APRIL 16, 2020 — The University Career Center at UTSA has been making the transition to have more resources available online since the beginning of the summer 2019 semester. The goal is to make the center’s resources more readily available for all students and alumni.
“Over the past year we’ve been building toward a future state of career management for our students and alumni,” Mario Vela, executive director of the University Career Center, said. “A future where we are offering customized programming, using new tech platforms to enhance our offerings, collaborating throughout UTSA and with our employer partners, and experimenting with new initiatives. The shift to virtual accelerated our efforts, and we look forward to rolling out new options to partner with our students and alumni.”
This past summer the center launched a plan to bring VMock to all students at UTSA. VMock is a 24/7 online resume review tool that uses artificial intelligence to review, score and provide feedback to students based on parameters placed by the center’s counseling team. The center has always had online resources available to students, including Handshake, InterviewStream, CareerShift and online résumé samples. Students can learn more about these resources on the new University Career Center Online.
Services formerly available in-person have been scaled to be conducted virtually. Students can request an appointment on Handshake, as they normally would, and career counselors will send students a link to a Webex meeting. Students will still receive the same standard of service but in the comfort of their home. If a student or alumnus is preparing for an interview and wants to practice before they meet with the company, they can visit the University Career Center Online and use InterviewStream. Here, students and alumni can orally practice their interview and get feedback from the system on how they could improve.
Adrian Ramirez, director of career development and college relations, said, “Our career counselors continue to meet with students virtually, offering career planning resources and recommendations tailored to student interests. Additionally, our services are available to UTSA alumni for life. We welcome the chance to serve the UTSA community and encourage students and alumni to access our team of career counselors.”
Students and alumni can also use Handshake and CareerShift to conduct their job search. Handshake is a platform where students can find employers looking to hire UTSA students and alumni. Jobs posted on Handshake are with organizations that are directly working with universities. With CareerShift students can find jobs and internships outside of UTSA partners. CareerShift pulls job postings from job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, etc., but it also pulls from organizations’ job boards. Opportunities that might not be posted in any public job boards will be presented to users on CareerShift.
Rachael Fletcher, associate director of internship development, is currently working with employers to assist them in the transition of their internship opportunities to virtual opportunities so that students can continue to earn experience in their field.
⇒ Explore the resources on the new University Career Center Online.
“The internship landscape has changed rapidly over the past month, and I anticipate that it will continue to change as we enter into the summer semester, a time when a majority of student internships occur,” Fletcher said. “While there are a number of companies canceling their summer intern programs, others are exploring the option to convert them to virtual experiences.”
The University Career Center is providing resources to students through COVINTERN to identify programs being canceled, those looking to hire and companies expanding their current programs. Students also have the opportunity to pursue micro-internships, short-term projects with industry partners to hone technical and marketable skills. The career center continues to connect industry partners to virtual internship training and development through InternBridge to equip them with the tools necessary to continue their internships virtually.
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