Career Development

Assessments are professionally developed evaluations that assist you in determining various characteristics, personality traits, interests, values, and talents you posses. This information can help you discern which career paths are best suited for your set of values and talents. These assessments provide thorough insights and direction for your process of career development, and are strongly recommended by our office if you want to conduct personal or professional exploration.

Visit the Assessment page for a complete list of offerings.

Follow this link toward career opportunities resources categorized by major and career interest.

Career and Professional Development also offers many resources to help you practice and improve your interviewing skills, including:

• Interview Preparation
• Interview Questions
• Appropriate Attire
• US Corporate Culture

Take a look at these 4 tips to a successful interview for international students

CPD also offers mock interviews with our professional career coaches that you can book through Handshake. It is vitally important for international students to practice their interviewing skills, and CPD will go above and beyond to ensure that you are confident and well-equipped.

Networking is an incredibly important part of the job and internship search process. Particularly for permanent positions, networking is the most common method for finding jobs in the U.S., and it is even more important for international students who generally have a harder time securing employment. Developing a personal connection with a potential employer increases the likelihood they will be willing to hire you and sponsor you for a more permanent work status. Networking can happen in almost any setting and with contacts you identify through friends, family, LMU alumni, faculty, neighbors, a person you meet on a plane, or any number of ways.

If it is not your native language, the more comfortable you are with the nuances of the English language, the more confident you will be during the networking, job search, and interview process. While you may indeed be an advanced speaker of English by graduation, practicing in a professional networking or interview setting is important since language is often situational. Practice “small talk” regularly with a native speaker and also seek out opportunities to develop your professional English. Remember, use of slang, colloquialisms, and even humor can be tricky in your non-native language so be careful about using these linguistic methods in a networking or interview setting when the stakes are higher.

Be sure to research and access all CPD and campus resources related to networking but perhaps most important is that you attend as many events as possible through CPD. These can give you an excellent opportunity to practice your networking skills in a low-stakes environment. It is important to utilize networking resources available to you.