Students exploring new career options with CDC

The Career Development Center is an on-campus organization specializing in obtaining jobs and internships for students. The CDC offers its services to undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni, for no charge. The CDC also offers a variety of workshops and help sessions to aid students with their resumes and interviews. No doubt many readers have received emails from the CDC announcing workshops and conferences they are hosting. Nevertheless, for all the effort the CDC puts into their services, many interviewed students are not satisfied with the results, and are even exploring other options, such as online job-searching companies.

The CDC offers many different services with one goal in mind: to get students into the best possible jobs. For freshmen, the CDC offers their Major Selection Program, which consists of a special survey test geared to find a student's interests. Many students who go take the test find themselves no better off than when they started, however. Many students interviewed who had taken the test say that it is merely an exercise in "pointing out the obvious." In order for someone to register with the CDC, they must submit their resume to the organization, which is then critiqued. Additionally, a student has two options that are required for their registration. The first option is to schedule a resume-writing workshop with a CDC staff member and to watch a career connections video. The second option is to watch an hour-long video on writing resumes. By now many students have heard of "the video." Indeed, the CDC's videos have garnered a great deal of notoriety among students, which many people claim cultivates a negative attitude throughout. Several students commented that "one reason [we] don't go to the CDC is because we've heard about this video, and [we] don't want to do that…"

The CDC also has interview training available. The interview training is a more popular option among students than the resume workshops, because the same students claim that "[we] actually got something out of the interview workshop. The practice is great, and it's a lot less boring too." Most notably, the CDC puts together the Career Fair each year, which many students attend. At the career fairs, companies collect resumes from students and schedule interviews, as well as give out the occasional free promotional items.

Currently, however, more and more students are drifting away from the CDC's services and are taking matters into their own hands. To this end, they are resorting to online services such as Monster.com to find jobs, and talking to these students, they expressed satisfaction with their results. One student mentioned that "I placed my resume on the CDC's website looking for a summer job. I also posted it on Monster.com. Over the past several weeks, the one on Monster.com got 5 hits. The one on the CDC got 0 hits." Speaking to the directors of the CDC, they commented that it is fine for students to use online services, but they should also use the CDC as well, and explore every opportunity.

Many students said they were willing to use the CDC if they could find that they were somehow better than Monster.com. Both Monster.com and the CDC have their apparent strengths and weaknesses. Monster.com, by its very nature of being a nation-wide company, generally gives students' resumes more hits on average than the CDC, mainly because many more employers look to Monster.com for possible recruits. However, Monster.com charges the companies for the resumes, while the CDC offers them for free to employers. In fact, one of the more positive aspects of the CDC is the relationships they have built with certain companies. Many companies that recruit on-campus are specifically looking for WPI students with WPI degrees and training. Employers on Monster.com are fairly indiscriminate in their searches.

The CDC is concerned that students' aversion to the CDC is based mostly on the experience of others. CDC director Yvonne Harrison commented that "students should not judge us based on another person's experience, and come here and judge for themselves." Harrison also acknowledged that the CDC is not a miracle worker, and requires the cooperation of the student in order to succeed. Harrison explained it by saying "We teach people to fish, and then stock the pool. Sometimes we even put it near the fish's mouth if we need to."

Also, according to the staff, the CDC can offer the special, personal attention that no one web site is capable of providing. Harrison pointed out that "when applying to a certain company, we can help you tailor your resume and interview skills to that specific company, giving you a better chance of getting hired." Additionally, when employers come on campus for career fairs and pick up a student's resumes, they can find out more about the students through their professors. One professor in an email mentioned, "It [the career fairs] gives these visitors a closer connection to the campus to interact with some faculty members who actually work with the students in their projects..."

According to the directors, a student's submission of his/her resume is not even half the battle. The on-campus career center's benefits "come with the territory," as it were, as the staff works to build relationships with employers and promote the WPI students' image. Assistant Director Allison Corkey and Yvonne Harrison both concluded that "Most of the work here comes from behind the scenes… the students can benefit from our relationships if they are just willing to give us a chance."