Tell me about yourself (professionally), ex. Undergrad? Grad? Career paths? How long have you been in career advising? Etc. 

I'm Lindsey Glasco Mastin, born and raised in the Oklahoma City area. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. After going through a quarter life crisis my senior year of college, I decided to continue my education by earning a master’s degree from the University of Missouri (Columbia campus) in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis which allowed me to achieve the mentorship and coaching I was seeking with my psychology degree in a higher education setting. I worked in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for about 10 years at various universities, in a range of positions that included programming, housing, advising academically at-risk students, and assessment/evaluation. I was given the opportunity to move back to my home state in January 2021 as Assistant Director & Career Adviser at OU Career Services. My primary advising focus is the Education, Non-Profit, & Social Impact Career Community. When I'm not on campus passionately helping students, I like spending time with my husband, my sister's four kids, and daily spoiling my cats, Hank and Cheeto.

How did you get into higher education, and more specifically, career advising? Was this always what you wanted to do?

The biggest professional goal I strive to accomplish every day in higher education is to provide advice and resources for students to help them achieve their purpose and/or discover their purpose. It is important for students to understand their ‘purpose’ is likely going to change multiple times throughout their professional life. After realizing this personally, I decided to pay it forward to future generations entering the workforce. This is the main reason I decided to explore the career advising profession. Plus, I had a very positive experience working with the OU Career Center staff and interviewing with employers as an undergraduate student. So, this of course reinforced my decision to apply for the career adviser opportunity.

If you could go back in time to your days as an undergraduate student, would you do anything differently? 

I wish I had started utilizing the OU Career Center resources earlier in college, as opposed to the semester before graduation. Even after completing my master’s degree, my lack of professional experience did not help when it came time to apply for full-time positions. If I had obtained an internship congruently with undergraduate coursework, it would have added to my skill set demonstrated by different ‘real world’ experiences. Thus, making me more marketable for future positions. Feel free to check out the 4 Year Plan handout to learn about the recommended participation with the Career Center ranging from your Freshman – Senior year. I also wish I had known it is acceptable and now encouraged to list campus leadership positions, involvement in student activities/clubs, and class projects as bulleted experiences on my resume to show employers how I’m qualified for positions.

What services does your office provide to students?

A complete list of Student Services can be found on the OU Career Center’s website. A few services provided by the career advising team during one-on-one appointments or group presentations include resume writing/critiques, cover letter writing/critiques, job/internship search, interview prep, mock interviews, and getting started with Handshake which is our career management platform.

What question do you get the most from students?

What are employers looking for? Or what characteristics do employers want to see in an ideal candidate? The answer to this type of question is why we created the How to be Crimson Career Ready handout. Crimson Career Ready is an initiative of the OU community to ensure students are able to demonstrate skills and qualifications that prepare them for success in the workplace and lifelong career management. Adapted from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) guidelines, employers look for eight (8) core competencies when hiring collegiate candidates. The OU Career Center has simplified these Core Competencies and provided examples on how/where to obtain them to ensure students are Crimson Career Ready for any position.

What is your favorite thing about working in the Career Center? 

First and foremost, the students. My passion for working with students to help coach and mentor them through some difficult situations is why I decided to pursue a career in higher education. Secondly, my colleagues. I have never been in a more positive and safe work environment where everyone is truly committed to achieving the OU Career Center mission, and is willing to support one another regardless of bureaucratic title. For example, we recently learned from our Employer Relations team that student applications across all industries are at an all-time low. We are collaborating to identify promotional strategies to get more student applicants, which is crucial in maintaining the quality of opportunities we offer. Therefore, I encourage all students and recent graduates to research positions/employers and start applying as soon as possible. Keep in mind, most employers hiring internship and full-time entry level positions are willing to train new employees with little to no experience. So even if you think you are not qualified for certain positions, we highly suggest applying even if you don’t meet all the qualifications.

If you could give the ultimate piece of advice to students, what would it be?

Join a Career Community. The OU Career Center has created six Career Communities, based on industry rather than major. These Communities help students narrow their career aspirations into manageable and relevant fields of interest. By choosing a Career Community, students are connected to specialized advising, career resources, job opportunities, networking events and more. Students are encouraged to explore more than one Career Community. Plus, you can get a super, awesome Career Center t-shirt by joining a Career Community! Just view the Career Communities tab on our website, click the red button that says “Join a Community Today,” complete the short survey, take a screen shot of the confirmation page, come by the Career Center’s temporary location on the 4th floor of The Union, show the front desk person the screen shot. That’s it!

Important Advising Information

Spring/Summer 2023 enrollment is here! Students will be assigned an enrollment window based on their current classification. Remember to be advised prior to enrollment! Appointments are available through iAdvise.ou.edu.

i. Senior Enrollment week is the week of October 24th

ii. Junior Enrollment week is the week of October 31st

iii. Sophomore Enrollment week is the week of November 7th

November 11th is the deadline for undergraduate students to drop a fall 2022 course (*16-week course) for an automatic ‘W’.