Deborah Halliday, assistant director of the Office of Career Services, helps Shari Hileman (CAS08) look for an internship. Its never too late to begin looking for a job, Halliday says.
College seniors just returning from spring break may be getting anxious about finding a job after graduation, but recent alumni know that career opportunities can emerge at the most unlikely times and places. Jennifer Ciarimboli (CAS03) didn’t know the New England Institute of Art existed until she drove past it while searching for an apartment. But when she applied for a job there, she found that her work-study experience in the undergraduate programs office at the School of Management made her a good candidate for a job in higher education.
I cant say enough how much my work-study job helped me, says Ciarimboli, an academic advisor at the institute. I really think it was a good opportunity for me.
Ciarimbolis experience finding a job after graduation isn’t that unusual, says Deborah Halliday, the assistant director of the Office of Career Services. Although some students begin their job search early, many don’t even start writing a resume until Commencement has concluded. Luckily, students are able to take advantage of the career services programs which range from assessment tests to resume-writing workshops at no cost for a full year after graduation.
We tell them its never too early and its never too late, says Halliday.
The Universitys undergraduate career services programs which besides OCS include offices at the College of Communication, the School of Management, and the College of Engineering all offer a variety of basic services designed to help students find jobs and internships. Counselors are available to meet with students and map out a path as early as freshman year. In addition, seniors can attend recruiting sessions on campus held by companies in all kinds of industries or come to a job fair. The Spring Career Fest, scheduled for March 22 at the George Sherman Union, is expected to attract 70 employers, including John Hancock, Oxford Global Resources, and the Ritz-Carlton.
Finding a job has been difficult over the past few years, counselors note; the economic downturn that started in early 2001 lingered through last year, and many of the Universities most reliable employers simply we are not hiring. The bleak outlook worried some students, Halliday says, and paradoxically made them more determined to find a well-paying job in a challenging market. But this year the outlook seems better more employers attended both the OCS and ENG fall and spring job fairs, and SMGs Feld Career Center noted a 93 percent increase in available jobs between 2002 and 2005.
Jobs are coming back to the communications industry as well, says Joyce Greenwood Rogers, the director of COMs career office, and its a nice thing to see.
To make the most of the economic upswing, Halliday says the first step is to walk into a career services office and meet with a career counselor. The OCS staff can be helpful at any stage, she says, even if a student is still trying to figure out what to do with his or her major. Its also an important way to learn networking skills, according to Mike Walsh of the ENG career services office; when the people at the various career services offices know about a students background and interests, they are able to suggest better employer matches. The key is to come in here and build a relationship with us, says Walsh.
Once a student has identified some fields of interest and created a resume, using the guidelines on the offices Web sites or attending one of the workshops scheduled throughout the year, the next phase is actually applying for a job. Different options are available at each BU school and college. At OCS, students can apply to companies through its recruitment program: the office collects resumes and then schedules on-campus interviews for candidates selected by the companies. The Feld Center and ENG have similar programs, which are explained in the classroom Walsh participates in the freshman seminar EK100, and sophomores and juniors take a course called SM411 before using the Feld Centers e-recruiting system, which offers online access to job opportunities. At COM, job and internship listings are posted regularly online and in the office and updated with input from faculty who work in the communications industry.
The face-to-face approach seems unusual to students accustomed to conducting most of their business online. But while many companies do post jobs on the Web, Halliday says, students often don’t realize that their electronically submitted resumes go straight to a human resources department, along with thousands of others. When they apply using the Universities recruiting program, she says, that employer is going to look at your resume and seriously consider you for the position.
Would you rather be one in 1,500, Halliday asks students, or one in 15?
While the career offices started holding workshops as early as September, there are strategy and information sessions available this semester, and companies are still recruiting on campus as well resume deadlines are posted on the OCS Web site and at the office. And although career counselors stress the advantages of getting an early start to the search, there are many ways to find a job up to and long after graduation.
We’ve had students walk in here the Monday after graduation, and say, Okay, I’m starting, says Halliday. When they start is when they start, and we will help them the whole time.
