ZebraNet, an online job listing and recruiting system available through the Career Center’s webpage, is uniquely helpful to Stony Brook students. Once students log in to ZebraNet, they are redirected to a webpage with different tabs, including Employer Directory, Job & Internship Search, OCR, Events & Job Fairs, and Career Research Tools. Among these drop-down menus, the most useful is the Job & Internship Search, which lists on-campus and off-campus jobs.
Fewer than ten applications are submitted to most off-campus job postings, making the competition for these positions slim, according to Marianna Savoca, the director of Stony Brook University’s Career Center.
“Last year, the amount of students who logged in ranged from 2,372 – 4,914 per month,” said Andrea Lipack, the associate director of the Career Center, in an email. “The lowest number indicating logins for the month of June and the highest number indicating logins for the month of October. The busiest months for ZebraNet logins are September, October, January, February and March.”
Many of the jobs listed on ZebraNet give specific instructions for the applicant to submit his or her resume and, sometimes, a cover letter through ZebraNet. ZebraNet allows users to upload various versions resumes and cover letters for specific positions.
There is also a tool, “Resume Creator,” that lets users to create a resume through ZebraNet, providing different formatting options depending on the experience and academic status of the applicant. Another tool, the “Job Search Agent,” allows students to enter specific criteria for the job they hope to pursue. Students who use this tool are emailed all jobs fitting the criteria they have entered, Lipack said. For example, if students enter the keyword “finance,” they will automatically be sent emails notifying them every job currently posted in the financial industry.
Students have obtained jobs and internships on campus in the College of Business, the Music Department, the Academic Success & Tutoring Center and a number of other departments located at Stony Brook. Among the companies and organizations offering jobs and internships off campus are TekTree LLC, World Business Leaders and United Nations.
The question that everyone is probably asking is, “Does ZebraNet actually work?” For students, it varies. Michael Luning, a Stony Brook alumnus who majored in business management, said that ZebraNet is “definitely a great resource” and has gotten an interview through its usage, even though he declined the position to follow a different professional pursuit.
Sophomore biology major Amanda Wilken said that she found the site confusing and difficult to use.
Regardless, ZebraNet is not only useful to students, but also to the businesses that value Stony Brook and the students it teaches, Savoca said. For on campus employers, ZebraNet is useful for student job recruitment.
“The College of Business uses ZebraNet on an annual basis to hire student assistants for jobs in marketing, web design, event promotion, general administration and student services,” said Marie McCallion, the director of the MBA program at the College of Business, in an email.
“It’s an excellent resource to find highly qualified students with a variety of interests. Students are able to apply the knowledge from their majors to real-life work accomplishments, something invaluable when it comes to looking for your first ‘real’ job.”
