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JCU’s Center for Career Services is one of many student-focused departments on campus that has made the adjustment to virtual services. 

“We’re doing everything we’d be doing in-person, online. We’ve been ready to go since day one,“ said Mary Ellen Riley, Assistant Director of Communications at John Carroll’s Center for Career Services. 

From scheduling one-on-one appointments with students, to dropping into virtual classrooms on Zoom, to modifying their brick-and-mortar events, Career Services continues to offer JCU students the services they have grown accustomed to.

With their biannual “Prepare Fair” in jeopardy due to remote learning, Career Services quickly moved the event online. But how do you prepare to attend networking events that are also held online? The Career Services team held the Prepare Fair as a workshop using a virtual career fair platform so students could learn the best practices in navigating an online networking event, such as the upcoming “Meet the Recruiters” night, taking place on Thursday, Oct. 8 right in the virtual platform these networking events will take place in. 

Students were able to have their résumés reviewed and learn what employers are looking for from them during these virtual events. Further, students attending the Prepare Fair were guided on appropriate questions to ask during group sessions with employers, and which questions were better served in a one-on-one setting. Students also had the ability to make follow-up appointments with Career Services employees. 

These tips and tricks were provided to help students as they prepare for Meet the Recruiters. Open to both Boler College of Business and College of Arts and Sciences students, Meet the Recruiters night brings over 20 employers in the Northeast Ohio area together to engage with JCU students and help them expand their networks. The event provides students with the opportunity to gain contacts that may ultimately lead to internships or future jobs.

There are jobs out there... Companies are still hiring. Internships are still available.

Career Services’ student preparation extended beyond the upcoming events and into the potential experiences students will have this fall and beyond. Through the College of Arts & Sciences Professional Development Program, Career Services has 50 programming events, workshops, networking and career-related experiences already scheduled for this fall. Programming ranges from Graduate School preparation, to introducing Career Services and networking best practices. Via Zoom, Career Services engages students and works to build the skills necessary to secure internships, research experiences, entry in graduate and professional schools, and post-graduation jobs. 

From learning how to build a résumé and cover letter to applying for internships, Career Services prepares students via drop-in or scheduled appointments. First-year students will also see Career Services in the classroom where they learn  how to get a head start on their early careers. An email newsletter provides tips on how to maximize their upcoming opportunities and highlights recent job and internship postings from Handshake, JCU’s career management system, in the Northeast Ohio region and beyond

John Carroll’s Center for Career Services is one of many departments on the JCU campus that has continued to put students at the forefront of their efforts during the transition to a remote fall semester. Career Services has discovered new opportunities to assist and develop the student body into driven future professionals in the workplace, even when faced with adversity. Many may look at these times as “unprecedented” or “a new normal,” but the Career Services mindset is one that will benefit all in the JCU community -- look at every challenge as an opportunity for growth.

 

Learn more about JCU's Center for Career Services here.