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Career Search

The Graduate Business Studies Office works closely with Boise State University Career Center to offer career decision making and planning; internship advising; job search advising, including resume and cover letter assistance; interview training; LinkedIn, social media and networking advice aimed at graduate students. Additional services include on-campus interviewing and fall and spring career fairs.

Students are encouraged to meet with the Career Center throughout their graduate school experience. The Career Center offers individual counseling/coaching appointments where you can talk to a career counselor about your options, get help fine-tuning your resume or cover letter, or get assistance with developing your online presence and effective networking techniques.

Career Center Liaison

The College of Business and Economics Career Center liaison is:

Alex Gutierrez
phone 208-426-3814
alexgutierrez@boisestate.edu

Alex is in the Micron Business and Economics Building  Jackson Commons (lobby) twice a week, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m on Wednesdays. Feel free to meet with him during those times or contact him to schedule an appointment.

Search Information and Advice

The Treasure Valley is a great place for many different types of employers, from start-ups, state and federal government, non-profits, to Fortune 500 companies. In fact, Boise is so well-liked that the Career Center’s historical data shows over 80% of graduating students (both graduate and undergraduate) will stay in the area after graduation. This saturation of educated students makes for a challenging, but not impossible job search. The College of Business and Economics and the Career Center are making strides in helping you stand out among the crowd.

  1. Start your career search at Handshake, the job and internship search site and more maintained by the Career Center. Handshake lists postings from organizations specifically recruiting Boise State graduates and non-profit and federal and state government jobs. The Career Center also offers a Career Fair every semester.
  2. We highly recommend networking as a source of job placement. Sending unsolicited resumes is not strongly associated with being hired, whereas networking with potential employers is. The College of Business and Economics holds networking events every semester. Joining Boise Young Professionals is highly recommended. Current Boise State students receive a student discount on annual membership fees.
  3. Consider informational interviews. Studies have shown that over 80% of job openings are not listed: some of these ‘hidden jobs’ can be located through interviews. If you have chosen a field or area you want to work in, try using Manta.com or Google to search for local business profiles, and contact companies you are interested in for an informational interview. Within a specific area, you may also look for professional organizations to join for networking and leads. Boise State Alums are always interested in helping out fellow Broncos! Work with the college or the Career Center to connect with alumni for potential informational interviews.
  4. Larger companies are often requiring applicants to fill out their job application and resume forms online. At career fairs, some businesses may not take resumes. Online forms provide the employer security, ease of organizing potential employees and legal protection as the company can show they considered applicants equally. Even though some companies will take a resume, they may still require you to fill out their online form before being ‘officially’ considered as an applicant. It will come in handy to have multiple formats of your resume, including Word Doc, PDF, and plain text for this purpose. It is important to use keywords from job postings in your area of interest in order for the search systems within these databases to pick up your resume.

  5. Social networking sites and online presence. It is important to remember that people can win or lose their job depending on how well their public profiles are ‘sanitized.’ Google yourself before beginning your job search—potential employers do, even though the legality is still debated. If you have a common name, like John Smith, try “John Smith Boise” in quotes, to see if you come up in the ranking. If you locate any sensitive or legally private information about yourself, contact the site owners to have it removed or remove it yourself if possible. Sites that aggregate personal private data, like Pipl.com and Spokeo.com, have automated data removal links. Make sure your Facebook or other profile has the tightest security and privatization settings, so no one can see your personal information. Delete photos that show the use of alcohol or other substances. Change your profile photo to a professionally taken headshot. Use LinkedIn to create an accurate work history with references from old employers and co-workers—don’t forget to ask your current coworkers to recommend you.

Job Search Websites: