nBuy Associates, the owner of SayCampusLife.com, has announced that its ten-year old college information portal, OfftoCollege.com, has been over overhauled. The revised site, featuring a summarized financial aid section, comprehensive tools set, as well as a refreshed step-by-step guide for first-time students, is now live and ready for use.

OfftoCollege.com was founded in September 1998 with a mission to educate prospective and current students and their families, by providing them relevant and current information about colleges and how to pay for their education. With college costs rising twice as fast as the rate of inflation, OfftoCollege.com has kept pace with changing financing trends to help families find ways to pay for college.

The centerpiece of the modified site is its Financial Aid Guide which offers walk through advice on financial aid steps, aid options, and helpful tools such as an aid map, aid book, and budget planning tips. The site offers free downloads of its e-books and tools which can be accessed by anyone who has free portable document reader (*pdf) software installed on their computer (certain comparative tools require spreadsheet software). Adobe Reader software is available for free at www.adobe.com.

The step-by-step guide for new students is particularly helpful for high school students who are looking for a road map to help them through the college search process. Five steps in that process are explored including college prep, college search, college admittance, paying for college, and getting ready to leave for college.

Families with freshmen and sophomore high school students can find the guides to be quite useful with an emphasis on helping high school juniors and seniors complete the steps necessary to transition to college. Additional guides and tips are also available for current college students who are exploring their educational options beyond their undergraduate studies including grad school and continuing education programs.

nBuy Associates is based in Glen Allen, Virginia and is accredited with the Better Business Bureau’s BBBOnline Reliablity Program.

Tags: college aid, College Planning, college portal, college prep, student lending, website

Since the Spring semester began, you’ve probably seen information posted around campus announcing the various opportunities college seniors have to interview with recruiters representing local and national companies, nonprofit organizations, and various government entities.

Many colleges and universities set aside special career fair or interviewing days to allow eligible students and recruiters to connect. Countless numbers of students come away from these events with a follow up interview promised, even a job offer in hand.

Even if you are not sure that you want to work for a specific company featured, there are some good reasons for you to attend an on-campus job fair including:

Polish Your Interview Skills — You’ll be interviewing quite often over the next few months, but you need to practice first. At the college job fair, you can get your feet wet by putting on your interview-best clothes and offering a smile and a firm handshake to the recruiter. You’ll exchange your resume for their business card and, hopefully, learn a thing or two about interviewing.

Every Person You Meet Is A Contact — Maybe a job for a leading national package carrier isn’t what you had in mind until you learned that they have a need for a public relations intern, which is right up your alley. The more people you meet, the greater the chances that someone will have a job for you. Have plenty of copies of your resume on hand and update your Facebook and/or LinkedIn profiles to show recruiters that you mean business!

Learn About Your Industry First Hand — If you have been schooled to enter the medical field, you’ll want to meet as many people in this field as possible. You may have already interned at a local hospital or connected with employers in other ways, but meeting health industry recruiters at college is an open door you will want to walk through.

Of course, most campus interview opportunities are short — about 15 to 30 minutes long, requiring that you stay focused expecting to field probing questions about who you are, what you are looking for, and why you are interested in the company. If you present yourself well, you could be invited to their place of business for a longer, more formal interview.

Some colleges prefer that all on-campus interviews be arranged ahead of time while others will set up tables in the student center for students to talk with recruiters. No matter whether you have an extended one-on-one interview or just a few moments to chat with a recruiter at a table, each opportunity will help build your confidence and refine your interviewing skills.

If you are looking for an edge as you begin your career, do not overlook your on-campus interviewing opportunities, your chance to network with those who might be interested in extending a job offer your way.

Resources

New College Grads Job Prospects Improved
Salary Wizard (College Tools)
Student Lending

Tags: campus interviews, Career Planning, college prep, interview skills, salary wizard, student lending, Student Loans