University of Minnesota - Career Services

What University of Minnesota - Career Services does

The University of Minnesota Career Services is a centralized administrative unit within UMN's Office for Student Affairs that coordinates career development support across all five University of Minnesota campuses (Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester) and the 21+ career centers embedded in UMN's colleges. Core administrative staff are led by Executive Director Sara Nagel Newberg and include a Director, an International Career Consultant, and a Communications & Events Coordinator. Services span career exploration, resume and cover letter creation, interview preparation, job and internship search, graduate school preparation, and alumni mentoring, with specialized support for international students on CPT/OPT/H-1B work authorization.

The department's technology stack centers on Handshake — a third-party cloud-based career management platform shared by all five campuses that posted 153,000+ job, internship, and volunteer opportunities in the past year. Layered onto Handshake are several UMN-specific and integrated tools: RATE (a career readiness self-assessment framework), MyCareerManagement (a tracking tool), InterviewPrep (virtual interview recording and self-review), GoinGlobal (international job search and visa data), Parker Dewey (micro-internships), and the Maroon & Gold Network (alumni mentoring). The Post-Graduation Survey provides outcome data across undergraduate degree programs, and the Work+ program integrates student employment into formal career development.

The business model is non-commercial: Career Services is funded through university operating budgets, and all services are provided free of charge to UMN students and alumni (lifetime Handshake access included). Employer-facing revenue, where it exists, comes from career fair registration fees and Handshake posting fees, both governed by UMN procurement. The department operates under NACE Principles for Professional Practice and serves as an in-house provider rather than a commercial vendor, so growth and sustainability are tied to university budget cycles rather than market expansion.

Name

University of Minnesota - Career Services

Legal name

Regents of the University of Minnesota

Website

https://career.umn.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1851

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The University of Minnesota Career Services is a centralized university department that coordinates career development, job/internship search, interview prep, and alumni mentoring across all five UMN campuses and 21+ college career centers, serving students and alumni free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Career Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Career Services & Career Readiness (EDALABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employer Relations & Recruiting (Career Fairs) (EDALABAH), Job Placement, Matching & Career Navigation Services (EDAAAOAL), Alumni, Peer & Community Networking Programs (EDAMAKAM)

Keywords

• University career services
• Career counseling
• Job placement services
• Internship programs
• Career development

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. University Funding: As a department of the University of Minnesota's Office for Student Affairs, Career Services is funded through university operating budgets. Services are provided free of charge to students and alumni.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

University of Minnesota Career Services is a centralized administrative department within the Office for Student Affairs that coordinates career development support across all five UMN campuses (Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester). It delivers free career counseling, resume/cover letter reviews, interview preparation, job and internship search via the Handshake platform, career fairs, networking events, and alumni mentoring through 21+ college-affiliated career centers.

Product overview

University of Minnesota Career Services is a centralized administrative unit that coordinates career services across the University's five campuses (Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester) and multiple colleges. The core platform is Handshake, a job, internship, and volunteer database used system-wide. Supporting the platform are specialized tools including RATE (for skills reflection), MyCareerManagement (for career tracking), and InterviewPrep (for interview practice). Additional services include the Work+ student employment program, Post-Graduation Survey for outcomes tracking, GoinGlobal for international careers, Parker Dewey micro-internships, and the Maroon & Gold Network for alumni mentoring. Career counseling services are delivered through decentralized college-specific career offices operating in a cooperative model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Handshake University-wide professional job, internship, and volunteer database connecting students and alumni with employment opportunities; all five campuses share a single instance and alumni receive lifetime access.
• Career Counseling and Coaching Services One-on-one career counseling and coaching delivered through college-specific career offices across all five UMN campuses, providing tailored support for students and alumni on career exploration, job search, and offer negotiation.
• Work+ Program A virtual, flexible supervisory framework and network of resources that integrates additional training and support for students and supervisors to contribute to students' career growth through on-campus employment.
• Maroon & Gold Network Alumni Association networking platform connecting current UMN students with alumni for career advice, mentoring, and short-term professional projects.
• Parker Dewey Micro-Internships Short-term, project-based work opportunities offered through Parker Dewey that allow employers to engage, assess, and hire UMN students and recent graduates on-demand.
• InterviewPrep Free platform for UMN students that allows recording of interview responses and self-assessment of progress for interview preparation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 153k+ job, internship, and volunteer opportunities posted annually on Handshake
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• HandshakecoreTechnology or IntegrationHandshake is the primary cloud-based career platform used by UMN Career Services. It serves as the centralized job, internship, and volunteer database connecting all students, alumni, and employers across the University's five campuses. Students and alumni receive lifetime access.
• Parker DeweysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerParker Dewey provides micro-internship opportunities for UMN students. These short-term, project-based work experiences complement traditional internship programs and allow employers to engage prospective candidates year-round.
• Maroon & Gold NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni Association platform connecting current students with UMN alumni for career mentoring, advice, and professional networking. Alumni can post projects for students and serve as mentors through this platform.
• GoinGlobalsupportingTechnology or IntegrationInternational career resource accessible through Handshake, providing global job search tools, country-specific employment information, resume/cover letter guidance for international markets, and H-1B visa employer data.
• Beyond the ProfessoriatesupportingOthersExternal resource for graduate and professional students exploring non-academic career paths. Provides career exploration tools and professional development resources specifically designed for advanced degree holders.
• Imagine PhDsupportingOthersCareer planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars to assess skills, interests, and values to explore diverse career paths beyond academia.
• Versatile PhDsupportingOthersResource for PhD students and graduates seeking non-academic careers. Provides career exploration resources, job search guidance, and professional networking opportunities.
• National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)supportingOthersProfessional development resources for graduate students and faculty, including career development programming and networking opportunities.
• National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)supportingOthersIndustry association setting professional standards for career services and internship programs. UMN Career Services adheres to NACE Principles for Professional Practice.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 12Twenty: 12Twenty provides career services, alumni mentoring, and student outcomes software to universities, serving the same functional use cases as UMN Career Services' Handshake + Maroon & Gold Network stack.
• Handshake: Handshake is the underlying career services platform UMN uses. It directly powers job/internship posting, event management, and student-employer connections for thousands of universities, making it the closest functional peer to the platform layer of UMN Career Services.
• GradLeaders: GradLeaders is a career services platform purpose-built for higher education, offering outcomes tracking, mentoring, and employer engagement — all capabilities UMN Career Services provides or partners for.
• Symplicity: Symplicity provides career services management software to universities (CSM platform), directly competing with Handshake in powering university career offices like UMN's.
• Parker Dewey: Parker Dewey is a micro-internship platform already partnered with UMN. It serves the same student-employer project-based engagement use case that Career Services offers as part of its career readiness suite.

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Indeed is a leading global job search engine. It serves as an alternative channel for the same student/alumni job-seeking behavior Career Services aims to capture via Handshake.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the dominant professional networking and recruiting platform. UMN Career Services competes for student/alumni engagement time and recruiter attention against LinkedIn's broader-reach job search and alumni networking capabilities.

Emerging players

• BigInterview: BigInterview provides virtual interview practice and AI-powered mock interview tools, directly overlapping with UMN's InterviewPrep offering for interview readiness training.
• WayUp: WayUp connects college students and recent grads with employers for internships and entry-level roles, serving the same target demographic as UMN Career Services for job search.
• Quinncia: Quinncia provides AI-powered mock interview and resume review tools to universities, competing with UMN's InterviewPrep and RATE assessment capabilities in the career-readiness tooling space.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uofmcareerservices

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about University of Minnesota - Career Services