UW-Eau Claire’s Career Services wants students to know they are available to provide valuable support towards meeting their career goals, according to Career Counselor Karla Garcia.
Career Services is a part of UW-Eau Claire’s Advising, Retention and Career Center (ARCC) office, which students visit to plan out class schedules, decide on a major and receive career counseling.
Garcia said that appointments with a career counselor can be vital for planning out the future.
“One of my favorite quotes to go by — it’s in my office on my whiteboard — is ‘the first step to getting ahead is getting started,’” Garcia said. “I always tell students that, so whether they’re getting started with us, whether they’re first, third or even fifth-year students trying to figure out what’s next, we can help them get started.”
Students can schedule an appointment with a career counselor on Handshake, select their grade level and then choose one of eight appointment types to suit their needs.
According to the Career Services website, the appointment types offered are resume reviews, cover letter reviews, job or internship searches, career fair preparation, personal branding, mock interview and interview preparation, salary negotiation and senior meetings, which help graduating students plan out what’s next after college.
Garcia said that one specific appointment type is underused but can be very valuable for students.
“Salary negotiation [meetings] are kind of a hidden gem,” Garcia said. “I don’t really see that one as often as I would like, but it’s perfect for those who are going through the interview process, have offers and don’t know what to do. It’s a very fun appointment.”
Staci Heidtke, director of Career Services, said that students do not need to feel any pressure to prepare for these meetings — they are welcome to come as they are.
“Students sometimes think that they need to be prepared or ‘ready’ to talk to someone in Career Services,” Heidtke said. “The truth is that students can meet with us and not have anything ready or prepared; we can just talk through where they are in their career journey.”
In addition to appointments, Career Services offers resources like career-readiness events and an alumni network via LinkedIn.
The alumni network — called Blugolds Career Alumni Network — is “a place to network and share career resources, opportunities, events and information,” according to its LinkedIn page.
The page said that it is open to current students, alumni and all faculty and staff, allowing “Blugolds [to] help Blugolds.”
Career Services also offers occasional career fairs, which bring employers to UWEC’s campus, providing students opportunities to network and explore pathways for the future. The most recent career fair took place on Wednesday, March 4.
Garcia said that students considering scheduling a meeting with a career counselor should not be nervous.
“I enjoy most when students leave looking happy and relieved,” Garcia said. “Often, they come in very anxious, like, ‘I don’t know what to do; I don’t know where to start.’ I give them a moment to talk to me about what’s going on, and from there, we work through each little concern they have. It’s nice seeing them happy and hearing success stories.”
Garrison can be reached at [email protected].
