The Career Services Office is Your First Stop in Landing Your First Job

Maximizing Career Center Use - Survey of Career Services Directors

THE BLACK COLLEGIAN asked career services directors to respond to the following questions about how students and alumni can maximize the use of their career center.

1) What are some of the services or tools on campus that are not well known or utilized enough, or that you wish more students would use?

2) What are the "mistakes" students make in using or not using campus career resources? Or, conversely, what are the traits and actions of a student who optimize the career resources available on campus?

3) Do you have any other advice to help students and alumni
to make optimal use of career services and job resources on
campus?

The following excerpts are from their responses:

Harold Bell – Spelman College

Mock interviewing is a critical skill that most students often take for granted. Many students fail to realize that interviewing is a life skill, not just something they need to focus on if they want to obtain a job.

Company information sessions are another service often provided by many career services offices. These sessions serve as great venues for students to network with company representatives as well as inform themselves of the diverse opportunities that often exist within these organizations. Students must realize that in most cases, their knowledge of various companies is fairly limited due to limited exposure. Educating themselves on the various aspects of different industries will help them prepare to become a much more savvy job seeker.

Davita Bonner – Bethune-Cookman College

We encourage all of our students to use the center for all career-related needs: internships, part-time positions and attending graduate school and career fairs.

Through promotion of our services, we hope to continue increasing the number of students requesting assistance. Some do not contact the center until their junior or senior year, not realizing that opportunities are available throughout their matriculation. I strongly encourage students to begin utilizing career services beginning their first year of college. Our Office of Alumni Affairs has been instrumental in assisting us with career-related programming and providing career opportunities for our students and graduates.

Mary Feduccia – Louisiana State University

Many students seem to think "career" is something to consider as a final-semester senior. When students begin serious career planning early on, even as freshmen, they are much better prepared and more focused than their peers who do not.

Waiting until senior year to visit career services is a mistake! Employers expect new graduates to have clear career goals and field-related experiences, and the time to begin that process is as a freshman or sophomore. A few hours invested in taking advantage of career services reaps endless rewards. Students, too, underestimate the importance of developing lifelong job search skills. Most people change jobs an average of 7 times before retirement, and there will never be an easier way for students to develop the skills they'll need for years to come.

Sheila Curran – Duke University

Plenty of well-meaning people try to give career advice to students. These include family and friends. While it's great to listen to the advice of everyone who cares about you, students need to be cautious about taking the advice of those who aren't close to the world of careers. Many older people think  that there are only a few career fields that are suitable for college grads: doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer. To focus solely on these career options, though, is to miss the vast array of opportunities available to today's grads. The sooner students are willing to make career exploration a personal mission, the more likely they are to find work that they love.

Many students avoid the careers office because they think they'll be going to graduate school. In fact, even in top schools, it's common for three quarters of students to go immediately into the work world. Students typically spend around five years at work before business school, and increasingly, students are taking a year or two off before going to graduate, law or medical school.

Vivian Wrenn David – Hampton University

Students who use the career center services usually have goals and a working plan of action. They attend career fairs and often have multiple job offers. These students are leaders in their classes, are active in organizations and participate in community service. They realize the importance of having the resources that will assist them in reaching their goals and usually take advantage of as many opportunities as their time permits. These students have two or more internships, attend the company information sessions and have good management skills. They know where they want to work and they pursue those opportunities early. Often these students participate in extracurricular activities, and there may be an entrepreneur or two in the mix.

Echell Eady – Fisk University

I wish students, from freshman year through graduation, would take advantage of opportunities to connect with the "real world" of work. This means coming to presentations by visiting employers, applying for internships and attending off-campus recruitment events. Also, students should prepare for on-campus interviews as seriously as they prepare for on-site interviews at companies.

Alum may not realize that the career services office receives employment information for experienced and established professionals as well as current students or recent graduates. Downsized alum or those interested in changing careers can always contact the office for job opportunities. Students who optimize the career services office are "regulars." The staff knows these students' goals and aspirations, and staff is made aware when these goals change. Therefore, when unique opportunities arise, staffers will think of the "regulars" first, and pursue them with the information.

Dr. Jackie Epps – South Carolina State University

Career fairs, Graduate and Professional School Day and other special events are under-used by students and alumni. Information sessions to learn about companies' internship and permanent job opportunities also should be taken advantage of to a greater extent. Other areas that are helpful and should be utilized more often are counseling and assistance in preparing high-impact resumes and improving interviewing skills and techniques. I urge students and alumni to register with the career center and take full advantage of all services including mock interviews, resume writing and business etiquette workshops.

Glenda Jones – Prairie View A&M University

Services on the campus that are not well known or utilized include Personality and Career Testing and Analysis to assist students in identifying strengths and interests for the right career paths, writing and communications centers, and university libraries. Students who optimize the career resources are ambitious, focused, aggressive, academically inclined, knowledgeable, goal oriented, and have a take charge attitude and determination.

Career services should enhance its marketing and promotions of the services to the students and alumni – become more visible by teaming up with selected faculties and staff that have the pulse of the students. They might also offer to team-teach selected classes or develop seminars with the faculty and staff for presentations during their class time.

Dewain L. Lee – Dillard University

I would definitely say that the Office of Career Services is underutilized by students on campus [and often] by faculty as well. There are services that career services professionals can provide such as workshops and seminars that can enhance classroom learning. There is an opportunity for career services and faculty to partner in presenting classroom topics and to relate them to careers or organizations. This gives students an opportunity to see how what they are learning in class is practical and has a connection to careers and the world of work.

Ben McLaurin – Morehouse College

I wish more students would use Wetfeet.com and other job informational computer services to research the companies prior to interviewing. Many students just won't attend job information sessions for several reasons, often very legitimate, so there needs to be good online information for students to use to prepare for interviews.

Several students try to interview "winging it." That just does not work. While interviews must be truthful, they are not a place for true confessions. Know what your weaknesses are, and show how you have worked on them to make them strengths.

Sarah Stringer – Tuskegee University

Students' awareness of the benefits and use of the Career Development and Placement Services Center is as essential to their success as classroom participation and use of the library. As we track and evaluate our students on campus and in the world of work, there seems to be a direct correlation between early use of the center, students' academic performance, and work experience through our summer internship and cooperative education programs.

We urge students to network – get to know alumni and other professionals in their chosen career fields. In addition to using the center while they are students, we encourage them to use it when considering a career change.

Lisa Townes – Virginia State University

Students who utilize the services early and often typically have more success in their job development and job search activities. They are better informed about opportunities and feel more confident during interviews. Another thing that students should do is get out and interview. Many students believe that one or two or 10 interviews will allow them to grasp the brass ring of success. While it is possible, this is the exception rather than the rule. Students need to have a resume on several search engines including the traditional ones such as Monster and Career Builder, as well as those related to their field.

Students don't interview enough. We recommend that they interview with lesser-known companies, which will prepare them for the larger, reputable one. Interviewing often provides students with the practice they need to be comfortable answering tough questions. It also allows them to learn what industry professionals are looking for and gives them an insight on the industry trends. Contrary to their preconceived ideas, the smaller company may offer an opportunity that is just right.

Tiffany Renee Wallace – Mississippi Valley State University

I often wish that I could post a sign over my door that says "Your Network Starts Here." Students often treat everyone in our office as if we are just quick-service providers instead of partners in their career development. I am afraid that students do the same with alumni, employers, and other potential and ineffective contacts. Students are often too focused on the end goal—internships, co-ops, and jobs—to build relationships. However, it's the relationships that students build that will keep their efforts from being haphazard.

Adrienne Willis – Grambling University

There are career services workshops on resume writing, dining etiquette, dress for success and many more. We also have mock interviews to prepare students for interviewing and career fairs. The alumni network is great also. The student who registers with the Office of Career Services will have an alumni mentor, who has achieved things in his or her career that the student would like to achieve.

Students who use career services have effective resumes; they are knowledgeable of thank-you letters for interviews; and they attend the company information sessions so they have researched career options better than other students. They also use the Vault Career Library to research careers choices.