By Angie Schaffer
It does not matter if you are there to pick up a pamphlet, fulfill a class requirement or simply interview for a newspaper story.
“What are your career plans?” they ask. “Have you found an internship?”
It is like an obsession: assisting with career placement and counseling on career choices.
The obsessors? The three counselors, one director and one part-time graduate assistant of UNO’s Career Center.
The Career Center, located in Eppley 111, proudly boasts a library of nothing but career-related books and a computer center, where one can search the online job listings or create a resume through Resume Partners.
It also contains several stands of pamphlets, fliers and every other handout imaginable, and a teacher recruitment center tucked in the back.
Sound intimidating? It is, to be honest, but with some help from one of the counselors the information available can help both incoming freshmen and upperclassmen alike reach their career goals.
The Career Center has job postings for both career-related and simple money-earning jobs. As Student Employment Coordinator and Assistant Director Emily Muckerheide says, “You might find a part-time job, you might find an internship, you might find information about jobs and businesses … students find out where their majors fit in the workplace.”
All services at the Career Center are free, with the exception of Resume Partners and teacher credential files.
Resume Partners is an online program that helps students create resumes, then forwards them to prospective employers. It can be found online at www.careers.unomaha.edu, the Web site designed by UNO student Steven Eggerling.
Teacher credential files are a service required for those going into the teaching field.
The Career Center is also responsible for the career fairs held at UNO twice each year, during the fall and spring semesters. At the fairs, students can visit with local and national employers (who they may have researched in the Career Center library to find information on the company and its salaries) and perhaps be interviewed for a position right there.
The Career Center does not neglect this part of the process, either; students can undergo mock interviews and even bring in a tape to view their performances later.
Even those who are not looking for a job might have to visit the Career Center. Muckerheide says many teachers require their students to visit the Career Center and speak with a counselor.
In addition to meeting with students, the counselors give presentations to classes about customized topics.
For example, one counselor last year gave a presentation on stress management and another gave one on job-related etiquette. Overall, Muckerheide says the center reached about 5,900 students in 2001.
How does the small Career Center staff handle such a load?
“We are small but we are mighty,” Muckerheide says.
She encourages students to visit the Career Center Web site, then to come in and talk to a counselor about any questions they may have.
“Sometimes it helps to talk to people,” she says.
She also suggests students pick up a Mav Path handout, which gives career-related points and activities customized to UNO. Muckerheide suggests students “look at what they have already done, then pick one new thing each semester.
“It’s not magic, it’s a process,” she adds.
The Career Center is open to all students during the summer from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and is open late on Monday nights.
For more information, contact the Career Center at 554-2333.
