Work is Fun

Q – How do you know when the economy is in a recession?
A – When your neighbor loses his job.
Q – How do you know when the economy is in a depression?
A – When you lose your job.
Q – How do you know when the economy is in a recovery?
A – When [insert your least favorite politician's name here] loses his job.
Q – How do you know when human resource search engine optimization experts are happy for those of their clients which are job boards?

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TEN TIPS TO KNOW WHEN IN COLLEGE

1. Loans are not free money: you do have to pay it back w/ interest. Only take out loans when necessary, not to purchase a new car or clothes. Apply for the Pell Grant, it works in your favor and doesn’t have to be repaid. For more info go to http://www.a-studentloans.com/pell_grants.html
2. Freshman year is the most vital year in college; it determines whether or not you will be there next year, so take it seriously.
3. Before signing up for a course with a professor that you don’t know, find out about the professor on RateMyProfessor.com. This site really helps!!! It gives you tips on whom to and not to take for a particular course.
4. Books: Most schools have a program where they loan out books to you instead of you having to purchase one. You can find out about this in your School’s Student Services Department. Find out what courses you are going to take ahead of time, that way you’ll be the first to sign up for the book loan. Remember; first come – first serve and books are limited.
5. Withdrawals: It’s not a bad thing to withdrawal from a course so don’t be afraid to use it. It’s better to use it then to fail the course and regret it later on. If you had a bad semester, get a Pardon. That way the school will wipe out that entire semester on your transcript and you’ll have a second chance. This is usually permitted once per student so be wise!
6. HBCU, Private Schools, or State Universities? In my opinion go to a State University and here’s why:
A. It’s usually well known and the tuition is cheaper
B. It’s better to go to an integrated school in lieu of an All-Black school because it determines how you will well work and fit with people of other races.
C. If you are a minority going to an All-Black school financial aid, scholarships, and grants WILL BE LIMITED!! It’s been rumored that most HBCU financial aid doesn’t kick in on time.
D. Most Resources and Connections are Limited at HBCU. State schools usually have more resources that are funded by the state and it’s free. With most Private institutions you will have to pay for these resources.
7. Going to school near home or away from home: In my opinion it works better in your favor if you go away from home because you become an independent. You learn how to live on your own
8. With a 2.0 GPA can I still get scholarships? Yes! You can get scholarships for being the first one in your family to go to college, Living in low-income housing, being left-handed, the city you live in, minority, ect. When I was in H.S. an Asian kid was awarded several scholarships because he was Asian, had a twisted upper lip, and was left handed. You don’t have to fret if your GPA is closer to a 2.0 and you don’t play sports: It’s all about how you write your letters to convince them that YOU deserve the scholarship more than anyone else.
9. When in Doubt: Not everyone graduates on time, and not everyone is certain of what they want to do after graduation, or if he/she is in the right major. To help you better decide be real with yourself. Find out what really interest you. If you like fashion or Reality TV maybe you should major in Communications, Marketing, Film, or Marketing. If you love to read magazines maybe you should major in Journalism. Don’t major in something that doesn’t interest you or just because the pay seems ok. Chances are you’re going to either Hate your job or
10. INTERN-INTERNS: make sure that you get an internship before your senior year. This way you’ll get hands-on experience and can decipher whether or not this career move is the right one. Also, getting an internship is the best way to get your foot in the door. This usually determines whether or not you’re going to have a job after graduating. Keep in mind that the job market isn’t looking too hot right about now so do yourself a favor.
11. FRATS/ SORORS: Don‚Äôt get me wrong, I‚Äôm all for the Brother/Sisterhood but make sure that you‚Äôre joining for all the right reasons. Do not join because you think that the organization is going to help you find great jobs after graduation: WRONG!!!! Most of my friends are in Greek Organizations and I haven‚Äôt heard 1 say how they received a job hookup from them. It‚Äôs basically there to help your college social years; nothing more nothing less — so don‚Äôt expect the world from them either.
12. Last but not least; RECOMMENDATIONS – get in real good with a professor that teaches a course in your major. This way you can have a professor as a referral and what better resource to have then someone who knows this stuff. For instance, my cousin majored in Accounting and got in good with an accounting professor (at a community college). Not only did she refer him but she helped him land a job with well-respected Fortune 500 Accounting Company Straight after graduation from a 4yr university. Don’t ever underestimate your resources. He could’ve been working as a tax accountant with H&R Block but instead he’s traveling the world to audit major companies and making boucoupe $$ at that. Go figure

New Job Envy – Do You Have It?

Your closest co-worker just got a new job…and it makes you crazy because that could have been you. You’re as qualified as her; you have the same background and experience…why weren’t you the one who got a new job? Oh yeah, because you actually have to apply for a job in order to be offered it.
How many times has this happened to you? You are technically job searching but you only casually look through job postings not having any intention to apply for any of them and you haven’t really gotten your resume and cover letter in the best shape possible. So what do you really expect to happen? It seems that many people are waiting for the Job Search Fairy to come and drop the perfect job in their lap. As you may have guessed, it doesn’t work that way. So, what can you do?
Get Out of the ‘Wish Mode’
Stop wishing for a new job and start actively looking for one. It’s a common situation: you look through job postings and picture yourself with that company, doing that job, earning more money. Sound familiar? Or someone close to you got offered their dream job and you’re still sitting on the sidelines wishing it was you who was moving onto bigger and brighter career endeavors?
You need to take your job search into your own hands and be proactive. Don’t sit and wish each day away. Work doesn’t have to be such drudgery.
You just have to…
Buckle Down and Do It
You’ve been putting off getting your resume and cover letter up to par and that can be a huge force that holds you back. If you’re not confident with your job search documents you send out, chances are you’re not going to get a whole lot of calls for interviews.
If it’s a task that you don’t want to tackle yourself, don’t. There is no law that says you have to write your own resume and cover letter. In fact, a professional resume writing service can garner very positive job search results, in most cases. It is money well-spent if you choose the right company for you.
It’s a win-win situation: you don’t have to stress about writing your resume package and you can be assured that the package you send out is above average…exceptional in many cases.
Now, It’s Time to Get Excited
You’ve got everything in place and you’re ready to start applying. So, instead of just daydreaming about the jobs you see listings for, apply for them. Today. Don’t wait until tomorrow or next week. Take the time to apply right now and you’ll see that you’ll get into a pattern of acting immediately. It’s a good habit to get into. You’ll get a lot more results that way. Why? Simply because you’ll end up submitting your resume package more often.
Every time you submit your resume, just think: “This could be it. This could be my new job.” Isn’t that exciting? You never know what will come of your applications right away but the possibilities are endless. That alone should get your blood flowing and your heart pumping.
Now get out there and take charge of your job search. There’s no time like the present.

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Caution is a Virtue

One of the most important lessons I learned in my early job search this last summer was to ask the right questions as soon as possible. I learned this the hard way.
After joining Careerbuilder.com and Monster.com, the most prolific job websites, I was getting very frustrated. I wanted to work in either publishing, advertising, or marketing. By marketing, I meant creating ad campaigns for clients. And all I was getting were random emails from insurance companies. Then I got two phone calls from two different advertising companies in the Chicago area. Unfortunately, I can’t name them here, but they rhyme with PU Gymports and Spictory Spomotions. The companies heavily advertise in both Monster and Careerbuilder, looking for entry-level candidates to take on junior account executive positions.
After a preliminary interview, in which they ask you a lot of questions, and you try to get an actual answer about what the job actually is, they send you home and say they’ll call if they want you to come in for a second interview. I’m presentable and have an IQ above a frog, so of course they both called me. (Actually, my IQ is 138 i.e. college professor.) I went in for a second interview first with “PU Gymports” in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The following week I was scheduled for a second interview with “Spictory Spomotions.” On the phone, I was told to bring more copies of my resume and dress very nicely as I was going to be meeting some very important people. They also told me to wear shoes I could walk in, as we would be doing a little walking around.

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Learn Basic Office Skills

Jim Durbin is an employment blogger and former recruiter whose claim to expertise including once being a college student and graduate.
I hired over 20 fresh college graduates from 1999-2001 as a recruiter in Los Angeles. Their skills and aptitude varied, as did the pedigree of the institutions they attended, but a few things stick in my head to this day as a cautionary tale.
The following is only anecdotal, but the more distinguished the school attended, the less likely the graduate had mastered basic office skills.
One young lad from Berkeley is probably the best story. We hired him because he was smart, ambitious, negotiated well, and well, he went to Berkeley. There was a strategic (and wrong-headed) assumption that we could improve the quality of the office personnel by increasing the number of people who graduated from private and top-ranked colleges.
It was insulting to the number of highly successful state school graduates we had in the company, but it was a mistake many companies made (and still make). Anyway, our young graduate was a recuiter, and back in those days, we made paper copies of the resumes that people brought in.
The copier we had was relatively new, but pretty straightforward. It had a top-loading section for automatic copies and you could lift the lid for manual copies. It also had the occasional problem of jamming….

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Where to Send Your Resume?

This is picking back up on my previous resume blogs. I took a look at my CollegeGrad.com newsletter today, which focused on where college students should send their resumes. I wish I had this newsletter before I graduated from college back at Tech (Florence-Darlington Technical College). Since I didn’t, I thought it was important to share it with all of you in college or either going back to college.
According to my newsletter, the first place to send your resume is your school’s career center. This should be done as soon as possible at the beginning of the first semester in your final year. There are three reasons why. The first is that the majority of campus career centers establish a set of paper or electronic resumes to be sent out to potential employers. Reason number two is that your college will send your individual resume to employers who ask for those resumes of prospective graduates in a given major. The list of employers includes some who are pre-screening candidates for on-campus interviews. The last reason is that normally, you won’t be able to sign-up for on campus interviews without completing the second step.

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Everybody Loves a Free Lunch

If you’ve ever wandered around Whole Foods at lunch (why, oh why is the Nashville Whole Foods not yet built??) you know that the plethora of samples can equal a free lunch.

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High School Students Have Unrealistic Career Expectations

In my conversations with employers of Gen Y students, many complain that their high school and college aged employees have unrealistic expectations about the type of work that they are qualified to do and how hard they need to work in order to succeed. While I’ve often chalked that type of talk up to the perennial tendency of older generations to look with disdain upon younger generations, there is some empirical support for the concerns being expressed about Gen Y.

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What? Me Worry?

The following editorial is in no way related to internships. It only has to do with the fact that I had to write it for my Communication Law class and wanted to share it with everyone. I hope you approve:
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

“There’s No Business Like No Business,” sung to the tune of Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” came under fire for being too closely related to the original song.
Cole Porter’s “The Last Time I Saw Paris” became “The First Time I Saw Maris,” a satirical piece about baseball players becoming advertising a pitchmen – a topic that’s as timely now as it was over 40 years ago.
Richard Rodgers had a stake in the outcome of this suit as well, quiet as it’s kept in the transcript of the trial.

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The One Skill You’d Better Look For

When employers talk about desirable skills they look for in new hires, they usually mean things like writing, data analysis, interpersonal communication, and project management. But what about the ability to LEARN?

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