College grads fighting tough job market

CBS News recently ran a feature story about Kelsy Nova, a recent communications graduate from New York University, about the tough time she was having finding a job. Kelsy isn't alone. College graduates this year are stepping into one of the worst job markets in decades. The segment on CBS News was part of a series called "the Job Squad" designed to help unemployed people find work. CBS recruited a team of coaches for Kelsy that included a public relations executive, a fashion model and a university career center official. Fortunately for Kelsy, her story had a happy ending; she found a job.

The tips these coaches gave Kelsy are tips all students can benefit from. The video is only about six minutes so I would encourage you to view it, especially if you are a senior or recent graduate.

Don't forget too that the ACU Career Center is here to help you. You can e-mail them at careers@acu.edu.

Membership has its privileges

I gave a talk recently to the Ad/PR Club at ACU about some of the resources available to students for searching for internships and entry-level jobs. One suggestion worth repeating is that all JMC majors should belong to one or more of the pre-professional groups promoted by the department. This includes the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the Broadcast Education Association (BEA). Most of these pre-professional organizations offer internship and job boards as well as more general career advice like how to write resumes and cover letters.

A recent scan of the PRSSA Web site (www.prssa.org) showed employers have posted 20 internship leads during the past 30 days. If you're a public relations student looking for a top internship, this should get your adrenalin pumping. Access this site and you've hit the mother lode of timely PR internship leads.

Surprisingly, few students at the recent Ad/PR Club had ever accessed the job info on the PRSSA or AAF Web sites, even though they were dues-paying members. What about you? If you are not in a pre-professional JMC organization, you need to join. Already a member? Take some time to get familiar with your organization's Web site and what it offers in terms of career advice and promising leads for internships and jobs. Membership really does have its privileges.