Ben Bratton can be seen any day at Career Services with a different pair of quirky socks. He began at Career Services in August 2018 after finding the position on Hire A Vike. He was transferring from Lorain County Community College and had been working multiple jobs, and knew he needed a change.
“I was working off campus jobs, and the stress of trying to balance classes and work was very difficult, so I preferred to get a job on campus.”
Ben thought that the position of Career Peer seemed interesting because of, “the ability to help students."
"I have always been a fan of community service and giving back so I liked the opportunity to give back to the students at Cleveland State.”
Ben’s Role at the Office
Ben has completed various tasks for the office, beginning with contributing his efforts to plan the Careers with Social Impact event that was held in February 2019. On top of serving as a key student perspective and voice in the planning stages, he also created and maintained an up-to-date list of participating employers and open job postings for the month preceding the event.
He has also spent the spring semester leading a data collection effort using LinkedIn to find recent graduates. Because of his attention to detail, diligence, and perseverance to complete the project, Ben and his team of Career Peers found employment outcomes for over 3,000 Cleveland State University students.
His Biggest Takeaway
Ben speaks to the importance of always having someone look over your resume, no matter how perfect you think it might be.
“When I came to the office, I thought I had an amazing resume. Then the Career Peers exchanged resumes for a critique and there were marks all over the place. So now every time there is a Resume Rx event, I definitely take advantage of that.”
Resume Rx is a monthly event where area employers come to the Career Services office to review students’ resumes and give personalized feedback.
What does he want students to know?
“I wish more students would take advantage of the services we offer. Having changed my major repeatedly (I won’t go into how many times, but repeatedly), it was nice to use some of the online resources to view different career paths for every major.”
Additionally, he wishes students knew about “the various networking opportunities that we offer and the amount of internships that are available for Cleveland State students.” He feels that not enough students take advantage of these valuable opportunities.
Favorite part about working at Career Services
“The people I work with. I love my co-workers, they’re all great.”
Some of Ben’s favorite tasks at Career Services have involved any opportunity to channel his creativity. He has enjoyed updating the dry erase message board in the front of the office to promote upcoming events, and creating The Resume Room. He turned an empty office into a warm and inviting space for students to come for a resume review with Career Peers.
He added that he feels gratification from, “the students that come in that are actually engaged, taking notes, or are paying attention to what I am saying because they understand I am trying to help them. I really enjoy that.”
More about Ben
Ben is working toward his B.B.A in Business Management and is expecting to graduate in May 2020. He loves researching history and can usually be found somewhere outdoors.
More about Career Peers
A Career Peer’s role is to make sure the front end of the office runs smoothly by managing student, faculty, and employers’ requests via phone, email, and walk-ins. Career Peers serve as ambassadors to other students on behalf of the Career Services office, helping their peers understand all of the professional development tools, resources, and strategies they need to be successful as aspiring and evolving professionals.