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You may be in the midst of transitioning from college life to a working life -– or you may be five years into a career. Whatever stage you are in, Whitworth's Career Services has resources to help you succeed. Sandy Nowack, assistant director of career services internships, and Gordon Jacobson, director of career services, want alumni to know that career services is not just for current students; it's for you as graduates, too. Nowack admits that helping alumni find jobs is not as easy as waving a magic wand, but career services will do whatever they can to help alumni make business contacts and utilize networks. Career services has extended its office hours until 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. You can visit the office for one-on-one career counseling, mock interviews, personality assessments and résumé assistance. "In addition to free access to in-person résumé assistance, career services assists out-of-area alumni in the creation of résumés, cover letters and graduate school applications," Jacobson says. You can submit résumés to careerservices@whitworth.edu. For those of you who have moved away from the Spokane area, online resources should prove helpful. The career services website provides an online job database and has links to external job websites, such as MonsterTrak, NACElink and Career Builder. Career services is also creating new initiatives for the future, including regional alumni networking and support groups and an alumni-career blog. "The [regional networking] program design would be focused on connecting with Whitworth alumni who are where you want to be, and can help you get there," Jacobson says. The first regional group would be in the Seattle and King County area and would offer alumni access to guest speakers, practical workshops and special presentations on career and employment issues, Jacobson says. Stay tuned for more details this spring. The alumni career blog would include pieces written by recent Whitworth alumni and career-services staff on how to move beyond your first-year entry-level job, graduate school survival strategies, and job-hunting advice. In addition to taking advantage of career services' resources, Nowack says you should work on developing support systems. Staying in contact with friends, joining a church group, and meeting new people can open doors for job opportunities, and are also important simply for the encouragement and support they provide.
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