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Advising

The skilled team of advisors at the Centre for Career and Personal Development is available to help you make the most of your UCalgary journey and to help you be better prepared for your career.  We look forward to meeting with you.

Career Advising

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Career Development and Life Design team

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Leadership development

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Career advising

Access career advising to enhance your career journey through personalized advice. Our team can help you prepare for your job search, enhance your interview skills, and make a plan for your career journey. You can book an appointment, come for a drop-in session, or learn from a Career Development Specialist in a workshop.

Get assistance from a career development specialist

Kick-start career planning and develop professional skills by booking an appointment with a career development specialist. 

The Career Development team aims to empower and guide University of Calgary students to find career happiness through coaching and self-exploration. Get support with: 

  • Creating compelling cover letters, CVs and resumes 
  • Building effective job search and networking skills 
  • Preparing for job interviews/mock interviews 
  • LinkedIn best practices 
  • Career planning and exploration 
  • Career assessments to identify strengths, skills values and interests 
  • Understanding Canadian workplace culture (international students) 
  • Using Life Design to address challenges and plan ahead 

Ways to connect

  • Don't have a resume yet, or need help making it more effective?  
  • Not sure what comes after graduation?  
  • Need help finding suitable career paths for your degree? 
  • Want to better understand your strengths, communication style, personality and interests, and how they can help you find a job you will love? 

Get support with job searching or finding potential career paths by meeting with an advisor. Work together to build a career development plan, improve resume/CV, prepare for an interview, and much more.  

To review a resume and/or cover letter with a Career Development Specialist, please bring a printed paper copy.  

Begin by booking an appointment on Elevate for a suitable time slot. 

Stop by the Centre for Career and Personal Development (MSC 188) during drop-in advising hours for guidance on a quick question or some one-on-one help. Students can also connect with a Career Development Specialist virtually for drop-in advising. Drop-in appointments are typically 15 minutes in length. If a longer appointment is required, please book through Elevate. 

In-person and virtual drop-in (via Zoom) - Winter 2024 (starting January 9)

  • Tuesdays: 12-1:30 p.m. MT (in person - MSC 188)
  • Thursdays: 12-1:30 p.m. MT (virtual - join here via Zoom

Resume rescue drop-in - Winter 2024 (starting January 10)

  • Wednesdays: 12–1:00 p.m. MT (in-person - MSC 188)

Career tip

Start working on your resume as early as you can. Just like a term paper, it is hard to write an effective resume in one night — it takes time, effort and multiple of revisions.

Did you know?

First impressions count! Whether they are made in-person or through a cover letter and resume. It only takes minutes — or even seconds — to make a first impression count.

Career Development and Life Design team

Talk to a Career Development Specialist for help with the job search or finding potential career paths. Work together to build an action plan, improve job search documents, or prepare for an interview.  Connect with our Life Design Specialist to learn about how Life Design can help your personal and career journey. 

Services and programming

  • Assistance with resumes, cover letter, interview preparation, LinkedIn use and job search  
  • Guidance with self-assessments to discover your values, strengths, interests  and aptitudes 
  • Advice on how your degree can transition into a career

Have quick questions for a career development specialist? Join a drop-in session in person on Tuesdays from 12 noon to 1:30 pm MT at MSC 188 or virtually on Thursdays from 12 noon to 1:30 pm MT on Zoom

Find our drop-in hours on the Contact Us page.

The Centre for Career and Personal Development offers a variety of free workshops to help students build career skills, gain experience and connect effectively with employers. Visit the Career Education - Workshops page to explore upcoming workshops and register.

  1. Browse online resources

    Resume, job search, and career resources 

  2. Watch a Career Clip

    Browse short Career Clips 

  3. Working in Canada

    International Student Services (ISS) has Regulated Immigration Advisors who are legally authorized to provide advice on Canadian study permits, work permits, visas and Permanent Residence. To take advantage of these services as a current or newly-admitted UCalgary international student, or graduates within one year of convocation, please email ISS from your UCalgary email. 

    Learn more about working in Canada 

  4. Working on campus

    A part-time job on campus can be a convenient option for students. This resource explains what is required in order to apply for work. 

    View resource

  5. Career-boosting strategies for international students studying in North America

    International students looking to gain career-building experience in North America must understand how to showcase to employers that they have anunderstanding of North American business protocol and can build connections between the local and international culture. Academic training does not always adequately prepare students for the professional work environment. Learn how to plan, organize, work in teams and understand the politics of work and leadership.  

    Learn how to build experience with this PDF guide from MyWorldAbroad. 

    View PDF

  6. What's your international IQ?

    This resource describes what skills internationally-focused recruiters are looking for, and what it takes to succeed abroad in a multicultural team.  

    View resource

  7. Career Clip: Intercultural Communication and Career Success

    How to improve communication skills to succeed in a diverse and multicultural workplace. 

    Watch the Career Clip

Get in touch

David Cataford
Career Development Specialist, Undergraduate Students
dcatafor@ucalgary.ca

Lawrence Chan
Career and Digital Resource Specialist, Undergraduate Students
ltwchan@ucalgary.ca

Liliana Gonzalez 
Career Development Specialist, EDIA
gonzalml@ucalgary.ca

Matthew Geddes
Career Development Specialist, Master's Students
mjgeddes@ucalgary.ca

Charlotte Anyango Ong’ang’a
Career Development Specialist, PhD Students
charlotte.onganga1@ucalgary.ca

Victoria Hirsche 
Life Design and Work Integrated Learning Specialist 
vlhirsch@ucalgary.ca

Leadership development

Interested in learning more about your leadership style and have ways to keep building your leadership toolkit? Join a leadership workshop today or email lead@ucalgary.ca to connect with our leadership team.