Career Services at Northern Michigan University is offering a new service, the Online Résumé System, for students and alumni to make their résumés public to employers throughout the nation. This free service, completed before winter break, allows students to increase their chances in finding employment after graduating from Northern.

“We constantly try to come up with new and different ways to get (students’) information out to employers,” said John Frick, director of Career Services.

The new service is most beneficial to juniors looking for potential internships and graduating seniors searching for employment. It allows a student to upload his or her résumé in PDF form and update it at any time. It is active for 90 days, and can then be renewed if the student wishes.

In March, when the service has collected more résumés, the link to the system will be sent by Career Services to companies throughout the nation in a number of fields. Companies can then keyword search for potential employees.

The Online Résumé System can be found at www.nmu.edu/ors-stu.

“Given how difficult the economy is today, anything students can do to find employment once they graduate, they should do that,” Frick said.

Frick said there are four things a student should consider in order to secure his or her future in this economy. Students need to start preparing for a career as soon as possible, begin to develop their network between family and friends, use as many technological options as are available and do an internship.

“An internship gives (a student) hands on, real world experience related to the field they are in,” Frick said.

The Career Center, located in 3502 Hedgcock, offers many services for students who are beginning to prepare for their career. Such services include helping to complete a résumé, writing a cover letter and practicing for an interview. Frick encouraged students to visit the Career Center for individual help.

“We can be of best help to students if one of our career counselors sit down one-on-one to discuss how to find a career,” Frick said. “There’s no one-size-fits all to career development.”

Career services also hosts job fairs twice a year as well as speaking to classes to introduce their services to students who can use them.

Ashley Croasdell, senior nursing major, met with Frick after he spoke in one of her classes. Croasdell is planning on sending out her résumé this semester and decided to meet with Frick to discuss her résumé.

“It’s helpful to have somebody who does it for a living who knows what potential employers are looking for,” Croasdell said.

Croasdell said that she does not feel threatened by the current economy because she is going into one of the few growing fields. Frick cited banking and retail as suffering the most in this economy, but he insisted that there are still companies looking to hire.

“Even in this tough economic time, there are employers who are hiring and many times we (Career Services) know of those before they are posted on our Web site,” Frick said.

In order to further encourage students to use Career Services as a resource and learn about upcoming events, such as job fairs, Frick created a Facebook group called “The Cat Career Connection.”

The NMU Web site for the career center is also updated regularly with valuable information and additional services at www.nmu.edu/careers.