March 8, 2012 Rotary Newsletter

Announcements:  (notes courteous of the crafty and courageous Barb Lintner)

Paul thanked the bowlers and those who supported them to meet their $500 goal for Big Brothers and Big Sisters on March 2.

The 14 CU Sunrise members who attended the joint meeting last week need to give their $10 to Ata.

Gary will continue to pass around a box to collect contributions for a Shelter Box in memory of Bob Harr for the next few meetings.

Rotary Family Days at the Ball Park for the Cubs Cardinals games in St. Louis will be April 14^th at noon and July 21^st at 3:05.  

Tickets are $55.00.  Order forms will be available at our meetings.

Barb thanked those who read to over 250 children at the CU Sunrise Rocker at Read Across America on March  3.

Speaker:  

Larry Westfall, Associate Director, MBA Career Services in the College of Business at the University of Illinois spoke on “Preparing students to Navigate the Job Market” through the eyes of a career coach and human relations leader.  Larry, who has been at the university for 6 months, has held a succession of human resource leadership roles within the financial services, petrochemical,  and health care sectors specializing in talent management, leadership development, compensation, organizational change,  and employee relations.

The current job market presents demographic challenges with the exodus of baby boomers and the entrance of a quite different generation.  Technological advances and the advent of social media have changed the dynamics between employer and prospective employee. A company’s online presence may attract students to jobs and students may feel stalked when prospective employers view their social media sites.  Global markets, networking opportunities, and the current competitive landscape are all factors in the job market. There is an increase in hiring of 4 – 6% across the board in certain areas such as engineering, computer science, finance, science, agriculture and healthcare but not liberal arts.  Fit is an important consideration with an emphasis on culture, flexibility, creativity, technical competence, and communication and teamwork skills.

MBA Career Services helps students create an identity with their online presence emphasizing their technical and soft skills; provides opportunities to engage with corporations, industry leaders, and UI alumni; helps them create resumes; coaches and provides feedback from interviews; and helps them learn to differentiate themselves.  The goal is to create in students a long time vision for a career rather than a job.  Larry challenged us to become part of the process as a volunteer student mentor or to provide an internship by hiring a student.