Career Development Office

Career Development Office (CDO) 

Mission Statement: Educate, Empower, Engage 

We strive to provide innovative career education programs, courses and individualized coaching services that empower UMSI students to use their strengths in designing successful strategies for lifelong career management. 

We engage with employers locally and globally to create high touch, personalized partnerships to facilitate beneficial recruiting relationships. 

We aim to be agile and collaborative as we stay at the forefront of career development best practices among all iSchools and career centers nationwide and globally. 

A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is a core principle of our team and our work.

A Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

The Office of Career Development is committed to integrating diversity, equity and inclusion, and anti-racism into all curricular and co-curricular offerings, policies, practices, and assessment with a particular focus on student empowerment and advocacy, as well as employer education and accountability.

CDO Service Model

• We provide full service, professional career development support & services to all UMSI students and work closely with the employers and alumni who recruit and hire them.

• We are a team of career development experts who work closely with students for internships and job success, as well curricular and co-curricular career exploration & engagement.

• We provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in real-world work through the UMSI Internship Program, as well as other employer engagement activities.

• We teach career development and internship success credit-based courses for BSIs, MSIs and MHIs. CDO advisors hold Lecturer roles.  

• We provide expertise in career coaching & advising, career education programming, professional & job search skill development workshops, career fairs, and employer relations.

• We work with thousands of employers every year who want to engage with and recruit all UMSI students for internships and jobs through on-campus and off-campus recruiting programs. 

How we can help you

Student Advising Referrals and Support

 We have a full team of career development experts, as well as career peer coaches who provide 1:1 and/or small group advising/coaching for students in the following areas: self-assessment, career exploration, and job search preparedness i.e., resume & cover letter development, portfolio development, interview prep, negotiations strategies, network strategies, and more across all industries. As you are advising students whose questions turn to some of these topics or who are struggling with their job/internship search, please know that you can refer them to the CDO umsi.careers@umich.edu, or they can make an appointment on CareerLink. 

Industry Insight

Our team offers industry expertise and many industry connections.  We have access to many industry resources and can provide you with specific industry insight and trends.  We publish reports, jobs & internship outcomes data, and resources that can provide industry insight and perspective to help shape course development.   We have lots of employers and alumni for on campus recruiting throughout the year.  If you hear of someone or a specific company visiting UMSI and you would like to meet with them to get industry perspective, we can make that happen. 

UMSI Internship Program (credit-based or required internships)

The CDO manages all credit-based or required internships for UMSI students (BSI, MSI and MHI). We also oversee the UMSI Internship Grant that students may apply to in M-Compass.

Employment & Internship Outcomes Data

 The CDO collects outcomes data of all of our students every year for our employer report publication.  This is a comprehensive employment report that provides data sharing outcomes on where students work, types of orgs, type of jobs, industry, salary, geographic locations, job satisfaction and more—we also have internship data and employer/industry data to share.  You can access UMSI Employment Reports and Internship Reports on the website. 

• UMSI CareerLink-  Our online recruitment system for jobs and internships.  We track and manage all postings, events, and employer contacts through UMSI CareerLink

• How to Build Career Education Into Your Class: Our office can provide you with strategies, tips and resources on how to integrate career education into your class. For project-based courses this can look like a a brief presentation (or slide deck you can share at the end of your class) by the CDO on how to articulate your project experience and skills to an employer through resumes and interviews.  

• Hiring a UMSI Student Intern:  If you are in need of hiring a UMSI student intern,  you should plan to hire an intern the same way you would hire for any position.  Please note that IF the student chooses to receive academic credit for the internship, specific criteria must be met in order for the student to receive credit, including your role as the internship mentor.   It is your responsibility, as well as the student's responsibility, to be informed to follow the appropriate process to receive academic credit.  Please review the following documents & guidelines if you plan to hire a UMSI student intern:

  •  UMSI Internship Program Requirements

  •  Internships for credit can be paid or unpaid.  We advocate for students to be paid if you have funding available.  Average pay rate varies from $15-$30 depending on the nature and level of the work and skills required.  The hiring process, decision-making, pay rate and schedule are discussed and agreed upon between you and the student intern prior to the start of the internship.  To learn more about the UMSI Internship Program, please refer to the MSI/MHI Internship Handbook and the BSI Internship Handbook. 

  • First Steps to Hire a UMSI Student Intern

How you can help the CDO

Share Job Posting/Industry Contacts 

As you come across or learn of job postings from your industry contacts—please share with our office so that we can build strong recruiting partnerships and pipelines for jobs and internships long term.  Faculty are fantastic resources for us to develop employer relationships for recruiting.  If you come across good job postings or contacts we should reach out to, please send our way to umsi.careers@umich.edu.

Promote UMSI CareerLink

 Help us promote UMSI CareerLink as a primary career/job search resource to students.  We just launched this new platform this summer and want to generate awareness to students. We'll share a google slide with all faculty to ask to make an announcement at the start of your class or add to your Canvas Site.  

Lend Your Expertise (Be a Career Champion for Students!)

 Lend your expertise to help prepare students for the job search.  We are always seeking faculty champions who can give a little of their time for any of the following career services for students:  mock interviews (tech, design and/or case) or portfolio reviews.

Contact umsi.careers@umich.edu to become a faculty champion today!