More than 90 University of Minnesota graduating seniors recently gathered at Coffman Memorial Union for a one-day event aimed at helping them land their first fulltime job. Hosted by all of the career centers on campus, the second annual "You've Graduated...What Now?" program offered advice for those unsure of their next steps.

"We tried to put what we do year-round into a one-day session that can really help our graduates get started in their career," said Katie Selby, associate director of the Undergraduate Business Career Center at the Carlson School.
In addition to learning how to build the perfect resume, the students also received a presentation on the power of the social networking site LinkedIn, asked questions of human resource experts in a panel discussion, and participated in a networking workshop.

As part of the workshop, more than 20 corporate partners prepared students for future job-seeking with a real-time "speed networking" exercise. In speed networking, small groups of students were placed with a corporate representative and asked to share their personal positioning statement in the short time allotted before moving on to the next professional.

"In addition to simulating the pressures of delivering an elevator speech, the speed network exercise allowed employers like myself a chance to provide feedback that could help the students best represent the experiences they have had to a prospective employer," said Deb Broberg, vice president, recruiting integration for Wells Fargo Regional Banking Human Resources and a Carlson School alum.

During her time with the students Broberg stressed the importance of building and using a personal network when looking for work. "Finding a job is a job," said Broberg. "You need to do much more than simply apply for positions online and hope your resume sticks out among the hundreds a company might receive."