Posted by Anne, Career Counselor86060366

Are you interested in working for social justice as part of your career, or maybe as part of an internship experience?  Non-profit organizations provide wonderful opportunities to gain professional skills, and engage in work that satisfies that social advocate in you!  Idealist.org, a great website for non-profit job/internship opportunities, is hosting two upcoming events in the Portland area.  Don’t miss them!

1. The Portland Nonprofit Career Fair, on Wednesday, October 14, from 11:00 to 3:00

http://bit.ly/3UhEB3

2. The Portland Graduate School Fair, on Thursday, October 22, from 5:00 to 8:00

http://bit.ly/tIDNJ

By:  Rachel Erickson, “Career Assistant” and OSU Senior

School is about to start.  We all have a lot to do.  It’s back to a full load of classes for many of us, finding or returning to

Start that networking!
Start that networking!

campus jobs, and adjusting to new living arrangements.  Starting the job or internship search is usually low on the summer priority list.  But if you’re serious about getting an internship or landing an ideal job next summer, it’s important to start now.  Many employers actually begin recruiting for their summer positions during the previous fall term.  By the end of winter term, many internships are filled.

The good news is that you can start your job or internship search with easy steps.  Research the companies in your field to get an idea of the careers they employ, job titles and their descriptions.  Examine the desired qualifications in those careers and how they match your own.  Find out what careers you are interested in.  Find job titles to entry level positions in those careers.  Think about the primary geographic areas you plan to live when doing your job or internship, and what options in your field are offered there.

Come down to Career Services and take advantage of opportunities that will help strengthen your job search.  Consider doing informational interviews with employers in your field.  Attend the workshops in Career Services before the Career Fair to get help on resume writing, effective job search, and interviewing skills.  Research the companies you are interested in that will be attending the Career Fair and come up with information about each you can express interest in when speaking to the companies representative at the fair.  Sign up for MOCK Interviews to help perfect your interviewing skills before the real deal.

As you can see there is much preparation and not much time to spare.  Start your search early.  You can also find more tips on preparing for the job/internship process at this website.

And come down to Career Services to make your job or internship search a success!

Find us on Facebook!LinkedInTwitter

Can you guess what these three words have in common? Well, if you have any familiarity with social media, then you know that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are among the most popular sites for social networking. But, did you know they can do more than alert the online world what you’re up to at 7:36pm? Did you know these social networks might actually help you get a job?

You may have used Facebook as a mechanism to avoid boredom, or maybe you’re all too familiar with tweeting about your crazy day or random night.  But these social media outlets are actually some of the most powerful tools in the job search process today. According to MSNC, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are, “transforming the job search process, enabling more and more people to connect with potential employers, promote their own skills, set up support groups and search for job leads and contacts.”

In, “Looking For a Job? Try LinkedIn or Twitter,” the article suggests that getting creative with your social networking site, like tweeting about your skills and abilities, creating a resume on LinkedIn, or demonstrating why you’re a qualified candidate through Facebook, is essentially producing an online resume and portfolio through which potential employers can navigate.  According to MSNBC, “job seekers have gotten job leads and tips on networking events that they otherwise would have missed, had it not been for their Twitter or Facebook account.”

So next time you’re tweeting about how tired you are in class or perusing the updated friends list on your Facebook page, think about what you might be able to do through your own social networking site that could lead to a job! In the meantime, follow Career Services on Twitter or Facebook here!