CC: What does a career coach do?

Jeffrey Brown: I do a lot of things, I help students with career paths and I work out of the tech center so I’m connected there and I can help students decide if they want to take classes there. I can help with FAFSA, I can help with college applications, I can help with job applications, resume writing, mock interviews, anything career oriented, point you in the right direction. If you’re not sure what you want to do I have all kinds of little tools I can use to help you. See what your interests are, see what your strengths are and kind of put those together for after high school.

Q: What would you discuss with a student to help them?

A: Well it depends on the situations they need help with. I start by talking to them about what they need, see what your interests are, see what your strengths are, and kind of put those together and kind of make a plan for what to do after high school. If their not sure where their headed I can email them the links to the different workshops we have the different programs that will help them figure things out, we will talk over those results and see if it points them in a direction, and help them either find colleges that either teach them what they found they want to do or show them career options on how to get there. So it’s just a matter of sitting down and talking.

Q: How do you think your job will help students?

A: Well, hopefully I can point people in the right direction and show them options they didn’t think of. Sometimes we get single minded on what we think we want to do or “Oh I can make so much money doing this thing”. Maybe you have a different interest like engineering but I hate math, and that doesn’t really go together. It’s tempting and you can learn it eventually, but we’re trying to help find something that goes with your skills and hopefully what’s going on. Hopefully we can find some new ideas. Maybe you didn’t have or reinforce ideas you do have, so maybe you do want to be an engineer and we can help you discover that it is the right path because sometimes people make a decision and then they’re nervous about it. Some of our tools may help to say “Oh yeah that’s the right place”.

Q: Can you give me an example of when you have helped a student and it has worked out?

A:Well I’ve just started in October so haven’t had too many things yet, but I have had a student recently. We have this new tool called YouScience and what it is a little set of brain games to help you learn about yourself and it’s good to know your strengths and weaknesses and help explore career options and all the details on what that job is. I had a student recently who just wasn’t quite sure where she was at, or what she was going to do what direction she should go. I had her take the quiz and see her results and everything was like “Yup that’s me” and everything we went through it just helped her to see the path, and pointed her in the right direction.

Q: Where can students find or get in contact with you?

A: I am usually in the current college office, there is a QR code by the front door, with all the upcoming events of the college and career center. Also I have hours over at the tech center, I’m over there usually on Thursdays, so students can either stop by and see me or they can scan the QR code and schedule a time to meet or they can just email me at [email protected], and they can reach out to me that way and see what we can do.