USI Career Services and Internships—Connecting Students with Employers

Career Services Events

*All Career Services Events are FREE for USI Students

March 22—Non-Profit Job Panel Presentation Talk to local non-profit professionals and learn more about their career paths, education and the organizations they work for. Followed by light refreshments 3:00 p.m.—4:30 p.m. UC2219 April 11—Regional Teacher Recruitment Fair School districts from around the nation will be on campus recruiting Education majors for teaching positions. 9:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. in Carter Hall. March 15 & April 12—Marketing your Liberal Arts Degree information sessions. Attend this free session to find out how to present your skills to potential employers. Wed. March 15th—3:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m. LA 1002 Wed. April 12th—3:30 p.m.—4:30 p.m. LA 1002

Minutes 1 Through 15: Edit (or Create) Your Summary So it Aligns With Your Target Audience If you don’t have a LinkedIN profile by the time you graduate, you are already behind the successful job seeker. Num-bers vary a little, but upwards to 90% of all companies look for you on LinkedIN before they invite you to an interview. LI is you expanded resume so make it count. Give examples of what you did in your internships or practicums. Discuss how this changed you and made you grow. Haven’t had an internship? Do worry, what classes made you think and how did they change you? Minutes 15 Through 20: Change Your Headline Give me something catchy that gives me an idea of who you want to be. Not boring such as “soon to graduate, want a job”. Try this “ Engage audi-ences , drive revenue” Minutes 20 Through 25: Update and Rearrange Your Skills Hopefully you learned a few new things in your job or your internship. Or-ganize those talents with the most valuable first. Minutes 25 Through 30: Spell Check and Proofread the Entire Profile LinkedIN doesn’t spell check so you must. Here’s a tip. Create the text in a Word document. Run spell check and look for grammatical errors. Have someone else read through it too. Then cut the text from the Word and insert it into the LI profile. Final Detail- Don’t for get to use the “find alumni” tool to find graduates in

professions that interest you or in cities you would like to move to.

2017 Spring Semester 30 Minutes to Your LinkedIN Profile

USI Career Services and Internships hosts 4 major career fairs each calendar year. You should be prepared to reflect your best image to employers. Having a well-constructed resume is important, but equally crucial is how you are dressed at the fair. But how should you dress for the job fair?

We recommend that you dress Business Casual or Business

Professional. What does that mean?

Business Professional is the wearing of mostly formal and

conservative clothing to portray yourself in a professional

manner. The look is neat, polished, and organized. Women

may wear a skirt or pants suit with heels (not open toed or

spiked) while men may wear a blazer or suit jacket, button

down shirt, suit pants, a tie and dress shoes (no sneakers).

Suits should be in solid colors like black, brown or navy, with minimal or no stripes so mix and matching in the future is easy. Some muted colors are also acceptable. Pants should cover the entire leg, and socks or hose must be worn. Shoes should be polished. Business Casual simply means you do not need to wear a suit. It is just one step below "business professional". Women typically wear a collared shirt or sweater with dress pants and dress shoes or boots. Conservative dresses and skirts are also acceptable attire. A man’s option for business casual includes a polo shirt, collared shirt or sweater. Khaki or dress pants along with dress shoes make up his business casual outfit. A tie is not required. Ladies - Clothing that reveals cleavage, stomachs or thighs is unacceptable. Flip-flops, sundresses, short skirts and midriffs are best reserved for picnics. Tailored knit sweater and pant sets are good choices during winter, and cotton or linen coor-dinates can be worn in summer. Jewelry and accessories should be conservative and simple. Makeup should be worn lightly and be natural looking. Men- This look includes lighter, conservative color choices for pants, such as khakis, Oxford button-down shirts and less for-mal footwear such as loafers or even well-kept athletic shoes. Jeans are acceptable in many offices but must be neatly ironed, free of frayed edges and in good condition. A business casual look for men does not include shorts or sandals or out-ward expressions of individuality such as multiple tattoos and piercings.

Points to Remember: It may seem obvious but make sure your outfit is ironed

and lint free. No cleavage, tight skirts or pants, or saggy britches. Make sure any buttons or zippers on your outfit are done

up. Grooming is important for both men and women. Hair should be clean, neat and avoid the “messy” look. Accessories can be worn, but kept to a minimum, and

simple. Fingernails should be clean. Nail polish should not be

loud but kept to solid or neutral colors. Perfume is refreshing only when worn correctly; the

smell should be subtle and not overwhelming when you walk into a room.

Shoes should be clean and polished. USI Students can visit the Career Clothes Closet in Orr 074 to

shop for a free business suit. (availability varies) If you would

like more details contact Career Services and Internships at

812-464-1865.

2

Professional Dress Codes—What To Wear To A Career Fair

If you are doing an internship this semester, make sure you let Career Services

and Internships know about it. We will add you to our Internship Database

and can answer any questions you have about guidelines or getting credit for the

internship. You can access the form on our website at

www.usi.edu/careerservices/job-opportunities/internships-and-co-ops/intern-

report/

Career Services and Internships is an integral part of the

services provided for USI students and alumni, yet many people

don’t always know or understand about the services the depart-

ment provides. You may be wondering just what the staff in USI

Career Services is busy doing during the academic year (including

summer) when it comes to assisting students with their career de-

velopment.

Last year during the Fall 2015, Spring 2016 and Summer 2016 terms, the career professionals in USI Career Services and Intern-

ships consulted individually with 1,302 students and alumni primarily in one-on-one appointments, but also through phone consulta-

tions and email resume reviews. The career professionals assisted students, during these consultations, with resumes, interview prepa-

ration, salary information, and general job and internship search strategy.

In addition to these meetings with career professionals, just over 2,000 students and alumni were assisted by our support staff

and student employees in the departments general office area and resource center. The students and alumni received assistance in

learning about the department’s services, setting up appointments to meet with a career coordinator, and to activate their accounts in

Eagle Career Launch, the University’s online job and internship listing system exclusively for USI students and graduates.

Students also received career guidance through classroom presentations and scheduled workshops and seminars the USI Ca-

reer Services and Internships professionals facilitated during the year. The department’s professionals presented 170 such workshops,

presentations, and informational visits to classes, made possible by strong partnerships with faculty and student organizations. For

example, a USI Career Services professional visited 72 percent of the First Year Experience 101 courses, introducing our newest Scream-

ing Eagles to the services the department provides and the importance of career planning beginning in the freshman year.

The services provided by USI’s Career Services and Internships department closely aligns with the national usage data, com-

piled through the Class of 2015 Student Survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Almost 40,000 graduating stu-

dents across the nation responded they used the following services at their college and university career center, with the percentages

indicating the level of usage of each of the services:

Resume writing/reviewing 85.8% Career center job listings 78.5% Job-search assistance 75.4% Internship/co-op search assistance 65.5% Researching a potential employer 59.7% Career workshops 57.7% Practice interviewing 52.0%

It’s not just the students and alumni who benefit from using the services of USI Career Services. The department maintains the

most expansive employer relationship program on campus. During the 2015 – 2016 academic year, 593 contacts were made with em-

ployers and 298 registrations by employers to recruit at the four main career fairs managed by the department. Additionally, those

employers and many more, used Eagle Career Launch to list 1,738 full-time professional jobs for upcoming and recent graduates, 550

internships, and 791 part-time jobs. These figures are strong indicators of the interest employers have in connecting with USI students

and graduates, through USI Career Services and Internships, in order to provide career opportunities.

Who’s Using Career Services and Why?

3

Jonathan Vest

Majors: Biology (Pre-Med)

and Spanish

Graduation Date: Spring 2018

Some majors are easily defined such as nursing or ac-

counting. Others are a little more ambiguous and allow the gradu-

ate to reinvent themselves several times. Jonathan Vest, Health

Services BS’14 was one of those students who has successfully rein-

vented himself several times. His first professional job was an entry

level at Norton Health System, in Louisville, posting insurance pay-

ments to patient’s accounts in an electronic health record along

with some other minor duties. He paired skills he learned during his

internship to identify more efficient work flows. His talents were

quickly recognized after a few months as he was asked to change to

a new group in the Norton Cancer Institute as a research regulation

analysist. Norton has over 300 human trial research project under-

way at any time.

Jonathan’s role required him to monitor several projects at

once to ensure deadlines and budgets were on target and met reg-

ulations. He communicated regularly with researchers, pharmaceu-

ticals/device companies, physicians and hospital executives to pre-

pare and submit progress and budget reports. This opportunity re-

quired the ability to juggle several projects at once, extensive use of

Excel and professional and timely communication skills. But after

about two years Jonathon was not finished learning new things. He

will begin work early in the spring in the hospital wellness depart-

ment.

He attributes his thirst for continued learning and good

networking within the hospital system for his varied opportunities.

His advice to new graduates; research the company extensively and

understand your growth potential within that company or the per-

sonal growth you can gain to take to a new company. Learn some-

thing new at each experience to take to the next level.

4

Jonny Vest

Marketing your Liberal Arts Degree information sessions. March 15 & April 12— in LA 1002

Attend this free session to find out how to present your skills to potential employers. Both sessions are the same content.

Wed. March 15th—3:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m. Wed. April 12th—3:30 p.m.—4:30 p.m.

April 11—Regional Teacher Recruitment Fair School districts from around the nation will be on campus recruiting Education majors for teaching positions. 9:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. in Carter Hall.

March 22—Non-Profit Job Panel Presentation Talk to local non-profit professionals and learn more about their career

paths, education, job openings and the organizations they work for. Discussion will be followed by light refreshments

3:00 p.m.—4:30 p.m. UC2219