A one-stop-shop for career planning
University Career Services is an on-campus resource that provides career-planning resources and information about internships and job opportunities to undergraduates, graduate students and recent graduates.
It is never too early to begin preparing for a career, and University Career Services is ready to help Tar Heels with that preparation.
University Career Services offers information about internships and job opportunities and provides other services to undergraduate and graduate students and recent graduates. As the main campus career center on campus, the office serves all UNC students except for those in professional graduate schools such as business, law, medicine, and dentistry, which have their own career services offices.
“We give them options of a variety of campus-wide experiences that they can be involved in,” says Roderick Lewis, the interim executive director of University Career Services. “[Students] are going to have to think about talent, workplace coaches, concepts of fairness and equity, whether it comes to salary and conversation around different intersections of identities.”
It can be challenging to plan for a career during college, but UCS provides advising, internships and job search assistance to help guide students towards their desired career paths.
Career coaches
UCS career coaches help Tar Heels explore potential careers and provide the tools and advice to help them reach their career goals.
During an appointment, career coaches may help students create LinkedIn profiles, discuss potential majors, conduct mock interviews and review resumes, curriculum vitae, cover letters and personal statements.
The HEELSENGAGE Network
With more than 355,570 living Carolina alumni, there are plenty of professional Tar Heels to network and connect with for career planning guidance and advise. A collaboration between University Career Services and the Carolina General Alumni Association now helps facilitate those opportunities.
The recently launched HEELSENGAGE Network is an online platform to make it easier for our students, alumni, faculty and staff to connect for career and life advice. HEELSENGAGE also provides an opportunity for members and friends of the University to view and share job postings.
Turning part-time jobs into steppingstones
UCS offers a professional internship experience certificate program. This program provides undergraduate and graduate students who have on-campus part-time jobs an opportunity to connect their positions to their career goals by developing new competencies and job readiness skills.
“We’re trying to elevate those part-time jobs so that a student is able to leverage their on-campus part-time job in a way that they tie in career and job skills,” says Lewis.
Students in the program receive interview training, career coaching, networking opportunities and a framework for developing additional skills.
“They’re going to be in a multicultural world, and we at UCS want to make sure that they can articulate the full range of knowledge, skills and abilities gained as part of their work experience,” says Lewis.
Another UCS service, the Job Location Development program, helps students turn off-campus part-time jobs into a career steppingstone. The program connects students with positions that more closely align with their academic majors and career goals to set them up for greater success after graduation.
“It’s a way to professionalize an off-campus part-time job as a means to their career goals,” says Lewis.
Micro-internships
In addition to helping students find the right part-time jobs to set them up for a future career, UCS partners with Parker Dewey to connect students with micro-internships to help Tar Heels find the right jobs that best align with their career goals.
Micro-internships are short-term, typically a max of 40 hours, that can be completed remotely. They are helpful for students who may not have the time or resources to accept a more traditional internship or part-time job.
