Career Development Resources

Worcester State University’s Career Services has a wealth of career development resources that are available in hard copy and on our online internship/job database, Handshake.

To assist students in fully exploring the links between their academic planning and career planning, please encourage them to complete their Handshake registration and begin taking advantage of the below noted resources as early as possible, preferably in their first year. Within this online database they will find a variety of resources that will carry them throughout their university experience and beyond. Here is a sampling:

• Internship listings
• Full-time, part-time and seasonal job listings
• Career development materials (all available in the Handshake Document Library):
  • Action Plan for Finding an Internship
  • Career Services- What We Do
  • Four-Year Career Guide
  • Information Interview
  • Interview Questions Asked by Employers and Questions You Should Ask
  • LinkedIn: An Essential Job Search Resource
  • List of Professional References
  • Mock Interview Guide
  • Preparing for a Career Fair
  • Resume and Cover Letter Guide
  • Structuring Your Personal Graduate/Professional School Statement
  • Telephone Interviews
  • Thank You Letters After an Interview
  • Writing Objectives and Summary Statements
  • Career Counseling
  • What Can I Do With This Major?
  • LancerLink – Professional Opportunities
  • Alumni Mentor Network

Tell us how many students you have, and we will print the Worcester State Resume and Cover Letter Guide or other materials for you to distribute within your classroom. However, we would love to attend your classroom to introduce these resources to your students ourselves.

What Faculty Are Saying: Resources

“Career Services, both within and outside of my classroom setting, has made available a significant resource to my students in the form of the Worcester State Resume and Cover Letter Guide. It is full of specific professional practices and samples for writing such documents, suitable for those seeking an internship or employment. Students like having a choice, to access it in hard copy or via their Students Portal at Handshake.”

Jeremy Andereatta, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Four Year Career Guide

Four Year Career planning is the ongoing process where you explore your interests and abilities; strategically plan your career goals; and create your future work success by designing learning and action plans to help you achieve your goals.

• Increased awareness and alignment between employees & organizations.
• Development of professional skills.
• Improves attraction, retention & motivation.
• Assists with growth, downsizing, redeployment and succession planning.
• Increases employee performance.

Resume and Cover Letter Guide

Do you need to write a cover letter to apply for a job? In most cases, the answer is yes. Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job interview or having your resume ignored, so it makes good sense to devote the necessary time and effort to writing effective cover letters.

Career Counseling

Please encourage students to make an appointment with a career counselor for resume and cover letter critiques, assistance in preparing a portfolio, guidance on graduate school personal statements, mock interview practice, and more.

We also offer:

• Group career guidance and planning
• Career assessments, including:
  • Myers Briggs Type Indicator
  • Holland Self-Directed Search
• Guidance on choosing a major and which path(s) to take
• Internship and Job-search guidance, including help with resumes and cover letters

What Can I Do With This Major?

Whether your students are exploring multiple majors or searching for information about chosen field(s), the What Can I Do with this Major? website will help connect major disciplines to careers. Here they will learn about the typical career areas and the types of employers that hire people studying in particular fields, as well as strategies to make themselves a more marketable candidate. Advise students to continue research on major disciplines and careers through the websites provided.

Get Started

Handshake – Professional Opportunities

If your students need help with their resume/CV, have them download our Resume and Cover Letter Guide for assistance. (It is also available to download in the Handshake Document Library.) Advise them to schedule a one-on-one appointment with Career Services. The Handshake system allows them to create and manage their own online professional profile. The information they input will be available to prospective employers who post positions in Handshake and search for qualified candidates. Instruct them to upload their resume/CV (Microsoft Word, PDF, etc.) to support their internship/job searching efforts. They are to use their Worcester State email and password to set up and access their Handshake account.