Many Mercyhurst College students know the staff of Career Services from on-campus presentations and Webmail newsletters.

Director of Career Services Robert Hvezda said he hopes more students would visit the Office of Career Services in the spring term as important things are coming up, especially for seniors.

Hvezda stresses early preparation. He urges seniors to take advantage of the free assistance provided by the Career Services Office. Seniors in particular can assemble portfolios, update resumes, seek letters of recommendation and prepare business-formal interview attire.

“Seniors need to be engaged with the career service office with graduation only three and a half months away,” Hvezda said.

The Mercyhurst Career Services Web site lists roughly 70 job links and provides information on co-ops, internships and graduate schools. The office also keeps track of upcoming job fairs in the surrounding area, most of which cost less than $10 to attend.

The Office of Career Services has a motto: “Today’s quality service for tomorrow’s success.” The office lives up to that motto. Mercyhurst places an average of 390 students in internships every year, and about 25 percent of 2009 graduates had a job lined up before graduation.

The office is still placing students in internships and summer jobs for the summer of 2010 and still has several full-time offers for accounting, hospital management and intelligence studies majors. Even though the process is ongoing, Career Services estimates a placement of roughly 200 students for 2010 summer internships. Those statistics compare favorably with other larger colleges and universities in the state.

Hvezda also advises juniors to start looking at internship and grad school options, which are vital to career planning but highly competitive.

“Spring term is not too early,” he said. As for sophomores, Hvezda counsels them to get involved on campus to raise marketability in face of the competitive economy, and although his office has seen more freshmen this year than in the past, he hopes that freshmen continue to stay informed and learn about new career opportunities.

The Career Services office is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and is located at Egan 120. Students can stop by Egan 120 or call extensions X2424 or X2426 to make an appointment. Hvezda does not recommend making an appointment by email.

“We’re a pretty friendly place to come to,” Hvezda said. Take advantage of the opportunity and visit the Office of Career Services this spring.