Seminars Prep Students for 'Real World'
Are you an extrovert, or an introvert? Can you multitask like a skilled juggler, or are you focused on one task at a time? Do you like to engage or watch from a short distance? Don’t mind a routine, or do you enjoy spontaneity and variety in your day? While one personality type cannot be classified as good or bad, certain jobs will fit one type better than another.
If you’re like many college students, you don’t know your own strengths and interests very well or how many different possibilities currently exist out there.
Enter Career Services.
They will help create a plan tailored your needs, strengths and personality. However, as great as it sounds, it takes some time to develop so the best time to contact a career counselor is in your freshman year.
Monster.com’s career coach, Peter Vogt, knows the importance of career counseling and has written many helpful articles on the subject. In his article The New Reality for Entry-Level Jobs, Vogt writes, “While jobs have never been guaranteed, not long ago, a college degree alone could set you up for some kind of entry-level position. Today, most bachelor’s degree holders will be taken seriously by entry-level employers, but the degree won’t land you a job by itself.”
Vogt quotes David Fetherston, director of the MBA Center for Career Development at Babson College: “Like it or not the job market is a competition and students are selling the product they know best, themselves.”
He says students should work closely with their campus career centers, so they can introduce students to “the critical notion of competing.” In doing so, he says “students will understand what the buyers — companies — are looking for in terms of talent and can then collaborate on a strategy for successfully closing a deal.”
Carrie Rafanello-Bazar, RVCC career counselor, works one-on-one with students for confidential career counseling. “I help students identify their interests and personality traits that all go into choosing the right job for them,” says Rafanello.
Many employers use personality profile tests to see whether or not a job candidate’s personality will be a good match for the job, hoping to reduce turnover in the long run. For example, a person who is naturally precise, detail-oriented and highly task-oriented is likely to succeed as an accountant, research analyst, or auditor.
Vogt writes, “Some students think their career center will get them a job; in other words, place them. But career centers aren’t placement agencies, and their staff counselors aren’t recruiters. More realistically, your career center will help you develop the skills and contacts necessary to get a job.”
Career Services offers personal consultations with any student who wants help putting together a killer resume, marketing their skills, and training in interview techniques. They conduct a variety of seminars every semester.
These seminars cover a wide range of career training and information on careers in every area of study. Among them are job opportunities in education, bio-technology, criminal justice, forensics, communications, events planning, and information technology.
Some upcoming career seminars for the remainder of this semester offer help in career planning, establishing good credit, the importance of soft skills, and job survival and success. The seminars are also open to community members who should also register online.
On Dec. 5, Career Services will conduct an informative seminar on how to establish credit and maintain it. Good budgeting and financial practices will also be taught.
Also on Dec. 5 is ‘Are You Soft Skills Savvy?’ Rafanello says “these are skills that are not job-specific skills. The top ten skills that employer’s look for in entry level applicants.” Being well-organized, knowing how to manage your time, and having good people skills are considered soft skills. Dee Marshall, life coach and president of Raise the Bar, LLC, will be the keynote speaker. Her presentation will explain soft skills and teach attendees how to identify and develop these skills and then market them to an employer.
On the night of Dec. 6, a career seminar will be presented: ‘What Can I Do With A Major in Marketing & Communications?’ Up to ten panelists from different backgrounds within the field will each give a quick introduction in their specific area of expertise.
Working with college faculty who have their own networks and contacts, Rafanello put together an impressive list of panelists within marketing and communications fields. Some of the panelists will be from Fox News, MTV and the Hunterdon County Democrat, a local advertising agency. High-tech marketing companies, public relations trade association and market relations and research companies. Rafanello expects fifty to sixty students and community residents to attend.
Following the introductions, attendees will then be invited to smaller round table discussions with a panelist of their choice. During the small group discussions, the panelist will go into further detail about their careers and answer questions.
Roundtable discussions will be limited to fifteen minutes each. Attendee will then rotate to another panelist of interest. “The panelist will tell a personal story but also share a current or past project that they are working on so that the attendees really have a good feel for what it is that they do rather than just talking about it like a book. But really give case examples, real projects, real products that they work with. Making it more interactive works better,” says Rafanello.
Career night seminars are federally funded through a Perkins grant. This federal vocational grant is given to the college to sponsor a number of seminars each semester. The speakers do receive a small stipend but mostly they volunteer to share their own experience out in the field and support the career development students. Elaine Moore, Marketing Professor at RVCC is also a co-sponsor of the Dec. 6 event, along with the marketing and communications departments.
Career services is not a job placement agency but they will help students develop the skills and contacts necessary to getting a great job while they are still attending college. The counselors will also show students how to explore majors and careers that might be a good fit for them like a compass pointing you in the right direction. The career seminars, personal counseling, interviewing training, job postings, internship opportunities and special events are all tailored to help students graduate ahead of the competition they will inevitably face.
Rafanello says “Communications is one of those areas in general where you don’t need an advanced degree for entry level. We will encourage interested students to work in an internship in their field of interest. You do need hands-on experience.” Linda Levitt, internship coordinator, will also be speaking on the various internships currently available.
The sooner a student obtains work experience in their field of interest the more marketable they will be when they’ve finished their education with a diploma in their hand and a few years of work experience under their belt. RVCC can help you every step of the way and best of all it’s free.
“In many majors you cannot go off and get a job as a college grad without relevant work experience. I’ve had at least three recent grads return and ask me for internship opportunities because they could not get a job,” says Levitt. These students face a dilemma in that internships are only available to currently enrolled students not former students.
Any student who attends any four or more career development seminars during a semester receives a letter of recognition which “shows a potential employer that you were an active participant in your own career development process.” Their names are also put into a drawing each semester for a chance to win the cost of any three credit course of their choice. “The chances are only 1 in 10 — better than the lottery,” says Rafanello.