You’re Not Behind: Career Planning and Transfer Insights from NIU Career Counselors

In today’s episode, host Pierre Michiels interviews Teri Schmidgall and Edward Heard, career counselors from Northern Illinois University’s Career Services. They discuss how students—especially those transferring—can use reflection, exploration, and intentional planning to clarify career goals and build momentum. After listening, we hope you have a better understanding of navigating academic and career transitions with confidence. 

Full episode transcript can be found on the episode page. Below is a general timestamp summary.  

00:00–03:00 | Welcome and Episode Focus: Pierre introduces the Career Ready Podcast and welcomes NIU career counselors Teri Schmidgall and Edward Heard.

03:00–08:00 | Understanding Career Exploration Early On: The guests discuss how students begin choosing majors—often unintentionally—and emphasize that career decision-making is a process. They introduce exploration as a key first step, encouraging curiosity, exposure, and self-reflection.

08:00–14:00 | Reflection During Transition Periods: The conversation centers on transfer students and the importance of pausing to reflect on accomplishments, skills, and experiences before moving to a four-year institution. Updating resumes and documenting progress are highlighted as critical practices.

14:00–20:00 | From Exploration to Intentional Planning: Teri and Edward explain how exploration leads into planning, including researching careers, reviewing job postings early, and understanding employer expectations. Planning is framed as flexible and non-linear.

20:00–26:00 | Hitting the Ground Running as a Transfer Student: Advice is shared on how transfer students can quickly engage with campus resources, career services, and academic departments to maximize limited time and avoid feeling behind.

26:00–33:00 | Internships and Experiential Learning: The guests discuss internships as career “tryouts,” how to prepare for the search, and how part-time work, leadership, and volunteer experiences also build valuable skills.

33:00–41:00 | Networking and Career Progress: Emphasis is placed on networking, maintaining professional relationships, and focusing on progress rather than comparison. Students are encouraged to take small, consistent steps forward.

41:00–49:00 | Employer Expectations and Skills-Based Hiring: The discussion shifts to trends in hiring, including the growing importance of relevant experience and transferable skills over GPA alone, and how students can communicate their value effectively.

49:00–60:00 | Career Tools, Resources, and Final Advice: NIU resources such as Husky Career Launchpad, Forage simulations, and career fairs are shared. The episode concludes with encouragement for students to take ownership of their career journey while using available support.

Listeners in the College of DuPage community can visit our website. All other listeners are encouraged to view the resources of their local community college, WIOA training programs, or other local support centers.

Send us YOUR Listener Questions at careerpodcast@cod.edu

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn @codcareercenter

Transcript

Welcome to the Career Ready podcast.

Learn about resumes, cover letters,
LinkedIn, interviewing and all things

need to be career ready
with the Career Service Center at College.

DuPage. I'm your host, Pierre Michiels.

I'm excited to have two guests with me
today.

Teri Schmidgall and Edward Heard,

both our career counselors
from the Career Services Center

or Career Services Office
at Northern Illinois University.

Our conversation revolves around
transferring, but more specifically using

their time to reflect on career goals
and different transition phases.

Thank you both for being here.

Great, thanks. Thanks for.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you. Great to be here.

Yeah. So I'm excited.

I am a double husky.

I graduated from NIU twice.

So, excited to have both of you here.

And I didn't get to know
you guys when I was a student.

So if you don't mind, can both of you
share?

Just, a quick introduction, or,
as we like to say, your elevator pitch.

For sure.

I mean, we heard on one of the career
council said,

Northern Illinois
University career Services.

Passionate about helping students
find their way

not only through college but,
throughout, all of life.

Specifically their career path.

It's a journey.

And I love walking alongside students
as they figure life out.

I provide holistic counseling,
so I address

various needs in addition to career
related concerns.

I'm glad to be here today.

And I'm Teri Schmidgall.

I'm a career counselor
with the new career services.

I, also work with students

individually in, individual career
counseling.

Typical topics of career decision making,

major exploration, career exploration.

And then further on in,

figuring out how to get

experience and, 
also getting ready for graduate school.

I've been at NIU for 19 years,

and, we have a wealth of experience
between the two of us,

and we're excited
to talk about your transition.

I thank you both.

I'm excited to have this conversation
with you.

Obviously, this is, conversation,
a field I'm passionate about as well.

So as we get started here, just kind of
thinking of that student journey.

And early on, many will choose, a major,

but they're not even realizing

that they're choosing a major at that time

or just kind of going
through those processes.

And then as life goes
on, their experiences, they're starting

to, realize their different
academic and career goals.

But do you have any suggestions
on how students can get a head start

on gaining that clarity of this process?

So one of the things that, good question.

So one of the things that I usually try
to frame

with students in this process is,

you're spending more time on this

then probably anything
you've spent in your life so far.

So and these are big decisions.

So one of the kind of,
a model that I like is

if you're thinking about a major
and then you're thinking, well,

what am I going to do with that major?

That is one approach.

Meaning
what is the career related to that major?

Some students like that approach

because they can narrow
in on a major that they're

interested in, that they want to learn.

You know, the content
that they want to learn.

That they're hopefully excited
to go to that 8 a.m.

class.

That they'll be able to,

get through some of the courses
that maybe aren't as interesting.

Because they have a, you know,
they're starting to get a goal in mind.

And then some students take it

the opposite way they're looking at
they have a career in mind,

and then they're going
through this process

of trying to figure out what is the major
that's going to get them there.

So some students would take that approach
like a little bit more broadly

in, you know, I'd have a major in mind
and then I'll figure out the career

and other students
will have a career in mind.

And then I got to figure out the major.

So, in terms of getting a head start
or getting started

on that process, we kind of use a little

model of,

exploration, and then getting more

specifically into planning
and then getting more specifically

into pursuing and pursue means do
is the thing that I always like to say.

So the exploration process is something

where you're really doing self-reflection
and self assessment in some cases.

And looking at what do I like?

Interests,
skills, values, personality, style,

would be some factors to think about
and actually

spending some time in exploring, you know,
what are your strengths?

What are you bringing to the table?

And also hopefully getting the chance
to talk to people in these fields

that you may be interested in
or as part of an exploration, process.

And then

I guess when you say get a head start or,

or thinking about that early, it's

it doesn't just happen.

You have to be involved in that process.

You have to think about
what's important to me.

What do I want to get out of my education?

How am I spending my time?

And, what kind of relationships do
I need to make?

What kind of connections do
I need to make?

And, as you're getting,
you know, if you're finishing up time

at the community college,
also looking ahead to, you know,

what am I going to do
to continue this exploration and excuse me

if I'm still in that mode
and getting connected to people

at that next school
that are going to help me,

you know, move on from exploration to more
the actual planning and the pursuing.

Now, I
would add to that, to meet students

who, are transferring and deciding
on their majors or career paths.

One thing is to to stay, curious.

So often in the transition,

students
and get, overwhelmed with the transition

of what's going on in this new space

of whelmed or excited.

There'll be a lot of things
that will demand their attention

or that they're interested in that
they want to try out.

But with regard to major change
careers, it's just to stay, stay,

stay curious and to have, conversations

with faculty, staff, students and so forth

and to really become aware
of what energizes them.

So that's what I mean by stay thoughtful.

Because if

they have different experiences
and they've already had some experiences,

they can begin to put it all together.

Realize what energizes me, you know, and,
and those thoughts,

those inner conversations
and those outer conversations,

our conversations with others
and direct them toward a specific nature.

I help to concretize the choice that they
they've been really

considering for some time.

Yeah.

All great information.

I want to throw one more thing in here.

And I think you guys
are talking about this.

But the word that really comes to my mind
as I hear you

speaking is the idea of exposure, right?

You know, exposure to these different
things, exposure to different classes.

Right. Talking about.

Oh, I really enjoy this class.

And now let me, you know, think about
the future, how that class could line up.

But so often times

sometimes we take like safe
classes, easy classes

or like we're living in our bubble, right?

And so just, that's

what I'm hearing you guys talk about
is going outside your bubble.

And then, you know, incorporating some
of these other things as you move forward

and also defining your bubble.

So bubbles on inherently bad. Right.

But but I understand the concept, but,
but define it.

And as what you said,

you know, I think it's important
you don't have to walk a straight line.

A straight line.

That's not not how most careers go.

Straight line.

And so when you take your, your set,
when students take their set classes,

as they should meet with academic advisors
to stay on track

because college is time and money.

So that's important.

But also what
you said of going outside and exploring,

checking out other courses,

within a major or minor
or even if some are still a complete

and prereqs can give them exposure to,

other areas of interest,

work wise or academic wise,

that will allow them to continually
update their decision making.

So we I often emphasize to students
that career decision making is not,

a one time thing,
but it's an ongoing process.

Yeah.

So I think that's a great way to,
transition into our, next question here.

It's an ongoing process.

Right.

So me speaking from a community college
perspective,

we have students
that are then transferring off

to the four year school, going off to NYU
or wherever they're going.

And this is a great time

to do some of that reflection
because it is that ongoing process.

So what are your tips for students
that are,

going through this transition phase?

So this is one of my favorite ideas here
in, it is a good time for reflection

if it's, finishing up

potentially at the community college
and going on to another institution.

It's time to give yourself a moment.

And we have spring break coming up
momentarily here.

Depending on
when someone's listening to this and,

sit down with yourself, have a cup of
coffee and really think about

what did I accomplish
and what am I proud of from my time

at the community college or what
I've done for the last 2 or 3 years?

Right.

And that reflection,

on your accomplishments,
it could be an academic accomplishment.

It could be,

you know, your GPA, if that's what you're
proud of, for example.

It could be, leadership activities,

all these things that you may have done,
or it could be work.

Completely acknowledging that, you know,
maybe I was taking classes part time.

I've been working this whole time, but,
you know, giving your self credit for what

you accomplished in this first part
of your educational journey.

And, we might say this a bunch of times
today, but, like, write it down.

I mean, I mean, reflect on it, but don't
just think about it, actually document it.

And this first time I'm saying this today,
but it might be a matter of

it's time to update your resume now.

So before you get ready to transfer or
before you go on to that next institution.

So those accomplishments
from your community college time

are fresh on your mind, and you wrote
some good bullet points on the resume.

You reflected on the things that you did
from your, community college.

It's also going to be a good time to,
like you said before, kind of reassess

your goals.

What are you proud of from the time
at the community college?

What skills did you develop

from that time at the community
college and, you know, updating the resume

as a way to do that, maybe jotting down
some interview answers and, you know,

your elevator pitch, you know,
what are you bringing with you?

That's the thing that Edward
and I talked about yesterday.

What are you bringing with
you from your community college experience

to this next part
of your educational experience?

And it's also a time
if you are doing some of that reflection.

And sometimes that's hard
because you might say, well,

I didn't accomplish as much as I want to,

so that could be some motivation
for this next part.

If you're transferring to the four year
institution, what are you looking out for?

What are you really going to be
intentional about?

Seeking out what are the skills
that you want to develop?

What are the competencies
that you want to develop?

And, you're fully formed
with what you've already done

and you know, the other parts of your life
and in your previous education.

But not fully formed. Sorry.

You're still in for me.

You're still forming.

But,
you know, you're not leaving that behind.

It's coming with you.

And, you're going to build on it.

Hopefully at that next institution.

Three. Take inventory.

The ongoing inventory.

It should be an honest inventory.

So often, it's these new students

come upon more so than often

what I lack rather than what I have.

So that could be both encouraging
and discouraging, depending

on which direction they are in the lean
into during their reflection time.

But they don't have to reflect alone.

So now reflection, as Teri
say, can be overcome.

Copy by themselves or with someone else.

Mentor.

Fetzer certainly career services

and that inventory.

Well, allow them to maximize
the opportunities then at the university.

That's why that's so important.

And it's all right if that reflection

that that inventory is self inventory is.

I totally don't know what's going on.

Totally know what I want to do. Loans.

That's a great

testament because it is what it is now.

Take advantage of resources
and we'll walk alongside.

Yeah, I definitely think it's a lot better
to do that

reflection and say I'm lost, as opposed
to just go through the motions

and not realize your loss
and not do anything about it.

So I love hearing,
what you guys are talking about

as far as really assessing
where you're at,

what you've liked, what you haven't, like,
what you're good at.

Maybe the those gaps, those things
you need to be working on

and then, tie it
right back into something

you mentioned, Teri, using the resume
as part of this process.

You know, it's very common that,
you know,

we even as professionals
don't update that resume.

Right?
But to, kind of make it a practice.

And, you know, you mentioned, you know,
the question was about,

you know, transferring here.

But then again, Teri, you mentioned
that idea of spring break, right?

Or then, you know, summer break,
you know, winter break.

You know, the end of the semester
is like these different mile markers,

not just in our life,
but like through our year

are really good times to be doing this.

So I appreciate you guys
throwing all that in there.

Right.

It is a good I mean, spring break
if you have one is great.

If you are transferring and you're going
to be like a traditional transfer,

possibly
starting in the fall of the next year,

you know, hopefully your summer is busy
with preparing for that transfer.

And, but before you get into all of that
with like, the orientations

and getting to advising meetings
and all these other things are moving,

of course, if that's on your plate,
maybe it's maybe it's time, you know that.

What would that be?

Mid-May, late May, where you could
maybe spend some of that time on the

updating and,

kind of reassessing
that would be good time if you have it.

Yeah.

And so we've been talking
about kind of this, reassessment

more so on that,
you know, exploration stage.

But at some point

we have to transition from the exploration
to really,

planning for that career readiness
and going from there.

So do you have specific steps within that
that you would encourage?

And does any you have any programs or,

supports to go along with this?

if you've been through the explorer,
it isn't it isn't always sequential.

That is also something
that we're important to point out.

You might feel like, well, you know,
I did all the exploration.

Now I'm ready to move on to the next step.

Okay.

But if you did all that exploration
and it made you change your mind

about something, 
then you have to come up with a new plan.

So, thinking about the planning stage.

One of the things that I really try
to emphasize

is making intentional choices to grow

your career, grow your plan.

And,

so, if, if,

when we're talking
about the planning stage,

you know, I'm not saying,
you know, you're applying

for all these opportunities or internships
just yet.

It's more getting familiar with,

what is necessary
for the career that you're interested in.

What are the skills
that are necessary for this?

The the career that you're interested in?

What are the ones that you already have,
or what are the ones that you need to

work on?

And how do you figure that out is
you look at career information.

So there's tons of tools and resources

to tell you, you know, this is
what is required for a certain career.

And how is that part of your plan?

Well, you need to know that so you can
make choices to develop those skills.

So looking at career information,
there are all kinds of tools.

Career services has tools, for,

occupational, research.

We even have a tool that provides

simulations where students can test out

what it's like to work in a certain fields
through, video lessons.

We have data about,

what alumni are doing in their careers.

And one of my favorite

bits of planning
is actually looking at job postings

2 or 3 years before you're going
to be applying for those jobs.

Because you want to get familiar with
what are the qualifications?

I mean, real concrete qualifications.

What do they say?

What do employers say that they want?

And that's something
for you to have in your mind

so that you can plan
for getting those skills there,

getting those qualifications.

If you wait until

January of your year
that you're going to graduate in May,

you know, you may have not been compiling
those qualifications.

So, that is to me, it's
one of the really concrete things

that you can do to to plan.

I'll just throw one more in here
and then I'll ever talk.

But the other part of planning
is getting advice.

So, talk to and talk to your advisors.

Talk to your faculty members.

And then depending on the institution

that you go
to, you may have access to employers.

So not just looking at job postings,

but actually getting a chance
to talk to employers

before you apply, before
you're in the internship

search, before you're in the full time
job search.

Because you can come to a career fair,
you can ask them questions.

You know, how do I prepare myself

to be the best candidate
for this internship next semester?

And getting it straight from them.

What do they specifically say
that they're looking for?

And how can you be the strongest candidate
when the time comes?

So we host

most institutions, host, career fairs.

So we have events like internship and job
fairs.

We have some industry specific fairs,
where you would be able to use

that more as, kind of an exploration
and planning, activity.

And then maybe the next semester
you're going as an applicant

and we also try to coach you

through those conversations
and have some resources for that as well.

and you emphasize
that it's not all sequential.

None of this.

So exploration, building,
planning, planning

can lead to further exploration
and so forth.

And we emphasize for students

and to faculty that all of that is normal.

All of it is normal and healthy.

An important thing
is to to increase knowledge,

and that will help with confidence.

Has confidence.

Lack of confidence will keep students
from often exploring and planning.

And one thing my colleague
mentioned earlier about writing it down.

So in this day and age where you write it
down, or typing in on one of your apps,

is is really important for students
to do to type in their goals

or what they've learned, from mentors
or from their own research and so forth.

Own skills, their own reflections
and so forth.

Because

often when I ask students
about their goals, students

I've seen several times,
they've forgotten them already.

They just maybe answered my question
during a session

or during one of our signature events
and, spoke with them there.

And they were telling me what they wanted
to do, what moves they've made.

And then next time I meet them,

I'll ask them about what they told me,
and they have already forgotten.

So writing it down is recording it,
I should say, is very healthy.

Part of the exploration
and planning, stage.

But the main thing is competence
through the research,

through the different experiences
mentioned and others that we will mention.

Students build confidence, and confidence

goes a long way for them
to have the stamina

and perseverance to continue
in their own career development.

Sounds good. Yeah.

So you're talking about a lot of different
things.

And early entree,
even an earlier question,

you said it's all about doing right.

And there's a lot that, you know,
you guys are just

talk about doing different things
and, you know, taking in some of these,

different pieces
to help you do that better.

So thinking of that doing.

Right. So,

again, coming from,

community college, our students

are then transferring and we'll say
they completed their associate's here.

So now they're transferring
into their junior year.

And I'm going to say
that they're in a disadvantage,

like, you know, your students and I you
if they were

there as a freshman and sophomore,
they're used to the rhythm of the campus.

And okay, they know that
this is when the fairs coming up.

This is what's going on.

A student
transferring in doesn't know that.

All right.

So when a student is entering

NIU or some other school
in their junior year,

what suggestions would you have for them
to hit the ground running?

So I'll, I'll lead off
by saying that when students come in,

as you sit here,
you feel like the clock is ticking.

I got to get moving.

And some, by the way,
don't feel like the clock is ticking, so,

they need to be reminded.

The clock is ticking
and everybody's situation is different.

But I always make the assumption,
from my experience with students

and also by appreciating
the value of time and money

that most students
want to get out in that four year period.

You know, completed two
or maybe they completed one in,

but in total
they want four, maybe five years

spent on a program or depending on
if they're working and so forth.

And then some are open, but most
want to finish within that time frame.

So clock is ticking.

So I always suggest the students
to hit the ground running, as you say,

to set up an appointment with Career
Services during their first semester,

probably within the first month

on their first semester. And.

We tell students what they should attend
or do

and also what they can't afford to miss.

So a lot is coming
their way in terms of resources.

And how come join this organization?

These are the priorities from different

departments on campus
and different professionals on campus,

because there are a lot more resources
for their stage of their academic careers

relevant to their stage
at the advanced stage.

So they'll be inundated with all of that.

But as professionals,
we can help them breathe easier

by laying it out for them
and helping them with with their input,

because it's particular to to their goals
to set out a roadmap

for the rest of their time,
but also just for the semester,

and that they're coming in
on, practical things they could do and,

and, and always updating resume
the LinkedIn profile,

learning more about the major
that they come in,

desiring
or they've already indicated that major

or that they're still exploring.

Most students I find even

transfer student
don't know much about their major

and hoping that it clicks within a course.

And we know that many of the course,

even beyond the general education
requirements, aren't

all as specific as to what students
will eventually do in their career.

They're they're just
they're they're requirements that will

build in to the competencies
that students need

for their particular career,
but they don't have a grasp of the whole.

They're just looking at the pieces.

We can help them look at the whole.

And then

I would also say, when they come in

for whenever they come in
at whatever level,

they don't have to have it all figured out
when they first get there on day one.

The most important thing
is just to take some proactive steps,

and that will get them well on their way.

So I would I, I same same idea.

But and the reason I chuckled
a little bit was Edward

said that sometimes they don't know they
they don't know a lot about their major.

And one of the things that,

you know, if you're coming in
and you're coming in

as a junior, if you haven't already,

whatever institution you're going to, it's
looking at your department's website,

the academic departments website,
and what do they got going on?

Because,

those are
going to answer a bunch of your questions.

I don't mean the classes.
I don't mean the academics.

I mean, do they have a student
organization related to that major?

Do they have, professors
that give talks about,

you know, their research or their career,
or do they have alumni come

and do different events
for students in that program?

Do they have a listserv?

Do they have a Facebook?
Do they have Instagram?

So all of these things are I would say,
you know, on the top of the list of it

kind of, getting enmeshed and involved in

your major would be something
I would encourage a junior to do.

Or a transfer student or fresh transfer, 
and then just be a little bit more,

more concrete. And this one is kind of a

time pressure type of

thing is if your program or finding out
if your program,

has options related to internships.

So, you may have done an internship
at your community college,

but you can do multiple internships and,

we won't go off on a tangent too much on,
you know,

you know, of course, an internship

is an educational experience,
but it's also a career try out.

But it's also,
increasingly important in the

type of experience that employers are
looking for to hire you for a full time.

So, see what kind of options are related

to internships
for the major that you're coming into?

Some departments have, dedicated people

that work with you related to internships,
actually, in your academic area.

Some of it's through colleges, some of
it's through the career services and,

we would have career services,
for example.

And I, you, we would have access to you,
you know, some of the data of, what?

Where students have gotten jobs before,

where students have done
internships before.

And then we also have Edward.

And I like to say we have the water,
meaning we have the fairs,

we have the events that you can attend
to actually meet these employers.

And then we also have a
the internship and job posting system

where you'd be able
to look at those opportunities as well.

Related to that,

you know, I always tell a client
I'm going to overwhelming you.

So I don't want you to feel overwhelmed.

But some of this is, you being involved

enough in your career, success

and journey so that you don't get to the

a couple of weeks before
you graduate and say, I didn't know.

You know,
I didn't know this was out there.

I didn't know this event was happening.

I didn't know I had this opportunity.

But getting familiar with the
the platforms of your new school,

this could be the career technologies.

It could be, you know, the system
that you use for scheduling appointments.

It's all these things that,

you'll just feel a little bit
more like Edward said, confident.

You'll feel more comfortable
when that semester starts.

If you're already

started, you know,

figuring out
how those those systems work.

And then just the last thing

is, I know
we have a lot on our plates and time

and all of that, but,
you know, all these things that

the new institution
have put together for you to participate

in, try to participate in them.

Again, understanding
if someone's working in those types

of things or challenges
or transportation or whatever.

But, you know,

if there's admissions, things happening,
if they're orientation things happening,

and then as the semester
starts, there's going to be

new student things,
try to try to get to those things.

Because again,
with potentially your career counselor,

your academic advisor,
you can take in all of these opportunities

and you start evaluating which ones
are going to be the most helpful for you,

which ones are going to help you, 
develop the connections that you want to

develop, the skills that you want
to develop for, for your career plan.

Yeah. No.

All good information or, you know,
naturally, not wanting to get overwhelmed.

Right. Hearing all these things. I'm
getting a little overwhelmed right now.

But but you know it.

As you talk, I also find comfort because
you're mentioning resources, right.

So what that means is
you're not going at this alone, right?

And I you whatever.

Four year school has those resources.

And coming from a career office,
I'm going to circle right back to what

Edward said.

Make an appointment
with the Career Services Office.

Sit down with them so then they can help
you create a roadmap,

especially because they know
as far as those career events and things

that are happening on campus,
what are those priorities?

What should you be doing?

What are those okay to miss?

Because we don't have to hit everything,
right?

We don't have to do it perfectly.

We just have to make sure we're
getting the right things that we need at

that time.

So plenty that that four year school
is going to be offering.

Just make sure you're tapping
into those resources.

So, Teri, I want to circle back
to the idea of internships.

Right. You brought this up.

Internships extremely important, right?

We talked about that here at Tod.

We want people to be doing internships
early and often.

We know many of our students

don't do internships,
when they do them at Cod, right.

They're far ahead, of a lot of students
when they are transferring.

But that's normally not the case, right?

I'm guessing at.

And are you most of your freshmen
sophomores aren't doing internships.

So when someone is

entering that internship search process, 
and maybe they're feeling behind,

what recommendations
would you have for them?

So it's it's all

kind of related to some of the reflection
too, is, you know, before you jump

into all of this, you got to make sure
you got your tools in your toolbox ready.

So some of the tools in the toolbox
things is,

like I said,
you know, updating your documents,

having the resume updated to
wherever you are right now,

having your LinkedIn account
created and updated and,

presentable
so that when you drive people to it,

it's representing where you are.

Knowing how to use
the platforms is going to be important.

And, whatever institution you go to,
they're going to have an internship

and job posting platform.

And what are all the bells and whistles
that are included in that platform?

How can you have it working for you?

So ours is called Husky's Get Hired.

You could set up alerts.

So you set up the parameters
of the internship

that you're looking for
and geographic location.

You know, how many, 
the industry, those types of things,

you put all of that into the platform
and then, you know, if any new postings

come in related to that, it'll email you.

So you wouldn't have to be logging
in every day necessarily,

to look at those opportunities.

Like I

said, seeing what kind of internships are
related to, within your major.

And I know I said this already, but,
you know, sometimes a student

will find their way to us and we will go,
well, you got to go back to your major.

You got to go back
to your academic department.

And have you done that in that like,
no, I'm like, oh, well, okay.

Then, you know,
talk to your academic department.

And they may have internships
actually posted on their website.

They may have a coordinator
that, has facilitating those internship,

conversations.

And then they sometimes may also
even have their own events as well,

that are specific to, that major,

that academic discipline.

In terms of, beginning the process,

it's.

What are you looking for?

Like, what do you want to learn?

What are you trying to get out
of that experience and having those goals

for yourself already clear in your mind.

So, that's where I go back to.

I've already looked at job postings.

I've already done
all this career research.

I know that
I'm looking for an internship,

so that's going to help me develop
a certain competency.

And then you spend your time looking for
those types of opportunities or,

trying to make connections to employers
in those types of fields.

And then kind of the last thing is,

sometimes
you have to create your own opportunity.

So, we have postings, we have fairs,

but a lot of the job search market
these days is networking.

And, you know, being in the right place
at the right time, getting to know people,

accessing your alumni
from your community college and from your

for your institution, 
making friends with your faculty,

making sure that you're maybe hanging out
with those student organizations,

there's going to be people
that are ahead of you

that maybe are seniors
getting ready to graduate.

They may have already done an internship.

And if you're not talking to them,
if you're not,

you know, say, hey, I'm in the internship
search mode, too.

You're not going to know
about an opportunity.

And, and I know peer,
you probably talk about this

with your candidates do, but it's it's
not enough to just sit on websites and,

everybody can see those internships.

Everybody can see those jobs,
and literally the whole world does.

So, you need to be leveraging,

you know, the connections
that you may have at your institution.

The people in your academic departments,
your academic advisors, your faculty,

your sororities, fraternities,
all these types of people are

part of your internship search strategy.

And your family as well.

Of course,
you know, your your connections,

your friends,
they're all going to be people

that are going to be able to kind of keep
an ear, eye, ear open for you.

And and I eye open, ear open for you and,

let you know about opportunities,
but then it's going to be on you to apply.

It's going to be on you to make
the connections and, follow through.

And again, you know, career counseling,
career counseling, career services

resources can help you with,
you know, those more specific

parts of the, application process

and interview preparation,
those types of things as well.

So, and
and just as we said earlier in adding to

this is,

the whole of the acronym
planning is for pursue

for some, this time of internship
and job is to pursue

is to do with Teri mentioned
and, students who come in,

especially transfer students

who, as you said here,
they often feel behind and

they need maybe.

But most of the time

I remind them that they're not behind.

And they're part of a reflection
or assessment.

That's why it's important to meet with
career services, because we can tell you,

whether that's true or not
or give you a balanced perspective.

Students
will come in as transfer students.

So always bringing something to the table.

I really say that of even true freshmen
who have never been to college.

You all have.

They all have value.
And they bring something.

It's it's,
a matter of how they see things so often.

They don't know what they have
and what they're bringing to the table.

We remind them and we remind them
what they should add to their plate.

Ultimately their resume essentially,

different experiences,

weddings, internships, jobs, other,

experiential learning
activities, volunteerism,

part time jobs can often be
just as good as the internships,

depending on what those those job type is
related to a major.

But even from the part time jobs, your
they they are developing

transferable skills that are valuable.

It's also important for students

to not compare themselves,

with others.

You may have other students
who have had three internships.

So you have that one choice internship.

So the main point is to to make some,
some progress,

at least to make some progress
from every step of the way, from the time

the transfer student comes on the campus,

make some progress moving forward,

and that will strengthen them
in their career development.

Because it's all about development
and what I would say

that when when the students come

in, they can start making moves.

And should start making moves.

Hence the networking piece often

students are applying to internships now.

I encourage them to apply to
to get ready for internships to come

so that networking piece and meeting
with faculty or coming to the fairs.

Keep in the contact information
card, contact information,

LinkedIn contacts with the employers
at the fair, who they really like.

And then maybe the student is not ready
or qualified

for that internship or full time job now.

But by networking
and maintaining a network,

not just meeting people,
but by maintaining a professional network,

they set themselves up for the internship

next year or the job two years from now.

So there's a lot
of things students are doing

now and also for later.

So, just improving the skills will,

through the different experiences
will help them get

those better opportunities,
whether it be internships or jobs.

Progress, not comparison alone.

Yeah.

I love that,

idea of just make progress. Right.

Because we're all at different stages,
so just whatever.

Right step is for you.

Make a little bit of progress.

And, you know, maybe
we don't know what the right step is, but

as long as it's a little step
forward, right, that's a good thing.

And then build off of that
for another step of progress.

And I'm not surprised both of you
mentioned the idea of connections

to the network. Right.

That is something that we keep
emphasizing, you know,

and know through our office as well,

especially
when we think of this current market

and the need of those connections,
and then not just creating a connection,

but maintaining that connection
for the future.

I loved
how you threw that in there, Edward,

because a lot of times we think, oh,
I'm collecting business cards,

and then we have a stack of business
cards or, you know, whatever.

However,
we're tracking contacts these days

and then it's like,
oh, I talked to that person years ago.

I can't reach out to them now.

Right. So maintaining
that is so important.

So then as we're talking about
these relationships

with employers, employers
also have their own expectations.

All right.

So if it is a student transferring it,
really just a student

looking to move outside of education
into that workforce.

Are there just any trends that you're
noticing with employer expectations?

Well, the thing that we, looked at

is I don't think it's new,
but it's becoming more

and even more important, is,

the employer expectation of,

relevant experience from a candidate,

from a student as,
as part of their application process.

So, meaning.

Yes, they may be.

A lot of employers would like to see
an internship on someone's resume. But

like Edward just said, a couple minutes
ago, not all students are going to have

time or resources or,

the ability to,
you know, secure an internship

or do the internship that they want to do
for whatever circumstance.

But, 
no matter what employer is looking for,

some type of related experience.

So it could be an internship,
like it could be the volunteer experience

who looking for leadership competencies
they're looking for.

How do you I would say

how would you leverage the part time job
that you've had?

Right.

That's still valuable,

but it's not automatic that an employer
is going to understand that.

So you need to be able to talk about
what did I accomplish at that job?

Did I get a promotion? Did I train people?

Did I supervise people?

Did I it's and again, also knowing
that not everybody's going to be a manager

or supervisor. But getting

it, seeking out and getting

experience in the industry
or the field that you aspire to

and being able to basically like prove.

Yeah, this is what I really want to do
and I've already done some of it.

So academics is a part of that.

Of course your training in your
in your, in your major.

But the internship experience
is a relevant student organization.

The leadership from your student,
from your, other student organizations,

and, you know, having proof that

you've attended to the competencies and
the skill sets that they're looking for.

So it's not just,
you know, I my attitude is

your major's
not tattooed on your forehead.

It's how have you applied
what you've learned

from your major
and from these experiences.

And you're going to be able to communicate
that to the employers

through your interview answers,
through your resume, through your LinkedIn

profile.

And they're looking more for,
the proof of these skills.

So not to go off on too far of a tangent,

but in our language
where we talk about skills based hiring.

So they're not looking at GPA
as much as they used to.

So we still want you to be good students.

Of course,
we still want you to be good student.

But they're looking more at,
whether you had that industry experience,

whether you had those relevant experiences
or an internship

in that field, or leadership
experience related to your field.

And that trend will only continue
because ultimately,

when it comes down to you
wanting to work for an employer,

you have to prove how you can meet
their need

and literally prove it.

And the proof is in.

Your stories from your experience
and having

examples from your academics,
having examples from your leadership,

your volunteer, from your part
time work, from your on campus job.

That's another thing that we try
to encourage students, you know,

you really, gaining
competencies and skills from,

you know, the things that you're doing, 
through whether it's paid

or unpaid experiences
and how are you going to communicate that.

So that would be the biggest thing,
I'd say related to trends.

But it's also,

You control all of that.

That's the other thing

that is kind of a Teri Schmidgall approach, like you control

what you're putting together as,
as your as your package as a candidate.

And, being able to be proud
of the things that you've accomplished,

being able to be proud of, of your,
your resume, being proud of the things

that you accomplished, whether it's
your grades or your leadership.

And,

employers, you

know, there's competencies
that they're looking for across the board

when you're in a very specific major,
whether it's technical skills

or softwares or platforms or languages,
all those types of things,

they're going to be able to evaluate
your, your level of skill related to that.

But some of these other things
like communication, leadership, teamwork,

understanding of, you know, diversity
and equity, those types of things.

You want to have,

you know, examples
from your experience to,

to be able to share with those employers
and be able to prove it.

So all of those determination and,

the different transferable

skills, some of those were included in her
her list

that are developed from the past experiences, the part time jobs and so forth.

Much of the

time, students don't know how

those other experiences

are relevant to employers.

We help them figure that out.

But by students also being proactive in

networking and specifically come

into our career path network, for example,
they'll learn from employers

how valuable
those skills that they already have.

Are and how relevant

they are indeed to the internship or job

to which the students are applying.

So, that's very important.

Most of the students,
I mean, and it's just the norm

and it's been for decades,

don't know their skills,
don't know their own skills.

I always ask students directly,
what are your skills?

And I intentionally do that.

And they fumble them.

But that's all right in the session
with me or with us and our work.

Because we help them.

We tell them the importance
of knowing your skills, but tell them that

that will shape their identity,
that shapes their career identity.

Self-knowledge, knowing your skills
and your skills themselves.

And that's what employers want to hear.
Yeah.

How are you for your skills?

And so forth.

So the skills based hiring will not end.

It's always been relevant, but that focus
I don't believe Will will end.

And of course, with that,
of course, just having, confident

can do attitude, with, with good energy

always helps out as a supplement
to the skills that you bring to the table.

Okay.

Thank you.

So many things to keep in mind
when we're engaging and connecting

with those employers for that next step.

But just being set to translate
what we've been doing

into their terminology.

It's so important.

So thank you for all that.

And we're getting set to wrap up here.

So are there,
and I use specific platforms, resources

that you just want to throw out there,
make students aware of.

Absolutely.

So we've been talking a lot
about skills and competencies.

Career services or new career services

has launched this last year,
I believe, we,

launched a tool
that's called the Husky Career launchpad.

So it is a platform, 
from a company called suitable.

And basically it's an app where,

we have created badges
that students will be able to,

get points for completing, career related

experiences, career readiness activities,
attending events,

on the eight Nace career
readiness competencies.

So things that we said
throughout this whole conversation

leadership, communication.

Teamwork, diversity and equity,
technology is another big one.

Of course.

When you, enroll as a Husky at NIU,

you'll be able to download
and use this platform to document

your experiences, to reflect

on your experiences, to,

give yourself credit for things
that you've already done, but also

really kind of do some self-assessment
on what you need to develop.

So, I guess the bigger point
that I should say is

you can earn digital badges,

and the badges are something that you'll
be able to add to your LinkedIn profile.

For example, you'll be able to talk about
an interview answers,

you want to make sure

that you're talking about in, 
you know, conversations with employers.

And,

the other thing that I really like
about that platform is,

what do we call it?

You can save, like, artifacts.

So, like I was saying, you know,
when you're getting ready to transfer,

you do some self assessment.

What are your accomplishments from your, 
community college days?

And then as you're launching into your
for your institution,

you know, keeping
track of this stuff is important.

So within this Husky crew, launchpad,
you may have to do you may have to upload

something, a letter of recommendation
from a, from an employer.

You may have to write a reflection
about what you learned

at a specific, networking event
or something like that.

You may have to put,
a little thought into a plan

that you have
for follow up after the career fairs.

So they're kind of like assignments
that, but, you're doing it for yourself

and you're, you're
documenting those things in this platform.

And then when you get closer to graduating
or whether you're getting ready

for graduate school, it's all right
there in your, portfolio, basically.

It's actually called a portfolio
in this tool.

And the other thing
that I get excited about, just for us

as an institution is it's
not just career services.

This is a campus wide program.

And you might say, well, you know, I,
you know, I've done all the career fairs,

but if you go into Huskie career launchpad
and you're like, I want to work

more on my my technology skills,
but I'm not a technology student.

There's activities in there.

You can learn about Adobe,
you can learn about LinkedIn,

you can learn about, 
those are the two examples.

You can learn about the different, 
platforms, and you'll

actually be able to complete
some activities or go to different events

or workshop or webinar,
so you can grow your skill in that field.

We also have our diversity centers
that are posting things.

We've got our, fraternity
and sorority life that are posting things.

There's honors that's posting things.

So there's a many, many,
many different types of opportunities

in there to develop those eight, 
career readiness competencies.

And then that Husky career
launchpad platform is a way for you to,

you know, again,
keep track of what you're accomplishing.

And, also,
you know, have it accessible to you

when it's time for you to be able
to show it and prove it to an employer.

So that's another platform.

Thank you.

Teri, the, the forage, 
which, was mentioned earlier,

but specifically forage

is one of our platform to career services,
which will allow students to,

form or engage in job

simulations, actual workplace
simulations that are created by

companies themselves, not factory
services, but by actual companies.

So students interested in software
engineering,

auditing, project management,

marketing, sales
and so forth can, take on project

simulations from Wells Fargo

Bank for example, or JP Morgan,

or C or any larger

engineering tech companies
marketing firms and so forth.

And students can get a credential
from that, that they can

then put on their resume
or show up on the LinkedIn.

But it's actual
workplace experience, real deal concrete

as to what you would experience
on an internship and job

so they can profile on that job website.

I'll note briefly. Braven.

We have, you and I, the real one,

three credit course
the students can take to,

work in a semester, taking a deeper

dive into their professional development,
working with mentor, leadership coach,

working on collaborative projects
with their classmates

to create, for example, business solutions
for the Chicago Bulls

or for some other major organization

or business in the Chicagoland area.

And they develop skills there that they

then can translate in their interviews

for internships and jobs as to what

they would offer, how they would offer
value to their future employers.

So that's there, for for student.

And then we just want to encourage
the listeners always that

they're welcome to our end of the year
career fair coming up.

Wednesday, April 22nd.

Whether they're just exploring,
want to take a peek

or because it's open to and I you students

and to the public in general is actually
looking for internships or jobs.

You're welcome to attend our fair.

And you can find all of this
on our web page,

for career services
through the new website.

Thank
you for all those wonderful resources.

And they just sound like great tools

to help people do the things that we are
naturally telling them to do, right?

The Husky career launchpad, being able
to document and track those things right.

We're always telling people as career
professionals do that right.

Document your involvement,
document your engagement.

And that sounds like
just a great place to do that. So

even if you don't have access to it right,
you can still be doing those things.

You just want to have a nice platform
to help you organize it.

For a great,
you know, simulating careers.

That sounds like a great thing
that we should be doing.

You know, earlier, 
and we were talking about internships,

not quite a simulation,
but also the idea of job shadowing.

Right.

Those are

things that you could be looking into
if you don't have these resources.

Right.

But I love to hear that, you at,

NIU are, 
incorporating these resources to help,

students
go through this in a much easier way.

So, thank you for all that.

And, we're going to go ahead
and wrap up here, but before, we do

any last tips, insights
you want to share with our listeners?

I know we've already covered
a lot of ground.

Well,
I would say, to students on your career

journey,
you are accountable for your own success,

but we walk alongside you

and support you in doing so.

That's what I would emphasize.

And for all our listeners,
I gave a really big head

nod because I'm in complete agreement.

Right? You're in control of it.

But, you know, there's the resources here
on this podcast,

wherever you're at, to help
you go through that process.

And I'll just finish with
what kind of what

Peter said, a couple minutes ago
is, you know, make progress.

So, and also what Edward say
you don't have to judge yourself

against anybody else.

You know, if you, you know, you feel like.

Yeah, I'm, I'm,
I went from a maybe doing a this semester.

That's progress. Right.

And or I made two more or ten more

or 15 more LinkedIn connections
or something like that.

That's progress.

So, you know, just in, you know,

Edward and I are our background and,
you know, counseling, it's development.

You're moving forward.
So that is important.

And give yourself credit
for what you've accomplished.

And, if you need a little pep talk
once in a while, go talk to your advisor.

Go talk to a career counselor.

Talk to a faculty member.

Talk to your, 
your aunt that works in human resources.

That's my favorite joke. It's.

I mean, you already seem to have an aunt
that works at Human resources.

But, you know, help them.

I mean, talk to them about, you know,
how I'm making progress and, you know,

kind of gets into that,

self-promotion
mode is something you you own.

That career success, as Edward said.

Thank you both.

And we're writing our own career path.

And it's good to know
that there are great resources.

The two of you, included as

tools, resources
to help them move forward.

So thank you both for,

sharing all this wonderful insight.

You're welcome.

Very glad.

Glad that you had a thank you now.

And thank you to all our listeners.

And again, special thanks to Teri and
Edward for joining me on the podcast here.

There was no listener
question in today's episode,

but if you do have a question you want to
hear answered in a future episode,

you could submit it to careerpodcast@cod.edu.

We hope you join us for our next episode.

For more information
to help you be career ready.