By Sophie Foster
News Co-Editor
The Rebecca Corbin Loree Center for Career Development announced new additions to their Career Development team in an email sent on Aug. 26 by Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Sarah Feyerherm. Starting this semester, Luis Mercado and Penny Weintraub will be working with students in the career center.
Luis Mercado, the new Assistant Director of Experiential Learning, will be helping students discover opportunities in internships, externships, and job shadowing.
According to Dr. Feyerherm, the position had been vacant for a few years before Mercado was hired to revitalize it.
“We’re going to work closely,” Dr. Feyerherm said, adding that Mercado is “very student-focused” with experience in business, volunteering, and internships.
Mercado, who has worked in business for over 35 years, spent the last year working in higher education. According to Mercado, he’s also spent time volunteering in career centers.
“My role is to help support and uncover internship opportunities and other experiential learning experiences for students,” Mercado said. “I want to make sure that students start connecting dots.”
Mercado, who views his work in the career center as an opportunity to guide students along their pathways and build toward their future, said that he “can help students with determining a major…[and] help students decide on various career paths” in addition to providing one-on-one counseling, mock interviews, workshops, and access to online resources like CareerConnX, JobX, and Handshake, which connect students to employment and internship opportunities.
“We are trying to re-energize positions that have been dormant,” Mercado said. “Come and get to know us.”
The other new face in the Career Center for students to “come and get to know” is Penny Weintraub, the new office coordinator.
According to Dr. Feyerherm, Weintraub “will [interact] with students” and support “multiple platforms” in the Career Center.
“I feel really strongly that we hire…with an eye toward people that are going to be welcoming, helpful, and respectful toward students,” Dr. Feyerherm said.
Weintraub, who was a kindergarten teacher and the Associate Director of Echo Hill Camp prior to joining the Career Center staff, says that she “will happily greet all who come to the [career center] and direct them to the appropriate staff or resources.”
Weintraub can be found at the front desk of the Career Center, helping students sign in and find the resources and employees they need.
“I am very aware that the first person they meet…makes the first impression and sets the tone for care and professionalism,” Weintraub said. “I want everyone to feel comfortable and confident that they are in good hands as they navigate their professional and academic journey.”
According to Dr. Feyerherm, these positions exist to “be responsive, to help [students] navigate…and to help support [students] in a number of areas.”
Dr. Feyerherm encourages students to use the resources available to them whenever possible. According to Mercado, students can take advantage of these resources by making appointments in the career center on CareerConnX, participating in workshops and theme weeks such as the LinkedIn and financial literacy theme weeks, and considering becoming career center ambassadors to work directly with the center on outreach.
Students interested in visiting the Career Center should make an appointment, or stop in to visit Mercado, Weintraub, and their colleagues in the Center for Career Development, located next to Goldstein Hall.