Cooper Center for Vocation & Career Development
The Cooper Center for Vocation and Career Development specializes in providing resources and services to assist students and alumni in their life-long work and service in God’s Kingdom.
We’re here to help you to discover your strengths, develop and sharpen your professional skills, engage in the job search process, explore graduate school options, discern God’s call on your life, and more.
We offer a number of services to make this happen and have resources for both students and alumni, no matter where you are in your academic or professional journey.
At Trinity, we love to talk about vocation – something we view as a joyful response to God’s calling – and actively seek to know and support the variety of ways He has uniquely called you.
Our offices are above the Library fountain area, across from Student Life. Either drop in to meet with us or schedule an appointment by email (vocationandcareer@trnty.edu) or on Handshake (https://trnty.joinhandshake.com/). You can also check out more information about the office on the Trinity website: https://www.trnty.edu/student-life/career-development-center/
Services
We are eager to help you prepare for your next transition, whether that be into Trinity, full-time employment after graduating, graduate school, or a completely new career as an alum. To help you prepare, navigate, and flourish, we offer the following services:
Make an appointment with the Cooper Center
Would you like to earn money for college through experiential learning opportunities in the form of cooperative education (co-op), internships or micro-internships? Are you interested in learning how to build a resume that is 75 percent more likely than not to be seen by a hiring manager? Are you curious about a career pathway that aligns with your vocational calling? Come to The Cooper Career Center for these and other related needs.
Click here to schedule an appointment.
Career & Vocational Counseling
This encompasses a wide range of conversations, based on specific student need. We can work through questions about majors and minors, questions about what field or career could be explored within a particular major or minor, or questions about whether to go into graduate school or the workforce after graduation, to name a few. We will also help you to think more broadly about your own sense of vocation and the areas of engagement and service you feel called to beyond work.
Résumé and Cover Letter Reviews
We can start you out with guidelines about how to put together a résumé or cover letter if you are just starting out, help you update your résumé for internships and summer jobs during your years at Trinity, or help you polish your résumé for your first job hunt after graduation.
We can also help you work through any other relevant application materials including references, letters of recommendation, and graduate school admissions essays.
Assessments
At times, it is helpful for some students to take an assessment to help find out where their strengths lie, narrow down a degree decision, and target a specific career path.
- We build in StrengthsFinder as an intentional part of every student’s first few weeks at Trinity through the FYF curriculum. Reviewing your Top 5 Signature Themes (Strengths) helps provide insights on how to fully engage in your work as students, professionals, and community members.
- Jobzologoy – This assessment addresses an individual’s personality, values, interests, and workplace preferences and then provides an interactive “career match” feature based on your results. This resource is available to all Trinity students and alumni. If you are interested in taking this assessment, please click this link to create a simple account and begin. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to talk through your results with one of our staff members.
Mock Interviews
You are welcome to set up an individual mock interview to help you prepare for a specific job opportunity. We will happily tailor the mock interview process in any way that will best help you based on your degree or the type of interview you would like to prepare for.
Job Search & Professional Skills
Schedule a time with us to talk about all aspects of the job search process. We’ll help you think through topics like how and where to search, developing networking skills, interview attire, how to navigate a career fair, and how to adjust your résumé when changing career paths. Go to https://trnty.joinhandshake.com/ to access all current job postings. All Trinity students already have an account, and just need to log in with their Trinity ID and password.
Vocation & Career Programming
Throughout the year we partner to support a number of events on campus that address vocation, career, and advising related topics!
Co-op
The Co-op Program offers students a way to Earn, Network, and Learn during their time at Trinity. This program connects students to companies and organizations for work-based professional development opportunities. Students focus on development of skills in the areas of critical thinking and problem solving; teamwork and collaboration; professionalism; oral and written communications; and, leadership. The program offers an immersive experience for students to gain skills and build a professional network while funding a portion of the costs of their education.
Learn more and apply to the Co-op Program.
Resources
While we would love to meet with you individually to help you work through the job search and related activities, below are a number of resources in .pdf format to help you get started. Stop in or schedule a meeting if you have questions!
Schedule an Appointment
Building a Resume
Resume Builder for Freshmen and Sophomores
Cover Letters
References
Letters of Recommendation
Interviewing
Networking
Additional Communication
LinkedIn – Building a Great Student Profile
How to Network on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Profile Checklist – College Students
LinkedIn Job Hunting Handbook – Kick-Starting Your Career
LinkedIn Job Hunting Handbook – Job Searching Skills
LinkedIn Job Hunting Handbook – Interviewing
Vocation
What is Vocation?
Vocation is a challenging word to define and characterize. It is a rich term that connects to our spiritual and personal sense of identity and purpose, intersecting with multiple dimensions of life.
The word vocation derives from the Latin vocare, meaning “to call.” This implies that in vocation, someone – God – is doing the calling. How we live out our vocation is then a component of our worship – our joyful response to God for who He is and what He has done. It is also a response to specific ways that He has equipped, created and called us. While vocation includes our work and career paths, it also encompasses the way we approach faith, neighborhood, civics, family, and service. It is an overarching path where we participate in the Lord’s plan to bring redemption and shalom to the world.
Vocation at Trinity
We know that college is an important place for discovering and discerning your vocation. At Trinity, vocation is a term that you will hear often in classrooms, chapel, advising sessions, and residence hall conversations. In our Student Life Purposes and Outcomes we express that vocation should be a joyful response to God’s calling and hope that you experience that joy through your time here and leave as a graduate continuing on that path.
We believe that discerning one’s vocation requires engaging the heart, mind and soul. It involves intentional prayer, reflection as you encounter the Triune God, a sense of curiosity and openness to discovery, and a community of friends, family, faculty, staff and mentors who offer a listening ear and wise counsel.
Staff in the Cooper Center for Vocation and Career Development would love to meet with you to talk about discerning your own sense of vocation. Stop in or schedule an appointment!