1. Senior Ashley Garner researching jobs.

Photo By CATHERINE FOX

2. Senior Hilary Lester prepares to meet with a

potential employer at the job fair.
Photo By SAYON THILL

3. Senior Jacob Odom prepares to share his resum.

Photo By SAYON THILL

4. A student looks at the list of businesses recruiting at

the spring career fair.

Photo By SAYON THILL

3
102
Academics

the boulevard

life after

students searching for post-graduation jobs

STORY BY NIKKI DABNEY
DESIGN BY MARISSA SANDOVAL

In many ways, college is four years

of preparation for one thing: securing
a job after graduation. SMU seniors
are working to pull together their four
years of experience and figure out
their post-graduation plans in a job
market that has not fully recovered
from the 2007-2009 recession.
Fortunately, SMU prepares its
students well for the real world. The
Hegi Family Career Development
Center is one of SMUs best
resources. Students can get expert
critiques and help with their resumes
and take career aptitude tests, such
as StrengthsQuest, which help
them identify their strengths and
weaknesses and be able to articulate
them in an interview.
The MustangTRAK system allows
students to network and search for
job and internship opportunities.
Also, the internship and career fairs
provide students with experience
selling themselves and delivering their
elevator pitches even if it doesnt
end in a call-back or job offer. All the
opportunities to get involved at SMU
provide students with leadership and
communication experience, which
not only build a resume, but are
also skills every employer is looking
for. Even an SMU education as a
whole helps students secure jobs after
graduation.
When I went to interview for
my job, they hardly asked me any
questions, senior Justin Vause said.
They said if I want the job I can
have it because my resume speaks for
itself, especially with the SMU name
on it.
When seniors search for jobs, there
are several factors they consider.
Obviously, they want a stable salary,
preferably higher than their amount
of student loans. They want to have a
job they are passionate about and even
if they dont know everything there is
to know, they have to recognize that
learning doesnt end after college and
experience is the best learning tool.
Also, seniors want to think of the

intangible benefits of their job, such

as the people they will be working
with, because those people will shape
what their next few years look like.
One piece of advice I would give
when looking for a job is to be willing
to go where an opportunity is, Vause
said. You can always move back, but
you can never get the opportunity
back.
For some SMU students, postgraduation plans include another
option than a career: graduate school.
I think it would increase my
marketability to have a higher
degree, senior Ashley Garner said.
Whether its a job search or
graduate school, preparing for life
after graduation can be stressful
and in some cases involves sacrifice,
whether its giving up Spring Break
to fly out for an interview, or staying
focused as school winds to a close.
Dont be discouraged by the
process, Garner said. You have
to grind it out some semesters and
sometimes sacrifice weekends and
having fun, so you can be proactive
and not stress out in the end.
There can be a lot of pressure to
have everything aligned, figure out
what you want to do for the rest of our
life, and land the perfect job, but life
after graduation is still a journey.
As Millennials, we are preparing
for jobs that dont exist yet, Garner
said. Dont feel like you have to
choose one path. It takes some
planning, but its not always going to
end up how you are envisioning. Im
inspired by the idea that I have to
create my future.

One piece of advice I

would give when looking
for a job is to be willing to
go where an opportunity
is; you can always move
back, but you can never
get the opportunity back.
Justin Vause
Class of 2014

103
Job Search