Slippery Rock University’s Office of Career Education and Development has three career events planned for September to help students of any age and major build and polish their resumes, learn how to network, and reach out to employers.
“If a student leaves college knowing no one in the world of work, they will likely be unemployed for a while until they do build a network,” John Rindy, Director of Career Education and Development, said. “So, all of these Sep. programs are designed to get students prepared for the three major career fair events available to them this fall.”
Rindy said all the events are constructed around learning. The first two events on Sep.16 and 18 teach students not only how to build a resume, but build it in a way that will increase their likelihood of being hired by future employers. On Sep. 23 is a “Networking 101” event where students learn the best approaches for getting hired by building a network of employers. From this event, students will gain a hiring influence on employers increasing chances of employment after graduation.
“I do not care what your major is, history, English, education, geology, management,” Rindy explained. “You simply cannot get around it, if you do not have contacts who have hiring influence as you graduate, you will struggle in the job market. We have so much data that shows this and yet some people think they will be the exception.”
Rindy highly encourages students to attend these events, as real employers will be there. Rindy stressed the importance of planning ahead for the future. He said he would rather see students attend these events as opposed to working a fast food job.
“Each semester at least one student will come to me with no job and no prospects the last week of senior year and I will say to them ‘Did you come to our career fairs?’” Rindy said. “Nearly 100% of the time the answer is ‘No.’ When I ask why, I get excuses like ‘I had to work at my fast food job.’ Now wait a minute, I think. You gave up a chance to talk with dozens of people with full-time hiring influence all in one room, on your college campus, so that you could go work part-time in a fast food job? It does not add up to me. Look, I know students need money. I have two kids in college myself, but think ahead!”
Rindy also said there is a Career Expo event on Sep. 25 for students seeking jobs in business, information sciences, and social sciences. He said over 50 companies will be at that event.
Rindy explained that students can sign up for these events by logging onto www.sru.edu/careerconnection. All that is needed is an SRU email and password.
