Career Development Center

Development for Students & Alumni

Hiram College students have access to a number of career development resources, tools, events, programming, and more. Whether it’s building a resume, networking with alumni and other business professionals, or learning how to interview, we can help. Find out more about career development resources for students below.

CHOOSE A MAJOR OR FIND A CAREER

Trying to decide what major or career is right for you? Talk to your advisor, another faculty member, or a Career Development staff member to start planning for your dream career. As a Hiram student, you have access PathwayU. PathwayU is an online assessment tool that takes approximately 18-22 minutes. Students complete four assessments and then are provided with hundreds of career matches that align with their interests, values, personality traits, and workplace preferences. It’s highly encouraged that students meet with an advisor in the Career Development Center to discuss the platform and their results. We have several other assessments and resources that are available to students who are exploratory when it comes to their major and career path.

HANDSHAKE

Hiram students have access to our online job board, Handshake, which has thousands of opportunities including internships, full-time jobs, and on-campus jobs. Each position posted to Hiram’s Handshake goes through a vetting process and is reviewed by a Career Center staff member. All Hiram students have a profile pre-created for them and will use their Hiram username and password to log in. Make sure to complete your profile to see the most relevant positions to your interests! For more information on how to complete your profile and get started in Handshake, visit Handshake’s support site. 

Handshake is also available to all Hiram College alumni! Currently, Hiram emails expire post-graduation, so you’ll need to create a new account to use our daily-updated job site using your personal email. Once you create your account, a Hiram staff member will approve your account, and you’ll have access to thousands of job postings that are hand-approved by our Career Development Center. From here, you can also make appointments with Career Development and access resources like resume writing guides, interview tips, and more. Please visit this page for instructions on how to make your account, if you’re having trouble.

RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS

At Hiram College, we value excellent writing and work to engage you in developing strong skills. Now you will have a chance to use them to write focused resumes and persuasive cover letters! For every job or internship you apply to, you should submit both a cover letter and resume. We can help with both. We host resume workshops throughout the Fall and Spring semesters for students who are looking to create or tweak their resumes. We offer drop in or scheduled resume and cover letter reviews anytime throughout the year. We also have resources for creating a resume and a cover letter, and we can help you whether you’re getting started or just want someone to review your professional documents.

INTERVIEWING

What is the number one skill employers’ value in new college graduates? Good communication skills. Our Hiram College liberal arts curriculum stresses these skills. This is your time to put them to work! Learning to convey your skills, interests, and experiences to a potential employer in a clear confident manner is crucial to a successful internship and job search. Interviewing gets easier with practice so don’t go to an interview without preparing first with a practice interview. The Career Development Center offers:

• Mock interviewing assistance (drop in or scheduled appointments)
• Interviewing etiquette workshops
• Resources on how to interview successfully in-person, on the phone, or via video-conferencing technology

INTERNSHIPS AND INTERNSHIP FUNDING

Employers and grad schools often want candidates with experience. You need experience to learn about work and to earn money! So where do you get experience?  From campus involvement, volunteer work, service learning, but also from summer jobs and internships. We work with a number of employers who provide internships to students on a regular basis. 

The Career Development Center can help you find an internship that will qualify for your Hiram Connect requirement, and we can also provide you with the step-by-step process on how to register your internship for-credit. View this page to see where some of our students have completed internships in the past. Students should also check Hiram’s Handshake to identify and apply to internship opportunities relevant to their interests. 

If your internship is unpaid or underpaid, Hiram College has several internship funding opportunities for eligible internships. In 2020-2021, Hiram College was able to provide over $150,000 to students for unpaid or underpaid internships. Please visit our internship funding page for more information!

HIRAM CONNECT

Hiram Connect is a four-step process that takes place throughout your curriculum. The third step, and the heart of Hiram Connect, is experiential learning. We teach you to make connections between what you are learning in the classroom and what is happening in the world, and that becomes a reality when you intern, study away, or complete a guided research project. Students who are completing an internship for their Hiram Connect experience should contact careercenter@hiram.edu to ensure all of their required paperwork has been completed. If you’re not sure which option to choose, or if you know which option you’d like to pursue but are not sure how to go about it, please contact the Career Development Center, and we can help you.

POST-GRADUATION

Four years goes by fast and all of a sudden, graduation is here. Wondering what you should do now? Most choose graduate school or a career after graduation. You may want to “take a year off” and teach English overseas. We can help you with whatever you decide. We highly encourage all graduating seniors to meet with a Career Development staff member by emailing careercenter@hiram.edu. The Career Development Center also offers two one-credit courses on getting into graduate school and finding a job post-graduation. We can help with your resume or CV, cover letter or personal statement, understanding the GRE, finding careers that fit your passion, connecting you with employers and alumni in your prospective fields, navigating the online job search, and a lot more!

We have great resources that show what recent and past graduates from your major have gone on to do, helping you identify job titles and employers that may fit your interests! Contact us at careercenter@hiram.edu to schedule an appointment or for access to some of the aforementioned resources.

SUIT SCHOLARSHIP

Hiram College students have the unique opportunity of applying for a Suit Scholarship. A Suit Scholarship is $200 that a student receives to purchase interviewing appropriate attire. There is a formal application process that a student must complete to be eligible for a suit scholarship, and they are typically given out at certain events. Keep an eye out for this awesome opportunity!

NETWORKING AND PROGRAMMING

The Career Center regularly hosts programs, workshops, and networking events throughout the year. Several of our annual events include:

• Networking Events – The Hiram College academic schools work with the Career Center to plan and host a networking event that focuses on the majors and minors offered in their school and the applicability of our many majors to career paths of all types. During the event, current students get an opportunity to hear from Hiram College alumni about their career journey, and to build their professional networks.
• Rapid-Fire Resumes – Students get a chance to look at their resumes with one of our professional staff members for a quick, 10-minute review. Drop-in’s welcome, but registration is recommended!
• NOTED – Hiram College participates in NOTED, or the Northeast Ohio Teacher Education Day, Career Fair annually. This event typically takes place on a Tuesday in April at the John S Knight Center in Akron, Ohio.

The Career Center also works with student organizations and other departments on campus to offer targeted programming. If interested in learning more about our targeted programming options, please contact careercenter@hiram.edu.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT STDV COURSES

Career Center staff teach three for-credit Student Development courses. All of the for-credit courses are 1-credit hour. 

• Career and Major Exploration: This course is offered in the Fall to first- and second-year students. In this course, students participate in self-assessment activities to identify their interests, abilities, and values. Students will learn research techniques, which will help to explore career options. This course is specifically designed for students who are exploratory. 
• Steps to Graduate School: This course is offered in the Fall to upperclassman. During this course, we examine the important decisions regarding attending graduate and professional school. Students will leave this course with a final plan, an idea of which graduate programs they want to apply to, an understanding of how to research graduate programs, an updated CV, and an updated personal statement.
• Putting Your Major to Work: This course is offered in the Spring to upperclassman. This course prepares students for an internship or job search. We cover how to create a professional LinkedIn profile, resume, and cover letter, as well as job search strategies and interviewing skills.

ONLINE SKILLS COURSES

All Hiram College students have access to five online skills courses, including:

• Creating Professional Documents
• Effective Professional Messaging
• Excel 2016
• First Impressions and Personal Branding
• Leadership Styles

These courses are free to Hiram students and 100% online. Once completed, you’ll earn a badge to include on your LinkedIn profile, and it’s a great addition to your resume!  View more information on each skills course. For more information, email careercenter@hiram.edu.