Career Center Q&A's: Marva Gumbs Jennings - The George Washington University

By Zack on February 25, 2009

The ThinkTalk Career Blog is proud to announce a new feature detailing campus career centers. The Career Center is an important and helpful resource that is available to you on your campus. It is free and the professionals are there to help you on your career path. In an effort to get you started using this resource, The ThinkTalk Career Blog will be featuring Q & A's with university career counselors in our network. Today, we welcome Marva Gumbs Jennings of The George Washington University. Marva is the Executive Director of GWU's Career Center and we thank her for her time.

Zack: When should a student start to visit the Career Center?

Marva Gumbs Jennings: We meet students when they come to register prior to to getting here their first semester. Many of them come in because they have been engaged in securing an internship before they left home or they have received some form of federal work study funds as part of their financial aid packet and they want to work with us to secure an employer that we have a contract with. They come in and work with us almost immediately from, I would say, the first week.

ZS: So, in general, you are seeing more Freshman come in right away?

MGJ: Yes, and I think it is important. While we tell them to use the first semester to find a plan, really take it easy, but plan to start the whole process so that they can begin their experience in their 2nd Semester. Though, many students have to work immediately to afford college. We want to give them a plan of action for freshman year, and one for sophomore year, etc., to help them be a lot more methodical about what it is they are going after and what options they have for themselves. We help give them an increased amount of knowledge based on what they think they would like.

ZS: What are some specific topics you would cover in an initial session?

MGJ: It really depends on the student. Realistically, I think many students come in thinking that they have to have something concrete for us to work on, to do, etc. If they do have a resume and cover letter we certainly work with them on that. But we really talk about: "What's your plan of action?"

One of the philosophies we have here is Find the Right Experience in Employment - we call it FREE. We will talk to them about their first year and some things that would be helpful for them to gain as they think about their sophomore year. The beginning time frame is really becoming accustomed to this environment, testing out academics, participating in educational panels to really think about what it is they want in a real experience.

ZS: Do you find a lot of Freshman have a resume ready to go?

MGJ: They need assistance. I think we're finding more and more Freshman have resumes. It is so easy to get one - there are resume templates on the Web that are easy for them to pull. Many of them, if they have participated in certain High School programs or projects, have resumes. In some of their initial freshman writing courses, part of what they have to do is pull together a resume. So I'm finding that there are many people who are coming in and not having to pull one from scratch.

ZS: How soon should a student start to look for an internship?

MGJ: The students that are attracted to [George Washington] University truly are looking for internships, sometimes, starting their second semester, but certainly a bulk of them are looking for the summer. And then it goes from there. I think on average, before a student leaves the University they have at least three or four internships.

ZS: Should work study students look for jobs in their area of study?

MGJ: I really do believe, and I'm not sure everyone agrees with me, but I believe that all experience is valid. Even if it is experience where you are in a position where you think "Oh, I'm just earning some money here," you're learning office ethics, values; you are learning how to work with a team; you are learning how to do research. And that's all going to be helpful in the long run, no matter what kind of occupation you are in. So, we're talking about some of the softer skills, but I think we help students appreciate how they are growing and developing professionally, from the smallest type of experience - or what they consider inconsequential - to something that they really think they are rolling up their sleeves and getting in to.

ZS: Does the Career Center have a network of employers with established internship programs for students?

MGJ: Internships on this campus happen in a number of different ways. Most of our postings go through our G-Work system. Many of those employers also respond when we host internship fairs - we do have a specific internship fair, as oppose to other general broad-based fairs.

We also have a cooperative education program. That is, a substantial program where employers have contracts with us as a Career Center on behalf of the University to place students for substantive work experience where they are paid. It's a little different from internships, and there is a cadre of employers that we follow, that we expand upon, who consistently look to us to source. Internships also come through various academic programs and through different schools on campus.

ZS: What should a student know about their Career Center?

MGJ: You don't have to have your goals all set to be able to come into a career center to help you execute them. A career center is a place where you can come to have a sounding board for some of the things you are thinking about. The career center is a place to come to design your plan of action - which changes, but at least you have some protocol to follow, some procedures to follow so that you know that you are trying to balance your academics with what you want to do experimentally.

Thank you Marva for your time and knowledge. My advice to all you students is to visit your career center as soon as possible. The career center is a first step in the process, so don't worry about what experience you have or don't have related to your career. That is why schools have professionals on hand, to help you with this process.