Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs

Interested in pursuing a career field that is fast growing and high paying?  The Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs are occupations that are projected to grow in number and salary by 2020.  Data to create the top 50 list is gathered from Hoosier Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), produced by Indiana's Department of Workforce Development.

Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs are also split into 16 different Career Clusters. Each cluster highlights the specific skills needed for success in a particular industry. Below are the 16 different clusters:

• Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
• Architecture & Construction
• Arts, A/V Technology, & Communications
• Business, Management, & Administration
• Education & Training
• Finance
• Health Science
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Human Services
• Information Technology
• Law, Public Safety, Corrections, & Security
• Manufacturing
• Marketing, Sales, & Service
• Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM)
• Transporation, Distribution, & Logistics

Finally, when checking out the Hoosier Hot 50 list, keep an eye out for the yellow flame.  This symbol indicates that the job in in demand right now. 

Job Fair Success

Our job fairs are the largest events we organize at the office of Career Services. We already have 80 employers signed up for the NICE Career Fair. From our experience running these massive events, we've come up with a few suggestions for improving job fair success for students.

Dress Appropriately: One of the most common complaints we get from recruiters is that students don't dress appropriately for our events. Don't let an overly casual appearance detract from your qualifications!

Do Your Research: We post the list of attending employers weeks in advance of our career fairs. Doing prior research on employers of interest will provide you with two benefits. First, you'll come off as more prepared and professional when you speak with employers and second, you'll be less overwhelmed by the number of recruiters available to talk to if you know ahead of time who your target contacts are.

Prepare a Resume, But Don't Be Disappointed if a Recruiter Asks You to Apply Online: There are some anti-discrimination related federal guidelines that prevent larger companies from taking paper resumes from students. If a recruiter asks you to apply online do so and be sure to remind them that you met at the job fair.

Follow-Up: Ask employers 'What's the best way to follow-up with you?' THEN DO IT. Send thank-you notes to employers with whom you met.

Attend the Job Fair Prep Sessions: Take advantage of the drop-in assistance Career Services offers the Monday and Tuesday (April 9^th and 10^th) before the job fair. You can bring in a copy of your resume and get advice on what to wear and how to introduce yourself to employers.
The NICE Career Fair is Wednesday, April 11^th, 1pm-5pm, in the new International Ballroom in Walb.

Do Career Fair Employers Just Blow Students Off?

SO, You dressed up, brought a fabulous resume and shook hands with a lot of employers who said "Go apply online." Is that it? Is this employer blowing you off? Couldn't you have applied online at home? Sure. So could everybody else. But by coming to the Career & Internship Fair you showed initiative. You showed up. Applying online is now the next step in the process.

The important thing after the job fair is to keep the ball rolling. Keep in mind that the minute you enter the job fair, you are in an interview and must act professionally at all times. Employers will either make notes on your resume, watch for your application to show-up in their online database, or will just be really impressed with the line 'when I met your representative at the IPFW Career Fair' in your cover letter. The most important thing for you to do is not wait for employers to follow-up with you but for you to FOLLOW-UP WITH EMPLOYERS, WITHIN 24 to 48 hours.

• Ask 'What's the best way to follow-up with you?' THEN DO IT.
• Send thank-you notes to employers with whom you met.
• File away the literature you have collected. It can be helpful later in writing application letters or preparing for interviews. Employers want to hire people who know the company.
• Improve your resume if you learned something which better reflects your qualifications or focus.
• Network: Every person you talk with has the potential to be a job lead. Other candidates can be very helpful. They may have interviewed with a company you had not considered. Share leads, resources and ideas with others
• And yes– GO APPLY ONLINE!

The IPFW Career & Internship Fair is Thursday, September 23rd from 10am-2pm in Walb Union Ballroom.

Networking Benefits: Finding a job

I'm sure you've heard that networking can lead you to a job. Well, here's a good video that explains just how to do it. Check it out!

If I was to share the best advise in this video it would be to utilize your network even if you're not job hunting. This helps to develop rapport with your networks, and you have the opportunity to help them so that when you actually need assistance they are more likely to assist you with the job search (or whatever else you might need).

Remember networking is a give-and-take relationship. You can't go into it desperate to find a job because then networking is going to fail you. Think about someone you might know that only takes from you, and every time you're around him/her you feel exhausted.... Don't be that person!

ATTENTION Employers!

Are you familiar with JobZone, IPFW's online job board? It's monitored through IPFW Career Services and provides many tools and services that employers can take advantage of through the office.

Here are some of it's amenities:

• Allows local employers to post a job for FREE!
• Once a job is posted all IPFW students and alumni have access to view and apply according to your specified method
• Career Services will email faculty to promote the opportunities to students
• Jobs are posted around campus for more accessibility to students
• You can request resume referrals through our office if you want to be more proactive (look for a registration form soon to come on our website)
  
• Detailed instructional video on how to post a local job for free (see below)

For more information contact IPFW Career Services at (260)481-0689 or visit the website at www.ipfw.edu/career.