Faculty & Staff
One of the great benefits of a UR education is that students have access to so many rich experiences…just about every day, inside and outside the classroom, on and off campus, in Richmond and around the world. Every meaningful experience can and should enhance their career development journeys – especially because UR’s career team wants students to define success on their own terms and forge pathways that they find fulfilling and joyful.
Another great benefit is that so many members of the campus community are invested in students’ achievement and happiness.
How can faculty and staff support UR students when it comes to career development?
- Encourage them to “find their why.” What aspects of their academic program, cocurricular activities, campus involvement, or community engagement spark their curiosity? Give them energy? Lead them to lose track of time? Why?
- Highlight “transferrable” and “durable” skills that students develop working with you. By the time students are ready to apply for opportunities (internships, research, jobs, or graduate school), they will be focusing on the specific skills associated with their goals. In the meantime, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has created a set of eight transferrable skill sets that tend to be in high demand. UR students will likely have opportunities to develop them all (!), but helping them recognize when and how they did so is invaluable. (We’ve posted NACE’s student self-assessment in the resources below along with data-driven resources about skills from EMSI, LinkedIn, and others.)
- Introduce them to people you know working on projects about which they’re curious. Students sometimes imagine that they should start building connections far away from campus, and they overlook professors, advisors, friends and classmates. The career team teaches students that “networking” just means forging authentic connections around shared interests.
- Refer them to the career team! Our career advisors specialize in particular fields (arts, consulting, finance, healthcare, social impact, STEM, etc.), and ALL of them are also eager to meet with students while they’re exploring possibilities. Students need not have ideas about career before they work with us! In fact, early connection sustained over time (3+ meetings or programs per year) is most effective. A first advising appointment can simply be an introduction. “Why did you choose UR? What’s been fun so far? What’s surprised you? What are you curious about?”
