I often use the analogy that finding a great career is a lot like dating and sometimes, it takes a little extra oomph — like a cute, vintage car — to get a relationship off the ground.

Last September, a group of engineering students stopped by an evening meeting I was in to ask if they could borrow (me and) my 1973 bright yellow-and-white Volkswagen Beetle for an Orientation Week scavenger hunt. My beetle “Daizybug”, the engineers told me enthusiastically, was sure to be the winning entry.

The students were very polite and grateful for my willingness to participate in the fun. But, as much as they tried to hide it in the interests of their looming contest deadline, they were visibly shocked to learn that I, owner of an apparently scavenger-chic vehicle, was a career counsellor at the campus Career Services. It’s not the first time I’ve realized that Career Centre staff isn’t exactly up there on the “cool people to know” list.

After visiting our Centre, attending one of our workshops or events, or seeing a counsellor, students often say to me in an incredulous voice, “Wow! That was way more helpful than I’d expected.” And I always wonder: what is it that makes students’ expectations of a career centre so low to start off with?

Oh sure, once in a while, you may find yourself feeling slightly desperate about your job search, career, or education prospects, and so you contemplate sneaking into the Career Centre without telling any of your friends. I mean, it’s not often a group activity, is it? Because of course, your friends all know what they’re doing with their lives and you…um…don’t. Or, you know exactly what you want to do with your life but you have no idea how to compete to get there or whether the stories you’ve heard about bizarre professional interview questions are true. But that still doesn’t make you leap up and head to the Career Centre.

People’s reasons for avoiding their campus Career Centre probably vary but my experiences as a career counsellor, recruiter, and author over the last 15 years have shown me that seeking career or job search help is kind of like going to the dentist: most people — students included — really don’t want to think about it until they absolutely must.

Yes, waiting until you’re career-desperate is pretty common. In fact, I have often seen students who came in for the first time on their graduation day. We leapt in to help them out, of course, but it’s a lot less stressful for you (and your parents who are wringing their hands down in the car as they babysit your newly-minted diploma) if you think about coming to visit a bit earlier in your academic career.

But, true confessions now: I went to both university and college and didn’t realize that there was career counselling available at either of them. Yeah, I see the irony too. If I had known they existed, I might have wondered – who are they? Are they like the guidance counsellors I had in high school? What background do they have that will help me?

I don’t want to generalize but having met many of my fellow Career Centre staff at national and international conferences, it’s not a stretch to say that the people at your particular campus Career Centre are often a) information junkies (they love knowing stuff and what they don’t know, they’re good at finding) and b) helper-bee personality types (they lie awake at night hoping you’ll be okay).

Okay, I’m obviously not exactly un-biased when it comes to promoting your campus Career Centre. But, we genuinely want you to come and see us when you’re ready and not because we’re egotistical and want you to love us more than the other campus student services. It’s just that we know that the earlier you come to see us, the calmer and happier you tend to be. That’s because coming in starting in your first year allows you to adjust programs, develop skills and refine goals as you progress through your years at school. Like many students, the aspiring engineers I met last fall didn’t know much about Career Services, its staff’s expertise or even where it was on campus. But they won the scavenger hunt in a blaze of glory with one VW Beetle and a counsellor from Career Services.

So, don’t wait until you need a large, weird object before you stop by and see us. But, if you really need one, let us know. We might be able to help with that too. jp

Christine Fader works as a career counsellor at Queen’s University and is author of “Career Cupid: Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job”.