All posts by Angel Bates

Touch-a-Truck Event? Mission Accomplished

Army vehicles at Touch-A-Truck
Career News

In great honor of National Armed Forces Day, here at St. Petersburg College Allstate Campus we held our second annual “Touch-a-Truck” event. Our very own family-friendly affair ended up being a huge success for the community thanks to over 650 participants. Which is actually more than double the number of attendees from the previous year. We would also like to give a special thanks to both military and law enforcement service members who volunteered this past Saturday. They not only entertained, but most importantly educated hundreds of children, teens, and parents about their profound careers.

During the event, participants had their photo taken with a military service person or veteran, a law enforcement officer or a first responder. This was their chance to take a picture with a hero and share a memorable moment with a person of great courage and noble qualities. To make things even more exciting, everyone were also given the opportunity to see and touch a variety of trucks and vehicles, while learning about their functions. We had U.S Army trucks, a Fire and Rescue truck, a Police K-9 Unit cruiser, and a helicopter which was probably everyone’s favorite.

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Our goal for the event was to give our community a fun and affordable day that also served as a dual purpose. One being, educating others about the college itself including our scholarships, degrees and special programs. Then two, paving the way for them to get involved in public safety careers as we too pay tribute to the men and women who serve the United States’ armed forces.

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Several community partners contributed to our success and provided us with games, music, food and even a rock-climbing wall. With everyone’s support and helping hands this event has been has been our biggest thus far. Over the years we hope to continue such great achievements by making Touch-a-Truck bigger and better. While not forgetting to keep SPC’s main goal in mind, which is offering opportunities to explore careers that impact our community.

Test drive an Interview

Mock interview art
Events

Have you ever sat down and thought about exactly why interviews are so intimidating and so nerve-racking? Well we have, and here at the SPC Allstate Campus we’ve reached the conclusion that it’s because there’s so much room for error. And there’s too much at stake. You spend all night looking for the perfect outfit and going over the company’s history, just to walk in the next morning and freeze up. Once the nerves kick in and your train of thought is lost, before you know it the interview is over and you’re leaving without a job. Of course, we don’t want that to happen so we’re here to tell you about this little concept called a “mock interview.”

Mock Interviews

Allstate Campus

Wednesday, May 25th at 11:45 am

Since interviewing is a skill that has to be learned, you must spend time practicing this skill with the right tips and techniques. Mock interviews are simply used for training purposes allowing the interviewee to test his or her current skills and perfect their technique. It is designed to resemble a real interview and provide experience for the candidate.

Listed below are some benefits from participating in a mock interview.

  • It helps reduce stress and anxiety before interviewing
  • It helps boost your confidence
  • Provides constructive feedback in a low-stress environment
  • Helps you prepare for behavioral-based interview questions

Mock interviews are sort of like a “test drive.” It gives you the opportunity to test out your interview skills with someone who’s not evaluating you for an actual job. The mock interview facilitator is a qualified interviewer and will give you feedback on your responses. This exercise can help job candidates clarify responses to challenging questions and allow you to improve in areas that may throw you off-guard. In order to make a great impression on a prospective employer, you want to have the ability to make these necessary changes.

Mock-Interview

Generally mock interviews are offered by a career coach through a local workforce service or career services for students.  Our overall goal is to guarantee that interviewees will have confidence in their skills, to ensure that they’ll perform better in an actual interview.

For more information, contact Dee Mortellaro,  Career Outreach Specialist,  (727) 614 -7019.

Be sure to visit Career Services for more events and follow us on Twitter at #careerspc and #spcintern

Resume Ole! On May 5th at the Allstate campus!

Events,

Resume writing can be tough – and if you don’t think it is, yours may not be up to snuff.

Resume Ole! A Resume Writing Workshop

Thursday, May 5th  11:45am – 12:45pm

Allstate Campus, Room 121

In this comprehensive Resume Workshop, Rebecca Sarver, former Career Specialist, will outline the basic parts that every resume must have, and give you actual tools to help you make that happen. As she begins every workshop, Rebecca likes to stress that a resume is an art, not a science. Meaning that while one workshop will work primarily with one’s Profile, Work Experience, and Education, while also touching on additional sections that could be added (i.e., Leadership, Professional Associations, Volunteer Experience, etc.).

Even if you’re not looking for a job – or ready to graduate yet, a resume workshop can be a great way to beginning crafting the ever-changing document. In addition to assisting with job searches, resumes are also vital in finding internships while still in school and for remembering all of the great activities that you may have been involved with while enrolled at SPC.

Resume Ole

Some topics covered in the workshop will include:

  • Identifying important parts of a job posting
  • Transferable Skills
  • Writing for the FUTURE job
  • Crafting the perfect bullet point
  • Summarizing your experience to a short profile
  • Creating dynamic verbiage

A Mexican fiesta lunch will be served to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

Be sure to bring a notebook and be prepared to take notes.

The Allstate Campus has many career events throughout the semester, but we aren’t alone! If you’re closer to another campus, you’re encouraged to check out the career events happening locally to you.   Also, Career Services professionals are available on each campus to assist you at your convenience in your career exploration process, building your network, and assisting in your search for internships and employment.