“Begin with the end in mind.”

That’s one piece of advice from management guru Stephen Covey to people want to be successful.

It’s also the advice that Daniel Orozco has for Southwestern’s incoming students.

Orozco is Southwestern’s new director of Career Services. He replaces Roger Young, who retired from Southwestern in August after serving as director of office since 1998. Young said he has known Orozco for years and is happy to see him take over the office at Southwestern.

“Daniel really has a heart for students,” he said.

Orozco is joining the Southwestern staff from Abilene Christian University, where he served as associate director of their Career Center since 2008. Before that, he was associate director of the Career Center at Texas A&M University from 1986 to 2008. Orozco holds two degrees from A&M − a bachelor’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a master’s degree in educational administration.

Orozco said he switched to career center work after a brief stint as a 5th grade teacher.

“I haven’t looked back since,” he said.

After having worked at career centers at both a large university and a smaller university, Orozco said he prefers the smaller schools.

“At smaller schools you really get to connect with students,” he said.

Orozco said he hopes new students will connect with Career Services soon after they arrive on campus.

“If students start early, by the time they are seniors they won’t need us,” Orozco said. “If all we get is a year or a half year, students are cheating themselves.”

Career Services was recently ranked #1 in Texas and #7 in the country for Best Career/Job Placement Services by the Princeton Review.

Orozco said Career Services isn’t planning on resting on its laurels, though.

“Rankings don’t mean anything if students don’t feel like they are getting good service,” Orozco said.