Applying for a job at Missouri Western has now been made easier to do with an application instead of having to write a resume.
The Career Development and Student Employment Center saw the need for change in the way students apply for jobs, and filling out an application sounded like the best change they could make.
Kait Newhart is a freshman here at Western and works as a student assistant in the center.
“Students were having a lot of trouble with the resume because most are used to filling out an application when applying for a job,” Newhart said.
The change took place at the start of the semester and the Center is hoping it will encourage more students to apply for jobs on campus.
They are watching and waiting to see how well it works.
Any suggestions for ways of improving, or making this change better are welcome.
Director of the Center, Linda Garlinger is responsible for making this change happen.
She said that supervisors were not getting clear information from the resumes.
Some students were putting home addresses when they were living on campus.
Others were giving their home number instead of a contact number like a cell phone.
A board was put together of all the people who had concerns and were not satisfied with the way the system was working.
They met and discussed different things they could do to make applying for jobs at Western easier and the decision was made to fill out an application compared to writing a resume.
The application asks for specific contact numbers and addresses.
Making this change has helped in two significant ways.
“It makes it easier for the student to apply, and makes it easier for the supervisor to get the information they need in order to hire the right person,” Garlinger said.
The application idea has also helped the Center by giving them more time to focus on other areas of student employment, like filing and processing applicants.
“There are not as many students coming in needing help with their resume,” Newhart said.
Koren Dailey is a senior and works as a research assistant in the center and explains how this change has helped.
“I don’t think people know what to say on a resume to make them look like a good job candidate, and having a full application to fill out is helpful,” Dailey said.
The center is hopeful that these changes will make applying for jobs on campus easier and they have been seeing positive results.
They invite more students to seek all the opportunities in employment here at Western and beyond.
Job listings are posted under the NACElink banner on the student employment web site and all applications are completed online at: www.missouriwestern.edu/studentemployment
The center still helps with resumes and cover letters.
They have career fairs and education expo fairs for education students.
They are working hard to help students find employment and always trying to make the experience easier.