Career Services in the College of Agriculture has recently adopted a new software program to enhance students’ access to their future. Students in the college will be registered into an Internet program called First Place that contains a standard resume component, interview time schedules, job postings, cooperative and internship postings. Mike Gaul, director of Agriculture Career Services, has had the program in mind since his arrival to the ISU campus two years ago. His said his goal was to improve technology and use an academic program geared toward college career services. “All you have to do is register online and put a resume in the system,” Gaul said. “Once in, students are able to update information all the time. More importantly, it lets them sign up for interviews.” Previously, Gaul said students came into the career service office and registered with a hard copy. “They gave us their information and our staff would enter it into databases. A lot was done manually,” he said. Greg Deim, sophomore in agricultural systems technology, is the computer specialist in the Agriculture Career Services office. He has installed the new system on 10 computers in the past year, working with tech support. The Colleges of Engineering, Business and Liberal Arts and Sciences have all adopted the program within the past couple of years and have seen a great turnout from all stand points. Engineering was the first to introduce the program four years ago, and Business/LAS is in its third year of use. Larry Hanneman, director of Engineering Career Services, said the engineering page has greatly increased the number of people utilizing the system. “We take in 4,000 new or updated resumes a semester, nearly 10,000 a year,” he said. “If you look at the number of page hits inside First Place, including adds or changes of data, looking at job postings, checking interview times, we have 3.5 million hits per year. That is approximately 10,000 to 16,000 per day.” All engineering students are registered into the system and have their basic demographics entered by summer orientation time. They then receive student ID and pin numbers. Gaul said he would also like to see registration mandatory at the orientations for the College of Agriculture. “I think it’ll be a hit with the parents. It will allow us to increase the number of those who take advantage of the office,” he said. The Business/LAS Career Services office requires a fee, whereas engineering and agriculture do not. The ISU Agriculture Foundation gave a significant amount to the development of the program for the College of Agriculture. Other supporters include the companies Cargill, IBP, Growmark and Excel. “There are neat bells and whistles for employers too,” Gaul said. “Businesses are able to do pre-selects for interviews and post jobs directly on the web.” Deim said the system is not used enough. “It helps you determine your future, and this new system is an addition to that. It is something that clearly should be promoted,” he said. Only 65 students are registered for the program in the College of Agriculture, although Gaul said he expects a rush soon. “The bottom line is, you can’t win if you don’t play,” he said. “If you’re serious about a career, internship or job you’ve have to get into the system.” To register, go to the agriculture Web page.