The UA Career Center tries its best to help students find jobs, present them professionally and connect them with possible employers. Meanwhile, it suggests students take advantage of career fairs and online networking.
“I do suggest they begin that search before they leave campus,” said Mary Loyd Lowrey, director of career education and development. “We encourage them to have an organized game plan and certainly go to the Career Center. We want to help them out because we know the different industries, career fairs and fields. There are different approaches to each one in terms of getting a job.”
Anna Velleggia is a career advisor at the Culverhouse Career Center.
“We have two large career fairs per semester,” she said. “This past semester we had 100 employer businesses and 105 at technical engineering. That is a great way to find employers. We also have something called ‘Crimson Careers,’ which is a job database. Students can go on there and find over 700 jobs, internships and full-time positions. It is really a good way to look at different positions we have specifically for UA students.”
When students fail to talk to people in their first career fair, they need to persist, Lowrey said.
Career fairs are events where employers come together. If they have jobs available or if they want to talk to students about the job their companies might have coming in, they attend career fairs to see as many students as possible.
Crimson Careers is a database offered by the Career Center where students can create a profile, research resources online and upload their resume. They can also look at all job postings and on-campus interviews.
Sim Robinson, a junior majoring in management information systems, said he takes advantage of the MIS program workshop, career center and career fairs.
“Our university’s MIS program does an amazing job,” he said. “There are lots of workshops that prepare us with resumes and interviews. I will fly to Dallas for an interview this Friday.”
Networking can be another good way to hunt for a job.
“We use LinkedIn to try to connect to the alumni, and if you find out different positions that are open, different companies post on their Twitter accounts,” Velleggia said. “Different things like that show what positions are available. Those are a couple of really quick ways that people can go about looking for different positions.”
She said a professional, up-to-date and clearly organized LinkedIn account is very helpful. A lot of employers are looking on LinkedIn to identify potential candidates.
Lowrey said students need to continue to do research on what work is going on in their field and to connect with contacts.
“Before you build a LinkedIn profile, make sure what you need to put on it,” she said. “I would not suggest creating one and just having one or two things on the profile. Think in advance what experience and skills you can put. You can follow some companies’ LinkedIn [accounts] and keep an eye out for job postings.”
Velleggia said when students get in touch with alumni, students should ask how they can put their foot in the door.
The Career Center works with students after they graduate as well. Students can come by their office, but the center can also talk to students by phone if they are not in the Tuscaloosa area.
