Career Development Center Growing Connections with Local Employers to Benefit Students | SUNY Plattsburgh
SUNY Plattsburgh’s Career Development Center is ramping up its connections with area businesses, increasing the number of student opportunities for internships and jobs.
The center has created 15 new opportunities over the past few months, including new internships at UPS and Medicine Horse Farm. Internship opportunities open the door for students to experience hands-on learning, making students more marketable when they graduate and start their career.
The CDC assists both current students and alumni in finding career paths, internships and potential jobs.
Increasing Access, Footprint
“It’s important for our students to have access to these opportunities,” said Morgan Pellerin, a career counselor. “They can play a major role in helping a student develop their skills as a professional and connect theories they are learning in the classroom to real life situations.”
Additionally, Pellerin said local employers can also benefit from a relationship with SUNY Plattsburgh. Often, students in an internship can help with a project or initiative the organization may otherwise not have had the time or resources to do.
Both interested students and local employers are encouraged to reach out to the center to continue to grow this valuable partnership.
Assistance Continues After Graduation
As the Career Development Center continues to interact and network with local companies, SUNY Plattsburgh’s alumni are benefiting as well. Recent graduates are working at a range of local businesses and institutions – from The University of Vermont Health Network, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital and Hearst Television to Behavioral Health Services North and several local school districts.
Closer relationships with local employers also allow students to learn essential soft skills; from resume-building workshops to site visits and mock interviews.
“At the CDC, we want to help our students achieve and even exceed their career goals, said Julia Overton-Healy, director of the Career Development Center. “In a perfect world, we want to help students enough during their first visit, that they never need us again. But the CDC is available to both current students and alumni of any graduating class.”
Beyond the CDC office, students and alumni alike also have free access to Cardinal Connect, a web-based solution for career services. Job seekers can find both job and internship postings, career interest assessment tools and a resume builder. Conversely, employers can post both job and internship openings, review applications and register to attend on-campus recruiting events.
“The CDC has helped me a lot with fixing up my resume and making it presentable, said Robert Hartman, a student at SUNY Plattsburgh. “I would highly recommend the CDC to my friends. Beyond helping me perfect my resume, they also helped me prepare the search for future internships.”