Career Services

Table of Contents

• Handbook Home
• Planning Your Career
• Developing Your Career Plan
• Checklist for Job and Internship Search Success
• Transferable Skills
• Informational Interviewing
• Internships
• Job and Internship Search Strategies
• Mobile Phone Use Tips for the Job and Internship Search
• Job Fair Success
• Developing a Personal Brand
• Networking
• Using Social Media
• Large vs Small Companies
• Resumes and CV's: The Difference
• Writing Your Resume
• Action Verbs
• Categories and Examples Using Action Verbs
• Resume Examples
• Job and Internship Search Correspondence
• Outline Cover Letter
• Letter Examples
• Sending Resumes and Letters
• Developing and Using a Portfolio
• Interviewing
• Types of Interviews
• Why Aren't You Getting Job Offers?
• Evaluating a Job Offer
• Negotiating Salary and Benefits
• Deciding on Graduate or Professional School
• Writing Personal Statements
• References: The Importance of

• Contact Career Services
• Career Services Home
• UMD Home

Career Handbook

Planning Your Career

FIRST YEAR (1-30 CREDITS)

• Visit Career Services to become familiar with the services offered.
• Explore your interests, skills, personality and values and consider how they relate to possible careers.
• Consider taking the following career assessments: Strong Interest Inventory®, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and/or StrengthsQuest™ available in Career Services.
• Explore careers using the UMD Graduate Follow-up Report, which lists what recent UMD graduates did the first year after graduating, the Career Resource Center in Career Services and What Can I Do With This Major on the Career Services website under "Deciding on a Major."
• Learn how to conduct informational interviews and begin talking with professionals in fields of interest to you.
• Join at least one student organization or club to help you explore and define your career goals and help you develop skills you can use in the future.
• Participate in volunteer opportunities that can add to your experience and skills.
• Write your resume.
• Begin building your portfolio.

Summer

• Get a job and/or do volunteer work to learn about a career that interests you.

SECOND YEAR (31-60 CREDITS)

• Continue exploring your interests, values, personality and skills.
• Meet with a career counselor in Career Services.
• Consider taking the following career assessments if you have not already done so: Strong Interest Inventory®, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and/or StrengthsQuest™ available in Career Services.
• Maintain a strong GPA.
• If required, prepare and apply for acceptance into your desired major.
• Update your resume and have it reviewed.
• Save copies of your work in your portfolio to document your knowledge and skills.
• Establish a LinkedIn account, develop your profile and have it reviewed.
• Register with GoldPASS for information on internships and full-time career opportunities.
• Enroll in UMD's "Major and Career Exploration" course to explore career options related to your interests, values, skills and personality.
• Join organizations related to your interest areas.
• Attend job fairs.
• Establish tentative educational and career goals.
• Explore potential careers through informational interviews with professionals employed in your area(s) of interest.
• Develop relationships with academic advisors, faculty and key administrators who will potentially serve as references for your applications for scholarships, internships, graduate school and full-time career opportunities.
• Begin researching employers and career opportunities in your field(s).
• If you haven't done so, declare your major by the time you complete 60 credits.

Summer

• Get a job and/or do volunteer work in an area of your interest.
• Build a good work reputation.
• Get involved in community activities.

THIRD YEAR (61-90 CREDITS)

• Complete the "Checklist for Job and Internship Search Success."
• Choose upper division electives outside of your major to enhance your qualifications.
• Take the following career assessments if you have not already done so: Strong Interest Inventory®, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and/or StrengthsQuest™ available in Career Services.
• Update your resume, LinkedIn profile and portfolio.
• Research industries, companies and internships.
• Consider enrolling in UMD's "Strategic Career Planning" course to explore your career options and learn to present yourself effectively for an internship, job or graduate school.
• Consider enrolling in UMD's "Internship Preparation" course to help you find an internship.
• Continue to maintain a strong GPA.
• Expand your own professional network through club activities, student chapters of professional organizations, family, faculty and staff. Inform people of the kind of opportunities you seek.
• Continue to interview professionals working in your field(s) of interest for information and to establish a network of contacts.
• Research graduate school possibilities, their application procedures, entrance test requirements and deadlines.
• Attend job fairs.
• Prepare to take appropriate graduate or professional school admissions tests.
• Write a cover letter and have it reviewed.
• Update your registration with GoldPASS and review internship and full-time career opportunities.
• Conduct a search for and participate in an internship or research experience.
• Practice and refine your interviewing skills.

Summer

• Work or do an internship in your chosen field.
• Develop a list of your interests and your qualifications.
• Take appropriate graduate school admissions tests.
• Begin work on graduate or professional school applications and draft your personal statement.

FOURTH YEAR TO GRADUATION (90-120+ CREDITS)

• Update your responses to the "Checklist for Job and Internship Search Success."
• Take, or retake, the following career assessments if you have not already done so: Strong Interest Inventory®, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and/or StrengthsQuest™ available in Career Services.
• Identify and contact people to serve as your references.
• Participate in an internship, research, field or clinical experience. If you have already done one, consider doing another.
• Update your resume, LinkedIn profile and portfolio. Have your resume reviewed.
• Update your GoldPASS account and upload a current resume.
• Craft a cover letter and have it reviewed.
• Consider enrolling in UMD's "Strategic Career Planning" course if you have not already done so and/or UMD's "Job Search and Career Success" course.
• During fall semester apply to graduate or professional school programs.
• Learn how to market yourself and develop your personal brand.
• Practice interviewing.
• Research businesses and/or organizations where you might like to work.
• Sign up for on-campus interviews through GoldPASS.
• Discuss career opportunities with faculty and career counselors.
• Continue networking, cultivating contacts and talking with professionals in your field of interest.
• Attend job fairs.
• Meet with a career counselor for assistance with your job or graduate or professional school search and for review of your resume, cover letter or personal statement.
• Send letters of application and inquiry to prospective employers.
• Plan and conduct a thorough job search.