From her own experience in college, Bridgette Coble understands that some students think they need to know what they want before going to career services.

Newly promoted Director of Career Services Bridgette Coble has dedicated herself to working with students at Metro State. She and the rest of the staff have helped hundreds of job-seeking students try to find life after graduation.

Coble has held positions in career service departments at CSU and at the University of Michigan. After working for a big-time corporation, she decided to return to her roots working with college students.

“For me, it’s more about what you’re passionate about doing,” Coble says. “There are times in our lives when we have to do something that we don’t love because there are other things we have to take care of. But that should be temporary.”

On Coble’s return to higher education in 2004, she began working with Metro State students as a career specialist. She soon realized that the students were either too intimidated or had no knowledge of career services, a feeling she could relate to from her own college years.

“I felt like if I went in (career services) I had to know what I wanted, and I didn’t know what I wanted,” Coble says. “So now I want to be able to do this work for students who never come in and never know what to say.”

In four years, Coble has moved up the ranks at Career Services, to assistant director in January 2007, interim director six months later, and now director.

Coble says her office works together as a team, and more importantly as a family.

“I think this office is the best place to work on campus. Everyone who comes here to work cares about student development,” she says.

Coble hopes that with new program development, the office can better serve her students by educating them on the facts and realities of life after college.

“We have a lot of students who say ‘I have the degree, I should have a job.’ They skip over a whole step that requires them to actively find a job,” she says.

It takes an average of four to six months for college students to find a job after graduation. Those who find a job quickly have usually been proactive in their job search while still in school, Coble says.

To that end, the Career Services Web site contains links and research tools to help students post resumes, look at job listings, and gather interviewing, resume and networking tips.