Career Services - It’s not just about the resume!

If you are not capitalizing on your college career services department, you should.

Bridging the gap between education and employment involves more than just firing off a killer cover letter and resume to every firm advertising a prospective job opening. Career counseling helps graduates develop career goals and job search strategies, summarize training and qualifications, perfect communication skills and prepare for interviews.

Here’s what else you need to know. In today's job market, getting a well-prepared candidate noticed is hugely dependent upon relationships. Career services professionals have them. We build and nurture a network of relationships across industries, roles and companies. This gives us access to a perspective and a job pipeline that goes well beyond what may be available to you through on-line employment platforms.

We can get you the attention of employers! Firms seeking to reduce the time, cost and disruption associated with filling a vacancy are streamlining their candidates by partnering with educational job placement departments for recruitment. Hiring managers want a long-term sourcing strategy to on-board quality talent. They don’t want to be inundated with hundreds of resumes for any given opening. Nor do they want to weed through dozens of unqualified applicants. The benefit of employers working together with career placement offices is that the employer is matched directly with skills-appropriate candidates who meet their job requirements and the school is able to stay abreast of emerging workforce needs.

Graduates who understand the importance of relationships between college career services and hiring managers, and how they fit in to that dynamic as job seekers, reap huge benefits. Begin building a professional relationship with your career adviser today and take advantage of the services available to you. We will be a key driver for your future success. We can successfully leverage you for positions, highlight core personality and behavioral competencies outside of your experience and training which make you an ideal candidate and send your resume directly to a hiring manager’s inbox!

Here’s how to ensure your successful job search remains our top priority and that you are submitted for positions:

• Be proactive and involved in the process: think participant not recipient, return phone calls and emails promptly, communicate and collaborate, engage with us regularly, be responsive and start a job search only when you are willing and able to make time for it
• Be professional and respectful in all interactions: you are representing not only yourself, but also the school, the career services office, alumni and future graduates
• Be formal in every communication and business salutation/closing: address recipients of email or text with the greeting Mr./Ms. and then last name
• Be interview ready and show up timely: research the company, practice interviewing, dress appropriately, arrive early, ask questions and always follow up with a thank you note expressing your interest in the position
• Be worthy of consideration and employment: present yourself effectively and in a way that really resonates with career services and a potential employer - no shows and no calls damage your reputation, inconvenience everyone involved and demonstrate that you are unreliable and unable manage appointments
• Be realistic about the competition and your background: previous experience and training may qualify you, but employers are looking for other soft skills and personal attributes that will impact job success, and many positions require a minimum of an associate degree

Career services should be considered part of your overall educational program - a relationship that you build and a resource that you utilize to develop life-long career planning skills. There are numerous benefits to building a relationship with career services professionals: they can advocate for your career, increase the traction in your job search and place you in front of hiring managers for positions where your skills and personality are fully aligned.

Center for Advanced Legal Studies offers career services in both traditional and non-traditional settings for graduates of our paralegal programs. We are experts in paralegal education committed to student success. Our industry leading paralegal programs are available in classroom settings and online. Apply now and contact us today to schedule a consultation!