Why worry about getting experience before you graduate? Because employers seek part-time and full-time employees who already have work experience. Start now before graduation!

Get Involved On Campus

Student Activities
In the 2005 edition of "Job Choices," the National Association of College and Employers identified communication skills, interpersonal skills, motivation/initiative, and teamwork among the most sought-after skills in job seekers. Getting involved in on-campus activities is a great way to develop these traits.

Check the College of Charleston Student Life website for a current listing of the academic, social, and professional organizations on campus.

Study Abroad
There are a number of important reasons to consider including a study-abroad experience in your academic plan. In addition to the fun of travel, studying abroad can help you learn about other cultures; develop or enhance foreign language skills; and teach you to become more independent, self-reliant, and self-confident.

The College offers several study abroad options including CofC Semester Programs, Bilateral Programs, CofC Summer Programs and Independent Programs. For details on each of these programs, visit the Office of International Education Programs, located at 207 Calhoun Street (in the Multicultural Center).

Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities includes "any creative effort undertaken by the undergraduate student that advances the knowledge of the student in an academic discipline and leads to new scholarly insights or the creation of new works that add to the wealth of the discipline."

Students may apply for funding to support research and creative activities
through several grants provided by the Office of Undergraduate Research and
Creative Activities. Undergraduate Research/Creative Activities are not just
for science majors. Students in liberal arts areas such as theater, sociology, and Spanish routinely participate, as well. For more information, visit http://www.cofc.edu/ur/.

Explore Your Options

Talk With a Mentor
The Career Center has compiled an extensive database of alumni that are willing to offer career assistance and advice to College of Charleston students. This information, the Career Mentor Network, is housed in CISTERNonline, along with numerous job and internship listings.

Students can search the Career Mentor Network on a variety of variables including industry, job function, city of current employment, major, and other fields. Perhaps you would like to talk with graduates who share your academic major to explore possible career options. Maybe you are interested in a specific geographical area and would like to talk with someone living there. Perhaps you are interested in speaking with graduates of professional/graduate programs to ask questions about required testing, applications, or other related issues. Or maybe you would like to ask about working for a specific company or organization where one of our mentors is working. Past mentors include alumni employed in a variety of settings including both non-profit organizations and companies.

Whether it’s a phone call, an e-mail exchange, a shadowing experience, or a quick lunch, interacting with a Career Mentor can be an extremely valuable part of your personal career planning and exploration.

Job Shadow
When you job shadow, you spend a short period of time in the work site observing an employee on the job. Shadowing someone for a few hours or a few sessions over the course of a semester can be very valuable in helping you gather information about potential career fields of interest. Through shadowing, you can explore a specific environment, career path, organization, or geographical location.

You can arrange for shadowing experiences in a variety of ways. Your personal network, including family, friends, and professors, can often help connect you with a potential shadow host. In addition, the Career Center can help match you with a shadowing site.

Volunteer

Volunteering provides an opportunity for you to explore potential career opportunities and settings while improving the quality of life in a community. Located in the Lightsey Center adjacent to the Career Center, the CHEC Community Service Center works to link students, faculty and staff with community needs and volunteer placements.

In addition to the resources provided by CHEC, you can find valuable information in the Career Resource Center at the Career Center, including the “Go Volunteer” Directory published by the Charleston Post and Courier and several print resources with information about national and international philanthropy. Other online resources for for volunteer opportunities include the Trident United Way, as well as National and International Volunteer Opportunities weblinks.

Do A Co-op

Cooperative Education (co-op) is a program in which a student works full time or part time in a field related to either the student’s major or career area of interest. It can be done either on an alternating basis (a period of study followed by a period of work) or a parallel basis (work and classes at the same time). Cooperative Education allows students to retain their full-time status while working and taking a reduced course load (or no courses at all) during a given semester.

(Note: If a student drops below a full-time course load to work without participating in co-op, there are a variety of possible negative impacts to financial aid, scholarship, and insurance eligibility.)

The cooperative education program covers all disciplines in the curriculum. It is open to students who have completed at least one semester at the College and are in good academic standing. No academic credit is awarded to participants.

Recent Co-op employers include: Alcoa, Bayer, BMW, CIA, Commissioner of Public Works, FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Norfolk Southern, "O" Magazine, Social Security Administration, and SPAWAR.

Find an Internship