Black Collegian Career Center

August/September

You’re almost done. You’ve made it through three years and you’ve only got one more year to go. This is no time to slow down! More than ever you’ve got to be sure you have all of your ducks in a row. You need to evaluate what you’ve done so far and assess your career situation. Have you done all that you should to prepare for embarking on the world of work and your career?

Your senior year will undoubtedly be a hectic one. More than likely, you’ll have to juggle a lot of responsibilities. Between completing all of your course(s) work, (i.e. papers, exams, projects), updating your resume, job searching and interviewing, you’ll barely have time to stay involved with clubs and organizations, volunteer in the community, attend athletic events and socialize with friends. You’ll need to be very organized, if you’re not already. Purchase a calendar and be sure to use it.

As soon as the semester starts make an appointment with your career counselor to discuss your resume. This document will be one of the most important pieces of paper you’ll ever use. It is an advertisement of your skills and speaks for you when you’re not present. It should be perfect, so spend as much time as you can to make it so. Read it over well; check for spelling errors, typos, tense consistency, relevant skills and flow of information.  Choose a quality bond paper and laser print it. Resume paper costs a little more, but it’s worth it. Remember, this document is displaying your skills and representing why the company should hire you. Your cover letter is equally important and should be focused and concise. It serves to introduce your resume, name what position you are applying for and gives a brief synopsis of why you are interested in the position. Be careful not to re-write your resume in the cover letter.

Make time to see your academic advisor to be sure you’re going to graduate on time. Check to see if you’ve met all of the requirements for your degree (i.e. credit hours, passed comprehensive exams, paid any outstanding fines, etc.). You don’t want any unpleasant surprises. If you’re thinking about graduate school, you’ll need to be aware of application and financial aid request deadlines as well as start preparing to take the necessary entrance exams.  Typically those exams are the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the Millers Analogy Test (MAT), the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the Dental Admission Test (DAT) or the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), depending on your graduate program.  In addition, you’ll need to narrow down what you want to get your advanced degree in and which schools will offer the best program to meet your needs. Your career counselor, the Peterson’s Graduate School Guide or usnews.com, to name a few sources, will give you some helpful tips to get you started.

October

Interview, Interview, Interview! The on-campus recruiting season has begun and you’ll need to make yourself available to as many recruiters as possible.  Check with your career services office and find out what recruiters are coming on campus to interview for your major. Determine what you need to do to get on their schedule and be sure to sign up. If you’re nervous about interviewing, ask you career counselor about a mock interview. Most career centers offer workshops on successful interviewing. One of the most crucial things you can do to enhance your chances of a great interview is to know your audience. You’ve got to do your homework and research the companies/organizations that you are going to interview with ahead of time.  The more you know about your potential employer, the more impressed they will be with your tenacity and your interest in them.

Don’t forget about career fairs and networking opportunities. Your career center as well as local businesses will be hosting fairs and other events around this time to match up the best students with top employers. Put on your best suit, take lots of copies of your résumé and be ready to talk about your goals, plans and skills.  After events like these, be sure to get business cards in order to keep track of whom you’ve spoken with and send them thank you notes.

November/December

Recap the semester and sharpen your focus on your goal.  Get out your checklist. Did you put the finishing touches on your resume and cover letter?  Did you interview as much as you could have? Were your interviews fruitful in getting you a second or follow-up interview? Is your job search plan working well or does it need revising? Have you been meeting with your career counselor to take advantage of his/her expertise and experience? The countdown is getting close and you want to be sure to dot all of the I’s of your academic responsibilities and cross all of the T’s of your job search.

January

It’s getting closer to graduation day. It’s crunch time and you’ve got some decisions to make. Are you planning on seeking full-time work or going on to graduate school? If your choice is employment, then you’ll need to evaluate your job options. Have you received any offers? Are there deadlines for acceptance? Are you still questioning what kind of job you want and what kind of company/organization to work for? A familiar resource mentioned often in this article is your career counselor who will be able to help you sort through your choices and re-group if necessary. If graduate school is your choice then you should be collecting what you’ll need to be considered for admission. You’ll need acceptable test scores; each school may have a different cut off score so be sure to check. Official transcripts of your undergraduate work will also need to be sent to each school. Contact your registrar to have them mailed. Two or three letters of recommendation from professors and/or employers will be required as well. Make it easy for your references to help you by giving each of them a few supplies and talk with them about your plans. The supply list should include the school recommendation forms with stamped, addressed envelopes, a copy of your application essay, your resume, and maybe a list of classes you’ve taken or projects on which you worked. Discuss with each reference details about your reasons for going to graduate school and applying to specific programs.  This step will serve you well. It will give your references all the information they need to write a strong and thorough letter on your behalf. You may also want to follow-up on your financial aid requests, if you have gotten responses to inquire about departmental assistantships that will defray the cost of graduate school. The sooner you inquire about these, the better your chances are of receiving aid.

February

Take some time to really consider what’s important to you and how you can make it happen. By now you should have numerous interviews under your belt and a few more to consider. It’s recruiting season again so take full advantage of it and interview as much as you can.  Even if you feel you’ve interviewed with all the employers you’re interested in, it’s better to be in a position to choose than waiting to be chosen. If your interviews have been successful, then the company will want to check your references before they consider offering you a job. It is imperative that your references be positive, informative, current and available. Be sure to contact your references and get their permission to be used, and make sure they remember whom you are.  Many times we ask people to serve as a reference for us, and a year or two passes without contact, and the reference may have forgotten how he or she knows you. If you give his or her name as a reference without current contact, you may be doing yourself a disservice. The only thing more damaging than a bad reference is a reference that can’t remember who you are. You need to have three to five people on your reference list along with their contact information (i.e. title, work address, phone number and e-mail address). Professors, employers, internship or volunteer supervisors are the most appropriate group to seek out for this very important task. One last thing to remember about references is that it doesn’t do you any good to have a great reference listed if he or she is an unavailable resource. When you talk with your references about giving you a recommendation, make sure they are going to be reachable. If they are going to be out of town or out of the country on vacation, ask them to please check their voice mail, e-mail and/or have their mail forwarded so they can respond to a reference check in time to be of assistance to you.

March/April

You’re down to the wire. You’re almost there. If your job search has been successful, then, you probably have one or two offers on the table and you can start to focus in on which one is the best fit for you. You’ll need to consider geographic location, opportunity for growth, salary, benefits package, and how closely the job resembles what you want to do. Your Career Center will more than likely offer workshops on all of these choices and have books or other resources available to guide you. If you are still having trouble deciding, try scheduling a few on-site interviews with employers you’re interested in. March is usually a time when college campuses have a spring break, so it’s a great time to visit without having to take days away from your classes. If your job search has not been very fulfilling, then you’ll need to re-group. Meet with your career counselor to discuss the steps necessary to get back on track. You may need to adjust your resume, polish your interviewing techniques, network more productively or modify your job search. All is not lost. There are probably a few more career fairs happening on your campus and locally, so be sure to attend.

May

It’s finally here. Hopefully you have been diligent in your efforts to be organized and have checked all of the important things off of the list for academics and your job search. It’s show time! You’re about to make the transition from student to professional. Good luck and enjoy your graduation.

Marjorie Ellis is the associate director of the Career Development Center at Appalachian State University.