Career Services: My Success Story
What students are saying...
Mock Interview Day | The Internship Search | Career Boot Camp | High School Career Camp
Mock Interviews are a definite must!
Jeff Jenkins
Corporate Communications
Why do a Mock Interview?
I would absolutely suggest to anyone to do a mock interview. It is such a great experience to sit down and have a real one-on-one interview with a recruiter.
"It was an awesome process! I was given great insight on the types of questions I would be asked."
I was given great insight on the types of questions I would be asked and even took a few notes. For anyone who is getting close to graduation and the real world is right around the corner, the mock interview process is a definite must.
Internships, Career Services & Motivation
Mitch Gurick
Career & Technical Education: Business Education
Putting Internships into Action
At this point in my undergraduate career, successfully completing a comprehensive internship was perhaps 
one of the most rewarding experiences and provided an opportunity for me to put my knowledge from the classroom into action. Always remember that it's never too early or late to stop by Career Services. As a freshman, I sought out different internships and made an effort to go to make sure my resume and cover letters were up-to-date.
"As a freshman, I sought out different internships and made an effort to go to Career Services to make sure my resume and cover letters were up-to-date."
I had the honor of being a management trainee intern with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, during the summer going into my sophomore year of college. Across the entire company, I was one of the youngest interns to be part of their highly sought-after program. My experience was phenomenal! For excelling at Enterprise, the summer going into my junior year, I will be interning as a business analyst with State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois.
Advice on Finding Internships, Attending Job Fairs, and How to Stand Out from other Applicants
A great resource for finding and connecting students with internships is the EIU Panther Recruiting site. There are plenty of opportunities and multiple ways to organize them by major, location, requirements, and much more. Also, do not be afraid to attend job fairs and talk with employers YOURSELF. Going alone demonstrates confidence and independence. In addition, become involved and take on leadership positions within Registered Student Organizations at EIU. To prospective employers, this highlights your ability to lead and inspire others to reach their goals. Finally, maintain good grades and keep in touch with professors for letters of recommendation. If you earn the respect of professors or instructors throughout the course of a semester, they will be great assets in the future.
Career Services has been tremendous in connecting and providing the necessary tools to find great opportunities. It's up to you to do everything possible to stand out from other applicants.
"Career Services has been tremendous in connecting and providing the necessary tools to find great opportunities. It's up to you to do everything possible to stand out from other applicants."
I'm always available to meet and would be happy to discuss any of this in greater detail. Please feel free to contact me at mgurick@eiu.edu.
The Internship Search
Ashley Michalek
Corporate Communications 
Using a career fair to find internships
My summer internship started as a casual visit to the career fair of Fall 2011. I was just browsing through the booths and it was so spur of the moment that I didn't even have a goal for the day. (Except that I knew I wanted to live in Chicago after I graduate.) That's when I noticed the Chicago city skyline with "Schneider Logistics" in bright orange on a booth display.
I approached a Sales Team Manager named Adrian Barbera and admitted that I didn't know a lot about schneider, but was interested in learning more, since it was located in the south loop of Chicago. As we wrapped up our conversation, I gave him my resume and he gave me his business card.
How Networking Pays Off
I researched the Schneider internship more and decided that I really wanted to pursue it, so I went to the Spring career fair because Schneider was scheduled to be attending again. I reintroduced myself to Adrian again and was pleased to learn that he remembered me too! After conversing about the Schneider internship, he advised me to send him an email within the week to remind him to get in touch with their recruiting department.
" I reintroduced myself...and was pleased to learn that he remembered me too!"
After I sent the email, I got a phone call to set up a phone interview the next day. The following day after the phone interview, I was called to set up a face-to-face interview over spring break. I was so nervous and excited that I made an emergency appointment with Bobbi Kingery at Career Services to prepare for what will become the most important interview in my life thus far!
After the interview, I received a call the next day from Mari, the recruiter who did my phone interview. Mari expressed that she was too excited to wait until the end of the week (as they had originally noted) to let me know that I got the internship!
Internships can lead to a great future!
One month after my internship started, I received a verbal offer to work for the company full time after graduation. After another month, I received and accepted a written offer!
I begin working for Schneider Logistics full time at the start of the new year and couldn't be happier!
Over 100 students participated in our 6th Annual Career Boot Camp on Saturday, August 25, 2012. This one day intensive mini-conference builds critical skills needed to succeed in today's job market. Students were able to network and attend informative breakout sessions with 20+ successful EIU alumni.
Did you miss it? Find out what students that attended thought about it:
"The case study helped with analytical thinking and is very helpful by knowing what to expect on an interview."
"Awesome program, will utilize everything given."
"Great workshop! I feel like I learned a lot today."
"Had a Great day! Thank you for having this for us students."
"Worth sacrificing my Saturday. Thanks for the help!"
"Great! Worth it! Loved all of it!"
"This was a great experience. I learned a lot, and I am glad that I attended career boot camp."
"It was extremely helpful & I learned more than I thought I would. It was definitely work giving up a Saturday for."
" Thought it would be a waste of my time, but I'm very glad I came, and think it helped a lot!"
"Was very helpful info. Ready to do some more research."
"This was very helpful. Thank you so much!"
"The LGBT session was very beneficial and should be included in future events. Overall, the boot camp has opened my eyes to what I need to accomplish in a short period of time. Thank You!"
"This Boot Camp opened my eyes to a great deal of training that I need when searching for the right career and internship. The Interview session also taught how to go about when approaching an interview and how to prepare for an interview once it approaches."
"This was a good boot camp. I hope to return to boot camp but not as a student, but as an employer for a company."
"I had a good time conversing with most of the alumni. I got a glimpse of the industry that I'm interested in. This career boot camp met my needs & cleared most of my questions."
"Even though it was an entire Saturday, I really did enjoy myself and the information was beneficial."
"I enjoyed my experience & I look forward to next year."
"Great program and very helpful towards a career choice. Highly recommend and will be back next year!"
"Very useful information. I'm glad I came!"
"I learned a lot from this boot camp and found it very helpful."
"I thought this was very helpful and everyone I talked to provided a lot of help. I really enjoyed this experience."
"Great! Informative! I was not aware that EIU had so many career services."
Comments from 2011 Boot Camp Participants
Mark Rosenblum
Corporate Communications
Of course no college student wants to wake up before noon on a Saturday morning. But for the opportunity to be ahead of the game after graduation....I think I would make an exception. I was originally very nervous about networking. But after meeting with Bobbi Kingery (Career Counselor), I began to get excited about meeting some of the Alumni. Having grown up with a father who has been in H.R. for over 20 years, I have heard a lot about networking.
Getting up on a Saturday morning...
"...the opportunity to be ahead of the game after graduation....I think I would make an exception."
I enjoyed meeting many of the Alumni that came to EIU! They were more than willing to give advice, ideas, and even their own contact information so that you can possibly gain a future position with them or someone they may know. After hitting it off with one of the professionals (Bob Glover) I began to gain extreme interest in working for this organization. I sent him a thank you right away and gained a response within 24 hours! He was as interested as I was!! We will be speaking within the next few weeks about positions at Cardinal Health.
Students should attend this event because they want to get an edge in the job search game! Since most jobs are not directly posted on a job search site, the best way to find out how to access them, and maybe get a foot forward into the industry you want or are interested in.
Career Services is something that more people should take advantage of! It's not just for business majors!! Everyone can benefit from them!!!!
Brittney Livingston
Public Relations
Career Boot Camp was one of the most beneficial events that I have attended at Eastern. This was my first event from Career Services' that I had signed up to attend, and because of the outcome it will not be my last. At the beginning of the boot camp we were given a binder of materials that helped with resumes, thank you letters, cover letters, social media, etc. There was also hands on training on how to write a cover letter what was really helpful.
Making connections...
"...I have never made connections like this before and the opportunity was handed to me because of the Career Services Boot Camp!"
At the industry roundtables we were matched with three alumni from EIU that was specific to our field of interest. From these round table discussions I was able to connect with three intelligent, goal driven, successful individuals. I got advice about everything under the sun including graduate school, internships, and how to get the job fresh out of school. The three alumni I sat with really hit home for me because they stressed how important it is to find a career that would not demean your morals and personal standards.
I felt that I connected with the alumni and at the end of the sessions we gave each other our contact information to keep in touch. After personally sending them thank you notes for attending the Career Boot Camp I was able to keep Sparkle Sanders (Marketing Specialist at Carle Foundation Hospital) and Renee DeVore (Financial Professional at Prudential Insurance) as personal mentors! I also received an email with information about Jeff Zilch (President of Delta Technical Solutions, Inc.) looking to fill positions at his company. I have never made connections like this before and the opportunit was handed to me because of Career Services Boot Camp!
CAREER Camp
During the summer term, high school students had the opportunity to participate in a 3 day Career Camp at EIU hosted by Career Services. Students participated in fun activities to learn about emerging careers and developed a career action plan for college.
What students said about career camp:
"I have learned what I would like to do and how to plan it all out."
"I found jobs and majors that I am interested in and I found that finding them was not hard."
"I learned a lot of different options that I have and I am more aware of opportunities that are out there."
"I learned about a career I probably wouldn't of considered otherwise."
Have a success story to share? Contact us at dksmith2@eiu.edu
