What’s Really Hot In Science And Technology Today

Like many high school students, you probably have at least some idea of what you’re interested in becoming. You may even know that you have the potential to be a great scientist or engineer. One thing that will carry you through to a career, however, is true excitement about today’s research and tomorrow’s discoveries. So read on—your future career may be described here!

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Manage Your Money

So you just got your first paycheck and you’re in shock. It looks like half has been siphoned off for taxes and insurance. Chill. Forget about that “big” splurge at the mall and start thinking about some long-term goals. Practice sound money management and you’ll be able to afford some of the things you really want and need in life—an education, a car… okay, and maybe some cool clothes and a ski trip, too.

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One Year Out

Because I haven’t contributed to the blog for over a year now (last post was in July 2006), I wanted to re-introduce myself.
My last post here (on “Work Parties”) was just before I started my first job out of college, which was my second full time job. My background is diverse. I worked retail with increasing responsibility from the ages of 15 to 21, and spent 3 of those years in commissioned sales where I managed to pay for college without going in debt. I graduated from college with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing, with an almost-completed minor in Marketing. The job I took last August was in advertising/media sales, mostly outside sales to local businesses, and I left it at the beginning of June.
I could write 100 posts on this summer (and I just may eventually), but it’s been a myriad of experiences: a return to retail for a few weeks when times were tough, a seemingly great new job that didn’t work out, many interviews, a return to a former employer, networking and developing consulting work, much soul searching, and finally getting 2 job offers last week. Those are just the headlines.
Some people transition smoothly after college. Some people search for a long time and get stuck in retail or temp jobs for months or years. Others take the kind of path I’ve taken so far – 2 steps forward, 1 step back, with a lot of turbulence.
Anyway, the whole process (and this year in general) has me thinking about choices.
I used to view a resume as a compilation of experiences and achievements, and I’m still sure that those are important, key points. However, I think a resume actually presents our choices and values even clearer than it presents our strengths. Sure, nobody has unlimited options and sometimes we don’t get to choose exactly what we want, but part of me thinks the paths we choose to take and the choices we make – with schooling, career, activities, etc – are actually the “loudest” part of any resume.
For me, at this point in my life, I want to make career choices based on learning. Simply put: I’ll pick the job where I’ll learn the skills I think I’ll need to build a better me and enhance myself as a “product” in the workplace. Money, benefits, time, excitement – and even advancement within the company – are all secondary to, “What job will teach me what I need to learn?”
Because most of all what this first year out of college has taught me is what I don’t know and what I think I need to know.
As such, in addition to whichever of the 2 new jobs I choose, I’m also going back to school for an MBA (for the knowledge – whereas if I had gone back last year, it would have been for the degree), keeping up my network and my consulting jobs, and doing everything possible to build the brand of “Alison” inside and outside of the company I choose.
Questions answered…
1. What profession would you like to try?

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Start Your Cover Letter With a BIG Bang!

If you’re still reading, then I’ve caught your attention with the title. You can do the same with your job-search cover letters. Whether you call it a title or a headline, this little ‘weapon’ will hit the mark, pulling your reader right through your written communication from the first word to the last.
Here’s how to strike gold each time.

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Facebook Application Update

We launched our second Facebook application late last week and we’ve already got about 225 installations. But that’s not all that interesting. Want interesting? Read on.
Facebook applications allow third parties such as CollegeRecruiter.com to add features to Facebook so that its million of users can customize what they see and use when they go to Facebook. Think of them like computer programs that you download to your computer. Each person works differently so we each have our computers set up differently. Facebook recognized that desire for customization and a couple of months ago they created the applications section.
Our first application was essentially a (yawn!) job search engine. Practical but not exactly exciting. The second has a similar front end but features two improvements, one minor and the other major:

1. The first application requires you to enter the state in which you are looking for a job. The second application assumes that you’re searching for a job in your state of residence. Nice improvement, but minor.
2. The first application required you to run a job search every time you wanted to check our database to see what is new. The second application automatically posts to your Facebook profile page a list of the 10 or so newest internships and entry level jobs based upon the keywords, job category, and state of residence that you enter. Nice improvement, and major.

Click on the thumbnail below to get a better look at how the job search engine portion of the second application looks after you install it:

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Hit a Homer and Get Hired!

Last Saturday, once again I went to Wrigley Field with the baseball fanatic duo in my family. I tag along simply because I want to be where they are and on that day, it was somewhere around baseball. I don’t know a lot about the sport…just a little. As we paused for a bit at Murphy’s Bleachers to discuss guess what – baseball, it occurred to me how much interviewing is like the game of baseball. Here’s my take:

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What’s YOUR Brand of Champagne?

Although I’ve been a Certified Personal Brand Strategist for a number of years, I’m still starry-eyed about branding. I love it. I never lose the joy and amazement I feel when a client experiences the power of personal branding with a fabulous job offer.
One of my favorite clients sent me a joyful e-mail today, and I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s just landed his dream job.
My client is a Canadian national successfully working in Singapore. He had what sales coach and fellow CareerHub blogger Pat Schuler calls a “champagne goal.” A goal most people would say was a pretty tough objective.

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Think Twice

Dear Sue:
I read with interest the letter from the corporate executive who was struggling with his job search. I can tell you with confidence that he is simply over selling himself.
As a corporate recruiter, I work with executive level positions on a daily basis. A senior level job interview should be viewed as a discovery opportunity. I’ve seen too many candidates tell you what they think you want to hear without ever identifying the pains or needs of the organization. The person who wrote to you has probably been on so many interviews that he assumes he has heard it all and thinks that he has a perfect answer for every question. In reality, he may be shooting himself in the foot by coming off as too slick and a “know it all.”
What he needs to do is bite his tongue even when he thinks he has the perfect response and quietly listen and learn. Once everyone is finished with the interview dialog, then he can eloquently present his qualifications based on the companies needs. It reminds me of the saying, “think twice, talk once.”
– Recruiter

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Be The Expert They Want to Hire

You already know that most employers will use Google to research your background before hiring you, right?
If hiring managers find nothing online about you, you won’t stand out from the crowd. That’s bad.
If they find photos on MySpace of you table dancing in a fur bikini or videos of you on YouTube doing keg stands … that’s worse.
But, what if, during their Google search, a hiring committee finds that you’ve written several industry-related articles and you’ve been published all over the Internet? You’ll look like an expert in their eyes — and be much more likely to get a job offer.
Sound farfetched?

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Chapter 3: No Sucking-Up! Making a Basic Plan

In the Disney film “Alice in Wonderland” Alice asks the Cheshire cat which way she should go when confronted with a fork in the road.
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.‚Äù
Alice: “I don’t much care where.”
Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
Alice: “So long as I get SOMEWHERE.”
Cat: “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
Obviously Alice wasn’t competing for a great promotion. You are! Making a simple plan and setting some goals will help you chart a course that leads to the position you want. It doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t even have to be completely right to begin with. What’s important for now is that you begin traveling the path that leads to where you want to go. There will be any number or course corrections along the way, but that is to be expected.
Answering each of the following questions in writing can serve as a beginning roadmap to your success. I encourage you to do this right now and again after reading this entire guide. As time goes by, adjustments will be warranted, but don’t let that stop you from beginning the process today.

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