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09/23/2019
By Ed Brennen

With the Fall Career Fair fast approaching, Nicole Resendes needed to get her r茅sum茅 in order. So with a printed copy in hand, the sophomore business administration major from Medford dropped by the Career & Co-op Center at University Crossing for an expert critique.

Instead of waiting for an appointment with one of the center鈥檚 career counselors, however, Resendes was able to sit down right away with a Career Peer, a fellow student trained to help with r茅sum茅s, cover letters and interview tips for co-op positions, internships and full-time jobs.

For nearly 20 minutes, Career Peer Bony Ganugapanta, a senior business administration major from Needham, reviewed Resendes鈥� r茅sum茅 with her line by line, marking it up with notes on formatting, wording and structure.

鈥淚鈥檇 never made a r茅sum茅 before, so it was a really rough first draft,鈥� Resendes said afterward. 鈥淏ut he helped me a lot with the organization and with what to say and what not to say. It was nice to get feedback like that from another student.鈥�

Launched last year as a pilot program by the Division of Student Affairs, Career Peers help advance UML鈥檚 mission of preparing students for the workforce, according to the program鈥檚 manager, Asst. Director of Career Services Serwa Addae-Adoo.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of humble and hard-working students here. ... They have to see that it鈥檚 OK to talk about how awesome you are.鈥� -Former Career Peer Carla Lima

鈥淏y training Career Peers to be like an intake triage for us during drop-in hours, it frees up time for our counselors to take more appointments and work on other projects,鈥� says Addae-Adoo, who notes that a team of a half-dozen Career Peers 鈥� representing a variety of majors 鈥� handled more than 500 student visits to Career Services last year.

Career Peers, who typically work 5-10 hours a week, are available for 15-minute sessions on weekdays between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Career Services鈥� fourth-floor office at University Crossing. Addae-Adoo says she would like to eventually expand the program to other locations on campus, including evenings at residence halls.

Career Peers, who must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA, attend a three-day training retreat and take part in four hours of shadowing. Addae-Adoo also has them set learning goals and provides student employee evaluations.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 coming in to see them 鈥� it could be a freshman or it could be a Ph.D. student 鈥� so they have to know their stuff,鈥� says Addae-Adoo, who adds that if a Career Peer encounters a situation that鈥檚 beyond their training, they pass that student on to a career counselor.

Ganugapanta and Shaymus Dunn, a senior business administration major from Lowell, are both returning Career Peers this fall. New hires include students majoring in computer science, civil engineering and nursing.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that when a student sits with me, they鈥檙e probably thinking, 鈥榃hy am I being helped by another student?鈥欌�� says Ganugapanta, a commuter student with a finance concentration who is juggling his work as a Career Peer with his job at Citizens Bank in Newton. 鈥淏ut being closer in age, I think we鈥檙e able to connect with them in ways that adults probably can鈥檛.鈥�

Image by Ed Brennen

While some students are nervous to have their r茅sum茅 critiqued, Ganugapanta tries to reassure them that it鈥檚 an iterative process for everyone.

鈥淚 tell them to correct it and bring it back so we can build off it, because r茅sum茅s take at least two or three sessions,鈥� says Ganugapanta, who enjoys meeting students through his work as a Career Peer. 鈥淎 r茅sum茅 is one of the biggest tools that students use to expand their careers, so it鈥檚 really cool to have a helping hand in guiding them with that.鈥�

Dunn, who will graduate in December with a concentration in accounting, plans to continue in the Manning School of Business for his master鈥檚 degree. He likes helping others as a Career Peer 鈥� while at the same time developing his own professional skills.

鈥淭he best thing I鈥檝e found about this program is that students can relate to my experiences. I kind of know the situation they鈥檙e in,鈥� says Dunn, who has taken part in the Professional Cooperative Education program, done two internships and worked as an undergraduate research assistant.

Dunn often sees two common mistakes on students鈥� r茅sum茅s: They use restricting templates and they don鈥檛 market themselves enough by highlighting the skills they鈥檝e gained from past experiences.

鈥淚 worked at Market Basket before I had internships, so on my r茅sum茅 I talked about helping customers, working in an efficient manner and communicating with the team,鈥� Dunn says. 鈥淭hose are skills that all employers are looking for. It doesn鈥檛 really matter where you get them, as long as you have them and put them on your r茅sum茅.鈥�

Carla Lima, who worked as a Career Peer last year and is now a graduate intern for Career Services and the Professional Co-op Program, agrees.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of humble and hard-working students here,鈥� says Lima, who earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in public health last spring and is now pursuing her master鈥檚 degree in higher education administration. 鈥淭hey have to learn how to make their experiences show on their r茅sum茅. They have to see that it鈥檚 OK to talk about how awesome you are.鈥�