Black Collegian Career Center

What a great time to be in college, on the heels of the new century, a new millennium and the dawn of the Internet/Technology Age!  Today’s traditional aged African-American college student, born since 1980, will graduate into a world where biotechnology and genetic engineering will advance human life span, find cures for deadly diseases, and take us to the edge of life as we know it through cloning.  The millennium student will see human life stations in outer space, while delving the depths of the earth for breakthrough scientific expeditions.

The millennial college student, unlike his professors and counselors, doesn’t remember when there wasn’t a color TV with remote control, or a touch-tone telephone with an answering machine, or a personal computer or an automated bank teller.  In other words you, today’s computer literate college students, are highly adept at living in the age of technology.  Even if you have not had a personal computer at home, you are likely to have played with computer games, to have had assignments in high school that required use of computers, to have paid for gas at an automated gas pump, obtained cash from an ATM or listened to your favorite music downloaded on a disc from a computer.  So you are quite ready to adapt to the explosion of technology applications now found in Career Centers at most progressive colleges and universities.

Propelled by Internet Age employers who demand greater speed and efficiency in service delivery, Career Centers, with limited staff and budget, are far different than the Career Center your parents may have experienced.  Gone are large, bulky resume binders or long lines of students waiting to sign up for campus interviews or paper handouts scattered across tables and counters in the career center.  Gone are the days of having to walk over to the Career Center to access its services.  Just in time for the arrival on campus of the computer savvy, millennial student is the new Career Center, where computer technology has revolutionized how, when and where career exploration, career decision-making and career selection is done at the college level.

In today’s Career Centers, state-of-the-art technology links college students instantly - - anywhere, anytime - - to an awesome diversity of employers and their worldwide opportunities, whether for part-time, summer, internships, co-op, permanent or full-time employment after graduation.  “We encourage our students to look beyond their own backyards, by discovering the exciting and diverse opportunities available on the Internet,” advises Bob Cramer (right) of Florida Atlantic University.

Career Center’s now have computer-based applications that help students list and better understand their interests and abilities, and match these interests to viable careers, via such user friendly software applications as SIGI or Discover.  With this technology, Career Center staff are able to assist students much more efficiently. Using these software applications, students can receive computer printouts of career areas that relate to their interests.  Instead of having students sort through literally thousands of job titles and career fields in a variety of books, the career counselor can now work from a student/computer generated list of options and begin exploring in depth where a student’s career dreams may be and what steps are needed to turn these dreams into reality.  The amount of time saved and the personalized information received can strengthen the relationship between student and career counselor.  In follow up sessions, either in person or online, interest inventories or personality tests can be administered to further clarify to the student how self-awareness significantly influences career choice and satisfaction. Some colleges now house much of their career literature, once contained in their Career Resource Libraries, online, so that students can access information on “What Can I Do With A Major In? or How To Find Summer Employment Abroad? or many other career assistance topics via computer anywhere, anytime.

When it comes to the job search, the Internet has truly revolutionized today’s Career Center.  Most Career Centers have their own Web site and there is so much information and assistance offered to students online that it would be unwise not to take full advantage of it.  Thanks to the wonders of technology, college students can attend How To Write A Resume online workshops, have their draft resumes critiqued online by experienced Career Center professionals, and forward their polished resumes to employers for inclusion in the Career Center resume database, on the same day, without ever walking over to the Career Center.  Likewise, in preparing for campus interviews, students can register for on-campus interviews, study the most “Frequently Asked Interview Questions” and even participate in a virtual interview online by connecting with their Career Center.  Some employers are using video conferencing and telephone conference calls to conduct interviews from distant locations when they are unable to make a campus visit.  This helps students to have access to worldwide opportunities.  Additionally, Career Centers link employer Web sites to their Web sites to make it easy for students to learn about and reach those companies who conduct interviews on their campus.  By using this technology, students are better informed for their campus interviews and are more effective in relating their skills and abilities to the employer’s needs.  Some Career Centers conduct Virtual Career Fairs, which are like the in-person fairs, except that they are all done online.  Participating employers have booths online via the Career Center’s Web site. Students can visit the employer booths online and receive information about the employers and their opportunities.  If interested, the student can have his/her resume forwarded to the employer instantly and a real employment opportunity can be pursued all in the comfort of the student’s room and the employer’s desk! Virtual Career Fairs are being offered by individual colleges, by college consortiums and by commercial enterprises.  African-American collegians are encouraged to use any and all of these services online to compete effectively in today’s Internet-driven job market.  Robert Thomas, Career Center director at Oakland University, encourages his students to develop electronic portfolios (a professional Web page), which he believes adds another dimension to the students’ personal marketing strategy.

While every Career Center may not offer all of these online services currently, many offer some and are adding new features continuously to keep up with student and employer demands.  As you take full advantage of the range of technological services and opportunities offered by your Career Center and other job search outlets, Olga Magnusen, (left) Career Center director of Florida International University, advises students to never forget that personal, gracious contact must accompany all of your Internet interactions to achieve optimal results. “Nothing replaces “high touch” thank you’s, prompt and personal follow-up and other professional courtesies, even with the most sophisticated of high-tech tools,” she cautions. 

Linda Bates Parker is the director of the Career Development Center at the University of Cincinnati.