Not Quite a Five Senses
Happy Friday, Deac families. I happened to spend some time in an office that I don’t usually frequent, and at the time I did not sit there and do a proper Five Senses kind of post, but let me share some impressions with you.
My perch was the comfy sofas in the lobby of the OPCD – Office of Personal and Career Development – and I was there for a couple of hours. The OPCD, if your students have not discovered it, is the place where they can go to have resume reviews, mock interviews, career counseling, various types of testing (such as the Myers Briggs) and more. This is a stock photo of a past student, but the view was the same.
Wake Forest junior Connor Godfrey (’14) poses for a photo in the Office of Personal and Career Development on Thursday, June 21, 2012.
While I was here, there were many students who came in for the open resume review appointments. Students come here and check in, and then a career counselor comes out to the lobby and calls the student’s name, then they go back (presumably to an office or a cube) for the counselor to review the resume, offer constructive feedback, etc.
One student came here for a testing appointment. I want to give a big shout out to the student who was working at the OPCD reception desk (a student worker?) There had been a snafu in the appointment and our worker was as polite and customer-service oriented as ever I have seen. The student worker managed to get the student a reschedule of the testing – and for all that it had to have been frustrating to be rescheduled, our guy handled it like an old pro. I was really proud of this student’s professionalism. He also thanked everyone as they were leaving. Really great customer service.
I saw a young lady come for a mock interview. Her career counselor spent a good amount of time with her, probably 30 minutes or more. When they finished, she came out here to fill out what looked like a Mock Interview Evaluation form. I assume that feedback will be helpful to the interviewer for future sessions, but it’s also nice for the young lady to get a chance to reflect on the experience right after it happened, while it is fresh in her mind.
In the sofa area where I was sitting, students would come and go. A couple of guy friends were having a casual conversation with each other about resumes, interview techniques and more. They were sharing strategies about where they might apply for internships, brainstormed together, etc. This space is set up to encourage that kind of friendly collegiality – nice colors, good artwork, flexible seating arrangements. They got it right when they built this area.
Students can come to the OPCD at any point in their WFU career. My argument would be the earlier you get in the pipeline, the more time you’ll have to access the incredible array of support the OPCD can offer.