The Daily Orange sat down with with Tracy Tillapaugh, a career consultant at Syracuse University’s Career Services, to talk about the workforce after college.

The Daily Orange: Where is the best place to look for a job?

Tracy Tillapaugh: It really depends on your industry. If you’re looking for a concrete website to go to, a lot of times we suggest Indeed.com. It’s a job search aggregator site that pulls from many different places into one. Talking to alumni and people you know is always the No. 1 way that people find jobs. Utilizing that resource of others — family, friends, the SU network — is always very helpful.

The D.O.:How do you utilize that network?

T.T.: One place would be using LinkedIn. Last time I checked, there are over 120,000 SU affiliated individuals on LinkedIn. It helps to know what city you’re living in or which city you’re interested in living in and look at the Syracuse University website for alumni clubs and connect with the presidents in those areas. They are often really well connected with the alumni in those areas and can often get a great response.

The D.O.:How do you prepare for an interview?

T.T.: The three key things for an interview is know yourself, know the job and know the industry. Recruiters always base everything on can you do the job, do you want to do the job and will you fit into the workplace environment. An easy way to prepare is looking at the job description, having enthusiasm, being able to tie your experience to that position and make everything about that company and that position and how you relate to them.

The D.O.: How do you stand out in an interview?

T.T.: A lot of people miss this — it’s showing you are a match for the position. It’s not telling a recruiter that you have all these skills that have nothing to do with the position, it’s showing that you can fill their need. Really asking second level questions, doing your research ahead of time, noticing current events or news that are happening with the company is really helpful and makes people stand out as well.

The D.O.: Do you have any tips or tricks on how to find a job?

T.T.: I think that sometimes we forget that Google can be a great search engine. There are also professional organizations and societies for pretty much any career and being linked with any one or purchasing a membership as a student before you graduate can be really helpful in getting job opportunities.

The D.O.: What advice do you have for graduating seniors that are struggling to find jobs?

T.T.: Come visit us or give us a call after you graduate. We are open all summer and we are open to do phone or Skype appointments. No matter where you are in the world, you can still talk to us. We’re here to help.

The D.O.: What does Career Services do for undergraduates in college?

T.T.: Everything from what to study, what to major in, or maybe picking up a minor. Then you can translate that minor or major into a career, or not. Sometimes students get to graduation and realize they liked their major, but don’t want anything to do with it. So we look at their learned skills and interests and translate that into a career.

Published on May 8, 2014 at 1:00 am

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere