Help is Always Around the Corner!

One important thing that you learn in some of your business classes is that no company, business, or organization is perfect. You learn in textbooks from other people’s mistakes and try to analyze different solutions to a problem a company may have made. Many times it is not the problem that was the problem but how people handled the problem and communicated with each other to come up with a solution.

Berkeley is just like a company, organization, or a business. They do a great job at educating students and being there when a student needs their help but just like anything else they also need a tweak here and there. If I told you this was a perfect school where nothing went wrong and everyone was perfect you would KNOW I’m lying! The great thing at Berkeley though is that people will listen when you have a problem.

Berkeley listens to its students and the problems that we are having. Many students don’t speak up for what they want or what they believe should be done so I take it into my hands to express their ideas for them. Some students were having issues with Career Services and as soon as I mentioned something help came to us! I wish I could say that for all schools and universities.

Yesterday I met with the Vice President of Berkeley to discuss some issues that Berkeley had. They were not major issues but just small adjustments students feel that should be done. He listened to our suggestions and even asked questions about what students thought. Some things we talked about were when students should have Placement Seminar. Students have to take Placement Seminar before they can take an internship and since its right before your internship quarter it can sometimes be hard to find an internship that you want in the 3 weeks that you have left. Another thing we discussed was if Career Counselors should follow up with you about your internship. It was great that someone of that power and rank was willing to talk to me about what students felt and what were some things that they wanted.

Later on that day we had our SGA meeting. Mr. Sabin who is the Director of Career Services came to our meeting to listen to student’s ideas and suggestions as well. Almost every student had a suggestions and it was great that he listened and gave us feedback. One issue we discussed was when we should hold the Career Fair. Some students suggested a Saturday and some said middle of the week or in the evenings. Mr. Sabin explained to us that unfortunately we will never be able to satisfy everyone and it is your responsibility as a student to make certain sacrifices to advance your networking skills and build your career knowledge.

I am in totally agreement with this especially since Career Fair will no longer be called Career Day. The difference will be that you are not there necessarily to find a job but to network, learn interviewing skills, how to behave around an employer, have resume help and talk to employers about what they look for. I thought that this was a great idea and definitely worth going to for any student who is a freshmen or a sophomore. You can never be too early in your Berkeley career to learn about employment.

So to conclude this long blog, it’s important that wherever you go whether its work, school, class, or just talking to a friend, that people listen to you. They may not always have a solution right away but at least they care to listen to your problems. Mr. Sabin said that whenever you have any problem don’t hesitate to just go straight to him. Most Berkeley staff members have an open door policy where you can just go in without having to go through 10 people first. That’s how all schools should be!