Author Archives: CP&R

The Devil Wears Prada: Scripps Edition

Posted on by
Reply

I had no idea what to expect when this summer began. To give you perspective on my naiveté, I wasn’t even sure what my living situation was fully going to be as I exited my plane at JFK. But to my surprise, that exact moment was when my summer took off.

I arrived on my first day at the Hearst Tower with The Devil Wears Prada playing in my mind. After all, I was going into the magazine industry just as fresh and eager as Anne Hathaway. However, I didn’t wear the lumpy grey sweater on my first day – I would have probably melted from the heat. Having taken over an hour to strategize my first day outfit the night before, I met my direct supervisors, and fellow Sales Assistants, at the top of the escalators promptly at 9:30am. They gave me a tour of the café, our floor, and introduced me to the rest of the ELLE DECOR advertising sales team. I could already tell that my summer was going to be far different than Ms. Hathaway’s – instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt at home. After I was genuinely welcomed and familiarized with the interns for House Beautiful Magazine and Veranda Magazine, I was given my first assignment. And just like that, my internship began.

My internship consisted of a diverse group of tasks. As is representative of advertising sales, some days were very slow and some days were exceptionally busy. One of the most common tasks I was assigned was the completing of edit credit books for the account directors. I tracked every advertisement and mention of an advertiser, both manually by reading each page and with the help of MediaRadar. Although creating these edit credit books took a significant amount of time, they played a vital role in acquiring new business. I was able to see the results of my edit credit assembling efforts by attending a sales call with our Lancôme client. The account director I went with used the materials I had created – she showed the various pages on which Lancôme products were featured, perfectly connected the beauty line to our interior design magazine, and finalized the contract all in an hour. It was thrilling and rewarding to see how much of an impact my time and dedication made.

 

In addition to edit credit books, I was also assigned a final project where the interns came together to pitch advertorial ideas for a new business. We decided on U.S. Trust, a branch of Bank of America focusing on the specific needs of affluent individuals. Over the course of two months, we researched every facet of U.S. Trust: From specialty asset management, to small business account management, and refinance insurance. After compiling our research, we then used our developing knowledge of each of our magazine brands to create unique pitches. Finding a common thread between two seemingly unrelated areas, interior designs and banking, was the most fascinating part of the final project. In the end, we produced an entire deck that showcased our research, the connections, and presented it to all sales assistants, marketing assistants, and associate directors.

In the end, I didn’t turn into Anne Hathaway, but I did grow into the version of myself that I am proud to be today. Many thanks to the generous Scripps College community, particularly Ms. Judith Nelson Keep, for helping me find my way – even if it’s not entirely mapped out.

 

Leaving Preconceived Notions at the Door: Sampling Different Fields of Medicine

Posted on by
Reply

Reillyanderson2Guest Blogger Reilly Anderson

I applied for the Clinical Care Extender internship because I want to be a doctor, and Cope Health Solutions gives their volunteers the unique, immersive opportunity to be trained and involved in patient care–almost to the extent of a certified nursing assistant—with less experience.

During this summer rotation, I worked in the Definitive Observation Unit, which also included the Neuroscience Unit. I learned how to connect and monitor heart leads on patients, take vital signs, change, discharge, move, walk, and bathe patients. I got the opportunity to work with patients who have suffered from cardiac arrest, strokes, and other heart and brain related health problems. This summer I learned a lot for my skillset and I was able to narrow down my career path.

I found that working with stroke and cardiac patients is not my calling. While I enjoyed the patients who connected with me and I learned a lot about how to have a good bedside manner, I realized it is not a population that I am passionate about working with and for. There is little to no opportunity for prevention practices, just intervention. Learning this about myself was really useful and would not have been possible prior to my rotation in that department.

Reillyanderson1

Though I still am not certain what path I want to take in my medical career, many doctors tell me it’s important to try a little bit of everything in order to ascertain what I don’t want. I now know that I do not want to do anything related to the heart or brain and I most likely want to go into pediatrics or something that works with younger populations, which I will get to experience next rotation in the Mother Baby Care Unit. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with the polar opposite population from my department this summer and experience the miracle of birth while working with new mothers and their infants.

I would strongly recommend this internship to any who are interested in healthcare because it truly gives its interns more experience than any other program I’ve heard of. I would advise any intern who decides to apply for the Clinical Care Extender internship through Cope Health Solutions to do project hours in order to get an assignment of their choosing. I would also advise them to think carefully about what they think they do and don’t want to do in a clinical setting as a healthcare professional, but then to leave their preconceived notions at the door.

I would not have been able to have this experience of learning what I do and don’t want in terms of both specialization and role in the hospital without the internship grant. I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to work in a hospital and gain experience in healthcare.

 

 

 

I Need the Monies! How to Get an Individual Grant

Posted on by
Reply

Whether you’re a penniless student, a starving artist, an unpaid intern, or any other person who has the dream but not the means, you need an individual grant.  As an undergrad with little of my own money, I’ve learned about the process from the inside.  Here are some of the basics:

  1. Finding Funders

Finding a funder is half the job, but unfortunately it’s also the most tedious half. The Foundation Center has a lot of resources to help you get started.  Michigan State University has a “database of databases” for grants, although I personally find it a bit overwhelming.  Especially when you’re just beginning.  Still, it’s a broad enough resource to potentially apply to anyone.  You can find more specific sites and databases depending on what you’re planning to do—be it scientific research or attending a conference or doing an extended art project.  You could also look into the National Science Foundation or the New York Foundation for the Arts.  If you’re a student, your college also likely has funding from its official resources as well as student organizations.

During your search, you will experience frustration. I 1000% guarantee it.  Several funds will look so hopeful and so you, until you read the tagline at the bottom that says: For residents in Allenhurst, New Jersey only.  Who even lives there anyway?  You’ll wade through so many profiles until your eyes droop, but keep pressing until you have found at least two or three potential funders.  You might need more than one funder just for a single project.  Besides, backups are always a smart option.

  1. Project Proposal

So, what does a proposal look like? It depends on the funder.  They might have a specific set of questions laid out for you to answer.  You might have to write a free-form proposal.  However the application looks, I found specificity to be the most useful tip.  What does your project look, feel, or taste like?  Imagine yourself doing your project—interviewing homeless veterans, creating a sculpture of recycled tires, researching fish brains at a university lab.  Think of all the details you have to take care of to make that happen.  What supplies do you need?  What are the costs?  Who will you work with and how?  It’s impossible to be too specific.

  1. Personal Statement

The previous tip applies to personal statements, too, should you need to write one. This is not a dry academic paper for your English class.  This is an expression of you and why you are the ideal person to do your project.  Tell the funder stories that could only come from you.  Plenty of people have gotten gold medals in school or lost a soccer game or received a bad grade.  But who else learned Japanese by listening to music on the bus, or started a book club that combines comics and fantasy novels?  What are your particular interests?  Who are you as a person?  I hope you don’t fall into an identity crisis in trying to answer these questions, but they are important to consider.  You are a human being, not just a piece of paper.  Remind yourself and remind the people who are reading your proposal of that truth.

  1. The Budget

You need to integrate the total costs of your project in your proposal if you don’t have a separate page for your budget. How much money are you asking for?  The maximum award?  Less than that?  Break down the grant into categories and subcategories, naming the price for things such as conference registration fee, travel, or supplies.  Show the funder that you know what you’re doing and you have the ability to actually carry out this project.  Remember the golden rule: specificity.

If you ever feel exhausted or impatient with this whole process, remember your goal is not getting money. It’s what you want to do with that money.  If you want to make your project happen (and I assume you do), let that show through in your application.  You already have the passion, so make it your strength and take the plunge!

Bridgette Ramirez

Alumna Profile: Jessica Warren 2014

Posted on by
Reply

jwarrenJessica Warren ’14 graduated from Scripps with a major in Anthropology. She credits her time at Scripps as one of the defining places that influenced her interests and developed her critical thinking skills that lead her to her current position as a Research Associate at the Education Advisory Board in Washington, D.C. The Mellon Grant recipient and former Bridges Auditorium box office staff member spoke about how her positions large and small helped prepare her to succeed in the workforce.

Jessica one of over 1500 alumnae volunteers in Life Connections. Following is from an informational interview with CP&R Marketing Intern Shelby Wax ’16.

SW: Tell me about your time at Scripps. How did the environment impact you?

JW: I loved my time at Scripps. I really appreciated the way a women’s college and the Scripps curriculum prepared me to think critically about the world and take on leadership roles. I loved the supportive environment. It fostered my interests in ways that I followed things I didn’t initially want to pursue. And the Scripps network and security will always follow you. I actually am meeting with a Scripps friend for dinner this week and will meet with my former Anthro professor and mentor Claudia Strauss when she visits DC.

The nurturing environment at Scripps didn’t hold me back, but you have to know that, after college, you will have to take care of things on your own more and work with people from a lot of different places. Scripps made me a critical thinker, which made me courageous in a lot of ways.

SW: How did you choose your major?

JW: I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I came in. I originally thought I would pursue English and Writing. However Core got me interested in anthropology. The social theories we learned in core really helped me throughout my studies. Also my Core III class, Oral History, helped me discovered that I loved interviewing.

SW: How did your on-campus job at Bridges Auditorium impact you?

JW: Having a job where you work with others is really important in college. That’s bridges-auditorium-eveninga skill you need to learn. You are very independent in college and the office environment lends you to learning how to work on someone else’s schedule. Learning how to make connections is also important. To practice those work connections, participate in clubs or smaller jobs where you are working together and collaborating. Working with others can ground you. Employers expect that you will have to take on these kinds of jobs in college.

SW: What did you do with your time when you were unemployed after Scripps?

JW: End of senior year was stressful because I didn’t have a job. But most people I know didn’t like their jobs straight out of college. Don’t think other people have things down and you don’t. Just get started early and work a lot on your resume. I was interested in jobs in DC and I wasn’t in DC. If you have a city in mind, try to make connections while still in college. And if you have to do a temporary job right out of college, know that is still experience and it’s still good.

SW: Did you ever use CP&R’s resources while at Scripps?

JW: CP&R was a huge help for me. They have seen lots of my grant applications and resumes and helped me with re-writing. Reaching out to CP&R was a great way to bounce ideas of what I want to do. They even helped me after I graduated. When I was unemployed after my job at the Australian Embassy, CP&R helped me make the connections I needed.

SW: How did you get your current position at the Education Advisory Board?
eab_logoJW: I heard about this job through a CMC friend who worked there. He knew I was interested in education so he referred me for the position. It was a quite a few months between applying and starting. Realize that you are going to apply for a job a few months in advance. If they haven’t gotten back in a month, you can send an email so you aren’t lost in a file somewhere. Never be afraid to ask your friends to connect you with jobs.

SW: What do you do at your job?

JW: I’m a research associate focusing on education. I work in short term custom research where I do 6-8 week research projects looking at issues that colleges are having in enrollment and faculty. There is bit of data analysis, but it’s mostly qualitative research. We find out what works at other schools and then provide advisory reports. I’m lucky that I can tailor my research to what I’m interested in. Recently, I wrote about transferring from community colleges. Scripps prepared me for this position through the focus on writing and by teaching me how to learn about a particular subject quickly.

SW: Is there any advice that you have for Scripps students?

JW: You probably won’t have your dream job, the first job you get. In fact, your dream job will change throughout your career. Find a job that you’re pretty interested in and people you like to work with. Find people who can help you learn and support you. Whatever job you get, you can make it work for you based on the people you are with.

The Importance of Informational Interviews

Posted on by
Reply

Informational interviews have been the most valuable practice for my career development. But “informational interview” is a really, really big phrase… And it can be scary, nauseating, and awkward. Some call informational interviews “networking,” which I’m not sure makes it sound less intimidating. However, let me assure you: an informational interview is nothing more than a casual conversation. Really, it’s an informal discourse between two people who want to learn about each other – no pressure, no worry. But informational interviews can lead to big things. Actually, more like huge things. I realize that not freaking out about networking and informational interviews is easier said than done, so take it from the Queen of Networking*, you can do it. Let me help.

Finding someone to interview. Using LifeConnections and LinkedIn, finding someone in a career or area of interest is easy. LifeConnections is an easy-to-use source for Scripps alumane who want to be contacted, that’s why they’ve chosen to provide contact information. LinkedIn, my beloved LinkedIn, is a great way to find people through groups. Make sure you join the “Scripps College Alumnae Association” page and the “Claremont College Alumni” page. By searching for companies, positions, anything, you’ll be presented with a list of members who have those keywords. Messaging them through the group wil be the best way to contact them. But do yourself a favor, only contact people you really want to talk to. If you have a kinda/sorta/maybe interest in a specific person, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for more detail – however – your interest should be translatable. In other words, you should be able to talk about why they interest you, why what they’re doing matters to you, and all in an engaging way. Don’t sound bored or distanced, because you don’t want someone (who may potentially have a big impact on your future) to feel like their time and advice is unappreciated.

Your elevator pitch. The spiel that sets the stage. Right as the conversation begins, thank them for taking the time to speak with you, then briefly (I’m talking 2-3 sentences) introduce yourself. The criteria? (1) Why they interest you (2) What experience you have that has made you want to learn about them (3) What you’re looking for. For example: “Thank you so much for talking with me today! After my internship at The Getty this summer, I’m interested in pursuing internships in Museum Collection Management, which is why I was so excited to find your profile on LinkedIn. I would love to learn more about your career narrative and role as Senior Vice President.” Then lead into your first question with, “That being said: How did you get your start at LACMA?” Of course, we’re not all interested in working at a museum, but I hope you get the idea.

Talking about yourself within questions. This is one key element that has come with practice. When I first started conducting informational interviews, I was just asking questions. It was bland. And although I learned a lot, the person I was interviewing was getting nothing in return. The people you interview want to learn about you too! That’s the only way they can help you achieve your goals, help you get to (3) What you’re looking for. Preface some questions, definitely not all, with a little transition about you. For example: “The extensive research I did this summer on antibiotic molecules really opened my eyes to pharmaceutical practices, at what point did you learn being a Pharmacist was your true calling?” Your interviewee may not ask you about your experiences or goals, so willingly adding that bit of information is necessary.

Repeat important information. Listen for key words, key phrases, key jargon. By mentioning small details that they’ve said, you’ll show you’re listening actively. This is a particularly good tactic in asking new questions. For example, “So you mentioned the history requirement for Stanford Medical School, why does that matter in admitting a student?” So I don’t know if Stanford Medical School has a history requirement for their pre-med applicants, but something that seemingly unrelated to the area of medicine is likely not typically discussed at length. So ask about it!

Follow-up. Take notes during your interview. Write down questions ahead of time and write down their responses. If you feel more comfortable typing questions and responses, then do that. But don’t feel the need to write down every single word they day – write down the highlights so you can focus on the conversation. If you have a shared interest, even better! Both went sky diving in New Zealand? Mention that (because wow). This material can be used in your follow-up email to refresh their memory. Thank them, again, for taking the time to talk and mention you would love to keep in touch. Maintaining your relationship with an interviewee is equally as vital as actually contacting them in the first place.

Ready now? YES. I can’t stress enough the importance of informational interviews – they not only help you learn, they get your foot in the door. The more people you know, the more advocates you have for your professional development. We all need a little support here and there, and finding that support on your own is not only rewarding… it’s empowering. Let’s get networking!

*Title courtesy of Valinda Lee