September 19, 2016
Brandon Umpleby
For many college students, deciding what career they want after graduation can be terrifying. To help with this process, UCCS decided that juniors and seniors should have a program to help guide them.
From September to April, the Career Coaching Program for junior business majors will offer these students different skills and topics to work on with their career coach.
The application deadline has passed, but students may sign up late. The next application process will start next September.
The Career Coaching Program, implemented in 2013, is an eight-month mentorship program that provides students with insights and tips into the job market.
Students are assigned to a professional business mentor that fi ts each student’s interests, according to director of Business Alumni Relations Samantha Wood.
Mentors meet with their student once a month to help create their resume, discuss what to change or add in their social networks and what to expect when they enter their industry.
Alumni business members who work in various fields act as mentors to explain these tips. The Career Coaching program helps students feel secure in their career choices .
“This program provides confidence so that you’re ready to graduate and feel better about what you want to do,” said Wood.
Wood hopes to broaden the program and make it available to majors other than business students.
The program was originally only a semester long, but turned into an eight-month process that expands from fall to spring semester.
This extension gave both the mentors and students more time to go over certain skills and plan business meetings and trips.
Business majors are already finding the program to be helpful and applicable to their professional goals.
“If you want some guidance and direction for what you want to do when you graduate, this program would be it,” said senior business major Steven Botteicher.
Listening to an established professional is beneficial, according to Botteicher, who completed the program last April. The program helped him to structure his resume, while also giving him more insight on networking and improving his social media profiles.
“Throughout the program I was a sponge, sucking in as much information as I could. It’s great to get some professional guidance on certain topics that we tend to ignore or put aside,” said Botteicher.
Any student pursuing a career in business could benefit from these soft skills that one may not encounter in the classroom, said Wood.
The program also includes tours of local companies and businesses, which offers a different perspective on each business venture. Students will also attend an etiquette dinner and a motivational speaker event.
The tours allows students to understand how each business operates and functions, according to Botteicher.
Some of Botteicher’s business tours included Sherwin Industries, Borealis Fat Bikes and The Broadmoor.
“Any college business student should apply for this program. I want people to know that this program works,” said Botteicher.