The overwhelming strain on today’s job market is affecting families everywhere. Students are taking part in this struggle as well and without a doubt will face it head on once completing their education.
This reality is one that the Career Development Center at Pacific is very aware of and according to Internship Coordinator Melissa Vieira will be kept in mind for the Junior Junction, taking place on Oct. 11.
Because the inescapable reality of today’s difficulty finding a job applies to all age groups, Vieira said Junior Junction will be taking on a “Now and Later” theme. Students will be approached by different employment opportunities and how they can prepare for them now and how this process can be continued throughout the next year and further.
Some of these resources to be provided for juniors will be resume-building advice, representatives from Japan Exchange and Teaching program, Teach for America, AmeriCorps, LinkedIn and more.
Although Vieira said that juniors “have the benefit of having been here a few years” and have in many cases already been familiarized with some of these resources, their availability could be useful for senior year, when deadlines begin to close in.
As seniors, often students are either “so future-focused” that they have job opportunities already lined up or they are too pre-occupied with senior projects and their graduation checklist to even consider life after college, said Vieira.
Hopefully, with Junior Junction, the CDC can prevent the many calls and emails Vieira said it receives from those students who graduated two weeks prior. It is always a mission for the CDC to “reach out to students before that point,” Vieira said.
Even before becoming alumni, some of the internship opportunities could undoubtedly be held by students continuously through their senior year.
Vieira said that many offices love to hire juniors because people are looking for students to return.
“Every study I have seen shows that students that held internships have better luck in finding a job afterward,” said Vieira.
Although the intimidating job market was just as prominent for Vieira after completing her schooling, her own experience speaks to the benefits of holding down an internship.
During her senior year, Vieira was an intern at a Public Relations firm after previously working in the Public Relations department at University of Puget Sound.
Vieira does not doubt that the job opportunities she received after completing her internship was “a direct result of the internship.”
In addition to preparing students for the competitive world of employment, other resources will be provided at Junior Junction to get the process started in its early stages at Pacific.
The Advising Center will be ready to help students at Junior Junction with declaring their major and focal studies. Representatives from Pacific’s graduate programs will also be at the event to provide interested students with more information on their programs and how they can prepare during the rest of their time at Pacific.
For those who plan to attend Junior Junction just because they are “looking to see what the options are,” Vieira said to “keep an open mind.”
Junior Junction will be held in the U.C. Fireside Lounge from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m on Oct 11.
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