The San Jacinto College Central Campus community will have another opportunity to participate in Career Café Oct. 28. This is the second installment of a series of workshops aimed at equipping students with effective job seeking skills in preparation for a campus career fair taking place Nov. 13.

Central campus Career and Employment Center coordinator Antonette Lerch organized the workshops and said, “this is a new initiative here at Central campus.”

Lerch regularly advises students on matters that include building strong resumes, enhancing interview skills, creating positive first impressions with prospective employers, and networking. Career Café targets the same areas, but in a venue where attendees, according to Lerch, “(can) get a taste of our resources that we have in the career and employment office.”

Lerch said, she and her staff are “going to do on-the-spot resume reviews” to ensure they are in the appropriate format with no spelling errors.

Meanwhile, Graphic Design and Computer Development major Luis Espinosa attended the first Career Café and said, “I think (it) is great because a lot of people don’t know what to do on their resumes.”

Each workshop in the series focuses on a separate topic and will culminate with the career fair in November.

Furthermore, resume reviews will be a staple at every workshop because “… that’s the most important thing for students,” Lerch said.

In addition to networking and interviewing tips, Career Café will showcase the art of the 15 second pitch which Lerch describes as a short pitch used, in a situation like riding in an elevator with a CEO or manager, to introduce oneself in the hopes of landing a position with their company.

Moreover, first impressions are an important part of landing a job since “the first impression is a lasting one,” Lerch said.

Another objective of Career Café is to interact with students and introduce them to the services provided by the Center. “A lot of students don’t understand that we offer these free services to them,” Lerch said.

Career Café is hosted by all three San Jac campuses with South campus being the first to try it a year ago. Since then, the workshops emphasize using skills and experience students acquire during the course of their education to create their resumes.

“Students don’t realize,” Lerch said, “that they can put their coursework on their resume to make it stand out a little bit more.”

Career Café workshops scheduled for San Jacinto College Central Campus are:

Oct. 28: “Networking Tips” – Student Center, 9 to11 a.m.

Oct. 30: “Interviewing Tips” – ILC/Administration Building, 9:30 to11:30 a.m.

Oct. 30: “15 Second Pitch” – ILC/Administration Building, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 4: “Resume Reviews” – Health and Science Building, Commons Area, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Nov. 11: “Networking Tips” – Student Center, 9:30 to11:30 a.m.

Nov. 11: “15 Second Pitch Student Center” – 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.