For many students in the University of Michigan-Flint College of Innovation and Technology (CIT), thinking about life after college can feel intimidating, overwhelming, or simply like something that can wait until senior year. Sharmee Dixon wants to change that mindset entirely.
“Career development does not happen in your junior or senior year. It begins in your very first term,” she states.
As CIT’s new career advisor, Sharmee is on a mission to make her presence known across campus so students like you know they have an advocate. And you don’t need a polished résumé, a list of questions, or a fully developed plan to meet with her; making an appointment is the first step.
Ditching the TV Myths
Using O*NET OnLine to Uncover the Facts
Research is valuable, but students also need opportunities to experience professional environments. When you begin considering prospective careers, it’s easy to get distracted by high starting salaries or popular portrayals of professions in media and family expectations.
The Pitt may show the thrill in healthcare, but it leaves out the reality that real-life providers spend nearly half their shifts dealing with administrative burdens and electronic charting rather than active patient care. It’s important to investigate the jobs you’re interested in more deeply.
In reality, career preparation involves more than looking at job titles. Using national labor resources like O*NET OnLine, Sharmee guides students through researching realistic salary ranges, industry growth trends, and daily job expectations. More importantly, she helps students evaluate whether a career aligns with their interests, personal values, skills, and desired lifestyle.
“A career is more than what you hear or see,” Sharmee shares.
She isn’t afraid to offer honest, supportive reality checks to help students understand what a career requires and determine their next steps. CIT Career Services can help you find the needed support to strengthen yourself professionally while also planning realistic alternatives.
Give Your Career Ideas a Test Run
The Surprising Value of Ruling Things Out
One of the best ways to see if a career path is for you is by testing it through hands-on experience. You can do so through internships and job shadowing, but in order to land one, you need to ensure that you are putting yourself out there with career fairs and networking. A good place to start is the upcoming CIT Career Fair in October!
And with these experiences, the exposure allows you to either fall in love with the field while also gaining valuable experience for your résumé, or you realize you actually dislike the work. Think of it as a free trial to a subscription; you get to try for a period of time before committing to it fully, the realities of a job.
Both outcomes are valuable! If it’s not a right fit, it’s not the end of the world. You end up saving years of time, tuition, and effort pursuing a degree for a career you wouldn’t enjoy, allowing you to now invest yourself in trying other ‘subscriptions’ till you find one that brings you joy.
Sharmee views that discovery as progress, as “even if you come back and say, ‘I really didn’t like this,’ you learned before spending three years preparing for a career you didn’t enjoy.”
It can also open the door to another conversation: Which parts of the experience did you enjoy? Which did you dislike? What other careers might better match your strengths and preferred lifestyle?
Educate, Explore, and Engage at CIT
The Three Pillars of Professional Career Development
To ensure every CIT student receives structured support, CIT uses the Professional Career Development (PCD) framework as a guide for students to learn more about themselves professionally. PCD focuses on three core pillars: educate, explore, and engage.
Educate
- Learn how to craft a professional résumé, create an engaging LinkedIn profile, compile a digital portfolio, develop an effective elevator pitch, and attend career-readiness workshops.
Explore
- Put your preparation into practice by attending career fairs, participating in job shadowing, connecting with industry employers, practicing mock interviews, and investigating diverse career paths.
Engage
- Apply your skills through hands-on internships, professional networking events, and practical career opportunities before you graduate, ensuring you step into the job market with real-world experience.
The Professional Career Development program is hosted on Canvas and is scheduled to be released to students later in the fall semester. Through the program, Sharmee can learn more about each student’s goals and connect them with relevant resources, experiences, and preparation.
Sharmee has a particular affinity for working with technical students. CIT students are sharp, academically talented, and have a knack for rigorous coursework. Yet, translating technical aptitude into professional confidence can present a unique challenge.
Each activity provides an opportunity to help you translate your technical knowledge into résumés, interviews, and workplace relationships. The activities can also help you recognize your strengths, articulate your value, and develop the interpersonal skills needed to navigate a competitive job market.
Learn to Articulate Your Strengths
Translating Your Work into Workplace Success
You do not need to master these skills before asking for help. Developing them is part of the process, and Sharmee can help make it feel more manageable, purposeful, and, not to mention, fun!
Each position you apply for may have hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants, so you need to be proud and vocal of your work, skills, and accomplishments. At the same time, this confidence should be paired with humility and a willingness to learn.
A new graduate may bring valuable academic preparation and some professional experience but will often join colleagues who have worked in the field for years. Sharmee wants students to enter the workforce confident in what they offer while remaining ready to learn from more experienced colleagues.
Your career journey is about recognizing your strengths while remaining ready to become part of a team. And it all starts with entering Sharmee’s office with an open mind.
Get to Know Sharmee Dixon, CIT’s New Career Advisor
Bringing Early Career Planning to Students
Sharmee’s passion for student success comes from her years working directly with students to help make their dreams a reality. Through her experiences, Sharmee discovered how much she valued direct work with students, not only helping them choose classes but also teaching the less-visible skills required to succeed.
She sees career development as an ongoing process, not a service students visit once during their junior or senior year. Interests can change, and your skillset can grow. Having that early start gives you the time to learn, experiment, and adjust so you can reach your career goals.
So, when the opportunity arose to bring that expertise to UM-Flint, where she can make the same impact at CIT, she welcomed it. Her role represents the culmination of years spent advising, mentoring, and helping students navigate educational transitions.
Sharmee wants every student to “find something that brings you joy every day rather than something that leaves you struggling every day.”
Outside work, Sharmee enjoys reading, often listening to books through Hoopla (she has already completed more than 20 this year), and making beautiful beaded creations as part of her small business, Brown Skin Culture Studio. On campus, she is eager to become a familiar and approachable resource for CIT students.
Her support is not limited to students who already have professional experience. She can help someone who has never held a job, a student changing fields, an adult returning for another degree, or anyone who does not know which questions to ask. Her door is always open. Just shoot her an email or book an appointment, and then you can identify those questions and start finding the answers together.
