The Importance of PVCC’s Career Services

Charles Stish, staff writer

 A student, unsure about their career path, walks into Room M128 for an appointment with Andre Luck, the manager of PVCC’s Career Services department. Luck welcomes them into his small and humble office with a  welcoming salutation and firm handshake. Soon, the student will come out of the office with a clearer vision of their career and the road to get it. Luck will then smile at the idea of helping another student find their way. That is, after all, what career services does.

“I like to help students dream and make those dreams come true,” said Luck, career services manager at PVCC. When referring to the phrase “thinking outside the box,” Luck said, “I tell students the entire universe should be their box.”

Luck is responsible from career-related programs on the main campus including coordinating PVCC’s internship program, organizing meetings on campus with guests from different work fields, assisting PVCC’s Financial Aid department with work study programs, and working with employers to consider student hiring. He also helps students learn job etiquette and mannerisms to better impress potential employers. “I’m trying to be a role-model to the students…I’m trying to communicate what employers expect,” he said.

Andre Luck has sixteen years experience as a career advisor and a Master of Business Administration degree. He has  worked several entry level jobs, giving him a well-rounded view on the business world. “When people tell me ‘It’s going to take a long time’ or ‘that this is me’, this is what I tell them. It is not life shattering; it is not death. It is only temporary. You can make it through that,” he said.

Recently, career services has taken measures to become more known to the student body at PVCC. It was considered only an afterthought in most students’ minds for a long time. One such measure, beginning last spring semester, was to assign all SDV courses a mandatory Career Planning Process. This is to help students identify a career path early. Advertisements of  big events are also being implemented to help bring awareness of career services and its role to the students.