Center for Professional Pathways 2010 Fall Newsletter

Career In-Sight Dinner Gives Students an Inside Look at the Job Search

Written by Brittany Naas

Many students left November 10th, 2010 with more knowledge of the work world then they came with. The Career In-Sight Dinner was a night full of the facts and how-tos of career building intended for the students of Western to gain knowledge of how to get a head start on finding their career paths. Three speakers presented and gave insightful information students could use in their futures. Our

speakers included Marsha Trotter, Vice President of Operations at the Personnel Department who spoke about interviewing skills; John Jolliff, Regional Vice President of COUNTRY Financial who informed students about job search approach; and Laurie Roe, Assistant Vice President of Organizational Development at OSU Federal, who spoke on the topic of social networking. During the presentations, attendees enjoyed a pasta bar, salad, and garlic bread for the evening’s dinner and took notes

as Marsha Trotter gave pertinent information about researching the company before the interview, John Jolliff informed the students in the areas of “cold networking” vs. “warm network-

ing”, and Laurie Roe encouraged students to check out networking websites that could be useful in their careers, such as LinkedIn and CVS. Overall, the night was a fun-filled experience and students were able to gather information to use that will lead them down the career paths they aspire to be on.

Fall Class Presentations Reach Record Number

Every year, SLCD presents to a variety of classes on career and service topics such as interviewing, resumes, networking, marketing your experience, service learning, and the job search. So far this year, we have been invited to 24 Fall term classes, including College of Ed, SEP, Art, Academic Advising, German Language, IEP and FYE courses. The majority of the presentations have been with FYE, in which we give freshmen an overview of how they can take a proactive approach to developing their career paths throughout their studies here at WOU. Students learn about social media etiquette, informational interviewing, skills, workplace readiness. In

addition, this year Assistant Director Donna led a workshop to help students focus on finding strengths and relating them to activities and career possibilities. Thank you to everyone who has invited us to present, we love being a part of your students’ development!

If you would like to discuss a career or service presentation idea for your course, please contact us.

“The Career In-Sight Dinner gave me the edge I need to succeed in finding a career”

- Student attendee

UPCOMING SERVICE

LEARNING EVENTS:

Winter Alternative Breaks: Sunshine Sanctuary: Dec.13-19

YouthCare: Dec. 12-18

Next Service Day: February 19, 2011

Details to come!

November 13, 2010

The majority of Alternative Break and some of our Students in Service participants went to the Boys &Girls Club in Salem for a service project.

At the Club, the students helped prepare for the annual upcoming auction. The auction raises close to $400,000 for the Club.

Students also cleaned the Teen center and recreation center, along with painting a room. Overall, they did numerous projects, all which were greatly appreciated by the Boys and Girls Club.

SERVICE LEARNING

What’s New with Alternative Break?

The Alternative Break program exposes WOU students to hands-on, experiential community based learning. Students work in conjunction with volunteer and community agencies to focus on a wide variety of social issues both in and out of our community. This year we have 7 leaders who will be planning 5 different trips. Each of our trip’s service locations has been hand selected by the team leaders. This year, two of our trips will be during winter break, while the remaining three trips will happen during spring break.

This winter break, we will be returning to Seattle, Washington to serve with an organization called YouthCare. Last year another Alternative Break trip served this homelessness organization by cleaning their facilities, wrapping presents for youth, and helping around their location with various odd jobs. This year we will have the same opportunity to return to serve that population. Our second trip during winter will be to Sunshine Sanctuary in Los Molinos, California. This organization is a place where kids and horses can feel safe learning from each other while sharing love and compassion. We will likely experience this relationship by helping with daily ranch duties, cleaning, maintaining the property, and assisting with children’s projects. Our spring trips will consist of a build for Habitat for Humanity in Sacramento, California through Collegiate Challenge. We will be working on the construction of a home for one of the many homeless families across the country. Our second spring trip will be in serving the homeless population in Portland, Oregon, by working with Homeless Solutions and also, participating in a project with Habitat for Humanity. Our last spring trip will head to serve at Poverello Food Shelter and AniMeals in Missoula, Montana. Their goal is to serve at a local food bank and also attend, care for and play with homeless animals in the area and prepare them for adoption.

AlternativeBreak Leaders

While our Alternative Break trips are flourishing, we are also supporting two different servicelearning trips through our office. Our first service learning trip will be going to Vietnam during winter break to work with the Forgotten People Foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam. This group of students is being lead by faculty members Mark Girod and Hank Bersani. Our second service learning trip will be a group of 8 participants that will be going to Tanzania to work with Orphan Foundation Fund during Summer 2011. They will be meeting a group of students from Ludwigsburg University of Education to participate in this experience. The focus of this trip will be on a wide variety of social issues, along with being immersed in a diverse environment.

Meet Marcella!

Marcella Flores is from Edmonds, Washington. She is currently a senior in the ASL/ English Interpreting Program with a minor in ASL Studies. She has worked in SLCD since she was a freshman and this year has started her position as Alternative Break Coordinator. Marcella has a heart for service and was a participant on the 2009 San Diego Alternative Break Trip and co-led the 2010 San Francisco Alternative Break group, both of which served youth homeless populations in California. Marcella loves being involved on campus especially in her roles as PLUS Team Coordinator, traveling to China with the International Ambassadors and Mentors program and of course, Alternative Break! Marcella hopes to attend graduate school for a Masters in Higher Education and Student Affairs. Her dream job is to become a Director for Student Leadership, Activities and Service.

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth” – Muhammad Ali

Career Development

A LOOK BACK AT TWO OF FALL’S CAREER EVENTS

GRADUATE SCHOOL INFORMATION WEEK

WOU students got the chance to explore the graduate school admissions process and learn more about WOU grad programs during Graduate School Information Week, Oct 25th 29th. Included in the events were an information session on graduate school entrance exams by Kaplan, an information panel on WOU graduate studies hosted by the WOU’s Graduate Programs Office, a Personal Statement Writing Workshop given by Prof. Meg Artman, and an introduction to Financing a Graduate Education, presented by WOU Financial Aid’s Kim Lamborn. Students enjoyed the insight into the application process, appreciated the hints for taking exams and writing essays, and thanked Kim for a clear overview of graduate students’ options to paying for graduate studies! A big thanksto everyone whocameandpresented!

PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL POWER BREAKFAST NETWORKING

SLCD sponsors tickets for students to attend the Portland Business Journal’s Power Breakfasts, and in November 3 wolves Trenton Nettles, Biraj Bisht , and Akaanchya Pradhan and SLCD Assistant Director Donna heard Founder and CEO of Soloflex, Jerry Wilson as the guest speaker. These Breakfasts are fun and informative networking opportunities, where students meet professionals, learn about different industries, and enjoy a delicious meal!

If your students would like to attend an upcoming Breakfast, please contact SLCD!

Upcoming Career Development Events:

Fall Term:

Seattle Career Trek: Dec 13th 15th

Winter Term:

 Personal Finance Workshop

 Internship Focus Week

 Criminal Justice Fair

 World After WOU

DID YOU KNOW...?

95% of employers hiring recent grads prefer candidates with work experience such as internships

To read more about Laurisa and other interns, and to learn more about internships, visit our Internship Page

Check out this blog post by Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and

11 other books on marketing and career topics. In this post, Seth discusses “Reasons to Work”

SLCD Presents Specialized Resources

SLCD is proud to present resources for our diverse student population!

Our Specialized Resources Page can be found here and on our homepage, wou.edu/slcd, and features articles, job boards, and career help sites for students with a variety of ethnic

backgrounds, abilities, different genders and sexual orientations, and veterans.

SLCD Para Mí offers students career development services in Spanish. Students can practice interviews, get resume help, and attend a career counseling

appointment all in Spanish. Visit our homepage, and find the SLCD Para Mi link in the lower right-hand corner. Or, call or e-mail Donna at 838-8041 or banwartd@wou.edu for more information or to make an appointment.

CONTACT US:

Connect with SLCD online!

SLCD makes it easy to stay up-to-date on service learning and career development activities, events, information, articles, tips, and job/internship/volunteer opportunities!

We actively post updates on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and we even have a YouTube channel. SLCD’s website, wou.edu/slcd, is another outlet where the WOU community can find links to blogs, job, internship and volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, spotlights, and resources for students in their career development paths!

What does SLCD do for you?

Service Learning

 Benefits of Service

 Alternative Break

 SEEK (Students and Elders Encouraging Kindness

 Students in Service Education Award Program

 Volunteer Days

 Short and Long Term Volunteer Opportunities

 Volunteer Programming for Classes

Career Development

 Wolflink

 Student Employment

 Career Counseling

 Resume and Cover Letter Critiques

 Career Development Dinner Events

 Networking Events

 Internships

 Informational Interviewing

 Mock Interviews

 Career Lift off

 Graduate School Consultation

 Job Search Strategies

 In-Class Presentations

Michael J. Hampton: Director hamptonm@wou.edu

Donna Banwarth: Assistant Director banwartd@wou.edu

Charisse Jolliff: Service Learning Coordinator jolliffc@wou.edu

Jennifer Hansen: Office Manager hansenj@wou.edu

SLCDNewsletterEditors:

Donna Banwarth, Assistant Director

Charisse Jolliff, Service Learning Coordinator