Commencement at IUS is less than a month away, but do you have a job lined up yet? 

Furthermore, is that job within your field of study?  

Or, do you have any clue as to how or where to start looking? 

Job hunting can seem overwhelming–whether you’re launching a new career post-college, or just searching for a summer gig or internship that relates to your undergraduate major before classes resume in the fall. If you hurry, you can still attend a Table Tuesday event or two at UC South behind the bookstore. 

“I ended up securing a part-time internship mid-semester of my senior year,” recalled Kaitlyn Lynn Garcia, who graduated from IUS in 2021. “This gave me the opportunity to explore. It helped me plan and decide what I wanted to do most.”   

Luckily for IUS students, there’s also free assistance on campus. 

“A fairly common problem is for a student to not know how to begin their job search,” said Misti Jones, assistant director of career development and mentoring at IUS. But students and soon-to-be graduates “have a whole group of people with knowledge, contacts, and support” through Jones’ office. 

She said the job-hunting process can start as early as IUS orientation for new and transfer students, when they receive a four-year career plan pamphlet. “Year One is explore,” Jones said. “Students should be taking career assessments, researching careers in their major, finding ways to get involved through activities like volunteering, getting their resume pulled together, and meeting with their career coach.” 

Year Two in the career pamphlet is “Discover,” Jones said. Students are encouraged to conduct informational interviews to learn more about their major and career options. They can also build their brand by ensuring that content in their social media accounts is professional and appropriate. Year Three is “Connected,” Jones said — the time to narrow down one’s career choices, seek internships, and get hands-on experience. 

Then there’s Year Four: “Achieve.”  

“The main thing we tell students when they are graduating is to update their resume, practice interviewing, apply for jobs on a regular basis, and make use of their personal networks, either in-person or on websites like LinkedIn,” said Jones.   

Meanwhile, Garcia, who earned a bachelor’s in journalism at IUS, recalled how her internship “gave me the opportunity to explore other options in journalism, like marketing and advertising.” Since graduating, she has held marketing and social media positions at New Albany and Jeffersonville employers. 

“It wasn’t necessarily difficult to pick a major but more difficult to pin down what I wanted to do,” she said, referring to careers. 

Jones urges students to stay positive about their job prospects and ask for additional advice, support, and services. She and others at the IUS Career Development Center are available weekdays at 812-941-2275.