<p>My daughter will graduate in May and is in the process of looking for a full time job. According to her, the career center at her school really is of no help. With the economy the way it is, would it be worth while to hire someone that has more experience with the job market to help her out? I am not at all familiar with headhunters, etc. and have no idea if there is a type of person that can help out the new graduates in entry level jobs.</p>
<p>PR and/or marketing is where my daughter would like to work. She has not ask me for any help, and for all I know she would not be interested in hiring someone; I just wanted to get information so when she was home for the holidays I might be somewhat knowledgeable.</p>
<p>The job search is not limited to one city which I think will help her out, but at the same time might make the search harder. Any suggestions would be appreciated. As my husband and I have not looked for a job in over 25 years, our help would not be helpful!</p>
<p>Our son found the on-campus Career Fair very fruitful, which could be the case even if the staff at the Career Center is not helpful in other ways.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that she go online to her school’s Alumni Directory, if she hasn’t already. Parents could do this for their own alma maters as well. Identify alums in the correct field, or desired companies. Send a very brief email, with a subject line such as “Question from a fellow xxx alum.” She can ask for informational interviews with these people or ask them to provide a contact person in University Relations or a hiring manager in her field. We found that responses were immediate and really desirous of helping.</p>
<p>We found these approaches to also be fruitful, if she hasn’t tried them.</p>
<p>IDK re a consultant. But I can see why you would want to at least consider it.</p>
<p>Another option is to join LinkedIn and see if her school has an alumni group. It is another way to reach them. Don’t know about a consultant. Using your own network and friends and family usually is the best way. .</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with using a consultant or headhunter, as long as your daughter doesn’t have to pay anything for their services.</p>
<p>I was recruited by a headhunter after one year of college and it worked out well after that. It was during a time when the economy was doing poorly too. In addition to looking to see what the career center has, also check to see if the department gets job offers sent to individual professors. Our son’s department gets these and the professors forward them onto departmental email accounts (different from university email accounts).</p>
<p>Here is another idea. My H found a job through a collegue and friend. This friend graduated from a different school, and had access to job postings there. She knew what my H was looking for, and he showed him the job listings through her school. He sent a resume, was called for an interview, and ended up working for them for over 10 years.</p>
<p>jmmom-The only think helpful the career office does is give the students a list of alumni in her field and their contact information. Being as all students in her major interest get the same list, she wants to do a bit more searching. She is also at a very small LAC, so the resources are limited.</p>
<p>When she was looking for an internship in our home city, she went online with one of the local colleges and found a list of internships available; I don’t know if jobs will be as easy to view, but she will try. Because she is looking in cities other than home, our contacts will not be as helpful; of course you never know if a friend of a friend of a friend might know something! Whenever someone ask what she is doing after graduation, I always end with, “Might you know someone looking?” The big problem is, I really don’t know what she is looking for exactly!</p>
<p>If she decided to look into professional help in locating job openings, where would she go? I know of headhunters for the upper level jobs, but who helps with entry level jobs?</p>