Our student employees, interns, and Empire State Service Corps members are making meaningful contributions while gaining valuable hands-on experience that supports their academic and career journeys. Through their work, they are building professional skills, exploring career pathways, and making an impact across the SUNY Empire community and beyond. We are proud to highlight the experiences and accomplishments of these students as they grow both personally and professionally. Their stories showcase the power of experiential learning and the important role these opportunities play in shaping future careers.
Meet Jessica Dinyes, BS in Community & Human Services. Jessica worked in the Office of Career & Experiential Learning Services at SUNY Empire.
What are your career goals? My goal is to help individuals with disabilities reach their career objectives and succeed in employment. My long-term goal is to become an employment coordinator in disability services. My experience in disability services has really shaped these goals, showing me just how meaningful this work can be.
Describe your student worker experience: what did you do? What projects did you work on? As a peer career coach, I had the opportunity to explore some of the career development platforms available on the Career Hub. I familiarized myself with Big Interview, Focus 2, Handshake, and CareerShift to better support students in practicing their interview skills, exploring different career paths, searching for job opportunities, and building professional networks. I also worked on a spreadsheet researching how other SUNY colleges manage their career services.
What did you learn? I learned a wide range of valuable skills. Communication was one of the most important skills to develop. My confidence in public speaking improved through the three presentations I delivered. This work-study has helped me grow both personally and professionally.
What is a takeaway from this experience that you think will help you in your career path? I learned how to independently explore and evaluate career development tools and resources, and how they can support different stages of the job search process. My experience with the platforms on Career Hub has boosted my confidence in recognizing helpful resources and guiding others to access them. I believe this is an essential skill for employment coordinators in disability services when working with clients during their job searches.
