{"id":1616,"date":"2011-11-09T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T18:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2011-11-23T09:52:41","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T16:52:41","slug":"career-counselor-embraces-new-technology-network-network-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/11\/09\/career-counselor-embraces-new-technology-network-network-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Counselor Embraces New Technology: Network, Network, Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Career Center \/ Boise State University<\/p>

<\/p><\/div>\n

Debbie Kaylor<\/a> is the director of Boise State University’s Career Center<\/a>.\u00a0 She and her staff help students and alumni decide what kind of career path is right for them.\u00a0 The center also helps facilitate internships. It provides assistance with interview skills, building resumes and networking.\u00a0 I spoke with Kaylor to find out if university career advisers have changed they way the work with students given the high rate of unemployment and underemployment.\u00a0 Here is an edited portion of our conversation.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Has the down economy changed how you work with students?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>We\u2019ve always encouraged students to get a jump on the job search.\u00a0 It used to be three to six month process, now it\u2019s more six to nine, bordering on 12 months, really.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tough, tough market out there.\u00a0 But we also try to make sure they understand it\u2019s not impossible. You have to have a positive attitude out there, and you have to keep trying.\u00a0 The way you try has changed too. It\u2019s not a matter of sending out 50 resumes to 50 different companies and hoping you get a call. You\u2019re not going to get a call typically.\u00a0 The big change I\u2019ve seen over the last two to three years is really the way we teach the job search, and it\u2019s a ton of networking whether that\u2019s networking via LinkedIn. We use LinkedIn a lot here.\u00a0 Networking by volunteering, networking by informational interviewing, whatever it takes to build your network, those are the people who are going to help you find your job.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Are you gearing students toward certain industries?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>The one area we hear all the time we need more and more people is computer science.\u00a0 We need computer programmers.\u00a0 That\u2019s not unique to Boise, but we do have a nice high-tech industry here.\u00a0 But, if a student doesn\u2019t have an aptitude for math, or isn’t interested, you can\u2019t steer them toward that.\u00a0 The actual degree or program, I don\u2019t want to say it doesn\u2019t matter, because it does, but it\u2019s really about the skills.\u00a0 From the employers standpoint, whether they hire a communications major or public relations major, each could do a similar job, but it\u2019s a matter of who has the skills.\u00a0 Creativity, ability to problem solve, building professional relationships, those are the type of things the University needs to do a good job with, and students need to obtain that outside the classrooms like through internship programs.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>Universities have always tried to give students critical thinking skills, that hasn\u2019t changed?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>Right, that hasn\u2019t changed.\u00a0 What has changed is that the gap has widened.\u00a0 Employers are expecting so much more from a college graduate.\u00a0 When I graduated, I had my Business Management Degree with an emphasis in Human Resources, and I went into a company and got about a year to figure it out.\u00a0 Students don\u2019t have that now.\u00a0 So when you get into a job, they don\u2019t give you a year, they want you to come out with your critical thinking skills \u2013 that\u2019s made the internship even more important.<\/p>\n

Q: <\/span>What are students saying about the job search?\u00a0 Are they frustrated?<\/p>\n

A: <\/span>I think it\u2019s in their face every day.\u00a0 I think there are students that really get the six to nine month thing and they\u2019re on the ball now looking for jobs. There are students who will graduate in May and walk in our door the week after graduation.\u00a0 That\u2019s tough, if they haven\u2019t done any of the things we\u2019ve been talking about.\u00a0 The frustrated people I see are alumni, because those are the people that may have been laid off, they may have established a lifestyle they\u2019re used to and they need to make $50,000 a year, or they have a family to take care of.\u00a0 The good thing about being a new college grad, you\u2019re used to living on practically nothing and can take those entry level jobs.\u00a0 The entry level jobs are around, but it\u2019s those higher level jobs that are harder to find.\u00a0 When executive level people get laid off, there isn\u2019t a lot of opportunity in Boise.\u00a0 Often what our career counselors have to do is really just build back up confidence with people, remind them they aren\u2019t in this alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debbie Kaylor is the director of Boise State University’s Career Center.\u00a0 She and her staff help students and alumni decide what kind of career path is right for them.\u00a0 The center also helps facilitate internships. It provides assistance with interview skills, building resumes and networking.\u00a0 I spoke with Kaylor to find out if university career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":1623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[46,74],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1616"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2239,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions\/2239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}