Take Advantage of These Services! 

By Melissa Lach

After working in the Office of Career Services for almost 12 years, I am leaving this area to pursue a career in teaching. In my years of experience in working with several hundred graduating seniors and alumni, I have “collected” many thoughts on the job search process. Also, as someone who is currently in the job search process myself, I can empathize with what graduating seniors are going through!

My 12 years in career services have been very productive and enjoyable. The skills that I acquired and hopefully conveyed to students and alumni are helping me now in my own job search process. Here are some of my thoughts:

· Take advantage of your career services office-especially while you are on campus. Some larger career services offices are not able to be as personable as ours-especially after you graduate. These services are paid for with your activity fee-take advantage of them! Every semester we have one or two graduating seniors who show up at our office with a bewildered look on their face, and say, “I didn't even know you were here!” What rock did they climb out from under! Utilize career services to develop your resume, cover letters, interview skills, referrals for on-campus interviews, and career fairs!

· Take advantage of summer, part-time, and experiential educational opportunities. Employers prefer to hire students who have “hands-on” job experience. Even if those jobs were not related to your major-fast food, waiting tables, sales associates in retail, childcare, etc--they demonstrate your ability to manage your time wisely, take classes, and show up to work on time! These are also excellent buffers for a not so impressive GPA!

· Take advantage of career fairs! Many of you may be disappointed in the turnout to your campus' career fairs-unfortunately, in this economy many companies are not visiting campuses. We invited over 500 companies and governmental agencies to our career fair, and only 65 agreed to come! Over 20 of these were police departments! You cannot imagine the work that goes into planning a career fair. Even if you are not impressed with the representation, take the time to talk with recruiters. That is what they are here for. The number one complaint we get from recruiters is poor student turnout. Even if you are not interested in what they have to offer, the networking skills you will acquire will not only help you in your job search, but will keep the representatives (and your career services office) very happy! Also, keep in mind that career fairs are not just for seniors-this is an excellent opportunity for all students to explore the world of work-especially those who are undecided about their career or major. Representatives can tell you exactly what their company or agency does, job responsibilities, qualifications and training desired of their employees, etc. This information will help you in your career (or academic major) decisions.

· Take advantage of on-campus interviews. Even if you are not 100 percent interested in the company or agency, the interviewing skills you will acquire will be worth your time. I have gone on three interviews in the last month, and each time, I analyze my responses and how I could handle it better the next time. And, again, if recruiters visit campuses, they want a full schedule! Many times we have had recruiters cancel due to lack of interest.

· Begin your job search early! Don't show up two weeks before graduation and decide it is time to start your job search! If you are interested in part-time, summer, or experiential education, you will need to start your freshman year! The majority of the students we serve are freshmen seeking part-time or summer work. All of these work experiences lead up to your ultimate goal, which is to find meaningful work upon graduation. Recruiters prefer to hire students who have internship experience as well. These internships will probably not be paid internships, but you will receive course credit-check with your faculty advisor to have these approved.

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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