Career Services Update - week of September 22, 2003!

 

* Congratulations – Congratulations to Jana Burdin.  Jana is now working as an intern at Inland Hospital in their Human Resources Department.  Many of you may have seen Jana's photo on our "got work?" bulletin board outside of Career Services.  If you have a new job then let us know!  We have a handy congratulations form on-line that makes it easy to keep the Career Services office informed.  Fill yours out today and we'll paint a moustache on you, too! 

 

* Mark your calendar - September 22-26 finds Putnam Investments on campus to recruit for their part-time positions.  Stop by their table in the art gallery to meet Marla and Kim, and fill out an application.  They will be there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day this week.  Additional recruiters are coming to campus!  Click here for more details!

 

* September Contest News - Come in and see the great contest entries already received by our office.  Your entry could find you the lucky winner of our Dunkin' Donuts gift certificates.  How can you resist?  This month's contest:  Send in your idea of a section LEAST LIKELY TO BE FOUND ON A RESUME.  Our current contest entries are on display on our contest board in the front part of the Career Services office.  Entries must be received no later than September 30, 2003.

 

* Median Employee Tenure 3.7 Years - New college graduates should realize that they may work for many employers throughout their careers.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of labor, the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer (referred to as employee tenure) was 3.7 years in January 2002.  since 1983, median employee tenure has ranged from 3.4 to 3.8 years in the years when such information was obtained.

 

Information on employee tenure is obtained from supplemental questions in the Current Population Survey (CPS).  Highlights from the January 2002 survey include:

 

*  Median years of tenure tend to increase with age.  For example, the median tenure of older workers ages 55 to 64 (9.9 years) was three and a half times that of workers ages 25 to 34 (2.7 years).

 

*  Thirty percent of workers age 25 and older had been with their current employer for 10 years or more at the time of the survey.  For workers age 55 and older, half had such long tenure.

 

*  The share of employed persons who had been with their employer for 12 months or less declined with age.  Seventy percent of teenagers had been with their employer for a year or less, compared with 10 percent of persons age 55 and older.

 

*  The median years of tenure for workers in the public sector was twice that of workers in the private sector.  This is partly due to the relatively older age of the public-sector work force.

 

*  Managerial and professional specialty workers had the highest tenure among the major occupational groups, while workers in service occupations had the lowest median tenure.

 

***  According to preliminary data from NACE's 2002 Employer Benchmark Survey, the average employee turnover for new college graduates was 8.8 percent after one year of employment.  The average turnover within five years was 18.6 percent.  Interestingly, the 2002 survey marked the first time respondents to NACE's Employer Benchmark Survey have reported an average turnover rate within five years that's less than 20 percent.  Prior five-year turnover rates were 22.4 percent in the 1999 survey, 21.7 percent in 1997-98, and 21.6 percent in 1994.

 

* Interview checklist -

    NACE Job Choices, 2004

 

BEFORE

    Research!  Learn as much as you can about the organization beforehand.  The internet is a great tool for researching potential employers.

    Practice!  Do practice interviews with friends, family, or in the Career Services office.

    Be PROMPT!  Arrive 10 minutes early and bring extra copies of your resume, your list of references, pen/paper, and a list of questions for your interviewer.  For a link to potential interview questions, click here.

 

DURING

    Act Professionally!  Dress appropriately and give a firm handshake.  First impressions count!

    Converse - Answer the interviewer's questions thoroughly but ask questions in the process.  The purpose of the interview is to get to know each other.

    Be enthusiastic - A positive attitude goes a long way.  Let the interviewer know you are excited about the prospect of working for the company.

 

AFTER

    Follow-up - Ask the interviewer for a business card and promptly SEND A THANK-YOU NOTE! 

    Review the interview process and your performance - Record key details about the interview and write down what the next agreed upon step will be.  Also jot down important details about the job/company.  

    Evaluate - Determine if the job is right for you.  A good fit will lead to a more successful, fulfilling career! 

 

* Weekly humor –

 

A business owner decides to take a tour around his business and see how things are going. He goes down to the shipping docks and sees a young man leaning against the wall doing nothing.
The owner walks up to the young man and says, "Son, how much do you make a day?"
The guy replies, "150 dollars."
The owner pulls out his wallet, gives him $150, and tells him to get out and never come back.  A few minutes later, the shipping clerk asks the owner, "Have you seen that UPS driver?? I asked him to wait here for me!"

 

Have a great week!

Career Services

Thomas College

Waterville, ME

(207) 859-1106 - phone

(207) 859-1114 - fax