Preparing for your future career starts TODAY!
Choose Your Major or Career
Career decision-making is a life-long process that includes exploring the world of work and understanding how your skills, interests, personality, and values connect to it. Career Services staff can help you through this process, offering guidance about how to uncover your career sweet spot.
Your career sweet spot means that you are pursuing careers that use your skills, fit your interests, compliment your personality strengths, and are in line with your values. This isn't an easy balance to achieve, but remember, Career Services can equip you with the skills to evaluate your options as you move through your academic career and as you navigate the changes that occur in your life.
There are many ways to engage in this process:
-LEARNING ABOUT YOU-
-RESEARCHING YOUR OPTIONS-
-CONNECTING THE DOTS-
Talk with Career Services staff. Weigh your options, discuss pros and cons of each, and together, we'll figure out your career sweet spot! Call 318-797-5062 to get started.
Find a Job or Internship
Most people begin an internship or job search operating off assumptions. Continue reading to learn how to get started and about the sorts of activities and resources that will set you up for success!
LEARN ABOUT JOB AND INTERNSHIP SEARCH BEST PRACTICES
Develop a comprehensive, proactive internship or job search plan before you get started. Utilize techniques that will increase your chances of uncovering leads and securing interviews in today's global, interconnected, and technology-driven economic climate. Read this article that uses examples to compare effective and weak search techniques. If you've already begun your search, evaluate what you are currently doing against what this article lays out. How does your strategy measure up against best practices? Participate in a workshop about internship and job searching.
RESEARCH AND NARROW YOUR OPTIONS
What is your internship or job search target? Can you describe the sort of duties you would like to perform in a job or internship? Can you name examples of organizations that might offer your ideal experience? Can you pinpoint metropolitan areas where you would like to work? For some, it is easy to answer these questions, but for others, answering these questions feels overwhelming. If you would like help articulating your career goals, start by exploring this page of the website. Resources like WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS MAJOR? and the LINKEDIN ALUMNI TOOL can be good places to start.
PREPARE YOUR MATERIALS
Let's be sure that your application materials showcase your accomplishments and tell a compelling story about the skills you can offer. Use these materials to build confidence about how you are presenting yourself to employers on paper. Need more help? Participate in a RESUME WRITING WORKSHOP, stop by during WALK-INS (offered each Thursday between 10 AM and 12 PM), or call the office to schedule an appointment.
FIND JOB OR INTERNSHIP POSTINGS
Set up an account with the university's online job board, called Handshake. Employers who are interested in hiring LSUS students and alumni post a variety of opportunities onto this site, including part-time roles, internships, and full-time positions. Stay up-to-date about new opportunities posted to the site by periodically checking Career Services social media channels, too (Career Services Instagram, Career Services Facebook).
In addition to the university's online job board, use popular search engines like LINKEDIN and INTERNSHIPS.COM. Uncover industry and geographic specific resources by conducting smart Google searches: use your favorite search engine and type "KEYWORD + job posting sites." Evaluate the results you receive back and determine if the job boards will help you uncover high quality postings connected to your target.
Career Services staff has also curated a list of identity-based resources to help students from marginalized communities clarify their career direction and to increase their competitiveness and connections. Find the Affinity Group Resources here.
INVOLVE OTHERS
Talk to anyone who will listen to you about your internship and job search goals. Family, friends, professors, mentors, and Career Services staff are all eager to help you and support you toward securing the experience you are after.
Use informational interviews to build one-on-one relationships with people who can offer advice, insight, and an insider's perspective of the industry you would like to enter. GUIDE TO INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS, 200 QUESTIONS TO ASK DURING INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
Events are another great way to speak with individuals about your internship and job search goals. Consider attending the Career and Internship Fair, offered each semester, to talk to representatives from organizations that are seeking to hire folks for part-time roles, internships, and full-time jobs.
PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW
Build confidence when speaking about yourself to prospective employers. First, attend an INTERVIEWING WORKSHOP, review CAREER SPOTS videos, and use printed resources like this INTERVIEW PREP CHECKLIST. Then, use InterviewPrep to practice. InterviewStream is a mock interview platform that allows you to create and record practice interviews. Once you have completed your mock interview, you can send a link to the video to Career Services or trusted members of your network for feedback.
Get Into Graduate or Professional School
Are you considering graduate school? It’s never too early to plan for education opportunities beyond your undergraduate career. When appropriate for your career goals, we encourage you to consider furthering your education through graduate or professional school. Whether continued education occurs right here at LSUS or at another institution, you can utilize the resources below to prepare for and navigate the graduate school admissions process. There are many decisions to be made so do your research and gain as much information about your options as possible.
Should I go to graduate school?
Graduate School Application Timeline
Applying to Grad School: The Ultimate Guide
Look to resources such as gradschools.com and petersons.com for more help deciding to attend graduate school, choosing a program, planning your finances, and navigating the application and preparation process. For further assistance, make an appointment with a member of our staff.
WORKSHOP AND EVENTS SCHEDULE
Career Services offers hour-long workshops on resume writing, interviewing, LinkedIn, and other topics related to the internship and job search throughout the semester. While we all deal with the effects of COVID, we will address how the pandemic has affected the economy and the job market as it intersects with each topic. All workshops are livestreamed via Zoom if you cannot attend in person.
Check the University calendar, the Career Services Facebook page, and Handshake for more information about each event and to RSVP about attending. Zoom links will be available on Handshake and in a weekly newsletter delivered to your student email. Download our Spring 2024 workshop and events calendar here.
2024 Regional Career Fair
Wednesday, April 10
10 AM – 2 PM CST in the University Center at LSU Shreveport
Connect with employers and graduate/professional school representatives to explore your options, and to learn about part-time work, internships, full-time opportunities, and programs to continue your education at a regional event, jointly offered by LSUS, BPCC, Centenary, NLTCC, NSU-Nursing, and SUSLA.
The event is open to first-year thru graduate students in all majors. Folks working toward completing their bachelor’s and graduate degrees are encouraged to attend. We also welcome alumni to come back to campus to participate in the event! If you’d like to attend, pre-register on Handshake.
Questions? Call 318-797-5062 or email career@lsus.edu
Handshake
HANDSHAKE AT LSU SHREVEPORT
Handshake is a modern, sleek, online career resource for students and alumni to:
- Explore thousands of available jobs and internships, organized in collections based on your interests
- Quickly build a profile that helps employers search for qualified students and alumni
- Track event and application deadlines to plan ahead and put your best foot forward
- Schedule on-campus interviews
- Connect with employers at recruiting events
- Build your confidence and career readiness by engaging in professional development workshops and resources
LOGIN TODAY!
Current students visit lsus.joinhandshake.com. Enter your LSUS email address and claim the account that we've created for you. The advantage of activating your account is that many of your student-connected information (like PROGRAM OF STUDY, CLASSIFICATION, and GPA) will already be loaded into your profile. After you've activated your account, fill out your profile, upload a resume, and take Handshake for a spin!
Alumni receive free access to Handshake and all other resources offered through Career Services. Alumni should request an account using their personal email address and wait up to 48 business hours while we verify your status as an alum.
Looking for help? Handshake offers self-guided tutorials, available on their website.
A NOTE ABOUT FRAUDULENT AND SCAM JOB POSTINGS
LSUS Career Services works very hard to keep fraudulent postings off Handshake by vetting and researching all companies and postings that come through the site. If common suspicious features, or "red flags" arise, we make a decision about whether or not to allow the employer or role to affiliate with us. In addition to the precautions we take, you also should research suspicious companies or postings in order to make fully informed decisions about pursuing an opportunity, whether you find it on Handshake or on your own.
To avoid scammers who appear to pose as legitimate employers with legitimate jobs, practice these precautionary measures:
- Verify the opportunity by contacting the actual business that posted the job. Consider going through the Better Business Bureau.
- Be suspicious when the job posting does not have an application or interview process, is described as "running errands," or asks you to purchase gift cards.
- If you think you see something suspicious on Handshake, contact Career Services (career@lsus.edu) so that we can delete the posting.
For more information about avoiding internet scams, read Ten Things You Can Do to Avoid Fraud, courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission. Also, review this list of common red flags connected to job postings from our counterparts in Baton Rouge, the LSU Olinde Career Center.
