Written by Kathleen Chaves

Published on April 1, 2016

Many students do not really know what they want to do for their career once they start college. Many do not know how to apply for a job. The Career Services center here at HCC will help students figure out these things and more.

There is a team of coordinators in the department that will help students with everything from choosing a career to helping them get an internship. Students can visit the office in A111 in Lafayette and set up a meeting. They can also visit the career services page on the Housatonic website and get contact information for Phil Dante or Anisha Thomas, the two coordinators.

With this meeting they can get one-on-one counseling to help them with their career struggles. Students can take a survey or various other career assessments that will help them with anything from figuring out a career to even finding out which courses they will be interested in taking for the semester.

These Career Development Coordinators will review resumes or cover letters and help with future internships.

Dante said, “We represent HCC at Internship Roundtable meetings sponsored by The Business Council of Fairfield County. These meetings are held monthly except during the summer, and major corporations such as Frontier Communications, Nestle Waters, Deloitte, Priceline.com, Starwood Hotels, NBC Universal and Indeed Jobs are among the participants.”

They directly source internships with employers that students will have access to.

Much of the service’s information is on the HCC website,.  However, Dante, who is also connected with the FORWARD program, elaborates, “This program is grant funded and has been with the school for three years. It is funded through the Department of Labor. We are one of seven colleges that offer this program. In Connecticut, it is Housatonic and Central Connecticut State University. They are non-credit courses for both Health Professions and Information Technology.”

Any student can have access to this program. The FORWARD Program puts students in touch with internships and gives students access to certifications such as Nursing Aide and Patient Care Technician for Health programs and CompTIA A+ for Information Technology.

The Career Services center conducts various workshops that help with everything from resume writing, interviewing techniques, and how to do an effective job search. These workshops cover even more than just resumes and job searches.

The Career Services center is also connected with a website that is called www.collegecentral.com that lists job opportunities for students and recent alumni. According to Dante, this network is “available to all students via the website. They have the availability to post their resumes on it. They have the availability to look at job postings that companies send us. They can also look at job postings that other colleges in the network have gotten. It isn’t limited to just the Bridgeport area.”

The website is available on the Career Services page on the Housatonic website. Students just have to make an account, which has to get approved by someone from the career services center. Once it is approved students can look at various jobs or internships all over the country.

HCC nursing student Lisette Soleto didn’t know of this service that was offered.

“I have been here since 2012. I didn’t know we had this, but I will look into it. It’s nice knowing that we have this as something to reference to in case we have any questions.”

Sotelo asked, “Will they help if someone isn’t sure if they think they’re going with the right major? What if they wanted to find out a different field of their major?”

She was informed that they will help put a student on the track that will best fit them. Sotelo also commented,“I like that I can get in touch with them easily through phone or email if I have any questions. It’s difficult to find help usually with my work and school schedule.”