Undergraduate Career Services
We believe planning your career also means planning your life. The Student Life and Career Design office helps you prepare for life after graduation through a combination of coursework, career coaching sessions, and numerous career and student life-related events and programs.
Find support for all points of your career development process:
- Explore and choose majors, careers, and industries
- Identify strengths, interests, values, and skills
- Develop resumes and cover letters
- Advance job search, interview, and offer negotiation strategies and skills
- Build your network
Learn more about students' outcomes in our employment reports.
Explore careers and build your skills
Our services and resources are designed to help you explore and map your undergraduate journey toward a future profession. From required courses to career coaching sessions, you'll acquire and practice the skills you need to prepare for and pursue your career goals.
Coursework
During your first year at Carlson, you’ll start developing a toolkit to make the most of your college experience and prepare for your job search. You’ll take two courses with our Student Life and Career Design team: Design Your Life and Design Your Career.
Design Your Life
Using the design thinking process, the Design Your Life course equips you with the tools to draft a college experience that best aligns with who you are and what you hope to get out of undergrad. You’ll explore and identify your values and strengths, learn about education and career opportunities, and develop professional and personal leadership skills.
Design Your Career
The Design Your Career course prepares you with the knowledge and skills required to navigate the job search process. You’ll explore majors and careers, and build your foundation in resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, and networking. You’ll also learn about different aspects of the job search process from a variety of professionals, including organizational recruiters, alumni, and other business professionals.
Individual career coaching
You’ll have access to personalized guidance on any aspect of your Carlson experience and career development process. Whether you’re exploring majors and careers or have already identified your goal, there’s a staff career coach who can assist you.
Our career coaches offer a wide range of expertise that covers specific business functions, such as marketing and management information systems, to types of organizations you can work for and career pathways including public and nonprofit management, international business, and consulting.
Choose to meet with them in-person or virtually any time of the year during your Carlson experience.
Peer career advising
Peer career coaches are available during the academic year to help you with:
- Resume or cover letter review
- Interview prep and practice
- Consulting case interview practice
In addition, they can share insights and advice regarding finding, securing, and completing internships. Who knows, you just might hear about your dream internship opportunity through these advisory peer relationships.
Whatever your major and/or minor, there’s a peer career coach pursuing the same discipline. There are also peer career coaches dedicated to helping to navigate your study abroad experience.
Engagement Coaching
The Carlson School's unique approach to career guidance integrates our career services with student life. Meet with engagement coaches who can support your Carlson journey. They'll help you identify ways to get involved and take advantage of the numerous activities and events, student organizations, and other opportunities offered each year. Most importantly, you'll learn to connect your Carlson activities to aspiring career goals with their assistance.
Events and programs
There are many events, programs, and resources to help you strengthen your skills and prepare for a successful career search.
- Career weeks - Participate in workshops, panels, and other activities over a week (or more) designed to prepare you for success during the career fairs just for Carlson students.
- Majors showcases - Explore majors and learn how you can declare them.
- Engagement fairs - Discover student organizations at Carlson and ways to get involved.
- Career Exploration Program - Complete a series of personalized career coaching sessions designed to give you structured support as you explore your interests.
- Student Leadership Program - Acquire effective leadership skills and develop strategies to talk about your leadership experiences.
- Guides and templates - Access our entire library of guides and templates to help you with any stage of your job search process.
Job search opportunities and resources
Skills only improve with practice and experience. So take advantage of the numerous opportunities to meet employers and find an internship or job.
- Career fairs - Connect with dozens of potential employers each semester to learn about internships and job opportunities at events just for Carlson students and the entire university
- Career treks - Visit potential employers at their company’s location to explore careers in Minneapolis and across the U.S.
- On-campus recruiting - Attend recruiting events, such as information sessions, informal coffee chat sessions, and on-campus interviews, hosted by a variety of employers right here at Carlson.
- Job and networking boards - Access various online job search and networking platforms to find local, national, and international career opportunities, and to network with alumni and employers.
- Resume books - Sign up to include your resume in a custom resume book for organizations looking for Carlson students with specific skills, industry interests, or geographic preferences.
- Professional attire rental - Request free business professional clothes to help you succeed in your job search process.
Support after you graduate
You have access to career services, workshops, and one-on-one career advising appointments after you graduate—for life.
