The departure of former Career Counselor Julie Sheveleva reformed the structure of the department, splitting the position between Kateřina Dudys, who will process administrative work, and the departments’ professors, responsible for teaching the Internship courses.
Dudys emphasized expanding employer partnerships by introducing an AI tool— MerkAI— to streamline outreach, solving the recurring problem of securing internships for non-Czech speakers.
“Increasing the number of companies willing to hire student workers and graduates is one of my top priorities,” Dudys said.
Julie Sheveleva, the previous Career Counselor, recalled language barriers as an impediment for AAU to establish long-lasting connections with businesses and offer students more employment options. In addition, the university’s policy requiring students to complete internships without taking a semester off also limits options abroad.
“Many employers in Prague require proficiency in Czech, making it difficult for international students to find opportunities,” Sheveleva said.
During her time at AAU, Sheveleva also had to single-handedly manage the workload of the entire College Counseling department, posing another challenge in maximizing the efficiency of the services. Teaching the Internship courses with 60 to 70 students per semester left little time for her to have one-on-one counseling, which led to some students waiting up to three weeks for an email response.
Now with tasks methodically assigned between part-time counselor Kateřina Dudys, and the professors, students will have access to Career Counseling’s services in a more timely manner.
Regarding the instructors of the mandatory Internship courses, Tony Ozuna is looking after the Journalism, Visual Arts, and Humanities & Social Sciences majors; Jeff Medevros is managing Business; and Michaela Grancayova is leading International Relations. Dudys also introduced herself to all students in these courses during the first sessions to ensure they are aware of the available career support.
“Do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will be happy to assist you,” Dudys said.
For further assistance, you can reach her office located in the Admissions Office.
