Undergraduate Students

Obtaining Career Guidance

The Office of Career Management tries to provide students with a variety of means for obtaining career guidance, recognizing that students have different needs and learning preferences. Through "Career Strategies in Business (BMGT 367)," you will receive group coaching or you can meet with a career coach to receive individual and personalized attention. Students are encouraged to find books on campus and search the Internet for information on the job search process.

Career Coaching

Appointments

Students meet with career coaches to get advice on resumes and cover letters, conduct mock interviews, review self-assessment results, obtain useful job search resources, obtain decision assistance in the pursuit of a career path, and develop a job search plan.

To make an appointment with a career coach, please call the Office of Career Management (301-405-2301). Appointments are scheduled in 30-minute blocks. However, you may request a 1-hour appointment for issues that require more time, such as mock interviews, exploring career interests, reviewing self-assessments and developing a career plan.

Students may also request to conduct a mock interview with a career coach. These appointments last one hour and include a mock interview session as well as time for feedback. Students are asked to provide a current resume and a job description for their desired position prior to the appointment. All mock interviews must be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.

Please report to the Office of Career Management on the date of your appointment.

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Self-Assessments (Vocational Interest Tests)

Students may meet with an Office of Career Management career coach to discuss their assessment needs, choose an appropriate assessment, and schedule a follow-up appointment to review the results.

The Office of Career Management offers the following self-assessments at no charge. Various assessments can also be found online.

• Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - This assessment indicates your personality preferences, (e.g. whether you are extroverted or introverted). It then provides insight regarding work settings and situations that would most likely complement or challenge your personality type.

• CareerLeader - This assessment measures interests, abilities, and work reward values and ties them to various business career paths.

The UMD Career Center offers the following self-assessments:

• FOCUS - This web-based, personalized career and education planning system provides you with a complete picture of your interests, values, personality, skills, and leisure activities using self-assessment questionnaires, interest inventories and personality testing. After you have assessed your personal attributes, the system searches its career and occupational information database to help you identify and analyze occupations and career paths that match your personal characteristics. For more information, click here.

The Counseling Center in Shoemaker Hall also offers self-assessments. Please visit their website or call (301) 314-7651 for more information.

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Career Planning Courses

BMGT367 Career Search Strategies in Business; (1 credit). This course is required for all Smith students to take before graduation and is recommended for spring semester sophomores or fall semester juniors when students begin to conduct their search for internships. Each section of this course is taught by an outside professional (a recruiter, career counselor, or professional with extensive job search experience). The course helps students gain a competitive edge in the job market, provides strategies for exploring career options, and develops effective self-marketing skills (resume writing, interviewing, etc.) for the job search process. This course is coordinated by the Office of Career Management (For information, contact Jessica Badt).

See Testudo for current days and times offered.

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Career Libraries

The following on-campus locations contain job search print resources:

OCM Career Resources Center
The Office of Career Management has a small career center that contains books on topics such as resume writing, interviewing, and careers in specific fields, as well as large job bank-type books, employer brochures, and computers for job search use. The Center is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with an occasional closing for meetings.

UMD Career Center Resource Room
The UMD Career Center has a large resource room with a variety of books (from resume books to job/internship banks) and print materials to aid your job search. It is located in Hornbake Library, South Wing, 3rd floor. For more information, please visit their website.

McKeldin Library
http://www.lib.umd.edu

University Bookstore - textbook area
http://umcp.bkstore.com/default.asp?m=0401

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Shady Grove Students

Students at the Shady Grove campus are provided with the following career services:

BMGT367, Career Search Strategies in Business - This one-credit class prepares you for the job search process and is taken by all incoming Shady Grove students during the fall semester of their junior year. The course helps students gain a competitive edge in the job market, provides strategies for exploring career options, and develops effective self-marketing skills (resume writing, interviewing, etc.) for the job search process. This course is coordinated by the Office of Career Management. (For information, contact Jessica Badt).

Dedicated Career Advisor - Christopher Mays is the on-site academic and career advisor. To schedule an appointment, please contact the front desk of the Office of Undergraduate Studies at Shady Grove, (301) 738-6079.

HireSmith eRecruiting System - Shady Grove students can access this system just as College Park students do. This system allows you to search/apply for internships/jobs and schedule interviews. To access HireSmith, go to www.hiresmith.net

On-Campus Recruiting - Shady Grove students can participate in on-campus recruiting, but must do so on the College Park campus. All on-campus company presentations and interviews take place on the College Park campus.

Networking with Employers - Employers often visit the Shady Grove campus to participate in the career class, student club events, or “Employer of the Day,” where they host a table in the lobby.

Job Search Materials/Handouts - Located on the fourth floor of SGII, outside of Luke Glasgow's office, is the “Career Lounge.” Company brochures, magazines, newspapers, and various handouts can be found in this lounge.

Career Library - The Shady Grove Library has a section dedicated to job search books (row HD-HF and the reference section).

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Other Career Resources

UMD Career Center

Counseling Center

UMD Alumni Office

Smith Alumni Office

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

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