NC State’s Career Development Center (CDC) has many resources available to students in search of an internship or job as the summer and graduation move closer.
Arnold Bell, the executive director of the CDC, explains that the center offers different kinds of programming and resources for students, emphasizing how useful some of the experiential learning programs are.
“We have one of the largest co-op programs in the country,” Bell said. “Last year we had over 1,000 students participate in the co-op program. The Launch series is a series of workshops we have each semester, which address some of the skill competencies a student needs to be successful.”
Additionally, the CDC offers classes for students, career assessments, drop-in hours, mock interviews, online job search website, workshops and career fairs. The engineering career fair is one of the largest fairs in the country.
Kelly Laraway, the director of Short-Term Experiential Partnership Program at the CDC, said the center’s professional clothing closet is particularly useful to students, adding that is tends to get busy as students start to prepare for upcoming career fairs.
“We have a professional clothing closet where students can find clothes to get them ready for career fairs, their first week of work, interviews or whatever else they might need it for,” Laraway said. “Last year alone we had about 490 students come through the clothing closet.”
Marcy Bullock, the director of professional development at the CDC, mentions that the career guide is one the most popular resources for students.
“People love to grab this 40-page book, even though so much is digital,” Bullock said. “They really like to have something to reference, and all the information in here is updated every year with all of the latest trends in LinkedIn and networking and resumes.”
The CDC also has students working with them. Kelly Crabtree, a third-year studying English, is a career ambassador.
“This is my fourth semester [at the CDC],” Crabtree said. “I was just looking for something to get involved in. I heard about it through one of those mass emails that we get from our career counselors, and I just applied on a whim.”
Crabtree has been an ambassador since her first year, and has a variety of responsibilities.
“As a career ambassador, I give presentations with the Launch professional development series,” Crabtree said. “On Mondays and Tuesdays from five to six we go over … cover letters, resumes, interview prep, career fair prep and each ambassador gives two to three presentations a semester.”
Bell said he believes the best way to take full advantage of the CDC and its resources is to start coming in early.
“In the best of all worlds, we’ll have students come in and meet with us at the very beginning — their first two semesters here,” said Bell. “Then we can assist them in progressing through different stages. We would like for students to come early and come often.”
However, Bell says he understands that that is difficult, which is why they have programming for students in all stages of the career development process.
“We understand students have a lot going on. They have a lot of priorities. So we are here, and we meet the student at their needs.”
The Career Development Center is located at 2100 Poole Hall on Dan Allen Drive. Students looking for more information can visit the CDC’s website.
The Career Development Center offers NC State students full access to the Wolfpack Styled Professional Clothing Closet that students may use for interviews, career fairs, conferences or the first week of work. The attire is generously donated by faculty, staff, alumni and employers to help students succeed. The clothing closet is open to students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
