Meet the Team: Dave Smith
Dave Smith is the “jack of all trades” when it comes to career coaching. A former national sales manager, he now works with students in the School of Engineering, the School of Business in their IT program, and the School of Aviation. Dave has confidence in how coaching can have a positive impact on a student. He loves working with people and finds career coaching to be a great fit.
As a Career Coach, Dave’s responsibility is to help students advance in their personal career goals. According to Dave, it is his job to equip students with the resources they need to land a job or internship.
“The key things as a Career Coach is to equip the students to be able to apply for an internship by having the best tools they can in a resume, a cover letter, having them feel comfortable doing an interview, giving and doing mock interviews with them, and other skills.”
Working with Students
With so many different schools under his guidance, Dave Smith has to make sure he is fully helping to benefit each student with the information needed for their success in whatever career they choose. Dave enjoys the variety of students he works with in different majors. There are many aspects to each field along with different mindsets in the degrees that students pursue, allowing him to connect them to a wide range of business partners.
Dave believes the most important part of being a career coach is making sure students feel welcome and comfortable coming in with any questions they may have. He wants his students to know that he cares, whether it be about working toward their academic success or when they are having a bad day.
“For me, I even encourage my students that if you know you’re having a hard day and you need someone to pray with come and talk to me, I’ll pray with you.”
Many students come in asking Dave for advice, and he cannot emphasize enough that students should begin thinking about their career plans as soon as they start their semester at Liberty and talk to Career Services so that they can help put them on the right path. Even if you are a freshman, it is never too early to be thinking about your life after college.
“I love working with people, so I have a servant’s heart, so I like to help. Any time that I can talk with people, help them, guide them, it just feeds my passion, and it just really blesses me.”
Resources He Recommends
A tool that Dave finds very helpful for both himself and for students is Handshake. He uses it to set up appointments with students and keep his schedule organized. For students, Handshake is not only useful for booking meetings with their career coach, but also for connecting with employers.
“We have business partners that actually post jobs there, but they also go on that site to look for applicants and especially for Liberty students.”
To get to know Dave Smith better, try out Handshake yourself and book a meeting with him today!
