Millikin’s Student Success Center is taking the show on the road and offering career guidance across campus.

Lindy Taylor, the specialist for career success and professional development, is offering informal career guidance sessions every other Tuesday and Friday in February and March across campus. During the sessions, she will offer guidance on resume-building, networking, interviews, and even individual career path guidance. 

“I’m really just trying to let the students know that I’m available,” Taylor said. “I think I’ve been at Millikin for about a year and a half. While I believe many more students know who I am and that there’s career services available, certainly not every student at Millikin knows.”

Sessions on Tuesdays are held in the UC Lobby. There are two remaining sessions on March 10th and 24th from 12-2 p.m. Friday sessions will be in various locations across campus. There are two Friday sessions left as well, on March 13th in Scovill and 27th in Rathje from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

“I feel like I’m more approachable when I’m sitting in Einstein’s, so that’s one of the reasons,” Taylor said. “Number two is just purely, for lack of a better word, internal PR. They know that there’s a career and vocational services person available at Millikin, but they don’t know my face. Then, a lot of students know my face, but they don’t know what I do, and so I kind of want to bring those two things together.”

While getting students the career help they need is the ultimate goal of the sessions, they serve the dual purpose of fostering casual meetings and introductions between students and Taylor. The brief sessions give students a taste of not only what Taylor does, but also the broader career and vocational services available at Millikin.

“Just come see me,” Taylor says. “Come say hello, introduce yourself. Don’t be intimidated. We’re here, not just me and my department with career and vocational services, but the entire Student Success Center.”

By traveling to different areas of campus, Taylor is able to meet more students in the spaces they frequent and remove some of the anxiety associated with making a formal appointment. 

“As a university, we’re trying to kind of reach the students more where they’re at and remove any barriers to entry,” Taylor said. “By being nervous and shy to set an actual appointment, it feels a lot more serious than ‘I just saw Lindy in the hallway, and I know her, and gosh, I have a question about my resume.’”

Taylor is also able to tailor the advice based on the students who might be in different areas of campus and provide research-backed guidance that is consistent with the most current practices and expectations of the different fields.

“Somebody’s resume who is an accounting or a business student is certainly going to look different than someone who’s in performing arts or in music, and that’s even going to vary slightly from someone who’s in media studies,” Taylor said. “Part of my job is to stay current on what are the most effective methodologies so that your resume gets noticed.”

Taylor utilizes an organization called NACE that does extensive research about what companies are expecting from potential employees and what qualities are most valued.

“I also speak with different people who do what I do at different universities, so we can compare ideas, and we can talk about challenges, and how we overcome those challenges,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of similarities among universities of similar size in Illinois.”

No matter what stage a student is at in their career journey, Taylor is committed to not only meeting them where they’re at location-wise, but also experience-wise. Taylor understands everyone starts the resume and networking process at different points, but whether they’ve started or have nothing at all, she is there to help.

“Don’t be scared, don’t be apprehensive,” she said. “I’d like to think I’m very approachable, and also don’t feel inadequate or embarrassed if you come up and say, ‘I have nothing,’ and you’re a junior, that’s okay. We will help you. We’re here for you, and we’re here to make you feel more comfortable in the process of preparing for the job search.”

By attending one of Taylor’s sessions, students will leave with the tools and direction they need to pursue their professional endeavors. She has many tips on how to make a resume stand out and be successful, but there is one piece of advice she tries to consistently impart to all students.

“Value the experience you’ve gotten that’s not a ‘job,’ so a project that you’ve done at Millikin, something that is an internship, something that is performance learning,” Taylor said. “Those have as much value as some ‘jobs,’ and don’t leave them off your resume.”

Taylor and the rest of the Student Success Center have expressed not only their willingness, but also their eagerness to assist with career-related questions or advice. 

Their goal is to make the journey from student to employee as stress-free as possible, and the career guidance visits are a great first step for students to receive that help.