Shannon McEnerney | Oct. 23, 2009
 |
| Photo by Shanna Rottinger |
| Career Services Director Marcia Debnam showed sophomore Isabel Monahan places to look for resume tools during a recent Career Cafe session. Several times a week, Debnam invites students to drop in to work out strategies to land internships and jobs. |
To find answers, Mulato attended one of last week’s Career Cafes, drop-in events in the rear room of the journalism library where students can get advice about how to proceed.
Career Services Director Marcia Debnam sets aside several hours a week to host these events, where she advises students one-on-one to help them develop skills and increase their marketability for internships and jobs post-graduation. This week’s Career Cafes are 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Debnam’s advice is simple for nearly all the students who come to her for advising appointments regarding jobs and internships.
“Your job search is a research project,” Debnam said. She gives students pointers to resources, reviews their resumes and letters, and helps them connect to potential employers, but ultimately, it’s up to students to craft their game plans.
The two-hour time slots vary by date and time of day, Debnam said, giving most students a chance to find time to walk-in and seek advice. Last year, the Career Cafes focused on group sessions, with all students talking about their job or internship search concerns, but Debnam said after these sessions, students would ask for individual appointments. That is why this year’s Career Cafés are walk-in individual sessions.
“My goal is to reach out to students in an open atmosphere,” Debnam said.
Debnam has been focusing on employer outreach this year, forming more relationships with industry professionals who can become good resources for the School of Journalism for internships and jobs.
Junior Hannah Helbert attended because as a junior, she is focused on finding an internship for the summer and needed advice on how to improve her resume. Debnam showed her the School of Journalism’s Web site section devoted to cover letters, resumes, and internships.
Helbert said after her session that she feels ready to work on her resume and begin the application process. The e-mail announcements and the weekly e-mail newsletter from the School of Journalism often include leads to jobs and internships. Students also should register at IUJournalismCareers.com, where they can find leads as well as examples of application materials. Along with the support from Debnam and professors, these help prepare students to move in the right direction, Helbert said.
For students facing graduation, Debnam said to get the job search started now. Students should consider applying for posted job offerings as well as unadvertised positions. While Debnam said it is harder to apply for unsolicited jobs, it is beneficial in the long run because the more employers who see a resume, the better the chances for a job offer when a position does become available at that company.
“Make your job search a job,” Debnam said. “A job search is like fishing. You’re the one driving it. Keep throwing the line, but know you can’t catch them all.”
The job search is a multistage process involving research for potential employers, research for the employer’s demographics, and crafting a cover letter and resume.
“A cover letter can make or break you,” Debnam said. She tells students to write unique cover letters that will make an employer say, “I want to call this person right now,” after reading it.
Even those who won’t need a job right away should get busy on this “job,” she said. Building skill sets are important.
“It’s not where but what you do,” Debnam said. “Work on a multitude of skills. At this stage, prove you’ve got great communication skills.”
She tells students to think in terms of the Web – whether a blog or Twitter – to show employers their versatility in an Internet-based era. She suggests to students get involved in a different activity each semester to help in skill building. Not only will they learn new skills – such as sending press releases on behalf of a campus organization – but they’ll also be able to demonstrate their various interests.
“Students are expected to be their own business,” Debnam said, terming this as “becoming a brand.”
But it is also important, Debnam said, for students to know that there is no linear path in terms of a career.
“Your skills are going to allow you to be who you want to be,” she said. “Everybody is different. Don’t worry about anything except experiencing experience.”
Career Cafes are held each week at varying hours in the School of Journalism’s library. Students are welcome to walk-in anytime and meet with Debnam to discuss any concerns.
