LC students gain job skills, confidence through Employment Readiness Experience
Photographing indoor rock climbing. Heat-pressing more than 100 T-shirts. Handling important data.
These are some of the responsibilities tasked to Landmark College students in the Employment Readiness Experience (ERE) program over the summer. On a recent day, the program culminated in practice interviews where the students talked about what they did, what they learned, and what kind of work environment helps them perform at their best.
“I really won the lottery,” said Jessica Escalante-Cimino of her colleagues in the Academic Affairs and Career Services offices. “I got the best people.”
Escalante-Cimino, who is pursuing an associate degree in general studies, said she works well when provided with structure, and when others check in. Her tasks included compiling data into Excel and Google forms, researching alumni and reviewing their LinkedIn profiles, and — her favorite — creating flyers for the study abroad program. She thinks she may want to go into graphic design or marketing.
Kate Wilson, career counselor with Career Services and ERE program director, said she aimed to match students with jobs best suited to their strengths and preferences, and recalled that Escalante-Cimino expressed interest in data collection.
“We needed that work done,” Wilson said. “We needed somebody to do that, so it was like, ‘Oh, perfect.’”
The Employment Readiness Experience (ERE) is designed for students with little or no prior work experience, and gets them one step closer to landing an internship or job after Landmark College. ERE pairs an on-campus job experience with classroom work focusing on communication, professional skills, and career exploration, helping students acquire the soft skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
The Employment Readiness Experience (ERE) Final Showcase featured an introduction by Eric Matte, chair of the Department of Professional Studies and professor of communication, before members of the Landmark College community broke off into small groups to interview the students. Organizers noted that in the past, this event took the form of a presentation.
“We changed the format this year, to make it more interview-like,” Matte said.
Each group visited with individual students for no more than 10 minutes each, with five-minute breaks in-between. Matte, who teaches the ERE class, said his students requested downtime between the interviews.
“What we share in common is the mission of supporting our students,” Matte said. “Everyone here, in whatever job or capacity, you’re in support of our students.”
Escalante-Cimino, when asked what she would tell other students considering the ERE program, said, “Definitely to do it.”
Of course, it helped that among her coworkers was Pretzel the dachshund, one of the campus therapy dogs.
“I was not expecting to have Pretzel,” Escalante-Cimino said. “That made me extra happy.”
Other students in the ERE program were: Stefano Cipriani, who worked in Marketing and Communications, Kaylie Montgomery (Library), Xander Pacheco (“Voices”), Ricky Parenti (Social Pragmatics), Tommy Parenti (Student Affairs), Noah Schulz (Registrar), and Will Strovink (Student Affairs).
Cipriani, pursuing a bachelor’s in integrated arts, said his ideal job will have him moving around and doing hands-on work. For his role, he took photos of high school summer program activities, such as students stuffing stuffed animals and indoor rock climbing in the Click Center. He wrote captions for his photos, which were published to a social media group for families.
“There was one post in particular that was super meaningful to one of the parents,” Cipriani said. “She noticed her son was having a good time during one of the events.”
Strovink, pursuing a bachelor’s in media arts production, also said he prefers a job that keeps him in motion. He worked with Student Affairs, setting up and creating signs for activities. Among his tasks was heat-pressing labels onto over 100 T-shirts.
“I liked best that I was active and moving around, not sitting in the same place,” Strovink said. “I enjoyed and I was up for whatever my supervisor told me to do.”
Wilson noted that during the application process, Strovink told her he likes to move around.
“I ask questions so that I get a sense of what they might enjoy or be good at,” Wilson said. “It takes a while, and I just start matching based on what the student has told me during the application process.”
Pacheco, pursuing an associate degree in computer science, was placed in an internship with “Voices,” the College’s student media website, for which he established a detailed, color-coded database of cameras and other equipment.
“I've learned that I'm a lot more flexible than I thought at first, and my technological literacy allows me to adapt easily to a wide range of tasks,” Pacheco said. “My communication style is very practical and solution-oriented, and I look forward to finding a job in my preferred field that best utilizes my skills.”
For Schulz, pursuing an associate in business, his role in the Registrar’s office involved entering information into the College’s database software, organizing it, and sometimes transferring information between software programs.
“Overall, the internship has strengthened my ability to adapt to change and organize my resources,” Schulz said. “I've also built a much better work ethic as I've learned to be a more consistent and reliable employee. I also learned that I communicate most effectively when I am in a comfortable and open environment.”
He plans to continue his internship in the fall before finishing his associate degree. From there, he plans to pursue a bachelor’s and eventually a graduate degree. His experience with the Registrar has taught him that he is interested in exploring corporate positions in business and finance.
“Obviously things change, and I don't really truly know where I'm going to end up in five years," he said. "But that's what I'm planning on doing right now.”