Advising and Career Center offers major help
Virginia McPhee assists students looking for a major, employment

A college student without a major is a bit like a bride without a groom.

To help these undecided students, UCC started a free career planning program fall term. The Advising and Career Service Center, located in the Campus Center, helps college students choose a major and explore career options. Students who already have a major can sign up for job shadowing or interviews with local business employees to make sure their career choice fits well.

One of the ways Virginia McPhee, the center’s career development support specialist, helps students learn about different careers is by coordinating informational interviews between students and local business owners or their employees. In these interviews, students can find out what a professional does in a particular job, which in turn helps the student prepare for that career or occupation path.

Deborah Meyer, a UCC counselor, speaks highly of McPhee’s abilities to help UCC students figure out their futures. “She has many ties to community businesses and serves as a valuable link between students and potential employers.”

Linking students with local employers so that they’ll be more workplace ready is just one of several resources McPhee uses to help students learn more about career paths. Twice each term she offers events such as career fairs, dinners and workshops. If enough students sign up, McPhee would like to offer a mock job interview practice Feb. 8 as one of the Center’s events for winter. McPhee helps students make sure their resume is in good shape and can give them advice on how to dress for an interview.

McPhee can also set students up with a job shadow. In a job shadow, a student follows a business employer or employee for a day to get a true feel for a certain career. McPhee also helps students identify their strengths and employment desires.

The Center offers some cooperative educational opportunities. Local businesses and employees provide students with opportunities to apply what they are learning to real life work experience. Other employers may come to college classrooms and observe what students are learning.

“We have got to get people placed in jobs; it’s imperative,” says Meyer. The center is always looking for community members to volunteer their time in this new program. “We want to help ignite people’s passion and give students encouragement.”

Meyer and McPhee both agree that the earlier a student comes in to the program the better, but they can help students no matter where they are in their educational journey. When I asked McPhee why she likes doing her job she stated “I want to help people so they don’t get years down the road and become unhappy with their career.”

In the meantime, McPhee says the number one thing a student can do to help them obtain employment in a desirable field is to get their name out in the community. She calls this networking and claims that all students need to do this, whether they have decided on a major or not. Meyers adds, “Referrals are magic.”

Students can sign up for the program online at www.umpqua.edu/career-network. This website has lots of information for students interested in signing up and a list of workshops. Students can also follow the program on Facebook, which posts events and links to career information and career exploration sites.

The Mainstream is a student publication of Umpqua Community College.