Center for Career and Professional Development

Photo of Career Center Building in Spring

Center for Career and Professional Development

Welcome to the Center for Career and Professional Development

The Center for Career and Professional Development provides comprehensive services and resources to assist with researching careers, finding job opportunities, preparing for graduate school, improving resume writing and interviewing skills, and landing appropriate internships for career advancement.

We aim to assist you with your job search and career development needs.

Image of a group of students sitting on a bench

Undergraduates

The Center for Career and Professional Development provides the following resources and services to undergraduate and graduate students. Our goal is to equip each student with the knowledge and skills they need to obtain a satisfying and fulfilling career. This process starts during a student’s first year. Please see our suggestions below of steps to be taken to ensure each student graduates with an in-depth plan for their future.

Group of students sitting on benches outside building

Graduates

The Center for Career and Professional Development provides the following resources and service to graduate students. These services are available to students across graduate schools and are designed to meet the career development and job search needs of students.

Graduate holding diploma

Alumni

The Center for Career and Professional Development  at NJCU is committed to assisting alumni with their career development at any stage in their careers.

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Employers

Here at NJCU, we are very proud of our talented, diverse student population. We offer may ways for employers to participate in on-campus or virtual career events. Gaining visibility with our students is a great way to recruit.

Career tools for students, alumni, and employers

FOCUS2 is an online, interactive, self-guided career and education planning system.
FOCUS 2 engages and guides you through career & academic (your major) decision making to help you choose programs offered at NJCU, explore occupations & make career decisions that align with your values, skills and interests.

How to Setup Your FOCUS2 ACCOUNT and Log In: 
You will need the access code to register. 
Access code: gothicknights

New Users

  • Step 1: Create your account by linking to the NJCU FOCUS 2 registration page:

    REGISTRATION
     
  • Step 2: Please remember, you will need the access code to register; the access code is: gothicknights
  • Step 3: Complete your registration by creating an account.
  • Step 4: After creating an account, the system will prompt you to begin the assessment.

Using FOCUS2

FOCUS2 is designed to walk you through the steps of your career planning process. You can review any parts of the system at any stage in your process.

  • My Career Planning Readiness
    A self-assessment tool that helps you determine where you stand in terms of your career planning process
  • My Academic Strengths
    A self-assessment tool that helps you determine where your academic strengths and weakness exist. Recognizing your academic strengths will bring you one step closer to pursuing a satisfying area of study and career path. 
  • Self- Assessment
    Used to help you learn more about how your personality, skills, values and what you enjoy doing in your free time which can lead to your career path.
    The following are under the Self-Assessment:
    • Work Interest: will identify occupations and tasks you most enjoy 
    • Personality: matches your personality type to compatible occupations 
    • Skills: identify occupations that match your profile 
    • Values: identify occupations that are compatible with what’s important to you 
    • Leisure Interest: identify occupations that provide opportunities and activities compatible with your leisure preference 
    • Combine: the results from the assessments and give a table of the top careers that best suit student’s answers 
  • Take Action: Assist you by organizing your educational and professional development activities in preparation for resume creation, graduate school applications, and/or job search activities.  
  • Education and Planning Results
    Keeps track and produce a summary of your saved career preferences and assessment results. The following is under My Career and Education Planning Results: 
    • My Saved Occupations 
    • My Saved Majors 
    • Review and Print My Portfolio

Need help? Please contact Center for Career and Professional Development  at 201-200-3005 to make an appointment with your career advisor.

Forage offers virtual experience programs for NJCU students. Develop your skills and obtain more information about different careers and jobs by working through these self-paced modules, with tasks similar to those you would undertake during a traditional internship.  Discover what everyday life is like at different organizations, learn more about which career path is right for you, and acquire new skills. Forage programs are free for NJCU students and alumni.

Visit the Forage Website

Handshake is NJCU’s career management platform where students and alumni can review NJCU career resources, schedule career advising appointments, register for career events, and find internships and jobs (there are 750,000+ employers recruiting on Handshake).

  • Activate your account at app.joinhandshake.com
  • Download the Handshake app from Apple or Google Play so you get notifications on the latest jobs, events, and employers

Whether you are exploring multiple majors or searching for information about your chosen field, the What Can I Do With This Major? website will help you connect majors to careers.

Services We Offer

  • Providing individualized career counseling to discuss the choice of a major for careers of interest, planning a job search, researching career information, selecting a graduate program of study.
  • Administering self-assessments to evaluate values, skills and interests so students can identify careers where they best fit.
  • Conducting workshops regarding selection of majors for careers of interest, applying to graduate school, writing resumes, learning interview skills.
  • Hosting employer recruitment events. 
  • Advising non-declared students regarding appropriate majors for career interests.

Employment Services

  • Internships for declared majors.
  • Part-Time job opportunities.
  • Campus recruitment program.
  • Access to Handshake to view/apply to full-time, professional and internship positions.
  • Career Fairs and other employer recruitment events.

Staff

Ms. Melissa Faulkner
Director
201-200-2181

Christopher Cofone
Assistant Director
201-200-2180

Ron Baines
Assistant Director of Athletics for Student Development
201-200-3317

Sarah McGough
Internship & Postgraduate Outcomes Coordinator
201-200-3331

Andrea Squillante
Career Coach
201-200-3054

Andrea Tider
Career Readiness Manager
201-200-3322