The Job and Internship Search Process
- Job and Internship Search Strategies (General step by step guidance)
- Create an Account on Handshake (Create a profile and find employers specifically looking to hire UW interns and graduates). These Tips and Tricks will get you started
- Job Boards by Employment Sector
- Transferable Skills (Identify skills that can be used in every occupation, regardless of the type of work)
- Work Values Matcher (The Work Values Matcher is a quick card sort exercise that asks you to rank statements to define your ideal job. Your choices indicate your top values)
- Identity at Work (Navigate the job or internship search process, especially as it intersects with identities)
- Best Places to Live (Fun quiz that tells you where to live based on your preferences)
Campus Job Search Tools
- Student Job Center (Posts PA, TA and RAships as well as other on campus jobs for both grads and undergrads)
- GoinGlobal (Find opportunities both in the USA and abroad. Contains lots of helpful information for international students as well as US students who want to work abroad. Fully accessable for free through Handshake)
Networking
- Conducting Informational Interviews (With questions to ask)
- Additional Sample Questions to Ask (For informational interviews)
- Mentoring Roles for Mentors and Mentees
- LinkedIn Alumni Search Video (How-to)
- Badger Bridge (UW Alums who want to connect with you)
- Professional Organizations (Join or follow one to stay up to date with your industry peers, obrain a mentor, or just to peruse the members-only job board)
Resume and Cover Letter Writing
When preparing to apply for a job or internship, there is a process you should go through each time.
- STEP ONE: Evaluate the Position Description to determine whether or not you are at least minimally qualified (worksheet)
- STEP TWO: Identify Your Transferable Skills (Make sure you are "selling" yourself as strongly as possible and responding to all the qualities the employer seeks)
- STEP THREE: Write an Effective Resume that utilizes strong Power Verbs that showcase your transferrable skills. View Graduate Resume Samples or Undergraduate Resume Samples to help you get started.
- STEP FOUR: Write an Effective Cover Letter or Professional Email to accompany the resume. View these Cover Letter Samples to get ideas.
- Other useful resources
- Professional Summaries
- NACE Top 10 and Career Competencies (the order of these change minimally from year to year, but the main qualities always stay the same)
- How to Put Together a Reference List
- How to Request a Letter of Reference
- Optimize Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (Note: As a student or alum of UW, you have free access to all LinkedIn Learning trainings. To view a course in its entirety, you will need to sign in when prompted)
- Government Resume Writing (If you are writing a resume for a federal or local government agency, go here to learn how to increase your chances of success!)
Interviewing
- Big Interview (Virtual resource; you choose the questions, you choose the interviewer, you evaluate your performance - or share it with the career coordinator during an appointment)
- Big Interview Student Guide
- Guidance for Telephone and Virtual Interviews
- Professional Interview Guide
- Sample Interview Questions
- The STAR Method (For answering behavioral interview questions)
- Questions to Ask Employers
- Writing Thank-You Notes (With examples)
Job and Salary Negotiation
- Salary Negotiation Webinar (La Follette student/staff NetID required)
- Evaluating a Job Offer (PDF guidance for all stages of the process)
- Job Offers FAQ and Salary Resources (FAQ + resources for salary evaluation and cost of living)
- Job Offer Evaluation Matrix (Excel Spreadsheet for your use)
- CityData - By collecting and analyzing data from a variety of government and private sources, they create detailed, informative profiles for every city in the United States. From crime rates to weather patterns, you’ll find the data you're looking for on City-Data.com
- Salary Calculators
- Salary.com (The most commonly used one out there. Figure out what you're worth)
- Glass Door's Salary Calculator (Figure out what you're worth)
- 10 Great Salary Calculators to Save You Time (Article with links)
- Salary Calculator (What will your paycheck actually look like?)
- Cost of Living Calculators
General Etiquette
- Dining Etiquette
- Dress Codes Deciphered
- Dress for Success Guide
- The Career Closet at SuccessWorks (FREE professional attire for anyone in need - no questions asked)
Professional Organizations
Memberships in professional organizations are an excellent way for students to stay up to date with their chosen fields and to establish a solid professional foundation at the very beginning of their careers.
Especially for MIPA Students
- Useful Job Boards
- Global Jobs - Lists opportunities in worldwide NGOs, government, think tanks and private sector
- J-Pal Jobs - The Jameel Poverty Action Lab and its partner organizations recruit for hundreds of positions on a regular basis worldwide
- CSIS Job Board - The Center for Strategic and International Studies
- GoinGlobal - For full, free access, login through Handshake. From the Handshake homepage, click Career Center in the upper right, then select Resources. GoinGlobal is third on the list. You can login using your LinkedIn profile so you needn't create another account and password to access it
- Idealist - Search for jobs/internships and look at worldwide nonprofit organizations
- Devex - Has great resources including a job fair and job board, BUT to access the best resources, you have to get a premium membership
- CIPE Job Board - The Center for International Private Enterprise
- Council on Foreign Relations Job Board
- ReliefWeb Jobs
- DevNetJobs
- Jobs in NGOs
- Global Aid Workers
- VSFS - The Virtual Student Federal Service recruits students every summer to spend the academic year working on a variety of projects, many of them international in focus
- Organizations to Consider Joining or Following
- Academy of International Business
- Foreign Policy Association
- WANGO - Worldwide Association of NGOs
- WUD Global Connections
- Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP)
- Other Resources
- NGO Aid Map - Shares information about international development and humanitarian response by mapping diverse projects visually and interactively. Contact individual projects about getting involved
- VSO - Volunteer Service Overseas
- International Chamber of Commerce
- World Economic Forum
- More resources HERE on the La Follette website
Especially for International Students
- GoinGlobal (Contains lists of US employers who have sponsored H1B visas in the past, a worldwide job board, and other helpful guidance. Fully accessable for free through Handshake. You can login using your LinkedIn profile so you needn't create another account and password to access it.)
- Guidance from ISS Relating to all aspects of securing US Jobs and Internships
- ISS Online Career Resource List
- Idealist (as close to a one-stop-shop for nonprofit jobs and internships in the US and worldwide as you will come)
