by Crissy Iglesias, Graduate Assistant for the College Team.
Fall is here! You can feel it in the air: the cooler breezes, the colorful leaves swirling down around you, and possibly the most obvious sign: the number of seniors finding themselves anxious about OCR. When it seems like everyone around you is pursuing OCR, it can be hard to step back and gain some perspective. As a counselor new to Career Services, I, too, have noticed the student emphasis on OCR during Fall semester. However, I’m also armed with some helpful stats to illustrate that OCR doesn’t have to be the single determinant of success in your job search.
As you’ll see from our 2012 Career Plans survey report, only 28% of seniors found their jobs through OCR. Even more tellingly, 45% of seniors received their full time job offers from January through August (another 3% received their offers from September through November). So if you’re feeling behind on interviewing or receiving an offer, please don’t worry! Statistic don’t lie: you’re in the majority.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that typically, OCR attracts a very specific type of employer: usually those from the financial services and consulting industries. These industries know their recruiting needs very early on because they follow a set timetable of 1-2 years for graduates to stay in their entry level positions. For full-time positions, most other industries don’t start recruiting until the beginning of the Spring semester. If consulting and financial services aren’t your thing, then you can relax a little bit. However, it’s still important to be on top of your job search in Fall semester, but you can pursue this in other ways. Research companies or organizations that you’re interested in and try to learn more about what they look for in candidates. Network through conducting informational interviews or attending company information sessions. Take advantage of our resume and cover letter reviewing services, schedule an appointment to discuss your job search, or you can even drop by for a shorter walk-in appointment. We’re here to help!
So what happens if you’re interested in consulting or financial services and you didn’t receive an interview, or perhaps didn’t receive as many interviews as you hoped for? If you’re really interested in a company, don’t forget about the chance for an add-on interview. Add-on interviews are the opportunity for a student to be added to a recruiter’s interview schedule in the event of any openings or cancellations. Particularly as the season progresses and students begin to accept offers, add-ons become an even more important opportunity. If you’re reasonably qualified for the position and passionate about the job, why not give it a shot? To apply for an add-on interview, fill out a “Recruiter Add-On Interview Request Form” (available from the main OCR web page) for each position that interests you, attach it to your resume, and deposit it in the “Recruiter Add-On Interview Request Box” outside of Career Services. Collection hours are 9:15 am – 2:00 pm one working day before the interview date. Your add-on request(s) will be given to the recruiter(s) when they check in to OCR the following morning. The recruiter(s) will review the resumes at their convenience and will inform the OCR receptionist should they wish to interview you. However, we request that you not call to check on the status of your add-on request. The OCR receptionist will contact students whose requests have been accepted. Students whose requests are not accepted will not be contacted.
We at Career Services wish you the best of luck with the beginning of your Fall semester job search, whether it involves OCR or another path!