18 Questions Every College Student Should Ask Their University’s Career Center

Here is a list of questions every college student should ask their university’s career center:

1. Do you have a career advisor or coach who can work with me while I’m attending this school? (Ideally, you want to work with the same person for all 4 years. This way you are working with someone who knows you vs. starting from square one each time you make an appointment.)
2. Who can help me create a strong resume? Can I work with someone who has experience in my industries of interest?  Most college career centers proof resumes for grammar, format and punctuation, not so much content. Ideally, you want someone who is going to help you add meaningful and strong content to your resume. You want someone who is going to interview you about your past job experiences (even if you’ve only been a camp counselor or life guard) and then translate those jobs into words conveying responsibility, skills and achievement.
3. Do you offer feedback or a workshop on setting up and creating LinkedIn profiles as well as how to use LinkedIn to connect and network?
4. Do you offer a mentorship program?
   • If no; Can you help match me to an alumni mentor related to my intended career/industry? (I can’t stress the importance of getting a mentor. Too many benefits to list here. Some schools will match you up with one mentor. Some schools will match you up with one mentor each semester. That’s 8 professionals you can get to know BEFORE you graduate!)
   • If yes: How does the mentoring program work? Can you match me with more than one alumni? Maybe in 2 different industries as I try to decide which one is right for me?
5. Does the career center have an email newsletter I can subscribe to that will keep me posted on career and networking events as well as webinars featuring speakers on various topics related to getting hired?
6. Can someone teach me how to identify alumni or professionals on LinkedIn who may be interested in talking to me about my field(s) of interest?
7. Can someone teach me how to leverage LinkedIn to engage with people working in my fields of interest?
8. Is there an online university alumni directory or database that I can have access to in order to reach out and connect with alumni?
9. Does the university have a partnership/relationship with Handshake? Can someone show me how to make the most of using this app?
10. How will the university be conducting internship/job fairs during the pandemic?
    • If virtual: Are you offering a workshop teaching students how to best navigate a virtual job fair?
    • If in-person: Are you offering a workshop teaching students how to best navigate an in-person job fair?
11. Do you have a list of companies that frequently hire graduates from our university and contacts at those companies?
12. How can you connect me to alumni at specific companies? How can you connect me to alumni who work in the XYZ or ABC industries?
13. Can you help me identify relevant associations/organizations I can join that are relevant to my industries of interest?
14. Do you have sample cover letters for my industry or a guide on how to write a strong cover letter/email?
15. Can someone help me prepare for interviews including coming up with answers to behavioral interview questions?
16. Do you have someone I can practice mock interviews with?
17. Can you help me create a list of smart questions to ask during formal and informational interviews?
18. Do you offer any types of career or personality assessment tools to help me better understand my strengths, innate abilities and values as related to different careers and roles?