For college students, locating an internship or a job is a source of tremendous stress. However, there are various resources available to help make this process a little easier. One such resource is CareerSearch. CareerSearch is a large and comprehensive database that allows students to search for employers by location, industry, and other variables. Tufts students can access it by logging into WebCenter (https://webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu/) and selecting ‘Career Services Web Resources’ from the drop down menu under the Navigation tab. CareerSearch is listed on the next page.
CareerSearch is a valuable instrument to use in employment searches, and it will best serve students who have a good idea of what they are looking for. For students who are completely unaware of what kind of job or internship would interest them, CareerSearch can seem overwhelming. If that’s the case for you, I would recommend talking to someone in Career Services before diving into the CareerSearch resource
CareerSearch Step-by-Step:
- CareerSearch allows an individual to determine what search type s/he would like to use. One can choose from a variety of search tools, including US Search, International Search, and Contacts Search.
- Suppose an individual chooses to search in the US; next, she would check off all of the industries in which she is looking for a job or internship. Multiple industries can be selected, if desired.
- Choose the location of her desired job or internship, based upon region, state, zip code, etc.
- Specify different keywords to incorporate into the search, whether it is the name of a particular company or the name of a particular contact. Be careful, though, as this keyword search isn’t like Google; it might actually rule out companies of interest if the terms are too specific.
- Click “Get Results” to see what companies arise.
A student may scroll through the list of results to see if anything catches her eye. If so, she can click on a company and a pop-up will provide further details about the organization, including address, annual revenue, the number of employees it hires, and the names of people to contact. It is not guaranteed that every company that appears on the results list has a definite job or internship opening. Rather, it is up to the individual to check out the company website or contact the company to inquire about employment opportunities.
When used effectively, CareerSearch produces a list of companies that mesh well with users’ interests, taking factors such as industry and geographical location into account. There is still work left to do in finding a job or internship, but CareerSearch is useful in that it can be used as a stepping stone along the way.
