Career Center aids students in job, internship searches Strategies employed include job experience and resourcefulness By Tricia Schwennesen Oregon Daily Emerald Special education teacher. World-renowned physicist. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. The possibilities are endless. While some University stu dents are focused solely on grad uation, some actually gear up for the real world by planning for the future and beginning the himt ear ly Not the hunt for a mate or a home, but overachievers and down-to-the-hour planners from all disciplines are hunting for a job — or that last internship. Beth Pfeiffer, Career Center as sistant director, said the starting point for a good search is to look at yourself first. Identify what type of person you are and what kind of position you need, then search for compa nies that fit you and meet those needs, she said. Some strategies for finding the perfect fit include networking through an internship, making cold calls, using an employment agency and reading newspaper ar ticles, not just the classifieds. Another useful tool is the Inter net, Pfeiffer said. From the Career Center home page (uocareer.uoregon.edu), stu dents can access employment agencies, job databases, classified ads from around the world and even government job listings. “So that’s why the Internet is such a great tool to find out about opportunities and jobs,” Pfeiffer said. Tina Songer, a career informa tion specialist, said one of the best resources for national job infor mation is a database called Job Trak. The database is available to University students for free and alumni for $40 through the Career Center home page. Students can even post their re sumes on the Internet via JobTrak, Both women agree the Inter net can be confusing and frus trating, but it can also be a good tool for finding different oppor tunities. “The nice thing about using the Internet is it levels the playing field for most,” Songer said. “They move past preconceived notions of what they look like or where they live.” Pfeiffer said students who post their r6sum§s on the Net or apply for jobs via e-mail are showing an understanding of modern tech nology. “What you’re demonstrating as a student is leading-edge technol ogy skills,” Pfeiffer said. Dinusha Gooneratne, a recent University graduate, set up an in ternship through the Campus De velopment Internship Program. Gooneratne said she mostly used resources in the office, but she also received job announce ments via e-mail and checked out JobTrak through another universi ty “It opens so many more doors — especially for people who don’t want to go out in the rain,” she said. “It’s a good opportunity, especially from the comfort of your own home.” Pfeiffer also said students may not realize they have computer skills because computers are read ily available and easily accessible on campus. Songer said potential employ ers recognize computer skills as an asset. The links on the Career Center page are not just to potential jobs, but internships as well. Songer said more than 13,000 internships are listed in the data base. “Internships are a way of trying on a career, then coming back and applying all that real-world prac tice to the classroom,” Songer said. “The students who are really on the ball, who begin the campus internship program in the fall are getting more experience and prac tice and are better prepared for the market,” she said. Books Continued from Page 1 line sites are being monitored, ac cording to Chris Standish, the University course book division manager. At the same time, the book store is testing the Internet waters by offering two different services, the Early Duck Program and Book Hunt. Students can check out both programs through the book store home page at uobook store.com. The Early Duck Program for the past three years has allowed students to plug in their course numbers and order books before the beginning of each term. Eager knowledge-seekers can then pick up and purchase all their books ahead of time. “The good thing about that is, if you don’t want to come in and find the books yourself, you don’t have to,” Standish said. Book Hunt, devised by three computer science majors, made its debut winter term. The program gives students the chance to submit course numbers for classes they may be interested in to check which books, and how many are required, plus the actual cost of new and used books. They can then choose classes, print out the book list and purchase the books at the bookstore. Even though students must visit the store to purchase books, they are saving money by receiving the 10 percent stu dent discount and not paying shipping costs of any kind, Standish said. “These on-line options are op tions for students, but they should keep in mind all costs,” Standish said. “We’re here for this campus and to serve these students — not students nation ally.” In his research of on-line book brokers, Standish said he didn’t notice a huge difference in cost. He also said students who buy books on-line cannot purchase used books, course packets or take advantage of the end-of-the term book buyback. Varsitybooks.com may not of fer course packets, but they do of fer 400,000 trade and textbooks and a chance for student organi zations to make money. The company just launched a new program that will let student organizations link up their Web r pages with varsitybooks.com as affiliates. “If people buy books from that link then the group would get a certain percentage,” Gershoni said. Students reap the benefit of lower cost books while raising money for an organization at the same time. “We are trying to give some thing back to all the students who have made us work,” Gold berg said. Varsity targeted student gov ernments, greek houses and oth er organizations as possible affili ates. No group from the University has signed on yet. Organizations that partner with Varsity make 5 percent of the total book sale from one buyer. “So we’re sharing our rev enue with student groups,” Goldberg said. “It’s a fund-rais ing opportunity for the student groups because their members are going to buy the books, any way.” While on this campus, Gold berg said he read about the shortage of funds available for student activities. The affiliate program would be a good way to supplement those funds, he said. The company’s payment, Goldberg said, is new customers. “Varsitybooks.com was creat ed to benefit students,” Goldberg said. “We’re the student book store, not the college’s book store.” 001721 “34 years of Quality Service” Mercedes • BMW • Volkswagen • Audi German Auto Service 342-2912 • 2025 Franklin Bivd. Eugene, Oregon, 97402 (htey (i