Exploring Opportunities Using Career Communities

The beauty of a college degree is the opportunities it opens up to students. We tell our students, “You can do anything with a degree!” but this open-ended mindset can be terrifying to some. To make a tangible connection between students and the opportunities available to them, the Center for Career Development has introduced Career Communities.

Rather than focusing on majors, Career Communities are industry-focused groups that assist undergraduate and graduate students in narrowing down their career aspirations into manageable and relevant fields. They also allow faculty, staff, employers, and alumni to interact with students through specific and targeted communities by writing blogs, participating as mentors, or helping guide students to the Communities that fall within their career interests. Students are encouraged to explore more than one community – given that each aligns with interests, values, goals, and possible career paths. Students who are still exploring many options can find helpful content through the Career Exploration Community page.

Each Career Community includes:

Featured Alumni Mentors

Students can see a selection of UConn alumni in the Husky Mentor Network that are working in fields that align with the community. Alumni in the Husky Mentor Network are excited to give back to the next generation of Huskies in the workforce by giving one-on-one advice about their industry, the job search and application process, facilitating practice interviews and more. Students can use a Career Community as a jumping-off point to begin making connections in their fields of interest.

Featured Jobs and Internships

There are over 1,000 employers using Handshake, UConn’s online recruiting platform, to post open positions for full-time employment as well as internship and co-op opportunities. Each Career Community features an array of current open postings within their related industries. Students can get a sense of the employment options available to them and either apply for one of these positions or jump over to Handshake to search for related openings.

News and Notes

Whether exploring career paths, looking for jobs or just curious to know more about industry trends, Career Community blogs are a great place to get information. Blogs are written by Center for Career Development staff and student interns, as well as UConn faculty, staff, employers, alumni and more.

Professional Development and Research

There are multiple student and professional organizations that students interested in a community may find beneficial. Each Career Community makes these organizations visible to students, helping them find and network with individuals with similar professional interests. Students can also use an array of Vault Industry Guides to research emerging job trends, salaries and more.

The goal of Career Communities is to act as an information hub for students to gain the knowledge and confidence they need to find a meaningful career in an industry they’re excited about. If you would like to contribute to a community by writing a guest blog, please reach out to us at career@uconn.edu.

By Nancy Bilmes
Nancy Bilmes Director (she/her)