Get good grades; get involved; get a good job, speaker says

Arizona Daily Wildcat Patrick Combs

This was the message motivational speaker Patrick Combs gave a noontime crowd of about 50 people gathered in Gallagher Theatre yesterday.

"What do you do during college so after college you get a good career?" he asked. Students need to be aware that their actions now can influence jobs later.

Combs, author of the book Major in Success: Make College Easier, Beat the System, and Get a Very Cool Job! was on campus as a part of JobDirect's JobDrive, a combination job fair and career strategy seminar that visited the University of Arizona yesterday.

"The most important homework you'll ever do in college is unassigned," he said.

One common misconception students have, he said, is if they do all their work and get good grades, they'll get a good job.

"That's total bullshit," he said.

Combs offered other strategies students should utilize while in school to find career success after graduation, including:

• Ask for mentoring

• Take a leadership course

• Study abroad

• Learn to write great cover letters

Combs said he went from a "poor start" in college to earning $80,000 a year right after graduation by using these success strategies.

Combs told stories about the beginnings of his professional life: He once dropped the phone in a garbage can while speaking to a potential employer. While participating in a wide variety of activities in college is important, Combs said, how you apply for a job is also key.

Combs made several suggestions for students applying for internships and jobs, including:

• Take your résumé to a writing center and have them review it.

• Make sure you customize your cover letter.

• Bring a "show and tell" item which gives potential employers an idea of the work you've done.

• Research the internship and the company.

• Join a professional association.

"It's easy to make yourself outstanding and when you make yourself outstanding you get great benefits," he said. "If you're just being a student you're never going to get your dream job."

Rhonda Carroll, a sociology and English senior who attended the speech, said she enjoyed it because it was "really informational and motivational."

Carroll said she planned to try to use some of the tips to apply for internships and jobs.

"This kind of gave me a push," she said.