* Congratulations – Internship news! Elisha Stevens, Desiree Hortan and JW Brown have all recently landed their summer internships. Elisha will be working for the First Federal Savings and Loan in Boothbay, Desiree will be working for Katahdin Trust Co.- Operations Center in Houlton as a bank operations clerk, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car has hired JW for their management trainee internship program. Congratulations to all of you, and be sure to look for the new internship fish on our 'Wall of Fame'!
* Brown Bag News - Those of you who were not able to attend the "On Your Own" Brown Bag this week really missed a great presentation! The basis for the discussion was centered around a list prepared by the presenter, Sarah Robinson, the Jobs for Maine Graduates specialist at Waterville High School. Sarah was kind enough to leave the following list, and details can be found on our Brown Bag website.
10 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Left College (Click for details)
1. Credit cards are my enemy!
2. Jobs don't just fall into the laps of college graduates.
3. Moving is EXPENSIVE!
4. I will be paying off loans for the rest of my life!
5. Benefits can be worth more than gold.
6. Budget! Budget! Budget!
7. Car mechanics/salesmen and young singles do not mix.
8. I don't need to pay for checking.
9. How to see a doctor, without selling an organ, if I don't have medical insurance.
10. It's okay to ask for help.
* Reminder - Our office posts jobs available several times per week. If you are looking for a full-, part-, summer job, or an internship, this is the first website you should visit! Click http://www.thomas.edu/infonet/jobsavail.asp and log in with your PIN.
* Mark your calendar – The Alfond Youth Center is coming to Thomas College! They are actively looking for interns and summer workers. They will be conducting on-campus interviews on April 23 for their sports program positions and again on April 30 for their summer child care program. Please make sure we have your resume!
* Contest News - We have had a great response to our April contest! For those of you who missed the original instruction, simply send a blank e-mail to Career Services with the subject 'ICE CREAM' and you will be entered into our drawing for free ice cream!
* Job Benefits and Policies -
Employers and students agree on top benefits - Given that students give more weight to benefits than employers think they do, it's somewhat ironic that there is a lot of agreement between what employers offer and what students look for in a benefits package.
When rating the importance of various benefits, students gave highest ratings to the most concrete - medical insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, annual salary increases, life insurance, and dental insurance. Most employers can accommodate these needs: More than 95% of respondents offer these benefits. nearly three-quarters also offer some of the softer benefits, e.g., casual dress policy, family friendly benefits, and planned social activities. Although these benefits didn't rate high with students, their value may be more apparent once the students become employees and have been in the work force for a few years.
|
Benefits and policies |
% of respondents offering |
Student rating/rank |
|
Medical insurance |
99.7 |
4.61/1 |
|
Life insurance |
98.5 |
3.94/4 |
|
401(k) retirement plan |
97.8 |
4.15/2 |
|
Dental insurance |
96.6 |
3.91/5 |
|
Annual salary increases |
95.7 |
3.96/3 |
|
Family friendly benefits |
90.8 |
3.29/11 |
|
Employee assistance/counseling programs |
90.7 |
2.63/15 |
|
Tuition reimbursement |
90.2 |
3.69/7 |
|
Casual dress policy |
86.6 |
2.57/17 |
|
Bonus/commission plans |
74.6 |
3.37/10 |
|
Planned social activities |
74.6 |
2.47/18 |
|
Flextime |
71.7 |
3.44/9 |
|
Pension plan |
67.4 |
3.73/6 |
|
More than two weeks vacation |
66.8 |
3.64/8 |
|
Frequent performance reviews (more than 1 per year) |
58.4 |
3.24/12 |
|
Stock options |
45.3 |
3.17/13 |
|
On-site fitness center |
40.8 |
2.58/16 |
|
Telecommuting |
39.7 |
2.75/14 |
|
Company car |
15.1 |
1.92/19 |
|
Day care facilities |
13.2 |
1.89/20 |
|
Payback of existing student loans |
3.4 |
N/A |
* Source: NACE 2002 Graduating Student & Alumni Survey; rating is on a 5-point scale where
5=Very important; 1=Not at all important.
* Career Fair News – The University of Maine at Farmington will be holding their annual Education Job Fair on April 30 from 1-4 in the Dearborn Gymnasium. You MUST register to participate in this fair. The website for more information is: http://www.umf.maine.edu/~chd/Recruiting/Educafair.htm.
* Weekly humor -
The minister woke up on Sunday morning, looked outside, and saw that the day was just perfect for a day of golf. He called his assistant and claimed he was too sick to conduct services that morning, and drove 2 1/2 hours to a course where no one would recognize him.
As he unloaded his clubs, an angel pointed down to him and said, "God! Did you see that? He needs to be punished!" God looked down at the minister, about to tee off and agreed with the angel.
The minister hit the ball just right and watched as the ball soared toward the green and into the cup. A perfect hole in one!
"Wait a minute!", the angel said, "I thought you agreed that he needed to be punished and yet you helped him hit a hole in one!"
God smiled and asked the angel, "Who can he tell?"
Have a great week!
Career Services
Thomas College
Waterville, ME
(207) 859-1106 - phone
(207) 859-1114 - fax