TIP: Utilize Career Services!

My tip for today is one that, if you take nothing else away from this blog about job searching, you should remember and pass on to everyone you know.  And I mean everyone.  And this tip is: take advantage of all of those who want to help you in your job search, but especially career services professionals.

Yes, I mentioned this before, but it needs to be repeated and have a whole post dedicated to this topic.  Why?  Because we are underutilized.  Weird, huh?  You'd think with the downturn of the economy and the job market being competitive that we would have students and alumni lining up outside our door.  While we have gotten much busier, we definitely are not being used as much as we should be.  Some students/alumni claim that they didn't know we exist.  Yes, that might be part of it.  But now I am telling you: we do exist and we want to help you.  And I promise, we are friendly people and will not try to scare you.

Career Services offices (or named something similar) exist at every university out there.  In fact, the university you attended may have more than one office.  They are not just for juniors or seniors who are looking for a job either, they are also often open to all students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as alumni.  Sometimes there is a fee for alumni to receive services, but check with your school.

What does Career Services offer?  Thanks for asking.  Services of these offices include (but are not limited to):

• Help deciding on a major
• Help deciding what to do with a major
• Help through a career transition
• Resume and cover letter critiques
• Mock/practice interviews
• Job search assistance
• LinkedIn/networking assistance
• Online job boards that are free and connect you to local employers or employers that have a connection to your school
• Online and paper resources (such as sample resumes, interviewing tips, and so on)
• Newsletters
• Workshops on various topics
• Events, like job/career fairs
• Alumni days to connect you to alumni or students to you, as an alumnus/a

...and so on.

In addition, I know that I personally partner with the people that I work with and offer assistance with applying to grad school, connect them to people to network with or conduct an informational interview with, or even just give them miscellaneous tips along the way.  I've also helped with discussing offers, negotiating salaries and benefits, and even deciding how to turn down an offer or an interview.

If you didn't know your school had a Career Services office, check the website and contact them.  I can bet you they exist and are ready to help you.

What do you do if you didn't attend a university or they are charging you as an alumnus/a and you want free services?

There are a few things you can do:

1. If you know me personally, you can talk to me.  I love this stuff and am always willing to help.
2. If you attended any school for even a little while, check to see if you can utlize their services.
3. Find a community college in the area - more often than not, they also have these services and should serve the entire community (often determined by county).
4. Find a local community career center.  They often have free or fairly affordable services available, as well as job clubs and other networking groups.
5. Find an independent career counselor.
6. Utilize your local WorkNet (unemployment) office.

If you live in the Chicago area, I know for a fact that the Naperville Community Career Center is a good resource, as I used to volunteer there.  North Central College's Career Development office is free to students, alumni, and the last I heard, parents of students too.  Benedictine University has free services for students and alumni (they also have an awesome webinar series and speaker series).  University of Illinois has free services for students (and they have over 20 career centers on campus depending on your college), and an awesome Alumni Center (that does charge) for their alumni.  Northeastern Illinois University does not charge students or alumni and you can use us for life.

So, there you have it.  Any of you who are reading this who are going away to school soon, take advantage of the office as early as you can.  I always tell students that those who utilize career services tend to be the ones that get internships and jobs after graduation.  If you come into my office and I get to know you, I will think of you when we hear about positions, and I will personally e-mail you about an opportunity, or let an employer know about you.  It's just as much a great resource as it is a good network of which to be a part.