The Career Expo took place on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in the Multipurpose Center on the campus of Virginia State University. Several companies and vendors were represented on the arena floor including such companies as Live! Casino Virginia, the new casino in Petersburg, and education systems as far away as Kansas.
Executive Director of Student Engagement and Career Services Joseph Lyons explained what some of the toughest obstacles VSU seniors are facing when they explore the job market now.
“It’s a tough economy out there. Employers have been slow in making offers,” Lyons said. “Several of our students who graduated this past May, some of them I’m just hearing about now, are receiving opportunities. That can be frustrating and discouraging for students, but they should not give up on the job search process. But then they also need to explore other ways outside of the box, such as LinkedIn and networking events, to meet employers and explore opportunities.”
Career Services is the main resource on campus where students can get connected with internships or entry-level jobs. STEM is one of the fields where there is still quite the demand for candidates.
“One of the exciting things is that we have several employees who graduated from Virginia State University and are now alums.,” Lyons said. “They want to hire and recruit students from their institution, which we are really excited about. Also, the College of Engineering and Technology has an industry cluster, and so they meet with a panel of employers each month who are in STEM to help them find opportunities for our students.”
Lyons and career services suggest several strategies to help students stand out in a competitive job search.
“Making sure that they (students) have a LinkedIn account and even a handshake account that really markets their skills (is highly recommended). They should be sure that their résumé is obvious, concise, and specifically targeted towards the position, because employers are only going to look at a document at a glance,” Lyons said.
At a career fair, employers will see hundreds of students. It is important that an individual has marketed themselves and shared their brand. This can help them stand out among other candidates.
Many students might think that it is too soon to attend a career fair especially if they are just in their first semester. But Lyons believes it is never too early.
“We say your first year, and most institutions now, Career Services offices are asking students, when they first get to college, to begin coming to career services events or employer events,” Lyons said. “In your first year, you get an opportunity to talk with employers about their industry and where they see you working. And so, it gives students a very early notice about what they should be doing in terms of preparation for their field. The earlier they start, the more comfortable they will be in connecting with employers, and we hope they will soon receive internship offers.”
In most job pursuits students will have to be ready to handle themselves in an interview. Career Services prepares students for interviews beyond just résumé writing.
“One exciting thing we can do is to do mock interview with students,” Lyons said. “I can lead students. My staff can lead students through a series of questions, and then we’ll provide them feedback based on their responses. Also, this past semester, we had employers on campus who provided mock interviews for students. While it’s good that we’re offering this, having an employer provide feedback really gives you an exact opinion from someone involved in hiring other students.”
Students should always be receptive to feedback. And sometimes that means editing a resume or revising their online profile.
Some mistakes the people in career services often see on résumés from graduating students can surprise many.
“One of the top things that employers share with us is spelling or grammatical errors. And so, employers tell us that if they see it on a résumé, it speaks to a lack of attention to detail,” Lyons said. “And so that’s something they don’t value. Employers also share with us one of their top pet peeves: having a résumé that’s not relevant to the position you’re applying for. Sometimes students might have their relevant experiences at the bottom of the résumé, but employers will start at the top, and then what they read will engage them to read further.
