Beginning in Jan. 2012 and estimated to complete by Fall 2012, the Divison of Professional Practice (DoPP) and Career Services will transition to form a single online job search management system for internships, co-ops, part-time positions and full-time jobs. Both departments will continue to serve in advisory and training functions, but DoPP will focus on internships and co-ops while Career Services will focus on full-time jobs.
“The change is going to form an easier transition for students and employers when they come on campus. There’s no real change in the functions that we do,” said Patrick Antony, DoPP Executive Director.
Currently, the focus of each department does not match what the respective online systems provide.
While Career Services handles full-time job search and preparation for graduating students, its CareerBuzz job posting management system enables students to apply for internships and part time positions, in addition to full-time positions.
Similarly, DoPP’s advisory functions focus on internships and co-ops, but its P2D2 system provides postings for internships, co-ops and full-time positions.
DoPP will be transitioning to the same system as used by Career Services to avoid the current confusion faced by employers in posting positions and students in applying for various positions.
“The system that we had was custom built for us… having two internship programs didn’t make sense to me and I have been working with Ralph Mobley, the Director of Career Services, to figure out the best way to integrate them,” Antony said.
The DoPP will not be physically restructuring, but will be gaining the visibility of all internship and co-op programs accessible currently through Career Services. Under the new system, there will be only one Georgia Tech Internship Program (GTIP).
“One of the advantages is that students will only have to go to one system to log on and look for different jobs,” Antony said.
According to Antony, students will also have their work experience officially recorded on their transcripts if they apply for a job through the new system, guaranteeing academic proof of their work experiences. Furthermore, this integrated system will allow all employers to receive applications from ideal candidates because it draws in more job applicants to one place.
“There will be an elevation in the quality of the jobs and quality of interns by having a single standard through which everything is graded. We’re going to make sure that if [companies] are going to advertise for internships, the [internships] have to be related to [students’] majors,” Antony said.