Author: Lydia Braswell

Abby Gehlhausen | 11.6.21

Purdue University Fort Wayne provides a Career Development Center that offers essential resources to students taking steps toward their careers.

According to the Career Development Center’s website, its mission is to “invest in the holistic development of our students by infusing career readiness into our programs and services while bridging the gap between students, campus partners, and employers to positively impact the region and beyond.”

“The purpose really is to help students and alumni develop their career readiness skills,” Assistant Director Tracey Hanton said.

Students can have their resume critiqued by a career counselor, ensuring that it is acceptable for use and follows professional standards. Online career assessments help students narrow in on their personal interests and career path.

The Endorsed Program is a career readiness program that requires students to complete a variety of professional development activities in order to help prepare for the future. An online platform called Handshake helps students find part-time work on and off campus and internships.

The office hosts job and internship fairs at least once a semester, inviting local employers to the PFW campus, which allows students to network and ask questions. Immersion Excursions are events that give students the opportunity to travel to different businesses and connect with current employees and HR representatives.

Diversity Dialogues helps students learn how to navigate a diverse workplace where there are often many cultures and styles of communication. The office also offers alumni panel events where past PFW students share valuable information on how to best prepare for careers while still in school.

“You came here, you spent this money. You want a job. And you want a job doing something that you’re going to enjoy,” Hanton said.

She advised that students begin using the office’s resources early and often in their college careers.

Hanton also said resume building is the most important thing the Career Development Center can offer students “because you can’t get a job without one.”

Antonio Menson, the Purdue Fort Wayne Student Body Vice President of Finance and current senior, said that during his freshman year he was very confident with his resume skills, but decided to have his resume reviewed by a member of the Career Development Center anyway.

“I cannot imagine how employers would look at my resume if I was still using the same old template. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people that work in the office and all of the work that they do,” Menson said.

Jordyn Bilger

We all know the saying “beauty hurts.” But it might be hurting more than just our feet, it may also be hurting the bank accounts of many women.

It’s no secret that women have experienced different forms of oppression since the beginning of time. From not being able to work outside of the home to not being able to vote, a lot of changes have been made in efforts to get equal rights and treatment for the female gender.

But there is something that women may not be aware of that is part of this ongoing struggle: the pink tax.

This is not something that is like the sales tax applied at a register, but rather it is included in price. This is something that has been around since the 1990’s and continues to be seen in comparing the cost of men’s and women’s products.

Males pay less than females for everyday products 42 % of the time, according to an investigation conducted by personal finance writer Candice Elliot.

This is especially seen in clothing items where women’s clothes are of lesser quality than men’s but are often significantly higher in price. With thinner materials and often less fabric used in women’s clothing, the prices even for the same brand are raised compared to pricing of men.

The reason this higher price is called pink tax is because the color pink is marketed towards females, and some products cost more just for being the color pink and sometimes purple.

This extra cost can give those who struggle with money even more trouble.

“As a full-time college student with not a lot of funds, having to pay extra on almost all of my everyday products just makes it that much harder to save and budget,” said college student Emma Yager.

Are there any brands working to stop the pink tax? In an interview with Glamour, Nitasha Mehta, the head of vendor marketing for Boxed, said that she spoke with the CEO of the company about the difference in pricing. Since then, the company has been working to make fair prices for both genders.

Billie is another company that works to charge women the same prices as men. Almost all women’s razors cost more than mens for a lower quality. Billie is an online razor company that allows women to pay low prices for a higher quality razor and can be purchased as a subscription.

Leah Bourne from Glamour said, “The pink tax is frequently hard for stores to avoid unless prices are lowered by the companies that make the products, and since so many people are unaware of these hidden fees, it doesn’t get talked about too often.

Leslie Owen, a financial advisor for Allen Superior Court, said that she has never really noticed the pink tax because it has just been there for as long as she can remember.

This is something that with more spread of information on the topic, could be changed.

Ireland Miller

The Career Development Center at Purdue University Fort Wayne provides assessments that concentrate on helping students and alumni match their interests, strengths and education with a satisfying career.

For students who are struggling to pick a major or have little idea of what career they may want to pursue, the online assessments that the Career Development Center offers focus on an individual’s personality, interests, skills and values to help guide them in the right direction.

“It also gives you another way of looking at what you value when it comes to work and how all of that goes into developing your actual career plan,” Assistant Director of the Career Development Center Tracey Hanton said.

Assessments such as the TypeFocus 7 Career Assessment offered through the PFW website are taken online. This assessment prepares participants with questions that help guide them to their desired outcome without making the final career decision for them.

“[Assessment takers] get an opportunity to do what is very important, and that’s research,” Hanton said.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Strong Interest Inventory (SII) assessments are also available to both students and alumni to take with an additional cost of $25 each. These tests are more extensive, giving students an in-depth idea of career options while looking at both the costs and benefits.

No preparation is required to take an assessment, but Hanton said she suggests being in a quiet room paying full attention to the questions for the most accurate test results.

“It is not something you want to spend hours thinking over. You definitely want to make sure that you don’t answer the questions the way you think you should answer them. You just really want to answer them just as they are,” Hanton said.

Assessments do not have to be taken at a certain point in time. Although not required, career assessments can be taken multiple times throughout a student’s life in order to address the question, “Did I change?”

“I think a person should take an assessment when they’re in college, sometimes even before, and depending on what it is that they need, they might take another one in five years,” Hanton said.

Career assessments consider the individual’s answers and generate a list of possible outcomes for their career, keeping in mind their goals and interests. However, the individual’s options are not limited to the displayed results.

“[The assessment] does not eliminate all options. Statistics say we’re going to do about 14 careers in a lifetime anyway,” Hanton said.

When taking a career assessment, individuals can seek help navigating their results by scheduling an appointment with PFW’s Career Development staff.

The information can be found under the Career Development tab on the university’s home page.

Edited by Lydia Reuille

Caitlin Laubsch | 10.8.21

Handshake may be just one of many available resources for students at Purdue Fort Wayne through the Career Development Center, but the program has become one of the most heavily endorsed programs by PFW’s Career Development Center.

Handshake is a website that is available to all PFW students and alumni. The platform is accessible online.

The website is a resource designed to help students find jobs and entry-level careers. The program allows a user to follow employers to see their job listings, see reviews of companies by past employees, see how many applicants an employer is looking to hire and more. The platform provides a way to have direct communication with potential employers and see information about career fairs and events.

When a user starts out on Handshake, they can create a profile to share with employers. They can upload a resume, share past job experience, share their skills and even narrow the job preferences suggested to them by industry, job interests and location.

Using the platform, students can set up job interviews, message employers, and create a profile that draws employers to message them first. Handshake suggests jobs based on the profile and the entire program is very customizable and individual. The job search can be narrowed down by location, full-time or part-time, on-campus or off-campus and can even be tailored to help you find internships.

Handshake also includes a “Discover More Students” tab, creating an opportunity for students of similar interests to connect and collaborate with each other.

Tracey Hanton, the assistant director for career development at Purdue Fort Wayne, works in the Career Development Center on campus. She said students are automatically registered for Handshake when they register for their first classes at PFW.

“You can make appointments with our office, you can find out about events that we’re hosting, or events that we are collaborating with,” Hanton said. “But more importantly, because it’s online, you can find events that are online that aren’t even in the area.”

Handshake is unlike any other job-search website, according to Hanton, who said that the employers are specifically looking for PFW students when they register their jobs on Handshake.

“The employers that are on our site, they actually have to register for each school that they want to be a part of to actually post their jobs,” Hanton said.

Hanton also said that Handshake is unique because “[the employers] do have a ranking and a trust score, so if there’s a company on there that somebody has found they are scamming students, we get an alert. Indeed is not going to give you an alert that this company has been scamming students.”

Details on Handshake can be found online.

Caitlin Laubsch | 10.8.21