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The CDC
offers a variety of career-related services to the students of
Penn State Erie. Any enrolled, full-time student has access to
the following services free-of-charge.
Career
Planning Assistance
Internships and Co-ops/ Experiential Education
The Full-Time Job or Graduate School Search
How Can Your Help Your Student?
How Can You Help Us?
Recruiting and hiring
Penn State Behrend students
Other Helpful Links
Career Planning Assistance
Choosing a major and planning for a
career can be two of the most important but difficult decisions
that a college student can make. Having a career plan is very
important, yet many students don't know where to begin. The
Penn State Behrend Career Development Center (CDC) has a
full-time career counselor that specializes in assisting
students with this process. During a career session, students
will explore their interests, abilities, and their values in
order to find potential careers and college majors that can
satisfy all areas. To make an appointment, students simply need
to call or stop by the CDC. To view some of the specific
services offered, visit the Career
Exploration section of this Web site.
Internships and Co-ops/ Experiential
Education
After a student decides on a career
plan, the next step in the process is to add experience to that
plan. The Career Development Center offers many services and
resources to students to assist with securing
internships,
co-ops, part-time, and summer jobs, related to their major.
Students who are interested in interning should visit the CDC at
least six months before the desired internship is to begin.
Counselors will help to guide students through the process of
investigating possibilities, as well as outline the internship
application process, discuss student responsibilities and
employer expectations, and provide assistance with
resumes,
cover letters, and
interviewing.
Some majors require that the student
complete an internship before he/she graduates. How can you
help? Encourage students to utilize our resources and services,
but also to ask friends or family, parent's friends, friends'
parents, neighbors, etc. for information on where they work and
what they do. Students may be interested in interning at a
company, and not know that a friend or relative actually works
there. The connections/networks he/she forms can provide
valuable leads and information. Other notes: campus/community
involvement, work experience, and good grades help students to
"get their foot in the door." Visit the
Internships section of this Web
site to learn more.
The Full-Time Job or Graduate School Search
After
gaining experience, it is important for students to think about
life after graduation. The CDC has a counselor who focuses on
helping students develop the skills necessary to find and apply
to full-time jobs and graduate schools. For
full-time jobs,
this includes developing effective resumes and
cover letters,
sharpening interview skills through videotaped practice
interview sessions, learning to use the
on campus recruiting
system for the many companies who recruit at Penn State,
participating in Behrend's alumni networking training and
practice sessions, signing
up to receive e-mail job announcements, and
researching leads to
other companies not recruiting at Penn State. A
full-time job
search typically begins in the fall of the senior year because
some companies recruit May graduates as early as the fall.
For
graduate school, this involves identifying appropriate schools
and programs, understanding the application process, identifying
reference writers, and creating an effective application essay.
The skills are taught in conjunction with Behrend's
Learning
Resource Center. Ideally, students have been developing their
skills through internships and research with faculty throughout
their college career, but they need to begin the
graduate school
research process in the junior year, especially if they are
interested in highly competitive graduate programs.
How
Can Your Help Your Student?
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Understand that it's very normal for
new college students to explore their options and change their
minds!
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Know that some decisions about a
career choice or major need time. Be patient as your student
considers the possibilities.
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Encourage your son or daughter to
visit the Career Development Center early in their college
career and then continue the visits until graduation.
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Encourage your son or daughter to
think critically and analyze the situations they are in.
Employers often comment that students are recently less able
to communicate and analyze their skills, talents, values,
and experiences, and that they often have difficulty making
decisions on their own.
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While parental values are important,
students will be required to make many life decisions when
the parent is not there. Encourage them to think
independently. Are you a
helicopter parent?
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Ask them what involvement they have
with MySpace.com and Facebook.com.
http://www.naceweb.org/press/display.asp?year=2006&prid=240
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How
You Can Help Penn State Behrend Students and Graduates? Recruiting and Hiring Penn State Behrend
Students
As a parent or a family member, please
feel free to encourage your company or organization to recruit
and hire Penn State Behrend students. Individual job openings
can be emailed or faxed to the Behrend CDC, or recruitment
visits can be arranged on either a individual basis or by
attending the annual Behrend Career Fair in the fall. For more
information please visit the Employer Services
section of this Web site.
Other Helpful Links:
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