- July 31, 2014
- 1:32 pm
- no comments
Career Services is a Dynamic and Changing Landscape
There is a clear recognition by the career services global community that times have changed and we need to design a new model of career services to meet the new needs of students, parents, alumni, faculty and recruiters.
One common perception that we want to change is that students don’t need career services until they’re close to graduation and need a job, or after graduation, they finally discover us. Thus, it’s an important part of our work that we help students with the exploration of ‘self’, the real world of work and trying to find career paths.
I always say, “help students discover who they are and who they want to become”, by talking to them about their interests, values, skills and passions.
To be successful, students must explore their curiosity, be comfortable with uncertainty, take action and risks, and put themselves out there. Our job is to leverage the career services ecosystem around Loyola University Chicago and provide resources to Quinlan and Business Career Services (BCS) that help them do that.
Their job is to look for a job. As a team, our time is now. Our job is to help them think about their careers differently and help them reflect on how their unique abilities are transferable to different kinds of career paths, including non-faculty positions in higher education, careers in industry, non-profits or government.
We have the responsibility to not only provide guidance and resources to our graduate students and alumni, but also to network on their behalf and bring more recruiters from various sectors to Quinlan. If we and students think “outside the box”, we will be busy helping students write job proposals and not be looking for opportunities, but creating them.
If it’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the best people don’t get hired — the people who know how to get hired get hired.