Boston University students gathered at the Howard Gotileb Archival Research Center Wednesday to learn how to better situate themselves to find a job after graduation.
About 60 attendees got interview tips, learned how to better craft resumes and had the opportunity to participate in one-on-one mock interviews and resume reviews.
HGARC Director Vita Paladino said she was eager to organize the workshop because of the poor economy. She said the attendees’ age would be an advantage to them in the job market.
‘Companies are willing to take the risk of hiring younger employees because they require less money, are eager to learn and are malleable for training,’ Paladino said.
Professional interview coach Claudyne Wilder said job applicants must make a conscious effort to appear confident and professional.
‘The most valuable lesson I want to offer students today is to convince them they have to prepare. People think they can show up and just wing it,’ Wilder said.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Fatma Kibwana said Wilder’s interview advice was valuable.
‘The tips with Claudyne’ [Wilder] were more helpful because she broke down the interview process to help you anticipate what to expect,’ Kibwana said.
CAS senior Christina Lonardo said although some of Wilder’s advice was common, the workshop organized the information into a packet that attendees could take home and use as reference material.
‘I know that everyone says you have to prepare, but she definitely pointed out the importance and helped us figure out exactly what we wanted to say,’ Lonardo said.
Recent College of Communication graduate Allison Moore said the workshop was more helpful than other career events she had attended because of the individual mock interviews. She said other events were solely focused on networking.
‘The mock interview was great because even though my interview was not in my field, she gave me advice to be more specific and responsive,’ Moore said.
Moore said although the workshop was helpful, she is still anxious about her job prospects in a troubled economy.
‘I think everyone is nervous about graduating now because we’re facing an economy that is so hard,’ she said. ‘It might not work out quite the way we thought.’
HGARC archivist Diane Gallagher said she was disappointed by the low turnout.
‘I’m stunned by the low number of students that came to take advantage of an opportunity that was spoon-fed to them,’ she said. ‘I call it a missed opportunity.’
HGARC Associate Director Sean Noel said he would not call the turnout a disappointment because everyone who came received help and walked out with new information.
‘Looking at what people took away from the event is more important than the amount of people that showed up,’ Noel said.
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