The Career Center has been designing new programs and seminars to educate students on job opportunities and the skills needed to find a good job.

“There are many new programs being put together for next semester,” Stefanie Zizzo, associate director for the Career Center, said.

A major program, “Yes There Are Jobs: Employees Tell All,” is scheduled for next semester. The program will consist of a panel of employees from various companies that have come together to discuss the different types of opportunities available in their respective industries. It will take place in Council Hall from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on April 5.

Job fairs are also held throughout the year to allow students to understand and meet prospective employers in their field. This also gives students the opportunity to learn about different companies.

“Many employers have come back and said the students need to do more research on the company,” Zizzo said. “They have all the other requirements but they do not have the proper knowledge of the organization they want to be a part of.”

According to Zizzo, the Career Center and the various seminars it sponsors are designed to help students understand the job market and what the companies are seeking in their new employees.

Current workshops sponsored by the Career Center include a cover letter workshop, a seminar on networking, a resume writing workshop and an interviewing workshop. These programs are put together to assist the student in making the best possible presentation when meeting an employer.

“The programs are great and the advisers are very helpful,” senior Denise Gajadhar said. “I think that the Career Center does a good job with helping students and it tries to cover all aspects from freshmen to seniors.”

In comparison, St. John’s is on the same level as other universities in helping its students find jobs.

“We are on par with other schools in the area,” Zizzo said. “We have the same types of oppurtunities and programs.”

“Our greatest strength however is individual advisement. The workshops are important but we are able to sit with the individual students and work out a specific career plan, because each student has different goals and abilities.”

The school also uses other methods for job searching. Monster Trak is a large part of the Career Center’s resources.

“Registering with Monster Trak is important,” Zizzo said. “It gives the student direct information via e-mail to career opportunities.” The link for Monster Trak can be found through the Career Center website, www.stjohns.edu/careercenter.

A major challenge for the center however, has been to get prospective communications employers to come to the various job fairs. “I am a communications major,” senior Debra McGoldrick said, “the last job fair I intended was mainly geared toward finance and business majors.”

The Career Center has been working to bring communications companies to St. John’s. However, many times they are not looking for employees.

“Many of the communications and other related fields do not need to come to the school because they receive resumes everyday. Also many times their slots need to be filled right away and not after the student has graduated,” Zizzo explained.

“The companies that do come and recruit are mainly finance and business related companies because they know that they will need a space filled within the next six months.”

According to Zizzo, students should find an internship and keep networking. “They need to go out there and meet people in their field. Statistically networking is the best method in finding a job.”

Internships give student an opportunity to understand the company that they are working for, she added.