With May approaching, the time has come when seniors need to start preparing for the “real world.”
Plattsburgh State’s Director of the Career Development Center Julia Overton-Healy thinks the time to start looking and applying for jobs is now.
“Get your name out there because if you wait until May, all the jobs will be taken,” she said.
However, do not send out any unsolicited applications. If a company is hiring, they will advertise.
Graduating seniors should also start researching companies they may be interested in working for and be able to conduct a strategic job search.
“Focus on the job options available to you within your discipline and closely related areas,” Mohamed Gaber, professor and chair of accounting, said. “It is also appropriate to narrow down your preferred geographical preference when applicable.”
The Career Development Center has resources to help narrow down job searches and to prepare students for interviews and the job search process.
The center also offers personal career coaching in which a counselor will help students align job options with their interests, develop resumes and cover letters, practice interviews and craft a strategic job search.
CardinalConnect, an online career services management system available for PSUC students, allows employers to connect specifically with the students.
Professional associations also list jobs on their websites that may be of interest to their members.
“If you just post your resume on Monster or Indeed, you’re not going to be successful,” Overton-Healy said. “Less than two percent of people will be successful on those sites.”
If a second semester senior has not done an internship yet, it is important to attempt to get some experience, whether it is through an internship, job shadowing or volunteer work.
Once a student has worked on their resumes, experience and brand, it is important to know how to interview well.
The Career Development Center offers a service where students can record a mock interview then replay the video and assess themselves to help them work on what they need to in order to be better.
“Students should get ready for upcoming interviews,” Gaber said. “If possible, go through a mock interview to get feedback on what needs to be done better.”
The Career Development Center will also be hosting a senior’s transition conference Feb. 21 that will be a half-day conference followed by a fine dining etiquette dinner.
The conference is “designed for graduating seniors to get moving on all their job search steps. From resumes to researching companies to interviewing to using social media,” reads the Career Development Centers’ website.
“Finding a job is a job,” Overton-Healy said. “Seniors should put as much energy into that as they do finishing their degrees, maybe more.”
Email Tawnee Bradham at tawnee.bradham@cardinalpointsonline.com.
