Previous Issues

CONNECTING		The Career Services Office
		Equipping students for the most difficult job market in recent years

This year’s batch of Trinity seniors will graduate into one of the tougher job markets in recent times. One survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicates that respondents are hiring 37 percent fewer new college graduates this year than last year. According to Director of Career Services Lanna Hagge, networking is one of the most important strategies in such a competitive environment. “It’s relationships that make the difference to our students’ job searches,” she says.

Networking was certainly critical for Joseph M. Mehlman ’02, an economics major. He was a sophomore when he met a Trinity graduate who was visiting campus and who encouraged students to apply for summer internships at his firm, Morgan Stanley. Too young to apply at that time, Mehlman contacted the alumnus the following year. Delighted by Mehlman’s continued interest, the alumnus forwarded his resume to the human resources department, and Mehlman later interviewed and earned himself an internship. Not all internship experiences can be parlayed into full-time employment offers, but Mehlman kept in contact with the alumnus, who again passed his resume on to human resources. And in January Mehlman accepted an offer to return to Morgan Stanley as a research assistant.

If students are persistent and take the initiative, says Mehlman, members of the extended Trinity community tend to be very responsive. “In all of my dealings with Trinity alums for various resume or job search advice, I have always been well received,” he says. Mehlman says alums “help to direct us toward the proper channels and help to open doors.”

In an effort to create as many networking opportunities as possible, Trinity’s Career Services Office sponsors a variety of information sessions and panel discussions with professionals, particularly alumni. In recent weeks, for example, Steve Curley ’93 spoke to students about the field of consulting, while Lisa Alvarez-Calderon Cox ’88 held a video-conference discussion about careers in human resources. Bill Burnham ’64, who participated in a “Careers In Publishing” lunch on campus, provided Trinity students with 10 passes to the three-day Book Expo America international book fair in May, where they will have the opportunity to make connections with publishers from all over the world.

Working in conjunction with the Career Services Office, alumni also hold regional networking events that are usually linked to regional recruiting events held by employers. For example, Trinity students who attended the Boston Job Fair in the fall were also invited to attend an evening gathering of alumni.

Starting the process

Of course the first relationship that Trinity students are encouraged to make is with a career adviser in the Career Services Office. Diana S. Beedy ’02 recalls several productive meetings with Lanna Hagge during the early phases of her job search. “She talked to me about what my strengths were and how to translate them into what people are looking for,” says Beedy, an aspiring teacher. Hagge’s strategic recommendation was to beef up her resume with teaching or volunteering experience, even if it wasn’t related to her major in French. So Beedy began tutoring at the nearby Boys and Girls Club. Sure enough, that experience is now not only prominently placed on her resume, but is also the subject that prospective employers have been most keen to discuss during interviews. Hagge’s advice made perfect sense, but it was a revelation of sorts to Beedy to be prompted to ask herself: How do I look from an employer’s perspective?

No matter where a student is in the process of building a career—from investigating a variety of career fields, professional or graduate schools, or fellowships, to preparing to interview for a specific position—the Career Services Office has the resources to help. As a complement to personal touches provided by career advisers, the Career Services Office offers a variety of electronic resources. Via the Internet, students can access the Career Services Office Web site’s sample resume and cover letters, articles on job seeking, and links to other Web sites. Through a service called Trinity Recruiting (http://trincoll.erecruiting.com), students can keep track of the Career Services Office’s calendar and sign up for interviews from the comfort of their dorm rooms.

The Career Services Office also puts technology to use in its video conferencing facility. The room has a variety of uses, notes Hagge, including enabling Trinity students on campus to be interviewed by employers many miles away. Recently used by the GreenPoint Financial Corp., this video conferencing capability actually offered a substantial advantage over traditional face-to-face interviewing. Says Hagge, “Senior staff members who would never have been able to come to campus were able to participate in the interview process with our students.”

Finding a job is work

Today’s seniors are not the first job seekers to graduate into interesting economic times. Proving that point, the Career Services Office held two panel discussions this year with Trinity graduates from the early 90s, who also had a tough job market and who now have built solid careers. These successful alumni offered not only advice but also hope to the discouraged.

Shannon R. Baird ’02 says that ultimately she and her peers must face the fact that finding a job requires a lot of time and energy. Baird, a double major in history and Spanish, is seeking a career in financial services. During the course of her senior year, she has attended recruiting events sponsored by employers and networking gatherings sponsored by alumni in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. The alumni, she notes, shared their considerable “industry insight,” that is, details about specific companies and specific areas in the broad field of financial services. Alumni have also shared names of people to contact. Often it was a friend or colleague to whom Baird could write a letter. There was never a guarantee that she would be considered for a job interview, but being able to mention the name of the person who referred her gave her an edge.

“Each person led me to someone else,” she says, pointing out that to build an effective network, one needs to keep in touch with the beginning and the end of the chain, as well as all of the links along the way. She says, “Every time someone hears your name, the more likely you are to be remembered.”

In addition to the interviews she’s landed through this kind of networking, Baird says that she has gained an understanding of how building relationships is part of doing business in general. “It’s how things work in the world,” she says. “When I’m a successful careerwoman myself, I will definitely take the time to write an e-mail and make a referral for a senior.”

-- Leslie Virostek