One of the biggest concerns for graduating college students: getting a job. Resumes, internships, and most importantly, connections are of tantamount concern to many students at Tufts. But how does our career center shape up? Are the majority of students happy with our career center? What improvements can be made?
"Last year, close to 2000 students had individual appointments at career services, and hundreds more availed themselves of the career center in the library in Dowling Hall," Director of Career Services Jean Papalia said. About half of these students were seniors.
Senior Jamie Moldano has been coming to the career center since sophomore year. She has been pleased with the career center - especially with the online resources - and reports that Tufts stresses networking as one of the most important strategies to succeed in getting a job.
"Personally, I'm really happy with [career services]," Moldano said. "Networking was definitely a big part of it. It's a whole package."
For those students who dislike the "feel" of online career searching, the career center has a large library of resources.
"Most people expect to find what they need online, but we still need printed resources," career resources manager Donna Milmore said.
The library is organized so students can research on general subjects like internships, resumes, career development, and advice on specific industries. Sophomore Hailey Brewer came to the library in Dowling for the first time and was generally pleased with what she saw.
"It seems that they have a pretty good variety when searching for an internship," Brewer said.
Many students are pleased with Tufts' recruiting services, accessible through the career services office. Senior Michael Lang, an international relations major, connected with the New York Recruiting Consortium through Tufts, which helps connect a combination of seven schools and employers through an online application. Lang said that he is reasonably pleased with the program.
The career center offers counseling on a variety of subjects about careers and life after college. Its employees can assist students in finding internships, job searching, choosing a major and applying to grad school. Students can also schedule quick 15-minute counseling sessions to answer any basic questions, and hour-long sessions to delve deeper into career issues. Many workshops are offered every semester - for example, this semester the office created a four-part workshop for sophomores to help them with advice about internships, resumes and careers.
The center also stresses networking. "Networking is definitely a top way to learn about an industry, make contacts in the field and clarify your career goals," Papalia said. The career services network is made up of 1200 members, who are made available to talk to any student who wishes to contact them. Also, Tufts online has a section called "Careers A through Z" to help students research about industries and job sites.
Some students, however, expressed some displeasure. Senior Trent Ruder, a sociology major, said that when he scheduled an appointment, he was "brushed off" and directed to the career center website.
"I feel the career center is too dependent on the website, which is good, but [given] the reputation of Tufts academics, it should have a more personal touch," Ruder said.
Even some of those pleased with the center's work.
"The majority of the people working at career services are willing to help to maximize the resources - but in relation to Tufts' school reputation, career services could be stronger," Lang said.
Milmore is also in charge of administering tests that help determine what kind of careers that students should pursue. One of them, the Meyers-Briggs indicator, gives students a score of four letters encompassing four dimensions of one's personality. Each student's score supposedly indicates where his or her interests lie. After each test an administrator gives each student an interactive review.
"It's generally not necessarily and indication of one's profession, but it definitely helps people determine where their preferences lie," Milmore said.
But according to Papalia, career services is what you make of it.
"Some students don't realize the scope of the career center's services available to them, and they might decide that there is nothing at the career center that could help them," Papalia said. "However, we can help students in every phase of career development."
A big concern among students is the lack of action taken by the career center to help them in the weak job market, but Papalia says that the career center has expanded to help students find jobs in the hidden job market, and that new events and programs are being scheduled.
