Author: Chris Suzdak
The Career Development Center (CDC) is stepping up its efforts to help graduating Occidental students cope with the harshest job market in decades. On top of increased programming, the CDC is attempting to revamp its image to attract and motivate students to utilize resources offered by the career counseling office.
Students have realized the implications of the current high unemployment rate and are working to market themselves better to potential employers or graduate schools. Valerie Savior, the Director and Pre-Law Advisor of the CDC, said that this year’s seniors have shown up in greater numbers this fall, as opposed to waiting until spring as past senior classes have tended to do.
The CDC is using this increased interest in career services to promote its new image and strategies. Following a 2008 survey of Oxy students conducted by Savior, the CDC changed how its programs are organized and advertised.
Questionnaire results indicated that students wanted to learn more basic skills like constructing resumes and writing cover letters. In response to this, the CDC started the Skills Series at 6, an ongoing program that offers such training. However, Savior said she has not been pleased with the attendance at the trainings.
Another concern voiced in the questionnaires was an unapproachable atmosphere surrounding the CDC office. This input prompted a redesigning of the entrance room into more of a lounge-style room. In an effort to bring their services to the students they also organized “Canopy on the Quad” this semester, where a CDC representative sits under an orange canopy to answer questions from students passing by.
Doing its best to keep up with cultural norms, the CDC created a Facebook page and is encouraging students to tap into LinkedIn, the online professional networking site, which currently hosts 5,194 individuals with some relation to Occidental College. The CDC also encourages students to access the Oxy alumni network, which is now possible by accessing a new online program called TigerWire. It can be accessed on the Web sites of both the CDC and Office of Alumni Relations and allows Oxy students to search through nearly 20,000 Occidental alumni to then contact them directly.
One of the CDC’s premier events in the past has been the annual Business Night. The CDC hosted the event this year on Oct. 28, when firms presented their available positions, either full-time jobs or internships, directly to Oxy students and made time to answer personal questions. Christopher Norman (senior), who attended Business Night, said he wishes the CDC could bring more prominent firms to campus for students to be exposed to.
avior, who had expected to get more than 10 firms to attend, only ended up getting Southern California Edison, Payden & Rygel, and Nestle, all of which have hired Oxy students in the past. Savior was disappointed that only 20 students participated in Business Night, citing that more firms will not want to come to Occidental unless they know a lot of students will attend their event.
“We don’t have a very strong or expansive employer-relations program,” Savior said. She attributes this to the size of Occidental in relation to larger universities nearby, but insists that the Occidental reputation still really helps. “Business Night is a creative way to assure students that we have alumni employers and that we are still in a position to leverage partnerships that are ongoing even in an economic hard time.” She hopes to see an increase in employers recruiting on campus next spring as the economy continues its recovery.
The CDC uses its Student Advisory Board, a group of 12 students representing every grade level, as a go-between to obtain student input. As well as offering the CDC student feedback throughout the year, the students help organize the major-related fair in the spring for first-years and sophomores called “Majorly Confused.” This will be the second annual peer-to-peer fair where upperclassmen will offer insight about their various majors, including advice about completing the curriculum, to curious underclassmen.
One member of the Advisory Board, Trace Wallace (senior), who has already obtained two internships with the help of the CDC, believes the CDC should not bear the responsibility of forcing students to prepare themselves properly. “The CDC is only useful to the students who take advantage of its resources,” he said.
While it may sometimes seem that the CDC mainly promotes events targeting business and law career paths, Savior explains that the reason for this is only because businesses and law schools are the ones that do the most active recruiting on college campuses like Occidental. The CDC has made an effort to better market non-profit opportunities by hosting events such as Term of Service, a panel of representatives offering short-term non-profit experiences.
Term of Service, held on Sept. 29, drew 35 students including Sky Mangin (junior), who also attended the Business Night. “Overall, both events demonstrate Oxy’s and the CDC’s efforts to foster and develop hopefully what promises to be a fruitful relationship with dynamic non-profits, businesses, and fellowship programs to ensure that Oxy students gain a competitive edge in both the public and private sector,” she said.
Last year many Oxy students were concerned to hear that only about 24 percent of the class of 2009 had full-time positions waiting for them upon graduation. Savior believes this statistic is misleading because her survey is given in April, when a lot of students are still applying for jobs. She notes that some students choose to pursue unpaid internships or put off full-time employment right out of college.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate (as a percent of the civilian labor force) for people aged 20 to 24 years was 15.6 percent as of October 2009.
Savior thinks it would be “silly” to think that the CDC could act as the sole resource for a job or intern-seeking Oxy student. The process should involve a multitude of resources as well as persistence, she said.
Peter Polydor ’09, who found himself stopping by the CDC office a few times every semester during his time at Occidental, was able to obtain a fellowship at USC and now works as an Associate at SAIL Venture Partners LLC, a clean technology investment firm. “The people at the CDC were helpful and all they want to do is help you get to where you want to go,” Polydor said.
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