written by: Cosme Lozano

The 33rd Annual CareerFest is set for Friday, February 11, 2022 from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. CareerFest will include local and regional employers offering internships, and full-time positions in business, government, healthcare, manufacturing, non-profits, science, and social services.  

Using an online platform, students will be able to meet with employers and hiring organizations at their virtual booths through groups and 1-1 sessions.

If you are a student seeking full-time or internship opportunities, plan to participate in CareerFest. With a chance to connect with employers in a variety of career fields including business, government, and non-profits who value the skills and experiences unique to students from small, private liberal arts colleges.

There is no cost for students or alumni to register for CareerFest.

For students who choose to attend, there will no shortage of familiar employers..

That list includes:

• Amazon
• American Red Cross of Illinois
• Ace Hardware
• Alarm Detection Systems Inc.
• Athletico Physical Therapy
• Bethshan Associaton
• Chicago Commons Association
• Children’s Home + Aid
• City of Naperville
• CNA Insurance
• ComPsych
• Dayton Freight
• Enterprise Holdings
• First American Bank
• Gerber Collision & Glass
• Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
• Illinois Department of Corrections
• Illinois Office of the Auditor General
• Illinois State Police (Recruitment)
• NYU Teacher Residency
• Paylocity
• The Art Institute of Chicago

And so much more!

For those who would like to take the next step in their careers, please follow this link

The link will take you to Handshake, where students can then sign up for specific sessions with employers at their designated times. If you do not have a Handshake account, one will need to be made in order to sign up.

We strongly encourage all students of any grade to attend this event!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great excitement that I can tell you that Coffee and Careers is back again for the Spring semester! We are kicking things off with TWO great employers you definitely do not want to miss. We will be hosting employers and recruiters from Dayton Freight and Joliet Bank & Trust.

Dayton Freight is recognized as a leader in providing high quality regional LTL transportation services. They accomplish their mission through trained and empowered employees who are dedicated to continuous improvements that focus on their customers and internal processes. If you are looking for a well paying job, flexible work hours, and great leadership, then Dayton Freight is for you!

Joliet Bank & Trust is located here in our backyard, at 2108 W Jefferson St, Joliet, IL 60435. Joliet Bank & Trust is your local Wintrust Community Bank. As part of the larger Wintrust Community Bank family, they are built in this area, for this area. Joliet Bank & Trust works hard to be an asset to the people and communities they serve. They work to get to know you and your needs in order to offer the best banking products and even better service. If you are looking at getting work experience with management, money and or banking, then this is a job for you!

We are so excited to be back, and we are even more excited to see all of you on Wednesday! As always, for those who attend, they will receive a great opportunity to network and build business relationships with real world business professionals. Students can also enjoy complimentary pastries and coffee. We hope to see you all out there!

written by: Cosme Lozano

We are all probably guilty at some point in our lives of trying to either catch some Z’s in class, or even worse, missing class to sleep. School is a tool that offers students the ability to open more doors for themselves. I don’t know about you, but I do not feel like opening doors when I have so little energy and sleep. Because of this, is is imperative that we build good sleep schedules to avoid this. Getting poor sleep can play a role in negatively impacting your school life, but more importantly, it shows up big in your personal life.

Before I drop some data on you, I want to first go over my own personal experience with sleep and sleep cycles. For a lot of my early school life I had no sleep schedule. I just simply went to sleep whenever I felt tired enough. It wasn’t really till my junior year of high school where I decided I wanted and needed to change it. Long random nights can be fun, but they do you no good in the classroom the next morning at 8 am.

I was always a B or C student for about half of my high school career. It was a random day, mid way through my first semester of junior year, where I really wanted to change the narrative I had been building for myself. I wanted to be more committed to my studies and I knew a good place to start was with my sleep. I built a sleep schedule where I was going to sleep at set times for set days. Immediately, I saw better results in my grades and I also noticed more energy. I think what it really comes down to is a formula, or system. I am one of those people who really do well in systems, and this was the start of my personal school system.

I now want to list off some information that is useful in regard to sleeping..

1. Coming from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, “Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety” (NIH, 2021)
2. Sleep plays a crucial role in growth and development of young children and teens. Both physically and mentally
3. Improves concentration within the classroom (more concentration -> better focus -> better retention -> better grades)
4. Poor sleep is linked to physical problems such as a weakened immune system and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression via MentalHealth.org.UK
5. If you are lacking sleep, you are more likely to eat junk food or eat before you go to bed. These can both lead to weight gain.
6. Good sleep builds stronger memories
7. Sleep plays a huge role for athletes too. In a study done by Stanford University, they found, “men’s basketball players who extended their sleep to 10 hours a night found several positive outcomes. The players ran faster in both half-court and full-court sprints. Their shooting improved by at least 9%⁸ for both free throws and three-point shots. The athletes also reported improved physical and mental well-being.” (SleepFoundation, 2021)
8. Lack of sleep in college students is known to cause academic failure, compromised learning, agitation, and an impaired mood (NCBI, 2014)

If you are going to take anything away from this article, it’s that sleep is good and it positively impacts you on a day to day scale. Academically, physically, mentally and socially.

Sleep is good. Go to sleep.

written by: Cosme Lozano

First things first, Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year! We are all so proud of the work we were able to accomplish last semester here at the center. Whether that be hosting career events, reviewing resumes, or hosting podcasts, this past year was truly a special one for our career success center. Having said that, we are fully concentrated on making 2022 an even better your. Not only for ourselves but for YOU, the people.

In 2022, we plan on doing a lot of what we did last semester, except we want to do it even bigger now. So that means more blogs, more Coffee and Careers, and definitely more Podcasts. Additionally, our door and services are always open to all students and alumni who need help in whatever career endeavors they are facing. Whether that be setting up a resume or getting connected with someone who works in a field you want to go into, we are your one stop shop for all career success related inquires.

For some of our early events coming up, we have the CCCI Career Fest Preparation and Marketing event this month. Further details will provided in a later post. In February, we will have Coffee and Careers back up, as well as the Freshman scholarship competition. If you are interested in any of these events, or would like to learn more about them and others, please visit our office located in Tower Hall at N204.

Lastly, if you are at any point looking for a job or an internship opportunity this semester, please check out our Facebook page! You can stay up to date with us by following us @usfcareerservices.

We are all so excited to be back this semester, and we cannot wait to see all of you as school starts back up! If you would like to get a jump start on your resume or would like to start looking at spring internships, we recommend that you come in and book an appointment as soon as possible. Let’s all try to make this semester our best one yet!