One of the many useful resources offered by the Career Center is the Student Career Coaches program. The coaches agreed to sit with The Mountain Echo to show the community more about them and their role at the Career Center. There are four Student Career Coaches: Ralia Techur (C’23), Paige Buchanan (C’22), Autumn Burns (C’22) and Gabrielle Sease (C’22). All four have unique reasons for becoming Career Coaches.
Buchanan said she was brought to the position by a desire to give back the help that she had received: “When I came to college I needed some additional support, and I really found that from the students who are here... I really got a good overview. I found that I needed sometimes some specialty in a certain field because... [the staff] can only help with so much sometimes [because] they help so many kids around the school... I found mentorship through other students really helpful and I wanted to provide that to other students as well.”
Techur had been working at the Career Center before the Student Career Coaches program was created, Burns was recommended for the position by a previous employer and Sease had been involved in peer tutoring since she was a first-year student. As Student Career Coaches, they help students figure out their career path, resume building and review, researching and applying for internships, setting up Handshake accounts and interview preparation. They also provide workshops, one-on-one mentorship and an overall student perspective on career building.
The Coaches enjoy their jobs. Sease, Techur and Buchanan explained how friendly and helpful the staff are. “I love it when students walk away and you can see that their eyes have been brightened, or they’re like, ‘wow, I know something that I didn't know before,’” added Burns.
When asked why students should come to the Career Center, they encouraged students to take advantage of the resources the Career Center provides. Techur recommended that students should come to the Career Center to “get a head start on life after college.” Both Burns and Sease pointed out that having so much career-related information available at the Career Center prevents students from being burdened because they are trying to figure everything out alone.
“If you don’t have the correct resources, you can feel really lost. And that’s why we started this – so that there isn’t anyone, you know, on campus...feeling like no one can help them with academic career success,” Sease said.
Stop by the Career Center soon to meet and start working with the Student Career Coaches. They are available for walk-in appointments at the Career Center Monday through Friday, 1-2 p.m. and by request for one-on-one mentorship. The Student Career Coaches will be happy to see and help anyone with any part of their career path. As Techur stated, “If anyone needs help career-wise, the Career Center does everything. We do it all here.”
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