Career Service Center Takes Off

This Saturday, Sept. 29 from 2-8 p.m. in King, seniors are invited to spend an afternoon with College alumni and the Career Service Center at the 4th Annual Alumni-Student Exchange.
The event will include workshops on interviewing techniques, as well as specific worshops for students involved in the performing arts. The day will conclude at 5:30 p.m. with an alumni picnic. A special tent for those interested in meeting with communications alums will be showcased at the picnic. Students need to sign up for this in advance at Career Services, but space may still be available. If students plan on attending, they should check their Senior Bulletin e-mails or the Events calendar for additional events and times for Saturday.
This event is one of many that the Career Center has coordinated this fall. Another rapidly expanding program is the center’s e-Recruiting, where students log in using their T-number and “Obie” as their password. Once in, the program will allow students to upload their resumes into the system and remind them of deadlines. E-Recruiting training sessions began in Mudd 212 this past Wednesday and will continue through the fall. The next training session will be Monday, Oct.1 at 7 p.m.
Information sessions for Senior Interview Days, where students prepare for the trials of the job market, began on Wednesday, and the next session will be Oct. 1 in Mudd 212 at 7:30 p.m following the e-Recruiting session.
While about 23 percent of Oberlin graduates go directly to grad school, some will work and others will win fellowships and pursue research and/or further study. Currently, the College is putting resources toward helping more students pursue fellowships.
Wendy Miller, head of Career Services, urged students to be wary of the poor job market. “I think the poor job market of 2002 will affect the Class of 2002. The market has been excellent for some time; it’s kind of a rude awakening. Students need to be taking advantage of opportunities and be open and flexible.” She noted that “no matter what Oberlin alums do, they work to try to make a difference....[career paths] run the gamut.”
Miller articulated that the typical Obie concern about the future is not fearing having nothing to do next year, but fearing the choice. “Probably the number one issue is not knowing what you want to do. Oberlin students have lots of interests, so they feel like it’s hard to choose,” she said. She encourages students to identify a number of avenues to explore and pursue.