Get a Job: Local Career Advisors' Top Tips

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You’ve completed your studies, tossed that mortar board hat into the air, thanked your family for their congratulations and now … well, now comes the hard part.

Finding your first job, post schooling, seems overwhelming.

We visited with career counselors at four Lake area colleges who advise you not to panic, plus give some good advice about moving out of your folks’ basement and into the workplace.

One of the best tools that career services offices use today, says Melissa Sprouse, assistant director of Career Services at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, is an online, all-in-one career system.

“Ours is called Cat Career Tracks, and it allows students to view and apply for jobs, upload resumes, view career events, sign up for interviews and connect with employers.”

Melissa lists other online tools, including the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, and suggests the familiar LinkedIn site has great student-specific tools. “I particularly like the ‘Find Alumni’ tool in LinkedIn.”

Find Alumni pulls up profiles of alumni from your alma mater, filtering results by professional major, industry and job title. “It’s a great way for upcoming graduates to see what others have done with their major, and what the job titles/search terms might be for their job search.”

Connecting students with alumni has been a focus for NMU career services. “We’ve found that alums are really willing to share when their companies have jobs and internships available, and are excited to share their career knowledge with current students,” Melissa says. “So it’s not a new tool by any means, but we encourage students to expand their networking skills, and recommend they start with alumni.”

The best idea, of course, is to gain experience before graduation, usually in an internship. “If a student hasn’t fully researched an industry, and then ends up graduating without that required experience, she/he will have a harder time getting that initial entry-level position. It’s not impossible to do, but internships make graduates much more appealing to employers.”

Not every student can afford an internship, especially an unpaid one, but the benefits may be worth the expense, according to Melissa. “Ten or 20 years ago, simply graduating with a degree was enough to guarantee you a good job. I think now, students are faced with a tougher job market than their predecessors had.”

Melissa highly recommends starting the job search early. “It’s going to take longer than you might expect, and you need to make sure you’ve done thorough research of your potential industry, career path and the organizations you’re interested in.”

It’s also important to have a clear career goal. “Know exactly what types of jobs you’re looking for,” Melissa says. “It’s not enough to say you’re interested in biology. What are you looking at doing within that field?”

Finally, she adds, be flexible. “Once you’ve found the right entry-level job titles, don’t be afraid to embrace unexpected changes in your goals.”

At The College of St. Scholastica, a private college in Duluth, Career Services counselors continually look for ways technology can bridge connections between students and employers. This summer, the college rolled out “Handshake,” the new tool powering its hireSaints platform, allowing direct connections between employers and job seekers.

While LinkedIn and Northforce, a northeast Minnesota/northwest Wisconsin job network site, are essential tools for regional job searching, there are lesser-known tools, says Career Counselor Andrea Chartier. Interview Stream is an advanced mock interviewing technology where individuals use their webcam to record responses to common interview questions, allowing them to develop their interview skills from anywhere.

Andrea encourages students to be more professional. “Act like one. Write like one. Clean up your email communication and don’t treat it like texting. Write in full sentences.”

She also recommends that before they even start job seeking, students take time to see what potential employers are going to see. “Google yourself and make sure employers would still want to hire you if they saw the results,” she says.

While she strongly urges use of online tools, Andrea also emphasizes those face-to-face contacts. She even suggests seeking out working professionals to ask how they got started and their advice on opportunities for learning, growing and connecting.

At Michigan Technological University in Houghton, career development coordinator Shelley Farrey promotes HuskyJOBS, where thousands of companies post job openings, with hundreds of new postings daily. But the site is more than job listings, she explains; it connects students with campus career services and employer networking events right on the Michigan Tech campus.

Each semester, for example, a one-day career fair attracts about 1,000 recruiters to meet students. Last year, more than 6,000 on-campus corporate interviews were scheduled after the career fairs, Shelley says. (The university’s total enrollment is slightly more than 7,200.)

Shelley and her colleagues help students prepare for the fairs with mock interviews, resume-writing tips and introduction practices.

Michigan Tech also hosts industry days throughout the year. These theme-based days (like automotive day, steel day, foundry day) draw industry representatives for interactive activities to show students a day-in-the-life in their industry. Just in September 2016, nearly 80 companies came to campus.

“Industry day is a powerful tool for students to meet company reps informally,” says Shelley. Informal meetings can lead to internships and “co-ops,” or co-operative education opportunities, about 500 of which the Michigan Tech career development office organizes annually. “We have such a high percentage of students who go on internships and co-ops throughout their four years here, they feel more comfortable after college.”

Co-ops happen during the school year with students working full time in an industry for four to eight months while still receiving credit.

Co-ops may delay students’ graduation, Shelley says, “but they get valuable experience so important to entering the work world.”

When preparing for the job search, Shelley advises students to mind their online presence. “It’s so important to put your best foot forward in social media. People do look at your social media profile, your LinkedIn profile, before hiring you. It could be … an asset to have a great online presence.”

In northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin, Northforce can be a powerful tool, according to Kayti Stolp, a career specialist at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Superior. On this online job portal, individuals and employers register for free. The organization also offers networking, internships and other valuable support. “We’re fortunate to have Northforce. They’ve reached out here and offered to talk to classes about getting into specific fields.”

WITC offers TechConnect, a free job bank for students and graduates.

Faculty play a crucial role in getting WITC students into their chosen career fields. Each WITC program has an advisory committee with individuals working in the fields. These advisory committee members provide a great resource in planning job-related curriculum and helping students to network, Kayti says. “Our faculty do a lot of connecting with employers and bringing them into the classroom.”

Traditional job-search tools, such as a resumé, may not have a standard template anymore. Kayti advises students to spend extra time researching their targeted organization and job, and then customizing their resumé. Rather than documenting all past education and work background, she suggests honing in on experiences and skills relevant to the position. “Yes, it takes time, but it’s so worth it.”

Employers also tell Kayti that while technical skills are important, soft skills – like a good team mentality, strong organization ability or articulate communication – make an applicant more attractive.

The time to highlight these skills is in the interview, Kayti says. “Practice your interviewing skills, but don’t just focus on coming up with that right answer.” To anticipate questions, she tells students to list past group assignments, volunteering and other campus or community involvement to be ready to name examples from a wide variety of work and classroom experiences.

Kayti knows of what she speaks. According to the university’s latest graduate survey, 93 percent of graduates found employment within six months of graduation.

“You want it to be real,” she emphasizes about job interviewing. Balance answering questions without sounding scripted, while also being honest and true to who you are.

“Sometimes we worry about coming up with answers so quickly, and the ‘right’ answer. It’s certainly important to be prepared, but also, be true to yourself, be honest, and if you have a good list of examples and things to share, it’s going to be a lot easier for you.”

Career Expert Top Tips

Melissa Sprouse, NMU

  1. List short-, medium- and long-term career goals.
  2. Research career paths based on your goals. Example: Follow companies and professional organizations on Facebook.
  3. Identify weak areas early in or before your senior year, and boost those areas before graduation. Example: Need public speaking experience for a job? Volunteer to speak in front of groups.
  4. Ready your tools. Examples: Develop a base resumé and cover letter, practice interview skills, create a business card.
  5. Tell people your career goals. The more people know what you want, the more connections you’ll make.

Andrea Chartier, CSS

  1. Get off your computer and into your community. Networking events, volunteering and joining a board will get a job connection faster than surfing online postings.
  2. Go for coffee. Meet people and learn from their job stories. Ask how they got where they are today, and advice for you.
  3. Tailor your resumé and cover letter. One size does not fit all. You must demonstrate your enthusiasm for that job at that organization.
  4. Learn to tell your story and tell it often. “I could do anything” is not an answer. Reflect on how your skills, interests, hobbies and passions play into your career goals. Practice telling friends and family.
  5. They call it work for a reason. As an emerging professional, it’s the time for hard work. Go to networking events. Join committees and boards. Develop new skills. Take on more responsibility.

Shelley Farrey, Michigan Tech

  1. Career Services are here for them … for life. Even after graduation, students can come back.
  2. Stay updated and always put your best foot forward. Example: Keep your resumé updated on LinkedIn.
  3. Be part of the alumni community. “We have alumni all over the world; Michigan Tech employers hire Michigan Tech students.”
  4. Always take the opportunity to shake someone’s hand and network; you never know when someone has the ability to give you a job.
  5. Be thankful for your Michigan Tech opportunity. Pay it forward to students who will be in your spot one day.

Kayti Stolp, WITC, Superior

  1. Start the search early and be proactive. Examples: Get involved on campus. Network with faculty. Attend on-campus job-related events.
  2. Treat your internship like a job and make sure to get a letter of recommendation. (The letter is a good marketing tool.)
  3. Customize your resumé to each job application. Have multiple people review, edit and make suggestions.
  4. Make sure your social media, email address and voice mail greeting are all professional.
  5. Practice interviewing skills to look and sound comfortable. Nonverbal communication and how you make the employer feel during the interview are as influential as your answers.

Duluth writer Felicia Schneiderhan has at least 20 more years before her first child is ready for the professional job market.