The Big Job Hunt and GW's resources

Hey folks,

Thought I'd pick up where I left off last time--with a discussion of the specific resources GW offers its students in finding jobs.

As anybody who knows Washington, D.C., can tell you, this is the city of internships. Almost everybody I know has made searching for internships a principal focus of their undergraduate careers. For more on that front, I highly recommend looking through our archives here at the GW Admissions Student Blog--my colleagues have written some great pieces on the diversity of their experiences.

As a second-semester senior, I want to offer a bit of a different perspective: that of a soon-to-be-graduate looking for work. (I also have graduate school applications in, but that's a story for a different post.)

Freshman and parents probably want to know the answers to the following two questions:
1. How well does a GW education prepare you for employment in general?
2. What kind of resources are available to assist the job search itself?

My last post talked more about question #1. From my experiences over the past ten days, I can offer two data points on question #2:

Career Fairs: GW offers two big general-interest career fairs. Our first fair this year was held back in the Fall; our Spring fair just happened on Wednesday, February 1. I attended the Spring fair this year, and I have to say I was really impressed with the breadth of opportunities available. Many employers were looking for students with strong written and verbal communication skills to fill spots immediately, and most were accepting resumes.

I admit it: I'm not going to be designing submarines for this GW Career fair perennial--though many of our outstanding SEAS students do work for outstanding companies like this one.

One comment I frequently hear from my fellow humanities students after job fairs is "What about me?" I have to say, I think this criticism is unfair. It's only natural that a disproportionate number of employers actively hiring will be looking for engineers--technical fields are the country's main growth sectors. This is certainly reflected at our job fairs, but humanities majors need not lose hope: with a little research, you too can discover those hidden opportunities. (More on my personal experiences next time.)

Career Center Workshops: If fairs offer students a shot to impress employers in attendance, workshops give us a better chance of making each shot count. Everything from resume design to interview behavior is covered by our Career Center's staff.

Yesterday, I attended a guest lecture on interview behavior hosted by the Center. Some schools offer similar services, but GW really makes quality career support accessible. I learned a number of tips on how to improve my interview performance, and will definitely be going back for more help next week.

--Adam
Questions about the job search and life as a GW senior? Comments about this or other posts? Let me know at ash1290@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Next time: My personal employment experiences and my job search strategy.