Home > MetNews

Finding a life after Metro
With limited budget, understaffed Career Services still shines
By Ruthanne Johnson
rjohn180@mscd.edu

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu Jose Villegas, an international relations major at Metro, works in the Career Services office on Nov. 14 in Tivoli Room 115. Villegas is one of nine employees working for Career Services, a program that is understaffed and has a limited budget, but still succeeds despite these hurdles.

At Metro, where students far outnumber the school’s faculty and staff, the undersized Office of Career Services struggles to assist as many of the college’s 21,000 students as possible in readying them for a post-education career.

To help students transition from the learning community to the employment community, Career Services currently has nine employees: a director, two counselors, one career specialist dedicated to developing employer relations and five student aides.

Career Services’ director, Gary Boley, said his office has a limited budget and staff and is funded by fees, as opposed to being financed by Metro’s general fund. Even on a limited budget, the office’s employees take great pride in helping students determine their career goals.

“We provide the building blocks that help students make educational career decisions, develop lifelong learning skills, and thrive in an ever-changing economy,” he said. He added that services are free and available up to one year after students graduate.

In comparison to Metro’s understaffed Career Services, UCD maintains a staff of four full-time career specialists who serve just more than 12,000 students. An even greater contrast is presented by statistics from Regis University, which has a staff of six career counselors servicing just less than 8,000 students.

Despite having few people on staff, Metro’s Career Services offers numerous benefits to students, including orientation and class presentations by staff members, one-on-one career counseling, resumé planning, workshops and mock interviews, etiquette luncheons and use of an extensive career library and web catalogue with which students can research different vocations.

For a fee of $20 to $30, students can take assessment tests that explore their temperament for certain job types or help them discover their professional preferences and interests.

To connect a larger number of students directly with employers, they also hold two career fairs each year: a majors fair in the fall and a general career fair in the spring.

After attending one of the career fairs, finance major and Finance Club president Grant Taylor was able to procure an internship with a finance company.

“I am a super-ambitious person, and I introduced myself around as someone looking for an internship,” he said. “The experience (as an intern) helped me to realize that I am more interested in behind-the-scenes stock analysis and the choices companies make rather than being a financial advisor.”

In total, Career Services assisted more than 8,000 students last year, of which 832 were seen in one-on-one student appointments by career specialists such as Emily Kikue Frank and Bridgette Coble.

“We like students to see us when they are freshmen, because then we can help with goal-setting and begin to direct their academics in conjunction with their career goals,” said Coble, whose appointment schedule is booked through the end of the year. “But most students begin the process when they are seniors,” she said, adding that it becomes more urgent at that time.

“The first appointment takes about an hour,” she said. Her time with students includes narrowing down career choices, assigning job research as homework, and scheduling subsequent interviews to review the information.

“Part of the process is self-awareness, whether it’s deciding to attend, graduate school or choose employment after graduation,” she said. “It’s helpful at first to get a feel for the student, what they like and don’t like.”

Metro senior Elton Fernandez recently visited the center after listening to advice from his uncle, who graduated from Regis, and used their career services to help him find a position with the Vatican as a priest.

“I initially saw Bridgette and she suggested I put my resume online with eCampusRecruiter,” he said. “I immediately got an interview with Wal-Mart for an area logistics manager position, which will give me some great managerial experience.”

Fernandez, who is majoring in aviation management, hopes the experience will ultimately land him in management with FedEx.

Career specialists also help each student navigate the Career Services website, an invaluable resource that for some can be complicated and intimidating to use. In addition to offering general information about the department’s staff, the website gives lists of upcoming career-oriented activities and links to job and career search sites as well as other research resources. It also offers the use of job websites such as Monster.com and eCampusRecruiter.com, which includes a network of more than 350 Denver-area employers.

“We hope to see (Career Services) grow so we can help more students,” Frank said.