Job hunting? Career support for the class of 2025

For the thousands of members of class of 2025 who are just days away from the next chapter in their lives, UCLA has a clear message: We're here to help you with your future.

From the UCLA Career Center to the UCLA Alumni Association, the university offers an array of resources, advice, hands-on trainings and mentorship opportunities designed to help both job-seeking students and graduates find what they're looking for.

It's understandable that Bruins may be experiencing some uncertainty at the moment, given questions about the direction of the economy and recent cuts to federal funding for research and government programs.

But take heart. The people running these programs stress that there are many paths forward and many members of the UCLA family who are eager to help. The important thing is to connect.

UCLA's Career Center: Getting creative to meet students' needs

The Career Center offers both in-person and virtual services for new graduates up to three months after graduation, along with on-demand online resources. The goal is to help graduates along their path after college, whether that involves job-hunting, graduate school, an internship, entrepreneurship, a gap year or other options.

"We really look at different platforms holistically to continuously make sure that we're meeting graduates' needs," said Carina Salazar, executive director for career and immersive experiences. "We're continuously looking for resources and partnerships that will provide opportunities for our students."

To help with those opportunities, career advisors are available for scheduled in-person or virtual sessions - as well shorter drop-in sessions - in which they will work one-on-one with graduates to address a range of needs, including helping with job and internship searches, reviewing resumes and cover letters, providing advice on how to negotiate job offers, and giving guidance on preparing for graduate school. Advisors also regularly conduct mock job interviews with Bruins, and the center provides special interview rooms to accommodate those needing privacy for online interviews with potential employers.

One of first the stops graduating Bruins should make online, Salazar said, is the UCLA Handshake website, which is available to new graduates for a full year following graduation and which has more than 40,000 job and internship listings. The site connects them to employers, jobs, internships, workshops and other events, as well as to the center's career-advising services. It also features a tool called Focus 2 to help students and recent graduates asses their skills and interests so they can refine their career options and employment searches.

Career Center staff recommend that students take advantage of additional online resources like the UCLA-specific Parker Dewey and Forage sites, which offer project-based micro-internship opportunities - both paid and unpaid - for students of all majors, years and degree levels who want to upskill, and its Vault guide, which lets Bruins research companies and chart potential careers.

Separately, the center's graduate career services advisors provide tailored guidance for masters students, doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars, including extended individual meetings, workshops and coaching for the academic job market, and the use of individual development plans like MyIDP (for doctoral students in the sciences) and ImaginePhD (for graduate students in the humanities and social sciences). Recent career panels have explored opportunities in community colleges, social justice, pharmaceuticals and consulting.

Alumni also have access to UCLA's Slack channel for jobs - #internship-and-job-opportunities - which they can connect to using their UCLA Gmail (@g.ucla.edu) address.

'Real Talk' for new grads: A space to share experiences with your peers

This summer, the Career Center is starting a new program called "Real Talk": a virtual space where graduates with new bachelor's degrees can gather in a group setting with center staff to share experiences - like the stress of job searching - and ask questions about career development, resources and the possibility of pivoting if their job searches don't seem to be bearing fruit.

"What we are seeing is that students have a particular job or professional goal in mind, and if they are not necessarily getting the callbacks they want, if they're not getting the interviews, or they're just not finding those jobs available, they are needing to look in new directions," says Kim Terrill, the center's associate director for undergraduate career education and development.

"Real Talk" allows graduates to share what is or isn't working for them and get insights from the center's staff. It can be found on Handshake by searching for "Real Talk."

Degree not in demand? Rethinking next steps

"We really try and pivot our services to be able to help students wherever they're at in their career journey," says Halee Harrell, the center's associate director for the industry relations and experiential learning team.

Some students might find their topics of study aren't directly translatable to the job market. The center works with students and recent graduates to identify the skills and experiences they used during their school years, from leadership and critical thinking skills to teamwork, and explore how they might be able to translate those skills to other employment categories.

Networking: Finding a job requires 'relationship-building'

Once Bruins graduate, they can access career tools, resources and networks from the UCLA Alumni Association throughout their lifetime. As they begin their careers, there are critical tools Bruin graduates should use as they develop their professional careers, says Mia Seleshi, UCLA Alumni Affairs' career engagement director. First, get comfortable with asking for help and learn the best practices for requesting and conducting informational interviews. Second, use those interviews to learn about the cultures of those organizations and find advocates in the organizations they are trying to pursue. And third, attend UCLA Alumni networking events to build a network of support for their career through mixers, volunteer work and professional events. Regional alumni networks and regional welcome events occur around the world, so new graduates can plug into a community near them.

"Ultimately, jobs are not really found just by applying to a job online anymore; it really is about relationship-building," Seleshi says. "And the great stories we hear from our alumni about how they found their jobs are often from other alumni."

One tool the UCLA Alumni Association created to facilitate those connections is Bruins in Top Organizations Data Dashboard. The specialized platform uses LinkedIn data to identify where Bruins work in consulting, investment banking, finance and technology; Bruins who hold leadership positions in those organizations; and by target location and company. The UCLA alumni network is over 660,000 members strong, and can be an asset for new graduates as they seek to understand their next steps.

UCLA Alumni Association offers resources, networking and lifelong engagement

The Career Center serves new graduates for up to three months after graduation. After that, the UCLA Alumni Association Alumni Career Engagement team invites the class of 2025 to utilize its resources and programs for career support. The Alumni Association launched their class of 2025 initiative at the start of spring quarter, ushering in this incoming class to alumni life. Workshops with regional network leaders shared with graduating seniors the steps to successfully move to New York City, the Bay Area and locally around Los Angeles and Orange County.

Alumni can visit its dedicated website for resources tailored to this specific life stage and beyond, including which educates new graduates on all aspects of the job search process, from leveraging a resume to mastering interviews and salary negotiations.

The Alumni Association offers a trove of resources for every career stage on its career engagement website, including on-demand webinars and workshops, career advice on its Bruin Success podcast and vetted fee-based career coaches.

Access to Handshake is still available for free for an additional year after graduation, with a paid option available after that period.

There are also several free online networking communities. UCLA ONE, with about 6,500 alumni offering professional development support, is utilized by about 74,000 users worldwide. The alumni on UCLA ONE are willing to review resumes, conduct mock interviews and speak with new graduates about industry-related topics. The UCLA Alumni LinkedIn group is also a great place to find job opportunities and professional connections.

Ways current students can get career-ready

Opportunities also exist for currently enrolled students - and alumni - looking to build professional relationships.

Student career preparation programs, facilitated by the UCLA Alumni Association, are available for the UCLA Department of Economics, UCLA College's Division of Life Sciences and Women in Engineering at UCLA. Not only are current students getting hands-on experience, but alumni can engage in a range of roles like mentoring, guest lecturing, interviewing and serving as a competition judge for project pitches. Business undergraduates can also consider the William F. Sharpe Fellows Program, which builds leadership skills and civic engagement in tandem with top employers.

Another program is the UCLA Alumni Mentor Program, which connects UCLA alumni with current UCLA undergraduate and graduate students for two-way personal and professional development. Mentors have helped students think about job offers, offered general coaching and guidance on next professional steps.

Olivia Gonzalez, who will graduate this June with a degree in cognitive science, was connected with Yuval Zukerman, who graduated in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in computer science.

"Since I am a graduating senior, his guidance has been most beneficial," Gonzalez said of Zuckerman. "He motivates me to keep going, even through the fact that there are many companies freezing their hiring due to the economic state of the country. He always reminds me that I am young, and I have many opportunities. And if I can't get a job right away, he has encouraged me to explore grad school, internships or certifications. He always points me in the direction of self-growth, and I am forever grateful."