A Few Tips and Tricks Provided by the Calling and Career Office

There are many forms of information and opportunities given on Taylor’s Campus for students to get connected. The Calling and Career Office (CCO) is a way to start getting those connections and an avenue to turn plans to action in the future.  

“The CCO’s mission statement is to connect students to people and experiences that guide them in discerning a faithful response to God's call,” said Director of Calling and Career and Promising Ventures Jeff Aupperle. “A lot of what we do is all about the connections. This happens through one-on-one appointments that are set through the Handshake app.” 

There are many services provided through the office that can help you get engaged with people who work in areas you find interesting like networking, personal gift/calling tests, aiding in a cover letter, interview tips, internship searches, entrepreneur coaching and even more options.

These can be set up through an appointment made in the Handshake app. This is found under Schedule A New Appointment tab after selecting the Career Center page, and then you have 16 different options to choose from. The office staff truly work to aid in ways that will help in specific areas.

Vocation conversations are also a great thing to set up if you want to look at the bigger picture, and just have the desire for a basic conversation to see where you are landing.

One main service the Calling and Career Office provides is resume reviews. If you find yourself saying, “Hey I need this job and I’m applying for it in four days, and I don’t know where to start with my resume.” The CCO is the way to go, says Senior intern Matt Bolander.

There are many practical ways in which they help professionally, and there is a lot of value in finding out your strengths and weaknesses and how you can utilize those for the best. 

Along with the actual work that is being done for students, you also have the opportunity to work alongside the people who are making all of this happen.

Senior Matt Bolander has been working in the CCO as an intern this fall 2020 semester. Yet, he has spent quite a lot of time over the years in the office during his free time getting to know the staff.

“‘Hey maybe we’ll pay him to sit in here and eat lunch every day,’” joked Bolander. He originally got connected with the Calling and Career Office his senior year of high school when Jeff Aupperle gave him a book titled Design Your Life.

As an intern, you experience a week of training that teaches you how to write a resume review, how to start planning for several events, and discovering your own personal strengths and weaknesses. 

The CCO has a genuine welcoming atmosphere, and this is something Bolander expressed as one of the best parts of the job as well. He attributes this to the fact that during training week, he was able to become close to his coworkers.

Something to take into account is that you may have already even seen these Handshake emails piling up in your inbox, but the first step is to make an account, and then you have access to many extremely valuable tools like these appointments and other surveys that will aid you in your career journey. 

The Calling and Career Office has something to offer for everyone, now it’s just up to you to get involved and see where your passions will take you.