Faculty and Staff Resources
We’d love to partner with you in helping our Walker College of Business students get career-ready and excited about what is next. Your industry knowledge and real-world insights are incredibly valuable, and together, we hope to guide students toward meaningful opportunities. Learn more about our resources and see how we can collaborate!
Career Coaching
Business Career Services offers career coaching to undergraduate and graduate students for a variety of topics, including career assessments, resume and cover letters, job/internship search, interviewing, networking, and more. Students can schedule these appointments in Handshake. A guide for scheduling appointments via Handshake is available for students.
Career Curriculum
Several of our career coaching topics can be included as part of your class curriculum. From requesting a class presentation with our staff to including career-related assignments, Business Career Services would love to work with you to incorporate career curriculum into your existing classes!
Using Handshake
Handshake is the university’s career management platform where you can connect students with job and internship opportunities, share events, and support their career development. Faculty and staff can request a Handshake faculty/staff account to see what students see and be a resource in their internship or job search. Additionally, you may choose to incorporate events offered through Handshake as part of your class.
Students receive an introduction to Handshake during Bus 2001. The primary features of Handshake that students use the most are:
- Scheduling appointments – View our guide on how students can schedule career coaching appointments.
- Internship/Job Search – View our guides on how students can search for internships and jobs as well as how to understand job postings on Handshake and best strategies before applying.
- Career Fairs, Networking and Events – View our guide on how students can register for career fairs and other events offered through Business Career Services. Additionally, students can register for virtual events with companies representing various geographical locations and industries.
Events
Business Career Services hosts many events throughout the year to help students improve their career readiness and meet with employers. Please encourage your students to attend our career fairs and events. If you would like to request attendance at Walker Spring Connect or Walker Business Connections, please email businesscareers@appstate.edu. Faculty and staff are also invited to attend.
Career Treks
Career treks are another way for you and your students to engage with employers. These are opportunities for WCOB students to expand their knowledge about industries and to explore workplace settings and cultures. It typically involves visiting an employer site within 3 hours of Boone. The main goals of a career trek include networking, learning about industry trends, gaining practical knowledge, and possibly identifying potential job or internship opportunities. Career treks include (but not limited to) the following:
- Tour and/or overview of the company
- A panel discussion to highlight the various roles at the company
- A small networking or breakout session
If you have an idea for a career trek or would like to partner with Business Career Services to organize one, please contact Jackie Garner at garnerjn@appstate.edu to coordinate.
Career Outcomes Data
Business Career Services tracks where our students go after graduation. This data is reported to several stakeholders and published on our Student Success page. If you have any questions about this data or would like to request a specific report, please contact Annie Johnson at loveam2@appstate.edu.
Tools for Students
We provide a variety of tools to help students with their professional development and career readiness skills. Share these resources with your students or have them reach out to us for additional support.
Ask A Mountaineer
Ask a Mountaineer is a tool for both App State students and alumni that offers access to the extensive knowledge and expertise of nearly 146,000 App State alumni. With Ask a Mountaineer, you can easily seek professional support, feedback, and advice from Mountaineers near and far. The best part is that there is no need to register or install an app. Simply submit your question on our webpage and receive a response directly in your email inbox.
Big Interview
Big Interview is a virtual platform that helps individuals improve their interviewing skills and build confidence for job interviews. It provides a variety of tools, including virtual mock interviews, a library of interview questions, video training, and an answer builder to help users prepare and practice.
Focus 2
Focus 2 Careerguides you through a reliable, intuitive career and education decision making model to help you choose majors offered at App State, explore occupations and make informed career decisions. This tool will engage you in the career planning process and help you plan for and achieve career success throughout your lifetime. Schedule a major/career appointment to gain access to Focus 2 Career.
Handshake
Handshake serves as our online career services portal that provides easy access to job and internship postings, on-campus recruiting, career fairs, employer contact information and scheduling coaching appointments. It connects current students and alumni with potential employers to help build meaningful careers.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is a professional development software tool that faculty, staff, and students can use to gain relevant skills and certifications, including business, creative, and tech courses. In addition, this provides unlimited access to their extensive subscription library, including popular software applications such as Microsoft Office, Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, and Adobe. A LinkedIn account is not required; simply activate your account by logging in with your App State user ID and password to get started.
Parker Dewey
Parker Dewey is a free platform that allows students to demonstrate skills and explore career paths across various fields, industries and disciplines. Business Career Services has partnered with Parker Dewey to begin promoting micro-internships to App State students. Projects exist for all majors and can incorporate a student’s outside experience/interests learned outside of their major. Students and recent graduates from all majors can gain real-world experience by completing short-term, paid, typically-remote, professional projects. Micro-Internships allow students to build and demonstrate skills while exploring potential career paths.
Quinncia
Quinncia is an online tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to scan your resume for common errors and shows you what to fix (and how) to effectively make it through the applicant tracking systems used by most major companies. Applicant tracking systems (usually referred to as “ATS”) help simplify the application review process for HR departments by filtering out resumes that aren’t a close enough match to a position’s set criteria. Quinncia will analyze your resume according to common ATS parameters and point out exactly what mistakes will prevent you from making it through those filters and into the hiring manager’s hands.
Hear from our Faculty Champions
I have former students tell me all of the time that they wished they had taken more advantage of the many services provided by the capable people at Career Services. The folks at Career Services are a valuable resource…If you are not using Career Services, you are limiting your opportunity to find the best internships before graduation and jobs after graduation.
The WCOB Office of Business Career Services is one of the BEST parts of the College. When I give tours or talk to prospective students and their families, I am quick to mention BCS as well as the Center for Entrepreneurship. Those two parts of the College set us apart from other colleges at App State and business schools at other universities. I am proud of and grateful to the BCS staff for always putting the student first and for providing critical services to our students. Students need the emotional and social and professional support that BCS provides just as much as academic. Bravo to BCS and WCOB!
If it were not for past and present staff my students in large measure would not have the workplace opportunities and options that BCS’s professionals provide. Structurally, top to bottom [they] are invested in what is best for our students…professional, invested, providing students (and faculty) with a breadth and scope of opportunities that reflect marketplace needs matched to student expectations.
First, I would like to say that you guys are amazing! You all play an essential part in our students’ success after graduation. With the career fairs, the VIP social event, and keeping our students in the know about job opportunities, you all are the key to student success! Thank you for all that you do!
Working with Business Career Services (BCS) has made a real difference in how I prepare my Digital Marketing students for life beyond the classroom. Whether it’s connecting them with employers, bringing in guest speakers, or helping them polish their resumes, the support has been thoughtful and impactful. I’ve seen students grow more confident and career-ready, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of that journey with BCS as a partner.
Business Career Services provides a level of support to graduate students that sets the Walker College of Business apart, as we are the only graduate programs with a dedicated career coach. Michelle Brown’s commitment to individualized coaching and professional development has become an invaluable asset to our faculty and students alike.