Employment Guide: Students utilize two offices for career placement

Navigating Career Services used to be simple — until the office split in two.

The change,… Navigating Career Services used to be simple — until the office split in two.

The change, which happened in 2008, separated the Career Development Office, from the Student Employment and Placement Assistant Office.

Shawn Ahearn, director of communications for Student Affairs, said, “CDO works with students to help prepare them for a career, and SEPA is the office that’s going to actually help them get the job.”

Pitt felt that career development and placement were so crucial that there needed to be two different specialties, Ahearn said.

Students should use the Career Development Office if they “have not yet determined a career plan,” said Barbara Juliussen, associate director of the Career Development Office.

“We help students get ready for their graduating year,” she said.

The Career Development Office helps students pick a major, change a major, build a resumé, practice interviewing and explore internship opportunities. A brochure available in the office has a chart that tells students what they must do, should do and could do during all four years of college to prepare for their careers.

The Student Employment and Placement Assistance Office works on the other end of the career-search spectrum, focusing largely on helping graduating seniors find jobs.

“With SEPA, like its name says, helps with placement,” Ahearn said. “They work with different companies to bring recruiters to campus and offer internships opportunities.”

SEPA hosts three career fairs and a Career Kickoff event in both the spring and fall semesters. About 150 employers are expected to attend the spring career fair, which will be on Feb. 10 and 11.

The office also provides employment specialists who focus on finding jobs and internships in many different fields.

SEPA also hosts networking events, where students can gain OCC credit.

“They even do on-campus employment, such as work study,” Ahearn said.

The two offices, however, are by no means mutually exclusive. Juliussen said they work together very closely.

They tend to overlap when discussing internships, which can be used both as career planning and to help with career placement. The internship coordinator works in the Student Employment and Placement Assistance Office.

“But [the internship coordinator] is a valuable resource to [the CDO],” Juliussen said. “Because students need to do an internship long before their graduating year.”

The Career Development Office is located in Room 200 of the William Pitt Union and the Office of Student Employment and Placement Assistance is located in Room 224 of the Union.