Business offers career counseling, college prep for high school students

Nov. 4, 2020 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

WILBRAHAM – Fall is the season when high school juniors and seniors turn their attention toward their college plans and the maze of applications, essays, deadlines and interviews that go with it. A talent development and acquisition firm in Wilbraham has begun offering student career services to help high schoolers navigate the road to college.

While Giombetti Associates has been working with students for the past decade, Owner Ross Giombetti said the company formally began offering the student career services in August when it partnered with Laura Lucarelle, a school counselor who has specialized in higher education admissions counseling.

“Students and families can feel lost and overwhelmed during the college admission process,” said Lucarelle in a statement. “Having a solid plan in place with concrete steps and guidelines often can demystify this process and make the experience manageable, and even serve as an opportunity for personal growth. The fact that I get to witness that growth happen is extremely gratifying.”

Giombetti explained, “There are two sides to the work that we do.” The first part, called a Performance Dynamics behavioral assessment, guides students through the college application process and helps them write essays, prepare for interviews, develop skills to stand out from the crowd, and create a list of colleges and program preferences.

The second part of the service that Giombetti Associates offers is an immersive personality and behavior exercise that helps identify natural strengths and for which careers a person is best suited.

“Most high schoolers aren’t sure who they are or what they want to do, and it can lead them down paths that are frustrating,” said Giombetti. The program also helps students network, leading to possible internships and post-grad careers.

Giombetti said that guidance counselors, who traditionally do this work, have too many students to devote enough time to each one. He said that is especially true since so many schools are doing some form of remote learning.

“Being that they’re remote, it’s making it even harder for school counselors. I think the need out there today is more prevalent because of what we’re facing,” with the pandemic, Giombetti said. “We’re already seeing an increase,” in the number of students using the company’s services, he added.

Giombetti said that they have received “excellent feedback” so far. He related an encounter in which a student Giombetti Associates had been working with had been accepted to George Washington University. “I saw a tremendous amount of growth in him, and his mother was emotional because her son was going off to college and she just said ‘thank you.’”

Giombetti told Reminder Publishing that his work with helping students find a path to their futures is, “one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career.”

For more information about the student coaching options at Giombetti Associates, call 566-3863.

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