NIU's Career Planning and Placement Center offers graduating students a variety of avenues to use in locating employment.

Students should not wait until the last minute to take advantage of these programs, cautions Joan Greening, assistant director of NIU's Career Planning and Placement Center. Greening said now is the time for graduating students to begin preparations for their job searches.

Jean Callary, recruiting coordinator for NIU's Career Planning and Placement Center, discussed the psychology involved in on-campus recruiting.

"The group of students interviewed represents new ideas and fresh education," she said. "It's tough to go to college, and employers know that."

Some of the services provided by NIU's Career Planning and Placement Center include workshops on topics such as job search strategies, resume writing and interviewing, an on-campus recruitment program, job listings, career-counseling sessions and an alumni referral service.

To use campus recruiting, students graduating in May or August should attend at least one of the campus interviewing sessions scheduled between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26. Workshops also are available to help students understand how the job search works.

Students select jobs of interest and apply for interviews by turning in copies of their resumes to the center. The center then sends the resumes to the employers, who select students for interviews.

"That kind of dual selection gives students a lot of flexibility in career choices," Callary said.

Once students are selected for an interview, they can sign up for the time that fits their schedule.

Callary also said companies sent 4.3 percent more recruiters to NIU in the fall of 1987 than in 1986. She said the same companies consistently return.

"Northern has a good reputation with companies," Callary said. "When employers make arrangements to do campus interviewing, that means they've had success in the past with NIU graduates."

"Employers get to pre-screen applicants," Callary said. "Students choose the employers and employers choose the students. This gives employers control over the people who are interviewed," she said.

In the past, NIU graduates have done well in finding employment after graduation. Follow-up surveys indicate 85 to 90 percent of NIU students accept jobs within months after graduation.

The center's post-graduation study of August and December 1986 and May 1987 graduates revealed 72 percent of NIU's graduates with bachelor's degrees found full-time employment. Also, 74 percent of these respondents indicated the jobs were related to their majors.

Of master's degree graduates, 80 percent found full-time employment, with 82 percent of the full and part-time jobs related to their degrees.

Karin Schild, a senior accounting major who will graduate in May, used NIU's campus recruiting and had 10 on-campus interviews and five job offers before accepting a position with a large accounting firm.

"I thought it (on-campus recruiting) was really convenient," said Schild. "All you have to do is to put your resume in a drop-box, and the corporation comes to NIU to interview," she said.

Callary said while students initially showed interest in on-campus recruiting last fall, many did not follow through with the procedures.

"Of the December and May graduates who registered for campus recruiting last fall, 41 percent never requested an interview," she said.

Aaron Hayes, an NIU alumnus from Wheaton, Ill., returned to NIU to check job possibilities in his field of economics and political science.