The Career Center is here to support you as you explore your interests, gain experience, and work toward your goals! Your diverse identities and experiences make up who you are and provide value to your academic and professional environment. Check out the following resources that provide the knowledge and tools to help you navigate the workplace and thrive in your career.
Career Resources for Students of Color
As a person of color, your background has given you a set of experiences and a perspective that can benefit any organization. Reflect on how your point of view could benefit an employer, and highlight those benefits when applying for a job or internship. Here are some examples of how you might discuss your identity in the job or internship search process:
- Resume: Highlight academic and professional connections you have with identity and affinity groups (for example, being a member of a professional organization or club for students of color).
- Search for opportunities to connect with campus organizations on ShipLink
- Interview: Explain your desire to work for an organization that values diversity, or describe how you plan to leverage your diverse background to benefit the company.
Schedule an appointment with professional staff and peer consultants to review your resume or prep for an interview on Handshake or by calling at 717-477-1484 or visiting the Career Center in CUB 108.
Evaluate employers on whether they honor diversity.
To find out if an employer has created an inclusive work environment, consider some of these tips:
- Can you find a diversity and inclusion philosophy or policy on their website? Does the company’s philosophy align with your beliefs?
- Are there any programs or resources for employees focused around issues of concern or for specific groups? What opportunities are available for employees to participate in diversity and inclusion training?
- What do others —peers, alumni, current employees, for example—say about the organizational culture? Keep in mind that every opinion, good or bad, may come with some amount of bias.
- If you experience discrimination once you have started a job, here are some tips and information about dealing with employment discrimination.
People of color who identify similarly to you, are likely already doing the jobs you want to do, for the companies you want to work for. They have gone through what you are now about to go through, and have accumulated wisdom about what it takes to thrive in the professional world. You can learn from the experience of those who have come before. But how do you find them? And when you do find them, how do you connect with them?
Start by asking friends, family members, professors, and classmates if they know people they can connect you with. And don’t be afraid to reach out to people you find through Shippensburg connections and social media, even if you haven’t met before! Check out this LinkedIn article that discusses how to find and reach out to potential connections.
- Alumni: You can connect with Shippensburg alumni through a variety of online tools. You’ll find thousands of alums with similar interests and skills as you on Shippensburg’s alumni page on LinkedIn. In addition, alums frequently host events on campus, which is a great opportunity to connect. Check in regularly with the Shippensburg Alumni event calendar to stay on top of what is happening on campus.
- Professional Associations and Affinity Groups: Most professional associations offer student memberships at a discount, and memberships usually come with access to programs such as speaker events or job fairs. You can search for professional associations using the Directory of Associations. Some are specific to certain cultural groups while others will have divisions for students of color.
- Mentoring: If you form a strong connection with someone, such as an alumna or other professional, you may consider asking her to be your mentor. Read these tips on choosing a mentor.
Asian American Journalists Association
- A compilation of links related to career events, scholarship, and leadership programs.
National Association of Asian American Professionals
- The NAAAP a nonprofit organization that cultivates and empowers Asian and Pacific Islander leaders through professional development, community service, and networking. It offers a variety of professional development programs including a career center and job board.
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
- A directory of links to Asian Pacific American organizations, many with career sites of their own. The links also include website and contact information for networking and internship and job search purposes.
- Resources for starting and managing a business as well as career programs and a scholarship fund.
African American Professional Associations
- A list of links to the leading African American professional associations, many with career and job sites of their own.
- National network dedicated to supporting the professional success of African-American Women.
National Urban League Job Network
- The Urban League Job Network is backed by the National Urban League and is dedicated to helping Black students find employment opportunities.
- UNCF is the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to historically underrepresented groups. It manages various scholarship, fellowship, and internship programs.
Equal Opportunities Publications – African-American Career World
- Publication with career advice from African American leaders.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
- Learn about CHCI’s congressional internship program and other programs for students.
Hispanic and Latino Professional Associations
- Compilation of links to the leading Hispanic and Latino professional associations, many with career and job sites of their own.
- A leading career and recruiting site for Hispanic and bilingual professionals and job seekers.
Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement
- Nonprofit that provides career resources and job opportunities for Latino professionals as well as networking opportunities and leadership trainings for college students
- A magazine that covers topics pertinent to Native Americans. The website includes internships, a scholarship guide, and job search database.
Native American Professional Organizations
- A list of organizations and professional associations serving the Native American community.
- A job search database for Native American job seekers which includes Tribal and Non-Tribal companies across the nation.
Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education
- A magazine for Native Americans in higher education which includes a job board.
Resources for all Students
- IMDiversity.com is a career and self-development site devoted to serving the cultural and career-related needs of all minorities.
- One of the most recognized resources for equal opportunity employers who are seeking to add qualified candidates of color to their workforce. Job postings include positions in academia, business, healthcare, and the government.
Institute for Broadening Participation
- A directory of links to programs designed to increase the presence of historically underrepresented identities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce. The programs include internship, job, scholarship and fellowship opportunities. The institute is an independent, open source nonprofit and provides resources to faculty and students by means of an infrastructure unfettered by institutional or disciplinary barriers.
NACE Diversity & Inclusion Resources
- The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) connects university career service professionals to recruiters and employers. It maintains a list of resources accessible to students from historically underrepresented identities.
INROADS
The mission of INROADS is to develop and place talented minority young people in business and industry and prepare them for corporate and community leadership.
Lagrant Foundation
The LAGRANT Foundation seeks to enhance the academic and professional development of undergraduate and graduate ethnic minority students pursuing careers in advertising, marketing and public relations by providing scholarships, career and professional development workshops, mentors and internships.
SEO
SEO’s mission is to place underrepresented students of color into paid summer internships. SEO places interns in banking, private equity, corporate leadership, law, nonprofit and other business sectors. Students receive competitive pay, rigorous training, support through mentors, and broad access to full-time professionals and industry leadership.
The Getty Foundation Multicultural Undergraduate Internship
The Getty Foundation aims to encourage greater inclusion of historically underrepresented identities in museum and visual arts professions. The program provides funding for internships at cultural organizations across Los Angeles.
T. Howard Foundation
The T. Howard Foundation is an internship program for minority students interested in the multimedia and entertainment industry. In addition to a full-time paid summer internship, it also provides interns with networking opportunities, professional development training, scholarships, and mentors.
United States National Park Service
The Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program provides a career exploration opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students from historically underrepresented populations, ages 18-to-25 in historic preservation and cultural resources work. The program places interns with National Park Service units and administrative offices, other federal agencies, state historic preservation offices, local governments, and private organizations.
Campus Resources
Multicultural Student Affairs
Inclusion, Belonging, and Social Equity
