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Q:
The Career Resource Center (CRC) aims to establish relationships with students and
help them find jobs. If a student approaches you, how would you go about
helping him or her?
A:
We take a three step approach: self
assessment, career exploration, and job search. Most people, and not just
students, think the first step to finding a meaningful career is to write a
resume and start sending it out to job sites on the Internet. The problem
with this approach is that folks tend to go with the familiar.
For a lot of students,
their knowledge of the world of work is fairly limited. Many have a short
list of occupations of which they have a personal understanding, such as
being a doctor, lawyer or teacher. In reality, taking the time to assess
one's interests and passions first, next exploring a wide-variety of
options, and then crafting a targeted job search strategy yields a much more
satisfying result. We have a variety of career interest assessment tools, a
very specialized collection of print and electronic resources covering a
wide array of occupations, and an incredible network of alumni and parent
volunteers available to share their knowledge and perspective.
Q:
Where do the students end up going?
A:
That's the beauty of a Wesleyan liberal arts education - it can take you
anywhere in the world. Our students have been taught to think and to
analyze. They have the tools to pull together disparate information into a
new understanding of the world. These skills are highly valued by top
companies and institutions. I believe a Wesleyan degree is more relevant at
the beginning of the 21st century than ever before.
We often get the
question about where do Wesleyan graduates go after leaving Middletown. The
Career Resource Center Web site has a breakdown of where our alumni work.
We analyzed the alumni database. With information on 12,252 alumni, the top
five occupations are business (28 percent), education (20 percent), health
professions (9 percent), law (8 percent), and entertainment (6 percent).
Q:
What is your day like?
A:
As director of the career center, I have two distinct roles: managing the
office and staff and, at the same time, maintain a significant counseling
schedule. These are often competing needs. I work with an incredible group
of talented and dedicated professionals. To date this year, the CRC has had
3,688 counseling interactions with 1,188 individuals. We’ve already
organized 69 programs and events, and have had more than 60 organizations
participate in our recruiting programs. And February is traditionally our
busiest month! It is a lot to coordinate. I have to say, though - I’ve got
the best job at Wesleyan. Every single day, I get to talk with smart,
articulate, motivated young people about their plans for the future and
about the world they are about to change for the better. I wouldn’t trade it
for anything.
Q:
How long have you been at Wesleyan?
A:
I’ve been at Wesleyan for nine years. I had been the associate director of
Career Services at Brown University prior to coming to Wesleyan. Before
that, I worked at California State University, Fresno, the University of
Rhode Island and the University of New Hampshire in a variety of student
affairs positions residential life, student life, and fraternity and
sorority affairs. My bachelor’s degree is in gerontology and my master’s
degree is in human development, counseling and family studies. I knew that I
wanted to work with students, and that I wanted to use my counseling skills.
Q:
Is your job rewarding? Do you keep in touch with the students after they
leave?
A:
Incredibly rewarding. I’m so impressed with Wesleyan students and alumni.
Now that I’ve been at Wesleyan for a significant time, I have the joy of
reconnecting with former students at reunion or getting an e-mail message of
the blue. I was in New York recently and was stopped by a member of the
Class of 2000. It was thrilling to hear that he was happy and enjoying life
and doing amazing things. I learn something new about the world everyday by
talking with our students and alumni.
Q:
Do you have any interesting hobbies or tidbits that I should know about you
outside of work?
A:
I’m a singer and have been a member of the Greater Middletown Chorale since
coming to Wesleyan. We once got a call to sing with Kenny Rogers at the
Oakdale Theater. This December, we were Governor Rell’s guests at the
Governor’s Mansion in Hartford. Mostly, though, we sing the classical choral
repertoire. I’m also on the board of Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown.
Q:
Do you live in Middletown?
A:
Yes, on Ridge Road, and our next door neighbors on three sides are Wesleyan
faculty and staff. We call it ‘The Compound.’ Did you know that there used
to be a horse-drawn trolley that started in the North End on Main Street,
turned up Ridge Road off of South Main and came all the way up to Crystal
Lake? I would have loved to see that. |
