“What am I going to do with my life?”

By Anna Kenney, Assistant Director of  Internships and Assessment

This is a question you may have already asked yourself, or will likely ask yourself before your time is up here at the University of Miami. And let’s be honest, you may ask yourself several times prior to and after graduation. It’s a completely normal thing, and anyone that tells you otherwise, isn’t being the most helpful. The time you spend at a university whether as an undergraduate or graduate student is meant to be one of exploration! (Is anyone else now picturing Russell from the movie “Up”?)

It can be hard to make decisions sometimes, let alone making life decisions on your own. The wonderful thing is….you don’t have to! There are TONS of resources on campus to help you in your journey, and the Toppel Career Center is one of them, ready and willing to help prepare you for a lifetime of career success.

 

We have highly skilled advisors that are available to answer questions you may have related to what you can do with your major, what kind of opportunities exist (internship and full-time), how to prepare your resume and get ready to interview, just to name a few!

We also offer numerous free electronic/online resources that you can utilize on your own or with your career advisor. Did you catch the free part? That’s every student’s dream, right?

Here is a quick snap shot of some you may want to check out:

Career Links will take you through our website and provide you with a list of websites related to your school/college or a particular area of interest. This is a great way to learn more about potential opportunities in your chosen field of study.

 

Candid Career provides thousands of informational video interviews with real professionals. This can be useful whether you are just beginning to explore potential career options or preparing for interviews. They also provide videos that highlight numerous topics such as “Networking 101”, “How to ace a phone interview” and “Dressing for Success”.

HireACane is available to each degree-seeking student, both undergraduate and graduate (except for MBA, Law, Medical – they have separate services through their programs). With HireACane, you can upload documents (including resumes, cover letters, unofficial transcripts) that can be used to apply for positions (internships and full-time) that are in the system. To log-in, you simply need to utilize your CaneID and password. 

There are a few additional resources we wanted to highlight that are only accessible by logging into your HireACane account.

The Mock Interview module located within the HireACane system is a great way to practice your interview techniques. The benefit of utilizing this tool (versus coming into Toppel for a mock interview) is that you can do it on your own time. All you need is a camera and a microphone. During the mock interview, you would be asked questions related to the selected topic and be able to record your responses. Once submitted, the interview would be viewed by a Career Advisor, who would be able to provide feedback to not only each response, but to the overall interview.

Vault.com provides in-depth information on what it is really like to work in an industry or profession. Within the system, you can search current job openings, research companies/schools/industries, and find career advice. You can also view rankings, ratings and reviews on companies.

Internships.com is an additional resource to search for internship opportunities. They also provide a variety of interactive tools and services to enable students to better understand and optimize internship opportunities.

 

If you can believe it, these are just SOME of the resources available to you through the Toppel Career Center and website!

Make sure you come by ToppelFest on Friday, August 22^nd to learn more about the programs and events we have coming up, meet our staff and pick up some awesome giveaways!