In the grand scheme of grade point averages, extracurricular activities and various other measures of collegiate success, the steps students need to take in lining up a job for when they graduate are often overlooked. The job fair from 1-4 p.m. on Thursday at Carroll Knicely Conference Center is an opportunity for students to market themselves to companies of interest.

They’ll be donned in flowing black gowns, slanted mortarboard hats and tassels with 2005 dangling proudly. They will receive their degrees. Yet their journey will be far from over. For some graduates their degrees will lead them into promising job industries.

Leave the tongue stud, fishnet stockings and trendy boots at home. It’s time for a job interview. According to the job search manual provided by Western’s Career Services Center, effective interviewing skills are extremely important. Competing for jobs is tough, so people must be at their best.

The walls on the first floor of the Academic Complex are covered with pictures of registered nurses who graduated from Western over the years. The haircuts are enough to make heads turn, but those 60 nursing students admitted into the program are more than eager to sign up to get their nursing composite portrait taken.

Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs … jobs I do adore. Hmmm. Yeah, that definitely sounds better when Jay-Z does it. Anywho, I’m actually excited about the possibility of having a steady job right after graduation. Although I will graduate in May 2006, I still think about what I will to do for a career.

Crystal Davis is counting down the days until graduation. Davis, who majors in advertising and sociology, will receive her degree on May 6 alongside all of Western’s spring graduates. She can’t wait. The senior from Queens, N.Y., plans to move to either Chicago or New York after graduation and plans to find a job in web design or graphic design.