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If you’ve ever felt a little lost about where to start your career planning or how to land that dream internship or job, you’re not alone. We have all been there. Luckily, the University’s Career Development Center is there to help make that journey smoother. I recently sat down with Vashish Bansee ’24 M.A., an alumnus, and now a dedicated member of the Career Development Center team, to learn more about what the office offers and why every student should be taking advantage of it.

“We want to make sure our students are career ready,” Mr. Bansee began, his enthusiasm immediately evident. The Career Development Center’s goal is to engage with students and prepare them for every stage of their professional journey. They offer help with resume and LinkedIn reviews, mock interviews, networking tips, and even the development of essential soft skills such as communication and teamwork.

“Our goal is to make sure our students are prepared when they search for internships and full-time jobs,” he explained. “We give them all the resources and advantages possible to land those opportunities.”

In many ways, the Career Development Center does a lot more than students realize. “A lot of students don’t know how much help they can get through our office,” Mr. Bansee said. “Most know that they can get their resume reviewed, but we also offer interview preparation, LinkedIn reviews, and even professional headshots.”

That last statement caught my attention. Yes, students can go to the office to take a professional photo for their LinkedIn profile – completely free of cost. “Statistics show that people with professional photos on LinkedIn get significantly more views,” he explained. Something so simple can make a big difference when it comes to getting noticed by employers.

When I asked when students should start thinking about their careers, his answer was extremely clear: “as early as possible”. “If you already know what you want to do, start in year one,” he said. “Even if you don’t have job experience yet, write down your passions, your interests, your goals, and that’s your starting point.”

For students who aren’t sure what they want to do yet, I was reassured that it’s okay. “We help students try to figure out exactly what they want to do and what aligns best with their likes, passions, mission, goals, and values,” he said. In the end, it’s about finding out what best fits you, not just finding a job.

According to Mr. Bansee, networking is one of the most powerful tools that students can use to get ahead. “When you are competing for that specific job, the employer will be reviewing a thousand plus resumes,” he explained. “But if you network with people at that company – maybe the hiring manager or a future coworker – and they can speak to your name and your strengths, that gives you a major advantage over the other applicants.”

In the end, he gave simple advice for starting out: connect with professors, alumni, and even professionals in and out of your field. The more you practice networking, the better you’ll get at it – even for life after graduation.

Building off the topic of networking, Mr. Bansee emphasized that some skills students need to stand out to their employer are valuable soft skills. Those competencies are what often set candidates apart. “Employers already know you can handle the technical side,” he told me. “They want to see how well you communicate, collaborate, and work in teams.”

He encourages students to highlight those abilities on their resumes and be ready to talk about them during interviews. He added that cultural competency, collaboration, and communication go a long way and are skills to highlight in resumes.

When I asked him for a piece of career advice, Mr. Bansee didn’t hesitate for a second. “Do your research – a lot of it!” he exclaimed. He even shared his own story of starting as an engineering student before realizing his true passion was psychology. “When I stopped doing engineering, I took a year to really figure out what I wanted, and I was very strategic with my research. I aligned my interests and passions with a career I could see myself enjoying.” He smiled as he added, “If you don’t like what you do, it’s going to feel like work. But if you love it, it’ll just feel like getting paid for what you enjoy.”

Before we wrapped up, Mr. Bansee shared a recent success story from his time at the center. “The opportunity presented itself based on me reviewing a student’s resume and knowing that they would be a perfect fit for a position that had just opened up,” he recalled. “I connected with the student and the employer through our connections here at the Career Development Center, and we scheduled an interview – and after the waiting period, the student got the job!” It was his first direct placement assignment and a moment he’s still proud of today.

Talking with Mr. Bansee made one thing clear to me: the Career Development Center is more than just an office – it's a starting point for success. Whether you’re a first-year student just figuring things out or a senior getting ready to dive into the professional world, the team there is ready to help you every step of the way.

After hearing about everything they offer, I am inspired. It’s very easy to continuously put off career planning until the last minute, but as Mr. Bansee reminded me, getting started early makes all the difference. The more he spoke, the more I realized how valuable it is to have a resource such as the Career Development Center right here on campus.

Don’t wait until graduation is around the corner. Walk in, ask questions, take that headshot, and start preparing for your future now. Your dream career might just be one conversation away. Take it from me, the Career Development helped me land my first internship, and it can do the same for you.