The Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship has its own Career Services geared toward students in the college, as well as any student exploring a business discipline.

Concentrated in the Business Administration Building, Career Services help prepare students as they explore job internships that are a part of their graduation requirements.

Kristin Williams, director of Career Services, said their department offers different options and opportunities to better equip students for real-world workforce experiences.

“Everything we’re (Career Services) doing is aimed at helping students be better prepared and being very planfully prepared as they navigate [career opportunities],” Williams said.

The idea of Career Services was formally created in 2013 with the help of college dean Deborah Spake. Williams was the inaugural director of the department and now a decade later believes the college is “grateful and lucky” to have the support from senior administrators for the establishment of Career Services, Williams said.

“[Administrators] understand truly the value and impact of having career-orientated student support,” Williams said.

Outside of Williams, Career Services has two career advisors that work directly with students. One is a recruiting coordinator that works with employers and one is an associate director that oversees career advising and workshops, she said.

Between a combination of appointments and career fairs, Career Services assists about 600 students and sees more than 200 students pursuing internship opportunities per semester, Williams said.

So far during the 2022 – 2023 school year, Career Services has seen an increase in students interacting with the department compared to the previous two school years when a lot of the connecting between students and advisors occurred virtually, Williams said.

Williams said Career Services has taken into consideration what students, faculty and organizations within the college believe are important, to give more opportunities to recipients of the programs.

One program offered to students is individual or group career coaching and advising that help “distill their interests and understand the world of work and the job opportunities,” Williams said.

The ability to network and connect with potential employers established in the specialized field that students are studying in, as students search for job or internship opportunities, is another way Career Services supports students, Williams said.

Career Services has displayed the connectivity between students and employers, or representatives from companies, by hosting events tailored toward specific majors within the college, Williams said.

The next event on March 10 will provide students with opportunities within informational technology and science. All other events can be found on their website.

Also, advisors from Career Services sit down with students to build resumes or professional networking pages, like on LinkedIn. Students can then be prepared for interviews and send out formal applications to desired organizations.

Destiny Stevenson, senior business management major, said she used Career Services as she was networking with organizations while searching for an internship.

When Stevenson first went to Career Services, she said, she had the broad idea of working in sports, but did not have a good understanding as to where her skill sets would fit best.

“Don’t be afraid and go out and look for something that might not be exactly what you want, but is good experience, nonetheless,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson said Career Services assisted her in building a professional resume, along with enhancing her LinkedIn profile so she could better connect with people in her field.

“When it came time to start applying, [Career Services] gave me a bunch of different websites to look at once they did pinpoint that doing something service based in baseball would be my best suit,” Stevenson said.

With all the help and preparation she received from Career Services, it turned out to become an internship with the Cleveland Guardians. As time progressed, Stevenson was then hired by the baseball team and currently is working in fan services.

Even through the work that Stevenson did leading up to being brought in by the Guardians, she was rejected on two separate occasions by the team and also rejected by the Columbus Clippers, one of the Guardians’ minor league affiliates.

“I looked for something that I was going to enjoy doing a lot, but also I could put my fandom aside at the end of the day when it came to doing my work,” Stevenson said.

Anthony Zacharyasz is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].