For some, the approaching summer may stretch ahead like a long, lazy afternoon. But for graduating seniors without any solid job prospects, this can be a pretty scary time.
To help students plan careers and explore internship possibilities, the Career Center at SF State will be open all summer.
According to Mariko Todd, a consultant for the Career Center, students graduating this semester are granted a three month grace period to use the resources available at the Career Center. Resources include walk-in career counseling, use of the extensive career library for research purposes, resume referral and access to the job and career telephone information line, which offers up-to-date listings for full or part-time work, internships, networking events and degree-required career work.
"A lot of students find themselves graduating and come to us desperate and looking for a job," Todd said. "We think that the process of crafting a first-rate strategy for getting a career going should begin long before graduation."
Todd said that the summer is a perfect time to visit the Career Center because there are fewer people using it and therefore less competition to speak to one of the career counselors.
"We are here year-round to aid students in plotting a pathway to their careers, and summer is an opportune time for students to look into internships also," Todd said. "It seems a lot of students just spend their summer working at jobs that aren't focused or are irrelevant to their future."
Ralph Silverman is one of the students that has frequently benefitted from the Career Center's services and he says that he feels not enough people really use it.
"I have worked for Hornblower Yachts and have had another internship through the Career Center," Silverman said. "I think this is a great service and more people should take advantage of it."
Todd also noted that the Career Center is working on developing new recruiting techniques with businesses so that more will visit to give on-campus interviews next year. She also said that starting in the fall semester, a new service will be tested that will provide students with temporary paid positions that will act as mini-internships.
"We are going to put students on projects in the community that will enable them to get hands-on experience and get paid," Todd said. If the program seems feasible, it will become a permanent service offered by the Career Center in 1996.
The summer hours will be Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Career Center is located in the Administration Building room 211.