- by Caroline Bennett -
I am graduating in a few months and feel prepared for my life’s work. My biggest piece of advice to students is to familiarize yourself with your college’s career services office as soon as possible.
I was initially drawn to Naz because of the career opportunities that students have access to beginning freshman year. Every single program — from occupational therapy to elementary education — prepares students to not only work in their field but have a comprehensive knowledge of their field long before they graduate.
I was greeted with overwhelming support from Naz professors and especially from our Center for Life’s Work. Students here have both an academic advisor and a career coach. The academic advisors whom we meet with every semester to talk through courses for the following semester, and progress toward graduation requirements, are often our professors. Because I see my academic advisors in the classroom and at advising, they truly have an idea of who I am inside and outside of the school.
Through my experiences with all of my academic advisors, I have been recommended for internships that I later finalized with one of my career coaches.
At Naz, we have career coaches who are dedicated solely to ensuring you have access to exploring your interests through experiential learning. We are matched to career coaches based on our major. I have two majors, so I have two career coaches. They often have experience within the field they advise, and have established connections across communities in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and many more! Career coaches help us to find internships, perfect our resumes, and work through potential interview scenarios.
What is great about Naz is we begin preparing for life after graduation during our first semester. And your career coaches will be a resource even after graduation. If I am ever moving, I always know I will have connections to a vast alumni network of Naz grads.
Luckily for Naz students, we regularly set up meetings with the career coaches to discuss goals during our time at Naz. At the first meeting, I was advised to create a Handshake account. Handshake is a tool available to all current students and alumni. It helps us connect with internship sites, employers, and volunteer opportunities. All campus jobs are also listed. Handshake is updated daily to ensure students are informed about opportunities. This hub is also where we sign up for upcoming career events.
In addition to Handshake, we have FlyerConnect , which is similar to the popular networking site LinkedIn, but just for Naz students and alumni. This network has helped me to interact with alumni in areas I am interested in such as real estate law. Nazareth also holds career fairs and on-campus recruitment events.
