Office of Diversity Programs director C.J. Woods said preparation is the key to getting a job.

Race is not the key.

In the wake of affirmative action cases gaining national attention, Woods emphasized that minorities have no advantage over other races.

“As long as students prepare themselves and study the job market and are academically prepared for that market, they will be competitive,” Woods said.

The Careers Services Center carries resources especially for minority students. These resources include booklets and magazines, like “The Black Collegian,” which offer career and self-development tips for African American students.

Woods urges students to use the services available to them on campus as early as the end of their sophomore year. He said the prepared student will be more likely to land a job after college.

Woods said that any resources in the Career Services Center are to be utilized by all students. He said he questions whether or not students are aware of the services available to them and if they are utilizing them effectively.

“I believe there are adequate opportunities for every student,” Woods said.

Becky Bennett, preparation specialist for Western’s Career Services Center, said there are special resources for minorities, but there are no specific recruitment programs for minorities because of the Equal Opportunities Act.

“We cannot recruit minority employees on the basis of race,” Bennett said.

Radcliff sophomore Tina Brown, who is an African American, believes that qualifications should decide a person’s fate. She said one shouldn’t get hired to fill a quota.

“If you are qualified, you should get the job,” she said. “It shouldn’t matter if you are white, black or green.”

Brown said she worries that if affirmative action was not in place, many minorities would be without jobs.

“There are circumstances where minorities don’t have the funding for education, and sometimes, educated minorities are underestimated,” Brown said.

Woods feels that minority students do not have an advantage over other students.

“If anything, they have to compete at a higher level than the average student because they are going into a market where they will again be a minority,” Woods said.

Aside from a quota-based job market, Brown feels that the struggling economy is an even bigger problem.

“There are whites and blacks alike that leave college and have trouble getting a job,” she said.

Reach Anthony Hellmueller at [email protected].