Class of '97 faces challenging job search
Mark your calendars. Pick out a suit. Prepare for the worst, but expect the best. With this in mind, seniors and graduate students are preparing for what could be the toughest challenge and race of their lives: the hunt to find a job.
'U' resources place grads
As seniors embark on a quest for their dream career, one University office is ready to help make that dream a reality. Career Planning & Placement, a division of Student Affairs, offers a vast array of services and expertise to assist graduating seniors in their job search - from helping students write their resumes to scheduling interviews with major companies.
Online services help job searches
In the age of electronics, job-seekers have to keep up. And right now, that means going online with job banks and World Wide Web pages as well as using the University's resorces. Within the past two years, Internet job banks have been growing in number. The sites feature job postings and online tips on resume-writing and how to prepare for an interview. Some are also divided into employer and student sections so that companies may contact sites to post vacancies.
Job prospects good in sciences, health care
Wondering what the top projected jobs of the future are? New studies show the careers of the next decade are expected to shift from labor and management to more specialized, technological fields requiring higher levels of education.
Companies look to diversify by hiring minorities
The University, as well as employers at many companies, are making minority students a priority. While recruiting at this university and others, many businesses target students of color for internships and jobs.
Many factors set jobs, companies apart
Jobs. Everyone has to get one sooner or later - but many students have found that making career choices is rather difficult.
Job fairs lure employers to 'U'
Professionals from all over the country are logging mileage to Ann Arbor on their expense reports. Often they are Michigan alums themselves, coming back to their alma mater to serve as ambassadors for their companies. They come for job fairs, presentations and scheduled interviews. Many companies come to campus to screen applicants for prospective jobs.
Resumes show off skills
Have you ever asked yourself how to make the resume that will get the perfect job? If so, there are many resources at the University for you. "The Career Planning & Placement office has all types of resources from information on the FBI to Abercrombie and Fitch," said LSA junior Kim Santiago, who is a resume adviser.
Women may face 'glass ceiling'
Women today are looking at higher positions when they get to the business world. But according to a new survey, they may be only able to do just that - look through a glass ceiling. A poll sponsored by the Graduate Management Admission Council revealed the vast difference of expectation levels between men and women.
Entrepreneurs make it work
As a University undergraduate, Patrick Sarkissian worked at Maude's Restaurant making salads. But while he was making $30 a night, the waitstaff could be pulling in $150. Sarkissian said he knew he was equally intelligent and had worked just as hard, but he was earning far less pay. So he quit.
Employment agencies can connect candidates with jobs
In today's job market where opportunity can be scarce, many college graduates are using employment agencies to match their skills to companies' needs. Kate Zawodni, a technical recruiter for Manpower Services, once used employment agencies like her own to hire employes and said she has had positive experiences with them.
Artistic careers push students to creative limits
Students looking for a career in the arts shouldn't necessarily worry about the old stereotype of starving in a garret. However, students concentrating in art, music and creative writing should be prepared to look at a wide variety of jobs, and not limit themselves to one ideal choice.
Career Pathways
CP&P Featured Programs
PROFILE: Soon-to-be M.D.
Aaleya Koreishi, a Medical student from Buffalo, N.Y., has always dreamt of being a doctor. This fall, Koreishi began her first year at the University's Medical School, bringing her one step closer to that dream.
PROFILE: Computer vision for the future
Like most other students, Jeff Holtz started his college career not knowing exactly what he wanted to do. He graduated in May with a degree in computer engineering and is currently working for Applied Intelligent Systems Inc. in the field of computer vision. He became specifically interested in computer vision technology through a course he took at the University.
PROFILE: Big House to big bucks
Last year, to see Amani Toomer play football, fans flocked to Michigan Stadium. This fall, they have to turn on the television. Though the notion of playing in the NFL may sound like a fairy tale to most, rookie Toomer knows that life in the pros is far from it.
PROFILE: Hired on campus
Jobs are often just around the corner for University graduates. When Marc Melamed graduated from LSA with a sociology degree last May, he had an on-campus job at Michigan Telefund waiting for him. Beginning at the University's fund-raising headquarters as a part-time caller his sophomore year, Melamed started in August as a salaried program manager.
PROFILE: Worlds away
Some people take following in their parents' footsteps a little bit too far. Forty-eight thousand miles is more than a little bit.
Options for grad school are broad, vast
When Jeff Bernstein finished his undergraduate education, he wanted to do three things: teach political science, research political science and sing with the Oak Ridge Boys.
His musical career looking grim, he decided grad school would be the best way to achieve his goals. He is now a sixth-year political science graduate student.
Future professionals search for schools
Four years of work and play are over. Grab a cap and gown, and get ready to face the real world. After graduating, it may be time to enter the job market. But for many who aspire past a bachelor's degree and see themselves as a doctor, lawyer or business executive, professional school is the next step.
Test-prep courses boost scores, admission prospects
It's 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday and the test still has three and a half hours to go. No, it's not the SAT in high school. This is an acceptance test for graduate school.
Whether it's the Graduate Record Examination, Graduate Management Admissions Test, Law School Admissions Test, Medical College Admissions Test or one of numerous others, anyone planning to get a professional degree is required to take some standardized proficiency test.
'U' stacks up for grad, professional schools
Students looking to move on to graduate school may not have to move far to find a top-notch program. According to U.S. News & World Report, the University's graduate school programs are some of the best bets nationwide - University programs finished in the top 20 in all but one of the magazine's categories of schools and departments.
Peace Corps volunteers work to save the world
On the steps of the Michigan Union, there is a small bronze circle embedded in the ground.
The plaque's location is where Sen. John F. Kennedy, at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 1960, stood as he proposed an international volunteer program to a crowd of cheering students. Three months later President Kennedy enacted the proposal, and the Peace Corps, conceived on the steps of the Union, was born.
Military experience goes a long way in the world
Active duty may be four years long, but the skills learned in military training can give cadets a lifetime edge in the job market, said students in the University's Reserve Officer Training Corps. In the corporate world's saturated job market, military experience means more than climbing ropes. Former cadets are known for their strong work ethic and willingness to take on a challenge.
Teach for America takes people around the U.S.
"Two years. Your life. Our future."
So goes the motto of America's first national teacher corps, Teach for America.
Center has international appeal
In 1989, Heidi Dziak, director of the University's Center for International Business Education, laid out a proposal identifying the center's resources to secure funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Eight years later, CIBE has launched a program that includes international workshops, internship programs, language courses and trips to countries in southeast Asia, based on funding it has received.
Tough decisions: Students consider life after 'U'
Get a job or go to grad school - as far as CP&P knows, it's a 70-30 split.
That is, about 70 percent of students who use Career Planning & Placement services go into the job market and about 30 percent head off for graduate studies, said assistant director Jennifer Niggemeier.
10-24-96