Truman State University - Echo Yearbook (Kirksville, MO)

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A necessary evil If there is a place for everything and everything belongs in its place, where are place' ment papers placed? Placement papers must be placed with Career Planning and Placements by every student who receives a degree or certificate from the Univerv sity, Kathleen Strickler, director of placements, said. uThe papers are really credentials for employ! ment search, Strickler said. Before graduating with a two'year certificate, bachelors degree or master,s degree the forms must be completed, turned in and processed by the placement ofe fice. They must also be updated for every degree earned, she said. n . i4 P atement papers Its a nice complete package all in one place, senior Lori Mager said. To fulfill the re quirements students pick up a packet and in' structions from CPPC and then must gather the information and complete the forms. Any time after a student becomes a senior he can fill out the papers which lists personal statistics, a college transcript, the major field of study, an availability card, a resume or short autobiography and a request for recommendar tions. uItls nothing they have to do the last few weeks, Strickler said. Although the placement office recommends papers for spring graduates be in by the end of the fall semester, many students do not meet z mxzzzamm, 39:44 Pat Rollins . Wu-uam .u.-..v:.........4.a.m-waqn..-m-m-m. ua.:.. A 75...... . -.... AH.TMWW that deadline. uYou just keep putting it off and putting it off, senior Cory Scott said. Scott did not turn his placement papers in until after spring break. llJust getting motivated is the problem. If yould sit down and do them, it would probably take about two hours? he said. llI had a lot of other stuff to do and they are so tediousf senior Ruthie Dare said. Strickler said the papers are very valuable credentials and do not take long to complete. uA good, sharp student can sit down and in 30 minutes have the papers completed. Some students said the papers took them longer to complete because they were confused by some of the questions. I had a bunch lof questionsy about what they wantedfl Scott said. llA lot of questions were fuzzy, not clear. uAnytime I had a question I just called over to placements and they answered it,n senior Brenda Kennedy said. Senior David Baxley said the items requested on the papers were vague, but a call to the placements office gave him the answers he needed. Although the work maybe tedious and troublesome, Strickler said it is worth the pro blems. The references are one of the most valuable portions of the placement papers, Strickler said. uThose lrecommendationsl are what employers look for. One of the forms in the placement packet is a request for recommendations. Students can list three instructors or other references to be con tacted for letters of recommendation. The writers must be contacted by the student before they are listed on the placement papers. Placements cannot add to 3 students file without the students permission and students must sign a statement as to whether or not they waive the right to see the written recommenda tions. Strickler said the recommendations are more effective when the file is closed to the stuv dent. The only way the recommendations can be removed is for the writer of the recommendae tion to request it in writing. That is very rare, Strickler said. The placement papers pave the way for inter- views and other University placement ac tivities. Unless the papers are filed, placements has no record of the studentls availability for employment. llThey are the losers if they don,t turn them inf, Strickler said. Interviews are set up in the placements office for a variety of job openings in business, in' dustry and teaching fields. Students can come into the office to set up an interview and those AN INFORMAL ATMOSPHERE is set up in the Flaming and Placements Office for an interview between Gerald Ellis, Warren County superintena dent, and alumna Renee Seuferer. specifically V who hav at an ad say if yo canlt dar tage to h The opportu tions a That 0: said. Baxley campus panies d wanted. useful w all the in Career placeme tool, bu have fill - Pm g1 Baxley s. uI thi but in o and look Stude Hlt prob

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d putting it did not turn pring break. Jem. If you,d obably take .nd they are I. -ry valuable 0 complete. n and in 30 took them ere confused a bunch tof specifically estions were called over I it? senior s requested call to the answers he edious and rth the pro lOSt valuable rs, Strickler i are what it packet is a ients can list as to be con; iation. The udent before pets. :tudentis file and students r or not they ecommendav ndations are :d to the stu' tions can be ecommendae is very rare, vay for interr acement ac' ., placements 'ailability for if they donTt ements office business, in, Its can come :w and those set up in the an interview y superinten- who have completed their placement papers are at an advantage in those situations. uWe dorft say if you donTt have your papers done you cant darken our door, but its to your advan' tage to have them completed, Strickler said. The on'campus interviews give students an opportunity to meet with a variety of corpora, tions and agencies looking for applicants. uThat tthe interviewT really helps out, Scott said. Baxley said he was not impressed with the one campus interviews because most of the com, panies do not offer the kind of employment he wanted. But he has found his placement papers useful when he fills out job applications because all the information needed is in front of him. Career Planning and Placements believes placement papers provide a valuable job search tool, but some students would probably not have filled them out unless they were required. iTm glad I did it, but I wouldrft do it again? Baxley said. Ki1 think they are good at placing teachers, but in othel majors you sort of have to go out and lmk en yOUi' ownf, Mager said. SFUdCDU do find the papers valuable though. hit pmbai,vlv gave me a good background of things Yd done in school? Kennedy said. uIt helps the University; they like to keep a recordf, The UniversityTs attempts at recordkeeping ran into some problems. Previously, the Career Planning and Placement Center has always had more than 90 percent of the University,s graduates report they have found employment. This year, however, 15 percent of the graduates did not respond and so could not be included in the number placed even if they had found jobs. Strickler said the 85 percent placement was disappointing when compared to past years. The placement figures are also used to prepare an elaborate annual report to be presented to the state legislature. uIt proves to the legislature our people are marketable and are going out to be working members of socie' tyfi Strickler said. The most important feature of the papers for students, however. is its success in helping them get jobs. Can it help students find employ; ment? uWhen I first started I didn't think so, but noweitb possible,u Scott said.ECHO Story by Kathleen Armentrout Pat Rollins WITH HAND GESTURES, Gerald Ellis, Warren County superintendent, explains obligations of a home economics teaching position to interviewee alumna Renee Seuferer. 15 Placement papers