CMU Career Services helps students embrace their professional aspirations

With Central Michigan University’s Career Day approaching on Oct. 5, more than 800 students are preparing themselves for networking and career opportunities with approximately 90 employers. Recruiters from international firms like General Motors Co., Nabisco, HP and Amway Corp. will be looking for students with refined résumés, compelling elevator pitches and personable attitudes.

 

Many students are preparing for Career Day with the help of CMU Career Services, an on-campus resource that assists students with their professional development.

 

To prepare students, Career Services offers one-on-one mock interview training to get students comfortable with the interviewing process. In addition to mock interviews, the department offers résumé critiques, social media opportunities to connect students and alumni to employers, presentations on professionalism to student organizations and classes on campus, and an online job search program called E-Recruiting available only at CMU.

 

Assistant Director of Career Services Tori Stevens says partnerships with other departments around campus have increased the involvement students have with Career Services in the last two years. The number of mock interviews the department conducts either in person and over the Internet has nearly doubled to approximately 2,000 a year.

 

Stevens also has seen more than a 70 percent increase in job, internship and co-op opportunities posted on E-Recruiting in the last year, a jump from 2,918 to 4,047 since September 2011.

 

“We have a lot of companies recruiting from CMU because they know we have students with a great mentality and work ethic,” Stevens said.

 

Herman Miller Talent Acquisition Manager Jodi Royse says the preparation CMU gives their students is what keeps Herman Miller coming back year after year for recruitment.

 

“CMU goes out of its way to make sure students are being taught the right things, being counseled the right way, and being prepared for jobs and internships,” Royse said.

 

CMU 2011 alumnus Wesley Futch worked closely with Career Services during his undergraduate career, which he says helped prepare him for job fairs like Career Day. The relationships he built through Career Services helped land him his job as Executive Team Leader of Logistics for Target.

 

“When I look at what has really made me stand out from my peers, it was preparation,” Futch said. “When you look at Career Services as a body of resources, you can get so much from it. You get to interact with student and faculty advisors, but participate in interviews and get constructive on-the-spot feedback from your peers.”

 

Stevens says that while Career Services is a great resource for students to get prepared for job fairs and interviews, it works best when students get involved early on in their collegiate careers.

 

“We’re here for more than helping you find jobs and internships,” Stevens said. “It’s more about personal growth and development when it comes to your career. You’ve got to know who you are in order to know what direction you want your career to go in.”