Career and Professional Development Center

Services

The following information highlights the services, programs and resources offered by the Career and Professional Development Center for all Saint Vincent College students. To learn more about each, please visit our portal page and make an appointment by finding your career consultant on Handshake or stopping by the office located in the Carey Center.

Career Consultants work with students on a variety of topics, including: 

• Career Exploration, Planning & Assessment Tools
  • Focus 2 Career (password required)
  • What Can I Do With This Major?
• Resumes & Cover Letter Writing
• Full-Time Job Search, Internship Exploration and On-Campus Student Employment
  
  • Handshake
• Mock Interviews
• Graduate & Professional School Application Process
• Negotiating a Job Offer or Salary 
• Employer Presentations & Employer Interviewing Program
• Employer and Alumni Networking and Recruiting Events
  • Click here to see a PDF directory of the Alumni Council Members.
• SVC Bearcat Ready Program
• Building a Linked In Profile

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for a complete listing of events as well as opportunities posted each day.

•  Career and Professional School Guides

  The Career Guide and individual Mini Guides are located on the portal. The guides offer the following tips on the following topics: Services and Resources; Career Exploration and Planning; Resumes and Letters; Networking and Professionalism; Interviews, and Graduate and Professional School.

•  Career Exploration and Career Planning

  From choosing a major, to selecting the appropriate career path, the Career and Professional Development Center is here to help. Self-reflection is the most important aspect of the career planning process, significantly impacting your future as a professional. To make appropriate decisions and to define your goals, you must first understand your interests, skills, values, and personality. CPDC offers assessment tools which can be interpreted by a career consultant, leading to a good foundation to explore your vocation and career. You can also review the mini guide on Career Exploration and Planning to understand how to navigate each year at Saint Vincent and help you get ready for life after college.

•  What Can I Do With This Major?

  What Can I Do With This Major? Whether you are exploring multiple majors or searching for information about your chosen field, we will help you connect majors to careers, discover typical career areas and the types of employers that hire people with each major, and learn strategies to make you a more marketable candidate.

FOCUS 2 CAREER

FOCUS 2 CAREER is an online interactive, self-guided career and education planning system designed to help you make decisions about your future vocation, career goals and education plans. This interactive tool will assist in your self-reflection in areas such as career planning involvement; work interests; values; skills; personality; leisure time; and career competency levels to help you get prepared to enter your first destination through the SVC Bearcat Ready Program. This instrument will allow you to broaden your career options and discover occupations matching your personal preferences and attributes, discover and explore career fields and majors, and plan a career and educational pathway that will support your personal needs and professional goals.

SVC Bearcat Ready Program

The Career and Professional Development Center encourages you to explore your career goals through self-awareness beyond the classroom. Experiential learning can help build relationships with current supervisors and peers and lead to excellent networking opportunities. By completing at least one practical, career-related experience, you will actively engage with alumni and professionals in your field, leading to a successful future. The program will help you use your talents, strengths, and interests upon transitioning into the workforce. Learn how to Explore, Experience, and Engage through the SVC Bearcat Ready program.

Handshake

Handshake is the #1 way college students get jobs. When you complete your Handshake profile, jobs & internship opportunities will be tailored to you. You can filter and search internship and job roles based on your interests and discover new career possibilities. Follow employers to learn more, post your resume, apply for positions, and make appointments with your career consultant by using Handshake.

How You Can Help

Alumni of Saint Vincent College can assist in a variety of ways including:  

• Guiding students who may want to learn more about your career by shadowing you on the job.
• Agreeing to allow a student to conduct an information interview in-person or virtually to learn more about your career field or company.
• Hiring Saint Vincent College students through internships, research, volunteer, part-time or full-time opportunities at your company or agency. Please visit the 'For Employers' section of the website to learn more about recruiting our students and posting company positions to our Handshake System.

How We Can Help

The Career and Professional Development Center offers career consulting to Alumni of Saint Vincent College free for life. We speak with Alumni on a variety of topics including:  

One-One Appointments with a Center Professional working with you on a variety of topics including:

• Career Exploration, Planning & Assessment Tools
  • Focus 2 Career (password required)
• Resumes & Cover Letter Writing
• Full-Time Job Search, Internship Exploration and On-Campus Student Employment
  
  • Handshake
• Mock Interviews
• Graduate & Professional School Application Process
• Negotiating a Job Offer or Salary 
• Employer Presentations & Employer Interviewing Program
• Employer and Alumni Networking and Recruiting Events

Please note that we are most readily available to Alumni during summer and winter breaks. In addition to our services, if you have continued your education elsewhere, you should also take advantage of the career services at those institutions, especially since they have provided your most recent instruction in the area in which you are likely seeking employment. 

Saint Vincent College takes pride in its talented pool of students with strong academic backgrounds, professionalism and outstanding practical experience in their field of study. The Career and Professional Development Center strives to provide you with candidates who meet your employment needs. Please click here for a list of all majors at Saint Vincent College. We will help you in making connections with our students and graduates of our institution.

Recruiting and Hiring our Students 

Our graduates secure positions regionally, nationally, and internationally across a wide variety of fields. With their Liberal Arts education, our graduates are equipped with a solid educational foundation along with the soft skills employers are seeking.  If you are interested in hiring our alumni for jobs or our current students as interns within your company, please request to become an employer in Handshake (stvincent.joinhandshake.com).

Post A Position

To post a part-time, internship or full-time position visit: stvincent.joinhandshake.com.

To Post a Position:

1. Visit stvincent.joinhandshake.com to post an internship, part-time or full-time opportunity. If your company is already in Handshake, be sure to add Saint Vincent College as a favorite so your positions are visible to our students.
2. Advertise your current positions through Handshake to receive resumes of qualified applicants. Students can apply directly to your position through the system. Be sure to provide contact information and instructions for the application process.

Interview Virtually or On-Campus:

1. Register with Handshake stvincent.joinhandshake.com.
2. Select your candidates and request your schedule through Handshake. Email careers@stvincent.edu once you have requested the schedule.
3. Interview our students on campus or remotely for current or anticipated positions. We will accommodate your schedule and provide a private, confidential environment for you if on-campus recruiting is an option. If you choose a virtual schedule, you can conduct your interviews from your office while our students have a comfortable, reliable interview space on campus.
4. The steps to create a remote interview schedule remain the same.

If you have any questions about recruiting on-campus, creating a virtual interview schedule, or posting a position, please contact the Career and Professional Development Center at 724-805-2070 or careers@stvincent.edu. 

•  Encourage Your Student to Visit the Career and Professional Development Center

  The Career and Professional Development Center offers the following services and resources:

  • Career Exploration, Planning & Assessment Tools 
  • On-Campus Student Employment Program
  • Resumes & Cover Letters
  • Internship & Full-Time Job Search
  • Graduate & Professional School Application Process
  • Mock Interviews
  • Negotiating a Job Offer or Salary
  • Employer Contacts & Networking Opportunities
  • Employer Presentations & On-Campus Recruiting
  • On-Campus Workshops & Events
  • Off-Campus Workshops, Events & Job Fairs
  • Career Related Internet Resources
  • Linked In profile assistance
•  Encourage Career Exploration

  Saint Vincent College Career and Professional Development Center professionals use the Focus 2 Career Assessment to assist students in choosing a career path that is the right fit for them. The Focus 2 Career assesses personality, skills, values, leisure activities, and interests and combines the results to give a complete picture.

•  Promote Internship Experiences

  Internships are valuable to your student’s overall college career. At Saint Vincent College students can receive credit for an internship, while gaining marketable skills for a future career in his/her field of interest. Internships can also be used to help students explore various career fields. Through an internship, a student may recognize his/her passion for a certain field or even learn that the intended area of interest may not be a good fit. Either way, practical experience will bring your student one step closer to meeting his/her career goals and landing that perfect job after graduation. Please remember to keep the following tips in mind when discussing internships with your student:

  • Anyone can gain internship experience.
  • Internships are not required for all majors but strongly encouraged.
  • Many companies and organizations hire students for internship opportunities.
  • Many students get paid to do internships.
  • Employers often times hire interns for full-time employment after graduation.
  • When hiring entry-level employees, employers seek excellent communication, decision-making, problem solving and analytical skills, along with leadership and teamwork experience. These skills can be acquired through internships.
•  Encourage Your Student to Research the Career/Field of Interest

  Research is the best way for a student to learn about a specific company, career or major area of study. Students can gather information from faculty, alumni, and current students already majoring in your student’s intended major. In addition to shadowing an employer or ‘network’, your student should take the time to read literature and organize an informational interview with someone in his/her network.

•  Encourage Campus Involvement

  Campus involvement can enrich your student’s college experience in a variety of ways. Campus activities are a perfect way for your student to meet new people, get involved, and have fun in a healthy and safe environment. Saint Vincent college has more than 60 campus organizations. Becoming involved on campus will also allow your student to develop leadership, organizational, administrative, teamwork, and oral and written communication skills.
•  Encourage Networking

  Introduce your student to people who have the career and are employed at places that may be of interest to him/her. Suggest your son or daughter contact those individuals in your personal or professional networks as well as his or her own positions. Encourage your student to “shadow” someone in the workplace to increase awareness in his/her intended career field. Students should remain in contact with ‘networks’ that have had an impact on his/her life, throughout the high school years, as well as during the four years at Saint Vincent College. These networks can provide your student with information about the company or available part-time or internship opportunities.

•  Help Your Student Identify Skills

  It is important to encourage and support each student by discussing your student’s strengths & skills. Often times, students are not aware of the strengths and skills they possess. Allowing your student to focus on his/her strengths and skills will encourage confidence and maturity and, most importantly, self-awareness. Each of these qualities will offer students the necessary skills to assure a smooth transition to college. These qualities also assist students in the internship and job search. Each employer requires a specific set of skills from each individual job-seeker. The good news is that most job-seekers possess these skills to some extent. The better news is that job-seekers with weaknesses in these areas can improve their skills through training, professional development, or mentoring from someone who understands these skills. The best news is that once your student understands the skills and characteristics that are necessary for the ‘real world’, he/she can tailor the major and career-decision-making process to showcase how well the strengths and skills align with each employer’s expectations and requirements.
•  Help Your Student Identify Values

  Values are a set of standards that determine choices, actions and attitudes. Understanding values will help students focus on career objectives that are important to them. Values are not right or wrong, but without them students will have a more difficult time reaching his/her goals. It is important to encourage your student to only choose values that define him / her and not someone else. Values will allow students to gain a better understanding of what academic major is most suitable. Also it will give your student the opportunity to begin exploring internships and careers that connect with the types of people and working environments that are most consistent with his/her values. 

•  Help Your Student Identify Interests

  It is especially important for students to know his/her interest in order to make appropriate academic and career-related decisions. No matter what an individual pursues he/she will want to incorporate passions and interests into some aspect of everyday life. Whether your student gets to use his/her interest in a career or as relaxation, it will be important to the overall quality and satisfaction of his/her life and the lives of family and friends.

•  Allow Your Student to Make the Decisions

  As a Parent or Guardian, you will want to be involved in your student’s major and career decision. Listen carefully. Be patient. Be understanding. Be respectful. There might be times you do not agree with your student’s decision. It is okay to provide suggestions about majors and career fields, but let your student be the ultimate judge of what is best. Remember making this decision can be very stressful for your student. He/she will be doing the work, and with the right attitude and proper training and guidance, your student can be successful in any major or career.

Kim Woodley
Director, Career & Professional Development Center
LinkedIn Profile

Tammy Elliott
Assistant Director, Career & Professional Development Center
LinkedIn Profile 

 Katie Byers
Assistant Director, Career & Professional Development Center
LinkedIn Profile 

Laura Starzynski
Student Payroll Coordinator (Part Time), Career & Professional Development Center
724-805-2460