Why So Few Students Attended Career Week
Photo provided by Google Creative Commons
As soon as Moises and Jessica Aristy heard about the events planned for Career Week, they decided to attend at least one event. Both seniors at Bluefield University, they attended the LinkedIn Boot Camp held on October 15.
“I learned a lot,” Jessica Aristy said, “and I especially liked the part where I had the chance to share my LinkedIn profile and receive helpful feedback on how to improve it.”
During the boot camp, Rilla Cooper, director of student success, talked about how to create a professional profile and what to include. Jessica Aristy described it as “helpful and practical” and “very well organized.”
Only one other student attended the LinkedIn Boot Camp. The other Career Week events included Professional Headshots, Resume Boot Camp, and Mock Interviews. In total, less than ten students attended these events.
Why did so few students attend? Some students say the school did not advertise sufficiently.
“I honestly did not know it was happening,” Chesed Russell said.
Savannah Taylor noted that “usually these things are announced in Chapel and promoted in class, and I didn’t see that with this event.”
Eledy Torres-Jimemez said she did not know Career Week was happening until the last minute.
Graphic provided by Rampage student graphic designer John Thompson
So how did the school publicize the events?
Two weeks before events began, Cooper announced to the Bluefield University community via email that Career Week would held on October 13-17 with events and vocatio credit opportunities each day. She sent a reminder about a week later.
The full schedule was released on October 12. Event details were posted on electronic billboards around campus.
Midway through the week, Cooper sent out another reminder about the remaining three Career Week events. Despite emails and billboard announcements, several students did not know about Career Week events.
“I feel like students when they see too much information in one email, that they kind of lose interest in reading the whole thing, you know? Even though it has important information,” Moises Aristy said.
Although he read the entire email, Moises Aristy knows that many students do not.
Jessica Aristy said the school could do an even better job of advertising if professors remind students before or after classes.
Emily Cook, assistant professor of education, said that getting information to students has been a challenge the whole time she has worked at Bluefield University. She said knowing how students get their information and where they learn about events would help BU advertise better.
However, Cook also talked about “training students to check their email.” She points out that “every job you go into, you’re going to have to check your email.”
For those who did read their emails, Cook asks them to provide feedback on what they are interested in.
“We are 100 percent open to feedback and I think we would always want to improve because we’re not doing it for us,” Cook said.
Career Week provides an “intentional focus” on preparing students for the workforce, said Cook, designed to complement the workforce preparation occurring in classes and with advisors.
However, for some students Career Week feels redundant.
“I thought the idea behind Career Pathways was to eliminate the need for supplemental events and help such as this,” Taylor said. “I, personally, wonder if this speaks to the administration’s confidence in the success of Career Pathways.”
Taylor sees a need for help in these areas, but she thinks the school should incorporate it into Career Pathways classes.
Although Cooper and others are working to include more “practical and tangible” things in Career Pathways, Cook notes that students may not have an opportunity to get things such as professional headshots in a class.
Jessica Aristy also mentioned the unique opportunities Career Week provides.
“Normally, career coaches, professional resume writers, LinkedIn consultants, interview coaches, and even photographers charge these services, so having them available for free during Career Week is an amazing opportunity,” Jessica Aristy said.
Cook pointed out that students’ goal after attending BU is to eventually get a job, and Career Week helps them learn the skills and experiences they will need. Cooper agreed.
“At the end of the day, God’s placed you here and God has a vocational calling on your life,” Cooper said, “and hopefully things like Career Week can help students get there.”
Jessica Aristy encourages students “to set a time and go next time if they can because it will definitely help them with their future career.” Having a strong resume and professional LinkedIn profile – both skills covered in Career Week – will help students stand out to potential employers.
“If they have it again, I’ll definitely be there,” Jessica Aristy said.
Dr. Shawn White, director of general education, noted that for the value of Career Week to increase, “we have to help it become cultural for our campus like Mud Pig Day.” The university struggled for years with low attendance at pre-advising meetings, but now “the turnout is substantial.” He said it takes time to build.
“For these sorts of activities, I think we have to ask, ‘Is it worth doing?’” Dr. White said. “Will having a week focused on building career skills be important for our students. I think, ‘Yes.’ If it is, then we have to start somewhere and build.”