On the second floor of DSU, the Academic Advising and Career Development Center offers job resources and counseling to all students at any point in their careers. Tucked away in a corner room, the center is often overlooked by students that roam the campus. 

“You know we exist,” Becky Tinker said, the Associate Director of the Academic Advising and Career Development Center. “You have to look for the information. We are in students’ lives weekly, sometimes daily.” 

If students open their eyes to center, they will see all of the resources that are available to them as they search for the next step in their career.

“What’s at our core is helping students figure out what they want to do when they finish their education at WKU,” Tinker said. “So, graduate school, full-time jobs, part-time jobs, internships — it’s all-encompassing.”

They offer a multitude of services, but among the best resources are the career coaches. These coaches specialize in resume reviews, practice interviews, internship assistance, personal branding and more.

Tinker said there are four career coaches in the center and they offer services that allow the student to breathe. 

“A lot of times students think that they’re planning for the rest of their lives,” Tinker said. “Because you talk to a grown up and they’ll ask, ‘what’s your five-year plan? What’s your ten-year plan?’ That doesn’t exist anymore. We talk about your two-year plan.”

Aside from the career coaches, the center also offers resume help, job shadowing, graduate school applications and more. Students can either visit the center by a 10-minute walk-in meeting or by scheduling a 30-minute appointment. 

The center launched a new resource in the fall called the Career Studio, in which students can work on applications and research with other students.

“The career studio is designed so when people are working on these tasks that are lonely, you can camp out all day long and work on these things in a room of other people,” Tinker said. “There’s trained staff members that can answer your questions. If students would come and use it, they would find that there’s a ton of resources that they can use and they can be in the company of others that are doing that similar journey.”

Students may even know about some of the resources that the center offers like career fairs, Handshake, presentations by faculty or even employers that are recruiting students for internships and jobs. 

The center is open to undergrads, graduate students, incoming freshman and WKU alumni. They can even help students that do not know what they want their next step to be.

“It’s never too late and it’s never too early,” Tinker said. “Our whole focus is that we want you to cross the stage at commencement with an opportunity in one hand and your diploma in the other.”

WKU Career Services focuses on exploration, education and the experience of students as they find the next step in their careers. 

“There are faculty, staff, advisors, but that’s our whole focus,” Tinker said of other job resources on campus. “The world of work is changing quickly, and we stay abreast of all the changes.”

The Academic Advising and Career Development Center is located in DSU Room 2001, and appointments can be made by email  or phone. The center is open Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

“Do we need to see more students?” Tinker asked. “Heck, yeah. Not because there’s a mandate, but because what we offer is so freaking amazing.”

Features reporter Julianna Lowe can be reached at 270-745-6291 and [email protected]. Follow Julianna on social media at @juliannalowe.