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Career Development Center
Extend your education beyond the classroom! Expand
your experience beyond the degree! Apply what you are learning in your
coursework to real world settings!
Employers continually express a strong preference for candidates with experience
that goes beyond mere academic credentials. With more and more college graduates
entering today's competitive job market, it becomes necessary for candidates to
demonstrate how their college experience yielded more than just a degree.
Employers seek candidates who gained additional experience during their college
tenure through involvement in campus organizations, internships, community
service projects and part-time jobs.
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“Today’s college students tend to prefer more concrete, hands-on learning
experiences. Our incoming class of freshman represent a new generation of
students that can be described as smart, ambitious, incredibly busy, and
ethnically diverse. One other characteristic about this generation is that they
like to plan. They are focused on the future and believe that any work they do
today should be a planned and preparatory investment for the permanent life they
wish to lead tomorrow. They are more likely to find summer jobs that serve the
community or teach new professional skills than to bother with jobs that simply
generate spending money. The popularity of the word internship is suggestive.
The jobs this new generation of students find most attractive are
apprenticeships that promise to pay off over a lifetime.”
-HOWE & STRAUSS
Impact of Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular Activities: Impact and Types
Activities: Types and Benefits
Beyond the Classroom:
Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular Activities Just as Important as Academics
Experiential Education:
Internship Tips
List of Extracurricular Activities
Why Extracurricular Activities Are Important
Impressive Extracurriculars
Extracurricular Activities: A Positive Force
Activity Planner
Experiential Education
College students have available to them a wealth of on-campus opportunities
related to their professional and personal growth. Most universities offer
numerous services, resources, and activities that might be beneficial to
students' development. Students should take advantage of the many social,
cultural, and recreational activities that take place on campus, including
concerts, art shows, guest speakers, plays, and sporting events. A variety of
support services, including tutoring, counseling, advising, special training,
and assessments, await the student who realizes the intrinsic value of these
offerings.
Also available throughout the school year are career fairs, career information
expos, employment conferences, career issues forums, job skills workshops, and
graduate school fairs. Career counseling and career testing are available. The
extent to which students take advantage of the resources offered for their
development will be reflected in their level of preparedness and employability
upon graduation.

Transferable Skills
Through active participation in campus clubs, organizations, and other
extracurricular activities, students are provided an opportunity to use
and develop their skills in leadership, supervision, organization,
instruction, interpersonal relations, event planning, project management,
fund raising, finance, and a variety of other skills that can easily
transfer to the workplace.
Students learn collaborative skills and teamwork while working in groups.
They learn discipline and determination through athletic involvement. They
learn creative and communication skills through artistic and theatrical
projects. They learn analytical skills through research projects.
Volunteer activities also offer students a chance to gain valuable
experience through a wide range of community service projects and
philanthropic efforts.
Guide Star:
Directory of Charities & Non-Profits
Love to Know: List of Non-Profit Organizations
UM Service Learning & Community Engagement
United Way: Central Alabama List of Non-Profit Agencies
UM Campus Clubs and Organizations
Practical Experience
Practical experience in a risk-free environment can be gained through
internships, research projects, on-campus programs, part time jobs,
temporary jobs, or seasonal jobs. In addition to acquiring career-related
knowledge and skills, students are able to make important personal
contacts within their field of interest. It is a chance for them to "get
their foot in the door." Moreover, candidates with experience have more
credibility and maturity and a better chance in the job market than
candidates without experience.
Experience does not need to be in the form of a paid or fulltime job in
order to be relevant. Valuable experience might be gained in any number of
part time, freelance, or voluntary settings. Some of the best experience
students gain take place on the college campus and perhaps for no pay.

Career Planning Resources
Career Exploration Information
Job Market Tools
Resume Writing Resources
Skills Employers Value
"Understand that there are other important things happening on campus
besides the classroom experience."
-DR. BILL COBB | UM English Professor
"The total university experience is far more than the opportunity to
pursue one's career goals in the classroom. It also offers the unique
opportunity to serve and to lead. An essential part of your education is
linked to the opportunity to participate in student organizations and
activities. Leadership, character development and socialization of an
individual are enhanced when one chooses to affiliate and participate
actively in one of our campus student organizations."
-FREDA SHIVERS | UM Student Affairs
Professional
"Campus experiences outside the classroom
enhance and expand the education a student receives while in college.
Extracurricular activities are an extension of one's college education
over and above the pursuit of a degree and clearly make the student more
valuable and marketable upon graduation."
-MICHAEL LEBEAU | UM Career Counselor
Impact of Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular Activities: Impact and Types
Activities: Types and Benefits
Beyond the Classroom:
Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular Activities Just as Important as Academics
Experiential Education:
Internship Tips
List of Extracurricular Activities
Why Extracurricular Activities Are Important
Impressive Extracurriculars
Extracurricular Activities: A Positive Force
Activity Planner
Career Development Center
University of Montevallo
Station 6262 | Montevallo, Alabama 35115
Farmer Hall, Second Floor
205-665-6262 | career@montevallo.edu
Call to Schedule an Appointment
205-665-6262
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