Career Center

Teacher Scholar Resources

Integrating career knowledge into student spaces such as the class curriculum is one of the most powerful ways we have to help students start thinking early about how all their experiences develop who they are and shape their future. We want to provide resources to faculty/staff that allow them to incorporate career in their student work.

If there is some need you uncover that we haven’t addressed, please feel free to contact Dr. Tammison Smith at tsmith2@stcloudstate.edu.

Career Topic Units (D2L)

Are you looking to integrate career issues into your curriculum? Career Topic Units were designed to be whole entities that could be embedded into a D2L shell and include videos, links to topical resources, and a thought starter activity. However, any piece of the unit can be used as a stand-alone piece to support existing curriculum or as assignment starters. We have Career Topic Units covering the following areas:

Career Path
Resume
Internship Search
Job Search
Interviewing
Networking
LinkedIn

Please email Dr. Tammison Smith with the names of the Career Topic Units you would like.

Career FAQ's

"I don't know what I want to major in." "I'm questioning my major."
- Career Assessments to explore possible majors and careers based on interests, values, personality, and skills.
- Free games, surveys, and assessments ask students to identify values, interests, skills, personal qualities, and lifestyle in order to generate potential careers that match.
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality assessment that matches potential careers based on personality type. The cost is $20 and students receive a 10-page career report.
"What do I put on a resume?"
- Creating Resumes
- Resume writing is broken down to help students better understand what is included in a resume, ideas for action verbs describing job functions, and how best to match their skills with the ones sought by employers.
- Resumes can be reviewed through appointments scheduled on Handshake or emailed as a Word document to careercenter@stcloudstate.edu for feedback within 24 business hours.
"How do I get a job or internship?"
- Strategies, resources, and tips on landing their ideal job and internship.
- Students have a free Handshake account that connects them to campus jobs, internships, and other positions geared towards college students.
- EdPost is a site geared toward those intending to work in K-12 education.
- Some students find jobs and internships by attending job fairs, career fairs, or other employer networking events.
"How do I get ready for an interview? What questions should I prepare to answer?"
- Practice opportunities and resources, tips for success, and different types of interviews.
- Big Interview is a free online AI mock interview tool that gives feedback and recommendations based on recorded responses and body language.
- Big Interview also offers different categories of interviews from industry to higher education, with common questions based on interview type.
- Mock Interviews allow students to practice live interviews in a lower-stakes setting, and get feedback on their skills with tips on how to improve.

Consultation Services

The university is placing emphasis on faculty producing research, scholarship and creative works and integrating those efforts into their teaching. Additionally, SCSU is asking departments to focus on the quality of their programs to raise their National standing.

The Career Center wants to be a ready partner for research, grants, scholarship, or other projects with a career component that could benefit from the input of a career theory expert. We look forward to consulting with you to answer your questions and help move your project forward.

Please contact Dr. Tammison Smith or Executive Director Michelle Schmitz for a consultation.

Employer - Our Network is Your Network

Info to be shared soon! Until then, contact Dr. Tammison Smith at tsmith2@stcloudstate.edu with questions.

Employment and Experience Opportunities

Come work in the Career Center! We are pleased to offer a variety of opportunities to provide outstanding career services to SCSU students while gaining a wide range of experiences. Depending on what positions are open, we have short-term and long-term roles for undergraduate and graduate students. Please read the descriptions below and apply as indicated.

Peer Career Advisors

Currently all Peer Career Advisor positions in the Career Center are filled.

Graduate Interns

General duties include:

Provide individual career counseling services to students and recent alumni on major/career exploration, self-assessment, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, and job searching.
Collaboratively develop, organize, and present career-related workshops and events to student organizations, classrooms, and residence halls.
Promote Career Center services, presentations and events.
Work on projects to contribute to the general mission and operation of the Career Center.
Develop and/or deliver educational programming to address career related topics.
Provide consultation to faculty, staff, and students on career related issues.
Make appropriate referrals to on- and off-campus community resources.
Contribute as a member of the Career Center team at our larger events.

Qualifications: Must be a graduate student admitted to a recognized program. This is an excellent opportunity for, but not limited to, graduate students seeking careers in; college student development, vocational rehabilitation, human resource management, training and development, and related areas.

Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills are required.
Must possess counseling, advising or mentoring skills.
Ability to represent office in a professional manner to a wide variety of audiences.
Demonstrated initiative and flexibility with good time management skills.
Able to work independently and effectively in a team environment.
Able to effectively utilize resources and be creative.
Demonstrated public speaking skills.
Must have basic PC and web skills to accomplish job responsibilities. Advanced PC skills a plus.
Familiarity with career assessments such as FOCUS2, MBTI a plus.

Typical work hours are weekdays between 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, with some required evenings and weekends for career events and workshops. Every effort is made to accommodate class and practicum schedules. We create a vibrant, developmentally-focused environment with individual supervision, on-going training, and professional development opportunities help to support the developing professional.

Application Process: Submit resume, cover letter stating why you are interested in working in the Career Center, to Dr. Tammison Smith, Associate Director - tsmith2@stcloudstate.edu

Direct questions to Dr. Tammison Smith, 320-308-3932; tsmith2@stcloudstate.edu

Graduate Assistants

Currently all of our Graduate Assistant positions in the Career Center are filled.

Hiring Student Employees

The Career Center works closely with Financial Aid and the School of Graduate Studies to provide one system, Handshake, for students to view all positions available on campus.

For more information on how to utilize Handshake for your hiring needs, visit our About Handshake section.

Refer A Student

We invite you to refer students to the Career Center. To refer a student, email the Career Center at careercenter@stcloudstate.edu with the student's contact information, or show them how to schedule an appointment on Handshake. Below are examples for when to refer students to the Career Center, though any career-related topic is appropriate for referral to our team.

Confusion about which career opportunities relate to specific majors
Needing greater self-awareness about personal skills, values, and interests
Perfecting a resume, cover letter, or personal statement
Exploring industries or networking within a particular industry
Uncertainty about how to find a job or internship
Deciding whether graduate school is necessary
Developing skills for effective interviewing
Building a strategy for networking to gain experience and build contacts
Using LinkedIn to build a brand and research alumni career paths

WHO Logic

In the rapidly changing 21^st century work world, students must be capable and competent at articulating their value to those from whom they seek opportunity. WHO (what; how; outcome) Logic is a practical tool that offers a deceptively simple format for students to follow and remember that is nonetheless deep and rich in meaning and connection to a person’s true purpose. The WHO Logic framework is remarkable flexible and can be used in a wide range of situations were articulating importance is key such as resumes, interview questions, graduate school applications and research pitches. Check out these brief videos to learn more and contact the Career Center for us to engage with your class!

Internship Resources

Approving Internship Experiences information can be found in About Handshake.

Risk Management Issues for Internships

Are your student interns mandated reporters?

Minnesota law requires workers in health care, social service, psychological treatment, child care, education, corrections, law enforcement and clergy, to report suspected child maltreatment.
The Mandated Reporter Training will go through:
- Overview of Minnesota's child protection system.
- The intersection of poverty and neglect and a discussion of racial disparities.
- Basics of mandated reporting.
- Physical abuse.
- Sexual abuse.
- Neglect.
The training is flexible, allowing users to navigate to any module at any time.
After downloading the file, users are advised that if the navigation toolbar does not display at the bottom of the screen, to reduce the computer's task bar.
- Using the mouse, place the cursor on the top edge of the task bar until a double-headed arrow appears. Then drag downward to collapse the toolbar and a navigation toolbar for the presentation will become visible.

Reporting Injuries or Accidents

In the case of life or limb threat or injury, call 911

Accident or Injury Report

For all paid internships and co-ops:
- Students are covered under their employer's workers compensation policy.
- Students should contact their work supervisor for procedure guidance and report incident to their faculty internship coordinator.
- The faculty internship coordinator should report the incident to Public Safety - Risk Management.
For all unpaid internships and co-ops (or stipend paid — Department of Labor doesn't consider stipends employment — this would include room and board):
- Students are not considered employed, therefore they are not eligible for workers compensation.
- They are considered a volunteer who are covered under the university's general policy.
- Students should notify their work supervisor and report incident to their faculty internship coordinator. The faculty internship coordinator should report the incident to Public Safety - Risk Management.

Forms and Guides

Memorandum of Agreement - Minnesota State has templates for clinical affiliation agreements for nursing and other allied health programs. The templates under "Clinical Agreement" should be used as a starting point for all clinical affiliation agreements.
International Internship form - contact Education Abroad at 320-308-0119 or email.

Join a Forum; Read More About It

The Global Internship Listserv is for internship professionals in education, non-profits and business to ask questions, share ideas and learn best practices in the internship landscape.

Started in 1995 by Michael True, former Director of the Internship Center at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, it has more than 1500 subscribers. Mike still provides valuable resources at InternQube.com, including advice on professional skills for students, faculty guidance on academic standards/best practices in internships and employer resources.

Subscribe to the Listserv.

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