Upon walking into Chase Hall, you are immediately immersed in a maze. If you take my own preferred entrance (directly across from Carnegie and around the corner from The Den), you find yourself right in the center of Purposeful Work (PW) territory.
What is Purposeful Work?
When Purposeful Work is first introduced to you, perhaps as a prospective student on a campus tour, it’s introduced as an office with a wide range of resources, from resume-writing help to finding potential career-paths. In my opinion, it is so much more. It’s more of a hub, with branches leading to professionals, peers, information, and skill-building that can take you anywhere (seriously, Batesies are everywhere). Unfortunately, just like Chase Hall, PW can sometimes be a bit of a maze without some tips along the way.
Three Tips for Navigating Purposeful Work:
- Make an Appointment
If you, like me, struggle with procrastination, this is the best place to start. Setting up a meeting means others help to hold you accountable.
Everyone on the PW team is lovely to converse with, and they all understand what it means to be in your shoes – whether that’s being overwhelmed with applications or unsure what to do to get started. In my experience, these conversations can be a great way to check in and gather information, set goals, and walk away motivated.
On Handshake, you can schedule an appointment by going to the Career Center tab and clicking Appointments, or following this link. The initial category page can be a little overwhelming, but I find the “I want to meet with…” section pretty helpful, since it gives you a small bio for each of the staff at PW.
When you go to your appointment, click the Zoom link or walk into the office It’s really that easy. I recommend having specific questions ready, which may sound hard, but it’s okay if your only question is: What am I supposed to be doing?
Some other good questions might be:
- I’m looking into education as a possible career path. What kinds of opportunities are available this summer?
- I like helping people and I’ve been really interested in policy recently. What kinds of careers exist along that intersection?
- I’m thinking I want to work in this specific field, who can I connect with to get started?
- I’ve done some stuff, but don’t know how to start a resume. Help!
2. Sign up for Notifications and Newsletters
If you’re not already receiving the weekly PW newsletter, you should be. PW regularly hosts workshops, professional photo booths, job search and internship sessions, and career-specific info sessions. Plus, the events often include raffles, chai and boba (bribes to show up to events, but don’t tell anyone I said that). All of that is on the email, which is worth at least a glance before you mark it ‘read’.
Whether or not you read them, you should still go to your notification preferences on Handshake – this is done by clicking on your profile icon and going to the “Your Career Interests” tab. There you can click on what interests you! This shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes, and don’t forget to save your preferences before you exit.
Personally, I answered the following:
- What type of position are you looking for? Everything except Full-Time Job
- What types of jobs are you interested in? Add everything you can think is interesting or related, because it helps Handshake sort your preferences.
- Where are you interested in living? Add the places where you could stay if you had an internship, I put down the towns where my parents and grandparents live.
- Which industries are you interested in? This might be the most important question, because it means that PW can send you an in-detail email of everything they have in that industry.
3. Go to Drop-In Hours
I know, I know, I sound like every professor ever telling you to come to office hours. Regardless it’s an easy way to get an in-depth read-through on your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn.
PW Peer Advisors are well versed in the required content, structure, and format of resumes and cover letters (and more!). This is a huge help when it comes to those little details that might otherwise cut you out of the running for your dream job. Plus, the PW staff will often check in during regular working hours if you need help with any hyper-specific questions.
To get to drop-ins, follow the arrows for “Purposeful Work” or enter directly into the lobby from the Carnegie-Chase Plaza entrance.
Drop-Ins this semester are at the following times:
– Sundays: 7-9pm
– Mondays: 1:30-3:30pm and 7-9pm
– Tuesdays: 1:30-3:30pm and 7-9pm
– Wednesdays: 1:30-3:30pm and 7-9pm
– Thursdays: 1:30-3:30pm
– Fridays: 1:30-3:30pm
If you can’t make it to drop-in hours, you can also always check out the Resume and Cover Letter guides on the PW website – they are really helpful if you feel like you need more information before you drop-in.
Takeaways
Purposeful Work can’t fix all your problems, but it can help you fix most of the future-oriented ones. Whether you are struggling to start or are simply overwhelmed with options, with an application or your goals for the future, there are wonderful people at PW just waiting to help.
