Library Briefings

Core’s new Career Lab

Library partners with University Career Services to offer new resources

As a result of collaboration between the Library and University Career Services, this fall Northwestern students in the career-planning and job-seeking stages can take advantage of two new resources. They can stop by the new Career Lab, located in the Library’s Core Reserve tower (2N) for drop-in consultations with both Career Services staffers and Career Peers, and they can research potential industries, employers, salary levels, hiring trends, and other topics in the Vault Online Career Library.

Career Lab was student-initiated, originating with the Associated Student Government (ASG) as a way to address the issue of the distance of the main Career Services office (on Lincoln Street, at the campus’s far north end) from the center of campus. ASG proposed the Library location and requested funding to renovate the space for this purpose. “In the Library, Career Lab is central enough so students can stop in between class,” says Lonnie Dunlap, Director of University Career Services. “And it gives students access to the combined resources that we and the Library have to offer.” Career Lab staffers can answer career questions, consult on resume questions, and direct students toward the best research sources.

“One of those sources is certainly going to be Vault,” Dunlap adds. “Students have been asking us for it for a long time, and we’re very pleased that, as a result of this collaboration with the Library, we can now offer it as a significant addition to our online resources.” Besides its profiles of careers and industries, Vault offers articles about job hunting topics, sample cover letters and resumes, diversity data, and message boards. (Career Services also offers students access to other online career resources, including Wetfeet and Career Search.)

“We’re hoping the drop-in service will prove more convenient for students who are following up on services we’ve provided at the main office,” Dunlap says, “and that it will also help introduce us to those who aren’t yet aware of those services.” Career Service’s main office offers in-depth assistance to undergraduate and graduate students by appointment, including career counseling, internship planning and preparation, graduate school advising, general job-search strategizing, and interviews with visiting employers.

More information about Career Lab, University Career Services, and Vault is available at www.careers.northwestern.edu or from Lonnie Dunlap, x1-3707, l-dunlap@northwestern.edu.