It’s never too early to plan for life after college, and Gustavus’ Career Center offers students a useful tool to help them find post-graduate employment. G-Net connects Gustavus students with employers, allowing them to set up interviews and find potential jobs.
G-Net is an online resume bank, much like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, that allows employers to search for potential employees. However, Director of Career Management Cythia Favre is careful to stress the difference between G-Net and larger resume sites.“It’s not like Monster,” Favre said, “because you, the student, have complete control over your resume.”
The depth of information employers encounter when searching for candidates on G-Net is much greater than that of large, public job search sites. Unlike other sites, G-Net doesn’t post resumes on a database that can be accessed by anyone. Instead, the Career Center reads the resume and either approves it or provides feedback before letting a student publish it in a “resume book.” Each resume book is specific to a different career field and is only available to employers pre-approved by the school.
These employers can also see cover letters and writing samples (if a student chooses to publish them), and a profile containing information about the student’s academic career. In short, G-Net provides reputable employers with comprehensive information about a small pool of applicants.
Because it is so closely regulated by the school, the Career Center also uses G-Net to set up job interviews for students. According to Favre, matching students with employers who conduct on-campus interviews is G-Net’s most successful function. Students like Senior Management Major Melissa Lee can speak for its effectiveness. “G-Net has gotten me personal interviews with potential employers,” Lee said, “and I found out about them through my regular Gustavus e-mail, which was extremely convenient.”
G-Net’s most unique feature, however, is its mentoring program. According to the website, an entire database of “individuals who have volunteered themselves as resources for advice and information regarding careers, employers, geographic regions and the job search process in general,” are available to assist students.
This database allows students to search for mentors by region, industry or job function, undergraduate degree and the type of guidance mentors are willing to offer, among other criteria. Not only can mentors guide students through the difficult process of launching a career; they can also serve as a valuable connection later in life.
If a student’s plans after college include continuing education, however, G-Net isn’t very helpful. “I’m sure it would be incredibly helpful if I were searching for jobs,” said Senior Lindsey Cattau, “but it really doesn’t provide much information about graduate school.”
As valuable as G-Net is for job hunting, the process is more complicated than simply typing information into a website. “Publishing your resume on G-Net is not the strongest tool to use,” Favre said. Experience, career counseling, interviewing skills and old-fashioned personal connections are still requirements for landing the right job after graduation.
G-Net provides a list of Career Center events such as workshops and job fairs, salary information, links to external job sites and opportunities to apply for jobs directly through the website. It’s free and easy to navigate. Anyone wanting direct instruction on using G-Net can contact the Career Center or attend a G-Net workshop. The last workshop of the year will be on Tuesday, March 18 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Library Instruction Room.