Five Virtual Resources and Services for UF Students
Being an online student has its advantages…the flexibility of attending class from the comfort of your home or from the corner coffee shop, engaging with your professors from anywhere in the world, and having access to some of the impeccable resources that a campus student has. Whether you’re in Gainesville, FL or on the other side of the world – the Career Connections Center has services for every University of Florida student to take advantage of. Here are different online and virtual resources as recommended by Assistant Director for Industry Relations Kelly Barton.
CHOMP
One of our most popular online resource is our online tool that helps students figure out their passion and how it can relate to a major. CHOMP, which stands for Career Help or Major Planning, has the ability to help you explore potential majors and careers by taking an online survey about your interest and goals. From there, you can use these results to research majors and career fields more aligned with your interests.
Career Planning Appointments (Online/On-the-Phone)
Another resource that can be helpful is a career planning appointment and in today’s world, you don’t need to be physically present when you meet with your career counselor. Students have the option to Skype or phone in to get all of your career questions answered. With career planning appointments, we can even look over a resume or personal statement via video calls. Who says you need to be in town in order to get the individualized career help you need?
Mock Interview and Resume Tips
On top of career planning appointments, you can also navigate through our Gator CareerLink (GCL) portal and find useful resources like resume handouts, cover letter templates, LinkedIn profile examples, and virtual mock interviews that you can use as you prepare for applying to your dream jobs! With technology, you no longer need to wait to practice your interviewing style, you can simply log into GCL and begin recording yourself and review your responses, body language, and other vocal techniques you want to improve on.
Virtual Career Fairs
One really useful piece of our office is the ability to network without the need of being physically present. We’ve highlighted three of our biggest virtual fairs that can be useful for any student studying engineering, political science and everything in between.
SEC/ACC Virtual Fair
This fair is a career fair made for over 25 schools that fall in the SEC or ACC. Companies like Wells Fargo, Boeing, and Enterprise attend this virtual career fair to recruit students for internships and full time jobs. The SEC/ACC Career Fair will take place in early 2018.
The Just in Time Virtual Fair is a fair held during the summer to help students who are looking for that last minute internship or opportunity to gain experience. This virtual fair is open to UF students and alumni.
Graduate and Professional Schools Fair
This fair is a graduate school and professional school fair that has the capability to go virtual as needed; schools such as UF College of Medicine, Georgetown Law School and many others are available to speak to about their grad schools and respective programs. Our GAP Fair will take place on October 18, registration and attending schools can be found on our website.
On top of these fairs, there are many other networking opportunities to be found on our Gator CareerLink website, like virtual JPMorgan networking series and different virtual career fairs held by various companies and entities. Many of these can be found on our “workshops” tab in your GCL.
UF Career Services App
You can expect different tools and widgets in the new UF Career Services App that has similar usability as the website. From the app, you can schedule career planning appointments and find maps on the layout of different career events and fairs. The app, which is available in the Apple Store and Google Play, will become your one stop shop on all things career on a mobile platform. Make sure to download the app on your mobile device and download our 2017-2018 Career Events Guide. From there, you will be able to see all the major events happening for the next academic year.
As a student at UF, you shouldn’t be limited to career development on campus. Whether you’re studying abroad, taking time off or just need a day at home, we’ve got your back. Make sure to utilize all of our countless resources and visit crc.ufl.edu and log in to your Gator CareerLink profile for everything career related.