Career Center News
January in the Career Center
February 05, 2025
By Katie Chitwood, Career Center Writing and Communications Intern
The Career Center Monthly is 1 year old! Not only are we celebrating a year of being able to share the incredible career events, opportunities, and resources that 2024 brought, but we’re toasting to YOU - our readers who provide the Career Center with the support to make these highlights possible.
After hosting over 30 events just this January, we’re excited to share that 2025 is already on track to be another successful year helping students explore career paths, build their professional networks, and prepare for their futures. Get ready to read about how you can Engage, Connect, and Discover how you can be a part of the fun with us!
Engage
Here at the Career Center, we know that market needs are
constantly shifting; as new jobs are created by the hour, one of our
primary goals is to create events and promote opportunities that allow
our students to explore careers in the hottest fields. So, following
the successful release of the Work Like a
Laker podcast episode, “What It’s
Really Like to Work in a Lab,” our team collaborated with
faculty members Joe Jacquot, head of the Biology Department, and
Richard Lord from the Chemistry Department to put together a brand new
event: Careers in Lab Sciences. In response to the growing
needs from these departments and the job market in general, we hoped
to inform students about professional opportunities in lab environments.
Though hosting an event at the beginning of the semester is always a risk for low turn-out as students test the waters in new classes, we happily pushed forward to make sure that our GVSU departments were fully supported by our services and attendees could maximize the limited semester time to build their network, explore career paths, and develop their professional skills. Looking back, that’s a decision we would make again and again! This first-time event debuted as our most-attended career event in January; over 100 students showed up to talk with employers from Corewell Health, the Van Andel Institute, Perrigo, and more.
Connect
Working with GVSU Alumni Relations, our team recently hosted an
exciting and uplifting alumni webinar, Neurodiversity in the
Workplace! Led by Laurel Buck, a GVSU alum and the Statewide
Employment Advocacy Leader with the Autism Alliance of Michigan, the
event provided attendees with inspiring insights into Autism Spectrum
Disorder and neurodiversity in professional settings. Topics covered
included workplace accommodations under the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), best practices for disclosure and inclusion,
and ways to foster a supportive and thriving culture for diverse thinkers.
We were happy to provide the attendees with a comprehensive resource guide to help inform how their businesses can implement inclusive hiring and workplace practices and make it easier than ever to create welcoming and innovative environments. Hosting events like Neurodiversity in the Workplace is such an honor; we were ecstatic to see the beginning of so many new, meaningful conversations that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the professional world. Stay tuned for future Career Center events like these that are designed to empower and support alumni at every stage of their journey!
Discover
Did you know Grand Valley has a tool to help students optimize
their resumes? Encourage students to get their resume reviewed through
the free Resume AI tool, or even create an assignment using the
resource. Here’s how it works:
- Access the Tool: Log in to Resume AI using GVSU network credentials. Once logged in, students should select “Scan” from the top toolbar.
- Begin a New Scan: Students can choose “Resume AI” to begin a new scan and click “Scan my Resume Now.” This prompts them to enter the position title, company, and paste the job description into the provided text box.
- Customize the Scan: Students should scroll to the last option under the scoring guide, “Resume w/Job Description,” and select it. If applying to graduate programs, they can choose the “Graduate School Resume” option instead.
- Upload and Scan: After uploading their resume, students click “Scan Resume” to generate personalized feedback.
- Submit Scoring Guide: If using this as a classroom assignment, students can copy and paste the scoring guide into a new document and upload it along with their resume to Blackboard.
This tool provides excellent feedback on grammar, format, ATS compatibility, and more! By using Resume AI, students can refine their resumes with targeted insights, increasing their chances of landing their desired roles or programs.