INFORMATION INTERVIEW #2

DATE: 1/28/2010
COMPANY: Central Piedmont Community College
TYPE: Community College
LOCATION: Charlotte, NC
TITLE: Student Counselor
EDUCATION: M.A in Marriage & Family Counseling from Appalachian State University
INTREST: Shopping

WHAT DID I LEARN OVERALL FROM THIS INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW?
I was under the impression that all higher education schools are set-up the same. Boy was I wrong!! This school has so many tiers of counselor help that I was starting to get confused. Apparently, there are Advisors, Career Counselors, Student counselors, Educational Psychologist all in the same school. So I can spend a whole month just interviews the different counselors in the CPCC organization!!

WHAT WERE THE POSITIVE’S AND NEGATIVE’S OF EACH INTERVIEWEE’S JOB?
The positive aspect that this counselor told me was that she loved working with the people and that she never meets the same “type” of student. She meets people from age 17 trying to get credits before going to a big school to a 60 year old who just want to learn a new skill.
For this counselor, the “new student rush” is the most challenging time. Around the months of June – August, so many new students go through a lot of anxiety when starting a new school and they all rush in for counseling which may cause limited counseling time with each person.

COULD I HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO IMPROVE THIS INTERVIEW?
I think this interview could not have been more perfect however, afterwards may not have left a good impression. Usually, I send a gift card to the interviewee and for this counselor snail mail took too long and sent the letter back to me. I was furious!! So much time had passed by then that sending anything would have been ineffective. Bummer!!

ASSUMING THAT I STILL WANT TO PURSUE MY ORIGINAL CAREER DIRECTION, WHAT IS MY STRATEGY FOR SEEKING A JOB IN THIS FIELD?
After this interview, I really would like to work for CPCC. The community college is the best in the south east area according to a couple of sources and the organization’s structure is so different then anything I have seen. I really want to work for this school. I am not really sure how I can get into this school but I will use my info interview contacts as well as try to do my internship at CPCC. I think that may make me get into the school faster.