CBT’s Career Closet: The Starting Point for Making Dreams Come True

Kelcey Wetzel has been a Loper for a long time. She attended UNK as a student from 2002-2006, graduating in May of 2006 with a major in journalism advertising and a minor in marketing/management. What first attracted Kelcey to UNK was the small community atmosphere. That’s exactly why she and her husband decided to move back to Kearney three years ago. She explains that they “wanted to be closer to family and raise (their) boys in a smaller community.”

In September of 2024, Kelcey joined the CBT family as the Event Coordinator. Drawing on her own experiences as a college student, she is “very excited to be back at UNK, helping CBT coordinate events for current and prospective students.” One of the ways she helps students is by volunteering to help oversee the Career Closet.

Kelcey explains how the CBT Career Closet is a wonderful resource for students because it provides “free business attire rentals, free professional headshots, and free resume printing.” She appreciates how the CBT Career Closet “gives students the confidence and tools to succeed at job interviews, career fairs, and classroom projects.”

While she admits it is “rewarding to see students excel and succeed,” Kelcey gives a lot of credit to graduate assistants, such as Chloe Daken and Emily Conrad, who have worked hard “to provide students with a welcoming and professional Career Closet.” 

Chloe Dakan, currently in her last semester as an MBA student, received her undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing and a minor in entrepreneurship from UNK. She originally chose to become a Loper because staying in her hometown was an “easy transition from high school.” When she was offered a graduate assistant position at the College of Business and Technology, she decided to stay at UNK for her MBA. 

Chloe shares how she enjoys “helping students take steps in their professional careers.” She reflects on how amazing it is to witness the impact the Career Closet has on “students who do not own professional clothing.” Even students who will not pursue a career that will require them to wear professional clothing on a daily basis can benefit from the Career Closet. Chloe explains how these students “stop in to rent out suits for an interview or career fair.” She shares how “it is always rewarding seeing students come in, especially their first time, and get their headshot done, resume printed, and rent a suit.”

Emily Conrad, a graduate assistant for the College of Business and Technology, is currently pursuing her MBA with a specialization in human resources. She completed her undergraduate degree at UNK as well. Emily shares how she “originally chose UNK for its small, personal environment.” As a student, she appreciates the smaller student-to-faculty ratio which has allowed her to build relationships with her professors. She believes a strength of UNK is how its “size allows you to build community and connection.” 

It was through her work as a graduate assistant that Emily originally became involved with the CBT’s Career Closet. She explains how her work includes staffing it during open hours, promoting the Career Closet, and assisting with resume workshops. As she has worked with the Career Closet, she says it has been “rewarding to see the number of opportunities and resources it provides to students” which is something she believes sets them up for professional success.

Thinking back to her time as a freshman, Emily reflects on how helpful the Career Center’s resume building was for her. Although she had a resume from high school, she admits it was “not clearly formatted” and “needed to be updated.” She was grateful that she was able to utilize the Career Center where she received help to structure her resume “in a more professional, college-level format.” She discusses how helpful it was for her, as a freshman, to have “someone walk (her) through what should or shouldn’t be included in a resume and how best to format it.” She likes how students are not only provided resume assistance these days but also “access to print their resumes on professional paper.” Emily believes the Career Closet is “an incredible resource for students” because it offers a “wide range of tools to support their professional development.”

For Kelcey Wetzel and her team of graduate assistants, the job every day is to help UNK students start down the path to making their dreams come true. With its new location in the West Center, the CBT Career Closet makes it easier than ever for students to take advantage of its free services. Kelcey invites all UNK students to stop by and enjoy all that the Career Closet has to offer.