Even if you graduated with your nursing degree 3 or 4 or even 8 years ago, did you know your college’s career services center is a great career resource?
All the ongoing support the center offered when you were an active student doesn’t stop when you graduate. One of the biggest goals of a career center is to see all graduates succeed and find a great career that fits all their needs and requirements. Many centers are geared to undergraduates or fairly recent graduates, but almost all will you help in one way or another.
Why check in with your alma mater?
1. Access to Advice
Career services center staff is well-versed in all angles of career search, career transition, and overall professional growth. They can help you figure out what you want in your career and how to get there if you feel stuck. They can help guide you through an often confusing process.
2. Become Part of a Huge Network
Your school’s career services center has contacts far and wide. Graduates of the school are likely all over the country and form a supportive, and extensive, network of professionals willing to help out another alum. Are you interested in moving from Maine to Arizona to find a position? They probably know of someone who can help you get started. And if they don’t, they will find someone (probably through the alumni association) who can.
3. Search Job Listings
Alums have special access to generally large databases of job listings. You might find something you otherwise wouldn’t have such quick access to. If you’re lucky, the center’s staff might also have an “in” with the job poster.
4. Watch and Learn
Lots of career service centers offer all kinds of career development videos made for alumni. You can pick up tips and find ideas to help you out on a job search, job transition, or returning to school.
5. Polish Up Your Presentation
So you haven’t changed your resume since graduation? A career center knows what the current job market wants to see on a resume. Believe it or not, standards change quickly and your resume might be out of date. They know what it should say, how it should look, and what it needs to include. They can help you figure out new ways to approach a job interview and answer questions you never encountered before. In short, they will make you look current, fresh, and marketable.
6. Return the Favor
If your career services center helps you, it’s good karma and good business to assist a student when you have the chance. Alert them to internship or job opportunities, offer to mentor a student, or have a student shadow you for a day. The time and effort is appreciated and helps keep the alumni networks strong and productive.
- WOC Nurses Week Highlights Specialty - April 16, 2024
- Honoring Radiology Nurses Day on April 12 - April 12, 2024
- Travel Offers New Career Possibilities - April 8, 2024
