College graduates need to prepare for on-campus interviews

If you’re a college student heading back to college this month, it’s a great time to start preparing for your college’s on-campus interviews this spring.

Chances are, your college career center has already scheduled several major recruiting events to help you meet with recruiters right there on your campus. Your goal should be to use these events to learn more about these companies and the jobs and internships they offer.

The recent Job Outlook 2008 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that employers expected to increase college hiring by 16% this year. This is actually the fifth year in a row that employers have projected double-digit increases for new grads. This is exciting news for the class of 2008. However, as the unemployment rate rose to 5% in December 2007, no one knows how that will affect employers’ initial projections for 2007-08.

When you return to school, go online and take a look at your school’s career center calendar for some of the following types of events:

– Campus job fairs, career fairs and internship fairs that allow organizations to come to campus for a great event. These events are usually held at a large, central location on campus and are open to students, alumni, and sometimes the community.

– Use information tables so that organizations, usually one at a time, have the opportunity to visit your campus to meet students and sometimes alumni. They’re usually there to share general company information, but they may also be doing positive recruiting for internships, part-time jobs, and entry-level careers open at the time.

– On-Campus Interviews give college students an amazing opportunity to meet recruiters and hiring managers right there on campus, conveniently before, after, or even between classes.

– Employer discussion panels bring together 3-5 different company representatives to talk about a specific career development topic or industry issue.

Here are some ways to get started this spring:

1. Get important dates on your calendar. Whether you use your phone, a paper calendar, or an online calendar, get important dates on your calendar immediately before your schedule gets out of hand.

2. Register online with your college career center. The registry provides college students with access to the latest information on employer campus visits and details the process for participating in on-campus interviews. Whether your career center uses MonsterTrak, eRecruiting, NaceLink, Simplicity, or a custom program designed for them, this is probably the best way for career centers to communicate with you.

3. If you don’t already have professional business attire, put it together now. It’s important that you do your best during on-campus interviews, and a good-fitting suit is a surefire way to do that.

4. Take a look at who’s coming to campus for interviews and add job application deadlines to your calendar. Pay attention to the minimum GPA requirements as well.

5. Do some groundwork on your college resume and cover letters. Your campus career center offers free resources to help you with all of this, and you can even download sample resumes or worksheets from your career center website. Once you’ve completed your resume, stop by your career center for a free critique. Free resume reviews are also available online for free from some professional resume writing services.

College students need to know that they have real advocates working on their behalf at their career centers. Its objective is to help university students in their professional development process and facilitate meetings between students and employers.

Upcoming graduates of the Class of 2008 should definitely plan a visit to the career center at their college or university early this spring.