Career Services

According to a story in the New York Times this morning ("Bright Spot in Downturn: New Hiring Is Robust" Steven Greenhouse), there is a bright spot in hiring activity. In the Charlotte area we are looking at an umemployment rate of 10.5% and a national rate of 8.5% - a twenty five year high. The Times suggest that we have lost three million jobs since November.

The reality is that people are continuing to get hired even in the face of the layoffs. The TImes said "So, while 4.8 million workers were laid off or chose to leave their jobs in February, employers across the country hired 4.3 million workers that month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." New college graduates and their fellow Gen Y workers have an unemployment rate of just 3.4%. So, there is an underlying strength for the college age hiring in the USA.

The strength in hiring is coming from areas such as the federal government, helathcare, retail, and local public works departments. Education is also strong. All of this says that if we continue to seek opportunities, we should be successful despite what we read in the paper every day.

Networking is the strategy with the best success in this environment. Keep talking to people you are referred to and nurture these new realtionships for the long term.

It is the end of the semester and you have still have not found the time to choose a graduate school or search for that job. Can't afford to head the beach. Spend one or two days working on your post-Davidson plans by attending all or part of the Career Crash Course.

MONDAY, MAY 11:
9:30 am Identifying Your Values, Interests, Skills and Personality

10:30 am Exploring the Possibilities: Researching Careers and Organizations

11:30 am Resumes That Present Your Abilities

1:30 pm Networking and Other Job Search Strategies

3:00 pm Letter Writing for the Job Searcher

3:30 pm Interviewing Successfully

4:30 pm Evaluating Offers and Negotiating Compensation

TUESDAY, MAY 12:
9:30 am The Graduate School Application Process: An Introduction

10:00 am Researching Graduate and Professional Schools: An Interactive Exercise

11:00 am The Law School Application Process: An Introduction

1:30 pm The Graduate School Application Process: An Introduction

2:00 pm Researching Graduate and Professional Schools: An Interactive Exercise

3:00 pm The Law School Application Process: An Introduction

Walk in hours all day Wednesday, Thursday, Friday for any question you may have.

The foundation of effective job search or career decision making is self assessment / self knowledge. Candidates who are able to articulate their values, interests, personality traits and skills are most effective in making choices and in presenting their value to others.

Many jump directly to goal setting without first analyzing themselves or the world around them. The two legs of the goal ladder are self-knowledge and knowledge of the world around you. Some characterize this dichotomy as the gifts you bring to the needs of the world.

The first step is knowledge of self. Within this arena, each idividual must first identify thier: values. Values are the concepts, things, activities, and / or relationships that you hold dear. They are the most important elements of life for you.

Next, you must have an understanding of your interests. Interests are those concepts, things, activiites, and / or relationships that capture your attention. Interests motivate you to perform, to gather the resources you need to pursue your passions in life.

Personality is the next element of who you are. Personality is the style with which you interact with the world around you. It is the expressive self others see and respond to as you travel through the world.

Finally, you must know what skills you are offering to the world. Skills are those things you do. Skills fall into three basic categories: adaptive, specific content and functional. Adaptive skills are those you use to adapt to or interface with the world around you. Specific, or work content, skills are those that have particular knowledge or abilities that apply only to a specific work place. Functional, or transferable, skills are those that can be used in several different workplaces.

Your VIPS are the foundation. You can make dreams come true if you find clarity in your VIPS. Your values, interests, personality and and skills are the golden threads you use to weave the tapestry of your dreams, goals.

Graduation from Davidson is just three days away.

You have finished your last exams and papers at Davidson. Perhaps you spirited off to the beach with your friends for a few days. Your parents and family are headed for Davidson and the great celebration of your accomplishments here at Davidson.

Sunday you will bask in the Carolina sun while waiting for your name to be called. You will proudly cross the stage and receive the degree you have worked so hard for over the past four years.

Enjoy the respite.

As you turn to face new challenges on Monday, remember that it is the people surrounding you who have helped you to achieve. Now you must gather your "people" and prepare them for new challenges. Whether at work or at study, you will need to carve out a new space within the peoplescape of your life.

Four years ago you had to change the way you related to your friends from your high school years. Now you will seek to make a similar transition with your Davidson College friends. They will not be within immediate reach. Their experiences may lead them down divergent paths from your own. You will find life partners, move around, have children - changes will be the rule.

The challenge will be to use the time and technology at your disposal to inform, strengthen, and enrich your relationships. Learn to add new members to your circle. Seek to serve your circle and accept gifts from your circle. Seek to continue learning from and teaching your circle.

Enjoy the new challenges presented to you and your friends by a broader, ever changing world. Travel in friendship and peace.

Check out this opportunity to visit with a consortium of MBA programs with possible merit based fellowships. .

The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, a national not-for-profit organization with a focus on diversity and inclusion in American business, will host an information session for prospective MBA candidates in Charlotte, NC May 28, 2009. The event will kick-off The Consortium's 43rd Annual Orientation Program and Career Forum.

When: Thursday, May 28, 2009 = 5 - 7 p.m.
Where: The Westin, Grand Ballroom Room A, 601 South College

The Consortium Information Session is free and open to individuals interested in pursuing a master's degree in business administration. The event will provide a platform for prospective MBA applicants to network with school representatives, MBA alumni and current MBA students from our member schools, which are top among the nation's MBA programs (Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Indiana University-Bloomington, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, New York University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Rochester, University of Southern California, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University).

All attendees must register before Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 11:59 pm (EDT). Log on to: http://www.cgsm.org/CGSMApp/InformationSessions/cgsm_InformationSession_registration.asp?

For additional information regarding the information session or The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, please visit our website at www.cgsm.org.

About The Consortium:

Founded in 1966, The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management has evolved into an alliance of 14 top universities, over 70 leading corporations and strategic partners, more than 5500 alumni and 530 current students. The Consortium is a leading resource for access to a quality business education and managerial positions in corporate America.

The mission of The Consortium is to enhance diversity in business education and leadership by helping to reduce the serious underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our member schools' enrollment and the ranks of management. We will achieve this mission by recruiting for graduate business education qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents from these underrepresented groups, as well as other persons who can demonstrate a commitment to The Consortium's mission and can best assist The Consortium in pursuing this mission.

Consortium representatives, alumni and students recruit applicants by attending MBA fairs, professional conferences and by hosting information sessions throughout the United States. The Consortium awards over $12 million in full-tuition, merit based, MBA fellowships annually, and have been instrumental in assisting more than 5,500 underrepresented minority students earn their MBAs and advance their careers in corporate America.

For more information about The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, please visit www.cgsm.org or call 1-888-658-6814.