When employers come knocking be ready to answer

Dear Coach:


Enough already! I’m really really busy just keeping up with my courses and exams. And you expect me to look for a job? Can’t this wait until I graduate?

Up to my neck in alligators

Dear Up to my neck:

Of course, you could wait. If you’re parents are willing to support you while you look for a career. Or if you’re willing to work in one of the many service jobs that don’t pay very much while you look for the job you really want.

But if you’re willing to devote a few hours a week to finding your best job out of university or college, why wait? One relatively easy way to look for a job while you’re still in school is to take advantage of a resource that’s right nearby. Use an underutilized resource on almost every campus: campus career and placement services (CAPS).

There are employers that actually prefer grads from your university or college. Many employers do most of their new grad recruiting through just a few campus career and placements services (CAPS) offices. Employers who have had good experience hiring from particular educational institutions and programs tend to keep going back to hire more grads from those same places. Check with your CAPS office to see if there are employers in your field that prefer grads from your institution. Your placement office can help you find out if employers you’re interested in have hired grads in the past. They can help a lot with landing a job offer with one of those employers when you graduate. I am always amazed that students use career placement, if at all, only when they are about to graduate.

Employers who go to the bother of posting their ads with your campus CAPS office are looking for recruits who studied at your educational institution. Similarly, when an employer sends a job ad to your faculty or department or one of your professors, that employer may be looking for someone just like you! Smart jobseekers regularly check out the job postings for the educational programs they took.

Most employers want quality -- not quantity -- when if comes to applicants for their jobs. Many employers also prefer to hire those trained by institutions and instructors whose grads they hired before and who worked out well.