As Highland’s newly named Career Services Coordinator, Anthony Musso has short- term goals to become more integrated into the classroom to engage with the students. He plans to place more emphasis on the students on utilizing Career Services at Highland Community College. He wants to assist them with resume building, interview preparation and explain the soft skills that employers are looking for so they can successfully land a job. Or, if they are planning to transfer to a 4-year university, Musso wants students to have a head-start prior to their junior year.
Musso said he understands that visiting the Career Services Department is not the first thing on students’ minds. Instead of taking the approach that seeing Musso comes through faculty referral, he wants to establish face-to-face interaction to reduce any intimidation, vulnerability, and hopefully, make a connection so students feel more enticed to visit the career services department.
“I think that community college offers a great opportunity for students to explore their education and career interests,” Musso said. “I want students to talk to me about their education goals and career paths in order to connect those two with a solid plan for their future.”
Musso began his job at the College in September, having worked at Carpenter’s Place, a homeless shelter in Rockford, where he was the Employment Case Manager.
Musso is from Rockford, attended Rock Valley College, and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management, with an emphasis in Human Resources from Northern Illinois University. He also has a certificate in Social Entrepreneurship. He is currently working on a Master’s degree in Social Work through Aurora University.