Career workshops help business students stand out

Students on the job or internship hunt are often looking for opportunities to practice the skills they have and prepare for their future careers.\nIU’s Kelley School of Business offers its students a chance to do so by holding a variety of career workshops each semester. The school’s Undergraduate Career Services Office aims to help students learn vital professional skills. \nTwo workshops will be available this week. At 5:30 p.m. today, there will be a workshop titled “No Soft Skills, No Jobs” in Room 100 of the business school. The workshop will help students develop personal skills such as communicating, said Mark Brostoff, associate director of undergraduate career services at the Kelley School. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the same room, Brostoff will lead a workshop called “Finding a Job in the Federal Government.”\nThe career workshops the Kelley School offers range in topic from writing a killer resume to learning effective interviewing techniques, Brostoff said.\nHe said the federal government workshop allows students to see the job possibilities with organizations such as the CIA or the FBI. It also gives pointers on how to get the jobs. For example, a federal government resume looks much different than a resume for another job.\nBrostoff also said he will show students an interactive federal government Web site during the workshop. He will response technology where students can answer questions electronically through a computer, which will allow students to interact with the workshop presenter.\n“The workshops aim to be as hands-on as possible,” Brostoff said. \nAnnie Oler, a senior in the Kelley School who has attended its career workshops, said that for the resume workshop, presenters actually set up mock interviews with real companies so students could become accustomed to the interviewing process.\n“Workshops are extremely helpful,” Oler said. “(The workshop presenters) literally walk you through all the major important aspects of finding a job.”\nBrostoff said the workshops are held at a specific time of year to coincide with the information students are learning in class. These workshops benefit students because they can help supplement the material students learn in their career education classes, he said. \nAll workshops depend on a student’s interests, Brostoff said. Some of the most important workshops throughout the semester include the federal government workshop and “Straight Jobs, Gay Lives,” a sexual orientation and career decision-making workshop, he said. The “Straight Jobs” workshop, which won an award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers in 2006, will be held Oct. 17, Brostoff said. He said he promotes this workshop to other campuses as well.\n“You may not be able to find these workshops at other universities,” Brostoff said. \nThe workshops will run for about 30 to 40 minutes and typically attract 40 to 50 students. Certain workshops might have a smaller crowd than others, \nhe said.\n“I highly recommend the workshops, and I believe they are a true asset to the Undergraduate Career Services Office,” Oler said. “They are what make the Kelley School one of the best (business) schools nationally.”\nFor more information and a full workshop schedule, visit the Web site at www.ucso.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/Workshops/workshops.cfm.