What Every Freshman Needs To Know About a College Career Development Center

Whether you've been confident since childhood about your career choice, or you're starting college without a clue about a major or specific career path, you can benefit by taking advantage of the services offered by a college career center.

Parents often comment that they wish they would've had such services available to them as they struggled in choosing a major or making job search decisions. It's not just wishful thinking. Students who utilize their career centers learn how to develop a plan and how to make that plan work for them.

Why go to a college career center as a freshman when you might not even know what questions to ask? 
To develop a plan!

Bottom line… there are things you can start doing now to make it easier for you throughout your college experience and stay on track to reach your end goal – a career-entry position.

It's exciting to hear the success stories shared about students and graduates who have taken advantage of their college career center. They have benefited from services ranging from assessment/testing (with trained counselor interpreted results), individual career counseling appointments, resume reviews, mock interviews, fun and insightful networking events, internship/job fairs and much more!

Step one of your plan is preparation. Colleges and universities contract with companies that provide students and alumni (usually at no extra cost) with an on-line service designed to help them identify their personality traits, interests, skills, and what they value in a workplace as it relates to their career options, as well as help them identify occupations best suited for them.

Students can then start working with a career development advisor to build or hone their resume, write a cover letter and develop a reference page. An advisor also assists in helping students with suggestions on building a portfolio.

• Start a "Career, Vocation/Calling" folder to keep career development center materials readily accessible for career-related class assignments and internship/job search prep.
  
  
• Start researching internship opportunities as a freshman to be ready to make application as a sophomore (employers expect students to have had more than one internship/co-operative education experience).

Step two of your plan is about making the connection. A recent NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) survey "suggested a strong link" between students and graduates who utilized the services provided by their career centers and landing viable job offers. The Spotlight Online for Career Services Professionals, June 23, 2010 article states per theNACE 2010 Student Survey "Results show that, the more frequently a senior used career services, the more likely he/she would receive a job offer. Just under 29 percent of those who received job offers had not used the career center—meaning the remaining 71 percent with offers were career center users. In addition, the study found that the likelihood of getting a job offer increased with the frequency of use, so that those who used the career center four or more times a semester were more likely to have job offers than those who used it once a semester."

Connect with employers for part-time and seasonal jobs that can help you build your resume and prepare you for internships. Most college career centers contract with companies for online resume/job posting systems that employers use to specifically target their institution's students and recent graduates for part-time, seasonal, internship and full-time career opportunities. Federal Work Study positions may be posted as well (for those students who qualify). These systems are usually offered free to students. In addition to searching for jobs, students can upload resumes for automatic review by their career center advisor. Sample resumes are generally available to help students.

Students should not limit themselves to on-line systems and social media to make employment connections.

CAUTIONARY NOTE: A student's on-line presence and history must be free of any non-professional speech or conduct. Google yourself and follow your postings (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, internet research, etc.). Change any immature voice mail messages and email addresses to simply match your name on your resume.

Take advantage of networking events with successful alumni, informational sessions, on-campus employer mock interviews and recruiting events. Students should familiarize themselves with professional groups and memberships associated with their specific major. Become a student member of regional and local Chamber of Commerce college groups to learn about what's happening with area businesses and organizations and mix with professionals.

• Meet with the people you've chosen as your references. Ask for permission to use them as a reference and give them a copy of your resume. Talk to them about who you are, what you want and why an employer should hire you. Ask them for suggestions of people you could add to your network for information interviews.  
• Learn how to present yourself to potential employers.
• Practice interviewing by participating in mock interviews with your career center advisors, guest employers and interview simulators.
• Review videotape employer mock interviews with a career center advisor.
• Go to your career center's web pages for at-a-glance advice and helpful links to employers and job search sites.
• Read the local newspapers or get RSS feeds to stay current with the job market.
• Always send a thank you note to anyone who helps you in any way.
• Be kind, considerate and courteous to everyone you meet. 
• Carefully follow up with employer contacts.

In general, career development centers have strong working partnerships with administration, faculty, employers, alumni, as well as regional and national consortiums and professional associations.
 
Step 3 is to transition well to an internship or career-entry position.

Transitioning is a result of good preparation, effective networking, and careful follow-up with an employer. Congratulations! You've received an internship/job offer. Now before you accept:

• request a  written copy of the job offer
• review the contract/job description carefully
• make sure you are clear about the starting date, hours, salary and benefits
• clarify the employers expectations about the position, orientation and training
• allow for the unexpected in your travel time to ensure early arrival to your job
• celebrate your internship/job search success by sharing your good news with your career center

Enjoy beginning your college experience and getting to know the staff in your career development center. Remember, no one is born knowing how to write a professional and marketable resume or effectively interview. Don't just have wishful thinking. Use your career center staff's expertise and the services available to you to develop your plan.

NACE's 2010 Student Survey was conducted February 9, 2010, through April 30, 2010. More than 31,470 students representing more than 400 colleges and universities nationwide took part; more than 13,000 of those were graduating seniors. A final report on the study's findings will be available later this year.

Editorial content provided by Colleen Winney, CWDP, Asst. Director & Phyllis Johnson, Administrative Asst., Career Development Center at Malone University.