P. KELLY SMITH
Graduation for most seniors is a time of excitement and anticipation, but it can also be a time of panic and frustration.
Those who do not prepare themselves for life after BYU may encounter some obstacles along the way. The Career Placement Center, located at 2410 ELWC, can help. The Center offers career assistance to students in whatever stage of job-hunting they might be in.
“The first thing we try to do is bring out the student’s focus,” said Richard Cox, Career Placement Center advisor.
Some students come in very focused with what they want to do and where they want to live, but others come in with no direction at all, Cox said.
The center provides one-on-one thirty minute sessions with each of their students. They have counselors that deal specifically with business, education, engineering, liberal arts, and behavioral/social sciences majors. But they handle other majors as well.
“What we do frequently in the beginning is I will ask the student if this is their first time they’ve been here,” Cox said. “Then I ask them their major, when they graduate and what they would like to do after graduation.”
We encourage students to have some idea with what they’re looking for, but in the absence of that, we’ll take it from there. Many students come in applying for jobs, internships, sometimes even graduate school applications. So the advisors will try to adapt to the needs of the student, Cox said.
“I like to tell the students that this is not a classroom,” Cox said. We don’t give grades. We don’t make assignments. We don’t say you’ve go to do it this way or that way. We’re here to advise, counsel, recommend and suggest.”
Cox believes when a student does things the way he wants to do them, the student has more confidence and becomes a better competitor in the job market.
Seniors are encouraged to come in the center and register. It’s basically a fact sheet about the student that goes on the center’s database. It allows the counselors to know what the student is looking for and it allows the student to be eligible for on-campus interviewing when recruiters come looking for BYU graduates.
Registering with the center is always a good thing because if a job opportunity arises, we can call or e-mail the student, Cox said.
“More than anything else, we encourage students to come in here and learn about what we do and what services we offer,” Cox said. “And then they can evaluate the intensity of how much they’re going to use our help.”
The Center offers advice on writing resumes, interviewing with employers and maintaining good relationships with companies.
“Frequently, we do see a lot of resumes,” Cox said. “Some students come in and say, ‘I’ve never done a resume before’ or others come in with one that’s in draft form or finished and just want advice on how it looks,” Cox said.
The Center stresses that how ever far along students are in their plans, the advisors will pick up at any stage and help.
The Center supports a small library that specifically holds reference materials. These are on internships, international opportunities, directories and information on particular employers. Students are encouraged to come look through the binders and booklets.
The best time for graduating seniors to come register is early fall of their senior year. They can come later, but many recruiters begin interviewing in October, November, and December, Cox said.
