Career services help Cedarville students succeed

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For the Gazette

CEDARVILLE — Graduates of Cedarville University have a lot of success in finding gainful employment.

A recent survey of 2015 graduates revealed that 96.8 percent of them had found jobs or were enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation.

While many employers point to Cedarville graduates as hard workers with a commitment to excellence, much of their success can also be attributed to the work of the Career Services office.

Each semester, Career Services organizes a large career fair that regularly attracts almost 100 employers, including high-profile companies like Boeing, Cummins, Chick-fil-A, Inc., Dayton Power and Light, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, General Motors, Honda, Kroger, LexisNexis, Northwestern Mutual, Otis Elevator, Procter & Gamble, Reynolds & Reynolds, Samaritan’s Purse, Speedway and many more.

The next career fair for all majors — which is slated for the spring semester — will take place 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 in the Doden Field House. During the last 10 years, Cedarville’s semi-annual career fairs have nearly tripled in the number of organizations in attendance. In addition, the number of students attending the career fairs has risen from 173 in 2012-13, to nearly 700 this year.

Career Services will also hold a health professions career fair Jan. 27 and a camp career fair Feb. 2.

While the career fairs are a great opportunity for soon-to-be graduates to get face-to-face interaction with employers, there are many other ways in which Career Services helps students prepare for their future.

In the weeks leading up to the career fair, students can attend a variety of workshops that will help them prepare. The workshops follow a specific progression to ensure that students are ready to impress employers at the career fair.

“It’s our goal to equip our students as best we can,” said Jeff Reep, director of career services. “The better prepared our students are for the career fair, the better the chance we have of getting these companies and organizations to come back.”

The first workshop, Thursday, Feb. 18, will focus on how to best prepare for an interview, while also going over the common questions that interviewers ask job candidates.

A resume workshop will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The workshop will provide students with a time to tweak their resumes with input from the Career Services staff, who will guide students through the best way to create an impressive resume.

The final workshop, slated for Wednesday, March 9, will guide students through the process of a career fair by providing tips on what to wear, what to say and how to excel at a career fair.

Two additional workshops are also scheduled during the spring semester. A workshop on how to best utilize LinkedIn will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 9, and will give students the advice they need to best utilize one of the world’s fastest-growing social media websites.

On April 5, a seminar called “7 Ways to (Really) Succeed” will give students insights on what to expect in their first few months of employment, and how to position themselves to climb the corporate ladder.

All workshops and seminars will take place in room 244A of the Stevens Student Center. More information, including ways to register for the events, can be found by visiting cedarville.edu/career.

Content provided by Cedarville University.

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