Walton College Business Career Fair

Because your Career Planning is unique, we want to get acquainted with you as soon as you enter the University of Arkansas. There is no charge to you for services provided in our Career Center.

To respect your busy schedule, we ask that you make an appointment to visit with Career Development Center staff. However, we are happy to assist you when you "walk in" with a question or request for information.

If you are searching for a part-time job to work in while you are in school full-time, a summer internship or a full-time job to start after graduation, the Career Development Center offers opportunities for you to interview with companies on-campus. The list of companies changes each year as additional employers accept our invitation to become employer partners with the Sam M. Walton College of Business. eRecruiting Experience lists all of the companies we work with who recruit on-campus and/or are in need of a new hire.

Whether you plan to work for a large or small company, attend Graduate School, start your own business, or travel, we hope you will give our staff opportunities to assist you in your planning.

Networking with Employers

When you meet a new person in class, at a social event or even in the elevator, you have an opportunity to develop your network. The Walton College Career Center hopes you will view every opportunity to meet people as a chance to increase your business network. Each year, the Career Center brings in professionals from various businesses and industries to present various professional development topics, as well as assist students with development areas such as resume enhancement and interview skill building.

There are many more uses for networking than just "finding a job." Networking is an activity that takes place every day of our lives, whether job-related or not. Did you talk to someone at breakfast to review what might be on the upcoming exam? That's networking. Did you ask a librarian which reference materials would be the best in preparing a term paper? That's networking. Did you ask friends if they knew of anyone driving home for the weekend? That's networking.

Networking is already far more active in your life than you might have originally thought. The key to making it effective in your job search is to provide clear focus and direction. Following are several objectives to keep in mind when speaking with others about your job search:

1. To make others aware of your job search and your career focus.
2. To open up additional lines of communication in the job market.
3. To increase your knowledge about a particular career field or industry.
4. To find out more about potential employers.
5. To discover hidden job opportunities.
6. To open up the possibility of creating a job where none currently exists.

To achieve your networking objectives, you need to consider each contact with another human being as a potential opportunity to further expand your network. You will come in contact with other people each and every day. How you integrate that contact into your job search network will greatly determine your potential for overall success in your job search. And there are hundreds of people out there who are ready and willing to help.

Skills employers want and new graduates lack

It’s important that you are knowledgeable in your field: an engineer must have engineering knowledge; an accountant needs an accounting background; a nurse needs a medical education. Your GPA is indicative of what you have learned in your field. More than half of employers recognize this by screening applicants by GPA, using a cutoff of 3.0. Add an internship or two in your field and you show an employer that you’ve tested your new knowledge.

However, employers say other skills and abilities help job seekers stand out from the crowd of degree-holders. They want new hires who will fit in with co-workers and into the workplace, and are able to get the job done.

Unfortunately—and ironically—the very qualities employers look for are the qualities they find lacking in many new graduates. Employers say new graduates lack face-to-face communication skills, especially writing skills. They say many students tend to lack presentation skills, teamwork skills, and overall interpersonal (gets along well with others) skills.

Employers also note that new grads tend to lack a good work ethic. Some say students have trouble with time management and are unable to multitask in order to meet deadlines. Some new hires do not have realistic expectations for their new positions: they are not loyal to the organization and they “have a high sense of urgency and want to climb the ladder overnight.” Other employers say new hires lack professionalism: they lack maturity and knowledge of business etiquette, including how to dress appropriately.

Source: Job Outlook 2009, National Association of Colleges and Employers

How can you best identify your skills and career interests? Consider taking an online personality assessment like TypeFocus. What Is TypeFocus?

The purpose of TypeFocus is to help you make wise career choices by learning about your personality type and what it means to you.

Discover Your Strengths
Self-awareness Report: Who am I ...really? By understanding yourself better, you'll find work that will be satisfying in the long run - where it counts. This report will help you answer the question. "Who am I ...really?"

Finding Your Way
Career Strategy Report: Where am I going? As you understand yourself better, you'll clarify your values, skills and interests and become more focused. This report will help you discover deeply satisfying careers that work with your strengths and not against them.

Getting the Job
Job Search Report: Gaining an Advantage. What will separate you from the others in the race for jobs? One answer is that you've taken the time to understand yourself so you can be of more value to your future employer. This report will help you use your personality strengths in your job search.

Getting Started with TypeFocus Careers

1. Start at http://careers.typefocus.com/ - click on the New Users - Click to Register link.
2. Enter our Site Password:   request password
3. Make up your own username, password and hint.
4. Scroll to the bottom of that page and click on Submit.
5. Record your Login Username, Login Password, and Hint. You are now registered, click on - Click here to start.
6. This is your Entry Page - fill in your Site Password, Login Username and Login Password and then click on the Login button.
7. Enter your real name and gender. Gender is needed to score the questionnaire correctly. Then click on Continue.
8. Next, complete the questionnaire - you have to answer ALL questions. When finished, click on Submit Your Questionnaire button.
9. You will be asked to confirm your four personality type factors. The program always starts with the Extraversion/Introversion factor. If you agree with the description, click on YES. The program will then accept it as confirmed and go to the next factor, asking you to confirm it.
10. If you do not agree with a description, click on NO. The program will then ask if the opposite result describes you better. If you click on YES, it will accept that as your confirmed type and go on to the next factor. If you click on No again, the program will again present the first factor for you to consider. It will not move on until you confirm each of the four factors with a YES response.
11. If you click on the I'm not sure button, it will present both factors in two columns and ask you to pick one at the bottom of the page.
12. When you have finished confirming all four personality factors, you will be congratulated on confirming your type and you can now enter the program.
13. When you enter the program, you will find three reports that offer valuable direction to your career search: Discover Your Strengths, Finding Your Way and Getting the Job.
14. You can print the Discover Your Strengths and Getting the Job reports immediately using your browser's print button.
15. The Finding Your Way report is interactive and you will create it as you go through it. If you save your work as you go, you'll create a permanent file for yourself that you can return to again and again. You can print it at anytime using your browser's print button.
16. When you leave the program, make sure you use the Logout button on the top right.
17. When you return to the program, enter at the "Returning Users - click to login" button. This will bring you to the Entry Page - fill in your Site Password, Login Username and Login Password and then click on the Login button.

Cooperative Education

Cooperative Education (Co-op) is a program that enables University of Arkansas undergraduate students to gain professional work experience in paid, degree-related positions. Co-op is a planned, progressive educational strategy that optimizes the integration between classroom learning and learning in the workplace. In the Walton College, students can earn academic credit for their participation in Co-op. Although Co-op is an optional program, each semester over 100 Walton College students elect to participate in this total education experience.

Co-op is a "win, win, win" partnership for employers, students and the University.

Leadership Walton is a developmental program designed to guide Walton College students toward lifelong professional success. To accomplish this goal, the program incorporates required and optional academic coursework, career development programming and leadership development opportunities blended in a defined progression that ensures well-rounded opportunities for student development and preparedness. This combination of leadership experience, academic learning, and professional and career development training provides students an enhancement to their educational experience and makes Leadership Walton unique to the Walton College.

For more information about Leadership Walton, please click here.

The Brand “You” - Establishing a Personal Brand

Think of all of the products you know and connect with immediately just by seeing a logo…the swoosh, a golden arch, an apple with a bite out of it…brands from McDonald’s to Apple have all claimed headspace, almost burned in impressions in the minds of their potential customers, so why can't you? You absolutely can, by establishing a personal brand that allows you to differentiate and position yourself from the competition. In this case, your audience is the hiring managers and recruiters that deal with thousands of resumes each day. Job searching is hypercompetitive; your goal is to stand out and underscore the unique value you can bring to a company by developing your own personal brand.

How would you answer this question during a job interview: Describe the brand “You”?

Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand can be defined as your total professional package as viewed by your audience.

Key Brand Elements

• Personal Appearance - Including clothing, hygiene and attractiveness down to the finest detail – think complete professional image.
• Personality - Your values, goals, identity and behavior – intangibles that underscore your drive and motivations. 
• Your Core Competencies - These are cognitive, business, communication and technical skills that enable you to perform your job responsibilities – think academic skills, class and work experiences; think real world abilities built in either classes or on the job.
• The Differentiator - Offering a unique value proposition or benefit to your target audience – match competencies you have with competencies needed for the job you are interested.

As you construct the brand “you”, develop each of these important elements.  Remember, you must weave your brand and the elements that make up the brand “you” into the stories you tell during the interview process. Just the process of considering the key branding elements will help you prepare for those all important behavioral interview questions to come.

Growing Your Brand

Personal Branding is an ongoing development that exists throughout an entire career; this is a never ending process that is blended directly with an ongoing sense of self-awareness. As your experience, competencies, physical and emotional attributes grow, your brand will enhance, much like in a product lifecycle. Creating, maintaining and evolving your brand will help you positively communicate your unique message.

Treat yourself as the product and sell it!