About Career Blog

Intern, Get Me a Coffee, STAT!

Just this morning I spoke with one of my professors about how imperative it is that I find an internship before I graduate in December. While I understand that not every college student feels the same way, it is well-known in the mass communications department that our field is dwindling, thus any internship experience is vital to our post-collegiate lives.

Lucky for me and my mass comm colleagues, our school offers a course within our specific tracks [mine being magazine journalism, for example] that provides course credit while interning with a company in the field. The internship is unpaid, of course, but the semester spent on-the-job has opened up numerous doors for the graduates before me. Because of that, I have no qualms about finding an internship in the coming year.

The post-internship life, on the other hand, terrifies me. What if it doesn't turn into a job offer? Life will go on, of this I can assure you. The main thing to keep in mind is that not every "job" will become a "career." Trial and error is a fact of life, and if nothing else, you can walk away with more experience on what you like [or don't] about the field you've worked in. Keep on trekking, eventually the day will come when your dream career will become a reality!

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Posted by Amanda on 1/15/2009 01:09:00 PM
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I’m Going to Graduate… Now What?

Your college days are quickly coming to an end. You are about to face the real world for the first time. In other words, you’re going to need a real job— pretty scary, huh? If you’re wondering what to do next, you’re not alone. Millions of new grads have been faced with this same exact situation. They survived, and I promise, you will too! Nonetheless, there are things that can be done in preparation to help make your transition into the working world a little less jolting.

Like most grads, I’m sure you’re thinking that a great resume is going to take you places. While that’s true for the most part, it’s the substance (not the fluff) that determines the greatness of a resume. These days the job market is intense, so you’ll need to pull out all of the stops in order to land the job of your dreams, or at least one that’s worth bragging about. But, before you even think about writing your resume, make it your ambition to get as much experience as possible. That way, you’ll have something impressive to put on that fresh new resume of yours.

Internships, temp jobs and volunteer work are all great ways to rack up experience. Plus, you’ll gain an insider perspective in the field that you want to work in—something invaluable to finding career happiness. It also gives you the opportunity to network with other professionals in your prospective field. Networking is critical. It means getting your name out there and making connections with people who can assist or influence your job search. The right contact could be your golden ticket to a sought-after career opportunity that may otherwise not exist.

As you gain experience, you’ll find out what you like to do and what you’d rather do without. This is an important part of determining what career path will suit you best. While your degree will set you in a definite direction, don’t overlook jobs that play to your natural talents, interests and abilities. A 40-hour work week is tough enough, so make sure it’s a job you that you don’t mind doing or better yet, that you actually like.

Once you’ve got some experience and a grip on what jobs appeal to you, it’s time to write your resume. Unlike those lengthy research papers you’ve become so familiar with, a good resume should be short, sweet and to the point. It should provide an employer a brief synopsis of your education, work experience, skills and achievements. Since you are new to the workforce, it should not exceed one page in length, unless your experience merits it.

Next, you’ll want to write a smooth cover letter. Your cover letter functions as a prelude to your resume, offering you a platform to pitch yourself to prospective employers. It should include a personal introduction, indicate the position you’re applying for, express interest in the company, and expand upon (not just repeat) the skills and experience that make you the best candidate for the job. Finally, your cover letter should fit nicely on one page with ample margin space.

Once your resume and cover letter are complete, it’s time to make your debut to the job market. There are a number of ways to do that—from uploading your resume to job boards and applying to online job postings, to targeting specific employer Web sites and applying to posted positions or e-mailing your resume to their HR department. While it may be tempting to send out a blanket distribution of your resume, it’s not wise. Instead, research each company and job description. Then, modify your resume and cover letter to appeal to each position.

Now that you are faced with the quickly approaching end to your college career, it’s time to apply what you learned to the workplace. Make it count. Your career is a blank slate. It can be everything you want it to be, it’s all up to you. So, take this information and get experience, network, write your resume, prepare a cover letter, post it to job boards and e-mail it to employers. Go out there and make it happen! Good luck!

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Posted by Seymour Jobs on 11/21/2008 09:53:00 AM
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No Resume? No Work Experience? No Problem.

According to Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letter's blog: College students with minimal work experience to list on resumes and cover letters can brainstorm using a college experience worksheet.

The worksheet includes many aspects of "typical" college life that may be worthy of inclusion on your resume. The goal is to identify each college experience that may be relevant to your future career and to identify the transferable skills and accomplishments from that experience. Start by asking yourself questions, such as:

1) Did you participate in sports, involving teamwork, competitive drive and leadership? What skills did you demonstrate and what did you accomplish?

2) What type of community service projects did you undertake? What skills did you demonstrate?

3)Did you have any creative accomplishments? Were any of your poetry, essays, creative performances or stories published or performed? What skills did you demonstrate and what did you accomplish?

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Posted by Melissa on 10/27/2008 08:50:00 AM
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How to Make Your College Experience Prepare You for the Working World

Summer is long gone, and for many of you, you are deeply entrenched in your fall semester of college. You finalized your schedules, paid your tuition, bought your textbooks, and are attending classes bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; ready to learn! Well, at least that’s what you tell your parents, anyway.

In reality, you’ll be swapping classes until mid-September, filing for loans, and lapsing into a coma the minute you sit down in your lecture hall Monday morning. Thus is college – a series of formative personal choices that usually result in profoundly unwise decisions, and hopefully, a bit of higher learning, too. Rest assured, my fellow collegiate, that most people tend to make it out of college alive, sane and sometimes, even with degrees!

The workplace, on the other hand, is a completely different, far less forgiving beast. Can’t stick to a schedule in a professional environment? You’re fired. Show up unprepared? You’re fired. Fall asleep during a board meeting? Guess what – you’re fired! No matter how impressive your academic achievements, there are some aspects of professional life that the typical college environment simply does not prepare you for. A little common sense and a bit of preparation, however, can make your college experience work for you once you have graduated into the working world.

A lot of people embark on their post secondary journey with absolutely no concept of how to keep a schedule and stick to it. Those who wish to graduate quickly learn how to do this. Calendars, PDA’s and laptops keep us focused and can often mean the difference between acing an assignment and being laughed out of class. If you can develop effective time management techniques by your second or third semester, you’ll have a marked advantage over your less-organized peers that will carry over into the workplace and beyond.

Organizational skills come naturally to most, but the finer points of business etiquette can take even the best and brightest by surprise. If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re mature and canny enough to know that presenting benchmark reports in cargo shorts and a Thundercats T-shirt is a definite no-no. You might not know much beyond that, though. Business classes are a good way to get a feel for professional attire, lingo, and composure, so taking a few, regardless of your major, will help you get your foot in the door and your head in the right place. Keep in mind, however, that corporate culture varies widely from field to field and office to office, so a little research on your part is advisable. If you’re lucky, it could transpire that a prospective employer is just as laid-back as you are… And quite possibly, an even bigger fan of Thundercats!

The most important skill to be taken from your college experience is, naturally, the most elusive and difficult to perfect – the nigh-inscrutable art of responsible independence. Most thirty-something’s haven’t even mastered this yet! In fact, most people, in general, haven’t either. College, careers, everything between, and everything beyond are what you make of them. What you learn and what you do in the educational world determines, to a large extent, how everything else down the line will pan out. Make the most of the opportunities available to you now and doors will open up in places you never imagined. Diligence and an open mind will lead to wonderful things, in business and in life. There’s no telling what the future holds!

Learn how to play your cards, and learn early… You’ll only increase your chances of a winning hand. And who knows – you might even land a gig that encourages you to wear your beloved Thundercats t-shirt!

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Posted by Seymour Jobs on 10/10/2008 03:04:00 PM
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