For many students, the idea of looking for employment or internship opportunities during or after their time at NC State can feel daunting. I spoke with Marcy Bullock, director of the professional development team for the Career Development Center at NC State to learn more about the numerous resources available to students looking to find internships, employment, advice and information on campus– as well as to learn more about upcoming events hosted by the career center such as the CHASS career fair and Career Con.
Marcy Bullock describes her role in the career center as “overseeing all things related to career decisions,” or, as she describes it “making a career identity.” She also works with students towards developing career readiness– forming goals and looking at the tools available to students to achieve those goals as they transition into the workforce. I asked Bullock what sort of questions she often receives from students who come to the career center, as well as her answers.
“People have some social anxiety,” Bullock stated. “They say, ‘I’m scared to go to a career fair. What if I mess up? What if I stumble? What if I don’t do the right thing and people laugh at me?’ We’re doing a lot to just help students gain confidence to believe in themselves, and that is a big theme.”
Bullock expressed how many students feel paralyzed, unsure of what to do and what options they have. To this, Bullock offered some reassurance.
“You’re not alone, that’s my biggest piece of advice,” Bullock advised. “You are at a place where you’re about to do something you’ve never done before, because you’ve never gotten an internship, or a co-op, or transitioned to a full-time employee and been an adult. You’ve been a student your whole life; any time we do something for the first time it’s scary, and we’re not going to do it perfectly right. Just know that we’re here to support you.”
The Career Development Center, Bullock explained, has a number of avenues through which students can seek consultation. Students are able to drop in without an appointment virtually on Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., or in-person at the Academic Success Center on Tuesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., or at Pullen Hall on Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Ms. Bullock explained that the benefit of drop-ins is that you don’t even have to be certain of your questions, you can come seeking support in any form.
“You can just say: ‘I heard the Career Center was here to support me,’ and then we just start a conversation with you. Don’t even worry about having your resume ready or what questions you’re supposed to ask.”
Along with drop-ins, students are also able to schedule appointments so that they can ensure a time-slot is available for them; appointments are able to be scheduled through E-Pack, an excellent resource through which the career center also manages student profiles, appointments, events, recruiters and workshops. Ms. Bullock explained to me in more detail how E-Pack functions, as well as some of the benefits of using it.
“E-Pack is our database that we use to track all of the employers that are interested in talking to anyone that has one of our degrees,” Bullock explained. “There’s all these entry level talent acquisition managers from companies around the world who target university talent. They get an account with E-Pack, and then they can post their opportunities, their internships, their co-ops, their jobs for entry-level seniors transitioning to the workforce.”
Using E-Pack, students are able to filter and search for the specific opportunities they feel are most applicable to their major or career paths. Students are also able to set up keywords related to the fields they wish to work in, and when an opportunity fitting a student’s requirements is uploaded to E-Pack the student will receive an email alerting them– reducing the time spent searching for applicable positions and streamlining the process. E-Pack can also be downloaded as an app onto your phone, making it even more accessible. Another resource that Bullock brought to my attention was Ask the Pack, an application that connects current NC State students with alumni in their field of interest.
“Ask the Pack uses artificial intelligence to search 250,000 alums from NC State,” stated Bullock. “If they find someone that matches, they actually do the introduction to the alum. The alums all are in the database through the alumni society.”
Alumni are able to then either opt out of contacting the student or reach out via email to provide advice or talk about their experience in their field. Ask the Pack is an excellent way to become connected with those previously attending NC State, and to gain insight into how their careers have progressed since their graduation. Much like E-Pack, it also eliminates some of the anxieties that come with cold-emailing or the frustrations that can come with not receiving a reply when reaching out for advice. I took the time to explore the Ask the Pack website on my own and I was delighted to find that Ask the Pack guides you through crafting your message professionally, even providing video resources on how to write a successful inquiry. Another resource Bullock brought to my attention, and one that is quite new, is the career center’s podcast: Pack Career Chats. These bite-sized episodes cover topics such as how to spot a micromanager, how to put bullet points on a resume and one of the most recent additions: ADHD in the workforce. The podcast can be found on SoundCloud, and is an excellent resource for quick advice.
Along with exploring the various resources available through the career center, Bullock also talked with me about two upcoming events for students to interact with employers and learn more about employment opportunities past NC State: Career Con and the Career Fair.
“Career Con is kind of like comic-con, but it’s for your future,” Bullock said. “We have a wonderful keynote speaker who is going to be coming in as an consultant for the work world. She’s going to talk about 4 generations in the workforce, and how you can be successful.”
Bullock described Career Con as a relaxed environment where students can attend talks and panels, mingling amongst their peers and learning valuable advice regarding how to approach their futures and hearing the experiences of others who have seen success. The career fair is a bit more formal, students are able to walk up to booths hosted by potential employers and speak to various representatives.
“You can look online to see who’s coming, and there’s actually a separate app called Career Fair +,” Bullock informed me. “You can do a little research on them, and it’ll have their website link, and what internships and jobs they have open.”
Career fairs and related events happen regularly throughout the school year and are catered specifically to the various majors and colleges throughout NC State– meaning that students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences can easily connect with companies with which they share career ambitions and interests.
Throughout my interview with Bullock, I learned much about the resources available to me as a student, many of which I had never heard of before. The accessibility of tools such as E-Pack and Career Fair +, as well as the wealth of events occurring throughout the semester, stand as a testament to the dedication that Bullock, alumni, ambassadors and employees at the Career Development Center have to helping students achieve their ambitions and meet their goals.
This article is by Dmitri Campbell, a Department of Sociology and Anthropology student ambassador majoring in anthropology.
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