Staff Writer- Ethan Lalumiere
With job market barriers becoming increasingly difficult to overcome, networking and post-graduation preparation are an absolute must. The Center for Career Development is ready to help with exactly that.
“We have people that help students with resumes, cover letters, personal statements, LinkedIn, and mock interviews. They help you search for jobs, gap year jobs, internships, and research. You can come in and be like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to do with my life, ’ and they’re gonna help you.” Peer Career Advisor and Junior Dasha Shyroka said.
The Center for Career Development is the main center in the Johnson Student Union, right across a skyway from the Evelyn Young Dining Room. Within it lives the Center for International and Cultural Education and the Office of Health Professions. The Center for International and Cultural Education is helpful for study away opportunities, and the Health Professions office is helpful for pre-med and pre-dent students, as well as anyone considering any other health-related career.
The Center for Career Development also has Peer Career Advisors from many different majors and walks of life, all ready to help fellow students out with anything career-related they might need.
“The Peer Career Advisors can review your resume. You can either submit that online, or you can come in in-person. They can help you with questions about internships,” Office Assistant and First-year Hazel Striker said. ‘29. “They can help you with questions about interviews and interview prep, grad school applications, or really anything you need.”
The Advisors fully encourage people to make appointments with them online to come in and talk about anything career-related, or come in during their drop-in hours throughout the day.
“I’d recommend coming in earlier, especially within the academic year, and getting or asking for help and directions in whatever you deem necessary. Freshmen, for example, just coming in and getting a resume started, and being able to look for what they want to do, making a four year plan in terms of internships, study away, and all of that,” Peer Career Advisor and Junior Mohamed Mohamed said. “For people that are sophomores or juniors, it’s coming in and getting their resumes revamped, so that way they can apply for internships for spring or summer.
The Center for Career Development also puts on many different career-related events throughout the year. In February, they will attend the Minnesota Private Colleges’ Job & Internship Fair in Minneapolis.
“We usually bring about 200 students to it, and there’s usually between 250 and 300 employers at it, depending on the year. It’s Wednesday, February 18, 2026 registration,” Associate Director for Career Development Jill VanOsdol ‘10 said. “We usually open that sometime in January, maybe December if we start seeing the employer list, because that’s what students want to know. Once that employer list starts to build, that’s when we open registration and start advertising it to students.”
The Center for Career Development also sends out information ahead of time for these conferences with advice for how to be the best professional you can be.
“We’re sending out emails in January to say who’s going to be there, and sending out some steps for preparing, because it is so big. Dress professionally, bring 20 to 30 copies of your resume, and that’s just to be safe. It’s always good to have backups,” VanOsdol said.
For Resumes, the Center for Career Development also offers headshots periodically throughout the year, for usage on anything someone might need them for.
“We just had a headshot day for Advising Day. That’s a good opportunity to put that on your resume, your CV, or anything you need to have a headshot for. We have professional photography for that,” Striker said. “We also have a self-service headshot station. If you really need one and don’t have a professional headshot, you can come in and use our self-service station.”
There’s also another upcoming event, Networking with Professionals, on Tuesday, December 2nd.
“Networking with professionals is a session that helps people, especially in business and financial spheres, connect with local professionals in that area. They go to different banks or financial institutions, and they get to talk to people that are professionals in that field. Then they get to build connections there, but also learn about what it means to go into that field and what qualifications they need,” Striker said.
The Center for Career Development also held a career fair in Alumni Hall on Advising Day, open to all Gustavus students.