Elke Hardt

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I picked my career quite by accident. I did not know all along that I wanted to become a career counselor, or that I would enjoy it as much as I do. I did know that I wanted to be some kind of counselor. After graduate school my first job was working with Olympic athletes who were retiring from sport. Some athletes wanted to go back to school, others wanted to stay involved with their sport in some way, and others wanted to find a career. Some of them had a hard time saying goodbye to their sport after doing it for so many years. They felt like that was all that they knew how to do, that was their identity. I spent a lot of time working with them, to help them see that they have so much to offer, even if it isn't connected to sport. I began to realize that much of my work involved career counseling. After 5 years I moved and found another job, this time at a university career center. Since then I have worked with college students (and sometimes student athletes), helping them as they make career decisions. It's fun to help them figure out what they want to do with their lives.