By Mike Specht
Contributing writer
The Career and Professional Readiness Center (CPRC) plans to hold its open house Wednesday afternoon. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., students are encouraged to stop by room 231 in the Reilly Center.
Connie Whitcomb, director of the CPRC, has various events lined up for the event.
Whitcomb said a key goal of the open house is to advertise the launch of its new Facebook page, with incentives for joining the page.
“There will be prizes and giveaways available for those students who like us on Facebook, specifically Bona pride prizes,” Whitcomb said.
The CPRC wants to give students the skills to understand and implement career goals, enhance its professional brand and develop effective job search strategies.
“(Our goal is) to help (students) develop appropriate career and life goals, and also to enhance their professional development because what we know is that professionalism matters,” Whitcomb said. “The Center also aims to aid in improving the marketability of students.”
The CPRC is not just for acquiring internships. The center also offers workshops for improving LinkedIn accounts, as well as workshops where students can create and develop their brand for prospective employers.
“Whether they do that verbally in an elevator pitch (or) they do that in print material in the form of a business card, it’s all about coming to understand their unique brand and how they’re going to market that,” Whitcomb said.
The Center has also redesigned their webpage to stress the importance of their goals.
“We put the website together in the form of the three E’s, which are to emerge, engage and evolve the students for the real world,” Whitcomb said.
Whitcomb and the CPRC aim to attract as many, if not more, students to the center than last year.
“We had 1,546 student engagements with professional development programs (last year),” Whitcomb said.
The programs have been able to notice earlier engagements with underclassmen. Whitcomb sees this as a “great stride” in the program.
With the high number of students already utilizing the CPRC, campus faculty has been supportive of the programs it offers.
“We have been able to solidify collaboration with the faculty on campus,” Whitcomb said.
Some faculty members have included the use of CPRC programs in their curriculum. Assignments include having interview practices through the CPRC. Freshmen can also attend various passport events to learn more about the CPRC.
Jason Damon, a freshman history major, thinks the open house would be a worthwhile opportunity.
“It is never too early to start thinking about the future,” he said. “Internships and skills for the real world are definitely needed before one graduates.”
Free ice cream sundaes will be available for all who attend the open house.
“We invite all students to come — all ages and class majors,” Whitcomb said.
