EmploymentDigest.net

Staffing services can be job seeker’s answe

Posted on 15. Mar, 2005 by Bill in Employment News

Staffing services can be job seeker’s answer

Finding a job can be tough, especially if you’ve spent the past three or four years focusing on college and haven’t had an opportunity to make business contacts.

There is a solution. Staffing agencies can nurture college students and help them land a job that could launch their career. They can also find them part-time positions to gain real-world experience and make their resume more attractive.

“When you respond to a blind ad, you have no idea who you’re applying to,” said Vikki Flint, president of Flint Complete Personnel Services in South Bend. “But we know the information already. We know everything from the (office) environment, to the type of people they have in mind, how to dress for the interview, to how far you’re going to have to travel for that job.”

Flint Personnel recently hosted a “coffee and conversation” session with career personnel from area colleges to discuss how temporary staffing agencies can assist college students.

At no cost to the student, Flint will work up a profile, prepare a resume and evaluate and update a student’s computer skills on various software such as Access and Excel. Flint said she starts evaluating a student the minute they walk through the door; their arrival time is noted as an initial way to determine “on time” skills.

Flint Personnel already works with AM General, Press-Ganey, the City of South Bend, Mishawaka Federal Bank, Corporate Services and major hospitals in the area to place graduates and undergraduates in administrative, finance or professional posts. On occasion, those companies even offer college internships, she said.

“We will hand-hold your students through this (job-finding) process,” Flint told the college job representatives.

College students are often a good fit for temporary jobs because an employer may be interested only in part-timers, on-call staffers, or people to fill jobs for only three or four months out of the year, she said.

Christine Richardson, Indiana University South Bend director of career services, said many companies are now looking for ways to “try out” employees before hiring them.

“That’s a good step for students, too, because that’s a way for them to try out the company,” Richardson said. “Employment is a two-way street and it’s better, sometimes, if there can be less of a commitment on both ends.”

LoriAnn Edinborough, program director of Indiana Careers at the University of Notre Dame, said students at the university are advised to try a variety of ways to look for jobs after graduation.

Staffing services, Edinborough said, are part of a multi-faceted approach that also includes networking with alumni, Internet job searching and interviews with employers who visit campus. Indiana Careers’ purpose is to keep new graduates in the state to further prevent Indiana’s so-called “brain drain.”

Sheryl Decker, director of career services for Brown Mackie College, said even a temporary, part-time office job is valuable for a student to gain experience in their area of study.

Tim Ryan, director of the Lilly Career Development Center at Holy Cross College, said that internships are especially important at the college now since they are required to earn a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.

“I can see where (staffing services) might work out well for a student,” Ryan said. It would be part of a multi-pronged approach to job-hunting that also includes networking and targeted mailing, he said.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Tags: Employment News