As the school year begins, the Career Services Center is making itself available to new students to find their career pathways. For students in the middle of their college careers and wondering what they want to do, Career Services has the tools to help narrow down to the final decision.
Career Services can help students find their careers, and they also help them find jobs at Weber State University.
“Ninety percent of our students will have some experience in part-time jobs, while 40 percent will do full-time,” said Winn Stanger, director of Career Services.
The mission of Career Services is to match up career opportunities with students who want to find what they should do for the next 40-50 years. Stanger said the center performs assessments to help match a student’s personality to a career. After students decide on their career paths, Career Services also helps them find internships, graduate school opportunities and a job in the career field after college.
Incoming freshmen are shown the four pathways of success: connect, explore, focus and apply.
“We manage a program to put you with a person in the field to talk to them about what they do,” Stanger said.
Career Services helps students write their resumes, conducts mock interviews and holds job fairs for students to learn about different careers. Job fairs are twice a year, while career fairs are once a year.
An online assessment is also available to students for $20. They then go in to see a counselor and go over the results of the assessment. Counselors are regularly available to students looking for help in careers.
“We like to catch students in their freshman year, so that they don’t take too many classes before they make a decision,” said Dick Lambert, Career Services counselor.
Lambert said he tells each student he helps to contact him and let him know how their decisions turned out.
“I think it’s more a life satisfaction for a student to choose a career they feel passionate about,” Lambert said. He said he loves what he does, and that it has been a positive 21 years as a counselor for him.
Lambert said students should stick with their plans after finding what they want to do. If students do change their plans, he said they should do it as early as they can in their college careers.
“We help students choose majors and learn about them here,” said Greg Nielson, Career Services associate director.
All of the services provided in the office are free for students to explore information on majors. Each of the different colleges at WSU has an individual from Career Services assigned to it. Nielson helps with the College of Science because he has a strong background in science. He helps students with job outlooks in the science field. Companies from around the region post jobs on the Internet for students in specific areas of interest.
“We are continually trying to get the word out to students,” Nielson said.
Career Services is modifying its website to provide better information. It is also setting up students to talk to local employers and see the job opportunities.
“It’s not just general counseling; we also can help students already in their major and show them how to be successful,” Nielson said.
Nielson said he recommends contacting Career Services before finishing general education requirements. More information can be found on the WSU website about Career Services and what it has to offer.
