As December commencement approaches, many students, graduating or not, need to make career decisions. The UA has many resources available to help students avoid that “”Now what?”” moment.
One of the main places offering help to graduating seniors is Career Services, located on the fourth floor of the Student Union Memorial Center.
It provides
Career Services is open to all current UA students, and graduates for up to six months after they walk.
graduate school and job search workshops, online job search resources and related information, career counseling, mock interviews, résumé critiques and more.
“”Hopefully, we can make you as comfortable as possible,”” said Susan Miller, senior coordinator of marketing and special events for Career Services.
Career Services had 19,332 students and 14,854 alumni use their services last year, according to its 2006-2007 review. It reported 1,207,735 hits on its Web site, which offers a variety of job-search resources.
Miller said a popular resource is Wildcat JobLink, a job listing exclusive to the UA through which employers call directly and list positions. It had 16,763 unique jobs listed in 2006-2007.
Career Services also offers Career Days in the fall and spring. The Spring 2007 Career Day brought in 192 employers and 1,963 students.
Career Services is open to all current UA students, and graduates for up to six months after they walk.
Miller said students considering Career Services could come in sooner rather than later.
“”At the end of every semester you always see stressed-out students, that maybe waited a little too long, and all of a sudden it occurred to them, ‘Probably this great college lifestyle is not going to go on forever,’ “” she said.
Most UA graduate programs only admit new students in the fall, but some do admit in the spring, said Maria Teresa Velez, associate dean of the Graduate College.
It is a policy of the Graduate College that students with a bachelor’s degree can apply as non-degree-seeking to take up to 12 units of post-undergraduate classes in the spring, she said.
Students can pay $25 to apply and register online for such enrollment.
Karly Mitchell graduated in May with an English degree. She never used Career Services before graduation because she didn’t know what she wanted to do.
“”I felt like Career Services couldn’t help me with knowing what I wanted to do,”” Mitchell said. “”I graduated, came home and went ‘Now what?’ All my friends had plans.””
She spent this semester working with a surgeon’s office she worked at in high school and is currently back in Tucson looking for jobs.
“”I was cleaning up poop one day and I went, ‘Man, I need to look for a job in Tucson,’ “” Mitchell said.
She is using UA job postings to look for a job right now.
Graduating was “”pretty horrifying,”” but Mitchell said she feels confident she can find a job with her degree.
Scott Pederson graduated in December 2006 with a media arts degree. He is currently applying for the Eller College of Management’s MBA program and hopes to start in August.
“”I’m feeling the need to prove myself now,”” Pederson said.
He wasn’t planning on going to grad school after his undergraduate studies, so he didn’t take advantage of the services UA offered.
“”I’m wishing I would have now,”” he said.
“”You have to keep yourself out there,”” Miller said. “”Keep trying and something will fall into place.””
