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December 13, 2002

Purdue Center for Career Opportunities earns national recognition

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Instead of cramming a job search workshop into their busy schedules, Purdue University students can now receive job search training with a few clicks of a mouse.

That's why the Purdue Center for Career Opportunities was named the sole recipient of the 2002 NACE/Chevron Award for Innovative Programs in Career Services. The award, presented by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, recognizes a college or university for establishing a groundbreaking program in the field of career development. The career center at Purdue created a Web-based video series that offers job search instruction.

The videos cover core aspects of the students' job search process including resume writing, cover letter development, interviewing skills, job fair strategies, site visits, decision-making and negotiation. Tim Luzader, Center for Career Opportunities director, says his staff is pleased to have received national recognition for their efforts.

"We are elated to have received this prestigious recognition from NACE," Luzader says. "This video series removes the obstacle of distance and gives Purdue's students and alumni convenient access to a trusted source of job search assistance. This initiative also ensures consistent quality programming in support of student presentations in classrooms, residential units, or wherever students or alumni access the Internet."

Luzader says the student demand for the videos remains consistently high.

"One month after this package of videos went live, we recorded 1,834 hits on these Web sites," he says. "This activity strongly suggested that the Internet is a medium that corresponds to students' interests and expectations."

Luzader says that 247 of the students who visited this site also participated in a monthlong online survey.

"The feedback that was provided supported the notion that the video programs were of high quality and presented in an appealing and convenient format," Luzader says.

Viewers of the center's Web-based video programming are offered format choices between Windows Media and Real Player. A series of compressed screen options to increase the speed of the delivery of online information also has been established.

"The compressed screen options will be especially significant for students and alumni dialing in from telephone line modems," Luzader says. "Given the template and format for these video programs, and their presence in the public domain for all interested parties to access without restrictions, this initiative makes a profound contribution to our field."

Luzader says the center also offers job search programming in other formats, including videotapes for classroom and student organization presentations, when online hook-ups are not possible.

Plans for 2003 include expansion of the job search topics covered and the number of videos provided. The center also is indexing the videos on a DVD and in a CD-ROM format to provide students with an additional viewing option on their home computers.

CONTACT: Tim Luzader, (765) 494-3985, tluzader@purdue.edu.

Related Web site:
Center for Career Opportunities


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