As I began spring break last week, it dawned on me—this would be my final spring break as a Saint Xavier undergraduate. By this time next year I will have graduated and will be out in the “real” world, a place that was semi-mythical to me until now.
Anyway, I decided that, with a week off, now would be a good time to make a professional resume and begin searching for some jobs, or at least internships. In doing this, I was happy to discover that Saint Xavier does not leave its students high and dry when it comes to the professional world.
There is a wonderful department called Career Services at SXU. You have probably received e-mails from them regarding SXU job fairs, but they do so much more than that. They oversee SXU’s official career website (you may remember hearing about it at FOCUS) www.cougarjobs.com.
Not only does this website allow you to apply to all on-campus jobs, including The Xavierite, but it lists a large amount of outside professional jobs and internships from various fields. It’s all a matter of browsing for the type of job you would like and sending out an application.
Of course, you need a resume to send along with your application. Career Services helps you here as well! After you create your resume, you can upload it to Cougar Jobs to easily send it with your job applications. Before you can actually send it, Career Services needs to approve it, which is a huge help.
Essentially, someone from Career Services will check your resume or cover letter for grammar, style and professionalism. When I first uploaded my resume, I received an e-mail the next day containing a revised resume. A Career Services representative had sat down and thoroughly read my resume. He added new information to my employment history which made it sound more marketable. He adjusted formats and paragraph styles to give the resume a clean, professional look. Finally, he made suggestions for fields I could add to my resume to make it even stronger.
That evening, I made the changes, re-uploaded it and the next morning it was approved. Now I can send the resume with my applications. More importantly, I have the confidence that my resume is up to par and written professionally.
In addition to all of this, my Career Services representative sent me a number of job searching tips and resources specific to my interests. Furthermore, on Cougar Jobs, there are a number of resources posted that offer tips on writing various different types of resumes, cover letters, acting professionally and succeeding in job interviews.
Career Service’s page on the Saint Xavier University website (just search for Saint Xavier Career Services) offers even more job searching tips, graduate school information and even salary data for various careers. It is very user-friendly and extremely informative.
Based off this article, you probably think I am being paid to be a spokesperson for Career Services. I assure you, I am not. If you follow my column regularly, you know that I mostly write about intense political and religious topics. This week I am shifting gears because I truly feel that Career Services is an awesome resource that each and every SXU student can utilize and benefit from. I sincerely hope you check it out.
Tony Bara
Editor in Chief