Published On: Thu, Jul 31st, 2014

A Career Center That Reaches the Community

career center

By: Quezia Salgado

When it comes to college education, several aspects of the institution chosen to attend for the next two to four years must be taken into consideration before making a final decision. Things like tuition costs, student to professor ratio, student body demographic, and programs offered, among others, should be thoroughly researched prior to applying. With that in mind, finding the best college or university also has to do with finding a school whose staff and faculty go above and beyond what’s required of them to offer students the tools they need to succeed, not just academically, but also in their social and professional lives after college. In that regard, the Career Center of Palm Beach State College in Boca has lived up to their mission of assisting students with choosing a career path and making a career plan.

Under the leadership of April Rosenblatt and a dedicated staff, the Career Center is a go between highlighting and promoting opportunities that are available to students, which otherwise, they would have no knowledge of. Some of the services provided by the Career Center are: assisting students with job search, writing resumes, critiquing pre-written resumes, and assisting them with interviews. For assistance with job or college interviews, the staff in all four campuses has created packets on interviewing and resume writing. As Rosenblatt explains, “For the mock interviews we ask students to make appointments in advance so we can research the company and the position they are applying for; we then pull specific questions that are asked at that particular company for that position.” Using this method, nearly 20 students have already received assistance, and as far as she knows, Rosenblatt believes all those students were able to get the jobs or get into the schools they applied for.

For Rosenblatt, who began her career is South Florida as an adviser in the TRIO program in Lake Worth, helping teens and young adults reach their academic and professional goals is something she is passionate about, “I have a degree in Psychology from Flagler College, St. Augustine; when I moved down here from Jacksonville, I decided I wanted to work with teens and young adults, using my degree.”

During her time with TRIO some of Rosenblatt’s tasks were, reviewing students’ grades, providing tutoring if their grades were dropping, SAT/ACT preparation, assistance with college applications, financial aid, scholarships, etc. The transition to the manager position at the Career Center not only shortened her commute to work, but also enabled her to combine knowledge and passion towards helping young men and women to make some of the most critical choices and decisions of their lives.

In the nearly four years she’s been with the school, one accomplishment Rosenblatt believes she can take credit for is the marketing of the Career Center. Starting with the Facebook page, which now has over 800 followers, the staff explores various mediums through which they advertise and get the word out about the center, including placing outreach tables around the campus, and the popular “guerilla” marketing, where they physically handout flyers to students. One method that has also proven effective is the hour-long presentations held in the Strategies for Learning Success classes, where students receive college orientation as well as a Career Center folder containing information about how to use their online system.

In addition to these tactics, the center also has the ability to send out mass emails through both the Career Center and the Palm Beach State web sites, increasing even more the number of people reached, “We try to do as much as we can to get the word out because there would be no point in us existing if students don’t know about us and don’t use our resources,” enforces Rosenblatt. To expand their reach even more, every September an open house is organized by the center where they’ve had as many as 80 students come through in a two-hour span to speak to staff and find out how the career center can help them reach their goals as college students and young professionals. Internship programs are also provided by the Career Center, which are free of charge for both students and employers looking to take in interns. The employer is able to post the position they are offering on the center’s online database, where it is available for viewing in all four campuses, to students and alumni, giving the position a lot of exposure

With a variety of resources and a staff that is committed to their success, Palm Beach State College students don’t need to look any further for academic or career assistance. The amazing work done by all at the Career Center shows, once more, how the quality of education in the city has contributed to making Boca Raton the world class city it is today.

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