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UNC Student Success Stories!

See and hear real students share their real stories about how they found success with University Career Services. (Flash 7 Player or highter is required to view Student Success videos.)

You may also view videos from UNC-CH Alumni sharing their stories of success. (Flash 8 Player is required for the Alumni videos. Transcripts of the Alumni Stories are also available.)

If you do not have access to Flash or if you cannot view the videos, transcripts of the student experiences are available below.

Leslie, Sophomore Career: Internship (Nike) UCS Services Used: Resume Creation Interviewing Skills Internship Assistance

"My name is Leslie. I am a sophomore here at UNC-Chapel Hill. This summer I’ll be working in Atlanta, Georgia for Nike in the Sales Department.

Career Services helped me tremendously. I first came here my freshman year and they helped me build my resume to distribute to different employers. They helped me with my cover letters. They helped me with my interviewing skills. They helped me with every aspect of trying to find a career and trying to find an internship. They helped me with everything. I think it’s a great place. I think more students need to take advantage of using Career Services."

"I used basically all the services at Career Services. Coming in my freshman year I immediately needed help because I wanted to do an internship in New York. So I needed help with resumes and cover letters, wanted to learn how I should dress for my interview, posture, questions, etc.

I went through my job search process in Junior/Senior year just furthermore the resources in the library, but just the people. As you go into Career Services and you meet these people they have so much experience with college students who have gone through this they know so much about these careers. Not only did they help advise me on what I should look at, because they knew me, because I spent some time in there, but they set me up with contacts on the internet.

We have such a large database at Career Services that, there’s so many Tarheels all over the country. So when I was in New York I made, I reached out, learned a lot about different companies, different businesses, etc. And then leading up to actual interviews; doing mock interviews was so helpful. Just to get feedback from knowledgeable people that know what actual interviewers are looking for. So that was really helpful.

I think the most important thing people should know about Career Services is that it’s here. Use it. Get in early and make friends with these people. They only want to help you. That is their job. That’s what they came to do and that’s what they want to do."

Lindsey, Senior Career: Consulting UCS Services Used: Campus Interviews Mock Interviews Resume Creation Career Fairs & Events

"University Career Services helped me so much in the job interview process. It helped me with mock interviews, really getting that chance to prepare for an interview in a business situation with the help of a University Career Services’ representative. They put so much time into it and really made it a serious practice that I felt comfortable and I gained confidence in the interview process.

The University Career Services I used were the preparations for resumes, interviews, such as mock interview practice, the materials that prep students on how to prepare for career fairs, how to conduct phone interviews, things of that nature. I think that University Career Services is an asset to the University. I think it is helpful to students of every major, every class, every year. I think students should really sign up for the emails to know all about what’s going on at University Career Services, what events are coming up, what panels they can attend, and preparing for everything for life after graduation."

"There’s a great staff here that is totally committed to helping students here. The University Career Services, services that I used were the Optimal Resume online resume creator, I used the one-on-one personal counseling to critique my resume, and I used counseling to help me learn about the different interviewing styles. Advice that I would give other students using career services would be to use every bit of services that they offer. They really offer a whole wide range of things that the average student probably doesn’t even know exists.

I think the resource I depended on most from University Career Services was the resume creation process. When creating a resume, that’s really your face out there in the world and it’s the first thing an employer’s going to see. University Career Services really helped me to gain confidence in my resume and helped me tweak it so it said exactly what I wanted to say in the best possible way, so that employers were impressed with my past work history, my experiences, and they just really helped me to really put a good face on my future as an employee."

"Career Services is a great option for getting your foot in the door in a company. In my particular career in Public Relations and Event Planning, connecting through their database with their online internships was a huge way that they connected me with great companies. I had three awesome internships. When I went to my first interview they were very surprised that I had had three internships.

UCS helped me by, I came several times to get my resume critiqued. They did a great job of tailoring my resume for my particular sequence of Public Relations from the Journalism school. They did a great job of making sure they brought out my biggest strengths in my resume. They also helped me, I went to career fairs, I went to a couple of career fairs, met a lot of employers, actually got some interviews from it, so that was great. They really guided me on what I needed to do to look for a job. They were very, very helpful. My resume was my biggest thing. They helped me critique it several times. I went back several visits and every time I went back I got great suggestions. I thought they were just so friendly. They really helped me feel comfortable with getting a job. I love them. I think they’re great. I think they’re personable people. I think that’s the biggest thing about them."

"I’m currently the financial center manager of a branch of BB&T bank, located here in Durham. When I was interviewing for places to go I actually didn’t know where I wanted to work or what I wanted to do, and Career Services really helped me focus in on what my strengths were and what I would enjoy doing.

At University Career Services the best resource for me was using the website. I’m a technological person, I use email, I’ve been using internet and computers since I was ten years old so, that was for me personally, that was the best resource. There was a lot of information, and links to information so I could research companies. And I was encouraged to research companies before I actually went to the interview so that I would be prepared to answer any questions they had, specifically about the company. If I had to guess, I probably got offers from 18 of 20 places that I interviewed with. So it was really up to me where I wanted to work rather than it came down to a place where I had to choose because I didn’t have any other options. I interviewed with BB&T and I didn’t know if I wanted the job so I think that helped me out as far as my confidence in the interview and afterwards I realized it was a great fit for me as far as my values and what I was looking to do with my future and my career. So, I don’t think I could have done it without Career Services, that’s for sure. I would never have even been in that interview or even thought to apply."

“University Career Services is a great resource if you know what you want to do, if you’re 110% sure about what you want to do, you can still use career services to help you prepare for that and resumes, mock interviews, you can still prepare. And of course, if you don’t know what you want to do, then they can help you look at your interests and say 'okay, you know this is what I want to do' so it’s great.

I wish I would have known the variety of services a little earlier so that I could have been working on my resume a little earlier, maybe doing mock interviews earlier, just networking earlier so it’s a variety of services I wish I had used earlier, well that I will be using in the future. Wherever you are in your college career, I think that University Career Services will be great."

“My name is Andrew and I currently work for IBM. Career Services helped me by helping me create a better resume. I came in and had a certain type of resume I thought clients or businesses would like to see, but they actually helped me narrow it down - go from like three pages to one page; which I found in actually interviewing other employees at IBM that it really helps to have a one page resume succinct and concise and really to the point.

Students should really use Career Services to get themselves used to interviewing with different employers. I think that’s one of the biggest parts - is being comfortable with yourself and the interviewers, being able to understand what they’re looking for, that they’re not always interested in what you’ve technically done in the classroom all the time. They want to really know you as a person, sometimes, and really understand what you do as a student and how you handle all the hustle and bustle of being a college student and how you’re going to relate in the actual business world.

I believe University Career Services is very important to the University because it does give a gateway from the university to the marketplace, which is very very important for students. Once they get out of college they really want to jump right into a job and really go gung-ho into a career and that really is what Career Services can help you do.”

“I work at an organization in Chapel Hill called MDC. I am what they call an Autry Fellow and every year they give a fellowship to a recent graduate to come and work kind of as a junior staff member.

I came to University Career Services my second semester of my senior year because I knew I wanted to work at a non-profit and that was kind of a big field. I wasn’t exactly sure how to hone in on the experiences I’d had and go after some of the experiences I wanted to have. I found the Autry Fellowship and I decided I wanted to apply for it. And I brought that information to Jacquie. She immediately looked over it and said, “This is perfect for you.” And at that time, I was hesitating, thinking, “Am I qualified to do this? There are so many people applying, there’s only one person who gets this position…” I was really nervous, but just to hear someone here at Career Services look at this and automatically be like you can do this, this is what you need to be doing - It just totally helped me rework going into it and going after it and applying for it, and just doing everything I could to prepare for it. I mean it really did inspire me. I feel fortunate that I was able to enter directly into what I wanted to be doing and before I came here I wasn’t confident that that was going to happen.”

Questions, comments? Email us at ucs@unc.edu
919-962-6507