Career and Life Design Center

Our vision: The Career and Life Design Center aspires to empower students and alumni with knowledge and connections that will lead to meaningful career and life experiences.   

Our mission: The mission of The Career and Life Design Center is to support students and alumni  through career readiness and life design to explore and build their career and life journeys.

Meet Our Staff

UCM Spring 2025 - Business and Communication Career Fair	Wednesday, February 19th, 2025  UCM - Elliott Student Union 236, 238 & 240  10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
UCM Spring 2025 Nursing Hiring Fair	Monday, March 3rd, 2025 UCM - MIC Campus, Lee's Summit, MO 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
UCM Spring 2025 Education Networking and Interviewing Day	Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 UCM - Elliott Student Union  236, 238 & 240 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
UCM Spring 2025 - Government and Human Services Career Fair	Thursday, March 20th, 2025 UCM - Elliott Student Union  236, 238 & 240 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

The Career Readiness Course is a two credit hour online class designed to help you become career ready!  This course will provide assistance for students in building and preparing their personal career readiness plan through activities, assignments, and resources. The Career Readiness Course is offered in the Fall, Spring, and Summer.  You can enroll through MyCentral using course number Univ 3000.  

The Life Design course is an 8 week one credit hour course. Course can be offered in-person or online dependent on enrollment. This course uses the design thinking framework to build confidence in students, from any major, to think like a designer about their college experience and life after UCM. Students will gain a process to solve problems (the complex, unstructured and unknown); how to get unstuck, adjust when things change, learn how to think of new ideas, and how to make intentional decisions to achieve goals. The Life Design course is offered in the Fall and Spring.  You can enroll through MyCentral using course number Univ 3100. 

Whether you're feeling stuck in your career, seeking to enhance your work-life balance, or looking to ideate those next steps following graduation, The Mule Mindset Podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the intersection of work and life, providing you with tips and tools to help you design the life and career you've always envisioned. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, each episode of The Mule Mindset explores the diverse areas of career and life design, offering practical advice on everything from defining your professional path and building a meaningful career to cultivating a balanced and thriving personal life.

Each year the Career and Life Design Center produces an annual report that provides statistics and information on the successes of our graduates. Please take a moment to tell us about your plans post-graduation!

Post-Graduation Plans

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

Partnership/Presentation Request Form: Click Here 

Office Policies

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 - https://joinhandshake.com/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 at  https://www.ucmo.edu/student/documents/honest.pdf, 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. 

Student Recruitment Policies

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 Student Experience and Engagement office for student conduct violations.

 

Disclaimer
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.