By Tristian Evans/reporter
People should choose a job they find interesting rather than base the choice on money, said the South Campus career center coordinator during Career Exploration: Develop a Strategic Career Plan Oct. 21.
Monica Miranda encouraged students to pick a future career they are passionate about. She handed out worksheets that had the students list their strengths and weaknesses in certain areas, their hobbies outside of school and their ideal work environment. She said she wanted to get the attendees thinking about the things they like to do.
“Some people don’t know what they like,” she said. “So they just choose any major or [try] to get any job.”
Miranda also discussed the dangers of choosing a career just for the money or job security.
“Five or 10 years down the road, [those people] start hating the job,” she said. “They get burned out.”
Miranda said students should think about their personal likes and dislikes. To illustrate her point, she used the example of someone who couldn’t stand the sight of blood. She suggested that it probably wouldn’t be good for that person to go into nursing.
“Sometimes, your personality doesn’t fit with [a] particular career,” she said.
Miranda also invited Marjorie Tucker, a career navigator for the Women’s Center of Tarrant County, to speak to students. The Women’s Center helps its clients develop interview skills, find internships, learn how to dress professionally for interviews and gain many other skills they will need when job hunting. Tucker said students should seek out internships to gain experience while they are still in college.
“Companies aren’t hiring people right out of [college anymore] because they don’t have any experience,” she said.
“In today’s job market, having experience is crucial.”
Tucker said internships help people not only gain hands-on experience but also determine if they really want to work in that particular field.
As the seminar came to a close, both Miranda and Tucker briefly touched on the importance of volunteering if students could not find an internship right away, particularly for nursing majors.
“Volunteering is important in any job,” Miranda said. “It gives students an idea of their work environment.”
South Campus student Shirley Favors said she found the session beneficial.
“The [seminar] was helpful,” she said. “It had some good insights on how to get yourself out there in the job market.”
