Career Center Resources for Alumni
by Jordan Orris
EJ Presley is a welcoming face in the Career Center, as with all of the inviting staff members. Mr. Presley shared with me that alumni have the same access to all of the same materials as current undergraduate and graduate students.
The Career Center provides resources such as resume and cover letter critiquing, career counseling, and online services like Big Interview and Handshake.
Big Interview is “an interactive online system that combines training AND practice to help improve your interview technique and build your confidence.” Its features include “challenging, virtual mock interviews for all experience levels and dozens of industries, and a database of thousands of interview questions with tips on how to answer them,” according to the Career Center site.
Handshake is the Career Center’s online database for job postings, and can be accessed both by job seekers and employers. If you have recently graduated, simply sign in with your WebID, and the system will send an e-mail to your go.olemiss.edu account to set up a password. However, if it has been more than a year since you graduated, you can simply create a new account. Mr. Presley recommends emailing the Career Center that you are a job seeker and would like to create a Handshake account in that instance, so that your approval process is quicker.
Additionally, if alumni have businesses and would like to employ University of Mississippi graduates, it is easy to set up an Employer account on Handshake. Mr. Presley invites you to contact him further, as employers can even host information sessions and interviews at the Career Center.
The Career Center also provides access to career assessments, such as the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator and the Strong Interest Inventory, both of which are paid assessments. Additionally, there are links to free personality and career assessments on the Career Center website.
A phenomenal resource the Career Center has is a comprehensive list of industry specific job post databases and search engines for fields from Accounting to Psychology, Education to Healthcare, and more.
For job seekers, the Career Center provides phone, email, and Skype consultations for alumni who might live further away. However, local alumni, or those that find themselves near campus, are always welcome to make an appointment to visit in person. Alumni are also able to register at upcoming career fairs.
Mr. Presley says, “We’re here, and we’re available. We have a plethora of resources.”
The Alumni section of the Career Center is linked here: