<p>D has not been particularly happy with hers. The counselor liked her resume but had no concrete suggestions on how to focus her job search. I should mention this is for summer internships at this point, but D was very put off and doubts there will be any help in that quarter next year when she will be looking for full time work.</p>
<p>Extremely helpful. They bombard kids with emails about internships and about jobs after graduation. Not just business majors, but liberal arts too.</p>
<p>My son’s school, Willamette University (OR) is extremely helpful. Every incoming freshman is asked to submit a resume, and the career center staff provide feedback so that the student has a high-quality document when he/she first steps on the campus. The center constantly provides updates about on-campus jobs, off-campus jobs, internship opportunities, and career fairs and workshops. My son’s an English major, and he had a great internship last summer and has lined up another good placement for this coming summer.</p>
<p>My oldest attended a medium sized U which had career fairs in spring and fall. This was for internships as well as permanent employment. My senior in HS is looking at smaller LAC’s, and I have considered whether it will be as helpful in finding jobs as her sister’s school. One of the LACs says it has access to a database of 6000 internships across the country and around the world, but that may sound better than it is!</p>
<p>S never used his (I’m assuming the school had one), since he made all of his professional contacts via professors in the department and by working gigs.</p>
<p>D2 squeezed as much as she could out of her career office, and they were very nice people, but ultimately reflected the school’s philosophy of “we’re not here to get you a job; we’re here to teach you how to think.” </p>
<p>D3 hasn’t used her university’s career services office, but has done professional networking within the conservatory and some of that has been helpful with getting gigs and teaching jobs (she’s a musician).</p>
<p>My daughter went to hers yesterday looking for internships. She mentioned that she was graduating a year early and the counselor asked why would she want to do that?? Needless to say she’s not impressed.</p>
<p>Penn state has an excellent one and it is #1 with companies for recruitment. If you are a science major, it is outstanding. ECoS (college of science) has their own career center and resources. This is important, because the culture of science is very different from business and other areas. The MBNA center can give the broad advice and large company contacts (through career fairs), while the ECoS center can provide you with very detailed and specific advice for the science fields. ECos has there own relationships with large companies through an extensive alumni network.</p>
<p>VERY! This was also a very heavily weighed criteria in school selection. We always made a point to visit the placement office at every school we visited before committing. You would be amazed at the differences in investments in this area, at schools that would surprise you.</p>
<p>I like giterdon’s idea of visiting the placement office beforehand. That was something we didn’t do. S just got his first internship offer yesterday (yeah!!!) which is really a great opportunity in his chosen field using both of his majors and it just so happens to be located in a state where he has always wanted to live. He will be a junior in the fall. He found this because a good friend from high school who is at a different school got an internship at the same place (different division) and mentioned it to my S. S hasn’t had time to visit the college placement office but has applied to many, many internships, had several interviews so far - mostly phone interviews but a couple in person, but this was the first offer. But it is a mighty fine offer so we are all glad! Now if we just can find one for his sister… </p>
<p>He was getting discouraged after so many rejections but we kept telling them both that it is a numbers game. You just have to keep applying and interviewing and something will come through. Don’t wait for the placement office to make those connections. Go out and find them yourself by networking, searching companies in your desired industries, ect. This company my son found he just applied online to their website. Was turned down by 4 of their divisions and finally accepted by the 5th. I know that he had applied to at least 50 places.</p>
<p>It is a bit unnerving as a parent to go through this process of having your kids applying for their first “real” job - in their field - even though it is just a summer internship. Finally after all these years of schooling you hope they find something that suits them and has the potential to turn into something that will allow them a nice life.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how helpful the career placement office is when your kid is too stubborn to use it! :(</p>
<p>Our kids’ LAC has The Center for Career Planning and Applied Learning. During accepted student’s weekends and also on registration day, they have open house and info sessions for the parents. All seniors are required to complete a resume with the counselors. They offer assistance for life with graduates. The internships, fellowships, etc. are coordinated between this office, mentors, alumni organization and the parent council. The department has been expanded and is very active securing internships for students. If a student would like one in an area not offered, they will work nationally to create one.</p>
<p>Only a few colleges survey their graduates and post the results for all to see:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys-4.html#post15425078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys-4.html#post15425078</a></p>
<p>D felt that her placement office placed too much emphasis on knowing what you wanted to do rather than helping you figure out what you want to do. They were helpful with writing a resume, though. She went to a couple meet & greet events they had. However, she got her internships and her job herself.</p>
<p>S’s school has an ad series on tv these days trumpeting all the great opportunities students have … but S & I sure haven’t seen those opportunities available through the career center. They say, “You should do research, internships, or co-op,” but they don’t seem to offer much help in getting those opportunities.</p>
<p>Yes, D has been applying to a lot of internships, but like a previous poster says, it is somewhat of a numbers game. I was at least hoping the career office would have some sort of internship lists or connections with alums. Nope. They really don’t.</p>
<p>Queen’s mom- your D can make the office work for her even if she’s found them unhelpful up until now.</p>
<p>If she makes an appointment with one of the counselors, pulls out a list of the “top 15 companies I would most like to work for” and asks, “can you go through the alumni database to see who works for these companies and can you give me email addresses so I can ask them for an informational interview” that is very different from showing up and saying, “do you have alumni contacts I can use?” In the absence of an internship list, your D can put together a two paragraph summary of her skills and interests and ask the counselor, “where do you see these skills and interests coming together based on where other students have interned in the last few years?”</p>
<p>She may find that she needs to be focused and proactive… many schools do not have the resources to do a lot of hand-holding… but she can probably get more help than she realizes.</p>
<p>To everyone- the career services department is not an employment agency. Some schools do a phenomenal job-- and are in your face, begging kids to come in to do video interviews, mock interviews, have their resumes edited by professionals, have a calendar of companies that are coming to interview that is chock-a-block full from September-February.</p>
<p>Others do not; your kids will need to be more proactive but can still get something of value out of the office.</p>
<p>blossom, thank you. I think your suggestions are fabulous. I will have D read your post.</p>
<p>My daughter seems to think that hers does not do much for those with her major ( applied math). She thinks it focuses on engineering and business majors.</p>
<p>Copied and pasted Blossom’s post for DD. thanks.</p>
<p>That’s funny MD Mom because my D is a Math major too (not applied).</p>
<p>Well Queen’s Mom, there are some math associations that list jobs and students can list their resumes. SIAM is one as is AMA. </p>
<p>I recommended that my daughter take a three-pronged approach to the job hunt: government, engineering firms with intern programs, and private industry firms that have offices in countries where she would like to work.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter. Do people constantly ask her whether she wants to teach?</p>