Career-Related Assignments

Below are some suggestions that will support your career education efforts in the classroom, help us to manage appointment slot availability, and best accommodate and serve all our students in their professional development.

Group of students sitting outside of West Village Commons
TU students are eager to prepare for their careers inside the classroom.

Notification of Career Center Assignment Requirement

The Career Center would appreciate notification when you assign a resume review, cover letter review, and/or mock interview on your semester’s syllabus. Please complete the Assignment Requirement Form by the first day of classes each semester.

Even with ample notice, students tend to procrastinate, often making it difficult to accommodate all students requesting an appointment. We’re recommending that faculty stagger the due dates for your assignments (i.e., A-G’s mock interviews are due week 5, H-N due week 6, etc.).

Resume & Cover Letter Assignments

Resume Resources

Access sample resumes, a power verb list, a handout on how to write effective bullet points, and more.

Cover Letter Resources

Access guidelines and sample cover letters.

Resume/Cover Letter Workshops

The resume workshop provides students with the essentials of how to write a resume that will help showcase a student’s greatest strengths and experiences to land an interview. The cover letter workshop covers what to include in a cover letter and how to communicate effectively in writing with employers. These workshops can be combined. Request a workshop for your class today.

Suggested Assignments/Class Activities

Have students review their peers’ resumes using the resume checklist handout/rubric (PDF). Lead an exercise on how to effectively describe experiences on the resume using the following handouts:

Resume/Cover Letter Reviews

Students can receive feedback from the Career Center on their resumes and cover letters by:

  • Stopping by Express Hours for a fifteen-minute drop-in review
  • Attending a Mobile Unit (check schedule) for quick resume and cover letter feedback

Interviewing Assignments

Big Interview

Towson has a new, custom interview training system where students can learn and practice interview skills. The system includes topical, web-based instruction; access to an interview question library; and the ability for students to practice targeted and general interview responses via a mock interview module. Students can send their recorded mock interview videos to their instructors for review.

Log in to Big Interview today.

Interviewing Resources

Find handouts, videos, and links to help students prepare for and ace the interview.

Interviewing Skills Workshop

This workshop introduces students to the most common interview styles, strategies to answer and ask questions and recommendations for post-interview follow up. Request a workshop for your class.

Suggested Assignments/Class Activities

  • Ask students to watch online tutorials in Big Interview and write a reflection paper on what they learned
  • Split the Big Interview online tutorials among students/ teams to review and present quick tips to the class
  • Ask students to record their mock interviews in Big Interview and send the recording to the instructor for review

Employer Mock Interviews

These are scheduled each semester and provide the opportunity for students to refine and practice their interview skills with real-world recruiters/professionals. The employer mock interview timeslot sign-ups are managed via Handshake.

Career Center Mock Interviews

Students can schedule a 30-minute mock interview with the Career Center’s professional staff. As these are half hour in length, they are most difficult to accommodate in bulk. Even with ample notice, students tend to procrastinate, often making it difficult to accommodate all students requesting a mock interview. We’re recommending that faculty stagger the due dates for your mock interview assignments (i.e., A-G’s mock interviews are due week 5, H-N due week 6, etc.).

Other Career Topic Assignments

Other topics the Career Center can assist with include Networking (including LinkedIn and informational interviewing), Internship/Making the Most of Your Internship, Graduate School Application Process/Writing Personal Statements, Job Search, Job Fair Preparation, Researching Employers, and Salary Negotiation.

Online Resources

Access more information, resources, links, videos and handouts on all of the above topics available to students.

Workshops

Access a complete list of workshop topics and the online workshop request form.

Suggested Assignments/Class Activities

  • Ask students to use LinkedIn to identify 10 professionals in their field of interest (using the Find Alumni function)
  • Have students develop a list of everyone in their network (thinking of friends, family, service providers, teachers, alumni, co-workers, supervisors, etc.)
  • Assign students to conduct an informational interview (PDF) with a TU alumnus in the Career Mentor Database.