On November 13th the St. Petersburg College Seminole campus Career Center in UP 102 held its open house introducing students and faculty to the opportunities that the Career Center provides to students and alumni.

Career Services representatives Pepper Harth and Jacob Wortock were on hand to greet students and demonstrate the tools that the center provides to students. Focus 2, a career assessment tool, helps students pick a major and make decisions about their future career. Once a student has a direction in mind, Optimal Résumé helps them build a professional looking résumé and cover letter. Optimal Résumé also serves as a job and internship bank, connecting employers with St. Petersburg College students. Both tools are available online as part of MySPC. Online tools are only a small part of the assistance that the Career Center provides; students also have access to the experience of the Career Services staff and the relationships they have built with some of the best businesses in Tampa Bay.

Jacob Wortock talks to entrepreneurship students about internships and jobs at the Career Center open house.

Jacob Wortock, the campus employment and internship coordinator, said “I spend half my time working with students, and the other half working with local businesses.” Career Services has brought businesses like Busch Gardens, Jabil Circuit, and Echo Bridge Pictures to the campus’ Working Wednesday weekly career fair. The event gives students the opportunity to network with employers in a casual, low stress environment. Because of the relationships that Career Services has built with the business community, the college can offer students unique opportunities that are not available in the classifieds or Craigslist. This term the center has placed three engineering students in prosthetics design and arranged for a student to intern at Janus Live, according to Wortock.

Seminole campus student learns about mentoring opportunities in SPC’s internship program.

The open house was also an opportunity for Seminole campus faculty to get to know the career center and what it has to offer to students. Wortock said he wants Career Services representatives to talk to students in the classroom. This gives center staff the opportunity to show students how a job or internship can add value to their education. According to Wortock, the two things that employers value most is a college education and experience; in particular, experience gained while in college. Professor Greta Kishbaugh of the entrepreneurship program at SPC was one of the faculty members that brought her class to the open house.

The entrepreneurship class had the opportunity to talk with Harth and Wortock, and ask questions. “These students may have to hire people someday; they need to know how the career center works,” said Kishbaugh. The internships that the Career Center provides also gives entrepreneurship students the opportunity to find a mentor and make contacts in the Tampa Bay business community that will last them a lifetime.

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The Seminole campus Career Center in UP 102 is open weekdays, see the campus page for their hours. This event was covered on our Instagram account, follow us for the latest from on campus and around Tampa Bay.