Array of Career Services for Students Available Online

What careers will your degree prepare you for? What should you wear to a job interview? What are some action verbs you could use in your resume? Are there ways to effectively use artificial intelligence in your career planning? When is the next career fair?

Career Connections supports students in exploring possibilities with curiosity – using tools, conversations, and real-world prototypes that help them learn by doing. The Offices of Career Connections website is rich with resources that invite students to explore what their career questions mean for them as individuals, rather than one-size-fits-all answers. Students also have access to counselors, coaches, and mentors – available both in person and online – who guide them in discovering meaningful challenges, testing ideas, and designing their unique career path.

George Winter has been counseling students for 38 years. He earned a doctorate in higher education from the U of A after he was hired.

Students can take free assessments to help them narrow the occupations they might want to consider, Winter said.

"When I'm working with students, what I'm trying to help them do is make a well-informed choice," he said. "No one can be 100 percent sure, but we want them to be sure enough that they feel comfortable. When you buy a house or a car, you do your research. We give them resources and enough information they feel comfortable making choices."

U of A students have access to a full menu of career services, he said, regardless of whether they are enrolled in a degree program delivered online or one taught in person on campus. And, the earlier they begin to use the services, the more prepared they may be when graduation time comes, Winter said.

"A lot of students will wait until the very end (before seeking help), and we could have helped them," he said. "It might have been more useful to them, less stressful if they started earlier. Sometimes, people miscalculate how long it takes to get a job. It depends on the industry. Working for the federal government requires security clearance and that can take a long, long time."

 

Choosing a Major

Sometimes, students come to the office knowing exactly what they want to do, Winter said. Others know what degree they want, but they are not really sure what they can do with it, he said.

"People do change their majors from when they started," he said. "Sometimes, it's based on an elective (course) they take."

The Career Connections website offers information about nearly every major available at the U of A. "What can I do with THIS major?" takes students to a menu that may include an explanation of the major, related careers and skills, job and internship search links, career planning links, professional association links and other resources.

"A degree such as communication may list 50 different career paths, but it's not limited to that," he said.

 

What to Know

Students can learn how to do a job search, how to contact employers and graduate schools or professional schools, how to write a resume and cover letter, and how to fill out a job application. They can arrange a mock interview in person for an upcoming in-person job interview or an online mock interview for an online job interview.

"Besides choosing a major, you need to know how to market yourself," Winter said. "How do I present myself in the best possible way in writing and in person through a resume, cover letter, application form and the interview itself?"

The Offices of Career Connections works with prospective students, undergraduate students, graduate students and alumni, Winter said.

"We will work with you from the start until you get what you want," he said. "It's not over until you say it's over. For some students, it's one and done, and sometimes we see them throughout their college career; it depends on the needs of that student."

The U of A stresses career services as a benefit of the institution, Winter said. Students want a payoff at the end of their college career. They spend a lot of time and money earning a degree, and parents of younger students are concerned about them supporting themselves.

 

Online Students

Students enrolled in online degree programs are typically older than traditional students on campus. The average undergraduate in an online program is 30 years old, and the typical graduate student in an online program is 35 years old, according to the Global Campus annual report. Winter believes it's just as important to look at each student as an individual.

"We always take students where they are at," he said. "It's dangerous to label and say because you are 18, here are the issues facing you, and if you are 35, they're different. Some 18-year-olds could have similar issues and situations to 35-year-olds."

Many adult learners come with past experiences that career counselors and coaches help them reframe into new possibilities. Career Connections uses a design-thinking approach: reflect on past experiences, reframe challenges, and prototype new directions.

 

Working Adults

In a 2024 survey of students enrolled in online degree programs at the U of A, 81% were employed full time. The university partners with industry to increase the number of adults with degrees in the state. A partnership between the U of A and Guild, a public benefits corporation, continues to provide a new stream of leaners from Walmart/Sam's Club and Tyson Foods.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show the average American worker changes jobs 12 times over their career with an average stay of less than four years at each job. And, for the first time in the 22-year history of an annual survey of American workers by Randstad, a global human resources and staffing company, workers valued work-life balance over pay when evaluating job offers.

Colleen Whitman leads teams of online student coaches and online student liaisons in her role as online student support manager at Global Campus. Adult learners can use Career Connections services to learn how to advance within their careers or to change industries, she said.

Whitman cited services Career Connections subscribes to that focus on helping graduate students search for jobs. These services are not limited to those who want to stay in higher education as researchers or faculty, she said.

 

Working Environment

Coaches encourage students to prototype career ideas – by taking on small, low-risk experiences like informational interviews, micro-internships, or project-based volunteering that help them learn by trying.

"When people are doing jobs they didn't think they would, it's usually because of a really good environment," Winter said. And, when it comes to job satisfaction, "You can't really separate those two, the working environment and the job itself."

Winter uses a lottery analogy as one way of thinking about it. If you won the lottery and didn't have to work but wanted to do something, what would it be? Then, go out and find someone to pay you to do it.

"When you get up in the morning, do you look forward to work?" he said.

He tells students to think of interviews as conversations and all the conversations they have as interviews. It's a way of building self-confidence, he said, because if you feel comfortable having conversations, the comfort level carries over into interviews.

"We are really good at being our own worst enemy, but you can do the opposite and give yourself positive messages," Winter said. "You have a choice. When students start looking at it that way, I see their anxiety level fall."

 

Available, Accessible

What can students do online with Career Connections?

"Everything we do in person, we can do online, everything except career fairs," Winter said, referring to on-campus, in-person events. However, he said, students can have access to contact information for employers who attend career fairs so that they can use the information to follow up on jobs they are interested in.

"They know what a company is looking for in U of A students and can reach out," he said, after getting the list.

Online career fairs are also commonly offered.

And, as far as basic services, when you consider the time needed to drive to campus and park, online appointments are generally more convenient for all students, Winter said.

Whether online or in person, students can explore challenge cards, prototype new career ideas, and use coaching conversations to design next steps that fit into their unique lives.