"If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on." - Sheryl Sandberg

            Mansfield graduation is in less than two months. As someone who will be crossing the stage and collecting my diploma, I can tell you that this is the scariest yet the most exciting event in my life so far. The scariest part of all is knowing how many job applications I have and will be filling out. The road between student and employee is always a road less traveled regardless of the help all of us are getting from friends, family and professors.

            I learned from talking with Nichole Lefelhoc, Director of the Career Center, that this is how just about everyone is feeling these days, and that there isn’t one “right way” to figure it all out.

            “Everything is different for everyone,” she stressed. “My job means figuring out each students’ needs and goals and guiding them to the right resources and opportunities.”

            Nichole has an incredible amount of resources for both internships and post-graduate employment too. Mansfield has their own online job/internship database for alumni and current students, known as the Mountie Career Connection.

            “At any given time, there are between 50 and 250 job and internship postings on the Mountie Career Connection. Most importantly, almost all of them are entry level positions or jobs requiring less than 5 years of experience.”

            This information also helped me feel better. Knowing that there are jobs available for entry-level employment is a relief after weeks of searching and finding most postings require 5 or more years of experience from the candidate.

            Finding the right job isn’t always easy either. Especially, when you can do so many things with your degree. Taking public relations as an example, when I graduate I can work in public relations, internal communication, marketing, advertising and events. I can also work as a social media coordinator and I could work at a university, a large corporation, a private firm or a non-profit organization just to name a few! But how do I choose?

            “When I was in my undergrad, I was a social work major,” Nichole told me, “And my advisor sat down with me and helped me narrow my focus. I had always been able to say what I knew I didn’t want to do, but I could never pin-point what I wanted to do. What I figured out after that discussion was that I loved getting to know what other people did and what it took to get them there. My job now plays into that perfectly, because I help students get to where they want to be.”

            Aside from pointing me and many other students in the right direction of where to go to look for career opportunities, what can Nichole and the rest of the Career Center staff do to help me out in the next few months? To name a few things, they’ll look at your resume and cover letters for the jobs they helped you to find. And, there is the Professional Clothes Closet, which is a resource for professional clothing to wear during the interviews we’re offered after their help. Every student is able to have one professional suit from the closet while they’re a student here. Selection is limited as the clothing is donated, but in a pinch the Career Center is much closer than the mall.

            Nichole did offer a few great pieces of advice about job hunting, which seems like the simplest thing to remember: Follow directions, triple check your grammar, and make sure to sell yourself to the employer by telling them what you will be able to bring to their company. Nichole has plenty of stories to tell from employers who have noticed when candidates didn’t do one of these things and I encourage anyone who is looking for an internship, is on the job hunt or is confused about what they want to do to stop by the Career Center in Alumni Hall and talk with Nichole and the rest of the staff. You won’t regret it!

Mi Casa, Es Su Casa

         

This time next week, Mansfield will be on Spring Break. Students will be at home with family, friends and pets or vacationing in the sun. When we return, we’ll be entering the home stretch until summer. Most things will be hectic for another week or so and then begin to slow down, but only for students. For many offices, this is when the year starts to pick up.

            Bonnie Phelps, the Management Technician in the Housing and Residence Life office, is just about to enter one of the busiest times of year. Spring break means e-mailing all students living on campus about leaving the residence halls to go home

and then shortly after we all return, housing selection begins for next year. Plus, Bonnie is in contact with all of the new students about registering for housing and answering all of their questions about what it’ll be like when they arrive in August. Don’t forget she’s in charge of making sure unhappy students get room changes when possible. It can’t be easy to manage solving problems and troubleshooting housing selection.

            “I do wish sometimes students know that it’s not always easy to complete their room change,” said Bonnie, “Every change affects someone else down the line, so it’s more than just making the change on paper and giving you new keys.”

            Room change requests and student complaints about on-campus living have been low this year though as all students are now living in suite-style residence halls. Many have our own rooms and most importantly, we don’t share a bathroom with more than one person.

         
   “There have been a lot less complaints about bathrooms and rooming in general now that we’ve transitioned.” Said Bonnie, “But my favorite part about working for this office is getting to interact with students. When I started working on campus eight years ago, I was hired for an eight week temporary position in the Student Accounts office. I’ve worked in three other offices on campus in temporary positions before coming to Residence Life and Housing as a permanent position and I’ve been offered to move elsewhere on campus. In the end, I wouldn’t have had as much student interaction in other offices and I like that my job allows me to impact students
and to have them impact me.”

            Bonnie makes a huge impact on students whether they realize she does or not. She runs housing selection, puts in the formal room changes and every e-mail you receive from housing@mansfield.edu, is sent by Bonnie.  So every time you get instructions on how to close up before returning home for a break, or a gentle reminder of how your parents, grandparents and friends can send you treats and money, you’re hearing from Bonnie. And from an RA’s standpoint, she’s truly a life-saver. She answers all our questions, and deals with all of our concerns without ever showing she might be frustrated with us. Knowing how many questions all of us students ask her on a regular basis, that can’t be easy either.

All in a hard day's work

As a graduating senior, there are some scary things in my future. One of those scary things is the thought of having to pay bills. But what about making sure all of the bills of over 100 student organizations are paid? Kim Garrett is one of the two people working in the College Community Services Inc. (CCSI) office at Mansfield. Kim and her co-worker Nancy are responsible for myriad things relating to accounts payable for students at Mansfield including both the University Bookstore and the athletic department which means doing an audit for the department for the student activities money they use. And, they make travel and hotel arrangements for student organizations including flights, car arrangements, hotels and meals for trips as well as for the athletes when they travel to away games.

            That’s a lot of work for just two people, so you can imagine what a day in Kim’s shoes is like.

            “I like that what I do changes each day.” Kim said. “Each day’s tasks are similar, but the problems are new.”

            Working with so many students must bring back memories of what it was like to be a student, trying to figure out where you wanted to go in life and comparing it to where you ended up.

            “I had no idea what I would be doing when I was college-aged.” Kim laughed when I asked her. “I thought I’d be young forever and that I’d do more traveling. But I do remember when I was a little girl telling my mom that I wanted to be a bus driver because growing up all the cute boys rode the bus to school.”

            It’s normal though to think you want to do something and change your mind. I’ve watched a lot of students change majors. In the fall of 2012, after returning from a semester abroad, I changed my mind and switched my major from biology to public relations. Yikes!

            “If I wasn’t working in CCSI, I think I would want to own a business. Probably my own spa.” Kim said with a nod.

            That would be a great way to relax at the end of the crazy days the CCSI office sees. They issue new ID cards to students who have misplaced theirs on a regular basis and they deposit checks from fundraisers we’ve done.  Not to mention, Kim and Nancy are responsible for calming students down when we fear something has gone terribly wrong with our account and that’s not part of their job description. They’ll always do what they can to help, but sometimes it’s not possible.

            “It’s not personal, when we can’t do something to help you.” Kim and Nancy both stressed to me. “We’re bound by a lot of policies. We have to follow Committee on Finance guidelines as well as other federal policies as we are a type of bank which means unfortunately there are times we want to help you, but aren’t able to.”