Sacramento State graduate student and social work major Joshua D. Phillips is worried that he may be jobless after he graduates in May.

Phillips, who has a 3.9 grade point average out of a 4.0 scale, is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Almost 200 students attended the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Initiation Banquet on April 18. The banquet was an invitation-only dinner for juniors with a 3.7 GPA or higher, seniors with a 3.5 GPA or higher and graduate students with a 3.8 GPA or higher.

“Membership in Phi Kappa Phi is the highest honor that our university can give to a student,” said fraternity president Arnold Golub.

Some students at the event expressed sympathy for Phillips and said that while doing well in school is great it doesn’t necessarily secure you a job.

“I have been doing an unpaid internship for EMQ, Children and Family Services for almost a year now,” Phillips said. “I hope that I will get hired into the Los Angeles office once I graduate.”

Phillips said he began looking for jobs because he wants to begin working right after he finishes his final exams.

Graduating students who have yet to find a job in their fields are able to utilize the Career Center, internships and professors to help them with their job searches.

Entering the Career Center in Lassen Hall, I first saw a magazine rack that had at least four different job listing magazines. The three, which were from the National Association of Colleges and Employees, were called “Job Choices: Diversity Edition,” “Job Choices for Business and Liberal Arts Students” and “Job Choices for Science, Engineering, and Technology Students.”

“Jobpostings,” which comes out every month, helps students find jobs and graduate programs.

Career Counselor Debra Marcus said these free magazines are for students to take.

The Career Center offers a variety of help for regular and graduating students including job searches, career fairs, résumé reviews, mock interviews and letting students know about thriving jobs.

“Students come in and tell me, ‘I want a job that is stable and know that I will be employed,’ and I tell them the federal government is the place,” Marcus said.

She explained that the federal government will continue to face talent loss because baby boomers are retiring. All fields of the federal government are hiring for staff positions, which all majors apply for.

Students can check out openings at the USAJobs.gov website.

Competitive fields also include informational technology, computer science and information security.

“Employers across the board are hiring for these positions right now,” Marcus said.

Marcus said students are encouraged to set up meetings to speak with a career counselor, especially if students are in a less-applied field such as communication studies and English.

Marcus first asks the student if he or she is willing to move for a job. She then asks what industry the student is interested in. Narrowing it down more, she asks what companies he or she is interested

in. After all is answered, she helps the student look up job openings within the companies, which should be in the range of 50-150 openings.

Although Phillips was not confident that his degree and internship would translate into a job, Marcus stressed the importance of internships to employment.

“When students intern, they get additional information like real work-world experience that they can’t get in the classroom,” Marcus said. “Supplements is what they get in the classroom.”

She said that it allows students to explore if the field is what they are looking for.

However, alumnus Dao Vang, who majored in business administration with a management informational systems concentration, was able to find an enjoyable job in his field within two months of graduating in December without doing an internship.

“It was hard,” Vang said. “I got lucky.”

Vang encouraged students to do internships because employers easily promote them and they get more offers from companies, he said.

Vang said he is satisfied working for Monte Vista Farming Company in Turlock, Calif. because he is paid well, the benefits are good and it’s not far from home.

It was one of 10 companies he applied for through the Career Center’s Career Connection.

Career Connection, Career Center’s online career management system, can be accessed by Sac State students and alumni through the Career Center’s website.

“Alumni can access Career Connection freely for six months,” Marcus said. “Afterward, they will have to pay a fee that is under review right now.”

There are more than 12,000 job openings posted on Career Connection, she said.

Students can also benefit from speaking with professors.

Michael Wadle, internship coordinator for the Government Department, said that professors offer advice and practical examples of jobs for students.

He advised students to network with people in their fields.

Vang agreed with Wadle and said that students should utilize the tools that are avaliable to them at Sac State.

Deur Julie Tcha can be reached at [email protected].