Despite the myths about the current tough job market, Eastern’s Career Services can provide workshops and field trips to enhance students’ personal experiences before they enter the job market.

Linda Moore, the director of Career Services, said around 5,500 students participate in workshops through Career Services each year.

“Our focus is on what is in the student’s best interest,” she said. “We’re really looking at helping the individual.”

Moore said her goal is to help students move from younger, relatively inexperienced undergraduates to a viable career.

“We have thousands of people that come through the office, but we can’t handle every topic with every person one-on-one, so workshops are a better way to provide that service,” she said. “We can cover all the basics and then fit people in on a more personal basis to do fine-tuning.”

Moore said the program takes groups of students to job sites such as Northern Trust and Burson-Marstellar to network with people who are already employed in a certain job field.

“It gives students an opportunity to use what they’ve learned in the classroom and use it in a professional setting,” she said. “It also gives them the opportunity to see what it’s really like in the profession they’re seeking.”

Moore said trips to job sites can provide a more personal setting than if an employee came and talked to a classroom of students.

“There are jobs out there, but some are more plentiful than others,” Moore said. “We have the data on what’s really moving out there are far as jobs.”

She said looking at data by field and geographic location can help students who come to Career Services make an informed decision in how they prepare themselves for life after Eastern.

“Even in fields that are very limited, one can still do what they really love if they’re willing to do the sacrifices and take the appropriate steps,” she said.

Moore said students might often think their major does not have many available jobs after they graduate because of information they read on the Internet, which she said can often be misleading.

“We can help students separate out fluff from hardcore facts,” she said.

When students make an appointment with Career Services, they can get assistance in a variety of fields including career counseling, assessment, résumé help and internship opportunities.

“For example, someone looking for an internship but has never done a real interview may need more resources and assistance than someone who has already been through that process,” she said.

Moore said sometimes people are afraid to look for jobs because they have heard there are not any.

Bobbi Kingery, a career counselor at Career Services, said although the job market might not be ideal right now, jobs are still out there.

“One of the biggest challenges that I see is that students are limited geographically either by the fact that they can’t relocate for a job or the fact that they don’t wish to,” Kingery said. “Jobs are available, but they might not be where the student wants them to be.”

Kingery said she thinks many students are waiting for the perfect job straight out of college, but hardly anyone starts off with a dream job.

“Students need to gain experience and work their way to where they wish to be,” she said.

Moore said some of the biggest events of the year for Career Services include the job fairs.

“Students need to understand that job fairs have positions that are either hard to fill or there are many spots open,” Moore said. “We have many recruitments through alumni and job listings as well.”

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.