SUMMER JOB FAIR
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 1:00PM-5:00PM KANSAS UNION LOBBY, 4TH FLOOR
FINDINGASUMMERJOB
Excerpted from an article found on Faze Online www.fazeteen.com
School's out for summer and you would probably like nothing more than to relax. It would be great to spend some time watching TV or hanging out with friends. Unfortunately, if you are like most students that's not an option -- summer means time to look for a job. Whether saving for school, a new car, or because their parents are making them get off their butts, students of all ages start hitting the pavement looking for decent summer employment.
employment.
Looking for a summer job is easy. However, finding one is not. The newspapers and Internet are full of job opportunities. You could easily spend all ever sorting through job listings without ever finding anything of interest. Think of it this way, if you live in Toronto you might pick up a copy of The Toronto Star to look for a job. The Star has over 1.9 million readers daily. Imagine that 5% of Toronto Star readers are unemployed, and like you, are searching the classifieds for a great job
opportunity. That makes you one of 95,000 people using the Star to find work.
Your chances of finding a job you're interested in doing is poor and if you do your chances of getting that job are even worse.
The Internet is not much better. You may have some luck on the bigger sites like www.workopolis.com or the HRDC Job Bank (www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca) but you run into the same problem as with the newspaper. There are thousands and thousands of people looking through these sites daily. And although they have over 15,000 jobs posted most of them are not geared towards students.
So what other options are available? Before you decide where best to look there are a few steps you need to take to prepare yourself for finding a job. The first thing you need to have is a resume Think of your resume as a marketing tool --you have to sell yourself, promoting your abilities and skills. You want to show them that you are the best candidate for the position. This means the more work you're willing to put into your resume the better it will pay off. If you want some suggestions on resume writing you can check out www.damngood.com for
samples, tips, and answers to some tough questions. [or check with KU's University Career and Employment Services, www.ku.edu/~uces]
The second step is deciding what kind of job you want. Do you want to work in hospitality, an office, retail, or recreation. Or maybe you would prefer to do manual labor. If you are having trouble figuring it out, try thinking about what your interests are. If you like working with people maybe you would enjoy sales or hospitality. If business is more your thing, try for a job in an office. Getting your foot in the door is a great way to network with people and learn more about the field you're interested in.
Okay so now you have your resume done and you know what you want to do. So where do you look? The third step to finding a summer job is research, which presents a number of options. Lets assume that you have tried the newspapers and the Internet without any luck. Despite the fact that the majority of job searchers use newspapers and the Internet, only 20 percent of the available jobs are advertised. That means that 80 percent are not. The best way to tap into this market is through research. Decide on an industry in which you would like to work. Research the company, get the name of a contact person, and a phone and fax number so you can send a resume and find out if there are any positions currently available. Phone numbers can be found in the Yellow Pages, the Internet or you can try the Canadian Career Directory, which lists 900 employers throughout Canada
including the qualifications they look for, contact information, and whether or not they hire summer students. [Although this article was written for Canadian readers, the idea of using the Yellow Pages and Internet are still applicable. Also available to University students is the University Career and Employment Services, found in 110 Burge Union www.ku.edu/~uces. UCES provides numerous job search tools and resources. See page 6 for details.]
So if you know what you want to do, and you have good resume then try and find a summer position that will allow you gather some experience. Keep in mind your summer job does not have to be directly related to your career aspirations. Many of the skills you acquire through a summer job can be transferred into other areas. Trying a variety of summer jobs will give you valuable experience and may even help you figure out what you want to do for a future career.
SUMMER JOB FAIR PARTICIPANTS
Camp Sabra
Cheley Colorado Camps
Camp Wood YMCA
Point O' Pines Camp
Camp Champions
Rock Springs 4-H Center
AIESEC
Worlds of Fun
YMCA of the Ozarks
Camp Birchwood
Camp Lincoln
INTERNSHIP PROGRAM:
WHY DO AN INTERNSHIP?
Excerpted from an article from California State University Sacramento's College of Business Administration Web site, www.csus.edu/cba.
It's your future. Take a step in the right direction. 75% of employers are seeking new college graduates with career-related experience; making a decision to gain experience in your concentration within the Business major through an internship is a step in the right direction for your future career success. Experience may indeed be the single most important factor in making informed career decisions.
Internships, structured career-related learning experiences outside the university classroom setting are important to your future marketability because they provide valuable career-related work/learning experience and the opportunity to:
- To test out your classroom knowledge in a work environment
- Develop competencies and acquire knowledge and skills by successfully meeting new types of interpersonal and intellectual challenges
- Apply theories
- Investigate work roles and career possibilities
- Test out and confirm or reshape your career goals
- Develop skills that enhance your qualifications for future full-time professional employment
- Make professional contacts in your field
- Possibly gain an offer of full-time employment upon graduation
- Assess your strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the work and whether or not this is the right career for you
- Assess a company's overall work environment, the type of work they do,the type of people who work there,the organizational structure and whether or not you could advance at the company.
- In addition, a growing number of employers are using internships as a way to gain a first in-depth look at prospective employees. In this respect, both you and your employer have a common goal namely, to determine if there is a good fit between you.