ACU offers many great career resources for its students. Throughout this semester, our office has provided the following in the way of assistance: two job fairs, at least 15 workshops on career readiness (resume writing, job search, interviewing, etc.,) 16 employers interviewing on campus and 500 full-time jobs posted on ACU CareerLink. This is in addition to the assistance students can receive through phone calls, e-mails and office visits. You have to talk to the Career and Academic Development staff to put the system to work for you. ACU CareerLink is an efficient tool, but it is not our office. To receive access to all other resources, students must let us know that they need it.

An important element that must be understood is the misconception that “other schools work on placing students in jobs.” This is incorrect. There is no such thing as a “placement office” on university campuses. Most schools provide resources for students that assist them in conducting a job search, but no school “places” students. Students must take responsibility for their own job search.

If Dallas May had asked for our assistance, I would have started by letting him know that at least 80 percent of jobs are obtained through networking. This means that when he saw the job opportunity with Dell on ACU CareerLink, he should be excited about having a contact person, regardless of whether or not the actual job posting appealed to him. I would have encouraged him to call the Dell contact person and ask for other opportunities at Dell. I would have also reminded him that he needs to upload his resume to his ACU CareerLink account if he wants employers to contact him. There are three contacts in the Employer Directory for Dell (people who have contacted ACU to recruit our students) and three additional Dell contacts in the Alumni Profiles Directory. These alumni have volunteered to assist ACU students with career networking. This is just an example with Dell. I would be happy to help anyone with research and networking on any other employer.

Finally, our office does not only assist COBA students. Most graduates, regardless of degree, will end up working in some type of business (several alumni with physics backgrounds are working at places like Raytheon, Eastman Chemical, Lockheed Martin, etc.). Therefore, you will see many “businesses” listed in ACU CareerLink. That’s just reality. However, if the postings you see on CareerLink do not pertain to what you want to do, call me. Let me know that you need help. The future is yours for the taking. Reach out and take hold of it.

Brandon Tharp
ACU Employer Relations Specialist