When it comes to jobs, the best defense is a good offense.

The Career Planning and Placement Center – it’s all about the jobs. Jobs for current students. Jobs for students who are about to graduate. Jobs for alumni.

Career counseling with individual students is high on our priority list. Every year, we help hundreds of students develop a personal job search plan that helps them find appropriate and interesting employment. Call 815-753-1641 to make an appointment.

Walk-in hours are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons between noon and 4 p.m. Take advantage of this opportunity to have a career counselor review your resume or to get some ideas on how to start your job search.

We’re located at the Campus Life Building, Suite 220; that’s at the intersection of Lucinda and Normal, diagonally across from the Holmes Student Center.

Looking for information about career opportunities for your major? NIU majors Weblinks (www.niu.edu/crc/major/Weblink.htm) offers numerous linkable resources that will help you learn about occupations, employers, job search sites, salaries and other important Web links. This is a great site whether you’re a freshman considering a choice of academic major or a senior looking for the right employer.

All Career Planning and Placement Center (CPPC) services are described at www.niu.edu/cppc.

You’ll want to start with Victor eRecruiting. This is a free, online job search management program that opens when you click on the red Victor eRecruiting banner.

All jobs received by CPPC are posted at this site. Activate your account to search for jobs, research employers and send out your resume. Optional electronic resume books are available.

Once you have activated your Victor eRecruiting account, you can use it to keep track of job opportunities. Do you use an e-mail address different from your NIU account? Update it so you’re sure to receive information about career-related activities that may open some important doors to the job you’re after.

Victor eRecruiting offers several job search options: Which one is right for you?

Campus Recruiting: If you plan to graduate this year (December, May or August), campus recruiting can help you find a job in business (retail, banking/financial services, consulting, food production, manufacturing, government and others), technology and engineering. A schedule of campus recruiting orientation schedules is available at www.niu.edu/cppc.

Job Fairs: The CPPC university-wide fall job fair is scheduled for Oct. 15. It will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

By activating your Victor eRecruiting account you will receive a series of messages that will help you prepare for this event. Spring job fairs will be the university-wide fair on Feb. 25, a summer employment fair will be on Feb. 17 and Teacher Placement Day on April 5.

Job Location and Development: Volunteer opportunities and part-time jobs. Many local agencies call on NIU students to participate in projects, programs and special events. Get great hands-on work experience while you help others.

Need a job that pays? “Vic” currently lists jobs for cashiers, laboratory assistants, sales representatives, inventory takers, Web developers, property managers, census workers, TV production assistants, food service workers, security officers – and many, many more.

www.niu.edu/cppc. Look at it today. It’s all about the jobs.