New career opportunities for a new blog

I scheduled a meeting with Loyola's career coach Katie Krikorian to talk about my future when it comes to career options and specifically where my resume was at and what we could do.

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Was the meeting helpful?

My career coach meeting was definitely helpful; I am grateful to have the kind of people and facilities (even in a more virtual semester) at Loyola that allow students to really feel the most prepared for the workforce when they graduate. If nothing else, this activity was just a way to make the career center as well any kind of career exploration activities seem much less daunting than you can work them up to be in your head.

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If so, what did you learn or get out of your meeting? If not, why?

I had several takeaways from this meeting. To begin, as I said above, one of my initial takeaways from this meeting was one that will help me in more than just a career search but in every aspect of my future life. Asking for help isn't scary. As someone who works really hard and holds myself to a pretty high standard, asking for help isn't ever at the top of my list. When you are someone like me, asking for help can feel like a weakness instead of what it actually is- smart. Just having someone force me to have a meeting that essentially was based around the idea of, "I am a student with these kinds of goals, but I certainly am still pretty confused with what my future looks like and what I need to do next, what do you think?" was really beneficial to me as a student. But, also just as a person, it reinforced an idea to me that asking for help, especially when it comes to your professional life after college, isn't just 'not scary' but it's also critical to use the people and tools around you who are here to help. Another more technical thing that I got out of our meeting were several specific formatting rules when it came to resumes since she looked at mine. Resume writing to apply for the positions that mean a lot to you can also feel intimidating because it feels like you need the perfect one but there gets to be a point where there's only so much you can do on your own. Having her just go through some simple things in a personal way that strengthened any skills I lacked was very beneficial to me.

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As a result of the meeting, have you set any goals for yourself -- short term or long term -- or decided on any action you will take? If so, what?

After this meeting, I definitely set some goals for myself and even did a few actions afterward. To begin, as I mentioned, I only put together my first college resume a week or two before I met with her, so it was imperative to me that during our meeting, she was able to look through my resume and tell me which of my skills required improvement. She told me some possible edits I could make and worked together with me to craft the ideal version of myself that I was trying to portray. She was also able to teach me some overarching critical skills when it came to resumes and applying for positions that I can take with me moving forward. So a short term goal that I set and followed through on with her was to make the simple edits she made and some overall reworking of my resume after our meeting. I even followed up with her later after our meeting to get more opinions from her on my resume, because like I said, I think the most beneficial aspect of this meeting was teaching me not to be afraid of these resources that are here to help me. A long term goal we discussed was to continue adjusting my resume based on what I involve myself in in the future and continuing to participate in experiences that I will add to it. I was also able to finish my short term goal of completing a general resume to keep for when any experiences/ internships may come up while I continue to work in the long term to be involved in things that will give me important insights that I can add to essential experiences noted on my resume. I also updated some aspects of my LinkedIn after talking to her, and she again encouraged me to connect to other Loyola alumni. I am already making some beneficial connections!

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Is there anything Dr. Rogers can do to support you along your career or graduate school journey? If so, what?

I think Dr. Rogers is already doing so much to help me on my career journey! The experience we are getting by working with an actual communication firm (Gambel), getting experiences working for them in group settings, hearing from people in the PR field and former graduates, AND having us interview with a PR practitioner in the area we are interested in are all things that are going to really benefit ma as a part of my career journey that I am thankful for! Lastly, her encouragement to engage in PRSSA is something that I know will build me as a professional and build my professional network!

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Do you think I should repeat this assignment in future semesters for CMMN A316 students? Why or why not?

I think you should definitely repeat this assignment in future semsters! I think the main reason having it as an assignment is so essential is similar to what I've said before, even really dedicated students like me sometimes just won't use these resources unless they are forced. I think this assignment is a great way to gently nudge students who really can benefit from this resource in the right direction. As I said, this was a great experience, and it encouraged me to use the resource again. Overall I think it is a great idea to have this assignment because it forces people to explore resources that they might not know about or have been too intimated to explore, so requiring it as an assignment forces students to bite the bullet and see it's really not scary at all!