Students & Alumni

1. The use of offensive language, yelling at, or otherwise threatening any Career and Life Design Center staff member, including making verbal threats over the phone, by Students and/or Alumni, is strictly prohibited.  Students who violate this policy will be immediately reported to the Student Experience and Engagement and/or UCM Public Safety for student conduct violations.
2. Our services are available to current graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in courses, as well as alumni who have graduated and been awarded a degree from the University of Central Missouri.
3. Appointments with WISE Coaches and Advisors can be conducted either virtually or in person. If an individual is 10-15 minutes late to their scheduled appointment, it is the responsibility of the student or alumni to reschedule their appointment by contacting the Career and Life Design Center.
4. Alumni are responsible for their own job search efforts, and while support is provided, there is no guarantee of outcomes. Each alumnus/alumna is eligible for a maximum of six (6) appointments per academic year with a Career and Life Design Center advisor, unless additional appointments are approved by the advisor based on individual circumstances and progress. Progress between appointments will be assessed to ensure that sessions remain effective in supporting alumni career goals.
5. The Career and Life Design Center will not share or release any personal information, including resumes and Handshake profiles, without the student’s explicit permission, unless such information is subject to the Missouri Sunshine law. Handshake provides three profile privacy options for student accounts: Community, Employers, and Private. The University of Central Missouri is partnered with Handshake and will create an account on behalf of the individuals. By default, the account privacy is set to Private, meaning it is not visible to any employers or peers. It is the student’s responsibility to update their privacy settings if they want their Handshake profile visible to employers and their resumes sent to employers interested in recruiting UCM students and alumni. The Career and Life Design Center staff can view your profile regardless of your privacy settings.  Handshake Privacy Policy
6. The Career and Life Design Center will enforce UCM’s Academic Honesty Policy as described in the Student Calendar/Handbook and online, for all courses offered through our center.  
7. The Professional Clothing Studio (PCS) provides students with up to four (4) free items per month, starting on the first day of each month. PCS is open during the Fall and Spring semesters and closed during the Summer semester.
8. Currently enrolled students are responsible for their own job search efforts, and while support is provided, there is no guarantee of outcomes. The Career and Life Design  Center offers a Walk-In Studio Experience (W.I.S.E.) as a starting point to help students with their career and life needs.  WISE Coaches are trained on when to refer students to a Career Advisor.  The Career and Life Design Center reserves the right to direct students to either a WISE Coach or a Career Advisor depending on the situation. 

1. The Career and Life Design Center makes no representations or guarantees about the positions posted within Handshake, or other linked resources; and is not responsible for safety, wages, working conditions, or other aspects of employment. It is the responsibility of the individual to take necessary precautions when interviewing for or accepting positions and obtaining information concerning the employer. The Career and Life Design Center is not responsible for the content of any linked sites.  Further, while the Career and Life Design Center makes every reasonable effort to assist UCM students and alumni in reaching their career goals, those individuals have the final responsibility to obtain their jobs, internships or graduate school admission.
2. The student is responsible for maintaining their entire Handshake profile, which includes accurate information, an appropriate headshot, a professional-style resume, and ensuring all details are up to date. Falsifying information includes but is not limited to grade point average, graduation date, work experience, and work authorization and is prohibited. If an individual refuses to make recommended changes to any part of their Handshake profile, including their resume, the individual’s account will be blocked until an acceptable resume is uploaded and an appropriate Handshake profile is updated and approved by a Career and Life Design Center staff member.
3. Individuals should wear appropriate clothing (shirt, shoes, no offensive or revealing attire) and behave respectfully (no stealing, cursing, or disruptive actions) during career events and on-campus interviews. Behavior or clothing that results in disruption of the event may result in removal from the event and future bans.  

Disciplinary Action Policy

Students who violate this policy will be immediately reported to the UCM Student Experience and Engagement office for student conduct violations.

Privacy and Safety in the Job Search

Students are advised to exercise due diligence and take necessary safety precautions when searching, interviewing, and accepting job and internship offers. To support you in navigating your job search safely and securely, please review the following Handshake safety resources. These guides offer practical steps for protecting your personal information, identifying potential job scams, and reporting suspicious employer behavior on Handshake and other job search platforms:

• Safety: Best Practices for Job Searches (Handshake, External Resource)
• Safety: Protecting Your Personal Information (Handshake, External Resource)
• Safety: Flagging an Employer on Handshake (Handshake, External Resource)

General:

The Career and Life Design Center at the University of Central Missouri in its provision of services to students, alumni, and off-campus employers makes no representations or guarantees regarding the opportunities listed on its website, bulletin boards, print materials, and other resources, and is not responsible for the wages, safety, working conditions, or other aspects of off-campus employment. It is the responsibility of the students and alumni to take the necessary precautions when interviewing for and accepting part-time/full- time employment and participating in volunteer activities. In addition, the Career and Life Design Center has provided links to Internet websites that are maintained by third parties, over which the Career and Life Design Center has no control. The Board of Governors of the University of Central Missouri and the Career and Life Design Center are not responsible or liable for the content, products, services, or other materials on or made available through the web links to other websites. The opinions and views associated with the web sites are not necessarily those of UCM or the Career and Life Design Center.  UCM and the Career and Life Design Center shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any direct or indirect damage or loss caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, products, or services available on or through such sites.

The UCM Career and Life Design Center encourages and permits links to content published on the career services website. However, any linking should not (1) implicitly or explicitly suggest that UCM endorses any third party’s causes, ideas, website content, products, or services, or (2) use career services content for inappropriate commercial purposes. The Career and Life Design Center reserves the right to withdraw permission for any link. Please forward any concerns regarding links and/or disabled links to careers@ucmo.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO):

UCM and the Career and Life Design Center adhere to applicable federal and state EEO laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines, and offer employment information without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, citizenship, or identity as a military veteran, unless legally required. Furthermore, in good faith, the Career and Life Design Center works only with those employers who subscribe to EEO guidelines. With regard to professional conduct of job seekers, employers and career centers throughout the recruiting process, the Career and Life Design Center abides by the principles set forth by the National
Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Handshake Disclaimer:

By agreeing to the Handshake terms and conditions when logging into your Handshake account, students and alumni and others who use the system are agreeing to allow their personal and professional information, e.g., name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, degree, etc., they provide, to be accessed by UCM’s Career and Life Design Center and approved employers seeking candidates for full-time/internship/part-time positions and volunteer opportunities.

Third Party Recruiter Policy:

In accordance with the NACE principles, the practice of the Career and Life Design Center is to educate students regarding a wide variety of job search strategies, including third party employment services. Individuals can then determine whether utilizing these services will be of benefit to them. The Career and Life Design Center does not investigate, endorse, or recommend any third party employment services.

Conditions:

By participating in these services, organizations agree that they will adhere to applicable federal and state EEO laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines, as well as the appropriate principles set forth by NACE, in all recruiting activities; that no fee will be charged to any candidate at any time; and that organizations will not disclose resumes or other applicant information under any circumstances to other entities without the applicant’s prior written consent. The Career and Life Design Center reserves the right to discontinue services to students, alumni, and employers who have violated EEO and NACE guidelines.

As leadership of your student organization/club, if you are interested in partnering with the Career and Life Design Center, please take a moment to complete our Partnership Request Form, and our staff will follow up to finalize the details regarding your request.

Please fill out this form if: 

• You’d like a Career & Life Design W.I.S.E. Coach to present to your in-person class or student organization, or host an information table at your campus event.
• You’d like your class or student organization to utilize the Professional Clothing Studio.
• You’d like a Career & Life Design staff member to record a presentation for your virtual course or provide a campus presentation or customized presentation not included among our standard offerings.

When requesting a partnership with our office, please keep in mind that we require at least two weeks notice from the date of the request to effectively prepare materials and coordinate staffing.