Whether you’ve just started university and you’re thinking about your career options, or you’re heading into your final semester as an undergrad and you’re starting to apply for jobs in your chosen field, it’s worth finding out how your school’s career services department (CSD) can help you.
Most university campuses have a career services department, which is set up to help students connect with business professionals, enhance their career prospects, and ultimately, find a job or an internship.
In this article, we’re going to outline the benefits of using career services and explain the different ways in which they might be able to help you.
The benefits of using career services
Networking and mentorship opportunities.
Career services can help you extend your network of professional contacts by putting you in touch with mentors, alumni, and business leaders, all of whom may be able to offer you advice on your career path (and potentially help you to find your first job after graduation). At EU Business School, the Career Services Department runs regular conferences, partnerships, and alumni events to maximize opportunities for our students.
Up-to-date industry insights.
The career services department will have all the latest information regarding the necessary skills, salary expectations, and more, for the field you’re looking to enter. When looking online, it can be difficult to know whether the figures you’re looking at are up to date, but career services collect data straight from hiring managers to give you an overview of the market as it currently is.
Expert assistance for free.
Career services departments can help you with tasks such as writing and reviewing your CV – services which, in the professional world, can be quite expensive. As a student, the assistance of the CSD is free, as any fees are covered by the cost of your tuition. So, take advantage of their services before you graduate! Our career services department is primed to help EU students build their professional online identities, optimize and tweak their CVs, and edit their cover letters ready to apply for internships, graduate programs, and management roles.
Getting help from career services
1. Career guidance
Whether you already know what field you want to go into after you graduate, or you have absolutely no idea, talking to a careers advisor can help you narrow down your options. They can provide information on the different roles available to you based on your degree program, skills, and experience. You might be surprised by the range of positions your course can prepare you for and talking over the job responsibilities with someone who can share current industry trends and insights could spark inspiration that helps you to decide on a set path.
If you want to find out whether you’re suited for a particular career, you can take aptitude tests and assessments that measure your personality, values, and passions to tell you how compatible they are with certain job roles. So, even if you already have a career path in mind, it’s still worth talking with a careers advisor, to find out if you’re on the right track.
2. Admissions and recruitment
The career services department is there to help you find the right job or internship for you. To showcase the opportunities that are available, they will often invite their connections from local companies and global corporations to careers fairs, giving students the chance to network and apply for positions. The EU CSD has helped graduates land roles with Microsoft, BMW, Meta, and Amazon.
We also have a job board, which we keep regularly updated with job postings. Search the list of open opportunities on your school’s portal, and book an appointment with a careers advisor. The advice you get from them regarding your CV or upskilling may be key to landing your desired role.
3. CV and interview workshops
Many people find it difficult to write their CV. It’s important to strike the right tone from the first word, and there are lots of contradictory ideas around what your CV should or should not look like, along with what information you should include. Luckily, this is something that career services can help with. They may offer free reviews, or run CV workshops, giving you a better understanding of what employers are looking to find.
The careers department at your school may also run interview workshops, which teach you how to dress professionally and answer common interview questions, helping you to prepare for meetings with potential employers.
4. Finance
Career services may be able to help you with some aspects of financial planning. The data they collect from HR departments and graduate surveys helps them to keep track of current salary estimates in different fields. The most recent figures from our own career services department shows that EU graduates are earning €60-150k post-graduation. Individual salaries vary depending on sector, location, experience, etc, however.
Talking to a careers advisor can give you an idea of how much you can expect to earn in a chosen field, which in turn can help you manage your student loans. Many students take out government or private loans to attend university, and once they graduate, they must pay back what they have borrowed. The CSD at your university will be able to help you choose a career aligned with your interests, and give you an idea of how much you can expect to earn. This will help you to figure out how much debt you’ll be likely to pay off each month.
Career services at EU Business School
At EU Business School, we’ve built up close relationships with local companies, and have been growing our network of hiring managers and partners for almost 50 years. Coaching from our career services department gives our students a distinct and competitive edge in job interviews.
In the 2020-2021 academic year we saw:
- 51 company visits
- 383 job opportunities posted
- 96% placement success rate
- €60-150k salary range after graduation
If you’re interested in finding out how an EU Business School degree can help you achieve your career objectives, and you want to discover more about our independent, dedicated career services department, take a look at our website today.
