Video: 3 students find their future at ISU’s Career Center

Every day, Illinois State’s Career Center helps students find what they’re looking for.

For many students that’s an internship or a job. Others just need to polish their resume, or get advice from an advisor. Some need help figuring out their strengths—the first step to figuring out their career.

Elise Jensen, Dan Liedke ’15, and Miles Spann ’15 are three Redbirds who all achieved early career success thanks directly to the Career Center. Watch the video above to see how they did it:

The student

Jensen is a senior graphic communications major who just landed an internship as an interactive designer at Country Financial. She connected to the Bloomington-based company thanks to a previous internship with the Career Center itself, where she served as an employer relations intern.

The Career Center hosts programs, career fairs and other events throughout the year to connect Illinois State students and alumni with employers and career development opportunities.

She suggests that other students meet with their Career Center advisor.

“They’re there to help you,” Jensen said. “They really know what they’re talking about.”

The alum

Liedke also worked at the Career Center, which helped him land his own internship at Country Financial. After graduating earlier this year, the insurance major landed a full-time job offer from the company.

“Thanks to the Career Center, I found my job,” he said. “I was just a normal student, but luckily ISU makes normal students be able to do extraordinary things.”

The grad student

Spann first came to the Career Center soon after arriving at Illinois State. The Career Center helped the political science major identify his next steps after graduation. He’s now attending graduate school in North Carolina.

“The Career Center helps students achieve their careers by helping them orient themselves and prepare themselves in a way that they can be competitive,” Spann said. “It’s about knowing how you can utilize your strengths instead of focusing on your weaknesses.

“When I looked at my resume I thought, ‘Well, I don’t have experience in this field. What do I do?’ And they said, ‘Don’t worry about the experience you think you need. Worry about the experience you do have. Look at transferrable skills, and look at what you have done and what made that experience important to you.'”

Learn more at CareerCenter.IllinoisState.edu.

Adam Rahn can be reached at amrahn@IllinoisState.edu.