Alecia Bencze '12

As Director of Career Services and Strategic Initiatives, I provide career counseling to law students including but not limited to individual career planning, resume review, cover letter review, mock interviews, etc. This role requires cultivating and maintaining relationships with not only law students but also alumni, employers, and other members of the legal community. For the strategic initiatives part of my role, I am also responsible for creating, planning, and coordinating all law school social media content and campaigns in addition to my role in career services

Why Mount Union

As a first-generation college student, I did not have much familial guidance when choosing my undergraduate school. From my very first visit, Mount Union felt like home and the faculty in both my major and minor were excited to speak with me regarding my future career opportunities. After earning three degrees nothing else quite compared to my college experience. The connections I made were for life and I have appreciated utilizing these connections by staying in touch with faculty members and being given the opportunity to serve as a mentor for current students through the English department and extracurriculars.

Hands-On Learning

One experience that had the biggest influence on my graduate program experiences as well as in my current career was working in the Writing Center during my junior and senior year. Now a large function of my job is providing feedback and guidance on student documents. Additionally, my experience on Alpha Xi Delta's executive board prepared me for having difficult conversations in a professional and respectful way which has been helpful when counseling students.

Staying Connected

In recent years I have stayed connected through serving on alumni panels as needed. I also serve as the financial advisor for Alpha Xi Delta which connects me with a wide variety of collegiate women across all majors.

Current Career

I love working with students! Getting to know each law student as well as each incoming class as a whole is one of the highlights of my job. I love seeing them transition from being students into the time-honored legal profession. As a first-generation college and law school grad, I think there is something special about working to help others achieve their dreams. I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer but I never thought about using my law degree to work in higher education as an administrator. I also never thought I would go to graduate school to earn a third degree. Overall, I want to be happy and open to the possibility of change/new opportunities throughout my career even if they are not part of the linear trajectory that is expected.

Day to Day

I work exclusively with our first-year law students, students in our accelerated two-year JD program for foreign lawyers, and all Master of Studies in Law students at the School of Law. We believe in an individual approach to career counseling which begins with a student self-assessment and individualized feedback on all resumes as students begin the transition to a law school-focused resume. Throughout the year I also assist the Dean of Career Services with the development, promotion, and execution of various workshops, recruiting programs, interview programs, and job fairs. I am also very involved in our local and national consortia including in leadership roles which allows me to connect with law school career services professionals and employers all over the country.

Advice to Students

While my role requires a law degree since I work at a law school, a similar role at colleges and universities at the undergraduate or graduate program level will not require as much education if you are interested in this type of work. There is no specific major required to go to law school or to apply to this type of job – keep in mind there is a lot of reading, writing, and public speaking associated with both.