Thoughts about the value of work study...from the mouth of a recent grad.

You go to college to learn, plain and simple. Sometimes that learning happens in the classroom, sometimes that learning happens at internships or hanging out with other students, but sometimes that learning can happen in the least expected place of all: your work-study job. If someone had told me that the reason I would get my first job out of college was because of the experience I gained while working at my work-study position, I wouldn't have believed them. But that's what happened, and that's what could happen to you.

I worked in the Career Services Office at Curry for three years. Throughout those three years, I got my hands wet, so to speak, with the various activities that go on in that office daily. I assisted with event planning, student advising, marketing/PR for the office, filing, typing, answering and directing phone calls, all while utilizing office resources. I would help students with obtaining or exploring internships, study abroad opportunities, part-time and full time jobs, and choosing majors. Whether I was doing administrative office tasks, or calling up companies to get them to come to our career fairs, I was learning. I picked up a variety of skill sets that I wasn't even aware I was picking up, and actually enjoyed doing it.

When graduation rolled around and it was time to find a job, I applied at all different types of companies, organizations, etc. At each interview I would go, I noticed that a lot interviewers were interested in my work experience while I was in school. They kept going back to my time at Career Services. Of course, that wasn't the only thing they wanted to talk about, but they always seemed to find it interesting that I had done work-study and had learned so much from it.

Then I came across an open position at the Massachusetts Society of CPA's in Boston, MA for an Academic and Career Development Coordinator. After some research and reviewing the job description I realized that I would be helping high school and college students who were interested in the field of accounting, pursue that career through internships, job fairs, lecture series, etc. I would be servicing accounting students throughout the state of Massachusetts and although it would be more specialized to accounting, I would be using the same skills I learned at Career Services. The main theme of helping students find their way on their career path was still consistent. I had a feeling this was going to be a good match.

As luck would have it, I got the job and have been here a little more then a month. I'm learning a lot every day and know more about the accounting field then I ever thought I would, and more importantly I love it. I love the challenge of learning something new and using not only my Career Services Office experience, but also the skills I learned through my classes and professors. One of my co-workers and I recently were talking about the search process for my position and she told me, "It just really worked out great. I mean you had such a similar experience working at your school with what we do here, that it just made your resume stand out so much more." I couldn't agree more.

~Allison Sturchio, '08