Category Archives: Young Professionals
Work Event Dos and Don’ts
At some point in your career, you’re going to attend a work event that’s outside of normal business hours. They actually happen more often than you think! This week, I had both a luncheon and a cocktail hour/dinner on the same day. I never thought I would have a job where I have to attend these events, let alone two in one day! Even if you don’t think you’ll be encountering work events in your career, you need to be prepared anyway. Here are some do’s and don’ts of attending a work event.
Do: Be Polite to Waitstaff
I worked in retail and the service industry for years. Waitstaff have to put up with a lot. Their job is stressful, fast-paced, and exhausting. Keep this in mind the next time your food isn’t the greatest, or you don’t get your drink as fast as you want. In the dating world, …
How to Handle Allergy, Cold and Flu Season
âWinter is coming.â A phrase that strikes fear into the hearts of many. Not just because it means something major is impending on Game of Thrones, but because it means the time for getting sick is upon us. Whether itâs just getting a common cold, or something major like the flu, âtis the season of sickness. Hereâs how to navigate life during whatâs sure to be a tiring time!
Utilize preventative measures.
The easiest way to handle getting sick is using preventative tactics. Get your flu shot, not just for your sake, but for everyone elseâs! If you skipped your shot, it doesn’t mean you didn’t get someone else sick. Donât want to stop by your doctor to get the flu shot? Go to Target. It sounds weird, but the MinuteClinics inside Target stores are doing free flu shots AND they give you a $5 Target coupon! In addition to …
How to Handle Politics in the Workplace
Since today is election day, what better topic to address than handling politics in the workplace? The level of chaos and tension in the current political landscape feels like it is at an all time high. Sometimes it seems like itâs all anyone can talk about. But hereâs how to handle politics being brought up at work.
Donât ever make assumptions.
Whether itâs you or someone else steering the conversation in a political direction, never make assumptions. Donât assume that anyone will have the same view as you. Some people are uncomfortable at the thought of voicing their political opinions, and logically so. People often clash when they have different beliefs, and you want to avoid negatively affecting someoneâs opinion of you. If you have a negative view of someone because of their political beliefs, maybe that conversation should have been avoided in the first place!
Never use derogatory language. …
Self-Care is in the Air
At this point in the year, life can start to feel hectic. Class work and projects are starting to pile on. Internships are starting to really pick up. And to top it all off, the holidays are approaching! That means plenty of gatherings for family and friends, gift giving, finding the perfect Halloween costume and more.
While all this is going on, it can be easy to forget about the most important personâŠYOU! So, to help you relax as you ease into fall, I made a list of helpful self-care tips.
Make sure to aside some time for yourself
Find some time, even if itâs only five minutes, in your busy schedule each day to focus on yourself. During that time, make sure that you are only doing things that bring you happiness. This mini-timeout can allow you to regroup and recharge before bouncing right back in to getting …
Why it’s Worth it to Stay in Indiana
If youâre attending school in Indiana, youâre probably thinking about what your future plans are. When I attended Butler University, it always sounded like everyone wanted to go somewhere else after graduationâŠNew York, California, Washington D.C., and so on. I think part of the reason why people want to move somewhere else after graduation is because they arenât aware of everything Indiana has to offer. Here are a few reasons why itâs worth it to stay in Indiana.
Indiana has the best of both worlds.
In 2016, a study of the best housing markets for millennials came with a catch â the cities with the best housing markets had almost no jobs to offer, and the best job markets meant higher housing costs. Cheap housing usually goes hand in hand with poor job markets. However, Indianapolis made the list of the top 10 most affordable metro areas for cost per …
How to Fight Burnout
The weather outside seems to be consistently cold, and not in a cute, Instagram-worthy seasonal kind of way. Thereâs been rain, and lots of gray skies. If youâre a student, youâre in the midst of a heavy workload. If youâre working, daylight hours are decreasing, and youâre probably waking up when itâs dark, and heading home when itâs nearing sunset. Everyone is likely feeling the effects of burnout, a state of physical or mental exhaustion after prolonged exposure to similar stressors. Hereâs how to fight it.
Take breaks throughout your day.
Personally, I know that Iâve always tried not to take breaks, both when I was in college and now. I worried that they would distract me and ruin my productivity. It felt like a sign of weakness. This is the wrong perception of breaks.
Taking brief breaks is proven to help with your focus during prolonged work and fight …
Sleep and Productivity: They Go Hand in Hand
Now that weâre entering midterm season (I know, sorry for bringing it up), plenty of students sleep less as the amount of schoolwork increases. If youâre not in school and working, itâs easy to feel like youâre not getting enough rest in todayâs hectic world. Regardless of your situation, sometimes you just don’t get enough sleep.
How does sleep really impact your work?
One study found that lack of sleep is directly related to poor levels of function at work, but many likely find that an obvious conclusion. However, it gets worse. Another study found that while sleep deprivation doesnât necessarily impact rule-based cognition (think mostly mindless tasks, like standardized tests), it negatively affects your innovative thinking, strategic planning, and risk analysis.
If youâre in school, you definitely need your planning skills to manage your schedule, and innovative thinking is often needed when working on assignments. If youâre working, whether …
How to Ace a Phone Interview
As I searched for a job after I graduated college, I was navigating a new kind of hiring process. In my previous experiences, I would receive a request for a face-to-face interview, and they either hired me or they didnât. I became used to excelling in those types of interviews, and thought my job search would be easy. It wasnât. For the first time in my life, employers were requesting a phone interview instead of in-person. This meant all my face-to-face skills were worthless, as my interviewer couldnât see my body language or facial expressions. A phone interview is structured differently from an in-person interview. So hereâs what you need to know to ace one.
Set up the ideal environment.
If youâve never had a phone interview, itâs exactly what it sounds like. You schedule a specific time for a phone call, and the interviewer asks you questions over the …
Avoiding Scams During Your Job Search
Ah, college. Youâre starting to embrace your independence, youâre away from your parents, and youâre getting a taste of everything the world has to offer. While this sounds amazing to you, it also sounds great to people who want to scam you. College students can be susceptible to scammers, who try to use your newfound independence to take advantage of you, especially during your job search. You might think you can spot an internship scam or manipulative job posting from a mile awayâŠbut can you really?
Misleading Practices
Have you ever searched for a certain type of job on a site, then it pulled up a position that wasnât really related? Look out for companies that use misleading practices to get you to view their job posting. For example, when I was looking for communications/marketing internships in college, I kept getting sales positions as search results. Occasionally, it would be …
The Job Search and Dating: More Similar Than You’d Think
After I graduated, I was still in the midst of my job search for an âadultâ job/career. So I continued at my internship and working retail, searching for that coveted full-time position. At the same time, I navigated the dating world, trying both online dating sites and various events to meet people.
I noticed uncomfortable similarities between dating and my job search. Here are the two biggest lessons I learned.
Both parties won’t immediately reveal their true intentions.
Most of the time, on that first or second date, you won’t be completely honest with each other. You won’t say that youâre hung up on your ex, and youâre trying to date to forget them. Your date wonât say that theyâre just lonely because theyâre living by themselves, and have no intention of talking to you after this date because they have commitment issues. But you both feign interest, and warily …
I Didnât Want to Go to Career Fairs â But Hereâs Why You Should
As students, plenty of you donât want to go to your college career fair. I certainly didnât. It takes away from valuable free time, you have to change into something other than sweatpants, and spend time awkwardly interacting with people. But it wasnât until I started representing my organization at career fairs that I gained a new perspective. Career fairs are actually incredibly important.
My Career Fair Experience
I attended career fairs maybe two or three times during college, all during my freshman or sophomore year. The only times I ever went was when my professors made me go. They made us do assignments based on the career fair (writing about our interactions, collecting a certain number of business cards, etc.). I thought going was a massive waste of time when I had such a busy schedule.
I was wrong.
Now that I occupy a position where I represent my …
State of Change: Why Itâs Important to Share Your Story
âState of Changeâ is a documentary that aired Sept. 6 on WFYI. For those who missed it (itâs now available online), the film follows three Indiana students â Shannon, Dengke and Jaedyn â as they take a road trip around the state, interviewing different professionals in some of Indianaâs leading industries. Each student comes from a unique background and has questions about their future that theyâre looking to answer.
It shows a time many know well, whether youâre a high school or college student; an entry-level or seasoned professional. The transition from graduating high school to entering college and charting the path for your future can be a difficult one.
The interviews led to valuable lessons: the path to your ideal career doesnât have to be linear, a career fieldâs work might differ from your assumptions and the importance of interacting with a variety of people in a field youâre …
Welcome Caitlyn Beck!
Indiana INTERNnet is pleased to welcome Caitlyn Beck to our team as program assistant! She is responsible for the logistics of the IMPACT Awards, serves as liaison to the board of directors and committees, and produces communications.
A resident of Fishers, Caitlyn received her bachelorâs degree in strategic communication with a specialization in public relations and business writing from Butler University. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Caitlyn completed marketing and communications internships with several local organizations, including the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Motivated by a desire to have an impact on her community, Caitlyn also worked with the Indiana Blind Childrenâs Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the daily life of students with visual impairments. This led her to Indiana INTERNnet, where she could continue impacting the lives of students by facilitating internship opportunities.
Outside of the office, Caitlyn enjoys spending time with her friends, family and Golden Retriever, …
Tips to Become an Intern-to-Hire Success
At Indiana INTERNnet, we love a good intern-to-hire story. Weâre always on the lookout for tales of individuals around the state who were able to turn their internship into a full-time job offer. As a senior in college, I enjoy these stories on a personal level for the hope that they bring me. Throughout this summer, Iâve heard of several different people who were hired after their internship was over, and itâs made me wonder â what could I do to help make that happen? So, for both your benefit and my own, here are some tips to help all of us interns (hopefully) get hired:
Take Initiative
It is not unusual for interns to run out of things to do at work. Rather than give in to the temptation of playing on your phone or doing other non-work-related activities on your down time, find ways to be productive. If …
The Benefits of Socializing with Co-Workers
Depending on how much you enjoy your co-workersâ company, you may or may not find the idea of hanging out with them appealing. However, taking the time to get to know fellow employees while youâre all away from your desks can improve everyoneâs work performance and bring the team closer together. An article from SUCCESS Magazine says that socialization among employees creates a âculture of connectivityâ that regular work days do not necessarily foster.
There are certain precautions that you should take when spending time with your co-workers outside of the office. After all, youâre going to see them every day when you come into the office, so you need to be mindful of how you carry yourself and what you say â even if youâre just swapping stories on your own time. Avoid oversharing to prevent your new friends from feeling uncomfortable and avoid speaking negatively about your …