Will professors help me find a job? (PROF answers)

Asking professors for help with job search

The job landscape, as an undergraduate, can look very intimidating. You may not even know where to start searching for employment as a student.

Professors can help you figure out where to search for a job, which jobs you are best suited for and give you the resources to help you get a jump start on your employment search.

But if professors choose to help students look for employment, it is complimentary and not an obligation.

I remember being in college, and unsure of what I even wanted to do once I graduated. I really had no idea where to search for a job, which employers sought my degree, and how to market myself.

This is when I turned directly to my professors. They are experts in their field after all.

I ended up learning, from my professor, that I would need an advanced degree to even have a chance of getting the job that I badly wanted.

If I wouldn’t have talked to my professor, it would have taken me awhile to learn that on my own.

I don’t think students have to become friends with their professors before asking them for some advice.

As a former professor myself, I think professors can offer some assistance to their students when it comes to job searching. While they won’t hand you a job on a silver platter, they can give you some pointers.

I do not think that professors should have jobs lined up for students, however, they know their field very well and should be able to answer a lot of your questions about your job search.

And if you think about it, professors are there to teach you about their expertise because you want a degree in that subject. Surely they would want you to be prepared to go job hunting once you’re finished.

In this article, I will help you understand why a professor would want to help students search for a job, and how to ASK your professor for some assistance with employment.

Don’t worry, if you’ve never talked to your professor, I have an article to help you start the conversation.

Networking with your professor can open you up to some amazing opportunities.

Why would a professor want to help a student search for a job?

Professors should help students job search because they want students to have the best chance of success because it gives their degree value, which in turn helps the university’s reputation.

Professors do have some stake in your abilities.

Many universities survey their graduates and ask them about their employment status. This can help them collect data about their alumni so that they can boast about these stats later.

If 90% of their alumni are employed and 60% of those employed are earning six figure salaries, this is going to be a way to recruit future students.

So, professors do have some motivation to help their students. While it is not entirely on the professor’s shoulders, they likely want to assist students in their employment search.

One reason why I liked helping students search for a job was because I was helping produce future employers in my field. I didn’t want my students to be unprepared.

For example, some jobs in my subject matter have a maximum age for employment. A student was hoping to obtain employment but he was already passed the age limit.

If I wouldn’t have taken the time to help him with his job hunting, he would have found out the hard way and missed other opportunities along the way.

This is why I think professors can offer some insight to their students about future employment opportunities because they are the expert after all.

Another reason why I think professors should care about helping their students find future careers is because most professors have to get tenure or are on contracts. One way to show your university that you are fulfilling your obligations as a professor is through supporting and advising students.

You see, professors usually report all the things they do each year to their Dean. And if they help a student search for employment or give them career advice, they can list this on their performance evaluation.

Every little bit counts.

Can professors help you get a job?

Professor may be able to help students get jobs because professors often have plenty of acquaintances and resources to help students find a job. However they don’t necessarily have the ability to place students in jobs.

When I was a professor, we had so many recruiters reaching out to our department asking for qualified candidates.

Sometimes these jobs were willing to hire them before they graduated with a conditional offer.

Oftentimes, they wanted students to start working BEFORE they graduated. And they felt like professors had a lot of personal knowledge about students’ abilities and we could vet them for the employers first.

I would always forward the job opportunities to my students, if appropriate.

You may not know it now, but if you ask your professor, they may have some valuable information about employers in their field that are hiring and could put in a good word for you.

Another way professors can help students get a job is through internships. Some universities have programs where students can get internships and earn academic credit.

It is worth looking into at your college. Sometimes these internships end up becoming full-time employment for some students.

When you talk to your professor about careers in their field, they may also help you understand more about the resources at their university.

At my college, they actually had an entire department dedicated to matching students to careers. But a lot of students didn’t even know it existed until I told them about it.

Finally, professors can help point you in the right direction when looking for a job and may know some specific information that you don’t.

It doesn’t hurt to ask, but how you ask is crucial.

How do you ask your professor for help finding a job?

When a student wants to approach their professor about finding a job in their field, they should ask for guidance rather than a job.

It is not your professor’s responsibility to find you a job, but I think that they should advise you during that process.

For example, when I was a professor, students would come to me about their quickly approaching job interview and ask me how they can be best prepared. I would give them some pointers before their interview.

I was flattered that they asked me to help and I enjoyed seeing so many of my students get jobs in my field.

Now I will give you some important tips on how to politely and professionally ask your professor for help finding a job.

Make sure you are asking the RIGHT professor

You should only ask a professor who is teaching the subject that you want a job in. Don’t go to your english professor and ask them about employment in the criminal justice field.

You can check their experience by visiting the college’s departmental website and see if their experience is listed online somewhere.

Try and find a professor who aligns closely with your career goals and who might have some professional experience themselves.

Finally, I would ask a professor that you have had in the past and one that might remember you, even if just a little.

Be specific

Your professor has a lot of students, and if you are asking very vague questions, it is going to take more time for your professor to answer your question.

It could result in a lot of back and forth, especially if you correspond through email.

Instead of merely asking your professor about careers in their field, try and be direct and ask them more specific questions.

For example, if you are looking for a job in the medical field, but you know that you specifically want to work with children, you need to ask questions that are most relevant to those careers.

Do some of the work yourself

If you know absolutely nothing about the future career you want, start researching first so that you have an idea of what your ideal job is.

This way your professor doesn’t have to ask a million follow-up questions to find out what it is you even want to do.

It is easy to do some quick online searches and find jobs in your field and learn more about the qualifications and duties.

Don’t expect a favor

Do not expect your professor to land you a job. That isn’t their responsibility and while they will likely have plenty of guidance for you, they won’t have a list of employers ready to hire you.

Just talk to them with little to no expectations and think of them as a guidance counselor.

Thank them

After you get some information from them, you should extend a heartfelt thank you because they went above and beyond their duties.

When students would personally thank me, it meant the world to me.

I have an excellent guide to thanking a professor here.

Email template asking professor to help students with job search?

Below, I have a great email template to help you ask your professor for help with a job search. It gives you an idea of how you should ask them for assistance so you don’t come off as entitled.

While I liked it when students visited me in person, I realize email can be convenient.

Dear Professor Smith,

I am enjoying your Western Civilization course and appreciate learning about the different time periods. As you know, I plan on getting my Masters degree in history and would really love to get a job as a historian. I did some research on the different types of employment as a historian and I am stuck trying to figure out which path I should take. I know that reading a job description provides some value but it doesn’t give me insight as to what the job will really entail. I know that you had experience in this field, and would love to ask you some questions. Would you be willing to offer me some advice and guidance on becoming a historian and provide me with some insight of the real world experience I would get from working in this field.

Sincerely, your student.

As you can see that this email provided some context for the professor. One of the most important things you can do is let them know how much education you are going to pursue and what job(s) you are most interested in.

After this communication, I would let your professor ask additional questions.

I always tell students that they should try and reach out to additional professors too. It is great to get multiple perspectives.

And if your professor knows of any job opportunities, they will likely share them with you.

I have talked with many students that were offered jobs because of their professors so don’t think it isn’t a possibility.

Good luck! You got this.

READ MORE : If you want to learn more about getting career advice from your professor, check out this article next.

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