December 5, 2024 • 24 mins
RCBC Career Services Advisor, Meredith Brown, joins the show and discusses career services provided at RCBC, the Career Closet, support for undeclared majors, alternative job search platforms, and tips for crafting standout resumes in today's AI-dominated world. Learn about her educational background, favorite aspects of her job, daily responsibilities, and how she can help you with career services questions!
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Unknown (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the rcbc SGA sit down
(00:04):
series Podcast. I'm Madelynn,your host and SGA president.
Joining me today is my co host,Taiwo, another SGA officer. Our
special guest today is MeredithBrown from our Career Services
Department here at rcbc. We wantto know more about the career
resources on campus that areavailable to students. How is
everyone's day?
I'm good.
(00:25):
How are you Thank you? How areyou guys? Good? Thank you for
having me.
Well, before we dive right in,we want to know a little bit
more about you. What are some ofyour hobbies? So
I enjoy I'm very routineoriented, so I enjoy going to
the gym as early as 435, o'clockin the morning. Love to work
(00:47):
out. I enjoy journaling, hangingout with friends, family, my
boyfriend. I like helpingothers. So talking to my friends
goes back to you know, I'm apeople person. I love going to
the beach, adventures, going onhikes and just being really
outside and engaged.
(01:08):
I enjoy a lot of that too. Ilove the gym. Helps with your,
you
know, mental, physical, well,being, yeah.
So do you go to the gym everyday?
I do. I try to go five days aweek. Oh, my God, it's hard.
It's a stretch. But you knowit's important for you know,
helps you focus and gets yourday started, right? That's
right, I should definitelyinculcate that into my routine.
(01:31):
So would you rather travel tothe past, to a specific day, or
to the future for one day?
Honestly, I think I would rathergo to the future for one day.
Why? I think I would like tosee, like, the stuff that I'm
doing now, the work that I'mputting in, and I want to see
the success coming from that,and seeing like where my life
(01:55):
would fall. And, you know, withtechnology advancing every
single day, I just would want tosee how we're adapting as a
society, and, you know, the newtechnology advances and stuff
like that. So that's
a really good answer.
Thank you.
Okay, so what made you want towork with college students?
(02:18):
Oh, great questions. So mycareer trajectory was all over
the place. As you both know, youboth were my students for the
appointments. I was a nursingstudent here on campus, and then
shortly after, I switched tocommunications. And so I just
want to give you this shorterversion, but my passion is
(02:40):
definitely helping people fromno matter you know who you are,
your background, etc. I justlove what I do. I chose higher
ed because I enjoy thepopulation. I enjoy seeing you
guys, you know, grow into youracademic journey, your career
journeys, watching you all youknow, walk across that stage on
(03:01):
graduation day. I always feellike a proud mom. It's like a
holiday for me to see, you know,the students that I've gotten to
know through appointment afterappointment after appointment,
and, you know, to see themilestones like Maddie, you
know, the other day or, I thinkit was a week ago already.
Forget, but we were talkingabout jobs and, you know, to see
(03:25):
you get your resume together andthose stepping stones. Taiwo
another example with your resumeapplying for schools like those
stepping stones. So I just likeI said, it all goes back to, you
know, the helping aspect, andhelping students, you know,
become the best versions ofthemselves, which is why, in the
fall, I will be going back toschool for my master's in school
(03:47):
counseling. So I'm excited tocongratulations. Thank you.
Where will you be going?
Rowing? You
go props, yes. What is yourfavorite part of your job?
Oh, great question. My favoritepart every single day is so
different. It could be, youknow, as simple as making
(04:10):
somebody's day, like helpingthem get their resume together,
or watching a student. I couldthink of somebody in particular
who she was all over the placewith her career, and just had no
idea what she wanted to do, andthrough our sit downs and
conversations and reflectionsand the assignments that she
(04:31):
did, she is now confidentlyenrolled in a program, and
finally found her Passion andher why. So I think for me, I
think that one that comes offthe top of my head immediately
is just seeing somebody who isso uncertain in the beginning
and very unsure of themselves,and then watching through some
(04:53):
time, like through five, sixappointments and throughout the
semester, be able to develop.And finally, realize their
skills, their strengths, theirweaknesses, transferable skills,
and, you know, molding that intoa plan of action, I think, is so
beautiful, because what I'mnoticing with a lot of students
is, you know, they tend tounderestimate themselves and not
(05:18):
overestimate themselves, right,and not give themselves the
grace and the confidence forwhere they are in their life and
their experiences. I try tovalidate that, and, you know, to
give them that self esteem sothat way they can go and conquer
the world ahead of them. That
is a very good answer. I
know you already talked about alittle bit about your job. You
(05:40):
know how you help student withyour resumes? You know, is there
other things, likeresponsibilities that you do
every day on your job? Yeah.
So we offer an array ofservices, so many. So I'll start
with one of my favoriteappointments. Is the career
coaching. One students come incan come in for a general career
(06:01):
guidance, tips, tricks,networking, tips, how to
leverage your LinkedIn profile,all of that really falls under
the career coaching umbrella. Weoffer a focus two assessment,
which assesses your workinterest, your personality, your
career values. Have any of youtwo taken it quite yet? No, I
(06:23):
have not. Definitely recommendit. Even if you know what you
want to do, it enhances you knowyour career thoughts. In
addition, we do all abouthandshake, which I know you two
are already on. It definitelyput the plug out there continue,
because it's it's great forstudents to utilize on campus.
Student Employment, Deborahclokis, our manager, she's
(06:44):
definitely helpful andknowledgeable in that area. She
hones in on that goes over. Youknow, the orientations for
students on their first day ofemployment, student employment,
internships and buildingexperience, especially for the
business interns, right? Theyusually wait till the very last
second, but we're trying to tellthem, you know, keep, keep
(07:06):
utilizing us mock interviews,cleaning up your social media,
such as, you know, Instagram,what to put out there for
employers. And then our Lastly,our new initiative is the rcbc
Career Closet. So I think we'regoing to talk about that later
on, but yeah, so it's prettymuch Taiwo to answer your
question. Anything under theumbrella of career is all us?
(07:30):
What
other resources does CareerServices provide that you
haven't touched on?
Maybe one thing that I kind ofbrushed off was LinkedIn, that's
a great resource that is outthere that I feel like is not
being used enough by students.And I actually, throughout the
semester, it's something that'sbeing talked about a little bit
(07:53):
more with students. I feel likethey're starting to gravitate
towards that now, and they comein ask, how to, you know, brand
themselves, right? That'simportant on LinkedIn, making
those connections, and, youknow, applying for jobs on there
and seeing what's out there. Soit's wonderful you know that you
guys are starting to resort tothat feeling comfortable and
(08:15):
confident to start to updateyour profile.
So I know you mentioned aboutthe Career Closet. How does that
work? The Career Closet so happywe have it. It's fairly new.
It's a new professional attireto help students look and feel
at their best during the jobsearch process, including
interviews, networking events.Let me tell you, the attire is
(08:40):
beautiful. We have dresses, somenice dress codes for the guys,
socks, you name it, it'sbeautiful. So how do you
leverage the Career Closet sostudents can go into handshake
and then click events to seeupcoming dates. Students may
choose up to four items persemester, and all they have to
(09:03):
do is just schedule anappointment, like I said, Go on
handshake. What's the best part?What do you guys think is the
best part?
You get the clothes?
Do you think it's a cost? No,no, no, yep. No cost. No cost.
So free, accessible right now.It's stored in Voda Hall,
drawing a blank on the roomnumber, but yeah, so it's free,
(09:25):
accessible, and you know, wehelp students leverage it. For
your interviews, I'll have
to go over there. Yes, myinterview.
But for the closet, do studentshave to return it, or it's yours
to keep.
It's yours to keep.
Really, yes, oh my God, that'sreally nice. Yeah,
(09:50):
it's really, really nice. Shoutout to Dom Parker in our office,
who guys know, and Deborah, theyworked really hard to, you know,
push. It with ordering theinventory day in and day out. So
I just want to, you know, shoutthem out for putting in the
work.
Thank you.
Thank you. What resources areavailable to students with
(10:13):
undeclared majors? Oh, these
are my favorite, right, theundeciders. So as I mentioned
earlier. Focus to a wonderfulresource. It's a major career
exploration tool. So it reallyenhances that undecided student,
right their their thoughts,enhancing you know, their
(10:33):
strengths, their skills orweaknesses, personality, career
values. It's really interactive.It should take about 45 minutes,
depending on the speed for theappointment for the student to
take the focus to. How do youaccess focus to it can be found
under handshake, under theresources tab, the student has
(10:58):
the option to either take itindependently or come in in
person to do a thoroughinterpretation. We definitely,
you know, encourage students tobring it to us, so that way we
can break it down for them andcreate, you know, follow up
appointments as it's an ongoingthing, you know, to decide your
(11:20):
career. It should never bedecided in one day. In addition
to that, I just want to stressthe importance of, you know,
focus two is not the only thingthat we do use because, you
know, it may not work foreverybody. So if focus two, you
know, if you're not a technicalperson, if you don't like to sit
at a computer, you know, takingan assessment. We do have a
(11:43):
verbal option, you know, whereI'll ask questions to the
student. Kind of reflectingfocus to a card sorts, game.
It's a career values, cardsorts. It's really fun. In
addition, what else do we do?Visualization activity. So this
is really cool. It's likemolding yourself into your
career, right? Picturing whereyou want to be. And then I help
(12:05):
them with the vision board. It'sreally fun. ONET and
occupational career outlook aretwo great websites, slash
resources that tells you youknow what's going away or not
going away, what's a brightoutlook for your career. And
then lastly, you know, justcreating those conversations
(12:27):
about, you know, assessing theirinterests, strengths,
weaknesses, their ideal workenvironment. All of this really
happens. You know, through thatauthentic conversation and
reflective journaling, I thinkyou both know, you never leave
my appointment without having amini homework assignment to do,
whether it be a reflectiveprompt or a, you know, a quick
(12:50):
journal entry, or havingsomething tangible to, you know,
walk away with Yes.
So definitely, that's that'sreally a lot of resources there,
and I really hope that you takeadvantage of it, because these
resources were made for you, anddon't sleep on it. So I know you
(13:15):
already mentioned a lot ofresources, but besides, and
shake was like, I think ansha islike the school's official app
for career opportunities, right?So what are the platforms can
students go besides and shaketo, you know, look into the
scenes? Yes.
So I always tell students, don'tput your eggs all in one basket,
(13:35):
right? Have more than oneplatform resource to utilize,
especially for those jobs, slashinternships. So additional
resources could be indeed,right? That's a great one.
They're usually up to date withopportunities that are out
there, glass door, simply hiredand then, believe it or not, I
(13:58):
always tell students to to checkout there, you know, the company
page, right? So I think Madelinewe were talking about, remind me
again, of the, oh, we werelooking at nursing home
opportunities, yeah. And I said,Let's look up, for instance, the
Masonic home company page, andwe were able to see their career
(14:18):
opportunities that way. I had a
lot of great careeropportunities, yeah, so
there's a ton out there forwebsites.
Definitely check out the jobwhat page, because some of the
job descriptions that usuallygeneric, right? And you
literally have to, like, go onthe company to see what it
really wants. Because I think, Ithink that's something you told
(14:40):
me about writing a cover letter,you have to always check the
company's website, right?
Yes, yep, check the companywebsite. Yep, exactly. And
tailor when you are writing yourresume and your cover letters,
tailoring your resume slashcover letter to the job
description. So that's righttime while you Yep, got it? You.
Learn it. Yes.
(15:02):
What resources do you offer tostudents that make to make the
resume out in an AI dominatedworld? Yeah,
I can't believe this is where weare now with 2024 AI, another
shout out. I know Dom in ouroffice. She loves AI and attends
(15:26):
a lot of professional webinarsand events all about AI, but I
can speak on behalf of biginterview. This is a new
resource we have within ouroffice. Pretty much the student
can record themselves practicelike, yeah, doing a interview,
(15:49):
and then they get critiques on,you know, what could be better?
And let me put an emphasis onits questions related to their
industry. So if you're a nursingstudent, it will populate
questions specifically to anursing interview. So it's
really helpful in that way. It's200 plus video lessons that
(16:12):
guide students through everystep of the interview process,
tailored to so many differentoccupations, from Job Interview
fundamentals to learning how toclose with smart questions. So
it's really helpful and outthere for students,
what tips would you give tostudents that want to make their
(16:33):
cover letter stand out, and whatshould they put on their resume?
Yeah,
great question. So for yourcover letter, I always tell
students to think outside thebox, right? Don't make it
another repeat of your resume.Think of things that you've done
throughout your schooling,throughout your work experience,
that sets you apart from others,right, no matter how big or
(16:58):
small, but really just honing inand highlighting your
qualifications, your skills,your expertise, don't make it
overly lengthy, right? So onepage should be sufficient enough
always, like even in your resumeand cover letter, try to use
metrics, right numbers. So ifyou were a waitress, right?
(17:21):
Maybe put how many tables yousaw, because that can speak
volumes to your work ethic. Sowithin your cover I know I'm
going back and forth, but withyour cover letter, definitely
continue to highlight thosequalifications show that
interest, the passion, thedriving force, and then tie it
(17:46):
up with, you know, why you'reinterested, that usually goes in
the beginning paragraphs, whyyou're interested in the
company, how you found out aboutthem. And, you know, just really
trying to sell yourself as bestas possible and speaking to your
own qualities. Now I'll flipflop back to the resume aspect.
(18:07):
For your resume definitely makeit uniform. Easy to read. A page
is fine. If it exceeds a pageand a half, that's perfectly
fine as well. Like Taiwo saidearlier, I feel like she's
career talk now, which I loveit. But ATS is now out there
(18:27):
application tracking system.It's a software system that
picks up keywords related to thejob description. So that's where
coming in and plugging in thosekeywords. So that way you pass
that machine will set you up forsuccess. So I could talk about
this all day long, as you bothknow,
(18:47):
I mean, you're an expert atthis, this is what you do for
your job. So, yeah, yeah, it'sfun, and you have a lot of
useful information.
Thank you. I'm just trying toset you all up.
We appreciate it.
Is there anything else that wemissed that you would like to
talk about?
So that's great. I think justyou know, for you both, I'm sure
(19:14):
you know you both are veryinvolved on campus, which I love
to see. And maybe we can, youknow, continue the conversation,
but definitely making the mostof rcbc, right? What they have
to offer. Like I said, I wenthere as a student. I wish I was
twice as involved as you bothare. There's resources like camp
2030 that's out there. SGA, youknow, faculty here is great
(19:38):
staff and just making thoseconnections with your peers,
your faculty, your staff,because oftentimes, you know
they they want to help yousucceed and and show you the
ropes as well. So leveraging youknow who's out there and
enjoying the ride right?Oftentimes students are so.
(20:00):
Quick to finish that degree, butsometimes you have to just enjoy
and embrace every second of it.It's not a marathon, right? It's
it's a sprint. It's never arush. And enjoy, you know,
working like sometimes I hearstudents say, Oh, I don't want
to be here forever, right?You're not going to be here
(20:20):
forever. Everything in life istemporary, and working at a
restaurant or at a gym, etc isnot everybody's forever. It's a
starting point in your career,and it's helping you get to your
end goal. So just making themost of you know where you're at
and giving yourself grace. Whatabout you both resonates with
(20:41):
you. Yes,
it's like everybody feels likeit's a race. You know, my peers
are gone. I'm far behind,especially people with like
undecided majors and people thatthey're trying to find a path in
life. It's fine. It's fine tonot know what you want to do,
but it's also that's why youactually have to take advantage
of the resources that'savailable onto you, because when
(21:04):
you start taking the when youstart using the resources that
you have, then you begin to findyour path. And it's a process.
It doesn't take one day. Roomwasn't used in a day, so we have
to take it step by step. I justremembered something about the
resume, right? So how far backcan you go in your resume? You
know, like, some people have alot of career mobility that,
(21:28):
yeah, it's like they've workedin 1000 places in a year. And if
you're writing that, it'sliterally more than a page,
yeah, like, how far back? I'm
really glad you asked that. Sothey say, Don't go back 10 to 15
years later in work experience.And also, in addition to that,
always speak to the needs of theindustry, right? The want, the
(21:50):
how, the why, the where, alwaystalk to the specific industry.
So if you are applying for ahealthcare position, maybe omit
some non related experiences,right? And also think of those
other employable components youcan add to a resume, such as
(22:10):
your extracurriculars, yourrelevant coursework and
projects. The list goes on,right? Your academic
achievements, your your skills,meaning your hard skills, your
demonstrative, technical,mechanical skills. So hopefully
that helps answer your question.
Oh, yeah, that does go a longway to answer my question. So
yeah, don't go back 15 years andyeah, only relevant jobs to the
(22:36):
job description is what you wantto put on there. You don't want
to go for nothing and startputting that you were trust. I
mean, it's a it's a career, butit's not really going to help a
lot if the if the job, like thethings that you did on the job,
doesn't really relate to like,you know what I mean, yes.
And one more thing that I wantto add that I forgot one of my
(22:59):
favorite concepts istransferable skills, right? So
looking at the things thatyou've already done and applying
it to those entry level slashcareer positions, because
everything that you both aredoing as well are all
transferable skills, yourteamwork, customer service,
(23:19):
being involved, school work,right? Managing the time. Those
are all transferable skills andthings that we should never
forget about,
right? Yes, right. I think youroffice really sets us up to be
successful, and credits to youguys for really helping the
students on campus. Is thereanything else that we missed
(23:41):
before we wrap it up,
I think you guys covered it all.You are great hosts.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you, and that's a wrap fortoday's episode of the rcbc,
SGA, sit down series podcast. Ahuge thank you to our special
guest, Meredith Brown forjoining us and sharing valuable
(24:03):
insights into the careerresources available on campus.
Remember to take advantage ofthese resources. Stay tuned for
the next episode, and untilthen, this is Madeline, and my
co host Taya was signing offyou.
Welcome back to another episode of the rcbc SGA sit down
(00:04):
series Podcast. I'm Madelynn,your host and SGA president.
Joining me today is my co host,Taiwo, another SGA officer. Our
special guest today is MeredithBrown from our Career Services
Department here at rcbc. We wantto know more about the career
resources on campus that areavailable to students. How is
everyone's day?
I'm good.
(00:25):
How are you Thank you? How areyou guys? Good? Thank you for
having me.
Well, before we dive right in,we want to know a little bit
more about you. What are some ofyour hobbies? So
I enjoy I'm very routineoriented, so I enjoy going to
the gym as early as 435, o'clockin the morning. Love to work
(00:47):
out. I enjoy journaling, hangingout with friends, family, my
boyfriend. I like helpingothers. So talking to my friends
goes back to you know, I'm apeople person. I love going to
the beach, adventures, going onhikes and just being really
outside and engaged.
(01:08):
I enjoy a lot of that too. Ilove the gym. Helps with your,
you
know, mental, physical, well,being, yeah.
So do you go to the gym everyday?
I do. I try to go five days aweek. Oh, my God, it's hard.
It's a stretch. But you knowit's important for you know,
helps you focus and gets yourday started, right? That's
right, I should definitelyinculcate that into my routine.
(01:31):
So would you rather travel tothe past, to a specific day, or
to the future for one day?
Honestly, I think I would rathergo to the future for one day.
Why? I think I would like tosee, like, the stuff that I'm
doing now, the work that I'mputting in, and I want to see
the success coming from that,and seeing like where my life
(01:55):
would fall. And, you know, withtechnology advancing every
single day, I just would want tosee how we're adapting as a
society, and, you know, the newtechnology advances and stuff
like that. So that's
a really good answer.
Thank you.
Okay, so what made you want towork with college students?
(02:18):
Oh, great questions. So mycareer trajectory was all over
the place. As you both know, youboth were my students for the
appointments. I was a nursingstudent here on campus, and then
shortly after, I switched tocommunications. And so I just
want to give you this shorterversion, but my passion is
(02:40):
definitely helping people fromno matter you know who you are,
your background, etc. I justlove what I do. I chose higher
ed because I enjoy thepopulation. I enjoy seeing you
guys, you know, grow into youracademic journey, your career
journeys, watching you all youknow, walk across that stage on
(03:01):
graduation day. I always feellike a proud mom. It's like a
holiday for me to see, you know,the students that I've gotten to
know through appointment afterappointment after appointment,
and, you know, to see themilestones like Maddie, you
know, the other day or, I thinkit was a week ago already.
Forget, but we were talkingabout jobs and, you know, to see
(03:25):
you get your resume together andthose stepping stones. Taiwo
another example with your resumeapplying for schools like those
stepping stones. So I just likeI said, it all goes back to, you
know, the helping aspect, andhelping students, you know,
become the best versions ofthemselves, which is why, in the
fall, I will be going back toschool for my master's in school
(03:47):
counseling. So I'm excited tocongratulations. Thank you.
Where will you be going?
Rowing? You
go props, yes. What is yourfavorite part of your job?
Oh, great question. My favoritepart every single day is so
different. It could be, youknow, as simple as making
(04:10):
somebody's day, like helpingthem get their resume together,
or watching a student. I couldthink of somebody in particular
who she was all over the placewith her career, and just had no
idea what she wanted to do, andthrough our sit downs and
conversations and reflectionsand the assignments that she
(04:31):
did, she is now confidentlyenrolled in a program, and
finally found her Passion andher why. So I think for me, I
think that one that comes offthe top of my head immediately
is just seeing somebody who isso uncertain in the beginning
and very unsure of themselves,and then watching through some
(04:53):
time, like through five, sixappointments and throughout the
semester, be able to develop.And finally, realize their
skills, their strengths, theirweaknesses, transferable skills,
and, you know, molding that intoa plan of action, I think, is so
beautiful, because what I'mnoticing with a lot of students
is, you know, they tend tounderestimate themselves and not
(05:18):
overestimate themselves, right,and not give themselves the
grace and the confidence forwhere they are in their life and
their experiences. I try tovalidate that, and, you know, to
give them that self esteem sothat way they can go and conquer
the world ahead of them. That
is a very good answer. I
know you already talked about alittle bit about your job. You
(05:40):
know how you help student withyour resumes? You know, is there
other things, likeresponsibilities that you do
every day on your job? Yeah.
So we offer an array ofservices, so many. So I'll start
with one of my favoriteappointments. Is the career
coaching. One students come incan come in for a general career
(06:01):
guidance, tips, tricks,networking, tips, how to
leverage your LinkedIn profile,all of that really falls under
the career coaching umbrella. Weoffer a focus two assessment,
which assesses your workinterest, your personality, your
career values. Have any of youtwo taken it quite yet? No, I
(06:23):
have not. Definitely recommendit. Even if you know what you
want to do, it enhances you knowyour career thoughts. In
addition, we do all abouthandshake, which I know you two
are already on. It definitelyput the plug out there continue,
because it's it's great forstudents to utilize on campus.
Student Employment, Deborahclokis, our manager, she's
(06:44):
definitely helpful andknowledgeable in that area. She
hones in on that goes over. Youknow, the orientations for
students on their first day ofemployment, student employment,
internships and buildingexperience, especially for the
business interns, right? Theyusually wait till the very last
second, but we're trying to tellthem, you know, keep, keep
(07:06):
utilizing us mock interviews,cleaning up your social media,
such as, you know, Instagram,what to put out there for
employers. And then our Lastly,our new initiative is the rcbc
Career Closet. So I think we'regoing to talk about that later
on, but yeah, so it's prettymuch Taiwo to answer your
question. Anything under theumbrella of career is all us?
(07:30):
What
other resources does CareerServices provide that you
haven't touched on?
Maybe one thing that I kind ofbrushed off was LinkedIn, that's
a great resource that is outthere that I feel like is not
being used enough by students.And I actually, throughout the
semester, it's something that'sbeing talked about a little bit
(07:53):
more with students. I feel likethey're starting to gravitate
towards that now, and they comein ask, how to, you know, brand
themselves, right? That'simportant on LinkedIn, making
those connections, and, youknow, applying for jobs on there
and seeing what's out there. Soit's wonderful you know that you
guys are starting to resort tothat feeling comfortable and
(08:15):
confident to start to updateyour profile.
So I know you mentioned aboutthe Career Closet. How does that
work? The Career Closet so happywe have it. It's fairly new.
It's a new professional attireto help students look and feel
at their best during the jobsearch process, including
interviews, networking events.Let me tell you, the attire is
(08:40):
beautiful. We have dresses, somenice dress codes for the guys,
socks, you name it, it'sbeautiful. So how do you
leverage the Career Closet sostudents can go into handshake
and then click events to seeupcoming dates. Students may
choose up to four items persemester, and all they have to
(09:03):
do is just schedule anappointment, like I said, Go on
handshake. What's the best part?What do you guys think is the
best part?
You get the clothes?
Do you think it's a cost? No,no, no, yep. No cost. No cost.
So free, accessible right now.It's stored in Voda Hall,
drawing a blank on the roomnumber, but yeah, so it's free,
(09:25):
accessible, and you know, wehelp students leverage it. For
your interviews, I'll have
to go over there. Yes, myinterview.
But for the closet, do studentshave to return it, or it's yours
to keep.
It's yours to keep.
Really, yes, oh my God, that'sreally nice. Yeah,
(09:50):
it's really, really nice. Shoutout to Dom Parker in our office,
who guys know, and Deborah, theyworked really hard to, you know,
push. It with ordering theinventory day in and day out. So
I just want to, you know, shoutthem out for putting in the
work.
Thank you.
Thank you. What resources areavailable to students with
(10:13):
undeclared majors? Oh, these
are my favorite, right, theundeciders. So as I mentioned
earlier. Focus to a wonderfulresource. It's a major career
exploration tool. So it reallyenhances that undecided student,
right their their thoughts,enhancing you know, their
(10:33):
strengths, their skills orweaknesses, personality, career
values. It's really interactive.It should take about 45 minutes,
depending on the speed for theappointment for the student to
take the focus to. How do youaccess focus to it can be found
under handshake, under theresources tab, the student has
(10:58):
the option to either take itindependently or come in in
person to do a thoroughinterpretation. We definitely,
you know, encourage students tobring it to us, so that way we
can break it down for them andcreate, you know, follow up
appointments as it's an ongoingthing, you know, to decide your
(11:20):
career. It should never bedecided in one day. In addition
to that, I just want to stressthe importance of, you know,
focus two is not the only thingthat we do use because, you
know, it may not work foreverybody. So if focus two, you
know, if you're not a technicalperson, if you don't like to sit
at a computer, you know, takingan assessment. We do have a
(11:43):
verbal option, you know, whereI'll ask questions to the
student. Kind of reflectingfocus to a card sorts, game.
It's a career values, cardsorts. It's really fun. In
addition, what else do we do?Visualization activity. So this
is really cool. It's likemolding yourself into your
career, right? Picturing whereyou want to be. And then I help
(12:05):
them with the vision board. It'sreally fun. ONET and
occupational career outlook aretwo great websites, slash
resources that tells you youknow what's going away or not
going away, what's a brightoutlook for your career. And
then lastly, you know, justcreating those conversations
(12:27):
about, you know, assessing theirinterests, strengths,
weaknesses, their ideal workenvironment. All of this really
happens. You know, through thatauthentic conversation and
reflective journaling, I thinkyou both know, you never leave
my appointment without having amini homework assignment to do,
whether it be a reflectiveprompt or a, you know, a quick
(12:50):
journal entry, or havingsomething tangible to, you know,
walk away with Yes.
So definitely, that's that'sreally a lot of resources there,
and I really hope that you takeadvantage of it, because these
resources were made for you, anddon't sleep on it. So I know you
(13:15):
already mentioned a lot ofresources, but besides, and
shake was like, I think ansha islike the school's official app
for career opportunities, right?So what are the platforms can
students go besides and shaketo, you know, look into the
scenes? Yes.
So I always tell students, don'tput your eggs all in one basket,
(13:35):
right? Have more than oneplatform resource to utilize,
especially for those jobs, slashinternships. So additional
resources could be indeed,right? That's a great one.
They're usually up to date withopportunities that are out
there, glass door, simply hiredand then, believe it or not, I
(13:58):
always tell students to to checkout there, you know, the company
page, right? So I think Madelinewe were talking about, remind me
again, of the, oh, we werelooking at nursing home
opportunities, yeah. And I said,Let's look up, for instance, the
Masonic home company page, andwe were able to see their career
(14:18):
opportunities that way. I had a
lot of great careeropportunities, yeah, so
there's a ton out there forwebsites.
Definitely check out the jobwhat page, because some of the
job descriptions that usuallygeneric, right? And you
literally have to, like, go onthe company to see what it
really wants. Because I think, Ithink that's something you told
(14:40):
me about writing a cover letter,you have to always check the
company's website, right?
Yes, yep, check the companywebsite. Yep, exactly. And
tailor when you are writing yourresume and your cover letters,
tailoring your resume slashcover letter to the job
description. So that's righttime while you Yep, got it? You.
Learn it. Yes.
(15:02):
What resources do you offer tostudents that make to make the
resume out in an AI dominatedworld? Yeah,
I can't believe this is where weare now with 2024 AI, another
shout out. I know Dom in ouroffice. She loves AI and attends
(15:26):
a lot of professional webinarsand events all about AI, but I
can speak on behalf of biginterview. This is a new
resource we have within ouroffice. Pretty much the student
can record themselves practicelike, yeah, doing a interview,
(15:49):
and then they get critiques on,you know, what could be better?
And let me put an emphasis onits questions related to their
industry. So if you're a nursingstudent, it will populate
questions specifically to anursing interview. So it's
really helpful in that way. It's200 plus video lessons that
(16:12):
guide students through everystep of the interview process,
tailored to so many differentoccupations, from Job Interview
fundamentals to learning how toclose with smart questions. So
it's really helpful and outthere for students,
what tips would you give tostudents that want to make their
(16:33):
cover letter stand out, and whatshould they put on their resume?
Yeah,
great question. So for yourcover letter, I always tell
students to think outside thebox, right? Don't make it
another repeat of your resume.Think of things that you've done
throughout your schooling,throughout your work experience,
that sets you apart from others,right, no matter how big or
(16:58):
small, but really just honing inand highlighting your
qualifications, your skills,your expertise, don't make it
overly lengthy, right? So onepage should be sufficient enough
always, like even in your resumeand cover letter, try to use
metrics, right numbers. So ifyou were a waitress, right?
(17:21):
Maybe put how many tables yousaw, because that can speak
volumes to your work ethic. Sowithin your cover I know I'm
going back and forth, but withyour cover letter, definitely
continue to highlight thosequalifications show that
interest, the passion, thedriving force, and then tie it
(17:46):
up with, you know, why you'reinterested, that usually goes in
the beginning paragraphs, whyyou're interested in the
company, how you found out aboutthem. And, you know, just really
trying to sell yourself as bestas possible and speaking to your
own qualities. Now I'll flipflop back to the resume aspect.
(18:07):
For your resume definitely makeit uniform. Easy to read. A page
is fine. If it exceeds a pageand a half, that's perfectly
fine as well. Like Taiwo saidearlier, I feel like she's
career talk now, which I loveit. But ATS is now out there
(18:27):
application tracking system.It's a software system that
picks up keywords related to thejob description. So that's where
coming in and plugging in thosekeywords. So that way you pass
that machine will set you up forsuccess. So I could talk about
this all day long, as you bothknow,
(18:47):
I mean, you're an expert atthis, this is what you do for
your job. So, yeah, yeah, it'sfun, and you have a lot of
useful information.
Thank you. I'm just trying toset you all up.
We appreciate it.
Is there anything else that wemissed that you would like to
talk about?
So that's great. I think justyou know, for you both, I'm sure
(19:14):
you know you both are veryinvolved on campus, which I love
to see. And maybe we can, youknow, continue the conversation,
but definitely making the mostof rcbc, right? What they have
to offer. Like I said, I wenthere as a student. I wish I was
twice as involved as you bothare. There's resources like camp
2030 that's out there. SGA, youknow, faculty here is great
(19:38):
staff and just making thoseconnections with your peers,
your faculty, your staff,because oftentimes, you know
they they want to help yousucceed and and show you the
ropes as well. So leveraging youknow who's out there and
enjoying the ride right?Oftentimes students are so.
(20:00):
Quick to finish that degree, butsometimes you have to just enjoy
and embrace every second of it.It's not a marathon, right? It's
it's a sprint. It's never arush. And enjoy, you know,
working like sometimes I hearstudents say, Oh, I don't want
to be here forever, right?You're not going to be here
(20:20):
forever. Everything in life istemporary, and working at a
restaurant or at a gym, etc isnot everybody's forever. It's a
starting point in your career,and it's helping you get to your
end goal. So just making themost of you know where you're at
and giving yourself grace. Whatabout you both resonates with
(20:41):
you. Yes,
it's like everybody feels likeit's a race. You know, my peers
are gone. I'm far behind,especially people with like
undecided majors and people thatthey're trying to find a path in
life. It's fine. It's fine tonot know what you want to do,
but it's also that's why youactually have to take advantage
of the resources that'savailable onto you, because when
(21:04):
you start taking the when youstart using the resources that
you have, then you begin to findyour path. And it's a process.
It doesn't take one day. Roomwasn't used in a day, so we have
to take it step by step. I justremembered something about the
resume, right? So how far backcan you go in your resume? You
know, like, some people have alot of career mobility that,
(21:28):
yeah, it's like they've workedin 1000 places in a year. And if
you're writing that, it'sliterally more than a page,
yeah, like, how far back? I'm
really glad you asked that. Sothey say, Don't go back 10 to 15
years later in work experience.And also, in addition to that,
always speak to the needs of theindustry, right? The want, the
(21:50):
how, the why, the where, alwaystalk to the specific industry.
So if you are applying for ahealthcare position, maybe omit
some non related experiences,right? And also think of those
other employable components youcan add to a resume, such as
(22:10):
your extracurriculars, yourrelevant coursework and
projects. The list goes on,right? Your academic
achievements, your your skills,meaning your hard skills, your
demonstrative, technical,mechanical skills. So hopefully
that helps answer your question.
Oh, yeah, that does go a longway to answer my question. So
yeah, don't go back 15 years andyeah, only relevant jobs to the
(22:36):
job description is what you wantto put on there. You don't want
to go for nothing and startputting that you were trust. I
mean, it's a it's a career, butit's not really going to help a
lot if the if the job, like thethings that you did on the job,
doesn't really relate to like,you know what I mean, yes.
And one more thing that I wantto add that I forgot one of my
(22:59):
favorite concepts istransferable skills, right? So
looking at the things thatyou've already done and applying
it to those entry level slashcareer positions, because
everything that you both aredoing as well are all
transferable skills, yourteamwork, customer service,
(23:19):
being involved, school work,right? Managing the time. Those
are all transferable skills andthings that we should never
forget about,
right? Yes, right. I think youroffice really sets us up to be
successful, and credits to youguys for really helping the
students on campus. Is thereanything else that we missed
(23:41):
before we wrap it up,
I think you guys covered it all.You are great hosts.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you, and that's a wrap fortoday's episode of the rcbc,
SGA, sit down series podcast. Ahuge thank you to our special
guest, Meredith Brown forjoining us and sharing valuable
(24:03):
insights into the careerresources available on campus.
Remember to take advantage ofthese resources. Stay tuned for
the next episode, and untilthen, this is Madeline, and my
co host Taya was signing offyou.
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