During her absence from campus due to the pandemic, Michele Carey received a nice surprise. Carey, who is a Coordinator in OCC’s Career Services office, was recognized by the State University of New York’s Career Development Organization’s (SUNYCDO) Professional Development Committee. She received the “Cruising and Crushing It” award given annually to a SUNYCDO member with greater than five years of service who has demonstrated commitment to the career services field. “Receiving this award means so much to me. I was so surprised to find out not only that I had been nominated by my colleagues, but that I won! While I certainly do not do what I do for accolades or praise, it was nice to be recognized for my hard work and dedication.”
Carey is a graduate of Cazenovia High School who earned a degree in Marketing & Advertising from SUNY Oswego. After spending a summer working as an Orientation Leader and a Career Services intern, she decided to pursue a career in higher education. She worked at SUNY Morrisville and SUNY Cortland before taking a position with CPS Recruitment in Liverpool. Her duties there included reviewing the job postings in the Sunday paper. One Sunday she found a listing for a position in OCC’s Career Services office. “The job seemed like it was written for me. I applied and to my delight I was hired!”
Carey has a wide-range of duties, all of which are geared toward helping students experience success beyond OCC. She helps students build their resumes and provides them with career exploration guidance, offers students transfer assistance, provides employment services to alumni, helped start the “Suited for Success Career Closet” which provides clothing to students for interviews, and has become a “go-to” person in the department for various faculty presentations and programming requests. “I love my job for so many reasons, but most of all because I really enjoy working with our students. I am 100% committed to meeting each student ‘where they are,’ and realize that to be effective, the help I provide needs to be customized and personalized. No two students and no two interactions are the same.”
Her true reward for her work is when she sees everything click with students. “I love helping them recognize their strengths, value, and potential. When I meet with a student for resume assistance, often times they downplay the experiences they have had or feel they ‘do not count in the real world.’ I love to see the smiles on their faces when I explain to them how valuable the skills are that they have developed and how they can leverage those skills and experience to help get them where they want to go.”
Congratulations Michele Carey for your award and your service to Onondaga Community College students and alumni!
