In an effort to get back into the swing of things, Transfer and Career Services at Los Medanos College has put significant effort into welcoming students while they return to campus.

Excitement has rippled throughout Transfer and Career Services in anticipation of events and students being back on campus. Rachel Anicetti, the director of Transfer and Career Service along with the Transfer Academy, said she is enthusiastic to provide these services to students again. 

 “We are so excited to bring back a lot of the campus activities we haven’t been able to hold for the past two years,” Anicetti said. 

One of the activities Transfer and Career Services has planned this semester is free college trips. LMC students will be able to visit UC Berkeley, Holy Names University, CSU East Bay, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz.

When attending a university tour, students can expect an experience similar to that of a student attending these universities. They will be taken on a tour of the campus and the university’s admissions department will give a set presentation. Students will also eat lunches with LMC alumni who also transferred in the past and even give introductions to their future professors and administrators.

For those unable to attend these in-person university tours, Transfer and Career Services will have the opportunity to meet with university representatives including Arizona State University, Fresno State University, San Diego State University and many more. These will be held through virtual appointments and info sessions, which can be found on the transfer and career services section of the LMC website.

Anicetti encourages students to take advantage of these opportunities and learn about these universities through campus visits and virtual appointments with representatives.

“It’s motivation to finish your time at LMC strong. It’s time and space to really think about and research what options you want to pursue after LMC and it’s a really special time to connect with LMC professionals and learn more from them one-on-one,” she said.

While the transfer side of the department works to prepare students for the next steps, members of Career Services provide students with the necessary skills to make them competitive in today’s job market.

Through the integration of the department’s new Career Crawl Series, hosted virtually all throughout the semester for each career pathway, students will be exposed to valuable skills and information necessary in preparing them to pursue their future career goals. These include strategies for searching for jobs, practice for interviews and writing resumes and employer information sessions, where students will meet with representatives of their desired field of work in order to gain information regarding their future careers.

Despite their career-focused design, workshops in the series are open to all LMC students regardless of their majors and potential plans for the future. Cynthia Perez-Nicholas, the program coordinator for Transfer & Career Services, encourages all students to attend and take advantage of the workshops.

“What I tell students is ‘Come and learn about all of the different industries, because why not?’” said Perez-Nicholas. “You just never know…it’s always an opportunity to meet an employer that’s local and hear what they have to say.” 

In addition to the opportunities provided by the Career Crawl Series, students can also take advantage of LMC’s Cooperative Work Experience Education Program (C.W.E.E.P), where students can earn up to four college units, dependent on hours worked at their job, internship or college volunteer experience, ultimately encouraging work and productivity of students on and off of campus.  

Much like Anicetti, Perez-Nicholas encourages student participation in these career events, stating that it will provide students with the necessary skills when entering the competitive job market and will allow them to secure a job with greater ease than their competitors.

While the struggles and issues caused by the pandemic have been experienced throughout campus, Mark Isham, a Career Counselor in the department, feels that the recent events have benefited his ability to connect with students.

“I can tell you that from the career counseling perspective, using Zoom and text messaging during the pandemic has helped me maintain contact with students,” said Isham. “I have found it to be a useful method for reaching out to students to remind them of an upcoming appointment, or to communicate when Zoom isn’t cooperating, or to communicate with large numbers of students efficiently.”

Perez-Nicholas shared Isham’s appreciation for the new advancements towards the department’s accessibility.

“I feel like it was an overall positive…all of us as a campus community and counselors, we had to evolve, and it helped us grow our technical skills,” she said.

Despite their advancements, the department looks for feedback from students on how they may improve upon communication in the future. Transfer and Career Services is excited about how they may work to provide for students during their time at LMC and beyond.  

“Now that we’re back, I feel like we’re bigger and better, because we have more ability and capacity because we used to only have one door, and now have two, and it’s awesome,” said Perez-Nicholas. 

There will also be an upcoming celebration held on May 3 to honor those who are set to transfer and continue their academic careers next semester. Information regarding upcoming workshops can be found on the Transfer and Career Services page on the LMC website.