Career Center offers new spring programs

Candace Buckman / Features Editor

This semester the Career Center is presenting both old and new programs to help guide students through job and internship searches.

“Students want someone who will listen to their thoughts,” said David Magee, director of career services. The programs for 2004 are organized to provide students with such a service.

One-on-one meetings are popular among students when seeking both career and internship advice.

“Last year we had around 2,000 drop-in sessions,” Magee said. “This past fall we have already gone over 1,000.”

Transition Tactics is a one-day intensive program on May 19 that will also provide students with helpful tips and strategies for their own job searches.

The event will include a national speaker, Anne-Marie Sabbath, Founder of At Ease Inc. and author of several business etiquette books. She will show students how to gain a competitive edge in the job market. Students can secure one of the 100 spots at the tactic session for $100. As of this week, 10 seats are left.

The career exploration series is another opportunity being offered to students this spring. Career services arranges for alumni to return to Elon to discuss their success and thoughts on the job market in their particular field. Religion and sports management have both been popular in this program.

“Students find a lot of meaning talking to successful people,” Magee said.

Students may also receive guidance from their fellow classmates in the Peer Educator Program and Resume Rescue Team. Consultations are available to any students seeking help with their resume or with their job search in general.

Career center staff have decided to reach out of their office doors and make an appearance at College Coffee on Tuesdays and in Long on Wednesdays in an attempt to bring attention to services many students have yet to utilize.

Also to increase interest the Career Center has begun a raffle that will award $25 each week to a student who has made a consultation appointment.

This is also an attempt to have students perfect their resumes before the next major event the center has planned on campus, the Elon Career and Graduate School Fair. The fair will take place from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 11 in Alumni Gym and will allow students easy access to job and graduate school recruiters.

On April 20, Elon will host the Elon Teacher Fair from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in McKinnon. The event will give students, especially education majors, an opportunity to research and apply for jobs at various schools.

“The Career Center also has new resources this year,” Magee said. “We’ve recently created a new position in our department.”

The new position, associate director for employee relations, will involve a lot of traveling. The associate director will spend much of his or her time talking to alumni and employers, and making sure that they remember Elon’s name when students begin sending their resumes.

Resources available in the Career Center Office include Career Search, a database that allows students to research companies and organizations.

“We use this database so we can research employers,” Magee said.

Career Search allows students to search various companies according to both job position and geographic location.

These various services will help students “make good contacts and develop relationships,” Magee said.