Career Center survey to test efficiency

By Lindsey Hart

Surveys used in the past have been unsuccessful in telling how many Santa Clara Students are employed shortly after graduation.

"One of the struggles we have always had, as most career centers have, is getting the data to know," said Kathy Potter, director of the Career Center.

Potter says the new survey, which graduates take six months after graduation, is "bigger, better and is going to get more information."

The director attributes one reason for the Career Center's lack of statistical information on graduates' employment to a low return rate on surveys in the past.

"Even though surveys may seem like a waste of time, they're not, and this particular one will be crucial," Potter said. "We're going to get a better idea and be able to tell students with more surety what is happening."

Potter acknowledges that while the new survey may produce better results, there will still be problems.

"It will never be perfect because not everybody will respond, e-mail addresses go dead, etc.," she said.

Potter believes that the data collected from this survey will give current students a better indication of what the job market is like and what positions are available in various types of industries, as well as the average salary with which they can expect to start.

"We don't literally place students in jobs," Potter said. "What we try to do is give them the skills and the ability to do what they need to do to present themselves well, as well as bringing the employers to them as much as we can."

For the 2003-2004 academic year, the Career Center met with students at 1,253 same day appointments and 806 counseling appointments.

"People who use career centers do a lot better in terms of career development," Potter said.

One event the Career Center hosts draws employers to come to campus and interview students for potential internships and jobs.

"The Career Center pretty much sets up the whole interview thing which makes it easier for both the employer and the student," said senior accounting major Lauren Powell who attended the event.

After interviewing with accounting firm Ernst and Young, Powell interned with the company and was later offered a job, which she will start after graduation.

While on-campus interviews do not always result in jobs or even internships, Potter says the connections made can prove to be very valuable in the future.

"The key to getting the best jobs is through networking. It is not through only doing web searches or waiting until an employer comes on campus," Potter said.

Like many other graduating seniors, Colson Griffith did not have a job upon graduation in June 2004, but he was able to contact the hiring manager at Lockheed Martin where he secured a job as a mechanical engineering associate two weeks after graduation.

"The Career Center is good for resume building, but not so good for finding places to apply to," said Griffith, who visited the Career Center for assistance in resume writing and contacts his senior year.

For more information on services the Career Center offers, and dates of upcoming events, look at their Web site at www.scu.edu/careercenter.

* Contact Lindsey Hart at (408) 554-4546 or lmhart@scu.edu.