Newspaper Page Text
page 6
Maroon Tiger
May 4, 1978
career planning
Letter
Are We Effective?
What The Placement Office Is:
BY BENJAMIN P. Me LA UK IN
Ever since the beginning of
this academic year, 1977-78, I
have been hearing some very
disturbing rumours about my
office. I have tried to handle
tJiem quietly, but firmly.
However, the time has come to
bring this festering sore to a
head. The rumour I am referr
ing to is about the effec
tiveness of my office, or should
I say the lack of effectiveness
of my office. Students have
asked, “Do students really get
jobs through the Placement
Office?” The answer is YES. I
have also heard comments
like, “There’s no need in using
the Placement Office, because
you can’t get anything from
over there.” That is a cop-out!
On Thursday, March 30,
1978, the Business Forum met,
and I was privileged to be the
speaker on that occasion. The
topic was: “How to prepare a
resume”, and there were about
thirty students in attendance.
A student expressed a very
sincere concern of his about
my office. He said that, to his
knowledge, not one student
has found a summer job
through the Placement Office,
and if indeed this were true,
what, if anything, did I plan to
do about it. He went on to say
Benjamin McLaurin
IRS Needs Part time Employees
The downtown office of
Internal Revenue Service will
need about 160 additional part-
time employees next year dur
ing the tax-filing period
(January-April). On this
career-conditional Civil
Service job you will work as
needed during regular
business hours giving tax as
sistance to the public.
. To qualify for one of 130 GS-
4 Taxpayer Service Represen
tative positions you must have
either 2 years of post-high
school study or 2 years ad
ministrative work experience
or a combination of both and
pass a Civil Service Exam; for
the 30 GS-3 TSR positions you
must have either 1 year of post-
high school study or 1 year ad
ministrative work experience
or a combination of both and
pass a Civil Service Exam.
If you qualify for the GS-4
position and are selected you
will be paid the regular hourly
wage rate of $4.28 while atten
ding a 5-week training course
in Atlanta. Applicants
selected earliest may choose
between either the August or
October training class.
If you qualify for the GS-3
position and are selected you
will be paid the regular hourly
wage rate of $3.81 while atten
ding a 3-day training course in
Atlanta in December.
If you’re interested full
The American College Tes
ting Program is offering a
special internship program for
minority students in the area
of testing and measurement.
The program is targeted at
persons who have a good
mathematics background and
who are interested in pursuing
a master’s or doctoral degree in
educational measurement.
Students will pursue their
degree in the College of
Education at the University of
Iowa while working part-time
at ACT. Working at ACT will
details are available from the
Federal Job Information
Center, phone 221-4315, or the
downtown office of IRS, phone
522-0050, or your placement of
fice.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EM
PLOYER
provide an excellent training
environment and a wide
variety of research experience
to complement instruction
received at the University. The
annual stipend is $4,950 plus
full tuition and ACT fringe
benefits. Application deadline
is June 1, 1978. For details,
contact: Dr. Richard Ferguson,
Vice President, Research and
Development Division, The
American College Testing
Program, P.O. Box 168, Iowa
City, Iowa 52240.
American College
Testing Program
something about the very good
facilities at Georgia Tech, etc.
Well, I saw red, I was furious. I
tried to compose myself and
not respond in anger. I very
emphatically informed the
young man that he was in
error. After reflecting on this
event, I decided that the real
problem is that most students
have the wrong conception of
the Placement Office; that is,
what it is and what it does.
First of all, the Placement
Office is not a job clearing
house. If you need a “job”, go
downtown to the State Em
ployment Office of the Atlanta
Personnel Office. If you are
looking for a “career” or
career-oriented employment
come see me. If you are a
senior, the Placement Office
will give you the opportunity to
interview with employer
representatives on the cam
pus, as opposed to visiting
them in their places of
business. You would have the
same chances of being em
ployed through the Placement
Office as you would visiting
them in their places of
business, only you have a
slight edge, because at least
you get to talk to someone
other than the receptionist. I
make no promises to you, that
your career search will be
successful, but remember, dur
ing the course of an academic
year, there are anywhere from
400-600 representatives from
business & industry,
graduate/professional
schools, government agencies,
and school systems visiting
the Placement Office. If you
are not able to find what you’re
looking for from these four to
six hundred representatives,
don’t blame the Placement Of
fice; you’d better examine
yourself.
The problem with most
students is that they expect
someone to hand them
something, but the system
does not work that way. All
you will get is what the eagle
left on the rock! All too many of
you spend more time buying a
stereo system than you spend
trying to plan for what you will
do for the rest of your life! No, I
will not accept the blame for
your failures. It is too easy to
say, “I’m too busy,” “I don’t
have the time, I’m taking 20
hours,” “They can’t help me,”
etc. The excuses go on and on,
just remember they are
excuses and not constructive
solutions to any problem. The
Business Forum on resume
preparation should have been
packed, because I will venture
to guess that 90% of the
students at Morehouse have no
idea how to properly prepare
a resume, if what I have had
submitted to me is any in
dication of their ability. (Most
of the resumes are sloppy, with
misspelled words, don’t say
anything, or either go on for
pages and pages, which no one
will read).
As far as summer em
ployment is concerned. I ask
students to fill out a College
Interview Form. If a student
wants to work in his
hometown, I will personally
write to ten companies for him.
If they want to work herein the
Atlanta area, I will supply
them with all the information I
have. The Alumni Association
and the National Alliance of
Businessmen have been very
helpful and cooperative in the
past and hopefully they will
continue to be in the future.
The trick to finding summer
employment is to start early,
and use every contact you
have, and it might just work.
Please understand my
reason for writing this letter to
you; I want to help. The
Placement Office is a place
that can help you only when
you are ready to help yourself.
If you have questions, or
doubts about your future, or
how to best use this office to
your advantage, you have a
standing invitation to come by
my office, Monday - Friday,
9:00 - 5:00, no appointment
necessary, to plan your future.
Don’t listen to any more
rumours; find out for yourself.
Remember, you can either take
the time now, or else you will
have more time than you will
need after graduation
(whenever that is for you).
There is plenty of room for im
provement in the Placement
Office, and I invite your
constructive criticism. I look
forward to seeing you in my of
fice soon.
Director