Erin in our office came across this article on Monday, and I had to pass it along:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32265981/ns/us_news-weird_news/
It's about a recent graduate (April '09) who hasn't yet found work in her field and is suing the school for $70,000 because she claims the career services office "hasn't tried hard enough to get her a job".
Now, I've worked in a college that had a very good career services office, and I heard this complaint all the time. But, when I would ask if the students A) went into the office to see what resources were available and B) followed up on their info they submitted to the career services office or C) returned any phone calls/emails from the career services office the answer was usually "no". I wonder how much of this happened here?
Usually when I write I take the side of the student... if you read this blog regularly you'll be familiar with that. But this time, I just can't. Being familiar with the verbiage used in advertising for career placement I know that they do not *promise* a job upon graduation. Sure having a degree makes you "more employable" but no one can guarantee that you'll land your dream job right out of college. (From my experience you probably won't.) The words used on the Monroe College website for Career Advancement are "The Office of Career Advancement helps with career assessment, resume writing, job search and strategy, employer recruitment and placement, interviewing skills, and other job search guidance." (Note: doesn't say "We'll find you a job!)
It reminds me of when I started working in admissions I took a telephone call from a student (or someone setup to pretend they were) calling to ask about what kinds of salaries we could promise you'd get if you got a degree from our college. I told him that we couldn't promise what kind of salaries employers of our alumni paid as every company has a different pay sale, but I would be happy to direct him to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see what some general ranges were for various fields. No no, he didn't want that, he wanted me to tell him exactly what he would expect to make after attending our college. (After this insistence I wondered what on earth was going on... this couldn't be a potential student!)
Either way... most schools offer career placement ASSISTANCE. This doesn't mean they find a job for you and call you to tell you when you start. They can help provide some opportunities if they are available (they can't make job openings appear where they aren't...)But you still need to present a good resume, attend the interview (imagine that!), do a good interview, and all the other proper steps included in finding a job. And the career services office is typically one that you need to also reach out to them: they don't know that you need help with your interviewing skills until you tell them that. And if you never return their attempts at contacting you... well... not much to say about that.
Despite being clear about the services provided in Career Services (or whatever each school calls it) my experience says a lot of students don't really know what to expect from them, or how to use them properly.
Moral of the story: head down to your Career Placement/Services/Assistance office and get to know them. They'll be happy to see you, and it will pay off for you in the long run! (Do this even if you're just a freshman- they can help with part time work too, and it's never bad to have a polished up resume sitting around!)
