Butler CaPS goes above and beyond with resources for students and alumni. Courtesy of Butler Careers
GRACE CRONIN | STAFF REPORTER | gcronin@butler.edu
Butler University’s Career and Professional Success (CaPS) office is expanding its career support with new 24/7 online tools, offering students and alumni access to resume help, interview practice and job search resources at any time of day.
CaPS is open to all Butler students and alumni, regardless of major and offers free lifetime services. The office provides career advising, graduate school preparation and opportunities to connect with alumni and employers through networking events and workshops.
This fall, two major resources, Hiration and the Indeed Job Search Academy,were added to the CaPS resources. They are designed to make professional development more flexible and accessible. Students can log in with their Butler credentials to use the free services, which help with resumes, cover letters, interviews and job searches.
Gary Beaulieu, the senior director for career and professional success, detailed the purpose and specifics of the new additions to CaPS.
“We know that students operate on a different schedule than we do,” said Beaulieu. “We’re not here at 11 o’clock at night when a student might be at home working on their resume. We want them to be able to have students get resources whenever it’s time for them to utilize the services.”
Hiration is an AI platform that allows users to upload a resume and job description to receive feedback on how well they match. The system offers guidance on cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and even provides virtual mock interviews that analyze posture, eye contact and tone.
“One of the most important things that I think [Hiration] has is its mock interview tool,” Beaulieu said. “You can give it specific questions, you can put in questions that you want the tool to ask you, or you can put in what type of industry you are interested in.”
The new Indeed Job Search Academy works in tandem with Hiration by helping students research companies, compare salaries and understand industry expectations. The platform provides workshops, career guides, and live or recorded webinars, along with tools for company reviews and salary insights.
“Indeed is a meta job search site, it has a huge amount of information,” Beaulieu said. “The Job Search Academy breaks it down into different tools.”
Beyond AI, CaPS has also updated its Professional Guide that helps students with their career journey. The comprehensive guide provides resources such as resume help, Curriculum Vitae instructions, cover letter templates and more.
Mike Thomas, the senior associate director for career and professional success and director of the career development program for the Lacy School of Business, explained more about CaPS specific 24/7 resources for students.
“Our entire guide to professional success was a physical booklet,” Thomas said. “Now all of the pieces are apart and available online. There’s grad school prep, there’s a link to Hiration, how you handle references and some additional material.”
Junior marketing major Grace Schwertfeger has firsthand experience using CaPS resources.
“What made me go to CaPS was the assistance I’ve received with my connection to my advisor in helping with my future,” Schwertfeger said. “They have helped me prepare for my mock interview as well as locate where I should go for important business opportunities.”
Butler CaPS plans to continue expanding its resources for students and alumni in order to help provide success for whatever that means for that student or alum.
“We’re always looking for resources that we think are going to help students,” Beaulieu said. “We continue investing in ourselves as well through professional development, to make sure that we know today’s college students’ needs.”
CaPS is located in Dugan Hall 102 for all students and Jordan Hall 209 for liberal arts and sciences students. Appointments can be scheduled through Navigate or Handshake.
