Black Collegian Career Center

August/September

Arriving fresh from your summer work experience, you are ready to tackle your senior year.  Unfortunately, it is too late now to do some of the things you should have done since you started your academic program four or five years ago.  You will find that your senior year will be extremely taxing, fun, and demanding all at the same time.  Quickly developing a schedule will likely make your final year both meaningful and effective.

A scheduled session with your academic advisor should expose any academic or other pitfalls you may encounter.  Such sessions must occur very early during your last year, hopefully before or immediately after registration so that you may make any adjustments necessary to graduate in the spring.

In order to do this, you should map out a strategy with specific timelines, which will carry you through your entire last year.  A systematic approach to your job search is always more desirable than one which is not.  You will find that time is of the essence and that your final year will move increasingly fast. Your resume, remember, can be the most important 8 1/2” x 11” sheet of paper you may ever develop.  Use it to whet the appetite of the reader so that it generates that all-important face-to-face interview you are trying to secure.  Whether you feel that your interviewing skills are adequate or not, you will be well advised to seek some formal training in interviewing techniques.  Your career development office will likely have such training sessions.  Some of these sessions will be staffed by personnel or human resources persons who return to campuses to assist students in preparing for the job search.  That is why it is necessary to have your resume in number one condition.  Laser printed resumes on a good quality bond paper are an absolute must.  Another must, also, is a good cover letter, which should accompany each resume you send by mail or fax.  The cover letter should be used to highlight or further explain that portion on your resume, which is pertinent to the position you are applying for.

The job search is the “plan” which you developed to find that first key job.  Good job search techniques will assist you not only in your initial search but will help you for years to come.  Securing a job is seldom an easy task, but if you have done your homework in advance, the results will most often be positive.  Writing out your job search plan is necessary and desirable and gives you a “map” of where you are going and governs where you may end up.  Keeping accurate records of contacts, the results of contacts, copies of correspondence, the disposition of correspondence and notes on follow-up will make your job search less stressful.

October

October normally signals the beginning of fall recruiting and it also signals the rigors of your last year’s classroom work.  Interviewing effectively and maintaining an excellent level of academic performance can sometimes be a hard task.  Studying the schedule of employers and making good choices as to whom you will and will not pursue is the key.  You will find that there are pressures in your senior year that simply did not exist in prior years.  You have to make many decisions concerning employment, concerning further education and how to meet other on-campus commitments.  Add to the mix the part-time or work-study job you may have on campus and you do not have any time to waste.

One of the newer employment trends is for companies to have an “information” session normally the evening before they actually interview.  Unfortunately, many employers insist that students scheduled for an interview attend these sessions. You will have to weigh the use of your time along with how strongly you feel about interviewing with a particular employer.  The information session generally will give you a lot of additional information about the employer which can help you decide whether or not you wish to further pursue employment with them.  In this regard, you may find them worthwhile.  One irony is, however, that the majority of employers promoting information sessions are not always the most successful recruiters on campus.

During the month of October, you should have 10 or more interviews, especially since on-campus recruiting in the new millennium will be at one of the highest levels it has been in recent years.  If you have done a good job, three or more of those employers interviewed have offered you second or on-site interviews.  To increase your possibility of success, always end the interview by asking what the next step is in the personnel selection process.  Will they contact you in one week, two weeks or more?  In the meantime, follow-up on your interview with a short thank-you note, reiterating your interest in them as a potential employer.

November and December

The months of November and December will be jammed full of the usual classroom activities, preparation for final examinations, scheduling second interviews, travel, and of course, the holidays.  Obviously, these two months are not going to be very restful.  Planning on-site visits can be especially challenging because of the holidays and travel arrangements that must be made during that period.  It may be advisable to plan trips in November and December but not make actual visits until January.  Of course, your scheduling will depend on the academic calendar of your institution and how you wish to spend your holiday.  The more you accomplish in regards to interviewing during these months, the less tiring you are likely to be in 2001.

January

The month of January signals the “home stretch” of your four or more years in college.  You will have approximately 120 days before actual graduation.  Any time wasted during this period could prove very costly.  Your first order of business should be to quickly evaluate your activity during the past recruiting cycle.  Bring closure to any outstanding plans made during that period.  Focus only on those real possibilities and potential employers who had a strong interest in you and those in which you have a strong interest. Realize that your strong interest in a particular employer does not necessarily translate in a strong interest on their part.

Evaluating employment options, of course, remain only one piece of the puzzle; the other being your decision as to whether you will forego employment altogether and pursue graduate school either full or part-time, upon graduation.  If graduate school is being considered, by now you should have narrowed your choices and applied for admission.  Since most graduate and professional school programs require the results of a national test score and above average grades, you must plan carefully to receive full consideration for admissions.  You may have to apply even earlier if you are applying for financial assistance.  Information on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), and the Millers Analogy Test (MAT) are generally obtainable in your Career Services Office or over the Internet.

It would be wise to weigh carefully the cost of additional education along with full-time employment possibilities.  Of course, depending on your career choice, graduate education can be mandatory.  In the case of a career in the business sector, actual job experience (two or three years) is necessary before you are seriously considered for the top “B” schools.  It is important that you not slack off of your academic endeavors because it is easy to end up with a lower GPA as opposed to working to maintain or even raise your GPA during your last year.

During last December and early January, you arranged four employer on-site visits and you now have to sit down and evaluate which of those you are definitely interested in.  Be very careful in choosing the “job” that is right for you and not the company.  What are the promotion opportunities?  How long does it take to become a manager?  Does the company encourage further education?  These are but three questions which you as an individual have to answer.  Geographical considerations are yet another factor but should perhaps carry less weight.  Make your decision based on your personal career goals and not those of your family or a “significant other.”  Decisions made to suit others very often do not work out and may leave you bitter and confused when they do not.

February

If you are administering your job search plan as you should have then February looms as an extremely important, if not the most important month, during your last semester.  Clearly, you should have taken at least 10 or more interviews during the fall recruiting cycle.  You are more focused on three or four potential employers, having visited them during the previous holidays.  There might, however, be an interesting position or additional companies which you wish to consider in February.  You owe it to yourself to check out all of your job options very carefully.

By now, the results of your second interviews are coming in.  You receive the first one, then another, and finally three of the four actually make you an offer.  Again, it is decision time.  Do not make your choice simply based on money.  Your job offers will probably range no more than two or three thousand dollars apart.  Salaries, of course, are important but you must be careful in negotiating salary.  You, on one hand, do not want to be underpaid but, on the other hand, you do not want to give the impression that the dollars are the most important thing.  Do not get caught up in insisting on making the same salary as your friends or classmates without taking into consideration the type of industry, the training program, the geographical cost of living variances which can occur, or the fact that they may have better grades and may have had more and varied work experiences.  Most employees start with a base salary and add dollars based on a wide range of criteria like those above.

March

Insist on your actual job offer in writing along with a statement of employee benefits available to you.  Your start date may or may not be negotiable.  For example, if you are entering a training program, your starting date may be firm.  If this is not the case, your start date can usually be adjusted to meet the needs of both you and your employer.

Over the years, it has been my experience that the vast majority of individuals choose their employer based on the type of job to be performed.  You will find that if you do not like the job, then you will probably hate the company and that will create an unpleasant relationship and short circuit your career before you get started.  If you are just confused as to which job to take, seek an independent ear from a trusted friend, a family member or your career development officer.  Sometimes just talking to someone will make your options clearer.  In the final analysis, however, the decision is yours and yours alone to make.

Much has been written of late about how little time some employers are giving students to make a decision as to whether or not they will accept a job offer.  Some stories have employers insisting that acceptances occur in as little as 48 hours.  Hopefully, your potential employer will be more sensitive and give you more time to make a decision.  As the time to make your decision draws near, it is advisable to make a list of any questions you may have so that your decision is based on as much information as possible.  Carefully eliminate those employers you no longer wish to consider and let them know quickly that you have made your choice.  Be prepared for an aggressive employer to question you as to why their offer was not acceptable.  Try not to give an employer the impression that you are playing one against another; that could leave a very bad taste in their mouths.  It is very important that you decline an offer as diplomatically as possible.  You never know when you may have to change jobs and wish to be reconsidered for employment from your second or third choice.

April

After your choice is made, you will need to get some assistance as to housing and transportation.  Most employers will assist you in these efforts.  Try very hard to get settled in your new location as quickly as possible so that when you report for work, you will hit the ground running.  The less distractions you have as you start your new job, the more successful you are likely to be.    If the employer offers some type of mentorship then by all means take advantage of it.  If not, seek out an experienced employee who hopefully can give you some good advice on the corporate culture you are entering.

Again, as you prepare for your final exams during your senior year, make every effort to maintain your grades, and if possible, aim to achieve better grades.  Very often senior grades slip a bit because of the pressures of time and schedules during this period.  Guard against this happening to you.

May

If you have completed the majority of things mentioned in the previous months then May should be one of the most enjoyable months ever.  Preparing announcements of your graduation and planning for friends and family visits can be a most enjoyable task.  Good luck and best wishes as you begin yet another phase of your life’s work.

Samuel M. Hall, Jr. is the director of the Career Services Office at Howard University, Washington, D.C.