Faculty & Staff Toolkit

Career Launch Academy is an 8 step curriculum that facilitators can teach to students to walk them through the basics of creating a professional network from scratch. Faculty members may choose to embed Career Launch Academy into their course. Below is a series of recommendations and FAQs if you are interested in embedding the curriculum.

A significant portion (80%) of internship and job opportunities remain hidden from the public eye, never making their way to online platforms^[1]. Furthermore, the power of having an internal advocate in the job search process cannot be understated, with applicants being 12 times more likely to secure employment when backed by such support^[2].

The Career Launch curriculum is designed to enhance students' strategic social networks and give them access to the hidden job market, both in professional and academic settings. It empowers students to build meaningful connections with professionals and experts in their chosen fields.

^[1] Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Designing Your Life, 2018.
^[2] Brown, Setren, and Topa, Do Informal Referrals Lead to Better Matches? IZA Discussion Paper no. 8175, May 2018.

If I choose to embed Career Launch into my course, what am I committing to as the instructor of record?
Providing adequate instruction time for Career Launch curriculum. More below.
Grade transfer: More below.

What kind of workload am I committing my students to?
Students should expect to spend 4-6 hours on Career Launch outside of instruction time, for the length of the course.

What are the instructional time requirements for Career Launch?
2 day a week classes: 4 full class periods of Career Launch instruction.
3 day a week classes: 5 full class periods of Career Launch instruction.

Who will deliver the Career Launch curriculum?
Career Launch Certified Facilitators
Facilitators are professional U of A staff who have been certified by Career Launch to teach this curriculum. Additional on campus training is provided to all facilitators by the Offices of Career Connections.

How do students' access/submit their Career Launch Assignments?
Each course will have its own Career Launch Blackboard course (ex: AMPD 3071 – Career Launch (Spring 24) (1243-career.AMPD-3071)). All Career Launch related assignments will be submitted to this Blackboard course.

Who will grade Career Launch assignments?
Career Launch Certified Facilitators.

How do students get credit for their Career Launch assignments in my gradebook, given they are in a secondary Blackboard course?
This is a two-part process:
(1) You will assign Career Launch the value you wish it to hold in your course grade book.
(2) You will be given access to the gradebook for your students' Career Launch Blackboard course. You will need to transfer/translate these grade(s) to your own grade book. The standard cumulative point value of all Career Launch assignments is 100 points, but this can be modified for your course should you wish.

What can I do if I do not want to embed Career Launch in my course, but I am still interested in embedding some career education in my course?

Please reach out to Madison Stueve, the Associate Director for Career Access Initiatives (mstueve@uark.edu) to inquire more about Career Launch Academy and how it can fit into your course!

What classes does career launch curriculum work best in?

We have seen that sophomores are the best group to target for Career Launch curriculum. Freshmen is a bit too early to think about careers seriously, and many seniors felt that career launch would have benefitted them earlier in career discovery. Students who are preparing to further refine their career goals, begin exploring internships, and do not have a clear path forward will benefit most from this curriculum so we recommend 1000 +2000 level courses with mostly sophomores and juniors present.

Require students to attend a career fair and meet with at least 3 booths. You're welcome to assign students to complete this Career Fair Worksheet as part of your class assignment. Students can practice researching employers, introducing themselves and building a professional network by attending career fairs. Career Fair information can be found on our events page or in Handshake.

Require students to attend a career event to aid in their professional development. Dozens of career events are offered each semester. Check Handshake for the most updated options or talk with your college's career rep to identify options that relate to your course material.

As a reminder, many of our career events require business casual dress. Please ensure your students dress business casual or business professionally when attending a career fair. Students can view our Dress for Success page for more details.

UA Career Guide

Already planning a career-related event? Invite Career Connections to co-sponsor! We can help market your event in college career newsletters and Handshake. We can also assist you with campus event planning best practices. Reach out to your college’s career liaison or the Career Connections Director of Career Events.

University of Arkansas Career Events & Fairs Guidelines

In a Career Everywhere culture, the entire campus community comes together to introduce and engage students in career-ready skill-building. Students will need the career search and career exploration skills they learn in college for the rest of their lives. Vitally, career events and fairs give students a safe place to make mistakes, recover, learn about the world of work, and uncover career options.

This document outlines differing guidelines for career fairs hosted by Career Connections and career fairs hosted by academic departments and student organizations.

Primary Host: Career Connections is responsible for…

Career Connections offers 6-9 career fairs paid for by companies every fall and spring semester. Career Connections has dedicated staff members who coordinate and build each career fair to maximize students’ on-campus networking and provide a consistent campus experience for recruiting professionals. Career Connections:

1. Coordinates event logistics, i.e. room reservations, parking, event setup, marketing across campus
2. Provides refreshments and meals for guests
3. Manages employer registrations, accommodations, communications, payments, and questions
4. Conducts outreach to identify potential career fair participants
5. Hosts Day After Interviews for employers

Primary Host: Academic Departments or Student Organizations are responsible for…

Academic departments and student organizations who host their own career fairs offer students an opportunity to practice event coordination and expose students to organizations who might not otherwise recruit on campus due to career fair registration fees.

• Event space scheduling & reservations
• Parking for employers, or campus parking instructions
• Communication with employers about event logistics and campus navigation
• Employer outreach and customer service
• Marketing- signs to promote event on campus
• Guest refreshments (optional)

To share time & resources, Career Connections can provide to department and student organization-hosted events the following:

• Employer contact information
• Promotion of event on Handshake
• Promotion of event on HogSync, tagged as practicing and building Career & Self-Development career-ready skill
• Use and assist with Career Connections’ nametag system (Note: departments/student organizations purchase their own nametag labels.)
• Event coordination mentorship

Community Focused Career Events

Community focused career events will primarily focus on collaborating with student groups on campus that focus on identity based shared interests- cultivating events that resonate with the specific student group and the needs they are advocating for in the realm of career-ready skills.

Primary Host: Career Connections is responsible for...

Career Connections hosts a variety of career development events to serve students with lower early career outcomes each semester. Career Connections is responsible for the following:

• Booking rooms and reserving other vendors
• Promotion of the event on Handshake, Hogsync, with various student organizations and departments that match the audience of the event
• Tagging the event on Hogsync with the career-ready skill that best fits the event
• Recruiting employers to participate in events as needed

Primary Host: Registered Student Organization is responsible for...

Identity based RSO’s interested in specific programming for their group can collaborate with the office in numerous ways to bring career development to their group and allow the students creating the event to develop career ready skills will do the following:

• Reserve rooms and identify vendors
• Request student activity funding and create a budget for that and OCC’s community programming budget
• Create the event on Hogsync and tag OCC as a co-host and add career- ready skill
• Marketing- signs to promote on campus with OCC logo added

Career Connections can provide to the event hosting RSOs the following:

• Collaboration to brainstorm programming based off the RSO's needs and interests
• Possible funding depending on budget and student activity funding
• Allocation of guest speakers from various companies that fit the needs of the student group
• Presentation materials delivered by OCC or mentorship of students in organization to confidently present career everywhere education
• Create and advertise the event on Handshake
• Parking for employers, or campus parking instructions
• Communication with employers about event logistics and campus navigation

For new college graduates, career readiness is key to ensuring successful entrance into the workforce. For employers, career readiness plays an important role in sourcing talent, providing a means of identifying key skills and abilities across all job functions. In recent years, hiring organizations are focusing more on selecting applicants based on skills rather than degrees. (Jobs Needs Skills, Not Degrees, Forbes, 2023)

In response, the U of A identified 8 skills* that are transferable across occupations and industries and key to students' career readiness. Incorporating the Career-Ready Skills will enable the U of A to establish a common vocabulary to discuss employers' needs and expectations, and educate students on a basic set of competencies upon which a successful career is launched. (*The 8 career-ready skills are adapted from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and informed by HR professionals, higher education professionals and the public.)

These eight career readiness competencies can be demonstrated in a variety of ways and in many different settings.

Tips to incorporate career-ready skills into curricular and co-curricular activities:

1. Review & present Career-Ready Skill Overview (UA Career-Ready Skills Facilitation Guide.docx)
2. Add career-ready skill language, visuals, and/or descriptions to your learning outcomes for classes, programs, assignments, projects, events, etc. Use the Skillify Your Syllabi Worksheet and Example Syllabus with Skills to get started.
3. Encourage students to participate in skill-building campus events and earn the UA Career-Ready Badge.
4. Invite students to reflect on your class/program's career building activities. Students who submit the following career-ready skill reflection forms in HogSync (UA's student engagement platform) are also completing career-ready badge requirements.
   • Career and Self-Development
   • Communication
   • Critical Thinking
   • Perspective Awareness
   • Leadership
   • Professionalism
   • Teamwork
   • Technology

Invite your graduating (undergrad and grad) students to complete the U of A First Destination Survey: https://career.uark.edu/aboutus/studentstats/fds.php

All University of Arkansas graduates are asked to complete this survey to share their post-graduation plans. The data collected is compiled and shared publicly to demonstrate the value of a U of A degree. Current students use the data to make career decisions; prospective students and families use the data to choose areas of study; and the campus community uses the aggregate data to report career outcomes to state and federal accreditation entities, and ranking publications.

Explore the dynamic career outcomes report to understand more about your students' post-graduation activities, top employers, top locations, top industries, top institutions of continued education, salaries, and more: https://career.uark.edu/aboutus/studentstats/

University of Arkansas students have free, unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning, an online library of high-quality instructional videos on the latest software tools and skills. Log in with an organization account using your @uark.edu information. View hundreds of short videos for tips and advice straight from professionals in the field.

1. How to Write a Cover Letter
2. How to Write a Resume - Start with "The contact info section of a resume" listed in the Video Chapters. The first chapter is directed at graduate students, if you are teaching a course of undergraduates this can lead to some confusion and you may want to skip that part if you are showing this video in your class.
3. How to Interview
4. Job Search & Networking
5. How to Search for Jobs on Handshake
6. Networking Your Way to Job Opportunities
7. Job Skills: Learning the Basics
8. Designing your Career (Life Design)
9. Designing your Life: Creating Odyssey Plans
10. Improving Your Listening Skills

Career Assessments are a great way for students to begin their career exploration and gain a better understanding of who they are. These assessments are free for UARK students. Send students to this link in order to take the listed assessments: https://career.uark.edu/students/explorecareers/

• Focus2: The FOCUS 2 is an intuitive tool to help students select a major and explore occupations. Students can complete five assessments including the Interests-Holland Code, Personality, Values, Skills, and Leisure Interests. Assessment results are matched to University of Arkansas majors and career options with over 1200 occupations and up-to-date career information.
• My Majors: This assessment will give students a list of 10 UA majors that are most consistent with their interests, preferences, and achievements along with a general description of this major.
• Type Focus: TypeFocus Careers assesses students personality type and incorporates it into seven personalized reports to answer, "What career choices fit with my personality?" and "How can I improve my chances for getting a job?"
• Spark Path Challenge Cards: The Challenge mindset is an approach to career exploration focused on finding challenges to tackle instead of ever-changing job titles. This interactive card sorting experience is designed to help students find a career path based on exciting, real-world challenges that go beyond majors and job titles.
  What is the SparkPath Challenge Card Assessment?
  Challenge Card Assessment Video Instructions
• Career Readiness Assessment:

  Increase your career confidence by learning what the top 8 career-ready skills are, how well you've developed them to-date and ways you can further develop these employer-valued skills at the U of A by completing the NACE Career Readiness+ Inventory. (~10 minutes to complete)

  Doctoral Students: Use the Graduate Student Career Readiness Assessment for a more targeted assessment of your career readiness.

• Link your department's website to career.uark.edu.
• Ask us to add a Handshake RSS feed of internships & jobs posted for industries related to your department's area (Contact Director of Career Events, KayLee Simmons, at ksim02@uark.edu.)
• Upload Lifelong Career Exploration Roadmap
• Link to Use the Scientific Method for your Career Exploration

Please complete the applicable form to request an in-class presentation. Types of presentations and the time associated with each are shown on the form and below. If you are a Walton College faculty member, please fill out the Walton form, failing to do so can increase the processing time of your request. Availability for a class presentation is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please allow 1-2 business days for your request to be processed. We look forward to working with you this semester!

How to Create a Stand-Out Resume and Cover Letter (50 minutes)

In this 50-minute interactive presentation, students learn four tips to create a “stand-out” resume and cover letter, including how to use keywords and accomplishment statements to tailor their resume to a position. At the end of the presentation, students role-play as a search committee and use tips learned to determine the best candidate for a sample position.

Acing the Interview: Tips and Practice (50 minutes)

In this 50-minute presentation, students learn tips on what to do before, during, and after the interview. Students learn how to prepare for an interview, how to dress, and tips for answering common interview questions such as "Tell me about yourself" and "What is your greatest weakness."

Overview of Services Offered by the Offices of Career Connections (50 minutes)

In this 50-minute presentation, students learn about the Offices of Career Connections most useful but often unknown online resources and in-person services. Whether a student is undecided about their major, not sure how to start searching for jobs, or wants free access to hundreds of resume templates, they will walk away with hacks they’ll be glad they know!

How to Search for Jobs or Graduate Schools (30 minutes)

In this 30-minute presentation, students learn how to create a job or graduate school search plan; find out common job, internship, and graduate school search links; and understand the importance networking plays in both the job and graduate school search process.

Social Media Etiquette: Do's and Don'ts (30 minutes)

In this 30-minute presentation, students learn how to build and use their LinkedIn profile, gain tips to develop an online personal brand, and understand the importance of what to post and what not to post on social media by viewing real life examples.

Salary Negotiation (50 minutes)

In this 30-35 minute presentation (with 15 minutes built in afterwards for questions), students will learn how to research salaries, understand their market value, and practice strategies for negotiating a salary.

Professionalism Tips for the Classroom & the Workplace (30 minutes)

In this 30-minute presentation, students gain an understanding of common workplace and classroom etiquette, including how to compose a professional email message, dress for the workplace, and give a proper handshake.

How to Use Handshake (15 minute demo)

In this 15-minute demonstration, students will learn how to login to the university's job and career platform, Handshake, and navigate the system to search thousands of jobs or internships, submit applications, build their profile, research companies, register for career fairs and events, and schedule career advising appointments.

• Planning a Class Assignment with the Career Studio, such as a resume review, mock interview, or LinkedIn profile review? If you’re assigning a class activity that involves visiting the Career Studio, please send us a quick email at cstudio@uark.edu with:
  • The due date
  • The number of students
  • Any specific assignment details

  This helps our Career Peer Mentors prepare and provide the best support possible for your students.

• How faculty can verify that students visited the Career Studio
  • Student shares resume with feedback on it
  • Student screenshots post appointment confirmation from Handshake
  • Selfie with a Career Peer Mentor or photo at the Career Studio
  • Students shares follow up email from Career Peer Mentor
  • After the due date has passed, the Assistant Director of the Career Studio can verify which students completed appointments through sharing the class roster


• Preferred timeline for notice of incoming class assignments
  • 1 week in advance
  • We typically have 3 Career Peer Mentors working at a time and provide services on an in-person drop-in first come first serve basis.

  Students can schedule a virtual Career Studio appointment to meet with a Career Peer Mentor through Handshake. Students can email a resume and cover letter as a word document to cstudio@uark.edu for asynchronous feedback.

Career Connections developed career modules with potential activities, videos, assignments, quizzes, rubrics, and instructor instructions, on a variety of topics (i.e. resume and cover letter, interview skills, salary negotiation, using LinkedIn & Handshake, etc.) that you can copy and paste into your own Blackboard class.

Request access to Blackboard Career Modules by completing the Faculty Career Toolkit Access Request form on HogSync.