Career & Education Resources

As Penn State and Smeal graduates, your extended University community includes more than 550,000 Penn Staters located in every corner of the world, nearly 70,000 of whom are Smeal graduates. This is a powerful network, and we hope you'll take advantage of it and leverage your Smeal connections.

Smeal Alumni Career Services

Our mission is help Smeal alumni in times of job transition and to offer networking and professional connections to both students and alumni.  Our services will specifically serve the needs of business graduates.  Now in a pilot phase, its services will eventually include career development tools, tips for sharpening interview skills, webinars, and job postings for both job seekers and recruiters seeking to hire recent graduates to experienced alumni. In the coming years, the program will provide more cohesive and long-term connections between students, alumni, and the college.

Currently, the career services offered to Smeal alumni are as follows:

• Resume reviews
• Mock interviews and interview tips
• Career coaching
• Networking
• Job postings through SmealConnect
• Networking Event Planning

SmealConnect

Networking has become critical in the current job market.  Joining SmealConnect can help students, alumni, and the Smeal College of Business develop a strong community bond which will be important in any job search.

For Recent Alumni:

Continue to work at getting your “dream job.”  Keep networking and meeting with top executives who can give you tips and help you make connections to work toward the job that will satisfy your career goals. If you did not meet with top executives as a student to develop this network, make sure you meet with Alumni Career Services, by phone or in person and have a strategic plan of action for these meetings.

For Experienced Alumni:

Networking is an ongoing process throughout your entire career.  At this point, all the connections that you have made will help you in your job search.  Whether changing your career path or having been laid off due to the economic times, SmealConnect, can be a valuable tool as it will connect you specifically with Smeal alumni.

For Companies:

Please e-mail Alumni Career Services to have your job posted on SmealConnect.  Smeal’s Career Services is working with new Smeal graduates and experienced hires.  Please complete this form with the necessary information to get the best possible candidates for your position. Starting in Fall 2012, we hope to have companies who want recent graduates or experienced hires to be able to post on the current undergraduate system, called Symplicity, under an alumni section.

LinkedIn and Other Resources

LinkedIn

Having a LinkedIn account is a necessity for business graduates.  In the future, we will be offering training on how to effectively use LinkedIn to network.  For now, you can visit the website. LinkedIn also has a Learning Center. Start making your Linkedin profile now and don’t forget to add a professional picture. It is important to see a face with a name and it helps to make a better connection.

Free Job Search Websites

Below are some free job site links:

General
Monster
Indeed
Simply.Hired
Career Builder
FreeJobSearch.org
Specialty - 100K+ Jobs
6 Figure Jobs
The Ladders (Basic Service is free)
Technical - Geared for technical positions such as Business Analysts)
Dice

Career Informational Websites

Riley Guide
Vault Guides
Wet Feet
Quintessential Careers

Helpful Reading for Learning to Negotiate

Once you receive a job offer, an experienced hire needs to have negotiating skills.  The books below are examples of publications that offer helpful advice when determining your worth and how to ask and get what you need in your new position - more vacation, bonuses, etc.

The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen

Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1,000 a Minute by Jack Chapman

Executive Recruiters

Executive recruiters or “head hunters” only have a success rate of about 5%; however, if you choose to go this route, here are some tips:

• Check out The Directory of Executive & Professional Recruiters
• Use your network to ask around about executive recruiters who have been successful, responsive, and courteous.

Penn State Alumni Career Services

Penn State Alumni Career Services provides career and life management assistance to more than 500,000 geographically dispersed alumni. Using a variety of tools from individual counseling to webinars to networking events, Alumni Career Services counselors help graduates of all ages figure out their career path, their job search plan, or ways to network with other Penn Staters. For more information, contact Alumni Career Services at 814-865-LINK or e-mail alumnicareeradvice@sa.psu.edu.

Education Resources

Connect with Working Professionals in a Variety of Industries

We offer an Executive MBA Program held every other week over the course of 21 months in Philadelphia, as well as executive education programs in leadership, supply chain, coaching, and finance.  Learn more about the Executive MBA Program and Penn State Executive Programs, and the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Penn State Executive Program Events.  Learn more about our resident MBA Program.

Wall Street Boot Camp

Wall Street Boot Camp is a training program created to better prepare undergraduate students who aspire to have careers in the highly competitive field of financial services.  Currently the program benefits mostly finance majors and is run by the creator of the program, Robin Stevens, the Director of Smeal Alumni Career Services. Robin Stevens wants to expand the Wall Street Boot Camp educational concept to every major and field of concentration within Smeal, as well as for experienced hires.