MStazzone
MStazzone@theimpactnews.com
News
Before getting a video editing job at VDOWorks in Pleasantville, NY Christina Iacopelli, a Mercy College Alum with an Animation degree was still living at home with her sister Amanda searching on Craigslist three days a week.
“I would search anything that had my career in it along with the software I was taught. I always went on Craigslist, so it came naturally to me,” Iacopelli said.
Christina and many other college and graduate students have chosen to search for jobs through social media sites.
Between the years of 2008 to 2012 the website Jobvite, a research and recruiting site that is the plaform for social websites, conducted surveys that showed how companies recruited their workers. In 2008 78 percent of companies used social networks to find candidates. Jobvite’s 2012 survey stated that, “because social recruiting has become an essential resource in the war for talent competition is fiercer than ever-89 percent of companies report plans to increase hiring this year.”
The Impact tried to get in touch with Jobvite, but no word from them yet.
Like Iacopelli who uses Craigslist to search for jobs, Mercy students like Brian Van Sant, a clinic Lab Science major uses it for job postings and enjoys going on the site. Craigslist lunch in 1995 by Craig Newmark. Craigslist sells mostly classified advertisements from any business, local store, or person.
Another online job seeking program is located directly on campus at Mercy College. Mercy Mavericks Career Services helps current and pervious students improve their resumes, connect with successful leaders in big companies, and have companies post jobs through the Mercy Careers’ online portal. Director of Career Services, Jill Hart said, “Our program is really built around ‘career readiness for students, the PACT Program, a PACT mentor has a career as a portion of what they do with their students.They support their student in all areas. [We] The Career Service Center works with employers.” Students can call one of the career service members or do walk-ins anytime. Hart does recommend all student in any grade should start early. Students can go to the Student Life part of Mercy’s website and the link toward Mercy Careers is located on the site. Student have to register to get support from their advisor and see what jobs or internships are posted. Their are career services at the Manhattan and Bronx campuses.
Right now there are 9,000 students registered.
Hart states that alumni who registered when they were current students can stay on Mercy Mavericks Careers until they get a job or even for the rest of their life.
Paul Pereira was a student at Mercy College. He studied Graphic Design & Animation. He was a registered on Mercy Careers, but never got hired. “I never was taught the software for programming. Website job searching is pretty much a last resort for companies, you really have to have connections to get in.” Hart says, “Every day we have students coming to Career Services. The Lunch with a Leader Program was started 2 in a half years ago. We bring in leaders in business, local community, government people who have become very successful in their field. Typically, we have lunch with them and it’s about 10-12 students in one of the Verrazano Hall room, and the person who is successful shares with the students things they did, decisions they made, places they have been.”
Lunch with a Leader is currently run in all three campuses.
Catherine Cioffi,Associate Director, Public Relations at Mercy College added, “The great part about this is that, say I’m a student at Mercy, and I want to go into finance, but nobody in my family has gone into finance. I have the opportunity to sit down with some one for over a month and ask them ‘how did you do this, how did you get there?’ Cioffi states that it’s a great opportunity for a student who doesn’t have the resources or advice back at home.
When it comes to networking and searching for internships/jobs though the Career Service Center and social media sites, Hart says to do both. “I would start with Career Mavericks, the reason is that employers come to advertise their openings. On a public job board they are just putting their jobs up there for anybody anywhere. When they come to Mercy College they are coming to recruit our students.” Hart does state that students should go to other places as well, like the public job board. “We encourage students to look all over the place, to create a plan.”
In a 2005 Pew Research Center report, by 2014 the use of the Internet will increase the size of people’s social network…this wide range of sources from which will verify information about job opportunities, personal services, common interest and products.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2005/The-Future-of-the-Internet/05-Predictions-and-Reactions/02-Social-networks.aspx
To make an appointment with any Career Service directors, go to the Mercy Careers link on Mercy College website.