid, two-day job fair event. The rst day focused on what recruiters look for in resumes, cover letters and interviews, and the second day focused on students having one-on-one time with those companies to network and ask

@uofsccareers @uofsccareers @uofsccareers

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CAREER CENTER

any questions about further job opportunities.

Students also have the ability to practice talking to potential employers with the Career Center’s interview preparation platform, Big Interview. Big Interview is a webbased program that can be accessed from any internet-connected computer. Students select their questions and a professional interviewer will appear on their screen to ask them. The Career Center also provides students with in-person practice interviews with a career studio peer educator on Handshake.

This fall, the career center will launch their “Mentorship Hub,” which will match students with successful UofSC alumni and career professionals that can serve as a mentor to them and connect and learn from professionals in students desired job eld.

“You don’t have to know someone who knows someone anymore,” Powers said. “We at the university know people, and they’re here for you.”

For more information about the Career Center, students can visit www.sc.edu/career or create an account on Handshake to start scheduling appointments. Students can also follow the Career Center on Instagram, @uofsccareers, in order to stay connected.

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