Hi First Years! These are some important things that many students wish they knew during their first year at Duke.
- What does the Career Center do?
The Career Center is a resource in which you can learn to explore your interests, values, and strengths and use that self-knowledge to influence your decision-making throughout your time here at Duke. This is also a great place for you to discover how to navigate your Duke experience as well as learn professional development skills.
2. When is the best time to come to the career center?
We would love for you to start utilizing the services as early as possible beginning with your first year. Using the services can consist of scheduling 1:1 career advising appointments after November 1st, visiting drop-in career advising, and attending workshops/events.
3. How do I schedule a career advising appointment with the Career Center?
You can schedule a career advising appointment online through Handshake! Just log in, update your profile and the available appointments will show up on your dashboard.
4. How does drop-in career advising work?
Drop-in career advising is a designated time to have quick questions answered or your documents reviewed (resume, cover letter, etc.) by a career advisor or career ambassador. You can come to the in person drop ins without an appointment but would need to pre-schedule the virtual drop-ins via Handshake. Expect for your session to be about 10-15 minutes. You can view the drop-in career advising schedule here!
5. Will you help me write my resume or should I bring one when I come in?
We prefer you to draft a copy of your resume before you come in. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it will give us something to work with and allow us the chance to provide you with feedback based on where you are with your resume. Please review our Resume Guide to help you get started.
6. Should I remove all of my high school information from my resume?
No, you are a first-year student, which means the experiences you have are high school experiences. Those experiences show your skills and interests; therefore, they are very important. As you become actively engaged within your Duke community, you will begin to replace your high school experiences with your Duke experiences.
7. Will the Career Center help me find an internship?
The Career Center will provide you with guidance in professional and career development which will help you create a strategy and navigate your internship search. The guidance can consist of and is not limited to, connecting with individuals who share your interests, managing the internship search, preparing for an interview, and awareness of resources and opportunities.
8. Is it critical for me to have an internship the summer after my first year?
Being offered an internship your first summer is a great opportunity, however there are many options you can consider such as exploring Duke summer experiential programs, conducting research, choosing a project to work on, taking summer courses, contributing to your high school or community, and job shadowing. Don’t fret as most internships are not offered until Sophomore/Junior year. If you do not have an internship during your first summer, it is great to have a summer job or do something fun you can talk about and share the skills you used and what you learned throughout the experience.
9. If I don’t know what I’m interested in or have no idea what I want to do, can the Career Center help me?
Yes! The Career Center can help you explore your interests, reflect on your skills and experiences, and discuss various opportunities to guide you through your decision-making process. Most of what we do is preparing students for decision making.
10. Where is the Career Center located?
We are in the Bryan Center (suite 036), on the same level as McDonald’s. We’d love for you to drop by our office and say hi!
Interesting Fact!
Did you know that the Career Center has career communities? You are currently in the Discovery & Exploration career community! Make sure to take advantage of this career community as one of your resources to guide you in your career exploration.
