Career Services

SOWELA's Office of Career Services educates and supports individuals in life planning and career self-reliance. Students at all SOWELA locations can utilize its innovative and informative job placement services for employment support during their college experience or in preparation for life after graduation. The Office of Career Services is at the Main Campus in Lake Charles, LA, in the Magnolia Building, Student Success Center.

Online Job Bank

SOWELA's Career Services Office offers innovative and informative job placement services to our students. One of those services is our online job bank (opens new window).

• To access the job bank, you must enter your student ID as your username and then click "forgot password."
• Services are available to students, alumni, and employers.
• Approved employers may post jobs and search resumes.
• All services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• After you register to the site, it is very important that you cheeck your email daily for alerts and announcements from the Career Services Coordinator regarding job openings, career fairs, workshops, etc.

Job Search Services

• Resume Tips
  • How to write a resume (opens new window)
  • Resume templates (opens new window)
• Job Interview
  • How to prepare for a job interview (opens new window)
  • Steps to prepare for your job interview (opens new window)
• Career Fair
  • Tips to help prepare for a career fair (opens new window)
• On Campus Student Employment - Federal Work-Study Program

Coast Guard Lateral Entry Program

SOWELA has a Lateral Entry Program with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). This enables SOWELA graduates in specific programs to directly enlist into the USCG or USCG Reserve at a higher rank and pay. As part of the program, eligible SOWELA graduates can also bypass USCG technical training due to their degree credential.

Helpful Links

• Career Coach (opens new window)
• Career Explorer SWLA (opens new window)
  • A virtual home for all things Career & Technical Education in our region. Look for resources, programs, events and webinars, and job searches.
• Career Guide for Students with Disabilities (opens new window)
• College Grad (opens new window)
  • A job listing site that caters specifically to employers looking to hire new college graduates. This provides graduates an easy way to find their first career opportunity in their field of study without extensive experience.
• Hloom (opens new window)
  • A free guide to writing a professional resume. It also provides free Microsoft Word templates and sample resumes, at the bottom of the page, that can be easily downloaded and personalized for any specific job opportunity.
  • Hloom Internship Resume (opens new window)
    • An internship-specific resume section of the website that is great for students searching for a summer internship.
• LearnHowToBecome.org (opens new window)
  • Provides detailed insight into some of today's most popular career fields.
• Ziprecruiter
  • Salary Data (opens new window)
  • Internships in Lake Charles, Louisiana (opens new window)
  • Entry level jobs in Lake Charles, Louisiana (opens new window)
  • All jobs in Lake Charles, Louisiana (opens new window)

Contact Information

Joseph W. Lavergne
Director of Student Recruitment and Career Services
joseph.lavergne@sowela.edu
(337) 421-6951

SOWELA does not guarantee job placement, however, the office staff will do their very best to assist students with job placement needs.