Amanda Elston

Amanda Elston

Career & Education Outreach Specialist


Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas

Abilene, TX USA


Put yourself out there, meet new people, and try jobs out even if you don't think you'll be there long term.

Milestones

My road in life has taken me all over.
Began studies in English at the University of North Texas.
Became a Freshman Orientation Leader and discovered my passion for helping students.
Decided that Denton was not for me and transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington.
Started working in the admissions office as a student worker and continued helping students part-time.
Graduated from UTA, got married, and moved three hours west to Sweetwater.
Struggled with finding a job in a town of 13,000 - spent two years traveling to Big Spring to work as an editor at a newspaper.
Was offered a job as a dual enrollment advisor at TSTC where I got to work hands-on with students closer to home in Sweetwater.
Started my job with Workforce Solutions / Region 14 where I get to work with ISDs I am familiar with from TSTC and help students with what I myself needed help with 12 years ago. We come full circle!
Keep following my journey

Career

Career & Education Outreach Specialist

I help students decide what they want to do after high school and how to get there.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Non-Profit Organizations
Helping People

Day to Day

I visit with school districts around the Abilene region to help their students figure out who they are, what they are interested in, and what they might want to do when they graduate high school. I then help create a road map on how to get to where they want to go. This sometimes means classroom presentations, one-on-one meetings with students, or helping with projects such as Career Fairs or College Fairs.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for college students

If you're interested in working in higher education or helping students get career / college / job ready - I recommend getting involved in extracurricular activities at your own college or joining interest groups or boards and networking. The more people you know and the more experience you have, the better.

Recommended Education

My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Family:

"What are you going to do for work with an English degree out in West Texas? "

Challenges I Overcame

Moved far from home