The Career Development Center was formerly the last place a student stopped when leaving JCCC. It was a place to look for a job, write a résumé and practice an interview.

Now, the Center is one of the first places a college student needs to visit to do a self-evaluation, explore majors and explore careers.

Formerly called Career Services, the Career Development Center, located in SC 252, opened under its new name in fall 2010 with an official open house planned the week of Nov. 15, National Career Development Week. Changes to the Center were implemented as the result of a career services summit involving 20 members from across campus in fall 2009.

Renee Arnett, director/career counselor of the Career Development Center, uses meteorological metaphors to summarize the Center¹s shift in focus.

“Before the Center was an iceberg with only the jobs portion visible above the water, and underneath was the career development piece,” Arnett said.

“Now I see the Center as a tornado where the open end of the funnel cloud is where the career planning process begins. As an individual goes through the process of learning more about themselves, looking at college majors and educational programs and participating in volunteer work and clubs, the process starts to funnel down into a decision about a job.”

 Arnett says the Center was formerly “enabling” students instead of teaching them skills to navigate a lifelong career planning process.

“Statistics indicate that during a lifetime, an individual will have two to three careers, five to seven career transitions and 10 to 12 jobs. You can’t make a decision and be set for life. The process is ongoing,” Arnett said.

So the summit set the goal of teaching skills to decide on a college major, research and select a career, and learn how to find a job. The top priorities in 2010-2011 are reaching undecided students, developing relationships with liberal arts faculty and initiating outreach across campus. The Center serves students, alumni, prospective students, faculty and staff.

In spring 2009, 12 of the center’s staff went through 13 weeks of intensive career development facilitator training taught by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become eligible as credentialed career development facilitators.

The transformed center is turning its website into a virtual front door where students can be guided through the career decision-making process. The center offers fee-based formal assessments (like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile) and many free informal assessments. Since January 2009, the center has tripled the number of offerings of its no-cost Choices Workshop offered to college or high school second-semester juniors or seniors between ages 17 to 35 as a starting point for decisions about college majors and careers.

“Sometimes students come in and say, “I want to take that test that tells me what I should do, what I should be.’ There is no such test,” Arnett said. “These tests give basic information about interests, personality, values, skills and strengths.”

 JCCC data has shown that as many as 66.6 percent of students are in some phase of “deciding about a college major or career goal” and could benefit from career development intervention. A sense of direction about majors and careers increases students’ retention and achievement, according to Arnett.

The website also directs students to 20 CareerSpots videos, 5-minute videos that give tips on topics from interview mistakes to the perils of social networking. For the last three years, the former Academics Major Fair, showcasing college majors and transfer schools, has been part of the fall Campus Kickoff in order to integrate the entire college experience.

“Our career counselors are not going to wait in their offices for students,” Arnett said. “We are going to make intentional connections through Campus Center workshops and collaboration with our peers across campus.”

At the end of the funnel cloud is the job decision. Students can visit the Career Development Center to learn job-search skills, explore job listings, meet with on-campus recruiters, research internships, receive a résumé critique and schedule a mock interview.

“Students who are witnessing the increase in unemployment are much more aware of how important it is to succeed with their career goals,” Arnett said. “We¹re seeing more students who are determined to go to school and find a career that has longevity and one that satisfies their interests, values and supports the use of their natural talents.”

The Career Development Center is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, on the second floor of the Student Center. Contact the Center at 913-469-3870.