Your Online Arsenal: Vault & WetFeet

So you’re looking to do some research on potential careers in the industry that you want to go into but everything that comes up on your Google search really isn’t enough, or perhaps you just need some advice on where to start with your job hunt, or how to go about writing that resume you’ve been putting off. Well these are just several of the tools that are offered online through the career help sites Vault & WetFeet, and luckily for business students we give you free access to everything these sites have to offer. Now we know that the hungry college student inside of you dances every time the word “free” is thrown around (which it should), so you should be delighted to know that these online services are worth a lot more than that free t-shirt you got by signing up for a credit card during a baseball game.

Since both of these sites offer similar services you might be wondering what the difference is and which site to use. The main way these sites differ is that WetFeet is intended for College of Business Undergrads, where as Vault is aimed towards College of Business Master’s students. This isn’t to say that an undergraduate student can’t use Vault or that a grad student can’t use WetFeet, however each sites' structure and information they offer relate to students in different ways. With WetFeet the information is presented in a more casual way with a little bit of entertainment thrown in, while Vault takes a more professional approach.

So how do you take advantage of these free services you ask? Well don’t worry, because this won’t be affecting your credit score; all you have to do is go to cobajobs.com and follow the link on the left called “Online Resources”. From there you can navigate towards either WetFeet or Vault to begin your research and your savings.

With WetFeet you will be able to access informational articles written by industry professionals, learn about trends and jobs in leading industries, find out requirements and job outlook information for individual careers, and research employers. You should also make sure to take advantage of WetFeet’s “Insider Guides”, informational books with topics ranging from more general such as writing cover letters or interviewing skills, to more specific such as careers in insurance and risk management. Another great aspect of WetFeet is its job search engine, “indeed”, which scans other job search sites, newspapers, associations, and company career pages to give you a one-stop search. Vault is also great place for research, whether through their 2,500+ company profiles, employer Q & A’s, industry overviews, or occupational profiles. Vault also has their own guide books with topics covering interviewing, careers, industries, and employers.

So in return for all of the money you will save on what would otherwise be expensive guide books, not to mention the priceless information and advice that will prepare you for your future, all that we ask of you is to simply use it! These resources are literally just a few clicks away, so save up that finger strength, take a little break from your Facebook creeping, and check out what they have to offer.

Written by: Jon Robben, Business Placement Center

Keeping up with the Jonses'

I often hear from students who want to get into a particular industry, however don't know anything about that industry. This can clearly make networking within that area somewhat difficult!

Fortunately the extensive access of information that we have at our disposal can come in extremely handy at this point. Consider reading industry-related blogs and articles to gain a better understanding of what is going on in a particular business segment. Just a few examples include:

• Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
• Word of Mouth Marketing Association
• Computing Technology Industry Association

It's pretty easy to find the industry organization that you might be interested in. Start off with some basic Googling. Search for things like 'Sports Marketing Industry Association', or some such variant.

Another very cool tool is Google Alerts, which allows you to tell Google to email you when it discovers a new link that is relevant to the terms that you give it. This can be an excellent way to stay on top of new happenings in cost accounting, financial planning, retail marketing, or any other industry!