“Students don’t always know what questions to ask. My job is to provide them push in the right direction,”says Rosalie Vos Tulp, a Career Services Counselor at Iowa State University. Vos Tulp has been working with students for 21 years. She has been a High School athletic trainer, instructor at DMACC, academic advisor in engineering, and is currently a career service and education advisor in the college of liberal arts and sciences. “My job is help students with resumes, search job boards, and ultimately find a job. I can’t do this unless a student trusts me first, throughout my years of teaching I have learned how to make students feel comfortable,” says Vos Tulp.
The key to connecting with students is knowing when it’s appropriate to ask personal questions. Vos Tulp says, “read their body language to know if it’s appropriate to ask. If you can tell if they are super closed off don’t ask.” Whether you’re talking to college students or highschoolers, they are basically adults. Let the student decide what they are comfortable with sharing.
Vos Tulp highlighted some common mistakes coworkers have made when trying to connect with students. “Students have to trust you in order for you to make a significant impact, they need to feel comfortable in their physical space like your office,” she says. Vos Tulp says to avoid any outwardly political decorations or posters, nothing that could be taken as offensive. She says to avoid off-color jokes, or questions like “where are you from?” which can be taken as offensive or racist. Instead Vos Tulp suggests asking “where’s your hometown?” or even “where do you call home?”
Vos Tulp wants people who work with students to remember It’s not your job to ask about their personal life, unless it’s getting in the way of their schooling. Your job guides them in asking the questions that can give them more clarity, sometimes they don’t even know what questions to ask. Vos Tulp says, “Students have to make a lot of life decisions, figuring out their career, who they are, and their identity. Sometimes they just need someone to listen.”