CSU Home > Career Center > Student Guide to CougarLink

Student guide to CougarLink

Getting started!

You can always access CougarLink through the Career Center web page at https://career.colstate.edu. Click on the link for students/ alumni, and you are ready to get started.

Step 1: Logging in your account:

Log in using your colstate.edu email account as your username. If this is the first time using CougarLink, click on the forgot password tab and a new password will be emailed to your colstate.edu email account. If the system doesn't find your email address, please contact the Career Center.

Step 2: Changing your password:

Click on the Profile tab on the Menu Choices, and then click on Password/ Preferences. Enter the old/current password in the old password field. Put your new password in the field for new password. Please choose a password that will be easy for you to remember, our office does not track passwords. Click on the save button to keep your changes.

Step 3: Completing your Profile:

Click on the Profile menu. Complete the fields in each of the three tabs: Personal information, Academic information, and Privacy. We recommend leaving the privacy page as is. Be sure to click the save button at the bottom of the screen or save changes and continue.

Step 4: Uploading your Resume:

The Career Center encourages students to view sample resumes on our website under Resumes and Interviewing Assistance. Once a resume is found for your industry/major, you can create a personal one using Microsoft Word. This provides you with flexibility to change and update your resume at anytime.

Click on the Resumes/ Documents menu, and click the Add Newbutton. The label is the title or name of your resume. Choose the correct document type. Browse to find your document. Click on the submit button to upload your document. The process might take several minutes; if you have more than one document to upload just repeat the process. In the view column, you should see that you also have a pdf. version of your resume.

Step 5: Creating a Resume on Cougar Link :

Again, The Career Center encourages students to view sample resumes on our website under resumes and interviewing assistance. Once a resume is found for your industry/major, you can create a personal one using Microsoft Word.

CougarLink provides a very basic template for creating resumes. To utilize this, click on the Documents tab on the menu choices at the top. Click on Resume Builder tab to start a new resume for you to upload. Complete the fields under each of the tabs: contact information, objective, education, employment experience, additional experiences, skills, awards, and lastly once you start working on your resume make sure to hit the SAVE button on each page. To edit or continue working on your resume, click on the paper & pen icon on the far left to open your resume back up. When you are finished editing and building your resume, click on the last tab -Design and Save Resume. From this page, you can save your resume to your computer or to your CougarLink account.

A. To save it to your computer, click on the design you like and your resume will open in Adobe Acrobat, and save it as you normally would to your computer by clicking on the save icon.

B. To save it to your CougarLink account, click on the "promote to CSM documents" button. In the label text box, put the name of your resume. Document should already have Resume selected. If not click on the Resume radio button. Then click on the submit button to save your resume to your CougarLink account.

Be sure to view your resume after you have saved it to your CougarLink account by clicking on the Acrobat paper icon on the Documents page just to make sure everything looks ok.

Step 6: Job/Internship/Co-op Search:

To search for job openings, click on the CougarLink Jobstab. CougarLink provides listings for local, nationwide and NaceLink postings. If you are looking for jobs, internships in Columbus, GA, put "Columbus, GA" in the keywords field to narrow your search.

Once in CougarLink Jobs, you can search for full time, part time, internships, seasonal, on-campus: student assistant and work-study.

The Advanced search tab can help you narrow your search to only specific areas or positions types.

Step 7: System Overview- Just the basics:

Home Page Highlights:

A. Announcements -Regularly check here for important announcements from Career

B. Quick Links - You will find direct access to popular links.

C.  Alerts - These are time-sensitive reminders critical to your successful use of the system.

D. Calendar - View your scheduled activities including interviews, events, etc. by date.

E. Feedback - Your feedback is encouraged so we'll know how we can better serve you!

Your Menu Choices:

A. Profile - Your Personal Academic Information.

B. Resumes/Documents - Where you upload your resumes, cover letters, and/ or transcripts.

C. Jobs - Where you search for both On-Campus Recruiting jobs and Non-on campus recruiting jobs.

D. Employers - All employer information. You can even make your own list of favorites.

E. Interviews - view interview requests, sign up for interviews and view-scheduled interviews.

F. Events - View upcoming events such as Career Expo and Employer information Sessions

G. Calendar - Use this as your personal online calendar to record your interviews, events, etc.

H. Networking - This is an opportunity for you to engage with alumni and community professionals. A mentorship provides a channel for you to network with professionals who have led a similar path as the one you are currently on! Get career advise and life lessons! Its just a click away!