When I read Tuesday’s staff editorial about Career Services, I felt compelled to respond.
The editorial unfairly criticized Career Services and expressed somewhat unrealistic expectations about the job market and what a Career Fair can do.
You urged Career Services to offer resume/cover letter sessions, interviewing tips and “workshops on branding oneself in the gloomy job market.”
Well Career Services does, in fact, offer these services. Actually, many of those services were offered just last week at the Pre-Career Fair.
At that event, a representative from Career Services and a representative from Direct Supply talked at great length about things students, including those with liberal arts majors, could do to ready themselves for the fair.
While students listened to the presentation, a group of Career Services employees reviewed students’ resumes.
The editorial pointed out that communications employers, like Milwaukee Radio, (at the fair) were only looking for positions like account executives.
Unfortunately, that is probably a good representation of the job market in those areas right now.
The Career Fair cannot create job openings where there simply are none.
When one chooses a major such as philosophy, English, history, etc., it is necessary to have realistic ideas about employment prospects.
I speak from experience – as a political science major, I know that my options are somewhat more limited than those with other majors.
Students with liberal arts majors must realize they will have to market themselves creatively to employers and strive for work and other experience to combine with their education background to make themselves marketable.
Career Services truly bends over backwards to help students looking for work.
They will print resumes and business cards for free, connect students to thousands of jobs and internships through MU Career Manager, offer one-on-one counseling, workshops, even administer personality tests to help students learn their strengths and weaknesses.
They bring pushcarts to various campus locations, tweet about events and offer free food in an effort to be accessible and attractive to students.
When we enrolled at Marquette, a free job was not part of our admissions package.
Marquette and Career Services provide us with the tools necessary for us to maximize our success — but it is each student’s job to take advantage of this.
Andrea Tarrell is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
