Across IU, most students have two common needs: jobs and internships. \nRegardless of their major, students often use internships to learn more about their field, gain real-life experience and get future jobs. Each school at IU provides resources and advice for students trying to find jobs and internships. Although most schools or departments have placement offices which provide a variety of services, they each offer different sources of help for students.\nKelley School of Business\nThe business school's office, or Undergraduate Career Services, provides opportunities to students such as on-campus interviews, roundtables and career fairs. Susie Clarke, director of undergraduate career services, said these opportunities allow students to network with company representatives.\nClarke said the office has a recruiting team with members who call companies to notify them regularly of career fairs and invite them to "explore the wealth of talent" at the school. Some services the office provides to companies include online job postings and online student resumes. \nThe business school helps students find internships by informing them of roundtables, which are structured career fairs arranged separately for each major where about 30 companies visit to recruit students, Clarke said. The students attend six 20-minute sessions with different employers and three half-hour networking opportunities. This way, students can meet employers both formally and informally, Clarke said.\nAlong with roundtables, the business school requires students to complete two career courses, X220 and X420, which help students prepare for interviews and produce a business-style resume. The class also invites companies to make presentations, allowing the students more opportunities to network.\n"X220 helps you get internships, build resumes and learn proper business etiquette," said Jill Cloyd, a senior business economics and public policy major.\nUndergraduate Career Services also provides information about companies in a knowledge database and career resource links on its Web site.
School of Journalism\nMany journalism schools offer their students help in finding internship programs, which are often essential in finding a job after graduation. Sometimes it is even necessary for students to have a previous internship when applying for another. Marcia Debnam, the Journalism School placement director, is a career counselor for students who are stressing out about finding internships.\nUnlike many other schools within IU, the journalism school does not have a placement office because representatives from newspapers and media firms don't often recruit at universities, Debnam said. While business firms know in advance how many people they will hire and for each position, media organizations do not.\n"We don't have a placement office because media organizations only hire on an as-needed basis," she said. "(Firms) have no time or budget to travel."\nAlthough Debnam said she sometimes receives information about available internship positions, which she passes on to students in the J-school, she suggests finding companies in a directory and making "cold calls" to inquire about opportunities they offer. Some of these directories can be found in the Weil Journalism Library. \nShe also offers weekly sessions called "Work-It," where she informs students about different journalism concentrations, ways to find jobs and internships and sometimes invites School of Journalism alumni to speak to students about their field. \nDebnam said the J-school's Web site offers career resources such as tips for resumes and cover letters. She also suggests networking with members of area alumni associations.
School of Education\nUnlike at the business and journalism schools, students in the School of Education are not busy searching for internships. In fact, these students don't get involved in the Education Placement Office until second semester of their senior year. EPO Office Coordinator Alberta Fiscus said the best experience education students can get is in-class field experience and student teaching.\nTo help students find jobs, Fiscus said the EPO provides an online weekly employment listing for a registration fee. Schools across the nation can post their available positions on the Web sites for registered students to see. These students can also have their information sent to employers seeking to fill open positions. \nFiscus said the EPO also offers students the option to create credential files. Student can keep their resume, reference letters and other necessary material in these files which are then sent to employers upon the student's request. Senior Kim Puckett said the EPO keeps students' files after they graduate for future use.\nThe EPO also hosts an "Interview Day," when representatives from different schools all over the nation come to interview students. Fiscus said students sign up for appointments with different schools. The EPO helps students prepare for Interview Day by conducting mock interviews upon request and arranging workshops that deal with interviews and resumes.\nFiscus said around 90 percent of education school graduates are employed. She added that it's easier to find jobs if students are not geographically bound. She said jobs are always available in inner-city schools and science, special education, English as a second language and Spanish teachers are often in need.\n"I'm getting ready to use the EPO," Puckett said. "I know that it's been helpful to students who have used it. They help you team up with schools to schedule interviews." \nFiscus said employers look for someone who cares about students.\n"They want someone who has shown what a good job they do," she said.\nShe hopes all the classes students take help prepare them for their jobs and suggests that students do volunteer work with students of the age they want to teach.\n-- Contact staff writer Stephanie Susman at ssusman@indiana.edu.
