Welcome to Career Development

Find your answers to questions about programming, student employment and more on our Career and Covid-19 page.

Known employers who will remain open during the closure are grocery stores, pharmacies, and product distribution centers (like Amazon). Online job postings have also rapidly increased for workers with skills in health care, community response, crisis management, and cleaning. If students ask about opportunities, we advise referring them to these establishments. Check out this list of Arizona companies who are hiring now.

We encourage student employees to take advantage of this time and build themselves professionally! We recommend considering the following:

• Strengthen your resume by seeking out remote professional development opportunities.
  • This includes online, self-paced lessons like our Career Steps and high-quality, online courses that focus on software, creative, business, and other professional skill development (available on LinkedIn Learning); there are even digital/virtual volunteering opportunities as well!
• Update your resume, cover letter, and Handshake profile.
  • You can still make appointments with our Career Development team! We will continue to offer career advising appointments via phone, email, and Skype/Zoom.
  • When students schedule an appointment in Handshake, they should look for the phone number, email address, or URL to meet with their career advisor.
• Prepare for virtual and video interviews.
  • Many hiring processes have moved into the digital sphere, so take a moment to familiarize yourself with online interviewing best practices.
  • Some tips include:
    • Make sure to prepare a quiet and neutral space with good lighting
    • Have your notes in front of you
    • Practice talking to the camera, and
    • Ask specific questions about hiring timelines
  • Use this time to invest in expanding your professional network.
    • Now is an excellent time to explore going virtual with networking your efforts, so try out resources like the LinkedIn NAU Alumni Finder or the Explore Students section in Handshake to invest in your future.
      

• Avoid the common challenges of remote work. Newly-remote workers often cite a lack of access to information, social isolation and distractions as pitfalls to remote work. Here’s how to tackle and avoid those concerns:
  • Accessing information: Ensure that student employees have access to the physical equipment (computers, monitors, etc.), software and VPN they need to be successful. If internet connection is weak, encourage them to find wifi hotspots on campus, such as the one near the Fieldhouse parking lot.
  • Social isolation: When you have meetings, save the first 5-7 minutes just for catching up. This encourages social connection across groups and keeps student employees engaged with their work groups across the distance. Embrace icebreakers and fun in the online setting.
  • Distractions: Encourage student employees to set aside a dedicated workspace, where they can minimize distractions and focus. Be flexible in the first few weeks – this is new to everyone!
• Communicate openly and frequently. Whatever methods of consistent communication you were using before moving remotely should be continued, and add in other check-ins with your employees. These daily check ins could take the form of a phone call or Zoom session, either as a group or individually. The check-ins should be set at regular and predictable intervals. Explicitly state how staff can get ahold of you (text, Skype, etc.) and ensure they are set up to communicate with you in that way. Maximize the efficiency of your virtual meetings with these tips for online meeting success!
• Lead with trust and encourage others to do so. As a supervisor, you need to demonstrate to your online student employees that you trust they are getting their work done. Fight any impulses to micromanage processes and praise student employees for work well done. Working remotely can sometimes lead to conflict because people feel less connected. Modelling good behavior is key to minimizing these conflicts.
• If conflict arises, give the benefit of the doubt. Encourage employees to focus on common ground and stop emailing. Picking up the phone or videoconferencing is likely to help people reconnect and eliminate the ambiguity of email communication.

We regret that we had to cancel our Spring 2020 Part Time Job Fair. Our next Part Time Job Fair is scheduled for Friday, August 21st. We are still determining the date for our Fall 2020 Career & Graduate School Expo. We will announce when we open both events for registration.

We encourage our employers to continue recruiting via Handshake.