As new graduates are preparing for options beyond college, such as graduate school or a career, they may run into possible roadblocks along the way. Fortunately for these students, Baldwin Wallace University’s Career Center is offering resources that can help them on their journey beyond BW.

The Career Center is offering resources such as peer-to-peer mock interviews, virtual workshops through the university, companies and programs, job fairs, and help with writing a resume. Additionally, through an online tool called Handshake, students can find job postings and connect with potential employers.

In January, the Career Center hosted a job fair that attracted 60 companies who were looking to hire BW students. Lori Stagliano Moran, the Career Center’s operations manager, said it was a huge success, and they had a “couple hundred” students attend.

The Career Center can also help students by preparing them for future job opportunities by teaching them networking skills, teaching them how to use apps like LinkedIn or Glassdoor. These apps can help students figure out where they want to work, what kind of work they want to do, and what employers are looking for.

Students can also come to the Career Center to discuss their options after college and work with both staff and peers to develop a plan. Stagliano Moran recounted a recent success story. She described how a student came to the Career Center hoping to practice for an internship interview he had in three days.

“We did a couple of rounds of practicing, reviewing, and getting feedback,” Stagliano Moran said. “He came back to me week later and said, not only did he get the interview, he found… a pathway to a full-time position upon graduation! It was a pretty competitive interview too.”

This semester, the Career Center sent out a survey for graduating students called the First Destination Survey, which asked students about their career path after BW. These findings will be reported to NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which helps students with finding jobs and offers support for returning alumni.

“It literally takes one minute,” says Stagliano Moran. “It’s very helpful information to use to attract incoming Yellow Jackets, to get students to come here. And when you leave BW, then we can start to have a database of alumni. It circles back so that you can help future alumni.”

Stagliano Moran said she wishes more students knew about the resources the Career Center offers and how to take advantage of them. She encourages all students to check out what the Career Center has to offer.

One example of student success is that 95% of students who work with the Career Center to develop and use a Handshake profile find employment, join the military, or continue education within six months of graduating, according to Dani McEwen, a peer career advisor at the Career Center.

“The way we help students best is by sticking to best practices and teaching them things that I wish were common knowledge but aren’t,” McEwen said.

For more information, please contact the Career Center at [email protected].