The University of Florida’s Career Connections Center serves more than 57,000 students and thousands of alumni representing all majors and degree levels. The Center is a centralized, comprehensive unit providing a diverse range of services to connect job seekers to employers and vice versa. The Career Connections Center staff facilitates recruiting efforts to ensure easy access to UF talent for entry level or experienced positions.

In addition, the Career Connections Center:

• Is nationally recognized as the #2 career center by Best Colleges in the support of students, employers and alumni spanning all majors, degree levels, and industries.
• Serves as a hub with experts and connectors to unify the university community, connecting with over 275 faculty and staff to transform career development at UF.
• Employs 14 certified career and recruitment coaches dedicated to aid employers in developing custom campus-wide recruiting strategies and networks to reach desired candidates.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is becoming increasingly intertwined in the job market, building skills in this area can give you a competitive advantage for a successful job search. The University of Florida’s Career Connections Center is dedicated to ensuring students are prepared with competencies to engage with AI by the time they graduate.  The center's commitment to AI education includes:

• Hiring an AI-specific career coach to work within the center.
• Onboarding Quinncia, an AI program designed to improve student engagement with career services.
• Partnering with the UF AI Academic Initiative to engage with industries for talent acquisition.

First-time Gators may have noticed two new holds on their accounts this semester. These are part of the Career Prep process — a newly implemented program to encourage career exploration and professional development.   

 “It's the university's commitment to students' professional growth,” said Angel Iverson, director for career foundations in the Division of Student Life Career Connections Center. “There are many partners at UF who are working collaboratively to ensure students are aware of all the opportunities in front of them.”  

Holds began appearing for students in their first semester at UF — including transfer, readmitted or traditional first-year students — on June 28, but they will not prevent registration until March 2023.  

The Career Prep process is split into two steps and, in total, takes about 45 minutes to complete.  

At the Career Connections Center we see social media as an extension to our programming. We hope social media can shape and influence how students learn and interact with the center through social learning. 

Social learning is active learning, which means that students participate directly in their own learning rather than passively absorbing information. 

Social media presents information in way that makes sense to and excites students more than  traditional media do,. 

Our social media is meant to be a repository of information. Of course we still have to promote our events, but we do this by sprinkling education content with each post. 

This year we experimented with Reddit and Discord. These are platforms that are not used by official university accounts. We found great success using these platforms. Here at the center we believe we should go to were the students are engaging.

Our plan next year is to use LinkedIn to build networks for recruiters and students. Recruiters can join our group to learn about ways to engage with our students. Students can join groups to network with recruiters. 

Students are getting an inside look at how they can get a leg up in their industry from University of Florida alumni, thanks to the Career Connections Center.

Since the launch of the Gator Career Consultant Program just over a year ago, more than 230 alumni have signed up to lead workshops, hold one-on-one consultations or share their insights via podcast or social media.

Career Planning Appointment By Types

All Interactions By Career Action Plan

1. Accounting
2. Business Management and Administration
3. Retail

Fairs

• Fall 2020 Virtual Materials Science and Engineering-Nuclear Engineering Career Fair
• Fall 2020 Agricultural and Biological Engineering Virtual Career Fair
• Spring 2021 College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Career Expo
• Chomp the Vote - Public Policy Showcase

• UF Law Virtual Private Sector Networking Night
• UF Law Spring 2021 Virtual Public Interest Fair
• Spring 2021 Materials Sciences Virtual Interview Day
• Spring 2020 Virtual Student Personnel in Higher Education Visitation Days

The UF Career Connections Center served as the host of the 2021 Statewide Job Fair. Held virtually, the 2021 Statewide Job Fair had 240 registered companies- a 31% increase from 2021’s pre-covid employer participation of 223. Notable employers that participated were Procter & Gamble (P&G), Verizon, Fisher Investments, EY, U.S. Department of State, Morgan Stanley, and GEICO. Over 2800 1:1 sessions and group meetings were booked which served as opportunities for students across Florida to engage with employers. The Career Connections Center was excited to have served as the host career center and doing its part in assisting to facilitate these connections. Due to the success of the 2021 Statewide Job Fair, the UF Career Connections Center will host the 2022 Statewide Job Fair.

FCC Statewide Job Fair Marketing by the Numbers:

• 400 on-campus residents reached through flyering in residence halls.
• 11,127 students emails through Gator CareerLink
• 12,000 people reached via Twitter
• 2,711 people reached via Facebook post
• 1,550 people reached via Instagram post

The Career Connections Center is National Recognized and Locally Engaged: 

6 Local, Regional, and National Conferences Presentations and Webinars

2 Individual Staff Awards

2 Committees Served on across National and Regional Associations

16 Campus Committees Served on at UF

1 Gainesville Committees Served on to Support the Local Economy

2 Professional Certifications Received

1 Staff Served as Student Success Coaches

1 C3 staff members taught UF courses