Appointments

Staff at the CCD can help with a wide variety of career-related topics.

Common CCD Appointment Topics

• Making decisions about academic areas of interest and career options
• Job or internship searching, especially if you feel stuck
• Graduate school decisions and the application process
• Preparing for an interview, including mock interviews
• How to start if you feel lost or know you should use the career center but are not sure how or why
• Assessments to identify your interests, skills, values, and personality

Common Topics for Other BU Resources

• Visa compliance and work authorization (OPT/CPT): contact ISSO
• Course requirements: contact your academic advisor
• Reviewing personal statements for medical or law school admission: contact the Pre-Professional Advising Office
• Editing of personal statements for grammar and writing mechanics: contact the COM Writing Center for help and the Educational Resource Center to explore additional writing resources

Log in to Handshake using your BU credentials. Follow the prompts to select a date/time that works best for you. Complete the required questions and click the “Request” button.

Note: Due to the overwhelmingly positive and supportive experience of individual appointments, there can periods of high demand during which availability may be 3-4 weeks from when you are scheduling. If you can, we strongly encourage you to schedule your appointment in advance!

Alumni: Typically, appointments are in heavier demand by current students during the first half of each semester (September-October, late January-March). If you have some flexibility in when you might want an appointment, we encourage you to try to schedule during the summer (May-August) or later in the semester (November-December, April).

If you don’t have a Handshake account and are eligible, you can request one. If you have additional questions, please email future@bu.edu for more information.

Preparing for your appointment can be helpful to ensure it is an effective use of your time.

• What do you most want to get out of the conversation?
• If you are wrestling with a decision, what factors are you considering?
• If you feel stuck, what issue (or issues) feel the most stressful?

Note: If you want help with how to do something (like write a resume, conduct a job search, or interview well), we recommend that you start with attending a topical presentation to get an overview. Check our calendar for upcoming sessions.

Need some help with your resume or cover letter?

Drop-In Hours: No Appointment, No Problem

The CCD offers personalized feedback for resumes and cover letters with 15-minute sessions during Drop-Ins, no appointments needed! Stop by Room 101 in the Yawkey Center for Student Services (100 Bay State Road) during review hours. Don’t forget to bring a printed copy of your document.

Spring 2023 Drop-In Hours
Available January 30–April 20
Mondays: 12pm-2:30pm
Tuesdays: 12-2:30pm*
Thursdays: 12-2:30pm

*Tuesday February 7: Find us in Room 545A due to an event in Room 101

Scheduled Appointments: In-Person or Virtual

Want to plan ahead or need a virtual review? On-campus degree program students can book a document review appointment at the CCD through Handshake.

Anytime Resume Feedback with VMock

Boston University offers access to VMock for all current students in degree programs, either on-campus or online. This online tool will analyze your resume in 30 seconds and provide an instant and detailed assessment, including specific tips for making it better. Learn more

Inventories can be particularly useful in helping you sort out a direction and in identifying your skills, interests, values, and motivations. Our career counselors offer the following assessments and will carefully go over the results with you.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
This questionnaire is designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. You’ll answer questions related to how you deal with the world, how you gather information, how you make decisions, and what your orientation is to others. At the end, you’ll be given an indicator that describes your personality type and a list of possible career options. There is a fee to take the MBTI.

Strong Interest Inventory
This inventory offers insight into interests that help inform a career choice. After it’s scored, you’ll be provided with a summary of how your interests apply in five areas: vocational (work-related), avocational (activities outside work), types of work environments that best suit you, type of people you are most likely to work well with, and types of work tasks you are most likely to enjoy. It also measures how your interests might be similar to those of others. There is a fee to take the Strong Interest Inventory.

SkillScan
This inventory assesses your identify your natural strengths and key transferable skills, as well as areas for improvement and development, for use in your future career. When taking it, you choose specific skills that you feel are your strengths. You’ll gain knowledge of your skills and preferences that will help when on the job.

Values Card Sort
This inventory provides a quick and easy way to clarify what you want in a career. You’ll be given a deck of cards and will deal them out into several categories. It allows you to prioritize your values, such as free time, precision work, power, technical competence, and public contact.

Skills Card Sort
This inventory is a quick and easy way to identify the skills you have that are central to your career satisfaction and success. Your selections will involve assessing your proficiency in various skills, then your motivation to use these skills.

If, after reviewing these policies, you still have questions, contact us at future@bu.edu.

Eligibility

Students in and alumni of on-campus degree programs are eligible for individual appointments and resume or cover letter reviews.

Note: Online degree program students have access to resume review feedback via VMock and Smarthinking, a platform provided by the Office of Distance Education.

Fees

There are fees for assessments, which are paid online directly to the assessment website. These can be waived for individuals unable to pay, considered on a case-by-case basis.

Limits

In order to ensure appointment availability for as many student/alumni as possible, we ask that you only book one CCD appointment at a time. Exceptions are made for a resume or cover letter review appointment.

If, after reviewing these policies, you still have questions, contact us at future@bu.edu.

Arriving and Checking In

If your appointment is in person, please arrive 5-10 minutes early for your appointment to facilitate the check-in process. If your appointment is virtual, please join 2-5 minutes in advance so that you’re in the waiting room at the appointment start time.

Note: If you are running late, please let the staff member you scheduled with know as soon as possible or email us at future@bu.edu. If you arrive late for your appointment by 10 minutes or more, our staff will do our best to accommodate you and maximize your appointment time. However, your appointment time will likely still end at the original scheduled time so that we can accommodate other appointments.

Canceling or Rescheduling Your Appointment

To cancel, go to the appointments page (via the Career Center drop-down menu), click on the appointment you wish to cancel, the click the cancel button.

To reschedule, cancel your existing appointment and then schedule a new appointment. If you need to reschedule, but want an appointment soon we recommend periodically checking availability in Handshake. Students/alumni do sometimes cancel appointments which opens those slots for others to select.

Note: If you are no longer able to attend your appointment and still wish to meet with someone, you will need to reschedule your appointment. Please try to do this at least 18 hours before your scheduled appointment time to allow other students to meet with us. If you do not attend your appointment and do not let us know, you will be considered a no-show.

Late Cancelations and No-Shows: Missing an Appointment

You have until 18 hours before the appointment start time to cancel/reschedule within Handshake. There are no consequences of canceling (and/or rescheduling) your appointment more than 18 hours in advance.

If you cancel within 18 hours of the appointment start time (a late cancelation), please add a note on the appointment itself (which will reach the person you are scheduled to meet with) and email us at future@bu.edu.

For both late cancelations and no-shows (not arriving at all), you will need to schedule a new appointment if you still want to meet with us. We strongly encourage you to keep your scheduled appointments or to cancel more than 18 hours in advance so that other students are able to select that appointment time.