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Volume 1, Issue 4 (April 2003)

Brave Opportunities
Where Today's Braves Look to the Future
Volume 1, Issue 4
April 2003

In This Issue...
Career of the Month: Astronaut
From the Director's Desk
Cool Jobs Listing
Service Review: eRecruiting Online
In Every Issue: Career Bloopers, Job Search Tips, Ask Zelda, Little Known Facts, & Upcoming Events


Career Center Info:
Location
University Center, Ste. 210, 521-6270, cs@uncp.edu, www.uncp.edu/cs

Hours
8 a.m. - 5 p.m., M-F (Tues. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.)
Appointments may be made for Career Consulting, DISCOVER, Resume Critiques, Mock Interviews, etc.

Staff
Dr. Denisha Sanders, Director
Lori Bumgarner, M.Ed., Assistant Director
Debbie Jacobs, Student Services Assistant

Which Closet Do You Keep Your Monster In?
You've seen all the commercials, you recognize the mascot, and you may have even posted your resume on the website. But how familiar are you with Monster.com's college-based site, MonsterTRAK.com? Probably not very familiar.

Many students who come into the Career Services Center say they have posted their resume on Monster.com, but have not gotten any response and they don't understand why. There is a simple explanation for this common concern.

The Monster.com website is a place where anyone and everyone can post their resume. A college student's resume is online next to a seasoned professional's resume, which includes 5 to 10 years of experience. When employers utilize the Monster.com resume postings, they are typically looking to fill a position that requires a certain level of experience, and therefore are seeking applicants with the same amount of experience. When they use the experience level criteria in their resume search, a typical college student's resume will not be included in the search's results because it does not match the experience criteria.

Luckily, Monster.com realized the need to make the search for jobs and job candidates easier on both college students and employers. As a result, Monster partnered with what used to be known as JobTrak, an online recruiting system just for college students. This new system is called MonsterTRAK (separate from Monster.com). The employers who search this system for candidates are looking only to fill entry-level positions, which means your resume is more likely to be found and viewed by someone who wants to hire you!

So next time, try posting your resume on MonsterTRAK.com and watch the number of responses to your resume soar! (You can find a link to MonsterTRAK.com on our website.)
Lori Bumgarner

Conducting Your Search Online? Read This!
The Internet can be an extremely useful tool in your job search. Millions of jobs are advertised online and you have the choice of posting your resume to a variety of job sites for hiring professionals to view. However, with all the information available on the Internet, this process can be overwhelming. The trick is to learn how to narrow down your search (for instance by using the MonsterTRAK site described in the previous article).

There are several specific sites and search engines recommended by our office to help you in narrowing down job information:
UNCP Career Services, www.uncp.edu/cs (click on the links for Internet Searches: Job Search Engines and Employer Services)
eRecruiting.com
MonsterTRAK.com
Current Jobs for College Graduates in Business, Mass Communications, and Liberal Arts www.graduatejobs.com (contact CSC for password)
Company homepages
Professional association homepages
Keep in mind, however, that only 5% of successful job seekers found their new positions through online job boards. Remember to also utilize tried and true job search techniques such as networking (60% of the workforce found employment through this most successful technique).
Lori Bumgarner

From the Director's Desk
Technology in general, and the Internet in particular, has become an important tool in every aspect of career planning from choosing a major to searching for an internship or a full-time job. In this issue of Brave Opportunities you will find information about many of the technological tools that are available through the Career Center to help you with your career planning.

The focus of this article is DISCOVER, a comprehensive software program designed to assist you in four primary phases of your career planning. DISCOVER has four "halls," each one focusing on one of these four phases.

Hall 1: The first hall of DISCOVER, Learn About Self & Career, guides you through the process of identifying career areas that match your interests, skills, and values related to work. By answering questions about your preferences, you will create a profile that is compared to the profiles of occupations to find possible matches.

Hall 2: In the second hall, Choose Occupations, you will find detailed information on hundreds of careers and occupations. This information includes a description of the work, estimated salary, job outlook, representative employers, related occupations, and contact information for professional organizations related to the career field. (See the Career of the Month Profile in this issue for an example of the career information available in DISCOVER.)

Hall 3: The third hall, Plan My Education, provides information on majors, programs at other colleges and universities, and options for financial aid. In this hall you are able to search for the information most relevant to you and your needs using several variables.

Hall 4: The focus of the fourth hall is Plan for Work. This hall presents information on preparing for a job search, identifying the type of work you want to do, and developing job search tools such as resumes, cover letters, and interviewing skills.
DISCOVER is one of the most popular tools used in choosing a major or a career and learning about different careers. It is available to you free as a UNCP student or alumnus.
Contact the Career Services Center for more information or to schedule an appointment to use the DISCOVER program.
Denisha Sanders

Career of the Month: Astronaut
Astronauts attempt to extend our knowledge of space and our adaptation to it, both physiologically and psychologically, by conducting operations and experimental investigations in space. Pilot astronauts serve as both Space Shuttle commanders and pilots. The commander is responsible for the vehicle, crew, mission success, and flight safety. Pilots assist the commander in controlling and operating the vehicle. Mission specialist astronauts have overall responsibility for coordinating crew activities, consumable usage, and experiment and payload operations.

Pilot astronaut candidates must have a bachelor's degree in engineering, physical or biological science, or mathematics. In addition, they must have a minimum of 1,000 hours logged as a jet pilot-in-command. Mission specialist astronaut candidates must have the same degree requirements as a pilot astronaut, along with a minimum of three years of related, progressively responsible professional experience. Both types of candidates must pass a physical examination and be a US citizen.

Quick Facts:
Astronauts indicate that they like the prestige of their jobs, being a part of history, venturing into unknown areas, and being part of a scientific team. However, they say the drawbacks of the job include facing potential dangers, the rigorous training, extreme psychological pressure, and the cramped quarters in the spacecraft.
Related Majors:
Applied Mathematics
Biological and Physical Sciences
Astronomy
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology
Biology (General)
Physics
Engineering (Aerospace/Aeronaut/Astronaut)
Transportation/Air Transportation

Salary: The Economic Research Institute reported that the average starting salary was $45,500 ($22.00 per hour) in 2001 for an Astronaut. The average salary was $73,500 ($35.25 per hour) for all workers in this field and $113,500 ($54.50 per hour) for those with experience.

Salaries for civilian astronaut candidates are based on the Federal Government General Schedule pay scales for grades GS-11 through GS-14, $40,000 per year or $19.25 per hour to $88,000 per year or $42.25 per hour in 2001-02, according to their academic achievement and experience. NASA accepts applications on a continuous basis. Internship opportunities are also available.

For more information about an astronaut, you may write to the following:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 400 Maryland Avenue, Washington, DC 20025, http://www.nasa.gov
Source: DISCOVER
Check in next month as we profile homeland security careers.
To learn about thousands of other occupations, come by Career Services to use the DISCOVER program.

This Month's Cool Jobs Listing
Online Activism Coordinator
E-Publisher
Mountain Bike Tech
Yellowstone Wrangler
Women in Archeology Interns
Archeology Crew Members
Black History Resource Intern
Diver
Police & Courts Reporter
Special Agent
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry Writers
Sports Photographer
Wild Animal Care Program Assistant
Zoo Camp Curriculum Assistant
Athletes in Service Americorps Program Position
Full job descriptions and application procedures are listed exclusively in the Career Services Center Library

The "Hush-n-Tell It" Service Review: e-Recruiting Online
During my nine years in the UNCP Career Services Center, I have found that on average two out of five visitors walk though the door and say, "Can you get me a job?" Unfortunately, a common misconception among students is that the Career Services Center will automatically have a job waiting for you when you want one. Truth is, although we can't get a job for you, we're here to give students and alumni the resources to find the job of their dreams. These resources include an online recruiting system you can use to search for jobs.

Our web-based service, eRecruiting, has been up and running since August 2002. This service can be accessed via our website at www.uncp.edu/cs and allows you to search for jobs, upload your resume, and schedule an interview all from the convenience of any accessible computer.
To register, simply click on the eRecruiting link. Click Create a New Account on the left side of the screen (you will be prompted for an access token that can be obtained by contacting the Career Services Center). You will need to key in basic information about yourself. Once this is done, click Jobs/Internships on the bar at the top of the page. You can type in specific search criteria to view and print the job(s) of your choice.

When posting your resume, you must first have it critiqued by our staff. Once you gain approval and have posted your resume, you must then publish it to a resume book for employers to view online.
Don't forget to memorize your username and password so that you can visit the site again. The staff of the Career Services Center wishes you much luck with your job search, and hopes you will let us know if you have questions regarding this web-based service.
Debbie Jacobs

Brave Ideas

"I can't believe you did that!" and Other Career Mishaps
Resume Blooper: "Received plague for Salesperson of the Year"
It just goes to show that you can never rely solely on Spell check!

Dear Zelda,
Should I include my email address on my resume?
Signed: Electronically Challenged

Dear Electronically Challenged,
Yes, you should always include your email address on your resume with your other contact information. This is important so that employers can reach you quickly when they have a job opening or a question for you. However, be careful what email address you use. If you have an address with a "cutesy" or somewhat offensive username, you will need to either change it or create another screen name or email account that is more professional. You will also want to be sure you have a professional-sounding outgoing message on your voicemail or answering machine to greet employers when they call you for interviews.
Zelda
Got a question about your job search? Ask Zelda at cs@uncp.edu.

Upcoming Events
Senior Brunch, Sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, Wednesday, April 2nd, 10 a.m., University Center Lounge
Workshops:
Interview Skills and Resume Writing, Wednesday, April 16th, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m., Career Services Center Library

This Month's Job Search Tip:
When emailing your resume to an employer, first email it to yourself to see how it will look when the recipient opens it. If the formatting is off or the text is now "gibberish", go back and make the appropriate adjustments.

ONE Walk-in Resume Critique
Redeem at the Career Services Center
No appointment necessary with coupon
Hours: Monday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Tuesday 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Wednesday - Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Don't wait until right before graduation! Expires April 30th, 2003

Next Issue:
From Backpack to Briefcase: Making the Transition from College to the World of Work
Find out how your friends will be spending their summer!
Services for Alumni
Preview of Fall 2003 Events

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