What can the Career Center help with? The Career Center has Career Peer Educators (or CPEs) and Career Advisors willing to help you with resume building, job/internship searches, exploring life after Lawrence, and more. CPEs can help you with general resume, job searching advice, and how to use platforms like Handshake and Viking Connect. Meanwhile, Career Advisors can offer more specific advice about careers and planning for graduate school.
Where do I even begin? If you don’t have a concrete idea on where to start in the career exploration process, the Career Center can help you get started! Just make an appointment and we will walk you through the Career Center resources and help you identify your career exploration goals.
I just made an appointment, how do I prepare? You don’t need to stress about preparing for your appointment. For resume review appointments, we can help you get started if you’ve never written a cover letter or resume, or you can bring a current draft to review during the appointment. For other appointments, it’s helpful to make a list of your questions so that we can be sure to cover everything within the advising session. We will always meet you where you’re at!
What is Handshake? Every student has a Handshake account and you can log in using your Lawrence credentials to register for events, search for jobs and internships, and schedule appointments with Career Advisors and CPEs.
What is Viking Connect? Viking Connect is Lawrence’s alumni networking platform. It is a lot like LinkedIn but it only includes Lawrence students and alumni, and the alumni are ready and there to support you! Connecting with alumni is a good way to conduct informational interviews with people in your potential fields of interest. For example, you can ask alumni about a day in the life of a molecular biologist, or ask how a research and development role with a corporation might look different from academic research. There are even templates to help get you started with networking.
Do I need to use a Handshake account *and* a LinkedIn account *and* a Viking Connect account? Having a Handshake account is essential for receiving updates from the Career Center and because it is how we schedule appointments. LinkedIn and Viking Connect are centered more around networking. It is highly recommended that you have all three so that you don’t miss out on potential opportunities for career exploration.
I am an upperclassman and have never been to the Career Center – is it too late? It is never too late to schedule an appointment. The Career Center and its resources are open to you while you are on or off campus, and you can even schedule an appointment after you graduate!
Adapted from Barbara Espinosa’s ’20 (CPE) list of questions that her friends had about the Career Center.
Julia Ammons ’22 is a Biology major and Anthropology minor with interests in the natural sciences and museum studies.
Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research related to Physics and/or engineering.