College Career Centers

Undergraduate college career centers are used by college students to prepare them for the workplace. These organizations provide services to help student job seekers. However, some career experts are critical of the lack of career development center professionalism.

The undergraduate career development center is usually known simply as a "career center." The purpose of a career center is to prepare students for work by providing services and advice.

College career development centers normally offer services such as resume writing and editing, cover letter advice, and exclusive job postings. Having these free services helps to prepare college students for the career path they choose to follow.

Job coach and career expert J.T. O'Donnell is not too fond of college career centers. In fact, she went as far as to create a focus group and public poll to critique the effectiveness of these organizations. Here's what she had to say about the situation:

"Recently, I held a focus group with 12 college students - juniors and seniors. The discussion was around their experiences with college career centers...and it was fascinating. I'm not kidding.

Today, college grads are getting two gut-punching realities thrown at them. They are:

1) leaving college with lots of debt and a piece of paper that doesn't differentiate them the way they were told it would.
2) finding out quickly that they are uneducated on how to successfully launch a career."

Students should be wary of any information they receive from a career center. While well-meaning, they are often staffed with student workers or staff that is not qualified to provide career development advice for undergraduate students.

The aforementioned access to exclusive job listings is one of the best benefits of using a college career center. Screening the job applicants through the university will help dedicated job seekers to have one more step toward their career of choice.