Amy Faul
Coordinator, Career Services & Student Employment
Amy Faul
Coordinator, Career Services & Student Employment
Liaison to the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Office: College of Arts and Sciences Building (CAS), Room 126
Phone: 330-972-6445
Email: afaul@uakron.edu
"My focus is on helping students search for and land internship opportunities. I can do this by helping students start their search and improve their search skills, connecting them with networking events and opportunities, reviewing resumes and cover letters, and providing tips for interviewing."
Q: Can students simply drop by, or how would you prefer that they schedule time with you?
A: Students can schedule appointments with me on Handshake, through email, or over the phone.
Q: Discuss the ways you can help students.
A: My focus is on helping students in the College of Arts and Sciences search for and land internship opportunities. I can do this by helping students start their search and improve their search skills, connecting them with networking events and opportunities, reviewing resumes and cover letters, and providing tips for interviewing.
Q: Why should students use Handshake? Do you have a Handshake power tip? What are students surprised to learn that they can do in Handshake?
A: Handshake is an amazing resource for job/internship hunting. With over 13,000 employers on Handshake there are always new and exciting opportunities being posted. My best tip is to check out the events tab. It’s great because in addition to career fairs you’ll also be able to find networking events and info sessions with employers – which are a great way to connect and get your name out there!
Q: What's the best tip you have for those writing a resume or cover letter? How can you help students prepare both?
A: My best tip for writing resumes and cover letters is to have them reviewed as many times as possible. Having more sets of eyes on your work will ensure you don’t have any typos, and getting input from a variety of people will help you to understand how different employers might interpret what you’ve written. I can review resumes and cover letters and students can also drop into Career Services in Jean Hower Taber Student Union 211 to have them reviewed by a career assistant on the spot.
Q: How can technology can make a search easier? How has it made searches more challenging? How do you overcome that?
A: Technology has made it so easy to get started searching for positions. Online jobs boards make it easy to find a wide variety of jobs and internships all around the world and connecting with those employers is made possible through online/video interviews. One drawback is that with so many resources out there it can be overwhelming to know how to get started. Luckily, jobs boards like Handshake allow you to filter jobs by location, interest area, qualifications and so many other categories. Career Services is also here to help you refine your searches! I recommend figuring out your job priorities (location, part-time or full-time, etc.) and filtering by those, starting with the most important ones.
Q: What is the best career advice you have received?
A: The best career advice I received is to be patient and not compare yourself to others. Searching for a job isn’t an equation. The number of jobs you apply to before getting an offer will be different for every person, and everyone has different priorities for their future career. What is important is being patient and pushing through until you find the right position for you. Don’t stop applying until you find something, and don’t be afraid to ask mentors or Career Services for help.
Q: Why should students attend the next career fair? What's your best advice for preparing? What's a good strategy the day of?
A: Employers reach out to Career Services every day asking how to get in contact with our students, and one of the biggest ways they do that is by attending a career fair. Before coming to the career fair, make sure you go on Handshake to check out what employers are coming and what positions they are recruiting for. If those positions are already open, I recommend applying before you come so you have a way to start a conversation with those employers. Figure out how much time you have to spend at the career fair, and how many employers you want to talk to, and budget your time accordingly.