CareerCat FAQs

Northwestern University

University Career Services

CareerCat FAQ’s I.

I.

Accessing CareerCat and Postings

IV.

Accessing Events

II.

Searching and Applying for Positions

V.

Alumni Information

III.

Uploading and Managing Documents

VI.

PostDoc Information

Accessing CareerCat and Postings

How do I register for CareerCat?

1. Go to the UCS homepage and click on “CareerCat” 2. Fill out your profile completely.

3. To receive the weekly UCS e-mail that contains information about employers, programming and other special events, make sure under the “privacy” tab to choose “yes” on the “Receive Email Notifications” option.

I don’t have access to CareerCat

1. Make sure that you are using your net id and password through the “NU passport” system. If problems persist, contact NUIT to check your netID/password account.

2. Try another browser.

3. If you are a postdoc, see “PostDoc Information” below.

What information of mine can the employers access?

Employers can only access information that is manually sent to them, such as resumes and cover letters. Employers do not have access to student profiles.

I have been blocked from accessing CareerCat.

Students can be blocked if: Cancellations: An interview cancelled before 12:00 pm (Noon) the day before an interview will result in your campus interviewing privileges being revoked. To get reinstated, you must contact a UCS staff member to regain eligibility.

No show: If you fail to report for a scheduled campus interview, you will be considered a "no-show" and privilege to request future on-campus interviews will be permanently revoked. If you already have additional campus interviews at the time their campus interviewing privileges are revoked or are placed on temporary "hold," you still should attend those pre-scheduled appointments (unless you cancel more than two business days in advance).

If blocked, contact Dianne Siekmann: d-siekmann@northwestern.edu

How do I stop receiving emails from CareerCat?

To stop receiving weekly UCS e-mails, go to the under the “privacy” tab in the profile section choose “no” on the “Receive Email Notifications” option.

University Career Services Main Location: 620 Lincoln Street Career Lab: Main Library, Core Reserves, 2nd Flr Phone: 847-491-3700 www.northwestern.edu/careers

Facebook: facebook.com/northwesternUCS Twitter: twitter.com/northwesternUCS LinkedIn: linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1926036 Blog: northwesternuniversitycareerservices.wordpress.com

II.

Searching and Applying for Positions Searching for Positions

What do all the search items mean under the “show me” tab in “jobs and internships”

All Jobs, Internships, and Interviews = all positions listed in CareerCat All On-Campus Interviews = positions for which candidates will be pre-selected through CareerCat and then interviewed on campus All Jobs and Internships (includes listings at multiple universities) = positions listed at other schools in addition to NU On Campus Interviews that I Qualify For = OCR positions for which a student is eligible according to their profile

How do I find On-Campus Recruiting positions

Log in to CareerCat

What do all those deadlines mean?

Resume Submission Start Date: The date by which students can begin submitting resumes through CareerCat.

 Click on “Jobs/Internships” at the top of the page  Click on “Employers Seeking NU Students/Alumni”  In the “Show me” drop down, click on “All On-Campus Interviews”

Resume Submission End Date: The last date to submit a resume, usually by 11:59pm.

Sign-Up Start Date: The date students who are chosen for interviews can schedule an interview. If students are chosen for an interview, the employer will contact the student via CareerCat, and then the student will set up an interview time through CareerCat (interview times are first come, first serve).

Alternate Sign-Up Start Date: If student is chosen as an alternate this is the date that they can sign up for remaining interview slots.

Sign-Up End Date: The last date anyone can sign up for an interview slot. If the student has not heard from the employer before this date, then they have typically not been chosen for an interview. It is rare that recruiters will contact students NOT chosen for an interview.

I can’t submit my resume to CareerCat

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1. Make sure that your profile is completely filled out 2. Make sure that you upload a resume 3. Student profiles must be updated yearly, particularly the academic profile, since this is how CC determines eligibility for positions. Please make sure that your academic profile is current.

4. Do you meet the minimum requirements? Employers determine eligibility criteria for positions. Check the “criteria” section under the job posting. Example: if the position asks for a certain graduation date, and that is not your graduation date listed in the profile, it will tell you that you are ineligible. Other reasons:  incorrect work authorization

 

minimum GPA not met incorrect major

5. Has the resume submission date passed? Resumes must be submitted by the resume submission end date. After that, no resumes can be submitted through CareerCat

If an employer at a career fair asks me to apply for a position but Career Cat won’t allow me to submit, what do I do?

Are you a graduate student or a postdoc?

How do I know if I have been selected for an interview?

Candidates will receive an email from CareerCat. Also, check the “Alert” section on the CC homepage, particularly during the interview sign up period. The system will prompt you to sign up for an interview slot. All slots are 1st come, 1st serve.

What does “alternate” mean? What if I am an alternate? How do I sign up for an interview?

Once employers have pre-selected the students they wish to interview on campus, they may designate a student or two an “Alternate”. “Alternates” can earn an interview spot if all the employer‟s preselects do not want interview slots. If you are alerted that you are an alternate, you will be able to sign up for the interview at 12:00am on the Alternate sign up date. Alternate spots are 1st come, 1st serve.

The resume submission deadline is tonight and I can’t come to walk-ins.

Please see the resume guidelines and examples on our website, under “Quick Links”. The UCS Career Guide is also available in PDF form on the website.

I missed the resume submission deadline.

It is the student‟s responsibility to be aware of and adhere to deadlines. There is no way to submit a resume after the submission deadline.

Can I just change my degree or other profile data to meet the qualifications of a posting?

NO. This is unethical. If you do not meet the requirements, but feel that you are a competitive/viable candidate, see a UCS practitioner for alternative ways to get your resume to an employer.

III.

The person who enters the position in CareerCat (and therefore chooses which students can/cannot apply for positions) is rarely the person who attends the career fair, so many times the career fair representative is unaware that the HR department has not enabled graduate students and postdocs to be able to apply through CareerCat. UCS can manually submit your resume if necessary. Send all documents (e.g. resume, cover letter, etc) and the company and position title to Dianne Siekmann: d-siekmann@northwestern.edu.

Uploading and Managing Documents

How do I upload a cover letter/transcript/SAT score?

Click on the “Resumes, Letters, and Transcripts” Tab. Choose the label that describes your document, and give the document a descriptive name (e.g. “Peace Corps Cover Letter”). For transcripts, cut and paste your nonofficial transcript from Caesar into a word document and re-format.

For SAT scores, please include on the resume or type as a word document.

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Can I submit a PDF version of my resume/cover letter?

No. Only Word documents can be submitted. Once your documents are submitted to CareerCat, they are converted into PDF.

I have more than one transcript, how do I upload more than one?

Click on the “Resumes, Letters, and Transcripts” Tab. Upload each transcript as a word document. Give each transcript a descriptive name (e.g. NU transcript) and save under the “unofficial transcript” category in CareerCat, or cut and paste all transcripts into one word document with clear headings for each institution.

What if I accidentally delete my default resume?

Upload another resume and label this default. If you have already submitted this resume to an employer, it will not be erased from the system.

Once a document is uploaded, can I make changes to it?

Documents are converted to PDF once uploaded, so they cannot be changed.

Make the changes in the original Word file, then re-upload, and then delete the old document from the system.

Do employers see the names of the files of my resumes?

Employers can only see the titles of documents that you manually submit to them.

Always give documents descriptive and appropriate titles.

Can resumes be withdrawn? How?

Resumes can be withdrawn from OCR positions if the submission deadline has not passed. Under the “interview” tab in CareerCat, there is a listing of all OCR positions (P) to which you have submitted a resume. If the deadline has not passed, then there will be a button labeled “withdraw” next to the position listing.

For non-OCR, positions (J), look under the “Jobs and Internships” tab, then click on the “applications” tab to see which employers to which you have submitted resumes, and there will be a withdraw button there (this only applies to employers who are managing their resumes through CareerCat).

IV.

Accessing Events

How do I find who’s coming for an employer presentation/pre-night?

Log into CareerCat, click on the “Events” tab, and then on “Information Sessions”.

What is the difference between a presentation and pre-night?

Presentations: A company event that is open to all students. It allows the company to provide students with more information.

Prenights: Some employers require that students who are participating in interviews attend the pre-night the night before interviews. Students who have been granted an interview are required to attend.

How do I find who’s coming for a job fair?

Log into CareerCat, click on the “Events” tab, and then “Career Fairs”. To view more information on positions, click on the tab labeled “available positions”.

How do I RSVP for workshops in

Log into CareerCat, click on the „Events” tab, and then click on the workshop

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CareerCat?

title. There will be an “RSVP” under the workshop description.

What does it mean if the RSVP has been “disabled”?

“Disabled” means that the employer or presenter does not require students to RSVP for the event. It DOES NOT mean that the event has been cancelled.

V.

Alumni Information

How long do I have access to CareerCat once I graduate?

Once you graduate, you need to register as an alumnus as your Student NetID will no longer be valid. To request registration information, contact us at: UCS-alumni@northwestern.edu Please include your Degree, Major, Month and Year of Graduation.

It is important to note that Student on-campus interviews are restricted to currently enrolled students graduating in the upcoming year. If you are still in the Evanston area you may still attend any employer information sessions and attend our annual job fairs held in October and January.

Once registered, new grads may apply to the thousands of jobs listed annually through the “Job/Internships” tab on CareerCat.

I am an Alumnus. Do I have access to CareerCat?

VI.

Yes. Once registered with UCS Alumni Career Services you will be able to access the job postings listed on CareerCat as well as see information for our major job fairs. Alumni can apply to Job listings through the “Job/Internships” tab.

Thousands of jobs are listed annually and are located throughout the U.S. Service fees may apply. To request information, please contact us at: UCSalumni@northwestern.edu

PostDoc Information

How do I gain access to CareerCat

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Postdocs should send an email to careerservices@northwestern.edu. Request to be added to CareerCat and include name, email, and NU ID (on wildcard).