Many Goshen College students may not know that career services director, Anita Yoder, has been serving as president of the Career Development Professionals of Indiana for the last year. Yoder was elected to serve as the president of CDPI for a three-year term starting in 2010 as incoming president and serving until 2013 as past president.
On the Career Development Professionals of Indiana website, the group presents itself as an organization that is “dedicated to the advancement of the career services profession within Indiana by promoting improved communication and cooperative ventures among the member universities and colleges for the purposes of implementing professional development, employer development, and public relations actives." Yoder explained further that “membership consists of about 150 career center directors in Indiana whose missions are similar – helping to prepare students for professional employment after college.”
As president this year Yoder is in charge of a lot of different things. “I’m responsible for setting the goals and direction of the organization," she said, in addition to "leading several meetings with the 16 board of directors, and providing leadership for accomplishing those goals.” CDPI has a lot of resources and activities to benefit its members. “CDPI hosts two conferences per year, publishes quarterly newsletters, employs an intern, and maintains a resourceful web site,” Yoder said.
Yoder has been working in the career services office at Goshen College since 1999, and in 2004 she became the director. Working with CDPI hasn’t kept her from her responsibilities, she said. “Primary focus is always the students at GC.” She manages to keep up with all her responsibilities thanks to help from Liz Fisher, her administrative assistant. Yoder also acknowledges that she works hard to maximize her time, comparing it to a student’s struggle to make the best of their time.
As director of the career services office of Goshen College, Yoder has a lot of responsibilities. Currently her attention is focused on the Super Tuesday event that will take place on campus on Nov. 1st. This is an annual event where students are encouraged to sign up to attend practice interviews and have their resumes reviewed. The event has been very successful in the past and this year there are about 90 students participating. Other services that the career services offices offer to students focus on career exploration, which cover things like choosing a major, help with resumes and cover letters, and even help networking. “We do a lot of one-on-one appointments and students are always welcome to come in to consult with me on any career-related issue,” says Yoder.
As for Yoder’s impact as president of CDPI, she hopes to make her mark, saying that she “hope[s] CDPI will have a clearer vision of their mission and potential to serve the state membership by the end of my term.” Some of her current projects at CDPI include setting up a virtual career fair for members to use, setting up a “best practices” section on the CDPI website to inform members of ideas and plans that have worked in the past. Yoder hopes that all these things can save time and money for members as they all work to turn out savvy graduates. Overall the experience has been a good one for Yoder. “I'm honored that my peers selected me for this responsibility," she explains, "and I really enjoy collaborating with and learning from their expertise. It's a very supportive and generous group. We share ideas all the time.”
