How to Get the Most Out of Your Campus Career Center

Good post Kelly. For the sake of argument, I'm going to say that career centers are becoming largely obsolete though.

With the rise of liberal arts education, you rarely prepare for a specific career in college and for many people, their majors become obsolete within a couple years. Career centers – and I grant that this is largely perception, not always reality – seem to focus on ushering you into one specific career, that you're destined because of your skills to do a or b. I guess it's just difficult for me to see the value. I think career centers should restructure and re-brand to engage students successfully.

I doubt that career centers will become obsolete any time soon. Many people WANT to find positions in their majors. That's why they chose them.

@Rebecca: Thanks for your comment! I agree that there some career center models that are totally outdated. Career centers that only focus on job placement are doing a disservice to students who need assistance with career exploration and figuring out what might be a good fit for them.

A good career advisor, however, will work with a student to figure out their interests, skills, strengths, and priorities, regardless of major, to determine some potential career paths and industries of interest. This is why students should visit early. You're right – tons of people are in fields entirely unrelated to their major. It's our job to remind students during the major selection process that major doesn't necessarily dictate career. We need to educate students about building skills, beyond their their academics, to make them more marketable job candidates. We also teach students the fundamentals of career management – networking, building a brand, self-assessment – which can be applied by any major in any career.

I think your perception of career centers is true for lots of people though and agree that we should do more to re-brand our offices and the services we provide. I'm curious to hear your ideas about how you would do this and what kind of structure would work effectively?

@Linda Thanks for pointing that out. I work with business students, who often do pursue a career that is very much related to their major. The accounting and real estate students with whom I work, in particular, tend to have a more direct career path than the liberal arts students I worked with at a previous job. If any of my business students came to me though, and said they wanted to do something completely different than their major, I would definitely do what I could to help them figure out their next steps.

Good advice Kelly. We are paying for these services with our tuition, so we might as well take advantage of the career center! I always had an idea of what I wanted to do, I just didn't know what it was actually called. Going to the career service center helped me out so much because it put me on the right path so that I could get to where I wanted to be!

Rebecca, it sounds like you had a bad experience at your career center. I disagree that these centers are a waste of time, because I had a great experience!

As a fellow career counselor, I also wanted to share that career centers are not becoming obsolete, but are in effect, evolving with the times. Our staff are considered "brokers of knowledge" by our students. We are able to keep tabs on new resources, companies, industry trends, and contacts with industry professionals and alumni in a way that the everyday student or professional cannot — because it is our job. We also teach our students to develop job search and decision making skills that will benefit them throughout their life, not just for their first job search right out of college. By the time our students graduate, they've learned how to write and revise a resume and cover letter, search effectively for job resources, brand themselves, interview well, network effectively, and make career-related decisions that lead to great job satisfaction.

I would suggest that students who expect an undergrad degree to completely define their career need career services more than ever. Undergrad degrees are best seen as providing a starting place for your career, whether it's a liberal arts, technical or business degree. The world of work changes too rapidly for a bachelor's degree to remain the sole preparation for more than 2-3 years at most.

In our career center, the focus is on helping students understand that career is not a destination but a process that one develops, refines, and often changes over the typical 25-30 years of work or beyond. Retiring babyboomers are leading the way in redefining how we understand careers, often starting in a new discipline in their 60's.

It's important to remember that academic preparation is only part of the plan. Employers are expecting to see career-related work experience or internships as part of ones college preparation. Leadership opportunities add value to one's resume. I typically tell students at new student orientation that virtually every choice they make in college (good and not so good) can have implications for their career.

Career centers serve a vital function on campus that focuses on career development-helping students understand their skills and interests and the values they want to honor in their work. To really benefit from this, student need to start early and check in often. Those who do usually make more deliberate choices in their major, minor and elective courses, and can maximize the future career value of campus and extra-curricular activities. In addition, they are typically better students because the see more clearly how classroom experiences connect to their career interests. In these challenging times, career centers can provide an advantage that leads to more options for the students.