Positive Career Services Experience

In response to Ms. Gourley’s Feb. 13 letter “Improve Career Services,” I would like to offer a different perspective on the COM Career Services office. As a student in COM, I understand that there are certain parts of the college that require revamping. Many aspects of the administration could use an update on bureaucratic procedures that seem to be living in a ’70s state of mind. But that’s another story. However, I was shocked to read a complaint about the one office that I have had good luck with in COM: Career Services.

First of all, all the services Joyce Rogers offers (resume critiquing, career counseling) can be given to a student during an interview. You don’t need to show up during the resume hours in order to have Joyce look at your resume. If you make an appointment with her, she will be happy to look at it then.

But if you’re like Ms. Gourley, you might encounter problems when you try to book an interview. However, I think the problem here lies with Ms. Gourley, not with Career Services. When I booked my appointment, at the BEGINNING of the semester, I was scheduled for Feb. 1. This was a mere two weeks after my scheduling date. Was it too early to book an appointment? No. Traditional job searches and applications should be started three months before your desired start date, so depending on when that is, that is when you would book an appointment. But again, going in early in the semester gives you the opportunity to book an appointment, let’s say, at the end of February or whenever you so desire.

If Ms. Gourley truly wants to be a journalist, in what she calls a “deadline-oriented field,” then she needs to understand what it means to plan ahead. If she had, like most other students, thought about her resume and career plans earlier on in the year or semester, she wouldn’t be having the problems of people who plan too late.

At my interview two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with Joyce and speaking about career goals and prospective jobs. At that point, I had decided not to apply for a job because the starting date for the job was one week before my last summer class ended. But then Joyce reassured me that this week overlap could be worked out and I should still try and apply for the job. She also offered to look over my resume and fix it for me. When I came back to pick it up one week later, I was handed an extremely professional looking resume that has already worked to my advantage. So if you are reading this, thank you again, Joyce.

This is why it bothers me that Ms. Gourley is complaining about the Career Services office. Every time I have gone in there, I have felt it is one of the best services that a COM student is offered. Not many other colleges on campus have their own Career Services office. All of CAS uses the Deerfield Street office, which is not geared toward a specific graduate pool. Like every other service at this University, it is up to the student to use it to their advantage. And if Ms. Gourley can’t get her act together, she shouldn’t blame the services that are at her fingertips.