WACO, TX — The Baylor Career Centerhelps all students with internships, resume building and even finding graduates jobs after college.
In 2019 they placed 76% of graduates in jobs but in 2020 80% were successfully placed, a 4% increase in a pandemic is something huge and exciting for not only the Career Center but students looking for the next chapter in a pandemic.
Not many students know about the Career Center and so they offer 1 credit classes to career building, that's where now alumni Jeffrey Sonola found the opportunity.
He received help with internships through the center during his sophomore and junior year. With that experience, and with the help from the center, he landed a job before graduating this May.
"The center was available during a pandemic, and they were like we're here for you we're hearing that all these internships are being pulled we here all these A, B, C, D things are happening but we're here to find you a job," Sonola said.
There was some worry leading up to graduation because of the pandemic and the current state of where employment was heading at the time.
"You heard, oh my internship just got pulled or the hiring process just got frozen," Sonola said.
The Career Center didn't want the burden of the pandemic to catch up with their students and so they made sure to take the bull by the horns and work to keep relationships with eligible employers.
"There was a lot of fear and a lot of unknown and we turned that into we're going to go for it, we reached out to over 3,500 employers both established and new last summer," Marking and Communications Coordinator, Shelby Cefaratti-Burtin said.
Cefaratti-Burtin says job placement numbers tend to fluctuate but in a pandemic, it was great news to hear the rate of those finding a job. As far as this year goes they aren't sure what to expect because they're seeing students want to take a break from the stress the last year has brought.
"I think there's a lot of fatigue, the students are tired, understandably so, and it's not that they're not working as hard it's the amount of stress over the past year that has added that wanting to take your time a little bit more," Cefaratti-Burtin said.
She does predict the numbers for 2021 will be on track or higher than 2020.
Without the Career Center, many graduates wouldn't have had the success they did, including Sonola.
"It elevates you as long as you continue to elevate yourself and continue to believe in yourself and that trumped my worries," Sonola said.
