The Center for Career Services

Mission

The Career Center in Grand Rapids provides low cost career services to members of the metro area community while providing a supervised clinical training site for graduate students in the counseling professions at Western Michigan University.

The Career Center opened in early 2007, established with support from a President's Innovation Grant from Western Michigan University. The Career Center is building on the success of, and provides complementary services to, the Center for Counseling & Psychological Services in Grand Rapids.

Career Center Goals

• help individuals understand their work related abilities and explore new career options
• enhance regional economic development by providing career counseling and support services for area residents to secure new and satisfying jobs
• enhance professional opportunities in the counseling field by offering WMU graduate students a
  career facilitator certification option
• provide internship experience for graduate students in CECP and Human Resource Development

Staff

Project Doctoral Associate: Amber Larson

Getting Started

WMU students and individuals in the community may contact the Career Center directly at (616) 771-4171,

email , or may be referred by an agency in the community.

Services for Individuals

Individual services are provided by professional staff and/or WMU graduate student counselors. Appointments will be necessary for all counseling sessions, and an affordable fee will be charged for most services of the Career Center. Among the services available will be the following, with approximate
time requirements.

• Introductory Appointment (30 – 45 minutes): An overview of the services available in the center. A staff member will provide an objective assessment of the job seeker's needs and job
  skill strengths and weaknesses. The job seeker and the staff member together determine the
  additional services or resources available to meet the need.
• Career Counseling (1-8 hours): Emphasis is placed on assessment and evaluation of the needs of
  the individual. Assessment tools and resources are used, and a detailed interpretation of the test
  results are provided. (Additional fees for special assessments may apply.)
• Job Skills Transfer (1-3 hours): Identification of job seeker’s current skills and determining how
  these skills transfer into other employment choices, industries or fields.
• Résumé Development (1-3 hours): Review of job seeker’s current résumé or guidance on how to
  develop one, samples are provided. The focus is on how to best represent the job seeker’s
  accomplishments, employment and skills
• Interviewing Practice (1-6 hours): Job seekers can practice responding to and asking questions
  with the Practice Interview tool. Job seekers can assess their interviewing skills/behaviors
  through videotaped, confidential mock interviews.
• Job Search Strategies (1-4 hours): This service will help the job seeker set goals, establish
  priorities, develop networks, and learn methods of staying focused through job search process.
• Computerized Research (1-8 hours): One-on-one help is given for basic internet job searching.
  Job seekers are taught how to conduct their job search on-line; emphasis is placed on Internet
  skills, how to send email attachments and where to access job web sites.

**Number of hours are estimates. Clients will work with the career counselor to determine the career
counseling plan that may include one or several aspects of the career services.

Hours of Operation and Location

Varies according to semester. Hours will be updated for each semester. Hours are by appointment.

Western Michigan University Graduate Center - Downtown
200 Ionia Ave SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Google Map

Telephone: (616) 771-4171
Email: