Smith Students Get a Job-Search Boost from the
Office of Career Management
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One-on-one coaching helped students create an effective strategy for
their job search. |
In tough economic times, jobs can be hard to come by. It’s a serious challenge
for graduating students, one that the Smith School’s Office of Career Management
(OCM) is eager to help them surmount. Smith Network and Connect Week, held February
23 through 27, gave students the opportunity to meet employers, brush up on their
job-seeeking skills and widen their horizons as they tackle the challenges of a
tight job market. Government, corporate and non-profit recruiters met and mingled
with students, while OCM staff gave invaluable resume and job-search tips.
To help students make the most of Network and Connect Week, the OCM’s helpful
staff also prepped job-seekers with strategies for interacting with employers. Some
of their tips focus on making that crucial first contact: if someone suggests that
you apply for a position via a web site, do so immediately, while the recruiter
still remembers you. Send an e-mail to your new contacts within 24 hours, thanking
them for their time and mentioning something specific from your conversation with
them. Other tips were extremely practical: for instance, listen to the conversations
going on ahead of you while you’re in line to meet an employer, so you don’t ask
the same questions. And take notes after the event so that you don’t forget any
action items.
But they’ve also got some tips for dealing with employers who aren’t hiring now,
but may be good contacts for the future. “Stay in touch with employers,” says Sharon
Strange-Lewis, managing director of OCM. “Send a few e-mails or call later on. And
research that company’s top competitors. If one company isn’t hiring, its competition
may be.”
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Crowds of undergraduate and MBA students came out for evening sessions
during the week. |
Monday, February 23
Government Networking Night brought together representatives from thirteen federal
and federally-funded agencies to meet and network with undergraduate and graduate
students. Agencies represented included the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Bureau
of Investigations, Smithsonian, Peace Corps, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
(The CIA’s recruiter displayed only a first name on his name tag). The overwhelming
lesson most students gained was the incredible variety and availability of jobs
in the government sector. Although accounting was the background most agencies were
seeking, the recruiters were also looking for students with expertise in finance,
general management, and project management. As the federal government becomes increasingly
more appreciative of managers with business training, Smith is also making stronger
connections with the government sector and giving students a broad set of employment
opportunities
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Dan Black, National Recruiter for the Americas-Ernst and Young, spoke
about the impact of social networking on the job search. |
Tuesday, February 24
Dan Black, National recruiter for the Americas-Ernst and Young, participated
during Network and Connect Week on Tuesday, February 24th. Black shared insights
on social networking and its impact on job searches. Black highlighted the fact
that social networks can potentially help the students connect with recruiters and
eventually get a job. He emphasized the role of professional and social online networks
as a platform to reach out to peers and recruiters, yet he cautioned the students
that there were also dangers in using this technology. Students should be wary of
the information they publish on such sites, said Black, as the data can potentially
be compromised and may do more harm than good, particularly since many recruiters
use these networks to gain insights into the background and nature of an individual
through the pictures posted, the status updates and the profiles portrayed through
these groups.
Ernst & Young does not believe in evaluating employees through such tools, said
Black, yet many firms in fact do reject around 30% of the applicants owing to background
checks though such networks. He recommended that students practice discretion while
posting pictures or information and also ensure that they follow best practices
and guidelines for maintaining privacy and security. He said that people tend to
be casual about posting compromising pictures of not just themselves or their friends
but also of people they had known long ago, and also bad mouth former or current
colleagues or firms without realizing the repercussions of such an act. So it is
imperative that job seekers be extremely cautious while adding friends or connections
on such networks.
Wednesday, February 25
Smith Spirit Day/OCM Open House was a day filled with one-on-one activities,
including walk-in career coaching sessions and resume-writing mini-workshops.
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Thursday evening’s networking mixer connected Smith students with
employers from many industries. |
Thursday, February 26
At Thursday evening’s networking mixer, more than a dozen employers attended
to discuss employment opportunities with a crowd of almost a hundred MBA and undergraduate
students. Attending the event were representatives from ATK, SAIC, Verizon Wireless,
Booz Allen, Fannie Mae, First Annapolis Consulting, Hilti, TIE DC, Censeo, the D.C.
Housing Finance Agency, New Day Financial, FDIC, Cox Communications, PNC Financial
Service Group, and Huron Consulting.
Friday, February 27
Job-seekers learned to use the OCM’s online job search tools, HireSmith and CareerBeam,
to assist in their job search.
