Morris Career Services

Our mission is to empathetically assist University of Minnesota Morris students and alumni with achieving their career-related wants and needs. We strive to ensure that every member of the University of Minnesota Morris community has the resources, support, and self-awareness they need to enter and then remain within the career(s) that they want.

Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm | z.umn.edu/morriscareerservices
ummcc@morris.umn.edu | 320-589-6065

Alex Grabowska

Career Counselor

Pronouns: He/Him/El

How did you gain experience when you were a student?
To be a student is to be actively engaged in gaining experience—and that experience matters! While many of us think about “experience” as a synonym for “work experience”, it’s so much more! Experience matters to employers because it offers them information about your skills (what you can do) and credibility (the context needed to support your claims of who you are and what you can do). If we think about it in this way, you are actively developing skills and credibility throughout all that you do as a student—from your classroom assignments to the events you plan in a student organization. Much of my experience therefore came through my time as a student: classes, service learning, internships/practicums, study abroad, student employment, and more. The key responsibility we each have is to articulate our experiences in ways that provide employers with the information they are looking for: skills and credibility!

How did you become a career development professional?
Failure and self-reflection. Most of my professional background involves working at colleges and universities: housing, sustainability, leadership development, and more. The thing that prompted the move to career development (explicitly) was a greater understanding of myself and what I find fulfilling: using a values-based approach to help others identify and then achieve their goals. Working as a Career Counselor offered me this exact opportunity. That said, learning what I found fulfilling took plenty of time and intentional self-reflection. It also took failure. I tried a lot and failed a lot as I navigated the job search. This forced me to work hard to understand the systems I was trying to navigate, the information folks were looking for, the things I wanted to share, and more. These experiences with failure are a key part of my ‘qualifications’ for this work because they help me to support and empathize with others as they navigate the challenging process and experience that is employment.

Best Words of Advice for Students
Actively value and advocate for yourself. You matter and it’s important that you honor that fact—especially as you navigate a world that will often treat you as though you don’t!

Contact

Phone Number
320-589-7022
Location
240 Rodney A. Briggs Library
Schedule an Appointment