Briefly speaking: Workshops help with job search

Whether your student needs summer employment, wants a part-time gig during the school year or is ready to seek out his or her first career position, the Internship and Career Center should be the first stop in your student’s job search.

Through a wide variety of workshops and events, the center provides students with assistance in identifying career choices, polishing resumés and interview skills and searching for the right position.

While some students know without a doubt which career path they want to pursue, others are still looking for the right fit. The center offers workshops that help students to assess their values, skills, interests and personality. The results can help them choose careers to investigate more fully through informational interviews, internships or job shadows.

"The workshops provide students with strong vocabulary to use on their resumé based on increased self-awareness," said Marcie Kirk Holland, who is a coordinator in the center. "Going through these assessments also helps build students’ confidence," she said. "They have a better sense of themselves and what that means in terms of career choices."

Skills workshops

The center also offers "nuts and bolts" workshops three to five times a quarter to help students write resumés, search for jobs and practice interview skills. Among the upcoming workshops are:

• "Writing a Winning Resumé," at 3:10 p.m. on Feb. 10, in 229 South Hall;
• "Start your Job Search Now," at 12:10 p.m. on Feb. 24, in 229 South Hall;
• "Interviewing Skills," at 4:10 p.m. on Feb. 25, in 229 South Hall.
• "Job Search Group for Recent Grads," weekly at 1 p.m. on Thursdays, 307 South Hall.

A complete schedule of workshops is available on the Internship and Career Center’s Web site.

Students may also take advantage of "ResuMania" — a four-hour window of time when they can drop in for assistance with their resumé and interview skills prior to Internship and Career Fairs, held about six times a year. In preparation for the Winter Internship and Career Fair on Feb. 19, the next session will be from noon to 4 p.m. on Feb. 12 in 234 South Hall.

Meeting professionals

Career Speed Dating is a new and popular offering of the center. Up to nine students share a table with a professional, ask questions and then switch tables after 15 to 20 minutes to talk with someone in a different field.

These events, which target specific groups of majors, are held throughout the year, and receive rave reviews from students and professionals alike. About 350 students attended the first round of career dating last year. The next event, for liberal arts and business majors, will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on March 5 in Freeborn Hall. No prior registration is required; students may participate on a walk-in basis.

Once students are ready to search for internships or jobs, they can subscribe for free to Aggie Job Link, which provides online postings for both. Aggie Job Link also brings prospective employers to campus to interview students for a wide variety of fields. Students can check the Web site to see what companies will be on campus and when.