There you are, sitting in your dorm room, anxious for what is to come next. As you do your hair up to perfection and put on the best outfit you own, you realize you are missing just one thing. Where is your cover letter? Your resume? What do you even say in an interview? You begin to panic; what can you do? You head to your job interview, feeling okay about what may happen. However, you step in the sleek, professional room and completely lose all the words you had studied on the ride there. The interview begins and you wipe your sweaty palms on your slacks as you begin talking. Not too scary…or is it?
Thankfully, on our Northwestern campus, we are blessed to have the Franken Fellows stand beside us as we take our next steps into the future. But how can they help us accomplish this? What do they do? Who are they and where can you find them? All of this is found under the roof of our very own Career and Calling Center in Ramaker.
Their job is to work alongside students to create professional documents. However, they also serve students by setting them up with career mentoring provided by different professors on campus. Some of this “mentoring” looks like walking students through their PathwayU results and what they mean, creating and polishing their resumes, writing cover letters for certain jobs or internships, preparing reference sheets, doing fake interviews to prepare students on how to articulate their skills and abilities to future employers, and create online profiles on certain sites like Handshake and LinkedIn.
The Franken Fellows also take part in putting on different career related events for students to attend. Lindsey Jacobsma, junior accounting major and business minor, mentioned how she specifically “work(s) one-on-one with students to make the process as easy as possible.” She explained that this includes talking about past experiences and future goals to achieve the best possible professional documents and interviews.
The Franken Fellows certainly take on a big role with helping students prepare. However, it is important to remember that they are still students as well. “I love getting to work with different people around me, but balancing the workload can be hard,” Delaney Iseminger, senior accounting major and Franken Fellow, said.
This year is Iseminger’s and Jacobsma’s first year as a Franken Fellow, but even through the stress, they expressed how much they love working with and for the students on campus. They get a special opportunity to build relationships all the while helping others achieve their goals. It can be a rewarding process to both sides of the interactions Frank Fellows give to students.
To find a Franken Fellow is easy – on campus or online. Students can find them on the first floor of Ramaker, specifically at the center table in the Compass Center during their work hours. They are there throughout each day for students to drop by, however, it is also possible to make an appointment with one of them on Handshake.
Overall, the Franken Fellows provide a great service to our campus life, as well as the future lives of NW students. Many students have used this resource and achieved many great things from their interactions at the center. It proves to pay off when students spend their time learning how to do things related to their future career. With the help of our Franken Fellows, not one student should ever have to worry about a future job, internship or interview.
