Your Campus Job is Your Career Lab
On-campus jobs are the most equitable pathway to career readiness we have. Over 1,800 students work at Dartmouth every year, and the shifts you work, the problems you solve, and the relationships you build in these roles all contribute to your professional story.
The Center for Career Design is here to help you make the most of your experience! Our Career & Life Design Coaches will help you reframe your campus job and use it as a platform to launch your career journey, moving from, “I served food in the dining hall,” to, “I delivered high-volume services to 200+ students per shift, maintaining quality and efficiency under time pressure, while developing the communication and operations skills I use every day.”
Your job is your laboratory! Every task, interaction, and challenge is an experiment in building the professional skills that matter most to employers and your professional growth.
We’re here to help you – come find us! Your campus job is just the beginning. Connect with a Career & Life Design Coach to turn your work experience into a career story that’s all your own.
(Career) design for every student. Whether this is your first job or your fifth, whether you’re work-study or by choice, your work experience counts, and the Center for Career Design is here to make the most of it.
Search strategically in order to find the campus job that aligns best with where you want to go and what you want to do! This video walks you through the tools, mindset, and moves that help you land a role that is optimal for growing your career.
Go Beyond
In the above video, Director of Career & Life Design Coaching, Janice V. Williams ’92, walks you through a four-step approach to finding campus work that doesn’t just fill your schedule, but builds up your professional repertoire and story. Whether you’ve never applied for a campus job or you’re looking to upgrade your current role, this is your starting point.
- Search with intention. Use JobX filters to target departments, skills, and growth opportunities, (not just available hours). Sort by newest, revisit the job board consistently, and look for roles that describe not just what you’ll do, but what you’ll learn!
- Decode the job description. Every listing signals something. Required vs. preferred skills. Keywords that map to future careers. Phrases like “will take initiative” or “works independently” – those are clues about culture and growth potential.
- Align with your direction. Ask yourself: Does this job connect to a Career Community I’m curious about? Will it build a skill I want to develop? Can I picture myself talking about this in an interview or to a an alum in a networking conversation?
- Apply like the professional you’re becoming. Tailor your application to the role, following the instructions and using the Center for Career Design’s resume templates. Remember: your campus supervisor may become your first real professional reference, so making a good first impression is important.
- Go beyond JobX. Don’t be afraid to talk to professors about research opportunities, reach out directly to departments about openings, and ask friends about opportunities they’ve heard about that may not even be posted.
Want assistance putting this into practice? Schedule an appointment with a Career & Life Design Coach who’ll help you identify roles on JobX and craft an application that stands out!
Whether you’re searching for a job on campus or developing your talents in a current role, knowing your strengths can be an invaluable way to find the right fit for you and excel! Schedule an appointment with a Career & Life Design Coach in order to take the CliftonStrengths assessment, which will tell you your top 5 strengths, which fall into the following four categories:
Career and life design coaching integrates with your student employment experience at every stage, from your first day on the job to your senior year job search and beyond!
Our coaches bring Stanford’s life design methodology, CliftonStrengths, and deep experience in career development to every session. Here’s what you can expect when you work with us!
Our center will help you move from “what I do at work” to “what I bring to any professional setting.” Together, we can help you decode your daily tasks into language that resonates with employers, graduate schools, and anyone who needs to understand your value through your resume and in interviews. Schedule an appointment to get assistance!
Our Career Design Lab’s Explore Lab and Decision Lab offer short, effective activities designed to build clarity and confidence. Discover how your strengths, interests, and values connect to real career paths and practice strategies for making informed career decision. Activities include energy mapping, values clarification, a custom GPT career exploration tool, skills profiling, CliftonStrengths integration, and guided decision-making exercises. Stop by the lab to try them out or schedule an appointment!
Your campus job is your first professional network, comprised of your supervisor, colleagues, and department contacts. Our Career & Life Design Coaches can help you cultivate your network with intention, working with you on outreach, informational interviewing, and building connections through sites like Dartmouth Connect, LinkedIn, and beyond.
Every on-campus role at Dartmouth maps to one or more of our Career Communities. Look below to see where your job leads and find your people!
A place for students to explore their interests, build on their strengths and values, and investigate diverse career paths! On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- Admissions/recruitment
- Advising/mentoring
- Event/program management
- Campus services
- Library/archive services
For students interested in careers in arts, media, entertainment, advertising, public relations, and communications. On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- The arts
- Journalism/writing/editing
- Marketing/communications
- computing/media/tech services
- Consultant/designer/trainer
For students interested in careers in business, finance, consulting, and real estate. On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- Business management/finance
- Office/admin support
- Retail
- Consultant/designer/trainer
- Marketing/communications
- Event/program management
For students interested in careers in business, finance, consulting, and real estate. On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- Outdoor/nature/conservation
- Child care
- Health/wellness
- Food service/dining/hospitality
- Campus services
- Athletics/fitness
For students interested in careers in government, law, public policy, and international relations. On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- Advisor/mentor
- Library/archive services
- Tutor/grader/drill instructor
- Teaching assistant
- Admissions/recruitment
For students interested in data, technology, science, and pre-health. On-campus jobs that intersect with this community may be in:
- Research
- Computing/media/tech services
- Athletics/fitness
- Health/wellness
- Outdoor/nature/sustainability
- Tutor/grader/teaching assistant
The ATOP framework – action verb + task/project + outcome/purpose – transforms how your work appears on paper. Need inspiration? Check out our Comprehensive Resume Guide for a full list of strong action verbs.
Start with a strong, specific verb, like:
- Delivered
- Coordinated
- Analyzed
- Facilitated
- Designed
Name exactly what you did, with context and scale, like, “High-volume food service to 200+ students per shift.”
Show the impact or skill you developed, like, “Maintaining quality under pressure while building customer-facing communication.”
Before: “Worked in the dining hall serving food to students.”
After (ATOP model applied): “Delivered high-volume food service to 200+ students per shift, maintaining quality and efficiency standards under time pressure while building communications skills in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment”
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) identifies eight career-readiness competencies that employers value most. Your on-campus work helps develop every proficiency!
