Starting your career journey can feel like an overwhelming task, especially if you have yet to land relevant experience for your resume. However, with the right approach and mindset, landing your first career experience is not only possible, but also achievable.

Here are some essential tips to get your foot in the door with employers:

Tailor Your Resume. Optimize your resume as much as possible by aligning relevant experiences and skills with your job descriptions of interest. Use ChatGPT to determine the top skill-based keywords in the job description and see which ones can be incorporated into your resume. Not able to hit all the qualifications? No worries! Research has shown that just matching 50% of the keywords is good enough to be invited to an interview (1).

Develop Your Network. The power of networking when it comes to the job market cannot be understated, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics citing that 70% of jobs are found through networking (2). The Career Center offers a variety of different events with networking opportunities, including career fairs, industry panels, and UMBC Connects events, such as our campus visit with Career Center Employer Partner Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab on Wednesday, November 20th. There are also several online options to help build your network, including Retrievers Connect and the UMBC Alumni tab on LinkedIn.

Build Your Online Presence. According to Harvard Business Review, 40% of recruiters say that they have hired a candidate based on their LinkedIn profile alone (3). Therefore, it’s important to start building a LinkedIn profile that’s worth reviewing. Add a professional headshot and relevant cover photo, craft a strong About section, and include media and skills to your experiences. Need help with your profile? Schedule a LinkedIn appointment with the Career Center.

Get Interview Ready. Review common interview questions and make sure you’re comfortable answering them. For behavioral questions, prepare stories showcasing your skills using the STAR Approach (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Use Big Interview to practice answering questions in real-time, and share your videos with the Career Center for feedback. You can also schedule an Interview Prep or Practice Interview appointment to meet with someone in person.

Consider Volunteer Work. Search for local organizations that champion causes you’re passionate about and reach out to them to see if you can work for them. If you’re able to do tasks related to your major or industry of interest, that’s even better. Or you might consider exploring the many programs and initiatives of The Shriver Center or work closely with a faculty member in their research lab on campus. Either way, you’ll gain valuable and meaningful work experience. For more information about volunteer work and the job market, check out this blog post.

In conclusion, your efforts will pay off if you approach your job search strategically and stay persistent with the process. Everything mentioned here may take time, but with consistent effort, your first career will soon be within reach.

(1) https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/study-you-only-need-to-be-50-qualified-to-land-a-job-interview

(2) https://jobs.washingtonpost.com/article/how-to-land-a-job-by-networking 

(3) https://hbr.org/2019/05/your-approach-to-hiring-is-all-wrong

• Stipend: $12,000 for undergraduates, $14,000 for graduate students
• Duration: 10 weeks (June 2 – August 8, 2025)
• Location:  Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and UMD facilities (on-site, no remote option)
• Eligibility:
• U.S. citizens
• Full-time university students (all levels)
• Minimum preferred GPA: 3.0

1. Resume (1 page)
2. Cover Letter (1–2 pages): Include your education, experience, interests, GPA, internship goals, and up to 3 project preferences.
3. Apply here: http://go.umd.edu/nsssipsu25

• Autonomy for Air & Ground Unmanned Systems
• Large Language Models
• Hypersonics
• Biocomputing and Synthetic Biology

Reminder!

Submissions for the Women's Center Activism Blog were due TODAY November 13th.
We are extending the deadline to Friday November 15th, please submit them no later than that.

Email tmalik4@umbc.edu if you have any questions!

We look forwarding to reading your work

Submission link

Navigating the job market can be a daunting process for any student, but international students in particular often face additional challenges — from dealing with visa requirements and work authorizations, to understanding cultural differences throughout the hiring process. These obstacles can make the job search even more overwhelming, but with the right tools and resources, international students can find success.

If you’re an international student, we’re here to help! Here are some tools that international students can use as they encounter the current job market landscape.

Research. My Visa Jobs.com provides H-1B Visa and Green Card reports for every year, listing the top Visa sponsors (that is, employers) via a number of different filters including occupation, job title, location, industry, college, petition status, etc. If you’re just starting out on your job search journey, this could be a good tool to use to determine which employers in targeted industries and/or locations of interest are open to hiring.

Search On-Campus. If you’re on an F-1 Visa, on-campus jobs are the most accessible employment opportunities available to you. Therefore, you need to know where to find them. This blog post by the Career Center lays out five tips to help international students locate on-campus employment. By knowing where to look, you can get a jump start on your search before the wave of applications roll in.

Search Off Campus: If you’re an international student able to look off-campus for a job or internship, you may want to check out GoinGlobal. With their job search function, you’re able to search 16+ million worldwide opportunities in various industries. So, whether you want to stay in Maryland or go elsewhere, GoinGlobal is a great tool to see what’s out there.

Explore Career Paths: Not quite sure how to get to where you’d like to go in your career? Look no further than Steppingblocks, a digital career counselor tool that uses data from real-life alumni and professionals to show you various alumni career trajectories. You can also explore skills, education, and employers for particular industries as well. For more information, check out this blog post.

Network and Learn: When it comes to the job market, information is power. The more you know, the more strategic you can be. Additionally, your network means everything in the job search. The more people you know, the closer you’ll get to landing a position. Therefore, if there are events available where you can do both, it’s important to seize those opportunities when you can. On November 11-15, the virtual International Career Summit is taking place, jam-packed with workshops, presentations, and panels designed to equip you with what you need to succeed in your job search. Learn more about the Summit and be sure to register!

We hope these tools and resources can help you confidently pursue opportunities, connect with employers and alumni, and smoothly transition into the next phase of your professional journey.