While one important goal of pursuing tertiary education is to broaden our learning capacity, the utmost objective is to gain the qualifications needed for a prosperous career. Luckily for the students of Saint Leo, the school has thoughtfully dedicated an entire department committed to career development and exploration. In January of this year, Career Services relocated from the second floor of the Students Activities Building to the first floor of Kirk Hall.
For those who may be curious as to why the transition took place and how it has been affecting students, Julia Ruddock, the Executive Director of Career Services, was kind enough to expound on the move and what it means for Saint Leo’s student body.
Firstly, you may be wondering about the overall purpose of Career Services. According to Ruddock, Career Services is the mediator between Saint Leo’s community and the outside working world specifically employers, community partners and economic development individuals.
By forming relationships with the external job world, the workers in this division possess a strong understanding of the exact qualifications and skills needed for specific career paths. This understanding, along with working with faculty, allows the department to enlighten and inform the student body on genuine opportunities available to them.
Ruddock works on employee relations, meaning that her duties mainly involve building lasting relationships with employers. She stated that she ensures “employers know about Saint Leo and they consider us a school of choice for recruiting students.” She also talked about showcasing how our students are diverse in skills signifying that our university possess individuals who can fit into a variety of roles in a business, not just entry-level ones.
The department is also composed of Career Advisors who are available to students through both appointments and drops ins to work on resumes, have mock interviews, or just to chat and learn about one’s options.
These roles indicate that the area where students mostly visit is the biggest factor in the placement of Career Services. Ruddock explained that the Student Activities Building (SAB) was initially viewed as the optimal location because of the amount of events that take place in that area. However, when it came down to career specific events, it was more logical for the department to be in Kirk Hall.
Ruddock emphasized Kirk Hall’s proximity to the entrance of the university and the amount of traffic that flows through the building daily from one side of campus to the other. Additionally, our campus has experienced an increase in visitations by interested companies, making the new easily accessible location of Career Services convenient and favorable for both students and outsiders.
To illustrate the brilliance of this concept, she stated how on April 4, representatives from Northwestern Mutual were on campus and situated in Kirk Hall just a few feet away from Career Services. It is not difficult to comprehend how beneficial it is to have the persons that help students with careers located in the same area that businesses come to offer those occupational opportunities.
Unfortunately, while in the SAB, this concept was near impossible. Being tucked away on the second floor of the SAB also isolated the department in a sense that they were not as visible as necessary for student accessibility. Being in Kirk Hall however, gives the department a greater probability of connecting and interacting with visiting companies and the student population.
In fact, more students have already begun taking advantage of this move. It was mentioned that the division has seen a major rise in student-faculty encounters since the decision to relocate. Ruddock also asserted that in a given week, an advisor sees approximately 10 to 15 students which is at least a 50 percent increase in the amount of students stopping by their office.
Other advantages of their new Kirk Hall placement includes being adjacent to the Center for Academic Vision & Excellence (the CAVE), being in the same vicinity as professors, and having classes held right next door to their offices. This all aids in making their presence and service more well-known.
Ruddock highlighted that Career Services is available for not only the utilization of Seniors, but for Freshmen, other Upperclassmen, Graduate students and Alumni. She highly encouraged the idea of coming in and speaking to one of their faculty members before becoming a senior especially regarding their function of career exploration.
“If you really just don’t know where to start, whether it is a job search, internship search, or maybe you are just thinking I am not sure what I am doing right now is really what I want, career services can help initially with just exploring what’s out there,” Ruddock elaborated.
Additionally, Ruddock made it clear that they assist students with developing a plan to pursue findings from said exploration as successfully and efficiently as one can.
Career Services is also fixated on career awareness which means educating students about every possibility available to them. As highlighted by Ruddock, their services help you to understand who you are as a person, what you have as your value system, the kind of skills you possess, and the experiences you have been through in order to market yourself in a way that solves the needs that companies are looking for.
It must be noted that this ideal caters to a wide spectrum of individuals including persons who are sure about the career path they wish to tread, those who do not know where to begin, those who have a degree in a field they no long desire to pursue and everyone in between.
In addition to stopping by their offices, you can explore Lion’s Link where Career Services has information on jobs, internships and career events.
