Black Collegian Career Center

According to an April 2002 report of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), college hiring fell dramatically for 2000-2001. Moreover, survey respondents estimated that in 2001-2002 they would hire even fewer new college grads. But that’s not the bad news. Not only are there fewer jobs for new college grads, but you’ll have to contend with a growing number of competitors, and the competition is fierce!

“As a result of our current recession, and many companies downsizing from the September 11th impact, the job market is extremely competitive. Seasoned professionals have re-entered the market and are competing for many of the same employment opportunities as recent graduates,” says Aswad Allen, director of the Office of Diversity Affairs in the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado.

So, what can soon-to-be grads do to compete? Use all your resources to make sure you have more to offer potential employers than just your college degree. “Employers are evaluating academic competency, technical competency and social adaptability,” says Fannie Allen, a business etiquette expert and director of the Allen Etiquette Institute in Arlington, VA. “Seeking internships and exercising business etiquette can set you apart from others as a professional.” Furthermore, if you are willing to be proactive in your job search endeavors, then your career center staff can help you compete with the pros! Here’s how:

Get Direction

“Career services offices should be the first destination for minority students who are looking for jobs,” advises Kristen Orakwue, director of Diversity at National Corporate College Consultants in Westport, CT.  “Generally, minority candidates do not use career services offices as readily as non-diverse candidates do because either they aren't sure what they want to do after graduation, or there is a sense that these offices only cater to students who are interested in careers in business or industry. But career services counselors can help students define their interests and steer them towards industries where those interests and skills can make an impact.”

For example, Corrin Beechum had a variety of jobs while majoring in food service management at Johnson & Wales University, but when she started her senior year, she still had no idea what she wanted to do with her future. What she did know, however, was where to go for help. “My dad kept telling me to get serious about deciding what to do with my future and to see a career advisor, but I didn’t listen to him at first. When I finally did, I got a job offer a month later,” she recalls. As the director of career services at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, her father knew first-hand the wealth of information and help career centers have to offer students.

“First, I talked with the director of career services about what kind of company I wanted to work for and she told me to look into contract services. Then, I used the computers there to find those kinds of companies, learned as much as I could about them online and scheduled interviews when they came to visit campus,” Beechum says.

Hooking up with her career center put her in the race, and her work experience helped her win it.  “In January of my senior year, I interviewed with Sodexho at our annual job fair. The next thing I knew, they scheduled me for a phone interview, flew me to Atlanta for another interview and offered me a job a month later as the food service manager at Rollins College. Based on my references and work history, employers were able to see that I am a hard worker,” says the May 2000 cum laude graduate.

Although everything worked out for her in the end, Beechum discourages students from procrastinating like she did. “For nearly fours years, I took job fairs for granted. I went to them, but I just collected all the fun stuff and left. Get as much information and

experience as you can before your senior year. Then, you’ll be able to make educated and less stressful decisions,” she urges.

Get Informed

By the time she arrived as a freshman at Hampton University, Jasmine Adkins had already attended training sessions on dressing for success, dining etiquette, networking and many other job search preparation topics, but that didn’t stop her from attending seminars at Hampton’s Career Center, too. “Because of the interview preparation class I took as a high school senior, I didn’t overreact to a contact lens popping out during my interview for a corporate accounting internship at Benjamin Moore. I excused myself, fixed it, returned to the interview, and ended up working there for three summers,” said Adkins, who is now a senior assurance and advisory business services consultant for Ernst & Young.

While at Hampton, Adkins also made a point to interact with career center staff and potential employers as much as possible in order to hone her marketing and communication skills and to make networking contacts. “I used a variety of strategies to make sure that everyone out there who had, or knew about, an opportunity for me to interview or intern, knew that I was interested in doing so.” And when given the chance, her savvy techniques made quite an impression. In fact, she was offered a job a whole year before her 1999 graduation! “Jasmine Adkins did very well academically, which helped get her foot in the door,” said Ken Bouyer from E&Y’s Office of Minority Recruitment and Retention in New York. Adkins had been one of twelve of the top performing accounting majors invited to attend an informational reception and dinner hosted by that office.

“But academics are only one piece of the puzzle,” Bouyer added. “Jasmine had an innate sense of how to communicate effectively. She was not afraid to speak out and sell herself and her ideas.  Her personable nature and her ability to network with us helped her shine among other candidates.” Since joining the firm, Adkins has worked closely with the Ernst & Young’s recruiting staff to attract other potential candidates from her alma mater and she encourages students to be proactive in obtaining useful information about prospective employers.

“It would behoove you to go to your career center to see what is available instead of waiting for the information to be filtered down. The staff should get to know you so that they will think of you first when something comes along,” said Adkins.

Get Connected

“Early in my career, I understood the power of networking and made it an everyday part of my collegiate experience,” said Michael Oden, who graduated in May 2002 from Michigan State University’s School of Business. “As soon as I stepped on campus, I became heavily involved in campus activities because I knew that it would lead to a prosperous collegiate career and ultimately a full-time job upon graduation.”

And he was right. Oden started out as a peer assistant in the Minority Aide Program, which was designed to assist minority students with transitioning into college life at a predominantly white institution. He also served as chairman of POWER, which organized on-campus entertainment and recreation. As a result, he developed excellent skills in communication, leadership, and self-presentation, which came in handy during his junior and senior years.  “The activities helped me mature in understanding what I wanted to do so I was able to present myself well, and I was marketable when I had opportunities to meet corporate representatives through involvement in (industry organizations like) Multicultural Business Students and the Supply Chain Association,” he said.

After changing his major from computer science to supply chain management in his sophomore year, Oden entered the School of Business and enlisted the help of the assistant dean to identify internships and employment opportunities. The relationship was instrumental in helping Michael find and complete successful internships with John Deere & Company, Ford Motor Company and Intel Corporation, which gave him a leg up on the competition. Then, he was ready to position himself for a full-time job.

“After researching which companies recruited at my school for my selected discipline and geographic locations, I contacted them at our career development office’s career fairs and continued to seek help from the dean when it came to contacting recruiting liaisons. Eventually, all the hard work paid off!”  Two months before Christmas break, Oden was offered a job as a buyer with Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Atlanta, GA, which he started in September 2002.

These are but a few examples of how leadership, work and career development activities can lead to your job search success. It is through a combination of all theses experiences that you can best acquire the technical skills, social adaptability, and good work habits that will get you noticed in such a competitive market. So, when all is said and done, never underestimate the power of your career center staff in hooking you up to compete with the pros!

Pamela M. McBride is a career management consultant with Resource Consultants, Inc., and a freelance writer who frequently contributes to THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine. She is also co-authoring a career management guide for African-American women.