Career and Life Development Center helps students set and achieve career goals
The Career and Life Development Center provides students with life assessments, workshops and career resources that allow students to understand their aptitude and career path.
The first step to career guidance is making an appointment with one of the career counselors. The counselors begin the process of assessing the student’s personality and preparing student’s for the job market.
Donald Mineo, the Career Guidance Officer said, “The personality assessments are hard work, but the research provides students with different options for their future.”
Mineo mentioned that most students don’t know that the career center is more than just helping find a job. Emily Steele, Child Development said, “My friend found a job through the website, so I thought that was all it was.”
Mineo described the work the counselors do as a reality check for the students. The resources the center provides such as the virtual interview allows the students to see their mistakes and learn how to create a more comfortable situation.
“If you give someone a fishing pole, you must teach them how to fish as well. That way they receive a life skill.” said Mineo regarding the importance of the virtual interview and life assessments.
In addition to virtual interviews, the center offers workshops on searching for a job, creating a resume, and how to achieve in an interview. The workshops happen regularly during the Fall and Spring semesters.
However, Mineo believes that making an one-on-one appointment with a career counselor will give you the best results. In anywhere from three to five sessions, a counselor can help any student take the rights steps to reach their career goals.
Pros of the virtual interviews and one-on-one appointments are the ability to discover one’s mistake and make the necessary changes. Mineo said, “Most students have no idea that they say words such as, like, um, and for sure until after they have watched their virtual interview back. It is the little things that the students aren’t aware of are the things that hurt them in an interview.”
Michael J. Engles, the Career Services Technician said, “I used similar services at a different college that allowed me to really figure out what I wanted to do. It helped me understand my passions, just as this center does.”
Once a student realizes what he/she wants to do, the resources the center provides is limitless. The in-center resources such as catalogs of detailed job descriptions, down to what school will best provide the training for a specific job, are a few of the abundant resources.
Upon entering the center, a plethora of binders filled with career options, and computers with students creating resumes and researching future options will consume your sights. In addition many types of students, from entering freshman to students that re-enter studies at a later age will be scouring the available resources.
Online, the resources are also limitless. When a students visits the career centers website www.saddleback.edu/ss/ccld/, endless possibilities will appear. From the website you can take the assessments, take career surveys, and link to many other websites such as careercruising.com.
The Career Cruising website has a career matchmaker, a career exploring area and a place where you can explore colleges. Additionally, from the website you can reach the virtual interviews, job search engines, and a flood of information on the job marketplace.
In addition to the personality assessments Mineo suggests enrolling in the Applied Psychology courses to further the possibilities for students future. Such as Apsy. 140, 160, or Women Studies 120. The following classes provide students with similar services as the career center.
Furthermore, the center is an important part of the re-entry program at Saddleback. For students that return to school at a later age, there are many obstacles that will be faced. The centers Sholeh Alizadeh works with the students to transition into entering the school atmosphere again and working to support a family.
Mineo said, “The re-entry program offers extra assistance, for the extra barriers adults will face.”
The Career and Life Development center is open from 8 a.m to 7 p.m., Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m to 3 p.m on Fridays. During these hours students are able to walk in and make an appointment with one of the counselors. Otherwise, visiting the website at any hour will provide the information on the center as well as where to begin on your career and life development process.