Professional Development

CPS CAREER SERVICES

Nicole Mintz

Our Career Services office is a valuable resource for SUP and CPS students that provides personalized attention and focused resources to meet your professional goals.  Nicole Mintz, Director of Career Services, provides one-one-one coaching, programming, and other resources to assist students and alumni in exploring opportunities, develop job search strategy, and sustain lifelong career success. Her expertise is extremely valuable and has helped hundreds of students move into their professional careers with ease. 

Students who would like to speak with Nicole should schedule an appointment to advance their professional development!

Handshake

To facilitate the job and internship search for GW students and alumni, the university uses Handshake, the leading career platform at over 400 colleges and more than 200,000 employers. All full-time, degree-seeking GW students and alumni and thousands of employing organizations are registered in Handshake.

Login to your Handshake Account to complete your profile and put your best self forward to employers. For single sign-on, access with @gwu.edu email address with password and login information for Handshake. Incoming students for the fall will receive this information in mid-July prior to their first semester.


NOTE: GW automatically creates Handshake accounts for incoming students on the following dates:

INTERNSHIPS

Many SUP students are working or mid-career professionals and will not require an internship. For those students who would like an internship, for-credit and not-for-credit internship placements are highly encouraged.


Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF)

The GW Career Services Council established the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF) to encourage GW students to pursue high-quality unpaid internships that foster career exploration and enhance their academic program, while reducing the financial challenges associated with unpaid internships.

Made possible through the generous support of alumni and parents, this highly competitive program provides grants ranging from $750 to $3,000 to GW undergraduate and graduate students pursuing internships that are necessarily unpaid. Necessarily unpaid internships are typically those with non-profit, governmental, educational and non-governmental organizations that genuinely lack the financial resources to pay salaries or wages to their interns. In order to maximize the number of students who receive funding, grants for internships in the District of Columbia and other U.S. domestic locations typically range from $750 to $1,500, while grants for international internships typically range from $2000 to $3000.

PROFESSIONAL IMAGE

SUPSO has developed professional email signatures for students to use in their GW email accounts. Please remember, you represent SUP and SUPSO by updating your email signature.

We also highly encourage you to add in a Profile Picture to your GW email account. If you're interested in getting a professional headshot, check out the Professional Headshot Booth in the Center for Career Services located on the Foggy Bottom Campus.

SUP Email Signatures

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Planning Association (APA)

The American Planning Association (APA) is the primary professional organization representing the urban planning profession. 

The organization comprising over 40,000 members from 90 countries, 47 different chapters across the US, and 23 divisions across a wide range of planning topics. Locally, 3 chapters represent the DMV area:

Membership to the APA is FREE for students, SUP students should take advantage of this valuable resource for networking, scholarship opportunities, and planning research.

US Green Building Council (USGBC)

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) strives to transform communities and building design, operating through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, an ecologically-oriented building certification program. The USGBC works toward environmental and socially responsible environments to improve the quality of life.

Membership to the USGBC is FREE for students, giving students the ability to learn more about the green building community. 

Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is a group of New Urbanist idealists across many different professions, including urban planning and geography. Connected to a powerful group focused on walkable urbanism, CNU provides valuable tools to sharpen knowledge on architecture and community. 

Membership to the CNU is FREE for students, giving students access to their member directory, monthly newsletter, chapter membership, and CNU-A eligibility. 

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)

AICP Certification is the only nationwide, independent verification of planners' qualifications. Earn the AICP Certification and colleagues and employers will know that you have the academic qualifications, relevant work experience, and mastery of essential skills required to serve your community effectively.

Employers recognize — and reward — AICP Certification. On average, AICP-certified planners earn $16,000 more annually than non-certified planners. AICP Certification is an assurance of quality — a professional pre-screen — for employers who want to attract the most highly qualified candidates for their open positions. The majority of planning employers say that AICP Certification is a factor when hiring planners.

How to become AICP certified...

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)

AICP Certification is the only nationwide, independent verification of planners' qualifications. Earn the AICP Certification and colleagues and employers will know that you have the academic qualifications, relevant work experience, and mastery of essential skills required to serve your community effectively.

Employers recognize — and reward — AICP Certification. On average, AICP-certified planners earn $16,000 more annually than non-certified planners. AICP Certification is an assurance of quality — a professional pre-screen — for employers who want to attract the most highly qualified candidates for their open positions. The majority of planning employers say that AICP Certification is a factor when hiring planners.

How to become AICP certified...

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES