Following Up

So unfortunately I didn't get as much done over Thanksgiving Break as I had hoped in terms of job searching. :(

With what time I wasn't spending with my family celebrating Thanksgiving, I was working on homework and projects. I hate it when teachers expect you to get a lot done over breaks like this. Thanksgiving definitely didn't feel like much of a vacation for me, so I'm looking forward to Christmas Break even more now. Luckily the end of B term is approaching quickly. (When did that happen?!)

So even though I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, I did make a tiny bit of progress in the job search department. I know I blogged earlier about a job interview I had over October break. Well, I wrote a thank you note after that, and when I didn't hear from them, a few weeks later I sent a follow up email to my contact in HR. I asked her if they had made any decisions in terms of the position and let her know that if they hadn't I was still interested. My email was probably was a little later than I ideally should have sent it, but I guess better a little late than never? I feel like I get tunnel vision while at school here and I'm so focused on the here and now that I occasionally lose sight of the bigger picture and am somewhat unaware about how fast time is actually going. (Probably why I'm always so suprised by the end of the term....oops.)

But anyway, the lady emailed me back and told me that they weren't making a decision until the end of January and that I should hear from them then. She said I didn't have to do anything, but to feel free to contact her again in January if I hadn't heard.

The good news is that I didn't miss the boat on this one like I was afraid I had, and I still have a shot at this internship which sounded pretty cool. :)

So, moral of the story: Follow up and stay on top of things. Put dates to get stuff done by in your planner if necessary. At a school like this it's sooooo easy to focus purely on homework and projects with deadlines that it's easy to forget about other parts of your life (like job seraching!) which are also important.

It's almost Thanksgiving break!!

So last week and this week I'm definitely feeling the pressure of mid-terms. :( Thankfully we only have two more days of this ridiculousness until we're on break. I definitely feel like junior year is significantly harder than freshman and sophomore year. It seems like everyone I talk to is getting a little burnt out. I think a break is much needed for everyone on this campus.

Needless to say that with all of this work I've been pretty unpreductive with my job search (again). I know, it's bad. I need to work on it. I just physically don't seem to have enough hours in the day to work on that and get all of my assignments and studying done. At this point I'm lucky to get sleep at all.

Over break I plan on sleeping (a lot), working on my job search (finally!), visiting with my family and friends from high school (some of whom I haven't seen since the summer!), and eating lots of turkey (yum.).

So, considering a lot of you are probably in the same boat I am - stick it out. A lot of us are just 24 hours away from break and those who aren't are close to that. When you think about it that way it seems so much more managable, right? ;)

Enjoy your break and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :)

Do you know what Career Search is?

Are you looking for a Chemical Engineering job in Connecticut? Or how about a Biomedical Engineering job in Washington? Or do you just want to see what Biotechnology companies are located in the Northeast and do Cancer Research?

If you're asking any of these questions (or anything even remotely similar), than Career Search is a useful resource for you!

Last year, as a sophomore, I was really confused about when I should be applying for internships, and, more importantly, how I could even get started on my job search. I made an appointment with one of the counselors at the CDC to try to get some of my questions answered. Not only did I leave with a better understanding of what I should be doing, I also learned about Career Search.

Recently I've been talking to friends about applying for summer internships, I realize that a lot of them haven't heard of Career Search before, and, because it's such an awesome tool, I wanted to try to spread the word so now all of you will be able to use it too. :)

So what is it exactly? Career Search is an online database that you can access through your Job Finder account. It is a tool that you can use to search for companies by industry, location, name, or any combination of those three.

Can I see job opportunities on Career Search? No. Career Search is a tool designed to find companies, so it doesn't tell you about specific job opportunities. However, the majority of job offerings aren't posted, so if you contact a company you find through Career Search, you could possibly end up with a job or internship if you follow the right steps.

How do I find Career Search? First, you log into your Job Finder account. Next, on the home page, under the shortcuts section, its the last link. Once you get into Career Search, your best option is probably to chose US Search, and then you can get started. :)

Check it out!

TGIF

TGIF. I know it's only the second week of classes, but I'm already starting to feel the pressure of B term start to kick in. :(

One of my classes is absolutely ridiculous. Our teacher wants us to turn in a 15 page lab report, take a test, pass in a hard and very time consuming homework assignment, pass in a 30+ page group project equip with CAD models and analysis, and turn in another 15 page lab report, all within a week. It's crazy. The professor says that he knows he's giving us a lot of work, but I don't think he really realizes how much it actually is, especially when we're trying to manage two other difficult classes.

So needless to say, with all of this work on my plate in addition to Rush and Recruitment, I haven't had any time to spend on my job search. Hopefully I'll get some done this weekend...

Back to WPI already?

I feel like each term I always look forward to the break as this long, relaxing time to recoup from the stresses of WPI, but when break actually arrives I end up being fairly busy. I spent time with my family, went to NH to see my grandparents, visited my high school and old job, ran errands, tried to figure out what I wanted to be for Halloween, stayed overnight with a friend at another college, called high school friends to catch up, re-organized my room (and found my ipod that had been missing for a few weeks!!), cleaned my apartment, and had my first job interview. I can't tell if I'm actually that busy, or, after two years of involvement at WPI, I don't know how to have down time anymore. Both are definite possibilities.



So about this interview...it was actually my first real job interview. I mean, I've had interviews for things in the past, but this was the fist time I was interviewing for an engineering internship. (About time, right?). The cool part was that I didn't even apply to this company. It was a company that I talked to at the WPI Fall Career Fair. I wasn't super interested in what the did, but they were sort of related to the field I want to work in so I talked to them and gave them my resume. A few weeks later I got an email from someone in Human Resources asking me if I was interested in having an interview with them for an internship position and getting a tour of their facility.



Truthfully, at first I was a little skeptical. The job description they gave me was very vague and I couldn't find much information about their company online. And, any information I could find didn't really seem to match up with what I wanted to do. But, I accepted anyway. I figured that the worst possible outcome was that it could be a good experience for later interviews.

I am so glad that I accepted the interview. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the part of the company that I was interviewing with (that does stuff that I'm interested in) was actually a new branch of the larger company (the one that I found online that does more general manufacturing that I'm not so interested in). I got a tour of their facility and then met with a team of four engineers. It was nice because I think all four were WPI graduates a few years ago (maybe 05 or 07?), so they knew all about WPI's classes and projects and were easy to relate to. After I actually also interviewed with the president of the company. He was easy to talk to and had a lot of cool ideas of what he wanted to do with the company and his plans for the next 5-10 years. I feel like it was a successful interview, and at the end he even told me "I just wanted to let you know that you interview very well". (It looks like doing that Mock Interview already paid off!).

So I wrote a handwritten thank you note to the people I interviewed with and a thank you email to the lady in HR. I guess now I'm just going to wait for a little to see if they respond, and if I don't hear from them in the somewhat near future, I'll follow up. In the meantime I think I'll get started looking for other internships. You don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket, right?

Other than my job search, I'm working on getting settled into my new B term schedule. So far my classes seem to be a lot less stressful than A term's, and I'm optimistic that it's going to stay that way. :) I've also been able to go down the hill at a reasonable time and actually spend time with my roommates in my apartment. (Well except for last night when we were forced to go back up the hill if we wanted to be at all productive because we lost power for 13 hours!!)

Hope you're all also having a good start to B term, and enjoy Homecoming this weekend. :) And Happy Halloween!!

A Term is Almost Over?! When Did THAT happen?

We only have 4 full days of classes left!! What?!

I mean, I guess we could see this coming, but I always feel like the end of the term comes far too quickly. I still have so much to do in terms of group projects, homework, and studying for finals. I can't believe I have to get it all done in less than a week! It's slightly overwhelming (slightly being an understatement of course).

And, to top that off, because I'm a junior, a number of my friends are going away B term. It's so strange to think that in a week or two they're all going to be either in another city, or more likely, in another country. It's hard because I really want to spend time with them (even if it's only for a little while) before they leave, but, as I mentioned before, I have so much work to do....

....And so continues my everlasting struggle to find a happy balance between school/work and friends/family. No, seriously, this is something that I think about a lot. Both are important parts of your life, but too much of one makes you neglect the other part. So where's the happy medium?

And where does applying for jobs fit into all of this? Unfortunately, at the moment, it doesn't (not for me at least). I figure with Finals coming up so soon that that is going to be my main focus for the next few days. Yes, job searching is important, but no one is going to want to hire you if you don't pass your classes.

But even though I'm taking a short hiatus from applications, I'm looking forward to being able to spend time job searching over October Break. I figure I'll have a break from all of the schoolwork, and I'll finally have a chance to get organized and get back on top of my life again. I'll be able to apply for jobs already posted, go on a few interviews that I scheduled earlier, and look for companies that I'm interested in (check out the Career Search section of your Job Finder Account. It's the last link under shortcuts if you don't know where to look. It's amazing!). I'm also finally going to be able to catch up with all of the things that I've been putting off for the last week or two - like laundry, grocery shopping, errands, getting in touch with my friends from high school, etc. Is it weird that I'm this happy about getting organized again?

So good luck on your job search/applications (if you're working on that). And good luck studying!!

Interviewing 101

So the Career Fair is over...now what?

Make sure you check your Job Finder account because a lot of deadlines for bigger companies are approaching quickly (or have already passed by!). How do you do this? Log into your Job Finder account, click on the jobs tab on the top, and then use the search feature to search for jobs, internships, or interviews. Go check it out, now. No, really. I know you're all super busy (I know I am!), but if you wait too long you're going to miss out on some companies.

So what to expect when you actually get an interview? Interviewing can be nerve wracking, but it gets much easier with a lot of preparation and a little practice.

So what are they going to ask you? Here are some questions that are frequently asked by employers (provided by the CDC's Career Guide) :


1. Tell me about yourself.

2. What are your hobbies?

3. Why did you choose to interview with our organization?

4. Describe your ideal job.

5. What can you offer us?

6. What do you consider to be your greatest strenghts?

7. Can you name some weaknesses?

8. Define success. Failure.

9. Have you ever had any failures? What did you learn from them?

10. Of which accomplishments are you most proud?

11. Who are your role models? Why?

12. How does your college education or work experience relate to this job?

13. What motivates you most in a job?

14. Have you had difficulty getting along with a former professor/supervisor/co-worker and how did you handle it?

15. Have you ever spoken before a group of people? How large?

16. Why should we hire you rather than another candidate?

17. What do you know about our organization (products and services)?

18. Where do you want to be in five years? Ten years?

19. Do you plan to return to school for further education?

20. Why did you choose your major?

21. Why did you choose to attend your college or university?

22. Do you think you received a good education? In what ways?

23. In which campus activities did you participate?

24. Which classes in your major did you like best? Least? Why?

25. Which elective classes did you like best? Least? Why?

26. If you were to start over, what would you change about your education?

27. Do your grades accurately reflect your ability? Why or why not?

28. Were you financially responsible for any portion of your college education?

29. What job-related skills have you developed?

30. Did you work while going to school? In what positions?

31. What did you learn from these work experiences?

32. What did you enjoy most about your last employment? Least?

33. Have you ever quit a job? Why?

34. Give an example of a situation in which you provided a solution to an employer.

35. Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure.

36. Have you ever done any volunteer work? What kind?

37. How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work?

38. Do you prefer to work under supervision or on your own?

39. What kind of boss do you prefer?

40. Would you be successful working with a team?

41. Do you prefer large or small organizations? Why?

42. What other types of positions are you considering?

43. How do you feel about working in a structured environment?

44. Are you able to work on several assignments at once?

45. How do you feel about working overtime?

46. How do you feel about travel?

47. How do you feel about the possibility of relocating?

48. Are you willing to work flextime?

So to prepare for an interview, you first want to research the company and the position to know what to expect and what to ask. Then you should look at these questions and come up with a good answer to each one (you never know what you'll be asked to its helpful to be prepared for all of them).

Think you have a good answer for a question? Practice saying it out loud. It might not actually come across as great as you thought it would.

How do I know this? I recently had a Mock Interview with the CDC. At first I was really nervous because 1. it's an interview and 2. they film it. I hate being on camera. And even more than that, I hate watching myself on camera. But after I got over that initial uncomfortableness, I ended up being extremely happy that I did it. Because it went well? Of course not. But because it was extremely helpful to see what I liked about my interview and what I didn't, so I can be even better when it comes to the real thing. I was able to see what mannerisms I liked, and which ones I should be more conscious of and try to avoid next time. It was also really helpful to hear myself answering the questions because I could see what questions seemed to trip me up a little, and which ones I had great answers for.

So check out your Job Finder account, research companies, and brush up on your interview skills because I know you don't want to miss out on anything.

Good luck!

And enjoy the weekend. :)

Did you know you only have TWO days left?!

That's right. The Career Fair is this Wednesday! It's from 1-5 in Harrington Auditorium.

So here are the last few steps that you should be taking to get ready:

1. Polishing up your resume. Fix the changes that were suggested at Resumazing!, or if you didn't go, take a look at the CDC's packet on How to Write a Resume to make sure yours is finalized. You can find this packet either in the CDC itself, or in your Job Finder Account (you've signed up already, right? If not, check out my last post).

2. Talking about Job Finder....log into your account and check out the companies coming. Make a list of the ones that you definitely want to talk to, and take note on what their company does so you have something to talk about.

3. Make sure that you have a professional outfit ready to go (and if you don't have one at school, wear the next most appropriate thing. First impressions definitely do count!).

Good luck! And I'll see you there. ;)

So Who's Going To The Career Fair Anyway?

Well, in addition to you of course, there are already 107 companies participating in this fall's Career Fair.

That's a lot of companies, and you're obviously not going to have enough time to talk to everyone. But then again, why would you want to? Only a portion of the companies coming relate to your major or the field you want to work in, so why not make the most of the Career Fair and talk to all of these companies that actually relate to you while skipping by the ones that don't?

So how do you do this? Luckily for you, the CDC had already made this information available. If you log into your Job Finder Account, click on the events tab at the top, and then select 09careerfair, you will be able to see a list of all of the companies coming. In addition to that, this list also provides a link to the company's website, a short description about what they do, what majors they're looking for as well as to what types of jobs they have (summer internships, co ops, full time, etc). Companies love it when you already know some information about them and you get major points for being prepared. Plus, then you'll be able to ask the questions that actually matter instead of surface questions like "What do you do?" or "Are you looking for any interns?". You get the point.

So what if you don't have a Job Finder Account yet? Don't worry, it's really easy to sign up. You can find a link to Job Finder in the left column of the CDC's main web page. From there your username is your Student ID and your password is the first four digits of your Student ID plus your birth month and date. So, for example. If you Student ID is 333444555 and your birthday is February 14,1990, your password would be 33340214.

If you already set up your account and don't remember your password, just stop by the CDC and someone working there will be able to reset it for you.

So check out the companies coming and polish up your resume (Resumazing! is on Thursday in the Odeum from 1-7), and get ready because the Career Fair is only 8 days away!

9 Days and Counting

Wow. I think people are finally starting to realize how close the Career Fair actually is. (If you're not one of those people, it's on September 23rd. That's only 9 days from now!)

The reason why I'm saying that is that I finally got my resume critiqued. Instead of making an appointment like I was planning on, I decided to go to walk ins last Thursday instead (they're every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1-3). I showed up at 1:o5 and there were already about 6 people infront of me. Who thought it'd be that busy already?!

Even though I had to wait a little for my turn, it was definitely worth it. I thought my resume was pretty good because I had it critiqued before, but they had a lot of really helpuful suggestions. If you're a junior like me, it's really important to take all of your high school information off your resume. And the harder part that I had to learn is that there is a difference between what activites/experiences you felt were important in your life and what activities/experiences are relavant to you getting a job in the future.

So the main point that I'm trying to make is that even if you think you have a good resume (which you might), it's still helpful to get it critiqued because they may have suggestions on how to make it even better (and who wouldn't want that?).

Although you can still try to go during walk ins, or email your resume to cdc@wpi.edu, your best bet at this point is to go to Resumazing! which is this thursday from 1-7 in the Odeum.

And if you haven't started your resume yet or have a lot of work left to do on it - get started! And good luck!

Summer's Over?

Hello!

So I’m one of the new bloggers for WPI’s Career Development Center. :) I’m a junior Mechanical Engineering major who’s concentrating in the area of Biomechanics (hence the name). Although I’ve had a vague idea of what I’ve wanted to do since high school, it took me a little while to figure out the details. I’ll write more about that another time.

Junior Year. Wow. It’s so hard to believe that I’m halfway done with college. It definitely doesn’t feel like it’s been two years. For me, WPI’s seven week terms make everything seem to fly by. But, even though I’m halfway done, I still haven’t made up my mind on how I feel about these short terms. On one hand, I love the fact that you only have to focus on three classes at a time, and if you have a class that you don’t like, you’re done with it in less than two months. But on the other hand, we’re only a week into A term and I’ve had two major tests and a lab report. It definitely doesn’t feel like I was on summer vacation a week ago.

My summer was nice and relaxing, but not quite as productive as I would have liked it to be. For the first half of the summer I was a nanny, and for the second half I worked for a tutoring program. I really enjoy teaching math and I love the feeling of having a positive impact on kids’ lives, but I know that this was definitely my last summer working there. Because next summer is my last summer before graduation (which is a REALLY scary thought), I want to get an internship that is related to my field.

To make sure that I’m able to get an internship that I want next summer despite the bad economy, one of my goals for the year is to start looking really early. Although a lot of smaller companies don’t start looking for interns until Winter or Spring, a lot of the bigger companies have Fall deadlines which is one of the reasons why I’m looking forward to the Fall Career Fair on September 23rd. I have a lot to get done before then though.

The first thing I have to get done is to update my resume. I need to add employment details from this summer as well as make sure that all of my club and activity info is up to date. Once I finish that, I’ll set up an appointment with one of the CDC staff members for a resume critique to make sure I’m not missing anything. Plus, what college kid doesn’t love a free t-shirt? :P

So what’s with this whole t-shirt thing? The first 250 WPI students to get their resume critiqued by the CDC get a free royal blue t-shirt. And although I’m going to make an appointment, there are other easy ways to get your resume critiqued. You can either drop it off in the CDC’s resume box on the front desk or email it to cdc@wpi.edu, and it will be edited and ready for pick up within four days. You can also stop by during Walk-In hours which are 1-3 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Or you can just set up an appointment like me.

So pull out your old resume (or start one!) and get it edited so you’ll be ready to go by the 23rd (and have another t-shirt in your drawer).

And enjoy the long weekend!