Career Services

Student speaking with prospective employer

CART Career Services supports your career development at every state, whether you’re exploring majors, building experience, or preparing for what comes next. Through one-on-one career counseling and targeted programming, you can work through decisions, develop professional skills, and move forward with a career plan.

Connect with a career advisor to walk through your interests, skills, and values, and how they align with potential career paths. Use these conversations to research options, shape your career direction, and identify next steps that make sense for you and your goals.

As you move forward, take advantage of opportunities to gain experience through internships and cooperative education, and begin building the materials and skills you’ll need for the next step. That might include developing your resume or portfolio, preparing for interviews, planning for graduate school, or learning how to approach a job search. 

CART Career Services is here to support you as you take each step: exploring options, gaining experience, and preparing for a successful transition beyond Montclair.

Schedule an Appointment

To schedule an appointment with a member of the Career Services team, please log into Handshake and follow these instructions:

Process for Scheduling Appointments

  1. Click Career Center in the upper-right corner of your screen or below the banner image on your homepage.
  2. Click on Appointments, located under Montclair State’s logo
  3. Click Schedule a New Appointment
  4. Select the category that best applies
  5. A list of available appointment dates will appear based on the category and type selected. From this page, you can use the Category, Type, Staff Member, and Appointment Medium menus to change selections and choose from available appointment options.
  6. Choose the time and appointment type that works best for your career needs. When you’re ready, click the green Request button in the lower-right corner of the screen.
  7. Once approved, you will receive a notification via email. You will also receive a reminder email 24 hours and 1 hour in advance of your scheduled appointment time.

Career Services and Opportunities

Students

CART Career Services assists students in finding, securing and getting the most value from internship-type experiences, including Cooperative Education internships, Department-based internships, self-initiated internships and/or professional volunteer experiences. In all cases, such opportunities provide on-the-job-training related to your major and are an excellent means of “testing” a career interest in a discipline-applied setting. Internships also provide a great way to establish professional contacts for career transitioning following graduation.

The College of the Arts offers various forms of internships to meet your needs. Offerings include:

  • a structured experience for college credit, made available through Cooperative Education (Co-op);
  • a structured experience for college credit through a Department-initiated internship; or
  • an experience, not for college credit, to test a career interest which may be self-initiated

Montclair State University’s Cooperative Education (Co-op) program provides internship opportunities for students who want a structured experience that includes work-site supervision by a faculty member, and integrates classroom-learning and related academic assignments with hands-on application in an occupational field. Through Co-op you can explore applications of your major within the professional workplace while, at the same time, earning academic credits and, possibly, an hourly salary or stipend. The credits are not merely for time on the job but for the total learning experience.

  1. Plan ahead: It’s recommended that you start the process of exploring Co-op options two semesters prior to the time of the intended experience. Co-op courses are offered during Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. Some internships may be pursued part-time (10-15 hours), others full-time (35-40 hours).
  2. Determine your eligibility: To be eligible for a Co-op Internship, you are required to have completed 30 credits of academic study and hold a minimum GPA of 2.0. (GPA eligibility requirements are higher for some majors.)
  3. Schedule a CART Career Services Counseling Session: During the career counseling session, you may receive help in a number of areas including: developing a resume, cover letter, and search strategies for finding and securing an internship, as well as how to use Handshake.
  4. Outreach to internship employers: Following the career counseling appointment, your next step will be to outreach to potential employers with your resume and cover letter.
  5. Go on the Interview(s): If an employer is interested in your resume credentials, you will likely be invited to an interview. Refer to Preparing for Job Search for interview preparation tips which would also apply to internship interviews.
  6. Enroll into the internship course: Upon receiving and accepting an internship offer, you should log into Handshake to complete the Co-Op Application form to determine eligibility for receiving credit. The number of credits you will earn for a Co-Op/Internship will depend on a number of factors, including guidelines for your respective major and whether the internship is part-time or full-time. Internships can range from 3-6 credits which will be determined by the Career Services office.

Students in any major within the College of the Arts can also pursue an internship for experience without receiving college-credit. Such internships may be initiated through a variety of means:

  • Employer-initiated Internships– Employers use Career Services to announce part-time and internship opportunities. Students may research and respond to these opportunities directly.
  • Student-initiated Internships – Students can research and contact companies on their own to create an internship opportunity.

Volunteer Experiences 

Students interested in gaining professional experience, but who may not be ready to or do not wish to fulfill the requirements necessary to attain academic credit, may offer their services to organizations as volunteers. Arts councils, non-profit arts organizations and arts presenting agencies frequently welcome volunteerism offers from students (particularly for project support) There are many approaches for identifying opportunities, including online volunteer search-engines designed for this purpose: VolunteerMatch 

Students enrolled in the University’s teacher-preparation/certification programs (e.g. Music Education, Fine Arts Education, Dance Education) are required to complete Student Teaching assignments as part of the program. These assignments are not handled by CART Career Services but, rather, by the academic program directors and the University’s Center of Pedagogy. For more information, go to: Center for Student Success and Educator Excellence

Job Search - Preparation and Resources

CART Career Services and the University’s Center for Career Services & Cooperative Education provide a range of services and online tools to help prepare students for post-graduation job search or applying to Graduate School.

Enjoy listening to podcasts? Montclair Career Services brings you fun, engaging episodes focusing on “all things career”. Whether you need help with interviewing, LinkedIn or navigating the job markets – there is something for you! Check them out here: soundcloud.com/msucareerservices https://soundcloud.com/msucareerservices

Mock interviews can help you practice and improve your interview techniques and help build your confidence before professional interviews. To schedule a Mock Interview appointment, please head to your Hire A Red Hawk account to view availability.

The resources below are linked to employment information, job-search resources, and portfolio preparation advice:

  • Careers at Pixar – 3D Modeling, Animation resource from a world-class employer https://www.pixar.com/careers-at-pixar#careers-at-pixar-main 
  • New York Foundation for the Arts – provides support to artists and arts organizations.  The website includes listings of jobs in the arts, opportunities and services for artists, and events, as well as discussion boards
  • Glassdoor.com – looks at jobs and companies in terms of salary details, company reviews, and interview questions (employees and job seekers post anonymously)
  • Salary.com – Salary generator based on location, industry, and experience

The links below address applying to graduate schools:

  • Fulbright Scholars Program – The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study abroad for one academic year. 
  • My Next Move – U.S. Department of Labor’s online career tool designed to direct career-aspirants to training requirements applicable to specific professions