Lauren Wooster, BA '09 (English)

Job Title: Associate Director for Career Strategy & Integration at University of Redlands

Part of the Daily Emerald "Ducks Take Flight" feature 
Written by Lizzy Lee, UO student reporter

Lauren Wooster graduated from the University of Oregon in 2009 with an English major.  Today, she is currently the Associate Director for Career Strategy and Integration at the University of Redlands and has just recently launched a new business endeavor, Revel Peak Coaching.

What led you to seek a profession in career counseling for university students? 
When I started out at University of Oregon, I was focused on my English major, but I also discovered what I call “parallel paths.”  I spent the majority of my time doing outdoor programs, events and classes.  When I first graduated, I kept thinking over and over again, what do I want to learn next?  So, I spent several years as a guide and facilitator in environmental education, as a naturalist/hiking guide, and as an instructor for a wilderness therapy program.  Along the way, I identified that I enjoyed motivating young adults and professionals the best, so I decided to pursue a master’s degree in college counseling. That led me to more of one-on-one motivational counseling.  I decided that school counseling was a good fit since it includes a focus on motivation, teaching skills and helping people chart their path to achieving goals.

What skills or key takeaways did you gain from your time at the UO that you now implement in your career?
I learned in college that it’s a place to try new things, where everything was at my fingertips.  I loved how many different events there were, whether it was hosted by clubs and orgs on campus, speakers that were brought in, or festivals that were held in the middle of campus on that main drag. I felt that was the biggest thing, being open, trying new things, learning how to talk with new people. In my current career, it instilled that lifelong learning.

What are good resources to utilize while at the UO?
It depends on each student as an individual because whatever you're interested in, there's probably a resource that has something to do with that. So, doing your research, talking to advisors and utilizing career centers are really helpful things to do. The biggest resources are your faculty members. They're such valuable resources and a practice that was instilled in me going into college was to go to at least one office hour with every single professor, no matter how much I liked the class. Taking the time to go to office hours enriches your understanding of the subject matter and also can highlight that you're serious as a student.

What advice do you have for students navigating post-grad life? 
One: Develop parallel paths, and don't discount them. There's no ideal job or situation that any student is going to step into, on day one after graduation, and stay in for the rest of your life.  Two: Connect with your career center, and with alumni and build your network.

At each new step, ask yourself, what do I want to learn next? Pursue learning that thing and your path will always be fulfilling. Asking this at every step has helped me place the next stepping stone in my path.  Most recently, I dove into becoming a certified strengths coach through an organization called Gallup. My experience coaching along with my new certification led me to launch my own business, Revel Peak Coaching.  It combines some of the principles that I learned working in the outdoor industry with the experience that I gained through career counseling.

What are your tips for effective networking, and how can UO students build a professional network early on?
One cool thing about networking is that there are formal networking events that might sound scary and those may or may not be happening with the pandemic. But there are also informal ways of networking with involve sincerely just talking to anyone and everyone around you. Networking is really just expanding the connections that you have within your life. We may not know a lot of people related to what we want to do with our career. So rather than asking who's currently in your network, ask yourself, who do I want to know?  You can search LinkedIn and reach out, and I know from my personal stance as an alumna of UO, I'm always happy to connect with students to help them figure out what they're doing next.

How can students be most effective—and competitive—in their first job after graduation?
There are three things that every student should do. First would be to network, which is the whole basis of your next opportunity. The next thing is just to research. That can be on the ground, talking to people, looking at different organizations or companies that exist, and where you want to live. Once you have those first two areas established, then practice for your interviews. This will give you the ability to express who you are, why you’re an excellent fit for a company, and provide evidence to back it up.

Do you have any suggestions for outdoor experiences in Eugene for students?
My friend started something called “the triple peaks.” So, in a day, we would meet at the obelisk downtown by the train and ride up as far as you could ride up Spencer's Butte. Then we'd lock our bikes up and hike up to the top of Spencer’s, come back down, hop back on our bikes, ride out to Mount Pisgah, tie the bikes up again, walk up Mount Pisgah and then we'd finish with Skinner's Butte.