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There are a few reasons you may not be hearing back from all those applications you are submitting but, let’s start at the beginning: the resume. It’s a dreaded document that can seem boring in all the formality and, because it often takes a fair amount of time to create a good one, it can be a great item to procrastinate on. But in all seriousness, the resume opens the door to your first-round interview. If you’re not getting invited to interviews then your check resume light is on. Here are a few tips to get you started. 

So you’re thinking of going into finance–an oft-heard response for Duke undergraduates to the perennial question of one’s career ambitions or summer internship plans. But what exactly does that entail?

This Thursday, January 23rd, from 10am to 3pm marks the Spring Career Fair. Maybe you attended the Fall Career Fair last semester, maybe this is your first career fair ever, or maybe you’ve been to six and are a pro.

You’re ready to look for internships and jobs and you hear someone tell you to network or start connecting with individuals with like interests, do you know where to start? When thinking about connecting with individuals who share the same interests you do, work for the same company you would like to work for, or are doing things you find awesome, it is always easiest to start speaking with your inner circle, which would include:

As a first year on Duke’s campus, odds are that you’ve heard about the Opportunity Buffet metaphor. Whether it’s when you’re overwhelmed and dripping in sweat at the Fall Activity Fair or frantically searching the course catalog during your registration window, you find yourself face-to-face with an all-you-can-eat selection of great experiences. 

Engaging in a practice of reflection can not only provide a chance to slow down and think through your likes and dislikes but also make difficult decisions seem easier.  You can see the benefits of reflecting more clearly if you continuously make time for it on a daily basis.

Enter the Career Center at any day of the week recently, and you will find hordes of students dressed in suits, ties, blazers, and maybe even a briefcase or two. You may ask yourself: Why are all my peers dressed so professionally? Did I time-travel ten years into the future? Does Drop-In Career Advising have a business attire requirement that I’m unaware of?

Elana Lyn Gross wrote this article for Skill Crush, I’ve excerpted it and added some Duke- specific thoughts on the dream job search. Gross has great advice on how to explore careers, talk to people to find out about the day-to-day of an industry, and know that it’s totally normal not to have a clear cut path to retirement right now.

How to Find Your Dream Job (When You Don’t Know What You Want)

Do you ever have that feeling where you already know something to be true, but are still occasionally epiphanically surprised by it? I get that feeling a lot, mostly having to do with simple facts that have become part of the fabric of my everyday life, but are still somehow awe-inspiring.

Every fall, the campus descends into a corporate frenzy. Immediately after O-Week ends, students in dark suits start popping up all over campus, and the environment at the Career Center becomes increasingly corporate. Until my senior year as a public policy major, I considered myself relatively immune to the consulting rush and stress that accompanies it.