Fall Hours • COVID-19 Update
The Silicon Valley Campus is open 4–9:30 p.m. on Monday–Friday and 8 a.m.–5 p.m. on Saturday.
All campus visitors must be vaccinated, wear a mask, & submit a COVID symptom check. Visit our COVID page for updates.
Career Services
Career Services Resource Hub
- Explore the latest job search techniques.
- Enroll in career-related courses.
- Gain support for a successful job search
- Worksheets, strategies, and discounted coaching to help you get started in your job search and refine your presentation.
- Polish up your resumé, practice your networking skills, and learn about LinkedIn strategy, personal branding, and diversity centers.
- Discover new job opportunities & job fairs.
It’s never too early to get started and see what’s out there for you.
Earn a badge in soft skills
"Soft skills aren’t as soft as they sound. In fact, they can make or break your career—especially when it comes to remote work."*
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension is offering a free, self-directed, online soft skills course for anyone who wants to improve their ability to interact successfully with colleagues, managers, employees, and friends.
Soft skills are those skills that help to shape your personal habits and traits and guide how well you work with others. These kinds of skills are as crucial (or more) to career success as technological expertise. Learning these types of skills has been shown to reduce job loss due to automation.
The soft skills that you learn in this course will make you more marketable to employers and improve your networking skills. At the completion of this 0.5 CEU course, you will earn a badge to add to your LinkedIn profile and resume.
- 7 soft skills recruiters value during uncertain hiring times • Fast Company, April 20, 2021
- The top 25 soft skills remote workers need in 2021 • Forbes, Jan. 12, 2021
Check back here soon for '22 course enrollment dates.
On campus job board
In Silicon Valley it’s often as much about who you know as what you know. Think of our instructors, program chairs, advisory boards, and recruitment partners as your professional network. You’ll find new job listings every week on the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Job Board in the break room on campus.
Know about a great job?
Are you a recruiter, business, or industry professional looking for employees who are skilled in the latest methods and best practices to get the job done? Let us know. Please email jobs and internships to svjobs@ucsc.edu so we can post it on the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Job Board.
Career-related course offerings
Check out these courses that can help you navigate the Silicon Valley job hunt...
- Redesigning Your Career - Accelerated Weekend Career Workshop
Identify hidden career opportunities that fit your current career aspirations and your future career goals and develop an effective marketing strategy and action plan. Practice live interviews and participate in valuable feedback sessions. - Interviewing For Success: Using Structured Interviewing Techniques
Make more effective candidate selection and hiring decisions by improving your interviewing skills and evaluation techniques through discussion, lecture, role-playing, and videotaping. The course is focused on the needs of staffing professionals, managers, and supervisors, however, everyone will gain distinctive interviewing skills. - Mastering Data Structures and Algorithms: A Practical Approach
Prepare to answer questions and solve problems related to data structures and algorithms that often come up in Silicon Valley job interviews. - Final Project: Preparing Your Job Search
Develop your portfolio and resume the type of job desired in the tech writing and communications field, tailor your social media branding, and prepare for interviews. - Management Communication
Build communication and leadership skills to interview others and listen intently. We'll role play, write and deliver stories, reports, and presentations, and engage in coaching, research and reflection. - Data Structures and Algorithms Using Python
After gaining experience with data structures and algorithms, you can implement them easily using Python, and practice common interview questions known as "algorithms for interviews" (AFI). You'll be able to confidently attend Google, Amazon, and Facebook interviews. - Soft Skills
A new self-directed, online soft skills course for anyone who wants to improve their ability to interact successfully with colleagues, managers, employees, and friends.
Career fairs • events • webinars
Visit the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Events page for information about our free Job Market Insights webinar series and other discussions about the job market and our YouTube page for recordings of the events you missed.
Multiple virtual career fairs happen every month for Silicon Valley jobs!
The UC Santa Cruz Alumni Events page and the University of California Alumni Career Network also have some helpful networking events and career advice.
UCSC videos and workshops—Check out various career advice videos on topics from researching companies to creating a strong resume and effective strategies to aid you in your career development.
Employment Development Department Job Fairs and Workshops
Advanced Management Communication
Business and communications instructor Craig Harrison provides tips and stories about recruiting approaches. Explore the intersection of meta messages and microaggressions; facilitate an activity to enhance your executive presence and self-confidence. (Sept. 30, 2020)
Managing the Emotions of a Job Search
Don't be discouraged! Join HR instructor Leon Bezdikian, B.A., vice president of human resources at Eta Compute with more than 30 years of experience in the high tech industry. (Sept. 9, 2020)
Job Search Strategies—A New Mindset to Step Up Your Game
The key to handling the emotional roller coaster of a job search is to work your way through your distress, doubt, and depression. HR instructor Marco Rosa, MA, provides tools to new ways to think it through. (July 1, 2020)
Energize Your Job Search
Jennifer Smith, a career coach with The Muse, offers up a framework to spark momentum for a purposeful job search. She lists four key steps and answers questions about interview preparation, networking, and setting small steps to meet career goals. (June 10, 2020)
Designing your Professional Life
We change jobs throughout our lives, pivoting to new careers and often shifting gears completely. How do we build a professional career that develops throughout our lives?. Reynold Lewke, M.S., M.B.A, LLB, shares some skills and practical tips. (May 27, 2020)
Emerging From the Job Market Chaos: Part III—A More Successful You
In Part 3 of "Emerging from the Job Market Chaos: A More Successful You?", P.K. Agarwal, dean of UCSC Silicon Valley Extension, shares some tips for building your professional career in the midst of a pandemic. (May 11, 2020)
Your job search during COVID-19
Dana Manciagli, career expert and UC Santa Barbara alumna, offers concrete tips to help you maximize your job search, identify job leads and remain positive during times of change. (April 20, 2020)
State & federal job resources
The Employment Development Department (EDD) provides a comprehensive range of employment and training services in partnership with state and local agencies and organizations. Visit the EDD website for everything from job search tools to labor market information in individual counties.
- Labor Market Information for Job Seekers and Students (EDD)
- Supply and Demand Tool for Regions (EDD)
- Labor Market Information for Santa Clara County (EDD)
- Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Chamber of Commerce Santa Clara County
Stay in touch
And, keep us posted. Give us a call or message us on LinkedIn and let us know about your new job. We love to highlight our students and alumni. What worked? What didn’t? Who gave you the hand you needed? What advice do you have for our students? Let us tell your story in a blog post.
Discounted Career Coaching with The Muse Career Connect
UCSC Extension students and alumni are eligible for a 10 percent discount toward a suite of services for professional advancement and career coaching with The Muse Coach Connect. You can choose from career coaching services such as cover letter writing, a resume and LinkedIn review, job search and interview strategy, and more.
Contact svjobs@ucsc.edu for a 10% off promo code.
Quick Guides
RESUME WRITING
A resume summarizes your career readiness skills, education, and experiences with the intent of convincing an employer to invite you for an interview.
COVER LETTER
A cover letter is a three- to four-paragraph personalized note to an employer that helps your application stand out from the others
INTERVIEW WORKSHEET
If you’re unsure about your career goals or feel that you lack knowledge to pursue the career you want, informational interviewing is for you
INTERVIEW QUESTION GUIDE
Tell me about yourself. What unique qualities would you bring to the job? What are your strengths? Weaknesses? What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
NEGOTIATING SALARY
Negotiating salary can be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be. Being aware of salary options shows you are fully aware of the job you are applying for.
LINKEDIN GUIDE
People with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.
NETWORKING GUIDE
Only 10-20 percent of jobs are advertised to the public. Networking remains the No. 1 job search strategy
DIVERSITY CAREER WEBSITES
Diversity is critical for a strong workforce. Learn more about resources for students of color, women, students with disabilities, veterans, international students, and LGBTQ+ students.
CAREER FAIR GUIDE
Realize that your first job is just that; your first job. It may not be your dream job, but it can serve as a stepping stone to a brighter career path. The hardest job you will ever have is finding the right job.