Helping students move from school to career

From tips on creating a resume that catches a prospective employer's eye to learning how to ace an interview, campus employment centres can be a pot of gold at the end of the academic rainbow for many graduates.

"What students at college are learning is very focused," says Carol Henry, associate director of Student Services at Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology in Toronto. "If you manage your career planning process properly, it doesn't have to take a long time to find a job."

She encourages students to start looking for a job in their fifth out of six semesters. "They should be getting their resume in order and beginning to network. If they do that, it is conceivable to land a job as you walk out the door upon graduation, barring changes in your sector."

The biggest challenge for many college and university employment centres is to encourage students to walk through their doors. "Once they come in, they realize the value they can get from having a relationship with us," Henry says.

Seneca's employment resource centre offers access to Internet job banks, career-planning workshops and resume writing assistance. With today's graduates expecting to move from one job to another, those skills are more important than ever before.

"It's about being flexible and adaptable and constantly assessing where you are and where you want to be," Henry says. Understanding your salary expectations and where you want to go are important first steps. "You have to path it and know the steps you have to take to ultimately get to where you want to go. You're more successful if you have realistic expectations."

The centre offers opportunities for students to hone their interviewing skills. "You have to separate the fact that you are nervous and you might be rejected. There are great formulas for interviewing," Henry says. Looking at the job posting and understanding what the employer is looking for is one example.

"Think about three experiences in your life where you have demonstrated or used those skills. You have to go in with those scenarios and plan to use them to describe how you're a great team player or whatever skills or attributes are described in the job posting," Henry says.

"The trickiness of interviews is that people are afraid to toot their own horn. You can't sell yourself unless you can talk about what you've learned and why you're worth hiring."

York University's award-winning cyberguide (www.yorku.ca/careers) offers online workshops, passwords to job listing websites and many other online tools designed to help its students create a unique career path. Its walk-in employment resource service offers one-on-one career advising and more.

"We help students be strategic about choosing a job and how to take a seemingly ordinary job and maximize your ability to get the most out of it," says Cathy Keates, associate director of York's Career Centre. "So many students want career-related experience. Sometimes, it's about thinking outside the box."

That can include volunteering to undertake new tasks, such as writing a press release for an event planner if you're interested in a public relations career. "On the surface, the job may not be related to (your field)... but sometimes you can mould it to get the experience you want," Keates says.

She encourages students to be strategic in their career planning. "A lot think a job search is about sending out resumes, but most jobs aren't found that way. It's about investing time and learning to be strategic. You will feel more in control and start getting results."

That doesn't mean you must know exactly how you want to earn a living. "You don't have to know where you're going, but you know you're going somewhere," Keates says.

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CAREER FEST 2006

- York University hosts Possibilities Week Career Fest 2006 from Jan. 24 through Jan. 26. York students can learn about career possibilities in a range of sectors, including health and healing, government and diplomacy, and research and information management.

- York will also host a Summer Employment Fair on Feb. 7. To learn more, visit www.yorku.ca/careers/ careerfest.

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