By Dr. Bill Blank, Director-Career Development Posted Monday, June 11, 2018 @ 1:51 PM The primary goal of Career Services is to provide information and guidance to your students in efforts to help them achieve both academic success and professional growth. For students that want to graduate in four years with a major that they enjoy and do well in which leads to a professional job in their area of study, Career Services is an essential office to connect with. Through individual career counseling and participation in informational workshops, UCF students can effectively plan and launch their careers by aligning academic studies to employment goals. This process begins at summer orientation and continues through graduation. Upon arrival at UCF, students are encouraged to complete a series of assessments to determine how their values, interests, and personality type relate to academic areas and career fields resulting in a good “person-environment fit.” Through career research, job shadowing and various types of experiences such as volunteering and internships, students are then able to “test drive” career options. Knowing that employers and graduate schools are also looking for additional qualities such as professional maturity, problem solving, teamwork, communication skills and leadership, Career Services offers guidance in developing and demonstrating these qualities. Through our UCF partners, we promote student involvement with student clubs and organizations, undergraduate research, study abroad and campus leadership programs. Once students have developed a professional pathway and are making progress in their academic program, the next step is to network with campus recruiters to learn more about their companies or graduate programs. This is accomplished through employer information sessions, employer panels, or graduate and professional school fairs offered by Career Services. The final step in preparing students for their transition into the professional world involves career readiness. Our staff assist students with highlighting their academic success and related experiences through a professional resume. This involves helping students relate their specific experiences to the needs of employers or the goals of the graduate programs they are pursuing. Additionally, we provide workshops and individual practice sessions for students to develop or enhance their interviewing skills in preparation for our multiple career fairs held throughout the year. To achieve this academic success and professional growth, students must be willing to enter into a working alliance or partnership with our office. If they make the effort to invest in themselves, we will invest in them and ultimately employers or graduate schools will invest in them! Back