UVA Wise students have three new tools to prepare for careers

The Office of Career Discovery and Planning at UVA Wise has partnered with the UVA Career Center to give students access to several of UVA’s career development platforms. This technology integration project is funded by a grant from The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia through the Virginia General Assembly’s Innovative Internship Fund and Program.

The three platforms rolled out during the fall semester are Handshake, VMock, and PathwayU. A fourth technology related to alumni mentoring will be deployed in 2021.

Handshake is a software platform that students can use to find jobs and internships, upload resumes, submit applications, engage with employers, track internships, discover career events, and make appointments with career advisors. Employers who use Handshake to recruit UVA students will be able to recruit UVA Wise students as well.

VMock uses artificial intelligence to give students feedback on resumes, video interviews, and LinkedIn profiles. Many employers have moved to AI applicant tracking systems to filter resumes. Often resumes don’t make it past the ’bots into human hands. Even before the pandemic, employers had begun to utilize video interviewing in place of in-person job interviews. A lot of them plan to continue using these tools post-pandemic.

PathwayU helps students with early career exploration and major choices. It offers four assessments based on interests, values, personality, and workplace preferences. PathwayU uses assessment results to make suggestions about career matches and gives students information about industry outlooks and information on 1000+ careers. It features career videos and salary information, as well as opportunities to connect with college students across the country. It also helps students explore the concept of purpose in careers.

These new technology platforms are available to full-time degree-seeking students at UVA Wise.