Catering to pro-active intellectuals

Many GCSU students frequent the campus Career Center if they are in need of advice or assistance with job applications, resumes and applying to graduate school. While many graduate students may be taking classes off-campus and have different adjustments to make, the Career Center still offers the same services to its graduate students as it does its undergraduate students.Director of the Career Center Mary Roberts said that the center tries to help make information as available as possible to graduate students.

“The graduate students are able to get the exact same services that the undergraduate students are,” Roberts said. “It’s a bit more of a challenge with communication because so many graduate students may either be taking classes off-campus or working full-time outside of class, and the lifestyles can be a lot different from a typical undergraduate student.”

To make things easier, graduate students are able to register with Career Connection, an online database that helps keep them up-to-date with vital information on resources and advice they can obtain through the Career Center.

“A lot of graduate students may not check their campus mail or their campus e-mail on a regular basis, so getting access to the information could become tricky,” Roberts said. “But with Career Connection, they can get access to our newsletter that helps keep them up-to-date on the resources we offer.”

The process to applying to graduate school as opposed to regular undergraduate school differs and can be much more intensive. Roberts said the Career Center often gives advice to students applying for graduate school and how to best prepare themselves.

“There are so many different things you have to do when applying to graduate school. So on many occasions, we help out undergraduate students who are applying to graduate school get all their documents in order,” Roberts said. “We help them prepare for interviews, look over resumes and personal statements. Then we give them feedback on what they can improve on to better present themselves.”

Amber Barnard graduated in Spring 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and is now currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching at the secondary level at GCSU. Even though she did not go through the Career Center to apply for graduate school, Barnard did seek advice about resumes from them and said the center is very helpful.

“The Career Center has a lot of resources printed out for students to refer to right as they walk through the door,” Barnard said. “I also know that all of the staff members involved are more than willing to help anyone out with any of their future career needs, whether it’s looking for an internship, grad school or job interviews.”

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Dec 2 2010. Filed under Close Up. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.