Enhance Your UF Experience:
Career Development
Building a resume while you are in college is crucial to your success. A resume lists your education, GPA, career objectives, work experience, special skills, extracurricular involvement, and references. What you do now to build on these areas will make all the difference when you start looking for a job.
Do an Internship
Show future employers that you have the smarts to take what you've learned in the classroom and apply it to real world situations. Through internships, you can build your resume, find out if you've chosen the right major, and establish connections with companies that you might want to work for.
Develop Professional Skills
You can build a repertoire of professional skills through work experiences, college courses, workshops and seminars, and extracurricular activities. Professional skills include presentation skills; interpersonal skills; business writing, resume, interview and job search skills; knowledge of business ethics; and leadership and teamwork abilities.
You can build your professional skill set through internships and other work experiences, college courses, workshops, and extracurricular activities. Improve your written and oral communication skills by taking speaking and writing courses. Take resume, interviewing, and dress for success workshops through the Career Resource Center, the UF Retail Center, and student organization workshops. Take elective courses like "Job Search Strategies" or "Effective Career Management" to expand your job search skills. And develop your team-building and leadership abilities by actively taking part in one or more student organizations.
Start Building Your Network
Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know. To maximize your chances for employment, you need to develop and maintain relationships with on campus recruiters, employers, student organizations, faculty, academic advisors, administrators, fellow classmates, and professionals in your field.
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Develop Contacts through Internships and Other Employment
Knowing someone who has firsthand knowledge of your capabilities, and being able to call upon him or her for a reference, is crucial to building a solid professional network.
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Meet with On Campus Recruiters
One way to find an internship and develop professional contacts is to meet with on campus recruiters. Be sure to go to Career Showcase and use "Gator CareerLink" to sign up for interviews, submit resumes and cover letters, view dates for company information sessions, and track your job search activities.
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Join a Warrington Student Organization
Business student organizations provide excellent networking opportunities: you'll gain special access to on campus recruiters, meet and work with faculty advisors, attend conferences, and form friendships with other students who share your interests.
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Develop Relationships with Faculty, Advisors, and Students
Each day, you have an opportunity to foster relationships with your instructors, advisors, and fellow classmates. Work on creating positive relationships with these individuals by going to class, talking with your professors, going to social events, and visiting with your advisor once a semester.
Establishing relationships with others is central to your college experience. Not only will you improve your interpersonal skills, you will make valuable contacts that can help you along the road to success. As a business major, you take a lot of online courses, so you must take the initiative to make an extra effort to get to know your professors, advisors, and fellow students. To develop these relationships, you should...
- Introduce yourself to others
- Speak with faculty at least once a week
- Attend class regularly (go to the live sections when you can!)
- Visit your professors during office hours at least once a week
- Sit in the front row
- Get hired as a teaching assistant
- Actively participate in student organizations
- Work side-by-side with the faculty advisors who lead the student organization(s) you are involved in
- Work alongside faculty on a research project
- Seek out opportunities to serve your college
- Meet with your academic advisor at least once each semester
- Have fun with your classmates!
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Attend Professional Development Seminars
Attending professional development seminars will help build your network. By attending these, you'll learn more about your major and make key contacts with accomplished professionals. Listed below, are speaker series offered by the College. Other professional development seminars relating to a variety of career fields are also offered by business student organizations, and through other colleges.
Know Your Options: Explore Business Majors and Careers
What exactly can you do with a marketing degree? Is finance the right major for you? If you are unsure about what you can do with your degree, you need to actively research your major.
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Researching Majors
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Helpful Links
Online Career Descriptions
- UF's MyPlan
- UF Career Resource Center Library
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
- O*Net Online
- Career Info Net
- Careers in Business
- Vocational Information Center
Professional Career Counseling, Career Coaching, and Mentoring
Career & Academic Peer Mentors
Stephano Eckardt,CAP Mentor
CAP Mentors help business majors find internships, write resumes, practice interview skills, and explore a variety of career resources.
