Clarion
www.brevard.edu/clarion
THE
Volume 76, Issue 30 Web Edition SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
Commencement set for May 13-14
Congratulations,
Class of 2011!
May 13, 2011
Brevard College’s 2011 Commencement
activities will take place May 13-14.
Approximately 130 seniors are expected
to graduate during the College’s 158th
Commencement Exercise.
Special events for families and friends will
begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 13 with a
creek-side reception beside the College's Porter
Center for Performing Arts. The College’s
Baccalaureate and Hooding Ceremony will
begin at 4:30 p.m. inside the Porter Center’s
Concert Hall. A special picnic for graduates
and their families will follow the service at 6
p.m. along the creek and lawn outside of the
Porter Center
Commencement day activities will begin
Saturday morning with a class photo of
graduates on the steps of the J. A. Jones Library
at 8:30 a.m. The 2011 Commencement Exercises
will begin at 10 a.m. in the College’s Betty Neale
Academic Quadrangle. A reception will follow
on the lawn of Taylor and Green halls.
More information can be found inside,
including a schedule of events on page 3 and a
list of graduation candidates on page 2.
Students and faculty are also advised to
look over the detailed schedule available on
MyBC.
BC’s 2010 graduating class consisted of more
tlian 140 graduates and summer candidates.
Ten tools new grads need to get that perfect job
You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect
resume. The format is eye-catching, the
paper feels substantial and the wording
is practically Pulitzer Prize-winning. But
you’ll need much more than a well-crafted
resume if you want to land that all-impor
tant first job.
Ford Myers, career coach, speaker and
author of “Get the Job You Want, Even
When No One’s Hiring” (John Wiley &
Sons, 2009), says the resume is just one of
many “tools” a job seeker should have in
his or her “Job Seekers’ Tool Kit.”
“Unfortunately, most people don’t know
what these other tools are or how to use
them,” Myers says. “By integrating other
elements into the job search—and not rely
ing solely on your resume—^you can add
power, professionalism and flexibility to
your efforts.”
More graduation
coverage inside
□ List of graduates and
candidates, page 2
□ Commencement weekend
schedule & instructions, page
3
□ Q&A with the 2011 com
mencement speakers, page 4
Despite a recent National Association
of Colleges and Employers (NACE) report
which found that 5.3 percent more new
graduates wiU be hired this year than in
2009, most wiU compete with an unprec
edented number of unemployed Americans
with more on-the-job experience.
To stand out from the crowd, Myers
suggests the following 10 items every new
college graduate should have in the “Job
Seekers’ Tool Kit”:
1. Accomplishment Stories. Write five
or six compeUing stories about school or
work-related tasks that made you proud.
2. Positioning Statement. Prepare and
practice a “15-second commercial” about
who you are, what you’ve done in the past
(academically and professionally, if ap-
phcable), and the particular strengths you
can contribute to an employer
3. Professional Biography. Write a
one-page narrative of your career in the
“third person”—as though someone else
wrote it about you.
4. Target Company List. Make a “wish
list” of adjectives that would describe your
ideal employer, such as size, location,
industry, culture, enviroimient, etc. Then
research specific organizations that meet
those criteria and put them on a list of 35
to 50 “target companies.”
5. Contact List. Compfle a list of all
the people you know personally and pro
fessionally. Remember that approximately
80 percent of new opportunities are secured
through networking.
6. Professional/Academic References.
List coUeagues or professors who would
“sing your praises” if asked about you.
Contact each of them, and get approval to
use their names on your hst of references.
7. Letters of Recommendation. Re
quest letters from four or five respected
business colleagues or academic associates
which wiU be printed on their professional
letterhead.
8. Networking Agenda. Write out a
full networking discussion or script so
you will know exactly how to manage the
networking discussion—how it flows, what
to expect, how to react to the other person’s
comments, etc.
9. Tracking System. Keep a detafled
record of your job search activities, includ
ing phone cafls, meeting notes and corre
spondence. This is essential to keeping your
process organized and productive.
10. Resume. It’s the last on the list,
but stifl indispensable. And, it has to be
GREAT. Be sure your final resume is
carefully edited and succinct (no more than
two pages) with a layout that is easy for the
eye to foflow.
For more information and other useful
tips to help coflege grads achieve career
success, visit www.getthejobbook.com.