Gonzaga University Career Center Blog

I have the pleasure of traveling to Seattle today and tomorrow to iron out the details of the 2010 Seattle Trek.  In the midst of rain boots and umbrellas, I am happy to  announce a NEW participant for this year’s Trek. 

Drum roll please….

The one, the only Starbucks.  The pairing with Starbucks is yet to be determined (hopefully while I am here in Seattle!).  Starbucks inviting students of all majors and years to participate in their excursion.    The excursion will include a corporate tour along with Q & A from fellow Zags. 

Space is limited, so make sure to plan on registering this Friday, November 13th to secure your space.  We will be announcing the registration link on Thursday, Nov. 12th, but it will not be live until noon on Friday!

Note: Corporate excursions are  made available exclusively for Gonzaga students (both undergraduate and graduate levels).  Alumni and friends of the university are encouraged to attend the networking social as well as the Career Fair.  More information to come.

Tags: Career Development, Career Fair, Excursions, GAMP, Networking, Seattle, Success in Economy, Trek

Next week employers will be flooding our campus! This is your chance to get a jumpstart! Look forward to the Speed Mock Interviews and the Business & Liberal Arts Career Fair! Never been to a Career Fair? Check out How to Rock a Career Fair!

Thursday, November 5

Interview prep workshop: 4pm in the Road to Bali

Monday, November 9

Resume/ Cover Letter Workshop &How to Rock a Career Fair: 7pm in the Road to Bali

Tuesday, November 10

Drop-In Tuesday: Noon in the Career Center

Networking Workshop: 4pm in the Road to Bali

Wednesday, November 11

Resume/ Cover Letter Workshop & How to Rock a Career Fair: Noon in the Road to Bali

Speed Mock Interviews:7pm Lower Crosby

Limited opportunities sign up now! RSVP Careercenter@gonzaga.edu

Thursday, November 12

Business & Liberal Arts Career Fair:  1 to 5pm Jepson Center

Let the Career Center & Employers know you are coming! RSVP at Zagtrax.net.

Tags: Business Administration, Career Center Service, Career Development, Career Fair, College of Arts and Science, How to Work a Career Fair, internship, Job Search, Networking, Resume, Success in Economy

Here in the Career Center & the  Gonzaga Alumni Mentor Program (GAMP) we are gearing up for the Seattle & Portland Treks coming your way this January.  These events are designed to get your foot in the door with some of the employer leaders in the Pacific Northwest.

Portland Trek will take place January 5th with Seattle on January 7^th-8^th, 2009.

Among the events planned are excursions to local companies, career fairs exclusively for Gonzaga students and networking socials where students will meet alumni for the purpose of making valuable employment contacts.

Employer partners in Portland include: Portland Trail Blazers, Regence, Nike, Columbia, adidas and Widmer.

Employer partners in Seattle include: Boeing, Nordstrom, Amazon, Accenture, Microsoft, PACCAR and Redhook.

All class years and majors are encouraged to participate, as career development occurs for students across all four years.  Freshmen and sophomores can use the events as a way to learn more about the expectations of employers while juniors and seniors can make contacts for future internships and full time positions.

Registration will begin next week on November 13th.  Space for excursion is limited, so make sure to register as quickly as possible.

If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact the GAMP office at 509-313-4048 or gamp@gonzaga.edu.

Tags: Career Development, Event, Excursions, GAMP, Networking, Portland, Seattle, Trek

Gonzaga students continued their time in New York last week from Sept. 24-27th, with the GAMP Trek focused on financial careers. Here's a pic at Rockefeller Center. Watch out Wall Street!

The Gonzaga NY Trek to Wall St. briefly visited Federal Hall where George Washington took his oath for president!

Tags: Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, GAMP, New York City, New York Trek, Rockerfeller Center, Trek, Wall Street

Several Gonzaga students are in New York this week for the Annual GAMP New York Trek. Today the students had an opportunity to visit several high profile financial institutions in New York including the New York Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank and the J.P. Morgan Chase headquarters. Students have the chance to sit down with several high ranking officers from these organizations and ask key questions about careers in the financial industry. Here’s a great photo of our students in front of the famous Wall Street Bull in the financial district.

We’ll send you more updates as the week unfolds.

Tags: Accounting, Alumni Mentor Program, Career Development, Fina, GAMP, Networking, New York City, New York Trek, NYC Trek

I happen to have stumbled upon this highly informative video published by the Wall Street Journal giving tips for job hunters and activating that all important network.

There are some great tips in this short clip, the most important is to start networking before you start job hunting! By continually developing your professional network your knowledge of new opportunities will be much more accessible than if you wait.

Look forward to more video tips in the upcoming weeks!

Tags: Career Development, Networking, Success in Economy, Video Tips

The time has come for many of our Zag seniors to break out of the safe and cozy campus of Gonzaga in order to begin networking with fellow Zags to find the most coveted of all things: a real job.  What a great concept, right?

Three Keys to Easy, Breezy Networking:

1.       Prepare Your Introduction of Yourself:

1.  
   1. Your introduction may be called an elevator greeting or a quick pitch, but the first words out of your mouth should be your name, what you do and why you’re there.
   2. In order for your intro to be effortless and easy, you have to practice…and then practice some more.
   3. Here are three examples:

• “Hi, my name is Catherine Lee. I’m glad to have this chance to meet you and learn how a psychology major can break into the pharmaceutical industry.” [Employer Information Session]
•  Good morning, I’m Bryan Sampson, a former summer intern at your Los Angeles branch.” [Career Fair]
•  “Hello, my name is Jessica Garcia. I’m a junior rhetoric major looking to find out what it’s like working in public relations and marketing.” [Communications Career Night]

2.       Have a conversation starter that is comfortable to you. Read the newspaper or surf the web for current events that may be interesting to have a conversation about.  Note: Steer clear from topics that may be controversial (ie: politics or religion)

3.       Send a Genuine & Timely Thank-you note.

• a.       Make sure to collect those business cards for specifically this purpose: MAILING ADDRESSES!
• b.       You may consider that an e-mail will suffice, but you will get lost in the shuffle of an inbox.   A personal note or card however will get you to stand out and be remembered.

Things to Bring:

1.       A pen (after you meet someone new, write details about them on the back of their business cards)

2.       Business Cards (with current & permanent addresses):  Go to Office Depot, Kinkos or just Google “business cards” for on-line design firms.  For example: www.vistaprint.com offers 250 cards for $3.99!

3.       Positive Attitude

A upcoming event that will allow current students to practice their networking skills is the Alumni Sharing Knowledge Event coming up on April 8th at the Red Lion at the River beginning at 7 pm.  For more information, students can e-mail gamp@gonzaga.edu.

Get out there and happy networking!

Tags: Networking