Real work starts with job hunting
By Melanie Martin
Skiff Staff

Searching for a job can sometimes seem overwhelming and confusing, but knowing where to look will help put your mind at ease.

Career Services, located on campus behind the Student Center, is designed to help students combat the difficulties of a job search. They offer services ranging from computer programs to testing for your career strengths, helping those who are unsure of a major get a better idea of where their skills lie. Career Services provides counseling and educates students on how to prepare and search for a job as well.

Numerous tools are at your disposal. Career Services can assist with the preparation of your resume and help with the placement of it. Chuck Dunning, assistant director of career counseling and assessment, describes Career Services as a source of “counseling and education that maintains assessment instruments and serves as a resource library.”

The Internet can also be a helpful instrument in a job search. Many search Web sites exist for that very purpose, such as (www.monster.com) and (www.hotjobs.com).

TCU hosts career fairs, as well as various postings, on-campus interviewing, targeted mailings and not to mention the abundance of untapped resources provided through the professional associations for students, Dunning said.

“There are numerous opportunities for jobs available to students, if they know where to look,” he said.

Trying to predict the job market in any field is almost impossible. Dunning described the job market as changing from day to day. However, the continuing theme is that the market is very competitive and is only growing more intense.

Dunning said he would “emphasize the importance of networking in a thorough and systematic manner, educating (the student) in job search resources and procedures.” He said he could not stress the fact enough that in today’s overly competitive job market, a student needs more than just the knowledge learned in the classroom.

Matt Griffin, general manager at Clampitt Paper Co. in San Antonio, overlooks all hiring within his company. He said he continually receives resumes and interviews potential employees.

“I look for those grads that stand out,” Griffin said. “I need to know that they have real world experience. Yeah, so they have book smarts, great. But I have to have reassurance that they have had ample opportunities to exhibit these skills they claim to have on paper.”

Moreover, Griffin said it is all about networking, “getting to know people who know people.”

Currently there are certain careers that seem to be in greater demand than others. For example, the medical field is in need of nurses. Many nurses are even receiving signing bonuses for accepting jobs at hospitals.

Lately those in the finance and accounting industries are being eagerly recruited, along with recent graduates with computer science degrees, Dunning said.

“Looking for a job these days is a job in itself ... and the hardest job in the world is looking for a job, so make looking for a job your job,” Dunning said.

In hopes of getting that one great job after graduation, you need not be complacent with your education but instead be diligent in your job search.

Melanie Martin