Career Services Update

Career Services Update - week of December 16!

* Congratulations! – We are pleased to share our good news with the Thomas College community...

The following students have confirmed employment information with our office:

Michelle Khan - Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Michelle will begin working after her May 2003 graduation.

Jill Morrissette - MacDonald, Page, Schatz & Fletcher in Augusta. Jill will also begin working in May, after graduation.

Rick Kelly - Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Rick has been working for Enterprise for two years and will continue after his May 2003 graduation.

Also, the following students have accepted internships with MacDonald, Page, Schatz & Fletcher. Each internship is a full-time internship that will take place over the spring 2003 semester.

Jeremy Mowry & Robert Morin will be working in the Portland office.

Katrina Merrifield & R.J. Worden will be working in the Augusta office.

Please offer your good wishes to these hard working students! Any students who have employment (or internship!) news and would like to share it, please fill out our congratulations form on-line so that we may share your news with our readers.

* In the news! - On November 19, at the annual meeting of the KVCAP board of directors, held at the Waterville Elks Lodge, 12 outstanding citizens were acknowledged and applauded for their accomplishments in building a stronger community. The Individual Achievement Award was presented to three single mothers. One of them, Lisa Thomas, is a student here at Thomas College. Lisa worked with her case manager to create a plan for self sufficiency. She has an Associate's degree that she earned in 1992 and is currently working towards her B.S. in Management Information Systems. She will graduate in 2004. To view this article, please click here. Congratulations, Lisa!

* Job Hunting tips - The holidays are coming, and perhaps you are dreading the endless social functions that often accompany holiday merry-making. This year, why not turn that party time into productive networking time, and help yourself land a great job or internship?

Job-hunting guru and author of "What Color is Your Parachute" Richard Bolles has studied job search methods for more than 30 years. Here is his list of the five best and five worst strategies!

The five best ways to look for a job:

Doing a life-changing job hunt. This basically means finding a career that suits your passion. It takes time and effort, but it has an 86% success rate.
Combing the Yellow Pages. In a group with other job seekers, target fields that interest you, then call those employers and ask if they're hiring. This method has an 84% success rate.
Same as above, but by yourself. for some reason, doing this alone has a 69% success rate.
Knocking on doors. Finding a company that interests you, even if it hasn't posted a vacancy, and asking about a job has a 47% success rate.
Referrals. Getting job leads from family, friends and professional contacts has a 33% success rate.

The five worst ways to look for a job:

Using internet job boards. Bolles pegs the success rate at a meager 4%.
Mailing unsolicited resumes to employers. Only 7% of job seekers find work this way (some difference from the phone and knocking on doors strategies above!)
Answering ads in trade journals also has a 7% success rate.
Answering local newspaper ads. Success varies depending on skill level. For high-paying jobs it is about 5%; for others is is as high as 24%.
Using employment agencies and search firms. A 5% success rate for senior-level jobs, and 28% for other positions.

What has worked for you? Let us know by clicking here. We would love to hear your success story! How did you find your job? Can we quote you in future issues of the update? Let us know!

* Did you know? From NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) - College graduates can expect to work with a computer as 94.2% of workers with advanced degrees use computers, according to a survey by the U.S. Dept. of Labor. Overall, the survey found that more than half of all workers in the United States use a computer on the job. Among those 72.3 million computer users, approximately 40% use the Internet or e-mail.

☺Weekly humor ☺

A young businessman had just started his own firm. He had just rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques.

He saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear the hot shot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working. He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments.

Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, ''Can I help you?''

''Yeah, I've come to activate your phone lines.''

* Office closed – The Career Services office will be closed during the week of December 23 - 27. We will re-open on December 30.

* Best Wishes! - The Career Services staff would like to wish all of our students GOOD LUCK on your finals. We hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday break and we look forward to seeing you all again in January!

Career Services

Thomas College

Waterville, ME

(207) 859-1106 - phone

(207) 859-1114 - fax