Black Collegian Career Center

Students who have learned the college system, who have focused on their academics, who have managed their time, and who have reached their senior year have two more major challenges to meet. One is to stay focused and graduate. The other is to get a job leading to a viable career choice.

To stay focused means completing your academic requirements, improving your GPA, and participating in leadership experiences that will enhance your resume. To not just get a job, but to embark on your career, means developing specific and viable career goals long before your senior year. Importantly, to achieve your immediate career goals during your senior year, even before graduation, requires you to succeed at the campus interview.

Many college students are unaware that major corporations, government and social-service agencies, educational institutions and small businesses annually seek college graduates for exciting career opportunities through college career centers. Despite their best marketing efforts, career centers find that some seniors do not participate in campus interviews, putting themselves at a real disadvantage. When a senior interviews off-campus with an employer who has invested considerable resources to conveniently interview students on campus, that student will have to explain why he or she did not take advantage of such an opportunity.

Smart, informed, motivated seniors who want to beat the competition, especially in these tough economic times, know to take full advantage of all opportunities to connect with employers while on-campus. Generally, these students have connected early with their campus career center, even as freshmen. Employers are surprised that some seniors are not more knowledgeable of and involved in this valuable on-campus interview service. To succeed at the on-campus interview, you must first be thoroughly aware of the process. You can't just show up the day that you hear that an employer of interest is recruiting on campus. Employers schedule campus interviews sometimes months in advance of their actual interview dates, and students register well in advance to be eligible for these campus interviews. Learn the process by visiting your college career center, preferably before, but certainly no later than the first week of your senior year. When you arrive at the career center, ask for a tour (if this is your first visit) and a meeting with someone, or make an appointment to learn about the on-campus recruiting process. Although the on-campus interview process varies from one college campus to another, there are a number of similarities. Here are some aspects of that process.

Registration

You generally must register to participate in the campus interviews by completing registration forms. You have to meet certain eligibility requirements such as actually having enough academic credits to be eligible to graduate in the current academic year, possibly having completed a mandatory pre-interview workshop. Sometimes there is a small fee to use this valuable service.

Resume Development

1) You will be expected to have a professional, error free resume. Your resume will need to be reviewed and critiqued by a career center staff-person to be sure that it clearly and effectively presents your capabilities and complies with any specific resume requirements your career center may impose. Many career centers require you to submit a standardize resume electronically to participate in on-campus interviews. Some students do not understand that employers who screen thousands of resumes before selecting the students they will interview on campus prefer certain standardized, electronic resumes. A standardized format permits employers to locate the desired information in the same section of the resume for all the students they screen on campus. In most instances, you can still bring your free-form resume with you to the actual interview. For additional information on writing your resume, see "Writing a Winning Resume" in this issue of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN.

Interview Practice

2) You will be expected to participate in practice interview sessions to help you understand the different kinds of interviews that can occur on campus including a one-on-one or group interview. The practice interview may be conducted by career center staff, or an actual employer who volunteers to give you inside tips to get the competitive edge you need to succeed at the campus interview. Practice makes perfect. So you will want to have at least two or three practice interviews conducted by professionals under your belt before you have an actual employment interview. If you have been a co-op student or have had an internship, you will have had some interview experience. Even so, you should still enhance your interview skills to stay competitive.

Company Research

3) To succeed at the campus interview, you must focus your career goals and make informed decisions about the employers with whom you wish to interview, in order to present yourself for "interview consideration." That you sign up for an interview does not guarantee you an interview. Employers often get to screen and pre-select you. You can succeed in the pre-selection process by doing your homework. This process includes the following: researching the companies you are interested in; reading about the company/organization, in current publications; viewing their website; paying attention to any current news about the organization; referencing this information in your cover letter and certainly by attending "Meet the Employer" sessions offered on campus before the interview date.

Information on companies can be obtained from a variety of sources, including the following:

• Company web sites
• University career services offices
• Company presentations and information sessions
• Networks of alumni and company employees
• Faculty members
• Print and broadcast news sources

Once you have this information, analyze the positions or qualifications that the employer needs. Most companies list certain skills they expect rather than the actual job descriptions. This information can be found in the career services office at your school.

Interview Schedule

4) Much of the on-campus interview scheduling process now occurs on-line. You will need to have a computer or go to a campus computer lab or to your career center to find out whether you have been selected for an interview. In some cases, the career center may notify you, but it is always best to keep checking on your status, because your future is at hand. You will want to monitor the selection process regularly to know if and when you are selected for an interview, so that you will be totally prepared. Be sure to record this information in your PDA or planner. You certainly would not want to miss it!

Don't

5) The career center expects you to clear your schedule for your campus interviews. So discuss any class/interview schedule conflicts with your professors and the career center to avoid being a "No-Show." Both employers and the career center take seriously a student's failure to be on time or to attend their scheduled interview. Frequent offenders can be denied continued involvement in on-campus interviews and can seriously undermine the relationship between the employer and the university. So do not be a "No Show."

Do

6) There are important protocols that you will want to be aware of in the on-campus interview process.

a) Dress the part. Check with your career center on how to dress for the campus interview. As a general rule, business attire is your best bet, even with employers who are dressed more casually or whose organizations have a business casual dress standard. Make sure your attire appropriately reflects the level of professionalism you are ready to meet.

b) Be early - - never late. Use the extra time to go to the restroom, freshen up, drink some water, relax, remind yourself of the key points you want to emphasize and the questions you want to ask. Know the cues that the employer gives to conclude the interview such as: "Do you have any final comments or questions?" Be gracious in accepting that your interview time is over, when you get such a clue. Do not overstay your welcome!

c) Know the name of the person who is interviewing you so that you can greet the interviewer respectfully and by her or his last name - - "Good morning, Ms. Johnson." Call ahead, or upon arrival at the career center, respectfully ask the receptionist to provide you with your interviewer's name, if available. Write the name down so you can thank the person by name at the conclusion of the interview.

d) Treat everyone with respect - - employers, career center staff, your fellow students. Rude behavior is inappropriate and can put you at an extreme disadvantage. Remember you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

e) The actual interview may last 20 to 30 minutes. Because you will have only a limited time to communicate with the interviewer, Meredith Keith, Human Resources Manager, Federated Department Stores, recommends that you "impress upon the recruiter that you can speak confidently and succinctly while answering questions with enough information to showcase your talents." Ms Keith also affirms that the student who wins in the campus interview is particularly adept at showing their interest in the company and the position for which they are interviewing. This is where researching the company really pays off. Make your interest clear throughout the interview. Ryan Beck, a recruiter with General Electric Aircraft Engines, cautions students: "The most discouraging behavior during an interview is lack of interest, whether that manifests itself as being late for the interview (an immediate warning sign), inappropriate attire, or lack of engaging conversation during the interview (no eye-contact, simple and short responses to questions). Why take away precious interview time from another potential candidate, if the enthusiasm and interest are just not there?"

f) Follow up immediately. Thank the employers you interview with via mail and email. Employers especially appreciate students who are humble enough to show gratitude for the chance to interview. Thank all others who have been helpful. Make sure your follow-up correspondences are timely, professional, well written, and do nothing to detract from your interview.

g) Once you have completed your first campus interview, write down your observations, the questions that gave you difficulty, the pros and cons of the position, etc. Then meet with your career advisor to discuss and analyze your interview effectiveness, to prepare for the next interview.

h) If you have done well in the on-campus interview, you may be invited for a second interview at the employer's location. Monitor your telephone messages and mail to be sure you respond immediately to any follow up requests or invitations to a second interview. This follow up interview is even more important than the initial screening interview. You may have a whole day of interviews with key personnel in the organization. You must prepare for all follow-up interviews with the same determination to succeed as in your first. Career center staff will help you to know what to expect in the follow-up interviews.

i) Accepting a job offer requires you to analyze the organization, the position, the salary, the benefits, the location, etc. Your career center can play a valuable role in this analysis. So use it. Talk your decision over with significant members of your family and others whose opinions are important to you. Make contact to accept or reject an offer only after you have done a very thorough analysis.

j) Continue to conduct your job search and make interview connections both on and off campus. Continue interviewing until a job offer has been offered and you have accepted it. By all means notify the career center when you have made your decision. Remember, it is unethical to continue interviewing once you have accepted an offer or to rescind an acceptance, once given - - so weigh your decisions carefully.

Summary

Succeeding with your career goals begins with succeeding in your campus interviews. Take full advantage of on-campus interviews throughout your senior year and for the duration of your eligibility after graduation, or until you accept a position. Today's unemployed job seeker would jump at the chance to have a campus interview. Show employers that you value this special opportunity afforded college seniors. Understand that graduating in today's tough economic climate requires you to work harder, smarter, and more diligently than previous graduates to succeed in the campus interview and to realize your career goals. So get busy!

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