High Praise for Ohio State Career Services

Career services options for students at The Ohio State University are dependent upon the student’s major. Here is a list of the available OSU career services offices:

http://careers.osu.edu/employers/list-of-career-services-offices/

While many career services offices exist at OSU, my personal experiences lie with the College of Arts and Sciences career services office. This office, located in Townshend Hall, includes various helpful services to undergraduate and graduate students.

http://asccareerservices.osu.edu/

While the following services are specific to the College of Arts and Sciences, other career services offices may have similar services available.

ASC career services

Resume reviews: Get your resume draft looked over by trained students known as peer career advisors (or PCA’s). These students will check for problems with the layout, readability, and relevancy (relating to the job/internship position) of your resume. The overall process takes about 15-20 minutes to complete.

Cover letter reviews: Bring in a copy of your cover letter to get it checked by the PCA’s for grammatical errors and relevancy to the job position you are applying to.

Mock interviews: Have an interview coming up? Schedule a mock interview with the ASC career services office; a graduate student will interview you using a basic set of questions, or more specific questions if you send them a description of the job to which you are applying. Wear what you are planning to wear to the interview, and advisors can rate you on its professionalism. Real interviews are often also held through this office.

Futurelink: This website (http://asccareerservices.osu.edu/futurelink/student) allows students to search for and apply to available internships and jobs. Every arts and sciences major has a profile on Futurelink; simply log in with your basic Ohio State information. After you set up your profile, you are ready to start searching for a job or an internship. Need help? The ASC career services office offers counseling on how to best use Futurelink services.

Internship and career counseling: Didn’t find what you were searching for on Futurelink? ASC career services offers trained advisors in your area of study to help you locate fitting internships and jobs. Although this does not guarantee you an internship or job, it will lead you to options to which you can apply.

Internship and career fairs: Numerous career and internship fairs are organized through the ASC career services office. Many employers come to these fairs to allow you to speak with them about their organization or internship opportunities. Before attending such a fair, it is very important to prepare. There are documents available on the ASC website to ensure that your trip is successful.

Workshops and information sessions: Many workshops have been and will be available throughout the year to help you develop job-searching skills and learn how to navigate the services offered through ASC career services. Employers may also hold information sessions throughout the year to allow you one-on-one time with them to learn about their organizations.

Email updates: The ASC career services advisors send out plenty of emails to keep you informed about upcoming events and opportunities. Monitor your inbox for emails from OSU addresses to ensure you don’t miss any information.

My Experience

I work in the College of Arts and Sciences career services office, but this is not the only reason I offer up such high praise. Yes, as a peer career advisor, I get to review resumes and cover letters for students, and as a writer, this has offered me fantastic editing practice. However, I also have other experiences with the office.

I like to take advantage of the Futurelink website to search for internships. I have also spoken with many of the advisors in terms of internship and job searching, and they have been nothing but helpful. The thing about these advisors is that they are trained in their specific fields of study; they know what they are talking about and have the resources to prove it. Other students like me have also found success in this and other career services offices.

Student Reviews

I asked a few students about their experiences with career services at OSU, and here is what they had to say.

“I went to career services because my advisor said it was a good place for my resume to be looked at and if I had any questions about internship opportunities. It was helpful, as the counselor there gave me good insight on what to include in resumes and where I can find info on local internships. I would definitely recommend anyone to go there if they have any sort of questions on these things.”

–Brian Doak, 3^rd year Communication Analysis and Practice major

“My exploration advisor pointed me in the direction of the Yonkin success center career services walk-in hours, where I went to discuss my plans for the future. They were also able to help me edit my resume as I began looking for internships. Career services encouraged me to make appointments with advisors in consumer sciences as well as Fisher to help me make a decision. When I went into Fisher they were extremely professional and really knew how to answer my questions. They seemed to have a lot of resources, so at the end of my sophomore year I applied to work in their office of career management as their career events intern, planning the large career fairs. As I work, grad students next to me hold mock interviews to prepare students for the professional interviews. Across from me, career coaches see many students every day to help them edit their resumes.

As I personally searched for a summer internship, I handed my resume to a coach in the cube next to me and they were extremely helpful telling me how to make it sound more professional and how to format it better. As I moved on in the interview process, I even set up a meeting with my boss to prepare interview questions and figure out how to prepare myself. Because I was able to take advantage of the services career management offered, I now have a summer internship working at Kohl’s corporate office in Milwaukee.”

–Carolyn Reis, 4^th year Marketing major and Fashion and retail studies minor

“I found career services to be really helpful. They host job fairs so it’s an easy way to get into contact with a lot of companies who are looking for interns. I went to career services because I was looking for an internship. I would recommend other students to go because they will help you find a direction for your career path after college.”

-Ben Lough, 3^rd year Electrical and Computer Engineering major

“I have used the arts and sciences career services mostly to prepare my resumes. They helped me by giving me an example of what my resume should look like and helped tailor it to my specific job outlook. They also went the extra mile by reviewing my cover letters when I was finished. This is a resource I would suggest to others in the arts and sciences field as well as any other major. It made obtaining a job during and after college so much easier.”

-Amanda Piper, recent graduate in Communication Analysis and Practice

Myths dispelled

1. Going to career services will guarantee you a job.

Career services offices will not place you into a job or internship. These advisors can help you to locate jobs and internships, but obtaining them is up to you; you’re the only person who can go to your interview (if you get that far in the selection process).

2. You should wait until senior year to use career services.

You should visit career services as soon as possible. Although most students do not start looking for internships until their second or third years of college, there is nothing wrong with getting a head-start on your search. Also, it is important as a freshman to start your college career out with a polished resume. Take it seriously now and you’ll have less work to do later.

3. Someone in career services will write your resume for you.

You have to bring in a copy of your resume to have it reviewed. If you do not have a resume, career services advisors can help you create one by providing you with templates and examples. However, they will not organize your information for you into a resume.

4. Students can go to any career services office for assistance.

Actually, students must visit the career services office that belongs with their major. This is to ensure you the best assistance, because the career services advisors are trained in specific fields.

Take advantage of your career services offices today; you will thank yourself later.