A while back I wrote a post on what it was like being an Academic Advisor. In that post, I wrote about how I worked with students on their academic journey. However, after transitioning to a Career Counselor, I haven’t written much about what I do.
So, in today’s post I want to give you a little information on what I do, such as connecting students with employers, assisting with resume and cover letter writing, and class presentations.
Connecting Students with Employers
One of the main duties that I perform in this role is connecting students with employers. For example, I research companies that are hiring and find out what roles they are hiring for.
From there, I connect with students from different departments and programs and encourage them to apply for the open positions while also keeping the company in the loop on what students are headed their way.
For example, let’s take Jeco Plastics and EMP Shield, both with open positions and willing to hire entry level employees.
If I knew that they had open positions in their company, I would contact students from the Industrial and Manufacturing Department and inform them of open positions.
I would then encourage them to do their research to find out a bit more about each company before they moved forward with the application process.
How to Research a Company
But, how do you research a company? Easy. Go to their website first. Take for example Orthera Custom Orthotics. Their website has a wealth of information about them.
You could choose to begin at the “About” page and then move around the website from there. If the company doesn’t have a website, you can easily Google the company for more information.
Resume and Cover Letter Writing
After gathering information on the company such as what they are about, their mission, values, goals, etc, I would then have them review the job announcement and save it.
Following this, I would guide them on how to pick out key words and key phrases to include in their resume and cover letter so that they would have a better chance at getting through the Application Tracking System.
I would then work with them on reviewing their cover letter and resume to make sure that they have articulated themselves and explained why they are the ideal candidate for the job.
Sounds good, right? But, I’m sure you are wondering how do I find out about the students and their career needs? Easily.
Class Presentations
Students either come to me on their own, by referral and/or through class presentations. For example, just last week I presented to a Manufacturing class, an LPN class, and two First Year Experience classes.
From those presentations alone, I met over 40 new students all with various interests in jobs in just one week.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to know that career development is more than just deciding on a major and what job you want to get when you graduate. Instead, career counseling is a process that will help you to know and understand yourself, as you work towards more of your life goals, in particular your career goals.
