Portland Career Center helps UO alumni focus on finding jobs

EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 23, 2009) With Oregon unemployment at more than 12 percent, finding a job is difficult for even the seasoned professional. But the task is especially daunting for new college graduates, who face one of the toughest job markets in recent history.

University of Oregon alumni in the Portland area have access to resources that can make the process a little easier. The UO Portland Career Center opened last fall in the White Stag Block to help UO students and alumni create job search strategies. Nearly a quarter of all UO alumni live in the Portland area.

"Earning a degree shouldn't end your connection with the University of Oregon. We are invested in helping our graduates have successful careers," said Linda Williams Favero, assistant director of Alumni Career Services at the UO Career Center. "The Portland Career Center offers tailored and personal career counseling for free to recent graduates up to six months or at an affordable rate for other UO alumni."

Graduates of the UO have access to a variety of options, like one-on-one career counseling meetings, job search groups or workshops about how to interview and network.

"People are overwhelmed by the job search process, especially now, when jobs are harder to find," said Favero. "Our goal is to provide tools, help develop a strategy, identify their competitive advantage and give them the confidence to be successful in the process."

Favero led eight 2008 graduates in the inaugural Alumni Job Search Group in March. The members met weekly at the White Stag Block, all with the same goal of finding a job. In the supportive environment, participants were able to focus on topics like creating a personal brand, managing the search process, identifying successful strategies, and interviewing and negotiating techniques.

After the four-week session ended, half the participants were offered jobs or identified as final candidates. A new search group started April 21 and continues through May 12.

"The sessions really helped me look at finding a career in a different way," said a group member and UO alum. "The Portland branch is thorough, thoughtful and knowledgeable. It shows that the university cares for their students post graduation." Other opportunities are offered on a regular basis to both new and career-experienced alumni. "Stand Out in the Crowd," a workshop for UO alumni to help them create job search strategies and learn interviewing and networking skills, will be Thursday, May 14, from 4 to 5:45 p.m. in the White Stag Block. The cost is $20, or $25 after May 11. To register, visit uocareer.uoregon.edu/soc.

Favero offers these tips for those on the job hunt:

1. Know your strengths. Spend time identifying three to five of your greatest attributes and communicate them in a consistent, measurable way throughout your resume, cover letter and interview answers.
2. Network weekly. Identify professional associations in your field of interest and attend their events. Offer to volunteer at the registration table and be prepared to share your strengths in 30 seconds. Remember that 65 to 80 percent of jobs are found through networking.
3. Conduct informational interviews. Follow up with professionals you meet while networking and ask to visit them for 30 minutes to discuss their career paths – but don’t ask for a job. Always write thank you notes – only 5 percent do, so you will be noticed and remembered.
4. Find a mentor. Understand the job search process can take a while, so find someone, like an alum, who will encourage and guide you.
5. Stay positive. Resist the urge to be negative. Employers want to hire people who are positive and want to make a difference.

The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 62 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Heidi Hiaasen, media relations coordinator, 541-346-3606, heidih@uoregon.edu

Source: Linda Favero, assistant director of Alumni Career Services, UO Career Center, 503-412-3704, lfavero@uoregon.edu

Links: University of Oregon, Portland: pdx.uoregon.edu; University of Oregon Career Center: uocareer.uoregon.edu