<p>I’m one of those guys who didn’t bother with extracurriculars or part time jobs. My grades are fine but as I’ve been told by friends and family, I’m a slacker. Should I bother going to the career center and if so should I be honest about my credentials? I don’t want to deal with a person who is going to be abrasive and act like he is wasting his time with me.</p>
<p>probably a good idea</p>
<p>The career center is for all students, and their job is to help you learn how to get a job. They aren’t going to be mean to you, but will give you advice and job prep training as well as contacts that may be interested in employing you.</p>
<p>You will never get such a good free opportunity.</p>
<p>Of course you should be honest about your credentials. How can they help you if they don’t know the facts?</p>
<p>You sound like exactly the kind of person the Career Center wants to help! </p>
<p>Be prepared, however, to hear things you might not like. They will suggest that you get a job or an internship or something that will help your credentials improve. You don’t have to take their advice, but be open to what they have to say.</p>
<p>Yes and yes.</p>
<p>Yes it is a good idea because they can help you create an impressive resume and cover letter. I went there and I learned a lot about finding a job. I even got three four interviews (three of them were unpaid internships the other was a paid job) and I got the unpaid internship.</p>
<p>Everybody should go to the career center. They are there to help YOU. Take advantage of the free services that are offered to you.</p>
<p>I must disagree with everyone on this thread, including the OP. While going to the career center is certainly not a bad idea, I doubt there is anyone there that can do anything for you. By your own admission, you never did extracurriculars nor held a part-time job as a college student. You admit that you are a slacker. What do you expect career advisors to do for you? If you don’t care about your own future why should they? They’ll be angry at you for taking up space at the university and making it look bad. Going to the career center is not a bad idea, but, as you predicted, expect to be treated abrasively and like your wasting their time.</p>
<p>impressive ■■■■■ 6chars</p>
<p>OP, career center will help you get your resume in good shape and point you in the right directions.</p>
<p>Yes you definitely should. No question about it. It’s not their job to judge, however IT IS their job to help paint you in the best possible light regardless of your GPA or EC status.</p>
<p>soccerguy315, I speak from experience, and while it’s not their job to judge anyone, that doesn’t mean they won’t. They will likely help you but won’t be too nice to you. And whatever help they give you will be limited, since a person with no extracurriculars or work experience is in a tough position to find a job in today’s market. What do you expect them to tell you?</p>
<p>They could help you figure out what kind of job might suit you, and what to do to get that kind of job.</p>
<p>Career Centers work with all kinds of students. And if the career advisers are anything like the ones at my school (it’s a competitive on-campus job for students), they are getting paid by the hour to help everyone who walks through the door. I seriously doubt that you’re the only student at your school who hasn’t done the extensive planning ahead needed to secure most internships and jobs in college.</p>
<p>In your case, if you’re not a senior they might help you pinpoint different ways to get the experience you’ll need to get the job you want when you graduate. One thing our Career Center is really helpful with is networking–yours might be able to help you get in touch with local alumni in your field who would be interested in providing externships/mentoring to a good student from their alma mater.</p>
<p>It depends on the type of school. If you go to a school where the average student is an underachiever, the career center will probably be able to help you. But if you are an underachiever in a school where most students are overachievers or at least conscientious enough to do extracurriculars and have jobs, the career center can do little for you. They are not used to working with people like you. They wouldn’t know how to help you.</p>
<p>Career center counselors aren’t idiots. They have a degree, they went through training and they were taught how to properly handle different situations whether you have good grades, good experience or poor grades and lack of experience. A career center counselor sees hundreds of students every week so I highly doubt they will not be able to help someone just because he has poor grades and attends an elite school. In fact, most career counselors are more experience in dealing with a student who has poor/average grades and limited experience than someone who has a stellar resume because that is the norm in most colleges. If you go to your career center, don’t fabricate anything and just tell them your situation and how your grades are and what you can do to improve, they will be able to give you other options and point you in the right path. Career centers are perfect for people like you who are didn’t do well in school and realize they need some help.</p>
<p>"Career centers are perfect for people like you who are didn’t do well in school and realize they need some help. "</p>
<p>commentcomment, I’m not sure who you are addressing but the OP said that his grades are fine. If he said that his grades are fine why are you under the impression that he didn’t do well in school?</p>
<p>I found myself in a similar position some years ago: decent grades, no extracurriculars, no jobs. The career advisor was shocked to say the least. After she was done lecturing me she offered very little useful advice. Her attitude was like “if you are such an unmotivated student, what are you doing here?” It was a waste of time and I felt very beaten afterwards.</p>
<p>If you are like me and you decide that you want to go to the career center, do it, but don’t expect miracles.</p>
<p>I’m a student who works in the career center at my college and I highly advise visiting. The one at my college at least is incredibly helpful, will talk to you about your interests, teach you to tailor what experiences you do have into a workable resume, help you with interviewing techniques, etc. Also, if you’re not a senior yet, there may be programs at your school like internships or externships which career services could point you to which would help pad your resume. The counselors in our career services are some of the nicest people on campus at my school, can’t promise the same at yours, but I’m sure they’ll be helpful at least and unjudgemental.</p>