Real Talk: Career Services preps students for interviews

Students of Southern University were given the opportunity to receive insightful information on how to properly prepare for an interview with advice from motivational guest speaker, sponsor, educator and author, Zachariah Ballinger.
On Friday, November 4, Southern University’s Career Services and Leadership Institute hosted the event, Real Talk, from noon until 2 PM in the Magnolia Room of Mayberry Dining Hall.
Over lunch, attendees were given tips, participated in group exercises and shown examples of a mock interview from Ballinger, author of the novel, The Hot Seat: How to Meet the Challenge of a New Era in Job Interviewing.
The Hot Seat narrates Ballinger’s career quest with advice and tested methods that were acquired only after going to hundreds of job interviews with over 50 different companies.
Justin Alfred, a junior civil engineering major from Lafayette, Louisiana, spoke of how much he enjoyed the Real Talk event and the advice he received from Ballinger.
“He presented his information in a way that clicked with all of us,” stated Alfred. Alfred went on to explain how he learned the importance of following up with an employer after an interview.
When recounting his experience of the event, Ballinger spoke of how impressed he was with the students in attendance.
“All of the students were very engaged. You could tell that they were really hungry to get out, get a profession and start job interviewing,” said Ballinger.
“The key to success is having purpose in your life and doing something you’re passionate about,” Ballinger went on to say in regards to how students can achieve greatness.
“Go do work you love and when you find out what you love, bring it to the marketplace, serve others and everything will happen; happiness, financial freedom as well as bettering your community,” Ballinger went on to finish.
Real Talk turned out to be a success with over 50 students participating, due to the hard work of the Office of Career Services.
Director of the Career Services Center, Tamara Foster-Montgomery, expressed how the success of Real Talk and other professional development events that the center hosts is largely due to planning months in advance.
Southern University’s general fund budget allocates 4,500 dollars to Career Services as an operating budget and an insufficient 300 dollars for travel. The budget also designates 700 dollars to the center for supplies to use over the span of a year. The rest of the budget is absorbed by salaries.
As the director, Montgomery reveals that she does not get to focus on student development as much as she would like because of the time she must spend raising funds.
“We have to rely upon our sponsors and our resources outside of the University in order to put on professional development programs with the University,” stated Montgomery.
Montgomery admits that although it has proven to be difficult to successfully operate the Career Services Center with such little support from the University, the staff works with a spirit of excellence to meet the needs of the students.
“It creates an opportunity for me to show just how much we care about the students. If we don’t have it, I’m going to go and get it. If we need it, I’m going to find an alumni or someone that’s going to help our students,” finished Montgomery.
The love and passion that the center has for the student body is what allows it to persevere and overcome all obstacles.
Ballinger has already accepted the invitation to return to the University next year in hopes of making a positive impact on another group of students.