Career Center

Department Overview: 
Career Services strives to educate and empower all students and recent graduates to prepare for and pursue success. We are seeking a dynamic professional to play a major role in the new vision for Career Services at UC Santa Barbara. Career Services helps undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent alumni make informed decisions about their futures by providing comprehensive resources, programs, career counseling, internships, and employment and professional /graduate school options - whether they are building upon a liberal arts education, leveraging their academic preparation in business or engineering, envisioning a future in medicine, or seeking a career in the corporate or nonprofit workforce. Career Services’ vision is to inspire students to explore and gain knowledge of their future goals. By providing programs and resources, our office supports students to attain relevant experience and develop important relationships in order to address the needs and challenges of the world through their work. Career Services, a department of Students Affairs, has 16 staff members and 12 student employees.

Brief Summary of Job Duties: 
As part of a dynamic team of career services professionals, uses core counseling techniques to help students explore majors, clarify their career objectives, develop effective job search strategies, and apply to graduate programs through a range of approaches, including individual, drop-in, and group appointments, workshops, and other programs. Provides consultation to students and alumni on job-search tools and strategies, including resume writing, developing cover letters and job-campaign correspondence, interviewing, networking, and connecting with employers. Interfaces with faculty, staff, and students in the Social Science/Humanities academic disciplines, providing specialized programming, research, career-related information, and consultation in serving these constituents, with an emphasis on the career areas of Communication and Arts. In addition, serves as the liaison to the Disabled Students Program, developing and delivering targeted services and resources for students with disabilities. Utilizes needs assessments to design, plan and deliver creative and innovative programming to meet the needs of students, employers, faculty, alumni, and/or other stakeholders.

CAREER COACHING, ADVISING, & COUNSELING (40%)
Delivers career coaching/advising/counseling services designed to develop professional relationships with students through a range of approaches, including individual, drop-in, and group appointments, workshops, and other programs.

Provides consultation to students and/or alumni on job-search tools and strategies, including resume writing, developing cover letters and job-campaign correspondence, interviewing, networking, and connecting with employers.

Identifies, selects, and implements career coaching/advising/counseling interventions and techniques appropriate to student goals, and creates action plans with students. 

Identifies and uses selected assessment tools and techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of services. Administers scores, interprets, reports, and records findings from assessment instruments and recommends appropriate changes.

Keeps abreast of current resources and use of career, occupational, and employment information in providing students with career coaching/advising/counseling services.

COORDINATES SERVICES FOR CAMPUS DEPARTMENTS (25%)
Coordinates agency career development efforts in order to provide specialized programming, research, career-related information, and consultation to students in Social Sciences/Humanities academic disciplines, with an emphasis on the career areas of Communication and Arts.

Liaises with the Disabled Students Program, and coordinates agency career development efforts in order to provide specialized programming, research,career-related information, and consultation to students with disabilities. 

Represents Career Services to Academic Department faculty, staff, and students; develops policies and procedures related to the provision of career services to those departments and colleges. Shares in agency outreach efforts through participation in student orientation sessions, career fairs, open houses, and other public activities. 

Ensures that a campus-wide collaboration of academic and nonacademic constituents is established and developed and supports the mission of Career Services, and fosters career awareness, develops career/grad school programs, gathers suggested employer contacts, and disseminates related career information and trends for students. 

Conducts research into and provides regular information to students on internships, career opportunities, professional associations, conferences, graduate schools, and job listings for students. Creates career content using different modes of digital communication. Cultivates relationships with local, regional, and national employers to stay abreast of hiring trends in related fields.

PROGRAM & EVENT ADMINISTRATION (25%)
Uses needs assessments to design, plan and deliver creative and innovative programming to meet the needs of students, employers, faculty, alumni, and/or other stakeholders. Effectively manages facilities, policies, and processes of each program and event.

Creates and follows timelines and develops a marketing strategy for each program and event, disseminating information using all appropriate channels. Establishes goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely as well as determines effective student learning outcomes for programs and events.

Establishes and follows budgets for programs and events while understanding and using basic accounting techniques for budgeting, monitoring, and processing expenditures and receipts. Demonstrates effective stewardship and use of fiscal resources while following ethical and legal guidelines related to career services’ financial resources.

Understands and recognizes basic risks involved in programming and events, and is aware of protocols to follow. Implements creative solutions to problems as needed.

ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT (10%)
Participates in staff/professional development meetings and works collaboratively in task groups. Shares relevant professional and career information to other staff members. Engages in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training and staff development activities as appropriate. May be required to perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements:

• Advanced degree in career counseling, business administration, student affairs, higher education or related field, or equivalent work experience/training.
• Demonstrated experience providing career counseling to address a broad range of career/employment issues to college students, such as career decision-making and job search techniques using various career counseling approaches.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated verbal and written skills in communicating complex information to both internal and external audiences.
• Ability to think critically and creatively, and imagine possibilities for solutions that do not currently exist or are not apparent.
• Demonstrated personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusionary practices.
• Demonstrated technical skills in common word processing, spreadsheet, and database software including GSuite, Zoom, and LinkedIn.

Desirable Qualifications: 

• Knowledge of career development theories, adult development theory, counseling processes, career decision-making, learning styles, and job search strategies.
• Knowledge of standards set forth by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
• Demonstrated project management experience including program development, implementation, data collection, assessment, and evaluation.
• Knowledge of labor market and employment trends, both locally and nationally, related to hiring students from a top-tier university.
• Demonstrated skill in establishing effective working relationships with staff of all levels, faculty, employers, and alumni.
• Experience and proficiency with incorporating the use of technology to deliver career services.
• Organizational skills with demonstrated initiative, resourcefulness, and ability to manage multiple priorities effectively with attention to detail.