One-on-One Career Advising

Meet with a career advisor to discuss your career goals, review your job search materials, or prepare for an upcoming interview. Our office's guidelines and policies will help you get the most out of your career advising appointment, and also ensure that we can serve as many students and recent alumni as possible. 

If you are applying to faculty positions, postdoctoral opportunities, or PhD programs, please note that the best resource for advice is your academic advisor, dissertation sponsor and/or your department.

Office Policies (PLEASE READ)

Eligibility (Fall 2021)

  • Current MA, PhD, and DMA students from these Arts and Sciences programs, as well as recent graduates whose degrees were conferred in 2020 and 2021, may schedule one-on-one career advising appointments. Incoming students starting at Columbia in Fall 2021 may begin booking appointments on September 7, 2021.
  • If you received your degree from GSAS in 2019 or earlier, you may attend GSAS Compass workshops and events. Please refer to the Columbia Alumni Association for additional career resources for alumni.
  • Eligible students and alumni may schedule up to three career counseling appointments per semester, with at least two weeks between appointments. Please note that you may not have more than one appointment in a two-week period. If you book additional appointments they will be cancelled.

Cancellation and rescheduling

  • If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, you must do so at least 24 hours in advance. If you cancel or reschedule with less than 24 hours’ notice, you will be considered a no-show. 
  • If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your scheduled appointment, you will be considered a no-show.
  • If you are a no-show for two appointments in one semester, you will lose access to career advising appointments for the remainder of the semester. 

Confidentiality

Career advising appointments are private but not always confidential. As employees of the University, we have a duty to report certain types of information and incidents. 

Schedule an Appointment

Want to learn more about what to expect in a career advising appointment? Please click the two dropdowns below.

Appointment Types
  • Career exploration (45 minutes): Meet with a career advisor to discuss how to start your job search and explore career paths. You may also have job search materials reviewed during your session.
  • Résumé review (30 minutes): Go over your résumé with a career advisor and discuss how to improve your job search materials.
  • Cover letter review (30 minutes): Go over your cover letter with a career advisor and discuss how to improve your job search materials.
  • Combined résumé & cover letter review (45 minutes): Review all of your job search materials with a career advisor.
  • LinkedIn profile review and/or general networking (30 minutes): Learn how to improve your LinkedIn profile and use the platform and other social media for professional networking; learn etiquette and norms around building your professional community. 
  • Interview preparation/mock interview (30 minutes): Learn how to prepare for a job interview, or practice for an interview with a career advisor.

When scheduling your appointment, please select the appointment type that most closely meets your needs. If you would like to review your job search documents and have a broader discussion about your career path, please schedule a career exploration appointment.
 

Expectations

You are expected to:

Email your career advisor the materials you wish to have reviewed at least 24 hours before your scheduled appointment.

  • Prepare topics you would like to discuss in advance of your appointment. 
  • Be a proactive participant in your career development by keeping an open mind and reflecting upon previous experiences.
  • Take notes during appointments and follow through on action items.

Your career advisor will:

  • Ask questions to learn about your background, goals, and what brought you to GSAS Compass.
  • Guide the conversation and listen; provide ideas, support, and resources; and encourage you to think critically.
  • Help you set goals and concrete action items.

Your career advisor will NOT:

  • Place you in a job, tell you what career to pursue, or what jobs to apply for. Instead, we will help you reflect on your skills, interests, and values, and empower you to take the next steps to advance your career.
  • Provide specialized industry advice, but we will point you toward industry-specific resources and give you tools to research various career paths. 
  • Give out alumni or employer contact information. Instead, we will teach you how to find potential connections and develop professional relationships.
  • Provide legal or immigration advice. Please contact ISSO if you have questions regarding your visa status.