RODGER DECILIO '03 CBA

In today's tight job market, career counselors stress that having a great resume and cover letter isn't enough against the stiff — and plentiful — competition. Additional measures, such as aggressive networking, can be crucial to landing a job.

DeCilio

"I applied over the summer through the firm's Web site," he says. "I was randomly sending applications to accounting firms. But for the most part, I didn't hear anything."

Meanwhile, Decilio continued his job search through other avenues: visiting job fairs, sending out resumes, investigating prospects through the College of Business' E-Recruiting Program and making connections with potential employers through the UIC Accounting Club.

During the fall — his final semester at UIC — Decilio interviewed with several other accounting firms, but became anxious when he learned they wouldn't be hiring until December.

"It was stressful," he says. "The end of the semester was nearing, and I didn't have any offers."

As it turned out, his random resume distribution during the summer paid off. A PricewaterhouseCoopers recruiter contacted Decilio and invited him to interview for a position. He did, and was hired this past January.

Although he attributes the ease of his job-hunt success to luck, Decilio says that diligence is key to any search.

"It's important to start as early as possible, especially because companies can often hire students as much as a year in advance," he says. "Network, go to job fairs, distribute your resume — you have to do everything you can."

MONICA LANDEROS '03 LAS

Chicago native Monica Landeros admits she always wanted to be a television news reporter, but was nervous about measuring up against the industry's stiff competition.

Landeros

During her final semesters at UIC as a communications major, Landeros became more aggressive about her career decision and landed two internships in the field — first, as a morning show intern for WGN News, then as a consumer news intern at NBC.

Not only did she get the opportunity to learn the inner workings of TV news and make valuable contacts, Landeros also realized that she was hooked. Last summer, with one course left to fulfill her degree requirements, Landeros took a chance with an unpaid internship at WHOI News in Peoria. Meanwhile, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, she drove back and forth to Chicago for class at UIC.

"I was worried, because the internship wasn't going to guarantee a job," she says. "My parents helped support me, and I got a retail job to supplement my income. But it was a lot harder than I thought it would be."

In the meantime, Landeros worked diligently at trying to find a job, fine-tuning her resume tape and sending it off to small TV news stations across the country. Her sacrifices paid off. In October, she was offered a contract for a permanent position at WHOI.

Although Landeros enjoys her work in Peoria, she looks forward to moving on to reporting in a bigger city, and aspires to become an international correspondent for CNN, or even returning home to work in Chicago.

"If you know what you want, you can make it happen."

MEAGAN BRACY MSW '03

After earning her bachelor's degree in theatrical costume design and working in Chicago-area theaters and television for five years, Meagan Bracy decided that the stage wasn't for her.

Bracy

Two years ago, Bracy entered the master's program in the Jane Addams School of Social Work and chose a concentration in mental health, a field in which she hopes to find a permanent position when she finishes her degree in May.

Although she hasn't yet secured a job, Bracy is aggressively pursuing opportunities in London, where a shortage of social workers has forced social services agencies to recruit professionals from outside the country.

"They requested more information, so I have to revise my CV and return it with additional materials."

Originally, Bracy hoped to secure a permanent position at the agency where she's interning, but shortfalls in funding eliminated that option. "The problem with social work in general now is the reductions in funding, so there are fewer jobs," she explains.

Currently, Bracy isn't pursuing any other opportunities. If London doesn't work out, she plans on finding a job in Chicago, but admits that the still-slow economy may dampen her prospects. However, with several years of work experience, two internships and a strong network of connections in her field, Bracy is confident that she'll have an edge over the competition.

"The economy is just something I have to deal with," she says. "People are still getting jobs, and I'm sure I'll be one of them."