By Greta Lieske
IV Leader Editor
Looking for a full-time or part-time job? An internship?
Just need guidance and help exploring a career? Career Services, located in
E-link, is an Illinois Valley Community College service that offers help in all
these areas and more.
“It’s a worthy tool,” said Coordinator of Career Services
Sharon Barthelemy, and she wants students to know that “there’s a place on
campus that will help [students] explore and decide on a career; a place for
[students] to look for full-time, part-time jobs and internships.”
Career Services offers help online as well as one-on-one
help. “One thing I want to make sure [students] know is that we have structured
our Web site so that [they] can get help 24/7. Just get on the internet and go;
it’s all available,” said Barthelemy. Anyone can access the Career Services Web
site, www.ivcc.edu/cs, from IVCC’s homepage and can find information on job
opportunities, internships in ccjobnet.com, tips on the job search process and
the Walt Disney World cooperative work study program.
Postings are also available on different workshops for job
searching and career planning that are occurring in the area. Barthelemy noted
that the Web site, ww.ivcc.edu/barthelemy, is full of “tons of information.”
Also online is CareerCruising, at www.careercruising.com,
which is career exploration assistance. “It is a tool that provides an
interest-based assessment that gives detailed descriptions of the top 40 careers
suited to your career interests” said Barthelemy. Anyone can create their own
online portfolio and store assessment results along with searched career
information. Those interested can also search for schools, get financial aid
information and create a resume.
Appointments can also be made for one-on-one help for resume
writing assistance, resume critiquing and mock interviews. According to
Barthelemy, those who take advantage of one-on-one appointments “usually kind of
know what they need help with” before they come in. “Sometimes it’s career
decision making; they don’t know what program to study,” said Barthelemy. “So,
they’ll come to me for that. They might come because they might need a resume
and they don’t know how to go about it. Usually those are the two, or they might
come because they need a job or an internship.”
But, even if someone is unsure what exactly they need help
with, Barthelemy and Career Services will always try to help them, she said.
“When they come I just listen to them and talk to them and try to figure out how
I can help them. And if it is not available in our offices we will still try to
be a resource to help them get where they need to be.”
Career Services office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday and evenings by appointment. For information, contact Barthelemy
or Administrative Assistant Lisa Witalka at 815-224-0214 or 815-224-0502.