Tips:
Center for Career Design | MUC 101 | M-F 8am-5pm
career@usd.edu | 605-658-6273 | Web | Instagram
The Center for Career Design (CCD) is USD’s centralized career services office. Here, students, campus stakeholders and employers experience a resource-rich career services hub. We are committed to supporting everyone who participates in preparing USD students to be career ready.
All events are posted in Coyote Careers,
Campus Groups, Coyote One Stop and the Campus Calendar.
FALL 2026 CAREER FAIR
Wednesday, October 21st
1:00-4:00 PM | MUC Ballroom | NO RSVP needed | OPEN to All Students
- Over 75 employers have signed up to meet students who are interested in full-time employment and internships. These employers also want to meet students who are gathering information about future workplaces and careers.
- Free professional student photos/headshots available (by USD Marketing). The students must attend the Career Fair to get their picture taken.
Career fair TIPS and Resources for students
- Business casual or professional dress is encouraged. At minimum look neat, dressed to demonstrate that you understand employer expectations.
- Charlie’s Career Closet – All USD students receive 10 free items per semester. The Closet is open Thursday, October 15th from 2-5pm. We will also have a Pop-Up event outside the Burr House from 12-2pm (students can receive an extra 5 items during this event!) on Monday, the 19th, with the normal hours resuming from 2-5 pm inside the Burr House. Shop for an outfit to wear to the Career Fair.
- Remember, the goal is for employers to focus on your skills, experience, and potential.
► View this step-by-step guide on how to view the Employers Registered for the USD Career Fair
► View this step-by-step guide on how to view the Employer Booth Map for the USD Career Fair
► View this step-by-step guide on how to set your Public Profiles and Upload a Resume for the USD Career Fair
- Watch a video - How to prepare for a Job Fair by Indeed
- Come to our Walk-in Resume Review event to make sure your resume is employer-ready and to ask any questions about uploading your resume to Coyote Careers before the fair. Also a great time to get your objective or summary statements prepared specifically for a career fair.
- Thursday, October 15 - 2-4pm
- Friday, October 16 - 9-11am
- Monday, October 19 - 9-11am
- Located at the Center for Career Design – Check-in at the front desk (15-minute meetings)
Career fair TIPS and Resources for CHAIRS, FACULTY and ADVISORS
- View the list of Employers attending the USD Career Fair.
- All Majors/Levels of Students Encouraged to Attend
- Note that the Coyote Careers app is only built for student accounts; ‘faculty’ access only works in a browser.
Student Resources
Career & Life Design Workshop Series
- September 1 – December 2 | Center for Career Design Classroom
- Tuesdays 3:00-3:50 pm or Wednesdays 12:00-12:50 pm (same topic, 2 opportunities!)
- Attend any or all | led by Career Coaches
- Work-study students are allowed professional development. If you supervise work-study students who have available hours, please encourage them to attend one or more of these workshops as a part of their employment hours. We will take attendance at each workshop.
- Flyer available in OneStop.
ALUMNI MENTORING PROGRAM
The USD Alumni Mentoring Program connects students with alumni eager to share their experience and support the next generation of Yotes. Two flexible options let students choose the kind of guidance they need:
- Matched Mentoring: A semester-long experience pairing students and alumni with shared interests and goals, including about five meetings over 10–15 weeks.
- Quick Connect: A flexible, one-time (or ongoing) interaction where you can reach out to alumni for specific questions about careers, industries, cities, or job roles.
- Learn More and Sign Up: Center for Career Design
- Students can participate in one or both programs—even at the same time.
- All majors are welcome – pairs are connected after completing an intake form that helps ensure a great match.
- We currently have more mentors registered than mentees. Last year 79 students were matched with a mentor and the evaluations were all highly positive.
- The program is all online and, while there is a list of topics and resources available, most pairs set the topics based on the mentee’s goals or needs
CAMPUS GROUPS/COYOTE CAREERS
The Center for Career Design posts all of our events in Campus Groups and in Coyote Careers.
COYOTE CONNECTIONS
Students can make appointments with a Career Coach in Coyote Connections.
Faculty Mentoring Resources
Jackie Wilber, Ed.D., Director of the Center for Student & Professional Services in the School of Education was selected as the Mentoring Innovation Fellow through the Office of Academic Affairs. She is working with the Center for Career Design as a faculty connector to ensure that career readiness is developed in partnership with faculty, recognizing and leveraging the essential role you play in preparing students for success after graduation. Reach out to her to connect: jackie.wilber@usd.edu
Advising Meetings
Advising season is in full swing! Once you have finished with advising, we encourage you to engage your advisees in some mentoring questions. One of the easiest ways to do this is by helping students recognize and talk about the skills they are already developing in their courses, activities and part-time jobs. USD's Coyote Ready Competencies provide a shared language for these conversations, helping students connect all kinds of engagement, including academic experiences, to the skills employers value.
In Class
Career Readiness may fit into a class day, without even changing your lesson plan. A simple "Think-Pair-Share" reflection can help students’ tie an activity to a skill employers will value in the workplace.
Sample:
Provide an example interview question: Tell me about a time when you had to work in a team.
Provide a framework: Remind the students that they have been working in teams on a project/in this lab, etc. where you assigned roles that likely led the students to some greater self-awareness of their personal strengths as part of a team.
Pair: Instruct them to share the response to the interview question with the person next to them. Practice saying it like one would in a real interview.
Share: Invite a few students to provide their interview-style response to the class. Give some feedback.
These brief conversations help students build confidence in translating classroom experiences into examples they can use in interviews, graduate school applications, and professional settings.
Additional ideas include asking students to identify which competency they used on an assignment, discussing how course concepts connect to careers in the field, or having students reflect on how a project could be included in a professional portfolio.
Even a five-minute activity can help students better understand the value of what they are learning and prepare them to communicate those experiences after graduation. Thank you for preparing our students to be Coyote Ready!
We invite you request or recommend topics to career@usd.edu.