We’ve all been there. You’re working through your semester, keeping up with your classwork, staying engaged in your student organizations, and scheduling a few hours a week at your part-time job. You’re making steady progress towards your goals in spite of your jam-packed schedule, when an unexpected career-related task falls into your lap. You need help, so you log into Handshake to schedule an appointment with your career consultant, only to find that she’s booked for the next three weeks. Now what? Keep reading for our analysis of three “SOS” situations, and how to find last-minute help when you need it.
Last-Minute Interview Request
You submitted a few applications for internships, jobs, or graduate / professional school several weeks ago, and so far, the silence has been deafening. Your phone’s not ringing, and your email inbox is empty. Suddenly, you find out that your dream medical school, graduate school, or company wants to interview you. Fantastic! There’s just one problem – the interview is two days from now, and you’re completely unprepared. If you can’t make an appointment with your career consultant, here are three things you can do instead:
- Check out the interviewing resources on the Career Center website. From a list of sample questions, to a dress for success guide, to a behavioral interviewing technique, these resources will help you to get prepared.
- Use Big Interview, an online tool designed to give you hands-on practice with mock interviews tailored to your specific industry, job, and experience level. Log in with your UGA MyID and password to access this interactive resource.
- Sign up for our eLC modules. Our free, self-paced eLC modules contain valuable insight into the interview process, and are tailored to UGA undergraduate students, graduate and professional students, and pre-health students. The interviewing modules contain videos, sample interview scenarios, links to relevant articles, and more to help you feel prepared and confident as you head into your last-minute interview.
ASAP Application Documents
You’re studying for an exam when you see an unexpected email notification. There’s a scholarship opportunity that sounds perfect, and you want to apply. There’s just one problem: the deadline is tomorrow, and you need to write an essay. Or, your professor invites you to apply for a research role in her lab, and you need to submit a winning resume by this evening. Here’s how the Career Center can help:
- Utilize our online resources. If you’re writing a resume, we have a full resume breakdown, templates, sample job descriptions, and more to help you perfect your resume. Similarly, if you’re writing an essay or personal statement, our list of personal statement dos and don’ts will help you to get started.
- Review our eLC modules. All three of the Career Center’s career development modules contain tips, examples, and videos for writing application documents.
- Drop by for Drop-In Hours. The Career Center offers drop-in hours Monday – Friday, 11:00am until 2:00pm during the academic year. Here, you can meet with a Career Center team member for a 15-minute document review so that you can submit your application with confidence.
Offer Anxiety
Normally, receiving an offer for a job, internship, graduate school, or professional school is a cause for celebration. However, you might have reservations about the salary or the program, or you have multiple offers to consider. To make matters worse, you need to make a decision ASAP. If your career consultant lacks availability for a one-on-one meeting, here are some tools to help you:
- Review the Career Center website. Our “Negotiation 101” guide will give you some beginning tips to approach a salary negotiation. Furthermore, our Alumni Career Services website contains additional resources, including a webinar you can watch at your convenience.
- Consider your values. When deciding between two (or more) options, we recommend narrowing in on your values. What is important to you? What do you really want in a job? Completing the checklist linked here will help you to understand your priorities.
- Use our Drop-In Hours. While Drop-In Hours are meant for quick conversations, briefly talking through your dilemma with a member of the Career Center team can give you some clarity. Sometimes, simply talking out the issue can help you find the solution. The Career Center offers drop-in hours Monday – Friday, 11:00am until 2:00pm during the academic year.
We know that the last-minute career-related dilemmas discussed above are not the only ones you’re likely to encounter during your time as a UGA student. Remember, the Career Center website, our Career Guides, and the Career Center YouTube channel can provide tons of helpful information at your convenience. That said, we still want to see you! Schedule an appointment with your career consultant and attend our Arch Ready events to connect with our team. Whether through online resource or in-person events, the UGA Career Center is in your corner.