Category: Campus

Students looking for career opportunities, resume reviews, and job search strategies can get advice from a counselor at the Career Development Center on the sixth floor in the Arkansas Union.
The center provides a variety of ways employers can connect with the diverse employment pool of hundreds of UA students.
“Students can meet with a career counselor and that counselor will help them update their [social media] profile and work with them on that,” said Rickey Lee Booker Jr., director of UA Career Programs.
“I also work for the Graduate School of International Education, but primarily I help students through appointments like resume reviews and walk-in interviews and career counseling,” said Cady Stebhen, Career Counselor and Graduate Assistant. “With the graduate school I do professional development and presentations and professional development blogs. I also supervise to student interns and assist them with their own professional development as well as their social media and public relations positions.”
Most of Stebhen’s graduate student presentations are tailored for careers after graduate school. Stebhen also said she presents on “social media and conferences and how to job search. Overall, it’s like through those presentations, and then anytime they come in here those resume reviews or job interviews tips or anything like that.”
Networking and having an online presence are key concepts that career counselors want students to capitalize on, Stebhen said.
“LinkedIn has a lot of great resources like the alumni search,” she said. “The alumni search is a way to connect with alums in the way of a job or position that a student is interested in. It’s just way to get their foot in the door.
“We also recommend that they have a really great and updated LinkedIn and Handshake profile because job positions are posted on there all the time. Your LinkedIn is a way to communicate more in all of your experiences versus a one-page resume if they are going into an industry job,” Stebhen said.
Booker also thinks that LinkedIn can help students with their job search.
“The key thing about LinkedIn which is huge, is recommendations,” Booker said. “People that you work with who are also on LinkedIn can also recommend you and you can see people and what they said about you and different projects that you’ve worked on.
“So, when you see 20 or 30 or 40 recommendations it really makes you think ‘wow that’s a lot of people who work with that student or person and they can really get a feel for who you are and so that’s how companies are now going and recruiting students with all these recommendations and skills on LinkedIn.
“Companies can just go in and see that and you won’t even have to submit anything,” Booker said. “You definitely want to get some students and some faculty and staff and other people you have worked with. Recommendations are a more prominent thing now more so than skills and endorsements.”

Erica Estes, the director of Employer Relations for Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences helps hundreds of students a year who are trying to find jobs after graduation.
Her advice?
“Students should be spending about 60 percent of their time connecting with professionals or with people that will help them; that could even be another student who has worked and done an internship with a company. And 30 percent is actual opportunities and then 10 percent is actually applying. And a lot of times I think that gets reversed,” Estes said.
Stebhen said that when she looks through students’ resumes reviews that students should rather highlight their accomplishments rather than duties they’ve performed.
“We see it all the time that students at any level will just list out what they do in their day-to-day and most of the time if you are applying for something within the same field or industry they already know what your position does,” Stebhen said. “So, because of that they don’t need to be told and we recommend to students that they should highlight accomplishments or ways that they’ve stood out or to scale with what they’ve done. To highlight transferable skills and to highlight how they’ve stood out and how they’ve learned something maybe different from other people.”

 

Construction to replace a bus stop in the north end of Lot 56 is estimated to be finished this week, a UA official said.

Buses need thicker concrete at stops, and the concrete there was not sufficient and would deteriorate sooner, David Wilson, communications director of UA Transit and Parking, said in an email.

Construction began Sept. 19, and was estimated to be completed Oct. 4, Wilson said.

Once the new bus stop is completed, eastbound buses on West Carlson Drive can pull over to the right, Wilson said. Vehicles behind the bus will then can continue east on the street, rather than wait behind buses stopped for passengers.

Razorback Transit routes 11 and 13 were altered slightly to avoid the construction area. Those routes entered the west end of Lot 56 from Razorback Road at the parking lot entrance, south of West Ladyback Drive, according to a press release.

Six parking spaces temporarily were not in use because of the construction, Wilson said. Two are handicapped spaces and four are regular spaces.

“There really is no need to have alternative parking options for the six spaces during this project, because there are still many vacant spaces throughout Lot 56,” Wilson said in an email.

A temporary bus stop was opened just south of the construction site in the north part of Lot 56, Wilson said.

Completed construction means that eastbound and westbound routes on West Carlson will have a surface durable enough to withstand frequent bus-stop activity, Wilson said.

Oct. 15 was the first day the new bus stop in Lot 56 was in use

A UA student film, “Homeless in Boomtown,” can have an impact on the homeless population of Fayetteville and the homelessness epidemic in northwest Arkansas, the filmmaker said.

“I could definitely see this impacting the homeless locally,” Denzel Jenkins said.

Jenkins, a UA graduate assistant, co-produced “Homeless in Boomtown” with the help of Shane White, another graduate assistant. Jenkins showed the film at his church, Heartland Northwest Arkansas, and congregants were moved to help by donating food.

Homelessness is an ongoing problem in NWA. More than 400 people in Fayetteville lack consistent housing, according to the Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care, and 60 of the 400 are veterans.

The film provides details about the increasing homeless population in the region and the story of a homeless couple and a police officer who patrols homeless camps.

“It was kind of like a scavenger hunt,” Jenkins said. “We got a clue and then it would lead us somewhere. In the end it all came together.

“I have a real passion for this,” Jenkins said. “I wanted to make a film that I was satisfied with.”

Three UA student films were selected and shown at the recent Fayetteville Film Festival. The films were from students or alumni in the journalism school.

Besides “Homeless in Boomtown,” two other student films were shown at the film festival: “Chess,” another short film produced by Jenkins, and “Mike the Birdman.” Both films were shown under the emerging filmmaker category of the festival.

Students do not routinely think of social media as a means to build job resources, a UA career counseling professional said in an interview.

Rickey Lee Booker Jr., the director of UA Career Services doesn’t normally see students using social media to find jobs, he said.

“There are a lot of employers that are hiring students from LinkedIn, a lot more than in previous years. In previous years it was more of just a way to connect with people. It was kind of like a business card. You connect with them through that,” Booker said. “So, now it’s really changed because employers are on there so much that they’re actually seeking out students now based on their LinkedIn.”

The focus has since shifted to figuring out how to utilize social media in a positive way to lead students to their next career or internship opportunity.

“Keep in mind that there’s not one place or one solution. So, it’s really about diversifying your search. We try to get all of those on similar systems but it doesn’t always happen,” said Erica Estes, director of Employer Relations for Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences said.

“And in this case, if students put a little more time and effort into their profile they might add some extra experiences and update what their career interests are so that those kinds of jobs and events are pushed towards them.”

Gina Shelton, a UA journalism instructor and internship director, called on students to take the initiative.

“My best advice for students is to let your professors know what you’re interested in. Some employers want a personal recommendation – they are not interested in a wide-open ad.

“I encourage students to be very visible online. Have a Twitter account that shows you are engaged and active in the journalism/public relations world,” she said. “Create a LinkedIn account, with a professional headshot. The Career Center offers free photo sessions and assistance with LinkedIn and resumes.”

Among the resources that Estes said the university offers students is a program called Handshake. As an online career platform, students can use it to find jobs, internships or career events happening on campus.

“They can also reach out to other students who work for a company that they might be interested in and employers can also reach out to students if they click to make their profiles public. Employers can reach out to them if they think they fit certain qualifications. Any employer that is on handshake is able to reach out to 100 students at each institution once a semester. So, it’s not unlimited, they have to pick and choose.

“So, that’s why it’s important for students to make sure their profile is up to date and exhaustive because every UofA student has a handshake profile already,” Estes said. “Just because you’re a UofA student – just like you all have UAConnect access – it’s the same kind of thing.”

But Estes also has found it difficult to strike that perfect balance of just the right amount of social media.

“There are just so many opportunities, it’s really easy for things to get lost and I get that and I struggle with figuring out with the best way to message students and not crowd them out,” Estes said. “So, I try really hard not to send more than one email a week to people because I just don’t want to overdo it and have people just start deleting them.”

Shelton agreed.

“Students should be savvy in using it to their advantage, making sure their social media footprint is an asset,” she said.

Student preparation also plays a role in job hunting, Booker said.

“Students come to college to get a job but I find it strange that quite a few students don’t really focus on their career until it’s their senior year,” he said. “But if the main reason is to get a job at some point then there needs to be a little bit of a balance between academics, fun, extracurricular activities and focusing on your career at the same time. That’s what really helps you develop into a well-rounded person.”

UA Transit and Parking officials consider ridership data and passenger feedback when adjusting Razorback Transit routes.

Already this semester routes 17, 21 and 44 have been changed in response to customer feedback, said David Wilson, the communications director for UA Transit and Parking.

“Under-utilized routes are adjusted so that higher performing and more heavily utilized routes can be properly equipped with resources,” Adam Waddell, assistant director of UA Transit and Parking, said in a press release.

The goal is to place resources where they will help the most people, Wilson said.

Dnajh Baim, an international student who rides route 48, said Razorback Transit is convenient because she does not have a vehicle.

Cassandra Kisner, a Fayetteville resident who rides route 35, said the bus will be up to five minutes late on some days. Sometimes there is an accident that will delay the bus, but students will not know about it.

Although changes are made, they are not made quickly, Wilson said. Officials are careful and deliberate about modifications, because they want to be sure the solution to one problem does not create a problem somewhere else.

“They’re not going to adjust a route because of one person, but if one person says it, sometimes that means there may be others who have the same concern,” Wilson said. “So, over the course of a year, if you listen to all the complaints and questions, you get a good feel for the people who are needing something different.”

Students sometimes contact officials about buses passing their scheduled stop, Wilson said. It happens anytime of the year and it is usually because the bus already is full or operating behind schedule.

“The bus is deadheading to a set location to get back on schedule,” Wilson said, in an email. “If a bus passes passengers up due to it being behind schedule there should be another bus right behind it.”

Shaylee Wallace, a first-year graduate student who rides route 33, said her stop has never been skipped, but that passengers have been crowded and in one another’s personal space more so than necessary.

Wallace bought a parking pass, but could not find a parking space, she said. She began parking in a public lot and riding the bus to campus. It adds to commute time but it will save money eventually.

Some passengers wonder whether having smaller buses that run more frequently would help alleviate the crowding and time between stops.

 

The capacity on 40-foot buses is 72 passengers, and on 35-foot buses the capacity is 68 passengers, Wilson said, in an email.

The transit staff conducted a study to determine whether smaller buses would be more efficient than larger buses, according to the transit and parking 2017 annual report. Although the smaller buses are less expensive to purchase, their life cycle cost is significantly more than the larger buses, according to the report.

A new big bus costs about $430,000 after the university-required necessary changes are added, Wilson said. Those changes can include branding, radios and communications equipment, cameras and technology for counting passengers.

Officials want the buses to last for 12 to 15 years because they cost so much money, Wilson said. Some buses are bought each year so old buses can be rotated out, which makes the process more manageable in the budget.

Buses that are rotated out can be sold for someone else to use, but federal guidelines limit how a bus is transitioned into another role, Wilson said, in an email. It is possible that an older bus can be retrofitted to be part of Razorback Charters, but nothing has been officially done in that regard.