Seminars introduce seniors to world of job hunting, grad school

During the second week of classes, the Career Services Office hosted its annual Senior Seminars. The Senior Seminars prepare current seniors for the many directions they may be headed following graduation.

Career Services’s main objective was to show the seniors exactly what will be required during their search for a job or the proper graduate school. The Senior Seminars were held this past week in part in order to prepare seniors for the Fall Graduate School Fair next Wednesday, as well as for the Fall Career Fair on October 3.

Photo: Christina Davis Bethuram shows seniors the most desirable slide of the presentation — the average starting salary slide

In order to fully prepare the students, Career Services grouped the seniors by major, allowing for a more common atmosphere in terms of questions and concerns that may pertain to certain majors more than others. In each of the seminars, students were briefed on the various techniques to find employment, ranging from networking to eRecruiting.

Students were also shown data that analyzed the graduating class from last year. This data provided an idea for seniors as to how long it may be before employment is found, average and median pay, and admission into various graduate schools. Data of the previous senior class was presented as well as what companies desire from their potential employees.

Company representatives came to speak at the various majors’ seminars to explain what employers are looking for. These representatives spoke on the work environment, the benefits of going to grad school, and the effect of GPA on getting a job.

The sessions were capped off by a series of letters from alumni that helped with Career Services goal of informing and preparing the seniors.

While the seminar itself was referred to as basic and general knowledge by many seniors, some found themselves taking much more from it than just the basic message. One such senior was Nick Smith, a biomedical engineering major. Smith found the greatest benefit from the seminars was that he met representatives from the Career Services Office and now after meeting them, he says it “makes them seem more friendly.” He noted that the internal networking was beneficial also, as he had a chance to meet the advisor in the Career Services Office for his major. Justin Bartlett, a senior Chemical Engineering major, noted that his greatest revelation from this experience was the importance of eRecruiting. He had said that his experience prior to this year’s seminar had been very limited with the concept of eRecruiting and now finds the use of it a rather interesting concept.

In addition to the many services they offer, Career Services has also opened up the floor for many of these new seniors to be able to gain any guidance they need for the coming year of job searching.