The “Dare to Be Prepared: For Today’s Job Market” seminar, hosted by the FAU Career
Development Center, taught graduates and alumni that both a computer science major and a dietician can be hired by the FBI.
Held on the Boca campus on May 11, the daylong event offered information and tips on how to land jobs and smoothly transition from college life to the workforce.
“Who’s Hiring” was the first segment of the seminar, which discussed the hiring needs of most companies and industries. Kathleen Cymbaluk, an FBI agent, was first to speak and told the audience about future job availability at the FBI.
“We’re going to hire 2,000 to 2,800 people in this year,” explained Cymbaluk.
Cymbaluk was a clinical dietician prior to becoming an agent and explained that the FBI
doesn’t hire law enforcement personnel exclusively.
She uses her experience as a dietician to investigate fraud in the health care industry.
Trolina Thomas, who works for the Human Resources Department of State Farm Insurance, explained the hiring dilemma the company is facing.
“Our corporate office has given us a list of openings of … what they call ‘hard-to-fill’ because they can’t find the students,” said Thomas. “What makes them difficult to fill is that [there are] some positions that people don’t look to State Farm Insurance for. … Generally, if you’re looking for [information-technology work], you’re looking at the big IT firms … [without] realizing that State Farm has the largest IT department — second only to the U.S. government.”
Victor Rota, a recruiter for Target, explained the importance of meeting as many employers as possible and remaining in contact with them, a tool known as “networking.”
During the seminar, Steve McCarty, vice president of Human Resources at Enterprise Rent- A-Car, discussed how to transition from college life to the workplace.
“Goal-setting, time management, negotiating the politics, conflict resolution [and] drafting
specific proposals,” explained McCarty, are what grads need to work on to better themselves and further their careers.
The final event of “Dare to Be Prepared” was a critique of résumés by the various participating employers.
According to the panel, common résumé errors among students include unnecessary content, spelling mistakes and a lack of community outreach.
“[Students] add two or three pages to their résumé,” said Ashley Linnell of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. “They put a lot of computer skills, [like] Excel, Word or [Microsoft]
Internet Explorer.”
According to Linnell, these skills are not necessary on résumés unless the employer is specifically looking for them.
Students who attended the event found it useful.
“It was great!” exclaimed recent graduate Richard Cowen. “I’m glad I came today; it was incredibly informative.”
FAU’s Career Development Center hosts events like “Dare to Be Prepared” throughout the year. They also offer tools for job-seeking students, such as OWL CareerLinks, an online database that allows students to search jobs that are posted daily in the system. Daily résumé critiques and mock job interviews are also available to students looking to hone their interviewing skills.
For more information on FAU’s Career Development Center, visit www.fau.edu/cdc.
To access OWL CareerLink, visit www.myinterfase.com/fau/student.
