Career Development Office

http://www.fredonia.edu/cdo

The Career Development Office (CDO) provides a link between the campus and the world of work. The professional staff helps freshmen through alumni to:

• explore options and make career/major/job choices
• plan strategies to gain experience and identify skills to become competitive
• identify and apply for internship opportunities
• develop skills to implement a successful job search
• learn how to apply to graduate or professional school
• locate information and opportunities to make decisions or implement plans
• get connected to employers and graduate schools

CDO Services

Individual Counseling. Students are encouraged to make an appointment early in their university experience to examine the expectations they may have for a degree program, major, and possible occupations. Computer assessments, career information, and information interviewing are used to supplement counseling appointments. A counseling appointment is also recommended to find internships, review cover letter and resume drafts, identify job search strategies and resources, apply to graduate or professional school, or to prepare for interviews.

Career Information. Students can explore careers by viewing over 3,000 online video interviews from professionals in a wide variety of careers and browsing the Careers/Majors section of the CDO website. Books, magazines, pamphlets, articles, and DVDs about careers are organized for easy browsing on shelves in the resource area. They contain information about work tasks, desired academic background, personal qualities and experiences, salary, hiring organizations, and the job market. These materials are also available for sign-out.

Internships. An internship is a learning experience gained by working in a position related to a student's major or career field. Internships provide hands-on experience that can confirm or reject tentative career choices; help to develop useful career building skills; show potential employers evidence of the ability to apply skills in a related work environment and make students more attractive candidates for employment or graduate school.

Internships are available in a variety of disciplines, including: art and photography, biology and environmental science, business and accounting, chemistry, communication, computer and information sciences, counseling, law enforcement and legal offices, journalism and public relations, health administration, music industry, sound recording technology, sport management, exercise science, and theatre arts.

Credit bearing internships are open to any registered student who has completed at least 30 credit hours and has a minimum GPA of 2.0. Internships may be in a student's major or in another department. Students may earn up to 15 hours of internship credit per semester and may count a maximum of 24 hours of internship credit toward the 120 hours required for an undergraduate degree. Students must complete a Learning Contract and have it approved by their faculty sponsor, internship site supervisor and the Internship Coordinator in the CDO. In addition, they must register for the appropriate course and pay the registration fee to receive credit.

The Internships section of the CDO website lists a wide variety of internship opportunities, a searchable database of internships previously held by Fredonia students, and current internship policies and procedures. Career counselors can help students find internship opportunities related to their interests and goals, as well as create an effective resume and cover letter.

Job Search Information. Online job search videos, employer directories, resources and links are available in the Looking for a Job section of the CDO website. Books and DVDs about how to look for a job, interviewing, writing cover letters and resumes, as well as sample resumes, are available on the job search information shelves in the resource area.

Job Vacancy Listings. Quest is a web-based system that each enrolled student has a personal account in. It provides access to internship, summer, and professional job listings; an employer database; a mentor database of Fredonia alumni; and a listing of special events. Search agents provide e-mail alerts of job and internship opportunities. Additional job databases, directories and resources are available with over four million organizations represented.

Resumes/Cover Letters. Assistance is available in developing resumes and writing cover letters, including individual appointments with career counselors, access to sample resumes, handouts, and online resources.

Practice Interviews. Students can practice interview skills by scheduling a videotaped or mock interview. With InterviewStream, students with Internet access and a webcam can also practice and record interviews whenever they want and email these to counselors for review. Suggestions for improving interviewing skills will be discussed.

Graduate School. Assistance is available in finding and applying to graduate and professional school. Directories of graduate programs, books on financial aid and how to write an application essay, as well as test preparation software, books and videos for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT and PCAT are available in the resource area.

Workshops. The counselors make presentations to student clubs, classes and residence halls about career options, internships, summer jobs, resume writing, job searching, interviewing, and graduate or professional school application issues.

Career Resource Area. The library consists of books, videotapes, magazines and brochures about a variety of career fields; directories of potential employers, internships and graduate school programs; and how to write resumes, cover letters, find a job and interview successfully. A series of handouts on career choice, internships, job search, graduate school, resumes and cover letters is also available.

Recruitment Events. Each year organizations visit the campus to interview students about to complete a degree program. In addition, students can participate in special annual programs such as Teacher Recruitment Days, Job & Internship Expo, and Jobsapalooza. Professionals also visit the campus to make presentations about career fields, internship programs and job opportunities through the CDO Spotlight program.

Credentials File. Students about to complete a degree program are eligible to establish a file which includes a resume, course list, transcript, and letters of recommendation to be sent to prospective employers or graduate admissions personnel to support an application.

Follow-up Study on Graduates. Each year the office contacts the graduates of the university to determine their plans for the first year after graduation. Members of each class choose to accept diverse opportunities for further study and employment. Education organizations are the most frequent first-time employers of Fredonia graduates, followed by business and industry; non-profit/social service; government; media or arts organizations and self-employment.

Graduates are pursuing advanced degrees in science, law, business, education, music, medicine, and a variety of other disciplines at graduate institutions across the country, many widely recognized for their excellence. Information about the first year plans of recent graduates is available on request from the Career Development Office.

Contact Information. The Career Development Office is located on the second floor of Gregory Hall. Appointments can be made online from the CDO website at http://www.fredonia.edu/cdo/, in person at the reception desk or by phone at (716) 673-3327. The CDO can also be contacted via fax at (716) 673-3593 or by email at careers@fredonia.edu.