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Cougar Pathway helps employ students

The University offers many resources for career searching and job planning, such as Cougar Pathway. | Juana Garcia/The Cougar

The University offers many resources for career searching and job planning, such as Cougar Pathway. | Juana Garcia/The Cougar

Searching for jobs soon after enrolling in college seems daunting, but the University has created a resource to ease job-hunting stress, especially on a new campus.

Cougar Pathway can be found in AccessUH under University Career Services and features an abundance of resources for students to search and apply for jobs, get career counseling, resume advice and more.

If you’re seeking on-campus employment, simply type “on-campus” into the search bar and all available positions will pop up. When scrolling through the postings, you’ll see what specific department of campus the job is in, such as the Cullen Performance Hall or the Engineering Career Center.

You can then click on the “Learn more” option to determine the job’s requirements and qualifications. Also shown here are the preferred majors of applicants, the application deadline and if the job is work-study or non-college work-study.

Most jobs also display the salaries, and if working an on-campus job, students are not allowed to work more than 20 hours each week to leave time to focus on their studies.

Cougar Pathway provides different filters to calculate the distance of a job, position type, desired major and others to help narrow down the job search. Not only does this resource display jobs to students, but it also shows internships and research and volunteer opportunities.

If unsure of the job you’re looking for, you can quickly scroll through all available positions on and off campus to see if anything catches your eye or sounds like the right fit.

When applying, resumes are the key to making an excellent first impression but can be tricky to perfect. A sample resume is available on Cougar Pathway, giving students an easy and understandable starting point for an essential document in their career.

Also included on Cougar Pathway are other helpful pages, such as interview preparation, salary negotiation and job planning. While at times it can feel overwhelming, planning ahead is essential. 

Another available resource is career counseling, allowing students to receive resume help, career guidance, professional etiquette and graduate school preparation. There is also the “Career Explorer” portal, which shows the current leading industries and the expected growth rates of popular careers.

Along with receiving career help, you can also RSVP to events held at the University, such as career fairs and workshops. These are beneficial to attend because you can personally interact with employers and make connections outside of UH.

Alumni, faculty and staff can also use Cougar Pathways, and employers have access to it for recruiting purposes. Faculty and staff can upload on-campus jobs and review and interview the candidates they see fit, and employers can post jobs, internships and career fairs.

While thinking about the future can often be stressful, the plethora of career planning and development resources made available to students through the University helps to alleviate some of that anxiety.

With the University’s multitude of helpful career resources, you can stay on top of your activities and achievements beneficial to your future, tracking them and speaking with a counselor when needed.

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