Carole Michelucci: Job finder
Carole Michelucci knows what it feels like to have completed a university degree and to be unsure of what to do next.
When the new director of the University's Career and Placement Service (CAPS) graduated from McGill with a BA in 1991 in Industrial Relations, she "looked for employment for five or six months and ended up in graduate school at Queen's within eight months."
But she says she has no regrets about graduating into a difficult employment market. "My challenges turned into opportunities."
And Michelucci, now 31, shares her optimism with the 7,000 students and young alumni who use her service each year.
"We try to be there from the beginning of the process to the end," she says. "If students are very nervous before an interview, we're there to calm them down. We sit them down, tell them to take a breath and remind them that they have the qualifications."
She says the most satisfying moment in her work comes "seeing a student who just got a job after an interview."
Prospects for graduating students are brighter than they have been in recent years, according to Michelucci. In some fields, especially computer science and computer engineering, demand is so high that graduates must often choose between three or four offers.
And arts graduates, who often have the hardest time finding work, are becoming more attractive to hiring departments. "There has been a realization on the part of employers that students who have a well-rounded education have valuable skills, even if they don't have a professional degree." For some management trainee positions, for example, where employers once asked for students with specific management backgrounds, they are now widening their search to traditional liberal arts disciplines.
Michelucci says one of her principal goals is to increase the visibility of CAPS. And she wants students to begin thinking about their career search long before graduation. "Students in non-professional programs should come in as soon as their first year," she says. "It helps if we identify what interests them early on."
CAPS helps students with summer jobs as well as with career placement after graduation and Michelucci stresses the importance of making sure part-time work is career-related.
This year was a good one for summer employment, she says, and there are already indications there will be good opportunities next summer as well. And even though warmer months seem a long way away, it's not too early to start looking for summer employment now. Michelucci says many students found their summer work in January.
Before taking over at CAPS, Michelucci worked in Human Resources departments, including McGill's. "I started out in business management," she says, "so I was on the hiring end." She also taught part-time in the Faculty of Management, and if time allows, she hopes to return to teaching courses in the future. But for now she's happy learning the ropes of her new job.
"If I didn't enjoy students I wouldn't do this at all," she says. "I'm getting a real look at what university life is all about."
Eric Smith
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