Coastal Carolina University has launched a trial position at the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts and brought back a familiar face to fill it.
Alum Kareem Barbis has been named the new career services specialist for the Learning Center and Admissions. This position, funded by a grant from Enterprise Mobility and awarded to Career Services, will continue for one year.
Claudia Bornholdt, the dean of Edwards College, described the position as a way to connect Edwards College students to be more involved with Career Services, made with a purpose to assist as many students as possible.
Barbis said that her biggest goal is to inform students and help them understand what resources are available on campus and “how they can help themselves.” She explained how this includes “all things career development,” such as building resumes and finding job opportunities.
Barbis has a master’s degree in liberal studies and said how honored she is to be able to come back and pour work into her arts community.
“I feel like Wall has their own people. Gupta, I feel like they’re also prepared in a way because they’re doing their research, they’re doing their conferences and everything. Spadoni, it feels like freshman year they go into the workforce already. But Edwards needs a little help, guidance, and hopefully I can be that,” Barbis said.
Currently, Barbis has office hours available where students can receive help over the summer and will be able to attend workshops devoted to preparing them in their search for jobs. Barbis said that her goal is to bring what she learned from the learning center and admissions into this role. She suggested that students take advantage of working on resumes with Career Services, which are also available for alumni as well.
“I used Career Services to write my resume to get this job,’’ Barbis said.
Rhonda Sautter, associate director for internships and experiential learning and Career Services, said she is excited to have a fresh set of eyes for Career Services.
“Barbis will spend half of her time with Edwards, and the rest in the Career Services office. We’re aiming to be more hands-on and visible, meeting students where they are,” Sautter said.
While this position has never been done before within Edwards College, Bornholdt said she hopes it will continue.
“We are doing this pilot project, and we thought it would be really great to have someone embedded in the Edwards College working directly with students in the arts and humanities,” she said.
According to an email sent out to the College of Fine Arts Students by Bornholdt on March 10, appointments can be made with Barbis over Handshake. During these individual meetings Barbis discusses professional interests and goals with students, answers questions about how to explore different career paths and helps students strengthen their interview and professional networking skills.
