Decisions. Desions. Decisions

At least once in our life there comes a time when we are asked to start planning our career paths. And or those of us who are not inheriting a huge amount of money that choice comes with so many considerations. Starting with your values, interests, personality. In deciding our career paths often we are told that we must drill in a major that will secure our career (Tip: Take our Focus 2 career assessment via Scotlink to learn more about how your values, interests, personality, and skills align with UCR majors).That's right - a short test tailored for YOU! Take it and then come in to meet with a Career Counselor to help you choose the right major for you.

And if your family is anything like mine as a first generation student, I often get asked... why not get a doctor degree or lawyer degree? So in many cases we feel like a deer in headlights often looking for our answers and cues as to what major is right for us. But what if I told you that choosing a major does not solidify your career? That if you're anything like the average student you’ll switch and change majors at least 3 times in your undergraduate career.  And that there is actually living breathing evidence that your major does not determine your career path, at the Career Center.

Indeed there is! Her name is Kristen and she was a chemistry major in her undergraduate career and later pursued career counseling.

           

 Anyway I wouldn't be serving my role as a peer adviser if I didn’t tell share the tips and tricks the career center can help you with taking those next steps to choose a major.

1.)    Start with attending our Choosing a Major workshop. Can’t attend because LIFE? It’s ok! Check out our PowerPoint online, right from the comfort of your bed (every college student's favorite place).

2.)     Take our Focus 2 career assessment via Scotlink to learn more about how your values, interests, personality, and skills align with UCR majors. Or our Myers Briggs Type indicator and Strong Interest Inventory to see what career paths align with your interests. Meet with a Career Counselor afterwards to talk about the results you got.

3.)    Join an organization, pick up an internship (That may count for credit!), talk to employers at our workshops, job discovery panels, and employer information session to really see what you can see yourself doing!

4.)    Come visit us! We are literally here to help you plan your career path and are now located just steps away from your last class in our new center

What about if you’re graduating and aren’t sure what’s next? Check out the Senior Success Blog if you’re still trying to find your job after college and you’re feeling anxious: https://ucrseniorsuccess.tumblr.com/post/161368226778/finding-direction-after-college

Lastly but most importantly! Check out Kristens success blog to learn more about post-college next steps! Because post-college depression is a thing and were here to help combat that.

https://ucrseniorsuccess.tumblr.com/

Why get LinkedIn?

Have you ever thought about other ways to connect with an employer other than job fairs and informational panels? We’ll LinkedIn is definitely another form to connect with employers and learn more about current updates. Don’t have one started? Hopefully I can convince you to create one for the following reasons:
1.      Ever wanted to be the first to know about a position opening?
Follow your favorite organization or business to receive current updates and with touch of button you can let employers know you are currently looking for a job (all you have to do is click on setting on the top right hand corner of your profile, click on privacy, and scroll down to job seeking, and finally find, “Let recruiters know you’re open to opportunities,” located under Job seeking, and switch to the on button).
...So it’s like a fb but more professional and probably more beneficial than scrolling down endless hours of cute dog pictures and food.

2.   Already landed your interview with a company or organization, but want to know more inside scopes?LinkedIn is a place where literally hundreds of millions of professionals from around the world connect and network. So follow an employer and learn about what new project or new data they have.  Great points to bring up in an interview that you probably can’t find on their website.

3. Want to connect with UCR alumni and learn what they did to land their dream career?

Type in UCR alumni and find out where alumni are now in different industries. Most importantly look at what they organizations they interned or volunteered with to gain experience. After you can message and ask if they can point you to the right person to talk to and start your own volunteering, internship, and possibly job!

These are only a few reasons why you should join LinkedIn especially considering that many employers are now low pulling in candidates here for interviews, since it saves them time and resources. Want to get your LinkedIn Started but missed our workshop?! It’s ok! Click on the link below, click workshops, and you’ll find, “Mastering LinkedIn”. Take a look through our PowerPoint or come visit us!

Maybe soon you’ll be saying…

http://careers.ucr.edu/onlineservices/onlineworkshopsresources/multimedia.html

Read through all this?!Think you deserve a price?!Take a screenshot anytime from 11-2:00pm Wed. and the first 3 to come by career station at the bell-tower can pick up a free prize

Looking for help...an internship...interview tips, or a laugh?

So you’ve made it through midterms (Partially alive)? And now you’re about a month away from summer! Ready for the beach trips and vacations or perhaps you're more interested in landing the job or internship you’ve always wanted? As a student myself I would say that a blend of both would be soothing enough to

keep me alive. Well let me you in a little secret, the Career Center just opened its new center. Didn’t know we exist? It's OK...BE SHOOKED & Come visit out our new center! We are now at the center of campus close within your reach, at the Career Center Plaza (first floor of the bookstore in front of the UNLH Building).  What's new? We now host workshops at our center including resume, cover letter writing, and more! We’re here to provide you with the A team package to help you stay sane on your career journey. From learning how to write an effective and original cover letter, attending the last part-job search/resume writing of the year, along with insights by Enterprise on how to Ace the Interview. Those are all our upcoming events you can check out!

If you're already hit the roadway and landed an interview...

Perhaps you'll be having a phone interview soon and don’t want to risk having any interruptions (like the one below)? Book a conference room with us and we’ll give you a spotless room (not to say your dorm already isn’t)

Or want to get a few quick tips before your interview? Come to our 10 minute drop-In time or book a 30-minute appointment with a counselor. From your primary steps to creating your resume and job searching to landing your interview we are here to help you in your career journey! Let us help you showcase your skills and stop by and visit us! Did I mention our services are FREE?

A job at your doorstep!

Is finding a job for after graduation on your new year's resolutions list? If so put your fees to use and visit the career center! As a third or fourth year college student we understand how hectic it can get from managing upper division courses, extracurricular, midterms, maintaining your health, all while maintaining your sanity. In this uproar we tend to forget that although we are doing everything to get ourselves polished before we graduate, we also have to start looking out for job postings prior to graduation. Having to coordinate everything, wouldn’t you love it if the job came to you? Not having to hassle through traffic or get lost on the way to your interview? Or not having to worry about the anxiety that comes with walking into the work environment.

            Well the Career center is here to help you with coordinating just that! If you are interested in getting a job full time career opportunities after your graduate check out our On-Campus Interview Program (OCI). You can check out who’s coming by logging onto SCOTlink. The OCI program has brought on different employers to campus including: Kohls and Macy’s, the FBI, Kohls, Pepsi, Funds for Public Interests, and more! Positions are usually entry-level in nature and encompass a broad range of functional areas, including but not limited to: Finance, marketing, management, sales, operations, social service, and technology.

So get your career started in just a click by logging on to SCOTjobs for your first interview!

            On Campus Interview

Or come get your resume or cover letter polished! Lastly, check out next our next post with a sneak peek to our new office!

Welcome!

Hello Highlanders!

Welcome to the UCR Career Center Blog! Do you ever question what potential career choices you have, how to get there, or what to do? If so visit the Career Center! My name is Rubyd and I am one of the Peer advisors at the Career Center. If you haven’t visited our office before, this blog will serve to give you a taste of what our office does. Primarily we strive to help Highlanders succeed in their process of their career journey. This comes in the form of critiquing your resume, cover letter, mock interviews, and bringing different companies to campus. These are only a few of the insights you will learn about.

A little more about myself: I am third year Sociology major and currently working towards a minor in Public Policy. As a third year I have been able to pick up a few leadership roles across campus including presidency of PODER(Providing opportunities, dreams, education, in Riverside), UCR representative for the UC Undocumented Student Coalition, and member of the Undocumented Student Initiative Committee. To help balance these roles I also like to run and hike. My passion to help others is rooted in what I do and I strongly believe in fighting for justice as many have fought for me to have endless opportunities. Additionally, through my experience in these roles I have learned various leadership skills that have shaped who I am and my potential career. This is my second year as a peer advisor and through my time here I have had the opportunity to learn about what an employer looks for in a potential employee.

In this blog I hope to answer a few of the aching questions you may have and share insights with you from the student perspective! Put your tuition fees to use and visit us!

Remember….

“Hard work puts you were the good luck can find you.”