Not sure how to write your résumé? Want to change your major? Tate Quinones will know what to do.
This 19-year-old anthropology and psychology sophomore is a career ambassador at UF’s Career Resource Center on the first floor of the Reitz Union.
“A career ambassador helps students to gain the knowledge and utilize resources available to them to succeed in achieving their career goals and getting jobs,” she said.
Career ambassadors are student staff members of the center who critique everything from résumés and cover letters to personal statements and curriculum vitaes. They also help students develop interviewing skills and explore various majors and careers.
Quinones said working at the center furthers her career as much as it furthers the careers of students she helps.
“I am gaining a lot of valuable knowledge about career planning,” she said. “I know it will help me in the future.”
The best part about being part of the student staff at the center, Quinones said, is how quickly time flies when she is working with students. She sometimes gets so immersed in what she and the students are doing that she is “shocked” when her shift is over so quickly, she said.
Although Quinones said many people welcome her advice, there are always a few who don’t want to hear what she has to say.
“I’m a little too sensitive,” she said. “I need to remember that people rarely intentionally offend me, and half the time, it has very little to do with me as a person.”
Upon graduation, Quinones said she would like to go to graduate school but has not decided what she wants to study once she is there.
“I can never decide what to stick with and what I want,” she said. “It gets really frustrating.”
Even she has trouble planning her career, she said.
For now, Quinones said she wants to focus on helping others make those types of decisions and having fun with her coworkers.
The most important thing, she said, is not be afraid of doing what you love.
“If you settle for something you don’t love and do it for the money or any other reason, you are robbing the world of your talents” she said.