CAREER PREPARATION AT HBCUS

One student wrote.....
I do not believe that our school is effective at all in placing
students at major corporations. I know my entire three and a half
years here there has not been any one to help me plan or choose a good
career path. I have many friends here at S.U. all majoring in
different things and we all have the same concerns, "we hope there
will be a good job waiting for us after we graduate". I think our
school needs to become more envolved in the well being and future of
their students.

I really do not know how to answer this question. Throughout my
experiences, I have had several highs and lows regarding career
placement and preparation. As an educator, who is currently seeking a
certification and masters in education find it hard to relate to
Fortune 500 corporations. However, I have had several friends and
acqauintances who possess degrees in Business management and marketing
wind up teaching elementary school because they were unsucessful in
finding jobs. From my understanding they feel that they were not
prepapred. They also believe that our university lacks expertise in
the area of motivation and expertise in helping students find
sucessful jobs. What do you think we can do?

Another student wrote....Well i also can relate to this because being a marketing major, i
have yet to recieve any help in what i plan to be my "career". You
would think that more people would help struggling college students
but one must remember that this is the real world and in corporate
America, it is every man or woman for themselves. And if you dont look
out for you , no one else will. So in a way it is an advantage of not
having help in order to make you stronger, mentally, and it also will
prevent any future minor mistakes that may happen because you were
prepared. But a helping hand is always deeply and greatly appreciated.

Another student wrote....I don't believe that Southern University is very helpful at all in
creating and helping student to get jobs. I also believe that if we
show more interest in these types of things then help will be given
to us. I have taken it upon myself to ensure my jobs for the future
because that is the type of person I am. Why do we always have to
depend on the university when we should start doing things ourselves?

Lisa Ventress-Development Officer responded....
I can most definitely relate to you. I have also taken the future of
my career into my own hands. My major is really over looked or not
really mentioned as far as career services is concerned. Through
research of oppourtunities at various companies both foreign and
domestic and networking, I have been successful in my quest for
success.

Priscilla Walls-Information Analyst responded....

I suppose it depends on the department which you are in. For example,
I am in the political science department. My mentor is Doctor Perry.
Now he took me and some others under his wings to guide us towards
making the best decisions concerning our future careers. In
addition, A young man by the name of Jason Huges has been recruited
to work for a local goverment offical. Thus, if a student inquires
about career opportunities in their department, I think that they will
get the help that they need. However, every department is different!