College Grads Face 5 Percent Rise in Unemployment

If you are a college student heading back to college, it is a good time to start preparing for interviews on your college campus this spring.

Chances are the career center at your college has already scheduled several big recruiting events to help you meet with employers right on campus. Your goal should be to use these events to learn more about these companies and the jobs and internships they offer.

The recent Job Outlook 2008 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that employers expect to increase college hiring by 16 % this year. This is actually the fifth consecutive year where employers have projected double-digit increases for new grads. This is exciting news for the Class of 2008. However, as the unemployment rate inched up to 5% in December 2007, no one knows how that will affect employers' initial projections for the 2007- 08 hiring season. This recent uptick in the unemployment rate to 5%, brings it to the highest since November 2005.

As you return to school, go online and take a look at your school's career center calendar for some of the following types of events:

- On campus job fairs, career fairs and internship fairs that allow organizations to come to campus for one big event. These events are usually held in a central campus location and open to students, alumni and sometimes even the community.

- Employer information tables give organizations, usually one at a time, a chance to visit your campus to meet students and sometimes alumni. They typically are there to share general company information, but might also be doing positive recruiting for internships, part time jobs and entry level careers open at that time.

- On-campus interviews gives college students an amazing opportunity to meet recruiters and HR Managers right there on campus, conveniently before, after or even between classes.

- Employer panel discussions bring together 3 to 5 different company representatives speaking to a specific career development topic or industry issue.

Here are some ways to use the rest of your vacation to prepare to hit the ground running when you return to school:

1. Get important dates on your calendar. Whether you use your phone, a paper calendar or an online calendar - get important dates on your calendar immediately before your schedule gets out of hand.
2. Register online with the career center at your college. Registration gives college students access to the latest information about employer campus visits and details the process for participating in on-campus interviews. Whether your career center uses MonsterTrak, eRecruiting, NaceLink, Simplicity or a custom program designed for them, this is probably the best way for you career center to communicate with you.
3. If you don't already have a suit or other professional attire, pull that together now. It is important that you put your best foot forward during on-campus interviews . A good suit that fits you well, is one sure way to do that.
4. Take a look at who is coming to campus to conduct interviews and add job application deadlines in your calendar. Pay attention to minimum GPA requirements as well.
5. Do some preliminary work on your resume, cover letter and thank you letter. Your campus career center offers free resources to help you with all of these. In many cases you can download resume samples from your career center website. Once you have completed your resume, drop in to your career center for a free critique or even get your resume critiqued via online resume services.

College students should know they have real advocates working on their behalf in their career centers. Their goal is to help college students with their career development process and to facilitate meetings between students and employers.

Upcoming graduates from the Class of 2008 should definitely plan visit to the career center at their college or university upon return to school.