SPECIAL SECTIONThe Beacon — www.upbeacon.net 7

Plan your

The Scoop on the Career Services

Not sure where you’re going with your degree? Are you just beginning to plan your future and career, or are you just ready to dive in? Regardless of where you are in the planning stage, here is some information on what you can do now...

Find out what it means to live here on the Blu!.Freshman Year: ‘Explore’

Timeline for success Year-by-year Guide to Getting Ahead

Meet with your professors. Take advantage of UP’s small size.

Enid SpitzSta! Writer

spitz13@up.edu

Try to take a variety of courses, getting a feel for what will really interest you.

Meet with your academic adviser and create a four-year course plan.

Attend the Studies Abroad open house to learn about opportunities for next year.

Join clubs and attend campus events. Show you’re involved, which will look great on a résumé.

Caitlin YilekSta! Writer

yilek12@up.eduLisa McMahan

Copy Editormcmahan11@up.edu

Job hunting can be a scary thing for many college students, especial-ly when you consider today’s rough job market and the fact that over 3 million college graduates will join the “real” world this year.

Here to help students and alumni

Services. “We help students identify their

skills, interests and values while -

egies to apply their experience to -

Located in the lower level of Or-

guidance in selecting majors and

counseling and advising.

Services assists students with their job searches, it does not match stu-dents to jobs.

“We facilitate networking by identifying people to talk with to

-vanaugh said.

Senior Katie Holman secured a paid summer internship at Fred

-man resources department after

learning of the opportunity through

Holman, who is majoring in or-ganizational communication and Spanish studies, signed up for up-dates from the website after work-

and résumé last year.“It was valuable for me because

I have obviously never worked in

the human resources sector before,” Holman said. “I have made connec-tions with people in the company.”

Holman went on a business trip with Fred Meyer President Michael Ellis on the company’s private jet to collect information and photos for the website she helped update. The internship gave her extraordinary access.

“He and I have actually high-

Senior electrical engineering ma-jor Emily McKaig also turned to the

as she applied for internships. McKaig had two interviews lined

up, one in person and a phone inter-view.

they helped me learn how to ap-proach the interviews,” she said. “I actually ended up being offered both positions.”

McKaig remembers one of the most important pieces of advice she learned was to be prepared for her phone interview the night before.

The HR department called at 9 the next morning, instead of the scheduled 1 p.m. interview time.

“They were so surprised and impressed that I could think on my

--

dence before I went into the inter-view.”

She accepted the paid avionics internship with Insitu Inc., a Hood River-based company that works on unmanned air vehicles.

Although internships are often reserved for upperclassmen and re-cent graduates, all students are en-couraged to start preparing their ré-sumés and polishing their interview skills.

-erage job search takes six to nine months.

“It is never too early or too late

students come in they have a better

-terials and give them feedback.”

Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.To make an appointment call 503-943-7201Drop-in hours (without appointments) for résumé reviews are Monday-Wednesday from 2 p.m.to 4 p.m. and "ursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m."e O#ce of Career Services is located in the lower level of Orrico Hall

The Office of Career Services

You choose your major. You pass your classes. You graduate. Now what?

Advice on choosing a majorCareer counseling and advisingRésumés and cover lettersInternship guidanceMock interviewsGraduate school or post-graduate service application assistanceInternship and job fairsOnline internship and job database-UP Career ConnectionsContacts with alumni for informal interviews and job shadowsDrop-in hours for résumé reviews

Services offered at Career Services

“It is never too early or too late to take advantage of the O!ce of Career Services,”

Amy CavanaughDirector, O!ce of Career Services

8 Ocotber 14, 2010

With nerves already tingling madly, interviews are a fright-fest for many stu-dents. Luckily, there are ways to tone down the clammy hands and anxious

According to Max Kalchthaler, As-sistant Director of Employer Relations

this feeling is preparation.

failure ready to go in the pipe,” Kalchtha-ler said.

-mends following the P.A.R. (Problem,

problem, show the action that you used

result. “More and more, employers are

switching to behavioral questions,” Kal-chthaler said. “Rather than just knowing your skills, employers want to see how you deal with situations.”

This includes dealing with your own imperfections. Kalchthaler cautions against using the “strength disguised as a weakness” approach to the notorious question, “what are your weaknesses?” It is better to admit a true weak spot in yourself, and then to talk about steps

Junior Jessie Hethcoat recently got an internship blogging for an author. Before the interview, she made sure that she was prepared for the questions.

“I thought of a bunch of attributes that -

hcoat said. She also remembered to keep her wardrobe professional.

“I dressed up, and I made sure that I wore modest clothing,” Hethcoat said.

Kalchthaler also recommended pro-fessional attire, but cautioned about inter-preting the words ‘dressing up.’

“There’s a difference between dressing up to go out and dressing up for church,” Kalchthaler said, “think grandparents or Easter with the family.”

According to Kalchthaler, the way that you dress is your introduction to an em-ployer so it is important to present your-self well. This means avoiding loud jew-elry and pungent perfumes.

“You want employers to see you as neutral,” Kalchthaler said. Rather than noticing your ensemble, “they should be looking at your strengths as an employ-ee.”

recommends following up after the inter-view. Get contact information after the interview is over, and write a thank you note one to two days after your interview. If you haven’t heard back from the em-ployer in several weeks, give them a po-lite call to inquire about the position.

In the midst of the job race, Kalch-thaler also recommends investigating whether you really want to work for that employer.

“It is about determining a match be-tween you as a person and the company,” Kalchthaler said. “Ask yourself if this is a place you want to stay.”

Employers look at a résumé for an average of 5-20 seconds. Make that time count by conveying traits and skills in a clean format.

What employers want

Natalie WheelerSta! Writer

wheelern12@up.edu

In interviews...

Résumé tipsIn general, the top of your résumé should contain the most important material.Don’t use “I” statements. Instead of saying “I supervised six people,” say “supervised six people.”Tweak your résumé for each employer. For example, if you’re applying for the Peace Corps, highlight your volunteer experience.Look online for résumé formatting ideas. Be unique!If you have relevant class projects, use them as applied experience.After your sophomore year of college, avoid including high school material

In résumés... Have that scary interview coming up for your dream job or internship? Read on for some tips to get you prepared, con$-dent, and (somewhat) reassured.

Sophomore Year: ‘Get Involved’Branch out in your second year at UP.

Declare your major and minor, if you’re considering a minor.

Take a full course load focused on the core curriculum.

Get a job on campus. "e ability to balance a job and school is important to future employers.

Don’t know what you’re doing after you graduate? Don’t worry.

Like 2010 UP alumna Alyssa Reget, you could take an alternative route that

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Portland, Reget was inspired to enter a

“UP’s commitment to service kept this option in the back of my mind,” Regent said.

Regent works for the Department of

and Victim Services in Helena, Mont.

VISTA.

stay in the U.S.,” Regent said.

“VISTA members commit to serve full--

tion or local government agency, work-

services, create businesses, strengthen community groups and much more.”

The program provides people with real jobs, but they work more like vol-unteers than full-time employees. Reget does get paid, but she also experiences what it is like to live below the poverty line.

“I get paid about $4.50 an hour,” she said. “It’s not easy.”

She works with lawyers to help vic-tims of fraudulent business as well as

other social issues.

Regent. “Working is very different from college.”

Her duties include recording com-plaints, investigating cases of consumer abuse and public outreach and educa-tion.

“We take complaints from consum-ers about bad business, telemarketers, scams, junk mail,” Regent said. “We also help victims of domestic violence.”

But the hands-on work is what Re-gent enjoys the most.

“Investigating is one of my favorite parts,” she said.

Regent would like to eventually at-tend law school, but she thinks Ameri-

because she gets real life experience and can decide what kind of law to fo-cus on.

“My plan was to go to law school,” Regent said. “This job has given me the chance to experience different law that sparks my interest, like domestic law.”

Reget credits her experiences at UP as helping prepare her current job.

“I learned important skills like re-searching and critical thinking,” Regent said. “For example, I’m researching a case about a hearing aid advertisement and I’m able to look at the ad and I’m thinking, wait a second, what’s wrong with this picture?”

Reget leaves the following words of wisdom for current UP students, “Be prepared for anything. You never know where you’ll end up next.”

UP graduate continues dedication to service

Elizabeth VogelSta! Writer

vogel11@up.edu

Gain leadership experience. Start or lead a club, join your hall council or creating an intramural team.

Create your résumé. You can $nd instructions under the “Students” tab on the Career Services website.

Health Information Technology1. 2. Oncology

Data Mining3. Embedded Engineering4. Feature Writing for the Web5.

6. Mobile Media7. Occupational Health and Safety8. Spanish/English Translation and Interpretation9. Sustainable Business Practices and the 10.

Greening of All JobsTeaching Adult Learners11. Teaching English as a Foreign Language12.

13. Health Law14.

14 hottest Jobs for College Grads

The Beacon — www.upbeacon.net 9

Junior Year: ‘Apply and Experience’

Research potential jobs. It’s never too early to start looking and informational interviews can help you discover what’s right.

Find an internship in your $eld. Internships are great experience and o!er a chance to begin networking.

Plan for any standardized tests your major may require.

Connect with your adviser, alumni and faculty who can help you re$ne your job or graduate school goals.

Do mock interviews at the O#ce of Career Services to prepare for the real thing. Create a LinkedIn pro$le.

Social networkingIt’s more than just socializing!

UP grads have yet another social networking resource available to them. With the UP Alumni Online Network, UP al-ums can connect with other gradu-

postings. Because of the strong UP community, con-nections with oth-er alumni can be invaluable tools for

after graduation.

Try using an online blog to show potential employers your résumé. Eric Duncan, a writer for eHow.com, recommends using wordpress.com, a free blogging site, to show recruiters and potential employers your electronic résumé.

Keep in mind…

Your online résu-mé should look pro-fessional. Use a sim-

ple theme and give your blog an address similar to your name.

Make sure employers will be able to contact you. Be sure to include your e-mail or phone number in a visible place on your blog.

Place links to other sites that may have relevant samples of your work that would be of interest to potential employers.

Do you tweet? Twitter can be another

great tool to get up-to-date re-ports on job openings, according to Sherice Jacob, web designer for iElectrify.

Since Twitter feeds are con-stantly being updated, job hunt-

-ings without having to search though online job boards, which

and make connections that may help them land jobs after gradu-ation. Follow @TwitterU for up-dates on internships with Twitter itself.

Websites such as TwitJob-Search and TwitterJobFinder

can be useful for those on the hunt for em-

ployment. By en-tering a keyword

search on Twit-JobSearch.com, job hunters can view the most recent tweets that pertain to their de-sired job. Searches can be based on a job de-

scription or on a desired

location. Like LinkedIn,

Twitter can act as an online résumé, says Jacobs. Employers can view prospective employees’ accounts, which can either be positive or negative – so tweet with caution!

1. UP Alumni online network

2. Tweeting your way into a job

3. Blogging for Jobs

Jocelyne LaFortuneSta! Writer

lafortun12@up.edu

What comes to mind when you hear

the words “social network-ing?” Facebook? MySpace?

Maybe the new Facebook mov-ie?

You’re Hired!“Yes, Facebook is a social net-

work, but social networking is more

is a difference between using it socially and using it professionally.”

Beyond Facebook, there are a num-ber of social networking web sites that can be helpful for students seeking jobs and internships. LinkedIn has proven to be an effective way for students to make connections and land jobs, ac-

“It can’t hurt students to get on

“Make online connections now, and they can turn into face-to-

face connections later.”Not only is LinkedIn a

good tool for making con-nections, it can also be

are otherwise un-heard of.

“Eighty percent of jobs are not advertised,”

Director , Employer Rela--

nator Max Kalchthaler said. “LinkedIn can help you see what other people have done with their degrees, or see what people with a given job have done to get there.”

LinkedIn essentially creates an online résumé that is available for re-cruiters to view, so connections on LinkedIn will differ from your Face-book friendships, says Kalchthaler.

“These connections should be very intentional,” Kalchthaler said. “These are people you know professionally, such as co-workers or professors.”

Luckily for students here on The Bluff, UP alumni are a famously close-knit group.

“UP has an extremely strong alumni presence,” Kalchthaler said. “It is important to know that the fact that you’re a Pi-lot now is just as impor-tant as the degree you earn while you’re here.”

10 Ocotber 14, 2010

Internships: who has them, how to get one

Senior Year: ‘Take Action’

Make sure your résumé is up to date.

Apply to graduate school.

Build a network with faculty, alumni and businesses to help you in your job search.

Mckinley Pfal on his Internship

Graduate! Get out there and $nd a job!

Research, apply and interview for various jobs and attend graduate school fairs.

Megan IrinagaDesign Editor

For students looking for internships, -

tor and Employer Relations and Internship

students to look past the obvious postings.“Most jobs are not posted and most

internships are never posted as well,” he said.

He suggests that students look online

--

dentcentral.com. Students can access the

make an account and search for jobs or internships both on and off campus. The website also offers résumé and portfolio help in addition to other resources for stu-dents.

-ternships is by directly calling companies and inquiring about openings, even if the position is not initially as an intern. Kal-chthaler said that starting with volunteer-ing at a company can lead to an internship position.

Kalchthaler puts this strategy in the hands of students.

“It’s really on the student to pursue that,” he said.

There are also resources such as the Portland Business Journal that supply list-ings for positions in different academic

hosted an internship fair in Franz Hall, which allowed students to come and meet with potential employers who had booths set up. Kalchthaler said that the fair is both an effort toward raising awareness for students looking for positions. Pro-vides recruitment opportunities as well. Kalchthaler said that for visiting employ-ers, students who attended the fair had the

“The advantage of this is that they have worked with University of Portland students in the past,” he said. “This sets you apart, and they are looking for you.”

Overall, Kalchthaler thinks that intern-ships are found in a variety of different ways, and it all depends on what works

for the student.

a few of these opportunities, and also sup-port students who are seeking the others.”

As far as paid internships, Kalchtha-ler explained that students can sometimes earn college credit for an internship, and there are both unpaid and non-credit in-ternships in addition to paid and credit-earning positions.

“It depends on the company and avail-ability of the internship,” he said.

But even without a salary, students should understand that the experience is what makes it worthwhile, Kalchthaler said.

Kalchthaler said that though career services can’t fully track how many stu-dents are currently interning, UP students are successful in their positions.

“I would say a majority of students graduate with internship experience,” he said. “UP students have a reputation as being truly wonderful interns.”

Katchthaler stresses how important it is for students to intern at some point, and how this is different from a part-time job.

“What separates a part-time job from internship is the opportunity to apply the

-cipline,” he said. “Internships are impor-tant, and employers expect you to have them.”

UP students and interns, Ashley Do-nahoo and Mckinley Pfahl agree that it is important for students to pursue intern-ships.

Pfahl suggested inquiring for a posi-tion in an area of interest.

“Just focus on what you want to do,

don’t let it hold you down.”Donahoo advises that students need to

be prepared.“Keep your ears open, and always have

a résumé ready,” she said.Pfahl also suggested being persistent. “Just keep calling them, you can’t let

off,” he said. “The worst they can do is say no.”

Donahoo thinks that UP has helped her prepare her for life after college.

than school,” she said. “School prepares you but you don’t know exactly what you will be doing. I really do think UP has prepared me for my internship and when I get a real job after I graduate.”

Senior Ashley Donahoo has a paid in-ternship position at Bonneville Power Ad-

that manages all federally-supported hy--

west. Donahoo works for about eight hours a week.

She started with the BPA over the summer. Donahoo decided to stay on for the current academic year.

“They treat their students really well, and try to teach them as much as they can,” she said.

During the year Donahoo commutes to Vancouver, Wash.

Donahoo interns in the communica-tion planning department and works on different ways that aspects of the power site, such as the control center and meter, communicate with one another.

Donahoo does this by making databas-es and drawing diagrams for equipment.

Donahoo found out about the position from engineering professor Robert Al-bright. Albright’s connection was helpful, as she was able to meet with the student board for the company more informally.

As an electrical engineering major, Donahoo loves how her internship works directly with her education.

“Though some of it is tedious work, I

do feel like I am doing real engineering work,” she said.

As an intern, Donahoo has to be aware

and that everyone is still learning. “I understand that I am the intern,” she

said. “They are all still learning, but I am really still learning.”

Donahoo said she plans on working at BPA after she graduates, and the intern-ship helped her see what it will be like.

However, she says it can be hard to handle interning and staying on top of schoolwork, especially with her senior de-sign project.

don’t feel it’s just my internship. It could be any job.”

But Donahoo likes how her internship is separate from the stresses of school-work.

“I like that I don’t have to take home any work,” she said. “I love what I am do-ing right now, and I can go home and re-lax after.”

Donahoo stresses how important it is for students to intern before they gradu-ate.

“You gain work experience,” she said. “It’s just going to give me a step up over an undergraduate without experience.”

Laura Frazier Sta! Writer

frazier13@up.edu

As an intern for the Portland Winter-hawks, the local junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League, junior Mckinley Pfahl has f ound a way to live out his dream.

Sort of, that is.“I am a huge ice hockey fan but not

good enough to go pro,” he said. “So I

to get into the National Hockey League somehow.”

Pfahl came across the internship on the team’s website and then contacted people in the company. Pfahl said it took several phone calls, but eventually he was hired into the program.

By interning, Pfahl is working in pro-fessional hockey as he always wanted to, although his internship is unpaid. Techni-cally, Pfahl is earning “volunteer hours.”

Pfahl has a variety of tasks, including setting up for home games, helping with sponsorships and advertisements and re-porting on statistics for games. Pfahl has even met some of the players, such as

However, it is not all fun. “Some of it is total internship

work,” he said. For example, Pfahl said he often does

-lopes and other tedious tasks.

Pfahl works four times a week at the home games for the Winterhawks and other times during the week depending on his schedule. Pfahl appreciates that his managers understand he is a student

when he comes in during the week. However, Pfhal admits, it can be hard

to balance schoolwork and interning.“It’s just a little time consuming,” he

said. “But it’s just good that I enjoy going to work.”

As an economics major, Pfahl is in-

some point that is more closely related to his area of study. His current position

education. “I am in game operations, and they are

not using me the right way, because I ac-tually have an education,” he said. “But it’s somewhere to start and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Ashley Donahoo on Her Internship

Photo Submitted by Mckinley Pfal

Kevin Kadooka | THE BEACONEmployer Relations and Internship Coordinator Max Kalchthaler works with Senior Emily McKaigin the Career Center. !e O"ce of Career Services helps students #nd employment and internships, and is located in the lower level of Oricco Hall.