What every student should know about Undergraduate Business Career Services

Whenever the Undergraduate Business Program (UBP) Career Services team sits down with UNC Kenan-Flagler students, they’re ready for everything, and students know they can ask them anything.

The team — Amy Bugno (BA ’08), Sarah Crockett (pictured above), Katie Lefelar (BA ’22), Meredith McCook, Catherine Okafor and Ryan Velazquez — works closely with students on everything from general career development to preparing for internships and job interviews. They also maintain connections with over 300 employers worldwide and coordinate with on-campus recruiters throughout the year.

It all makes a difference: 98% of the UBP Class of 2023 who were seeking employment after graduation landed jobs, and 99% were satisfied with their job offers.

“We know that students and their parents are more concerned than ever about the return on investment of a college education,” says Bugno, director of career development and employer relations. “Understanding yourself and how to navigate the working world is a critical skill set that our students develop during their time with us.”

Bugno shares how students can best take advantage of UBP Career Services, how she and her team work with those weighing career paths and more.

What is the primary goal of UBP Career Services and how do you serve students? 

Our mission is to transform students into high-performing professionals who launch successful and fulfilling careers with positive impact.

We support students’ career exploration and professional development through programming and individualized coaching, which helps them secure immediate opportunities, like internships and first jobs. We also provide a toolkit that prepares them for long-term career success. On the other side, we build and maintain strong relationships with employers and assist them in hiring top talent.

What we’re teaching will be used by students time and time again throughout their lives.

When is a good time for a student to reach out to career services?

It’s really never too early to get started. We help students learn about the process and explore options even if they don’t feel “ready.” And it’s also never too late. We are here to help no matter where they are in your process.

What can students expect when they make an appointment?

Our coaching is student-centered and student-driven. No matter where they are in their career journey, our coaches are prepared to talk with them and help figure out the next steps.

Some students come to us with very clear ideas of what they want to do professionally; others say they have no clue where to start. We ask questions to help them dig into their interests, skills and motivations, process their experiences and plan immediate action steps to take. We serve as guides along the journey, connectors to resources and opportunities, and act as accountability partners if and when students need us.

If it’s a first appointment, a career coach asks a little bit about the student and why they came in. Then they’ll take the conversation from there, depending on the student’s needs. Students walk away with tangible steps to take on their own.

What’s the top question students have when they first reach out?

Many students come to us when they are beginning to search for an internship or job, which definitely necessitates a conversation, and we often end up talking about much more than just a particular search. Other common topics include exploring industries, professional communication, networking, managing decision-making (such as where to apply and which role to take) and using the career tools we offer.

Though we also can help with items like resumes, cover letters and interview prep, we generally encourage students to visit the Business Communication Center (BCC) for support for these areas before they come to us. The BCC team focuses on things like formatting and story construction, which enables us to take the conversation further in our coaching appointments.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed when thinking about a future career when classes are the priority. How does your team help make it feel less daunting? 

That concern is real. This is why starting the process early is very helpful. We help students break it down into smaller steps and goals so they don’t feel like they have to do everything all at once. We also help them develop time-management and stress-management strategies to keep things from getting too overwhelming.

Finally, we can help students take some pressure off by sharing our experiences working with students for many years. Sometimes students just need someone to help them think or plan – and that’s what we are here to do.

Business students chat with prospective employers at the Undergraduate Business Symposium.

Your Class of 2023 student outcomes survey found 99% of graduates were satisfied with their first job offer. Why do you think that is?

We have worked really hard over the years to try to help students develop the self-awareness and skills they need to identify opportunities that are a good fit for them. We want students to feel good about what they are walking into after graduation.

We know not every person will be 100% thrilled with every aspect of their job, but we believe that if they do the work to understand themselves, understand the industry, do good research on the company culture and opportunity, and prepare well for recruitment, satisfaction will follow.

How does the team help UBP students identify internships that align well with their goals?

The internship search is truly in the students’ hands, but we’ll help them learn how to use the tools we have available to identify opportunities that fit. At UNC, we use Handshake, a job and internship platform where all kinds of companies share listings. Our coaches help students set up searches appropriately to cull through the many options. We also help them think through their network (even if they don’t think they have a network, I promise they do) and consider ways to locate internship opportunities through those channels.

Finally, both in appointments and through our newsletter, we regularly share internship events (both on-campus and virtual) where companies are promoting opportunities that might interest our students. Once they’ve found places to apply and maybe even have offers, we can help them assess how they fit with their goals to make informed decisions.

What programs and events does your team offer throughout the year related to career development?

We offer over 30 programs every year, ranging from a small, one-hour workshop to our signature career conference, the Undergraduate Business Symposium; multi-day career treks to other cities; and everything in between. We continually adapt our programming to meet student demands. As such, we’ve moved away from events like resume or interviewing workshops and added 24/7 accessible resources to our extensive UBP intranet career resources library.

Our events tend to focus on learning about career options, connecting with alumni and employers, and hands-on experiential learning. Our online resources might be more helpful to use at their own pace as they need them. The library has a great deal of content, such as a guide to conducting informational interviews, our alumni database, resume templates and videos about different industries.

There also are tons of career-focused events through our student clubs and employer partners. We promote these events through our weekly “Career Insights” newsletter. We also recommend following @kenanflaglerubp on Instagram where we share many of our club events.

What does it feel like when you see the students you work with achieve a career goal as they graduate?

It’s motivating and gratifying. That is why we do what we do. While we are truly here for students through every up, down and non-linear squiggle on their journeys, we absolutely love sharing in their joy. We’ve all chosen this helping profession, so knowing that we’ve had even the slightest impact on our students’ journeys is deeply satisfying. Their success is our success.