UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 23, Page 3
March 12, 1992
Career Planning and Placement steps up services

     In response to the gloomy job market faced by college students
in 1992, Career Planning and Placement has kept in mind that, in
Chinese, the symbol for "crisis" is the same as the symbol for
"opportunity."
     The six professionals and five support staff there have
stepped up their activities and instituted new programs and
technology to expand the number of opportunities for University of
Delaware students who graduate this year.
     "There's nothing we can do about the economy, but we can
provide help and resources to make our students more competitive,"
explained Jack Townsend, director of Career Planning and Placement.
     There is a wide range of programs and services available to
students and alumni of all majors to help with researching,
planning, exploring and implementing a job search campaign. An
organized and thorough job search is definitely a key to success in
today's tough job market, he said.

Student interviews
     Most students think of the Campus Interview Program when the
time comes to look for a job. Approximately 250 organizations have
visited the University of Delaware this year in pursuit of new
hires. The Campus Interview Program has reflected a national
decline in on-campus recruitment with a 13 percent reduction in
participating organizations.
     To offset this national trend, Career Planning and Placement
has subscribed to four on-line services to provide information
about jobs available across the United States: Career Network,
FOCIS, JOBLINK and Prodigy's ADNET.
     All four services can be accessed via the personal computer
located in the Career Resource Center, and they are easy to use.
Each system enables users to review job information by major area
of study and/or geographic preference. This year, students' resumes
also can become part of two nationwide computer data bases-Kinexus
and Peterson's Connexion-that are provided to hundreds of employers
at no charge.

On-campus programs
     Employers can meet students directly through the annual cycle
of job fairs. Each fall, more than 120 organizations take part in
"Job Jamboree." Students with majors in business, engineering and
the liberal arts are invited to attend for a day of information
exchange. "Nursing Career Day" and "Physical Therapy Career Day"
attract more than 100 area hospitals and health care organizations
to campus. The "Minority Reception" and "Minority Career
Conference" target the career needs of under-represented student
populations.
     In the spring, "Project Search: Careers for Teachers" enables
teaching graduates to interact with school district representatives
from the Middle Atlantic area. Finally, "Career Spectrum" brings
alumni to campus to provide contacts and information to arts and
science majors seeking employment.
     A new cataloging system makes it easier than ever for students
to locate job leads for part-time, summer and full-time employment
in the Career Resource Center. At this time, Career Planning and
Placement has 25 binders with job opportunities in just about every
field.
     To increase the number of job openings available to students,
Career Planning and Placement subscribes to specialized job
bulletins in the fields of public relations, education, social
services, the arts, public services, fund raising, community jobs,
the environment, agriculture and the federal government. Books,
pamphlets and videotapes help job seekers research potential
organizations and graduate programs.
     The list of regular workshops includes "Resume Writing," "Job
Search Strategies," "Interview Preparation" and "How to Find a
Summer Job." Because of the difficulties that some students are
having locating employment through the more traditional routes, a
new workshop, "Alternatives to Your Job Search," has been scheduled
through the spring semester. When plan "A" fails to produce
results, this workshop examines what is necessary to formulate
plans "B," "C" and "D." A newsletter and flyers, posted around
campus and available at Career Planning and Placement, give the
times and locations of all workshops.

Personal attention
     Individual appointments with professional staff can help
students and alumni formulate career plans, air negative feelings,
prepare a marketable resume and work through the pros and cons of
attending graduate school. Some choose to be videotaped in a mock
interview situation so that their verbal and non-verbal behaviors
can be critiqued and, if necessary, modified. Each professional
staff member is assigned to a different group of majors.
     At 3:30 p.m., April 23, Phillip Norris, a nationally known
speaker and author of the Job Doctor, will address majors from the
College of Arts and Science with some motivational medicine to
banish the job search blues. At 7 p.m., Norris will conduct a
program for alumni on the post-college job search process. Members
of the University of Delaware community are invited to attend. Both
programs will be held at the Perkins Student Center.
     Career Planning and Placement and the Office of Alumni
Relations are working together to develop Alumni Career Employment
Services (ACES), which includes a telephone hotline for jobs. If
goals are reached, by September 1992 graduates of the University of
Delaware should be able to access hundreds of job openings each
week using a touchtone telephone anywhere in the United States.
     Career Planning and Placement works to meet its goal of
creating and maintaining connections between jobs, employers and
University students and alumni, despite a faltering economy and
gloomy economics forecasts. There is an employment crisis out there
that graduates must deal with, but Career Planning and Placement is
striving to maximize employment opportunities for all, Townsend
said.
                                        - Marianne Ehrlich