Career Center To Engage Earlier With Students
Scot Walker '90 September 16, 2014 4:57 PM
From the Texas A&M Newswire
At many colleges and universities, students have little involvement with their career centers until they become upperclassmen and start looking for internships or full-time jobs in earnest, however, leaders of the Texas A&M University Career Center are reaching out to students when they start their college careers — helping them be even better equipped when it comes time to enter the job market or graduate school.
Texas A&M, with the largest student body in Texas and among the largest in the nation, has long had a reputation for producing graduates who are highly successful in the workplace, and university officials predict this new emphasis will make Aggies even more prepared to interact with the thousands of active recruiting employers who seek Aggie talent.
Career Center Executive Director Leigh Turner said Texas A&M is one of only four universities in the nation with specific staff dedicated to assisting freshmen and sophomores in the career development process.
“With nearly 19,000 freshmen and sophomores enrolled at Texas A&M, the Career Center is intentionally targeting underclassmen to ensure adequate career preparedness so they will be successful upon graduation, whether this is landing the job of their dreams, gaining admittance to their graduate or professional schools of choice, or starting their own businesses” Turner noted, citing fall 2013 enrollment figures that which will likely be at least matched this year.
Texas A&M’s main campus enrollment is again expected to exceed 50,000, university officials note.
Aligning with recent data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and institutional assessment, Turner said designated Career Center staff members are providing first- and second-year students with individualized career advising and developing targeted programs to engage them with career services and provide them with the necessary tools and resources to be successful in the career development process.
“The staff members assigned to the underclassmen have begun the process of assessing the unique needs of this student population, creating collaborations with departments across campus, and adjusting programs and services to enhance students’ career certainty” Turner added. “The success of this outreach will be assessed utilizing metrics to measure the increased engagement by freshmen and sophomores in the career development process, evaluation of graduation survey data over the course of the next five years to determine changes in outcomes, and overall findings in students’ own assessment of their preparedness for life after college.”
More than 4,400 employers representing business entities, non-profit organizations, and government agencies post positions, interview on campus, or attend career fairs to recruit Texas A&M students for internship, cooperative education, and full-time employment during the school year.
The Career Center and The Association of Former Students work together to provide career services to current students and graduates. Gifts to The Association's Annual Fund help support Career Center operations, and Career Center staff are a regular presence at Association events.
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Media contact: Lane Stephenson, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4662 or l-stephenson@tamu.edu.
More news about Texas A&M University
At many colleges and universities, students have little involvement with their career centers until they become upperclassmen and start looking for internships or full-time jobs in earnest, however, leaders of the Texas A&M University Career Center are reaching out to students when they start their college careers — helping them be even better equipped when it comes time to enter the job market or graduate school.
Texas A&M, with the largest student body in Texas and among the largest in the nation, has long had a reputation for producing graduates who are highly successful in the workplace, and university officials predict this new emphasis will make Aggies even more prepared to interact with the thousands of active recruiting employers who seek Aggie talent.
Career Center Executive Director Leigh Turner said Texas A&M is one of only four universities in the nation with specific staff dedicated to assisting freshmen and sophomores in the career development process.
“With nearly 19,000 freshmen and sophomores enrolled at Texas A&M, the Career Center is intentionally targeting underclassmen to ensure adequate career preparedness so they will be successful upon graduation, whether this is landing the job of their dreams, gaining admittance to their graduate or professional schools of choice, or starting their own businesses” Turner noted, citing fall 2013 enrollment figures that which will likely be at least matched this year.
Texas A&M’s main campus enrollment is again expected to exceed 50,000, university officials note.
Aligning with recent data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and institutional assessment, Turner said designated Career Center staff members are providing first- and second-year students with individualized career advising and developing targeted programs to engage them with career services and provide them with the necessary tools and resources to be successful in the career development process.
“The staff members assigned to the underclassmen have begun the process of assessing the unique needs of this student population, creating collaborations with departments across campus, and adjusting programs and services to enhance students’ career certainty” Turner added. “The success of this outreach will be assessed utilizing metrics to measure the increased engagement by freshmen and sophomores in the career development process, evaluation of graduation survey data over the course of the next five years to determine changes in outcomes, and overall findings in students’ own assessment of their preparedness for life after college.”
More than 4,400 employers representing business entities, non-profit organizations, and government agencies post positions, interview on campus, or attend career fairs to recruit Texas A&M students for internship, cooperative education, and full-time employment during the school year.
The Career Center and The Association of Former Students work together to provide career services to current students and graduates. Gifts to The Association's Annual Fund help support Career Center operations, and Career Center staff are a regular presence at Association events.
###
Media contact: Lane Stephenson, News & Information Services, at (979) 845-4662 or l-stephenson@tamu.edu.
More news about Texas A&M University
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