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The Red end Black • Thursday, October 25, 1990 • 3
Despite recession, job outlook stays hopeful for students
Fewer recruiting visits Placement office on-line with new career aids
By DAVID MONROE
Contributing Writer
There may be fewer job re
cruiting opportunities on campus
later this year, but those students
who show initiative and start
searching early should find jobs,
said Glenn Rosenthal, director of
Career Planning and Placement.
“Every student who graduates
during the year 1990-91 who sin
cerely wants employment will be
gainfully employed within four
months of graduation,” Rosenthal
said.
Fewer Job openings
With the nation approaching a
recession, there will be fewer job
openings than in past years. There
fore, Rosenthal said, there prob
ably will be fewer interviewers
than usual at the University
during winter and spring auarter.
'That does not mean that em
ployers won’t be coming; it only
means that instead of sending
three to five people, some compa
nies will only send one or two,"
Rosenthal said.
It’s too early to predict how
many recruiters will be here then
because most don’t make reserva
tions until six weeks or so before
their interview dates, he said.
For fall quarter, though, inter
viewing times for employers are
full, he said. Students should take
every opportunity to see what jobs
are available.
“Start interviewing with compa
nies now,” Rosenthal said. “They
are here for one reason: They want
to hire someone. They have an eco
nomic need. If a company fills all of
its available positions in the fall, it
will not need to return later in the
year, and the student may miss
out.”
Liberal arts majors wanted
While most of the fall recruiters
will be seeking accounting and
other business majors, there also
will be some opportunities for
other students, he said.
These include openings for stu
dents majoring in computer science
and other sciences, social work and
other disciplines requiring commu
nications skills.
More opportunities will be avail
able for liberal arts students
winter quarter, including govern
ment jobs. At that time, there also
should be ample interviews for stu
dents majoring in education or in
communication fields such as jour
nalism, advertising or public rela
tions, he said.
In general, Rosenthal advises
students to keep open minds about
their job options and not always
limit themselves to narrow areas of
work or particular locations.
“A lot of students place so many
contingencies on their career plans
that they place hurdles before
themselves,” he stud.
Other resources available
If students don’t see any inter
viewers of interest coming to
campus, Rosenthal urges them to
use other resources in his office to
find other possibilities.
For example, in the last year the
office has added computer facilities
connected to student databases,
which con link students with em
ployers from across the country.
These services may also give stu
dents new ideas about using im
portant skills they have, such as
speaking skills, motivation, asser
tiveness and the ability to work
with others, he said.
Harold Hall, program manager
of Job Information and Recruit
ment for the State of Georgia, said
he values flexibility in candidates.
Hall recruits for a variety of gov
ernment jobs, from caseworkers
and crime lab employees to accoun
tants. He looks for students from a
variety of disciplines.
More important than a student’s
major, he said, is whether the stu
dent has an “attitude of readiness
to be employed" at an entry-level
public service job. Then, the appli
cant must show an interest in
taking advantage of on-the-job
training opportunities to move up
By DAVID MONROE
Contributing Writer
The Office of Career Planning and Place
ment has added three computer related re
sources to help in matching students with
desirable jobs.
“We are now in a position to provide serv
ices that reach beyond the campus,” said
Glenn Rosenthal, director of Career Planning
and Placement.
Two of the services, Peterson’s Connexion
and KINEXUS, enable students to enter their
names into data bases. Both of these make the
students’ names available to employers. The
“Opportunity Knocks” job newsletter, on the
other hand, lists job openings for different
companies.
Tne office's computers also contain informa
tion about internships and cooperatives as
well as permanent jobs.
These services should enhance the image of
the University as a whole and attract more on-
campus recruiters, Rosenthal said.
“The University has realized that we need
to talk about ourselves,” he said. “We need to
get out and make people aware of the quality
of people that are here
To be li
listed on any of these data bases, stu
dents must enter information about their ca
reer goals and interests onto computer
diskettes provided by the office. There also is a
space on each diskette where the student may
make a personal statement, describing his or
her school and community activities.
Anyone wanting to interview on campus or
be referred to employers by the office must
complete one of these diskettes.
Tne diskette also may lie updated to accom
modate changes.
Last year, 40,000 jobs were
listed in a newsletter available
at the Career Planning and
Placement Office.
Students should regularly check the “Op
portunity Knocks" job newsletter, available
every Friday in the office.
This newsletter lists on its data base infor
mation about job openings at a number of com
panies that don’t interview on this campus.
Last year, 40,000 jobs were listed in this news
letter.
Two international data bases similar to the
newsletter are Peterson’s Connexion and KI
NEXUS. Peterson’s Connexion links students
to jobs in research, consulting, teaching and
other areas, as well as graduate schools.
To get access to Peterson’s, a student must
complete and mail a registration form, avail
able in the Career Planning and Placement of
fice. The form contains questions about the
student’s career interests, experience and
other qualifications
Nearly 200 corporations, foundations and
graduate schools have signed on to use Peter
son’s since it began last spring.
Students may enter their names into KI
NEXUS by completing a diskette. Every
Friday, the diskettes are downloaded and
mailed off, and the students’ names and cre
dentials are made available to hundreds of
companies.
when office personnel see that a student’s
interests match an employer’s Qualifications,
they notify the employer that the student is
available. Then they will notify the student of
the job opening and send the company the stu
dent’s resume.
Rosenthal said he asked to participate in
these services when he sow similar ones dis
played at national meetings. The University’s
relationship with the College Placement
Council also helped in getting access to the
data bases.
“KINEXUS and Peterson’s Connexion look
for quality institutions like ours that em
ployers look to for employees,” Rosenthal said.
The University later received a $50,000
grant from NCR to add an eight-station com
puter lab and more terminals for the office.
Students are being contacted by employers
as a result of these services, Rosenthal said.
However, participating in a service or even
being contacted ie no guarantee of a job.
Tamela Knight, who graduated from the
University in 1989 with a degree in fashion
merchandising, said that these additions
should make students’ job searches easier
than her initial search was.
Knight is looking for a new job, and said
that using these computers will help more
than looking through newspapers.
within the organization.
Some recruiters' advice
Mike Leach, customer service
representative for Home Life In
surance Company, said students
also can impress recruiters by
demonstrating that they can make
the company look good. Home Life
accepts students from different
majors for public relations work,
particularly in designing newslet
ters for the home office.
In general, Leach said, he looks
for students who hnve an "entre
preneurial spirit” and are “willing
to put in the hours to build a cli
entele.”
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For students who lack a busi
ness background, many businesses
offer on-the-job training.
Cathalyn Linsz who recruits
merchandizing and credit opera
tions candidates for Senrs Roebuck
and Company, said Sears generally
looks for well-rounded students
from any program of study.
“We recruit a person, not a de
gree,” Linsz said.
Whether n student is aiming for
a career in sales or management,
that student will be trained for n
year to learn more about the com
pany’s practices, the recruiter said.
John Fitzhugh, college re
cruiting representative for First
Union National Bank, offers a sim
ilar program for his recruits, both
in consumer relations and in cor
porate banking.
In both cases, new employees
spend time doing both classroom
analysis and city office work, Fitz
hugh said. In evaluating candi
dates for consumer relations, he
doesn’t seek a specific major.
"Generally, I try to picture the
candidate with my best customer,
because they will be in charge of
getting new business and culti
vating old business,” he said.
“Business majors may have
more experience in this work, but
we’ve also had English majors and
history majors do well. They’ve
been aggressive people who get
along well with others.”
Even in businesses which pri
marily recruit students in one or
two particular majors, other stu
dents with useful skills can suc
ceed.
Polly Schnnck, assistant man
ager of non-management staffing
for BellSouth Advertising and Pub
lishing, said the company prefers
advertising and marketing majors.
All new employees must take
written and oral tests, and those
who lack the academic background
may not do well on these.
More generally though, per
suasion and oral communication
skills are important, she said. And
some students from other disci
plines get these jobs because they
are good at selling things.
Seminars required
The Career Planning and Place
ment Office offers a number of
other services to help students in
their job searches.
Two or three career-planning
seminars, each lasting about 50
minutes, are held every weekday to
inform students about the office’s
services and the procedures stu
dents should follow in their job
searches.
Any student wishing to inter
view on campus must attend one of
these seminars. Since each is lim
ited to 25 people, students should
sign up in advance.
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