The “fun part” of academic advisor and career services specialist Caroline Walls’s job is counseling her students on their classes and career paths. That may be due in part to the fact she is studying for her master’s degree in divinity, so being a sympathetic listener comes naturally to her.
While 80 percent of her job is focused on academic advising, Walls devotes 20 percent of her time to career services. This includes career coaching, helping students with their resumés and cover letters, and practicing interview skills. She does guest speaking during SDV classes, and hopes to speak to students as soon as they enroll at Laurel Ridge.
Walls coordinates career fairs hosted on campus and virtually, as well as employer recruitment visits. Additionally, she serves as the administrator of the college’s career services website, which covers career exploration, resumé and employment assistance, the Virginia Education Wizard, student job searching tips and career skills prep.
She said in her work with students, she helps them explore what their career could be, something that might be a lifetime commitment, rather than just thinking about jobs. Many of them have only ever worked in part-time positions, often in retail, food services and the like.
Walls enjoys meeting with students in all the different programs the college offers.
“I love having those one-on-one conversations with them to try to figure out what the future looks like for them,” she said.
Students receiving her career coaching can take a personality assessment, Walls said.
“A couple weeks ago, I was in a classroom with a nursing student who scored really high that she had strong education skills,” she said. “I talked to her about the role of patient education in nursing to help her see how she might be able to use this education skill she thought might be miscellaneous.
“The students that come to me the most are students in our various business programs. They’re usually really motivated to get into internships faster.”
Especially with younger students, Walls works on building their confidence for interviews. When it comes to Zoom interviews, many are used to not having their cameras on, so she works with them on understanding the interview etiquette of appearing on camera. Walls also encourages students to test their equipment before an online interview to ensure everything is working.
Walls said she’s heard from a good number of employers who participated in a spring job and internship fair at the college.
“Employers reach out to us because once they have that first good connection with a student from our school, they want more,” she said.
Because the bulk of her position is academic advising for students on the Middletown Campus, Walls is limited to working with students on the other campuses regarding career services needs by Zoom only. She would love to see the Career Services department’s footprint grow in order to provide additional in-person services to students in Fauquier and Luray. She also has some other career-related services she’d love to see the college offer.
“A career closet would be great,” said Walls. “I think it would be cool to offer head shots, haircuts, that kind of thing.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.