Career Services offers students light along the way
Career Services is here and ready to help, whether that help is needed in deciding a major, designing a plan, writing a resume, finding an internship, acing that interview, landing that job, or getting into graduate school. The Career Services office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the academic year, and it is located in Murphy room 374. Beth Dolder-Zieke, Alyssa Gostonczik, and Jenna Eichberger staff the office and provide students with a wealth of advice and resources to prepare them for graduation.
A career is more than just a job. It could be many, many jobs. Though ultimately, a career is a calling, and that calling can be heard and heeded to right now. As Dolder-Zieke puts it, Career Services offers students “an individualized, developmental approach” to reaching their dream job. Every step along the way is connected. There are sit downs with an advisor, where a student can explore his or her own strengths and interests and take personality and skill assessments to help choose a major. There is help in creating a career action plan, to explore who you are, what you want, and how you want to fulfill your career goals.
After choosing a major and making a plan, there are opportunities to job shadow and find internships. Job shadowing and internships are great chances to change course with the added insight gained through experience. Career Services also provides needed knowledge of the job market a student faces after graduation. And for those planning on attending graduate school, there is help getting a portfolio together and writing personal essays. No matter where a student is, there are many resources available.
An upcoming event is Speed Mock with a V-Hawk on November 13 in the Fine Arts Lobby. This is an annual event to practice professional interviewing skills in a speed-dating format with Viterbo alumni and local human resource professionals. And once those skills are honed, an important resource is Handshake, Viterbo’s online job and internship board where students connect to employers, alumni, faculty, and other students. Through Handshake, students set up appointments with Career Services and search for internship and job opportunities. The door to Murphy 374 is open and friendly, and as Dolder-Zieke playfully warns, “Waiting to set up an appointment until after graduation would be like waiting to study for finals until after the exams.” It is best to start now.