UMKC Career Services' Support of Internship Search Process

One challenge students face during their college career is finding ways to connect real world understanding with what they learn in the classroom. Internships serve as a valuable enhancement to the educational experience and are a key component of student success. Internships also provide students with insight to current trends or issues in their career fields.

Like any employment process, being selected to complete an internship opportunity takes planning, professionalism, and a significant amount of effort. The Career Services office supports students and faculty/staff by coordinating several services and initiatives to help students be successful in the search process.

Career Services manages CareerExec, UMKC’s employment database. With more than 6,000 active student accounts and 4,500 active employer accounts, CareerExec serves as a powerful forum to bring students and employers together. Students may search for internships from all academic disciplines as well as work-study, on-campus jobs, part-time and full-time professional employment. Other features include on-campus interview registration, job and employer searches, and the ability to post and/or build a professional resume that employers may view.

Through individual appointments and classroom presentations/workshops, Career Services also advises students on successful internship search strategies. In fact, we foster several close partnerships with academic departments to support students’ awareness and development of professional approaches to writing an effective resume, perfecting the interview process, and learning how to leverage a network to break into the hidden job market.

Additionally, our office serves as a resource for faculty and staff for general local, national and international employment information. As our economy undergoes change, students need to remain informed of the new and emerging industries/occupations both in the United States and abroad in order to become future leaders within these fields. Growth in healthcare, education, information technology and “green” careers will continue to provide rich opportunities for students to gain valuable experience through internships.

As a centralized Career Services office, we establish and maintain relationships with employers in the Kansas City area to help them meet their recruitment needs. Depending on the employer’s recruitment initiative, we encourage participation in employer fairs, information sessions, information tables, on-campus interviewing and the posting of their opportunities in CareerExec. Additionally, we provide information and guidance to employers who are currently developing an internship program from the ground up.

UMKC’s location provides our students access to outstanding internship opportunities. The Career Services office is committed to fostering collaborative partnerships across campus as well as building upon existing partnerships to prepare our students to conduct a successful internship search, cultivate their professional employment network, and complete a quality internship program. UMKC faculty and staff play a critical role in supporting students as they navigate the internship process and we look forward to working with you to help students enhance their educational experiences and grow professionally.

-Written by Beth D. Medley, Career Services, Interim Director
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