Faculty
The mutual goal of both faculty and career center is student success. Feel free to contact us or drop by to talk about how we can work together in this endeavor!
How can we help you? Following are some of the services we offer:
- We help students find the right fit
We help students determine career direction based on their interests, goals, skills, values, and personality. We are also a student's best resource for job outlook, salary, and employment trend information. See our Career Exploration page.
- We teach Exploring Experience
This course, taught in the fall and spring semesters, is ideal for students who want to intentionally explore self, majors and careers. As you are advising first-year students and sophomores who lack direction or need career-related guidance, urge them to register for this one-credit class. Click here to see the course syllabus.
- We assist in identifying quality internship opportunities
Experiential education is an important part of students' overall educational experience. We help students identify internship opportunities that will best serve them in their academic and professional pursuits and coordinate internships for academic credit. We are also the campus liaisons for Central’s internship programs in Chicago and Washington, DC. See our internships page for more info.
- We present the Professional Development Series, offering each workshop twice a semester--Titles include: Job Search Overview, Resume/Cover Letter Writing, Interviewing Strategies, Dress for Success and Dining Etiquette. You can view our current list of workshops here.
- We play an active role in the Iowa College Recruiting Network
ICRN represents all private colleges in Iowa and hosts 2-3 interview events and/or career fairs each academic year to connect students with employers.
- We help students navigate the graduate school application process
Finding, funding and applying to graduate/professional school are processes we understand. We also help juniors and seniors prepare to take graduate school exams. On average, 25% of our graduates pursue graduate/professional school immediately after graduation. See our graduate school page.
- We know employers who want to know you
Employers often want to target students in a particular major or discipline, and seek faculty guidance in that process. We can facilitate the connection between you and employers.
- We can guide you regarding serving as references or writing reference letters for students—Check out our guidelines for being a reference.
- We host “Meet the Pros” events, focusing on specific career fields
Panels of alums from a cross-section of a career field return to campus to validate their Central experience and advise students and faculty regarding the “world of work.” We also plan events that feature certain employers, such as Pella Corporation Day and Principal Day.
- We worked with Alumni Relations to create a database of over 600 alumni willing to be career resources for students and faculty called Central Connections--Search by academic major, career field or location: www.central.edu/connections.
- We have information about life after college, particularly regarding money matters
Thanks to the willingness and expertise of two math professors, we host a workshop twice a year about payroll issues, loans, mortgages, savings and investments.
- We help students prepare for job and graduate school interviews
We lead workshops and offer opportunities for mock interviews so that students are prepared to interview.
- We track graduates’ first destination
We send surveys to graduates at graduation, three months out, six months out, and one year out. We can provide faculty with information about graduate outcomes by academic major.
- We'll bring information to your classes
From Intersections to capstone courses, we can give presentations to the classes you teach and the student organizations you advise about a host of career-related topics, such as “marketing your liberal arts education” or “personality type as it relates to career satisfaction”—just to name two. If you need to cancel a class, contact us and we can tailor a presentation for your class instead.
