Category Archives: College Tips

Temps are Dropping, but Career Services is Heating Up

Entry by Bobby Wade, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services

It’s been a hectic first half of the semester at Career Services, and it promises to get even busier. As students returned for fall, the scramble for on-campus jobs was in full swing the first few weeks back. As a result, all 14 peer career advisors, including myself, were busy every day with resume and cover letter critiques. Now that campus jobs are mostly filled and recruiting season has begun, I’ve kept busy helping seniors who are flooding the office with questions about post-grad job applications. 

I’ve had a number of independent projects this semester that I am very excited about, one of which began this past summer. In June, I was notified that Paul Wineman, former president of my national fraternity and current negotiations consultant, was going to visit my house for homecoming weekend. With the help of …

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Internship Are Not Just for Juniors and Seniors

Entry by Pat Patterson

Although the National Bureau of Economic Research recently announced that the recession ended, this does not mean it will be easier to land a full-time job.  Employers will always be looking to hire those competitive candidates who have previous work experience.  In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal’s survey of college recruiters, an internship may be one of the best ways to land a full-time job offer. 

I’ve recently attended a few career fairs where freshmen and sophomores have approached me to learn more about Indiana INTERNnet and ended up surprised to learn that internship opportunities exist for underclassmen.

As many students may not realize, employers are starting to identify a potential future employee as early as a student’s freshman year: 

A quarter of the nearly 480 respondents to The Wall Street Journal’s survey of college recruiters said more than 50% of their new-graduate hires had …

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Career Fairs 101: After the Career Fair

Entry by Pat Patterson

Students

After a career fair (From the 2010 September INTERNnetwork):

Jot down your notes and organize the information you collected (including contact information – it is a good idea to note where you met certain individuals and what you talked about), write thank you notes to those you met, apply for positions you are interested in, and follow up with employers about applications you submitted.

Remember, making a positive impression with people greatly influences your internship and career search.  When recruiters sift through resumes and decide who they plan to interview, you are more likely to stand out if the recruiters remember who you are and the interest you showed in their particular organization. 

Employers

After the Career Fair (From the National Association of Colleges and Employers NACE)

Post-fair activities do help with your recruiting efforts. Here are some ideas:

Host a networking …

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College Touring: Don’t Forget the Career Services Office

Entry by Pat Patterson

In the current competitive job market, students need to begin thinking about and planning for their potential careers early on in their college experience.  Since students go to college to attain an education that will eventually be used to secure a career, students (and parents) should explore each college’s career services office on their campus visits.  A recent news release from Wake Forest University echoes this sentiment: 

As high school students and their parents begin the annual fall ritual of campus visits, experts are recommending that families make the career office one of the first stops on any college tour. “In this competitive job market, the tools and resources that a career office provide have become nearly as important as academics when choosing a college or university,” said Patrick Sullivan, Associate Director of Experiential Education at Wake Forest University.

In fact, college internships can be one …

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Students: Preparing for a Career Fair

Entry by Pat Patterson

Fall career fairs are beginning to take place as early as next week, and recruiters look positively on candidates who show up to career fairs prepared.  But what does that mean exactly?  Here is some advice to help guide you:

BEFORE a career fair you should prepare by:

Keeping up on industry/market trends, keeping up on current events in your areas of interest, pre-registering for the career fair, researching the participating employers and their opportunities,
– General company information:  industry, market outlook, products and services, history and corporate culture, organizational mission and goals, key financial statistics, organizational structure (divisions, subsidiaries, etc.), and locations (main and branch).
– Employment: career paths and advancement opportunities, benefits, diversity initiatives, current internship and job opportunities. identifying the employers you plan on speaking with and the positions you plan on applying for, preparing resume(s) (creating specific, tailored resumes for different …

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Students: Pay Attention to the Details

Entry by Pat Patterson

Just because you may not have landed the internship of your dreams in the past does not mean it’s not possible.  Writing a great resume and cover letter and “looking the part” at a networking event or career fair are not the only determinants of whether or not you will get a call back.  It is important to also pay attention to the details that may set you apart from other candidates.

Spell check your resume and cover letter over and over again.  And then after you are done spell checking, have one of your peers spell check for you.  A typo can say a lot of negative things about you – such as, you may not be able to spell, you don’t care enough to check for spelling errors, you are not organized or detail-oriented, etc. 

Invest in professional resume paper.  Although business stationary paper …

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Always Remember to Say Thank You

Entry by Pat Patterson

Just as your mother had advised when you were growing up, it is important to always say please and thank you.  More specifically, after your summer internship is over, don’t forget to send a thank you note to your host organization.

The Intern Queen has some great advice for Thank You notes in her blog, I AM INTERN:

If you work for a small company and have been introduced to the president at one time or another, I do think you should send him/her a thank-you note along with another note to your direct supervisor and any other executives that have helped you over the summer. Below are a few quick Thank You note tips:

Either purchase your own stationary or go the store and pick up professional looking Thank You notes in the card section. Get something basic that says Thank You on the front …

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Let Your Interests Guide Your College/Career Choices

Entry by Pat Patterson

If you have not declared your college major yet, try not to be persuaded to pursue a degree solely based on the current economic conditions.  Statistically speaking, in our current economy, students with certain majors have landed more job offers after graduation than students with other degrees.  However, it is important to pursue a major that you are interested in, and let your passions guide your career decisions.  After all, you are more likely to perform well when you have an interest in what you are studying, and it is uncertain which courses of study may “increase your odds” of landing a job one, two, three, or four years from now.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune echoes this sentiment:

The key is to think ahead about which jobs would also let you capitalize on your interests. And the earlier you start, the more opportunities …

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Highlighting Your Summer Internship on Your Resume

Entry by Pat Patterson

Now that your summer internship is complete or may come to an end soon, there is no better time than now to update your resume.  It is a great idea to update your resume with your recent internship as soon as possible because your experience will still be fresh in your mind. 

Remember to highlight your tasks, major projects, and also the results of your work.  Whenever possible be specific and quantify your work.  For example, instead of stating, “coordinated company networking events”, be more specific, such as, “coordinated three separate networking events, one for each month, which led to a 10% increase in client leads.”  Also, if you are still at your internship or keep in contact with your employer (which you should be doing), you can ask your supervisor to review the information you add on your resume to ensure it accurately reflects your …

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The Final Countdown

Entry by Ali Norman, Career and Technical Education Intern, Department of Workforce Development

Last week was my final week at The Department of Workforce Development. As I have been wrapping up the last couple days by taking down personal touches to my little cube, I have to say that I’ve been a bit nostalgic while doing so. My experience has been nothing short of great this summer. I’ve had a wonderful job experience, done some great networking, added to my resume and made fabulous new friends along the way.

I’ve also been thinking about my favorite parts of this internship and came to this realization: You get what you put into your experience. My experience this summer was so stellar that I would recommend it to anyone. All the qualities of a great internship any college student would want was included: versatility in projects, a great work atmosphere, participation and …

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Personal Branding: Dress to Impress

Entry by Pat Patterson

This month, the blog entries I included were all about professional branding, focusing on how to brand yourself through online media.  Although it is important to be aware of how you brand yourself in the virtual world, don’t forget to be mindful of how you present yourself in the real world.

Whether you like it or not, people are going to judge you on the way you present yourself, specifically how you dress.  Most of you have heard “rules of thumb,” such as “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” or “it is better to be overdressed than underdressed.”  A business friend of mine directed my attention to an intern’s perspective on internship attire – among the few reasons why Hetrick intern Sean Litke overdresses for his internship, Litke mentions:

Third, even as an intern, I feel taken more seriously when I …

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Students: Are You Ready for a Virtual Internship?

In the June INTERNnetwork, we included an article about virtual internships, working for an organization outside of an organization’s office. Although there are benefits of being a virtual intern (no office commute, flexible work schedule, no dress code, more personal freedom, etc.), not every student can excel as a virtual intern.

Before you apply for a virtual internship, consider these questions:

– Do you have previous internship experience in an office setting?
– Are you interested in working for a web-based organization?
– Are you interested in electronic outreach, including email pitching and social media communication?
– Are you self-motivated?
– Are you independent enough to work with minimal supervision?
– Are you technology savvy?
– Are you able to meet important deadlines?

A virtual internship may be ideal for a student who may not have the opportunity or funds for a traditional internship …

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