Students Search for Experience, Not Jobs

Ansley Jones, (left) and Beth Cooper, (right), both 22-year-old journalism seniors,

compare job opportunities after the career fair. (Photo/Ashley Strickland)

Employers from 180 businesses speak with students interested

in finding job and internship opportunities at the Fall 2009 Career Fair.

(Photo/Ashley Strickland)

Ashley Strickland

Students have been putting their best foot forward, stepping out in suits and carrying newly polished resumes as they pound the pavement looking for one thing: experience.

Fall at the University of Georgia means a new wave of Career Center events meant to educate students on internships and jobs. Recently, the Classic Center hosted the Fall 2009 Career Fair and orientation started last Wednesday for the Intern for a Day externship program.

The Career Center has been promoting these events to make students more aware of their options after graduation.

“I’ve heard of the Intern for a Day program but I’ve never done it,” said Kate Parham, a 22-year-old magazines senior, said. “I didn’t know where to start or how to apply.”

With the current economy, the Career Center hopes to help students feel secure in their career fields. 180 businesses were represented at the career fair, but some employer booths were empty.

However, attendance at the first night of orientation for the Career Center’s Intern for a Day externship program was notably higher. Aaron Brown, the employment development coordinator at the Career Center, said 117 students attended the first orientation and he expects at least 500 students overall during the next three sessions, which run through Oct. 6.

Students interested in externing for a day with a company related to their career field must first attend an orientation session. Then, they can submit an application and resume that will determine where they are placed.

“Many times when you’re looking for a job or internship, it’s who you know,” Brown said to students at orientation.

The “Intern for a Day” program is designed to allow students to see what it would be like to experience a day in their career field. This also opens the door for possible networking or a job offer in the future.

“We have a pretty good success rate,” Brown said. “I just had a student email me who was able to Intern for a Day in the past and then got a full-time job with the company.”

The Intern for a Day program is offered in the fall from mid-October through Jan. 6. Spring semester externships run from mid-March to the end of May. Students can visit career.uga.edu or stop by the Career Center for more details.

More than jobs and internships, students are working on building up their resumes and focusing on gaining experience for their future careers.

“I have no experience in the accounting field, so I kind of want to see if that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” said Amanda Griffin, a 20-year-old accounting junior from Cartersville, Ga. Griffin attended the first night of externship orientation with the hopes of finding a good accounting opportunity.

Griffin is considering pursuing an externship with Dixon Hughes, a corporate accounting firm in Atlanta, for a resume-building experience. She is not as concerned with the economy affecting her job search in the world of accounting.

“I haven’t heard of any UGA students that graduated with a degree in accounting that didn’t get jobs,” Griffin said.

Other students are more concerned with getting accepted into professional schools and hope that externships will provide them with some insight or a competitive edge.

“This is the easiest way to do it,” said Samantha Burke, a 20-year-old pre-pharmacy junior from Lawrenceville, Ga. “Because otherwise, it’s so hard to get experience with pharmacy in Athens. Unless you’re already in the pharmacy school.”

Burke attended orientation to speak with a Career Center representative about her options.
A broad range of employers offer externships through the University of Georgia. The majors are broken up into 17 categories and new employers are added every year.

“We really want to improve the program every semester and provide the best employers,” Brown said. “Several employers weren’t hiring because of the economy and backed off because they didn’t want to give off the wrong impression.”

New employers added to the list this year fill in gaps left by others who have stopped participating in the program. This year’s externship possibilities include the UGA Poultry Diagnostic Research Lab, Hormel Foods, Chastain, Jenkins and Leathers Real Estate, Kohl’s Department Store and Tiffany Brown’s campaign to become Atlanta’s next mayor.

Brown hopes externships will give students a competitive edge in the job market, especially because so many of the externship employers are “pro-UGA.”

“Students want to gain every advantage they can in this economy to branch out,” Brown said.

Edited by Sarah Smith

Dry job market sends students to grad school

By ASHLEY STRICKLAND

University of Georgia graduates are returning for graduate school after meeting with meager internship and job offerings over the summer. During the times of the economic downturn, students may be better off staying in school before attempting to enter the real world.

“It has always been challenging for students to find jobs,” Marian Higgins, career consultant and diversity coordinator for the University’s Career Center, said. Higgins said the difficulty for recent graduates securing jobs has increased ever since the economic downturn.

“As career consultants, we are seeing students take an interest in adding certificate programs or professional schools to prolong entering the job market,” Higgins said.

Nearly a year ago, the Atlanta Business Chronicle published a report stating that the University’s graduate school reached a record enrollment of 7,125 students in fall 2008.

“Our application numbers for fall 2009 increased above the numbers for the previous year, but we do see an increase every year,” Krista Haynes, director of graduate admissions and students services for the University’s graduate school, said. No specific numbers for this year’s enrollment were given.

The possibility that employers are turning away recent graduates is alarming for students enrolled in the University as undergraduates and they are turning to their academic advisers for help.

“I have definitely seen an increase in the number of students inquiring about graduate school,” Maria Cooper, academic adviser in the Grady College, said. “I believe this is a direct result of the economy and the poor job market and lack of jobs.”

Students are encouraged now more than ever to pursue specialization that will make them more attractive and competitive in the job market.

Some students do this through certificate programs allowing them to completely master their field of interest. Others are adding courses that are related to their majors to increase their marketable skills.

“When a student asks about graduate school options, I strongly encourage them to look into a variety of different programs to see what interests them the most and what would increase their chances in the stagnant job market,” Cooper said.

“I also inform students that graduate school is not to be taken lightly. It is a lot of work, and they will invest a lot of time into the program, so they need to be sure that they are passionate about the program they choose,” she said.

But what about students who feel it is too late to change their major or specialized field of interest?

“There are jobs out there, this situation just requires more networking,” Higgins said.

Government jobs are always available, and students don’t have to be limited by their major when looking for jobs, Higgins said. And for students considering remaining in the education field, teachers who specialize in math, science or special education are still needed.

Students concerned with finding jobs are encouraged by career consultants to attend one of the many events put on by the Career Center. The Classic Center will be hosting the Fall Career Fair on Sept. 23. At least 130 potential employers seeking interns or full-time applicants are expected to attend and the list covers a broad range of career options.

The Career Center also offers workshops that will cover career choices in various majors. The workshops will cover resume writing, interviewing etiquette, networking and graduate school information.

Students can view the full calendar on the Career Center’s Web site, www.career.uga.edu, or stop by Clark Howell Hall to speak with a career consultant.

Meanwhile, recent graduates are still dealing with economic upheaval.

Olga Herndon, a triple major in cultural anthropology, human geography and global studies, graduated in the spring and has been working odd jobs. She is considering going to grad school, but wants to ride out the economy for now to see how it goes.

“I want to see how scary it is,” Herndon said. “It’s not just the economy, it’s your attitude about the economy.”

Edited by Carey O'Neil

Work-Study Program Grows In Popularity

By Carey O'Neil

University of Georgia student Ashley Bene doesn't mind juggling school and work. Since both her parents lost their jobs, she does as much as she can to help out.

“It's tiring, but you get used to it,” she said. “I'm a little crazy, like the Energizer Bunny, I guess.”

Bene, a junior from Woodstock, said she does her best to stay positive.

“That's all you can do,” she said. “If you beat yourself up about it then you just go crazy.”

She begins her day at 7:30 a.m., then bounces between classes and work until walking home around 6:30 p.m.

Bene is a member of the University's Federal Work-Study Program, which has been increasingly
popular as unemployment rates have increased.

Sherryl Fern, federal work-study coordinator for the University, said work-study positions are all most likely filled.

Fern said students must apply to be eligible for work-study jobs. After applications are submitted, Fern's office determines which students receive admission to the program, then allows them to apply for jobs through a Web site similar to Monster.com.

Fern said this semester, all of the work-study program money was applied for by April 6.

“It ran out a little earlier this year than last year,” she said. “It could be a combination of more people applying and more people applying early.”

Bene has been in the program for several years working at the library on the Georgia Newspaper Project converting newspapers to microfilm.

While the job isn't the most exciting, Bene said she enjoys the people and is happy to be working.
“If that's what I need to do to go to UGA I'll make it work,” she said.

Lucille Davis, student assistant coordinator for the libraries, hires work-study students. Because the federal government pays 75 percent of work-study students’ wages, Davis said her department has been taking advantage of the money.

“This year we're hiring more student workers than we ever have,” she said. “We're right at about 31, 32 students. There are a couple more that we're waiting on.”

The library is just one of 65 departments taking advantage of the work-study program, Fern said. Although most students work as office assistants, Fern said a few lucky ones get more interesting jobs.

“We have a couple of jobs through poultry diagnostics, and there's one job where they feed the animals,” she said.

It is also possible for students to work as lab assistants, and this semester there was an opening at the University Health Center in the dental lab.

Most students in the program are paid the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and are eligible to earn up to $1,500 a semester. To earn the full amount, the average student would have to work nearly 14 hours weekly.

Holly Getchell, director of employer relations for the University Career Center, said her office has gotten mixed messages about student looking for jobs.

"We had a part-time job fair in August and that attendance was amazing," she said. "We've had other events, just things like our regular walk in hours, and the numbers from that have been basically the same or even less than what we would expect."

Although the Career Center has been getting mixed messages, Getchell said the career fair on Sept. 23 will clearly indicate how many students are worried about jobs.

Bene said she feels lucky to already have a job. She said she finds her school work schedule almost relaxing compared to the summer, when she worked two jobs for around 50 hours a week.

“I get one day off when I go home, so that's my summer,” she said. “It hasn't given me much room to breathe.”

Bene said she doesn't mind the work, especially when student debt is her only alternative. With a little brother starting college the year after she graduates, she said she does what she can to be frugal.

“It's not a good time to be in my family,” she said, “but we always work it out and figure it out and we're always fine.”

Edited by Ashley Strickland