We want you to love your job as much as we love ours. And we really love our jobs. We encourage you to visit VCU Career Services in the University Student Commons as soon as you arrive at VCU.
As a VCU student, you have access to a variety of career resources, including individual career advising, events, job search guides and full- and part-time job listings posted specifically for VCU talent to help you navigate every step of your personal career and professional development.
Not sure where to start? Explore our advising services, make an appointment with a career advisor or check out the topics below:
If you are already thinking about continuing your education after earning your undergraduate degree, check out the graduate school resources below.
Many VCU grads go on to pursue further graduate or professional studies. If you’re thinking about applying, begin the process early. While every program is different, it normally takes several months to apply to a graduate or professional program. Here are some ways you can make the process easier for yourself.
Most applications can take anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the type of program. While some programs only require a school-specific application, others might include standardized tests, resume/CV, references, essay questions and an interview. By knowing the specific requirements, you can plan for all the appropriate steps you will need to take.
To help you in your planning, try our grad school comparison checklist.
Once you decide on a program, take the appropriate standardized test for entrance. Many of these sites have practice exams you can take in advance to help increase your scores. Common exams include:
Some programs will ask you to write a personal statement related to your chosen field of study. You can meet with a career advisor to review your personal statement. Personal statements are usually categorized in one of the following ways:
For more information, check out the following resources:
Typically, programs will require letters of reference from academic and nonacademic individuals. You probably already know several people who can give you a great reference. They could be professors, supervisors or academic advisors.
Make sure that the person:
When asking for a recommendation:
Competitive graduate and professional programs often include interviews. These could be a singular interview with a potential faculty advisor or multiple mini-interviews for health-related programs. It is important to practice for these interviews like you would any other.
There are so many ways you can work on your career and professional development while you are in school. One of those ways is through your coursework. Whether you're exploring your interests, starting your job search or working as an intern, VCU Career Services, VCU Academic Advising and other VCU departments have several in-person and online classes to help support your career development while earning course credit.
Semester course; variable hours. 1-4 credits. May be repeated with different content. Specialized topics in subject and competency areas related to the core curriculum program not provided by an existing course or program. May be multidisciplinary. Graded as pass/fail or normal letter grading at the option of the instructor.
Semester course; 1-3 lecture hours. 1-3 credits. May be repeated for a total of 3 credits. An education- and career-planning course focusing on the process of researching and selecting a major. Through course work, research, guest speakers and informational interviewing, students will discover various educational and career options. Topics will include interest, abilities and work-values assessments, decision-making models and career development theories. One- and two-credit versions of the course are offered with correspondingly reduced meeting schedules.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course provides an overview of strategies for academic success and career-readiness within the context of interdisciplinarity in the 21st-century university and professional world. Students will leverage the work they are doing in their focus areas as they begin to explore or refine their pre-professional interests and goals. Students will research specific interdisciplinary intellectual preparation and professional skills and expectations aligned with the goals.
We love talking to student organizations, classes and, well, anybody about career services. Fill out our form to request a presentation and someone from our office will get back to you soon.
As a VCU student, you have access to a broad range of instructional videos and courses based on skills known to be important to a variety of job functions and roles.