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CardinalConnect Pairs Students, Alumni with Jobs, Internships | SUNY Plattsburgh

CardinalConnect, a virtual career management tool, is increasingly helping pair SUNY Plattsburgh students and alumni to jobs through online career advice, document preparation and job search help.

Launched in the fall of 2014, the portal includes resume building and cover letter writing tools, a resource library, job postings, an extended job search feature and employer profiles.

Users can use their Plattsburgh Net ID and password to log in to CardinalConnect and employers can register for the service, provided free of charge.

Tools like CardinalConnect give users access to career advice at their own convenience, something that’s essential in the modern job-searching process, said Dr. Julia Overton-Healy, director of the SUNY Plattsburgh Career Development Center.

“Students, alumni and employers don't run on a 9-5 work day anymore,” Overton-Healy said. “Applicants search for opportunities at any time of the day; employers search for candidates from multiple sources and in the most convenient and cost-effective ways they can.”

For alumni who may have never visited the Career Development Center as students, CardinalConnect puts SUNY Plattsburgh’s professional career services and resources and their fingertips, she said.

‘CardinalConnect Helped in Finding Internship’

More than 1,300 employers use CardinalConnect to post local, regional and national job opportunities.

Junior English writing and literature double major Pakin Srijinda, who is originally from Thailand, said CardinalConnect makes it easy for him to search for on- and off-campus work or internships.

“What I like the most on the website is that I can bookmark the job listings, so I don't forget to apply later,” Srijinda said.

He uploaded his resume to the site, where employers can review it.

The internship he found using CardinalConnect, which was funded by an Applied Learning Grant, helped him carve out plans for his future, he said.

His internship teaching English to students in Tanzania and the Applied Learning Grant that funded the experience helped him realize his desire to teach English after he graduates from SUNY Plattsburgh.

Without CardinalConnect and the Applied Learning Grants, “I wouldn't have had this internship experience that clarifies my career path,” Srijinda said.

Customized Job Search, Background Research

More than 1,300 employers use CardinalConnect to post local, regional and national job opportunities.

The job search features let students and alumni search for work that will suit their education, experience, desired lifestyle and desired location of work. An extended job search feature gives users access to more than 6 million additional entry level and alumni-oriented jobs.

Overton-Healy said students like how they can use the resume and cover letter builder to craft documents and then store them directly in CardinalConnect.

The tool includes customizable resume templates and resume examples to help students and alumni get started.

After applying to jobs and internships, users can record mock interviews using different sets of interview questions geared toward students in certain majors or alumni seeking work in a particular field.

For those who haven’t selected a career path, CardinalConnect has a career explorer feature where users can learn the details of a specific job or field.

Job descriptions include the “personality” of the job, which lists key skills needed to excel in a particular field like analytical thinking or attention to detail.

Career explorer also provides a general overview of job market trends including the projected growth of popular careers and a breakdown of types of jobs in leading industries like health care, government and technical services.

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