Home / Wackerle Center for Career, Leadership & Fellowships/Career Preparation

Career Preparation

We believe the best is yet to come, and we are ready to help you get there. 

We get it; thinking about life after college can be intimidating. The world is wide open, and you want to find the best career path for you. Good news — we’re here to help!

We work closely with students one-on-one to help them get where they want to go before and after graduation. Whether that’s volunteering with a civic group, finding an internship or job, crafting a resume, polishing interview skills, finding a fellowship, or networking with alumni — we’ll help you find and prepare for the right career path for you. 

Unsure of what’s next? That’s OK.

Deciding on a career is a challenge. But don’t worry. Take advantage of our individualized consultations, personality assessments and employer and alumni visits to make your decision a little less stressful.

You can also visit our Internships page to learn more about opportunities to explore career fields and gain experience to prepare you for your career after Monmouth.

Make an appointment with our staff, and let’s get started. 

Think you’ll need a graduate degree? 

We’re help with that, too! Many Monmouth students attend graduate and professional schools. Visit our Graduate & Professional Schools page to learn more about those opportunities.

FAQs

  • What is Handshake?

    Handshake is the internships and jobs database managed by Monmouth (only open to Monmouth students and alumni) to help you more easily connect with employers, jobs, internships, event information, on-campus recruiting opportunities, and knowledge communities.  Career Services sends targeted emails through Handshake based on student profiles.  Therefore, we highly encourage every student to fill out their profile and update their career preferences in Handshake to the best of their ability in order to receive emails regarding career opportunities ad internship interesting to them.

  • I want to improve my leadership skills, where do I start?

    Get involved!  There are over 70 organizations on campus to choose from.  Outside of student organizations you could also participate in athletics and intramurals or volunteer in the local community.  If you want to improve specific skills, book an appointment at the career and leadership center to receive some peer-to-peer leadership coaching.  

  • How does Career Services engage and reach out to students?

    All first-year and transfer students have scheduled appointments with the career and leadership center during their first semester on campus.  Other outreach efforts include targeted emails based on a students’ academic disciplines and career interests as well as collaborating with other departments to engage Monmouth’s academically diverse community.  It is important to us to provide responsive programs and resources that are improved every year through student feedback.

    Because of Monmouth’s tight-knit community, many alumni are eager to help students.  Alumni engage in our office through talks, employer information sessions, and personal meetings with students.  We encourage our students to connect with alumni who can offer career advice and mentor students.

  • How do I apply to join the Stockdale Fellows Program?

    Each year the Office of Admission will publish an application for new incoming students. Interested students are also required to interview virtually or in person. 

  • How much of a time commitment is the Stockdale Fellows program?

    You can anticipate an hour long meeting every other week along with various opportunities to practice leadership through service, conference, and other unique travel opportunities.

  • In what types of internships do Monmouth student participate? Are they required?

    Students participate in a variety of internships that are related to their fields of interest–everything from non-profits to finance to professional sports teams and more.  Although internships are not required, for all majors, we highly encourage students to make the most productive use of their summers and can help them find ways to do that.  We work with each student individually to find what will be meaningful to them.  Typically, more than 75% of our seniors indicate having at least one internship prior to graduating from Monmouth.  

  • Do you assist students with graduate and professional school?

    Yes!  In fact, every year, we host a graduate and professional school fair which brings 70+ schools to campus.  All students are invited and encouraged to attend.  The career services staff also assists students with researching best fit schools and programs, preparing application materials and interview prep.  Additionally, the career services office keeps test prep materials for students to utilize such as GRE, LSAT, GMAT, MCAT.

  • Who can I reach out to for more information?

    Career Assistants are trained student workers who advise fellow students primarily on their resume, cover letters, initial job/internship search process, and can provide a general overview of the resources offered by Career Services.  Career Assistant are a great initial way to connect with our office, and have open hours for walk-in students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-3:30 pm in the ACE in Hewes Library.

    Career Counselors also do the entire aforementioned, but most importantly, the provide one-on-one counseling for all topics career-related.  Our counselors are also available for mock interview for various types of opportunities.

  • Do alumni engage with Career Services?

    Absolutely!  Alumni help students in a variety of ways throughout their career development.  Alumni often provide mentoring for current Monmouth students through our programming as well as meeting students for one-on-one interactions.  Additionally, alumni advocate for Monmouth College students within their organizations and are often the driving force for getting employers to participate in our recruiting events both on and off-campus.  Furthermore, Career Services provides career counseling to our recent grads and experienced alumni as they navigate career transitions.

  • How does Career Services engage faculty?

    Career Services understands the close-knit relationships faculty have with their students.  We work together to help students access resources that are useful to them.  Furthermore, we also work with faculty to educate students about the world of work and career opportunities through collaborating on programming, inviting speakers, and hosting workshops.  Academic departments also send us job openings to be posted in our database, help us to market our career events, and refer students to us for career counseling.  

  • Do you have career fairs?

    We hold career fairs and recruitment events to connect students to employers.  Through our involvement withe the College Career Consortium of Illinois, our students participate in the annual Career Fest event that sees 100+ employers attend each year.  In collaboration with nearby colleges and university, we also host an annual regional career fair.  The purpose of the career fair is to allow employers and Monmouth student/alumni to network.  Professional attire is strongly encouraged and students should bring plenty of copies of their resumes.  Students should meet with a career counselor to get help with their resume and also attend a “How to Work a Career Fair” program to help prepare for the career fairs.  We also host a volunteer and internship fair each year on campus as well as a summer camps fair.

  • What is Handshake?

    Handshake is the internships and jobs database managed by Monmouth (only open to Monmouth students and alumni) to help you more easily connect with employers, jobs, internships, event information, on-campus recruiting opportunities, and knowledge communities.  Career Services sends targeted emails through Handshake based on student profiles.  Therefore, we highly encourage every student to fill out their profile and update their career preferences in Handshake to the best of their ability in order to receive emails regarding career opportunities ad internship interesting to them.

  • I want to improve my leadership skills, where do I start?

    Get involved!  There are over 70 organizations on campus to choose from.  Outside of student organizations you could also participate in athletics and intramurals or volunteer in the local community.  If you want to improve specific skills, book an appointment at the career and leadership center to receive some peer-to-peer leadership coaching.  

  • How does Career Services engage and reach out to students?

    All first-year and transfer students have scheduled appointments with the career and leadership center during their first semester on campus.  Other outreach efforts include targeted emails based on a students’ academic disciplines and career interests as well as collaborating with other departments to engage Monmouth’s academically diverse community.  It is important to us to provide responsive programs and resources that are improved every year through student feedback.

    Because of Monmouth’s tight-knit community, many alumni are eager to help students.  Alumni engage in our office through talks, employer information sessions, and personal meetings with students.  We encourage our students to connect with alumni who can offer career advice and mentor students.

  • How do I apply to join the Stockdale Fellows Program?

    Each year the Office of Admission will publish an application for new incoming students. Interested students are also required to interview virtually or in person. 

  • How much of a time commitment is the Stockdale Fellows program?

    You can anticipate an hour long meeting every other week along with various opportunities to practice leadership through service, conference, and other unique travel opportunities.

  • In what types of internships do Monmouth student participate? Are they required?

    Students participate in a variety of internships that are related to their fields of interest–everything from non-profits to finance to professional sports teams and more.  Although internships are not required, for all majors, we highly encourage students to make the most productive use of their summers and can help them find ways to do that.  We work with each student individually to find what will be meaningful to them.  Typically, more than 75% of our seniors indicate having at least one internship prior to graduating from Monmouth.  

  • Do you assist students with graduate and professional school?

    Yes!  In fact, every year, we host a graduate and professional school fair which brings 70+ schools to campus.  All students are invited and encouraged to attend.  The career services staff also assists students with researching best fit schools and programs, preparing application materials and interview prep.  Additionally, the career services office keeps test prep materials for students to utilize such as GRE, LSAT, GMAT, MCAT.

  • Who can I reach out to for more information?

    Career Assistants are trained student workers who advise fellow students primarily on their resume, cover letters, initial job/internship search process, and can provide a general overview of the resources offered by Career Services.  Career Assistant are a great initial way to connect with our office, and have open hours for walk-in students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-3:30 pm in the ACE in Hewes Library.

    Career Counselors also do the entire aforementioned, but most importantly, the provide one-on-one counseling for all topics career-related.  Our counselors are also available for mock interview for various types of opportunities.

  • Do alumni engage with Career Services?

    Absolutely!  Alumni help students in a variety of ways throughout their career development.  Alumni often provide mentoring for current Monmouth students through our programming as well as meeting students for one-on-one interactions.  Additionally, alumni advocate for Monmouth College students within their organizations and are often the driving force for getting employers to participate in our recruiting events both on and off-campus.  Furthermore, Career Services provides career counseling to our recent grads and experienced alumni as they navigate career transitions.

  • How does Career Services engage faculty?

    Career Services understands the close-knit relationships faculty have with their students.  We work together to help students access resources that are useful to them.  Furthermore, we also work with faculty to educate students about the world of work and career opportunities through collaborating on programming, inviting speakers, and hosting workshops.  Academic departments also send us job openings to be posted in our database, help us to market our career events, and refer students to us for career counseling.  

  • Do you have career fairs?

    We hold career fairs and recruitment events to connect students to employers.  Through our involvement withe the College Career Consortium of Illinois, our students participate in the annual Career Fest event that sees 100+ employers attend each year.  In collaboration with nearby colleges and university, we also host an annual regional career fair.  The purpose of the career fair is to allow employers and Monmouth student/alumni to network.  Professional attire is strongly encouraged and students should bring plenty of copies of their resumes.  Students should meet with a career counselor to get help with their resume and also attend a “How to Work a Career Fair” program to help prepare for the career fairs.  We also host a volunteer and internship fair each year on campus as well as a summer camps fair.