The Center for Career Development: A Resource for Faculty, Students and Alumni

by Pat Mitchell

Each semester, the Center for Career Development sends its newsletter Postings to all Adelphi faculty members. Recognizing that students see their professors often and may go to them with a variety of questions, we hope that keeping faculty informed about our services and programs will be an effective way to keep our students informed. (Even though we send bright postcards to students inviting them to participate in events and we post flyers around campus, many students need a face-to-face reminder.) The newsletter summarizes the services offered at the Career Center in Post Hall and gives the complete schedule of events for the semester. If the newsletter is not handy, all of its information is available on the Career Development web site.

Instructors of the Freshman Orientation Experience course are probably most familiar with the workings of the Career Center. All FOrE students meet here for two class sessions to discuss steps they can take to select majors and careers and begin building the resumes that will lead to success. Students complete an interest assessment (the Self-Directed Search), conduct an information interview and write a paper outlining the steps of their career development. We are delighted that some students follow up with a more detailed interest assessment and career development counseling.

For graduating students and alumni, the On-Campus Interview Programs, which bring employers to campus for pre-scheduled half-hour interviews, are well under way. All of the resumes have been reviewed by career counselors and forwarded to employers to make their selections. Educators and social workers will interview at the University Center on March 11 and candidates interested in business or government positions will interview on April 3. We have also forwarded resumes to out-of-state public schools for interviews on March 20.

Major events that do not require pre-registration (and would greatly benefit from classroom announcements where appropriate) include:
New York City Public Schools (job fair and fingerprinting) - Friday, March 21, 1-6 p.m., C.W. Post Campus Hillwood Commons
Nursing Job Fair - Monday, April 14, 4-6 p.m., University Center Ballroom
Dress for Success Fashion Show - Monday, April 28, 1-2 p.m., University Center Lobby
Annual Job Fair - Wednesday, April 30, Noon-3 p.m., University Center Ballroom

We hope that, in addition to encouraging your student to participate, you will be able to attend some of our special events this year. You are always welcome at our April job fairs to chat with employers, or you may want to join us for breakfast before our Education/Social Work Recruitment on March 11 or our Corporate Recruitment on April 3. Our greatest need for your participation is at our October Career Information Fair which provides an opportunity for students to chat with faculty and alumni about their choices of majors and/or careers. We need faculty from every academic program. We hope you will consider joining and, perhaps, nominating an alumnus or two.

The Career Center is open year-round from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with extended hours on Wednesdays to 7:30 p.m. during spring and fall semesters, and on special Saturdays during the recruitment season. Professional career counselors are available by appointment and during drop-in hours to advise on all career-related matters, such as:
--Choice of major or career
--Assessments of interests and values related to careers
--Designing a job search
--Resume review.

The Center publishes a Job Search Guide which is distributed free to students who visit the center or attend workshops. Faculty may obtain copies upon request. The Guide addresses resume preparation in detail and gives sample resumes appropriate to Adelphi academic programs. The same information is available on our web site. We request that students and alumni review the Guide prior to bringing in their resumes or emailing them for review.

There are several other publications distributed at the Career Center at no cost to students and there are reference materials for a wide variety of careers, as well as employer directories. The career library houses binders with current job listings sorted by field. Full-time jobs are also posted on the Internet through Monstertrak. The Career Center posts on-campus employment listings, handles campus job applications and verifies work study awards.

Our credential file service may be of particular interest to faculty, since you write many of our students' letters of recommendation. At the Center for Career Development, students and alumni may set up files of confidential and non-confidential letters which will be kept for forwarding to potential employers or to graduate or professional schools. Thus for any individual you can write one letter instead of several.

In closing, I would like to extend a special invitation to all Adelphi faculty. We call it "Career Classes on Call," and it could mean that you might never have to cancel a class when conflicting circumstances arise. Just call us and, if a counselor is available, we will cover a class with a career topic such as:
Choosing a major or career
Building a resume: a four-year plan
Writing resumes and cover letters
Preparing for a job interview
Finding the right internship
Or any other career-related topic you prefer.

Most faculty who visit the Center for Career Development come away with information and materials that is of value to their students. If you have not visited us, we hope you will soon.