How I Made My Story

Along the same lines as last week’s post, my post draws inspiration from How I Met Your MotherFor those of you who missed an epic 10 years, last year one of my favorite television shows ended. Ted Mosby told his kids the story of how he met their mother–for the purposes of my sanity, we are pretending that the alternate ending was the ONLY ending–for a really long time.

The ending of this show was horrible and never happened.

The ending of this show was horrible and never happened.

 

The great thing about Ted’s story is that he crafted his life into a narrative. It was not always smooth, but Ted made it seem linear. And while Ted was not applying for an internship or job, we can learn something about building narratives and drawing connections from Ted. In cover letters and interviews, your future employers want to see a story, growth, and that the position you’re aiming for builds upon your narrative.

Sadly no....

Sadly no….

I’m in no way saying that you should lie or make up a story about your career path. DON’T do that! But I’m sure there are connections between your positions that you may not see. For instance, I’m a Beyond the Elms blogger and a Phonathon manager. How do those relate to each other? As a manager, a huge part of my job is to coach and give callers advice. I don’t write a blog about it, but I use oral communication to achieve similar goals. By participating in both activities, I’m able to develop my leadership and communication skills.

See? It's legendary!

See? It’s legendary!

See? There are reasons you do what activities, internships, clubs, etc. that you do and there are connections, but you need to be able to communicate those connections in cover letters and interviews. Having a narrative makes you sound more confident and like this position will really advance your career in the way you say it will. This week, try brainstorming the connections in your life and discover your own narrative!

Good Luck :)

Good Luck 🙂

Work With Friends

I love working at Phonathon, but something I have been thinking about lately is the dilemma that is working with friends.

NOPE! This is not a game people!

NOPE! This is not a game people!

Not only am I friends/friendly with everyone at Phonathon by virtue of being on the team for almost four semesters and being a manager, I also have a couple outside-of-work friends on Phonathon with me. This is both good and messy sometimes.

Elisabeth not LOVING something about Phonathon? How could this be?!

Elisabeth not LOVING something about Phonathon? How could this be?! PS: I love these two <3

Don’t get me wrong! I love having friends on shift with me and I am so glad that I work in a friendly and awesome environment. A friendly Phonathon is a happy Phonathon because you really need solid morale in the call center some shifts. Part of my job as a Shift Leader is to make things fun and to make sure that people are building rapport on and off the phones.

Okay, so no one looks like that while calling....no one.

Okay, so no one looks like that while calling….no one.

So I love making friends at Phonathon and having friends at Phonathon. But it gets messy because the lines between caller and manager start to blur and suddenly there can be a totally different tone in the call center–sometimes even out of the call center.

Realistic reaction to me in the call center....basically I don't dress up to go to the basement

Realistic reaction to me in the call center….basically I don’t dress up to go to the basement. DUH!

I really try to make sure that everything in the call center is the best mix of professional and friendly. I want all my callers to like me and for everyone to feel valuable to our team! Sometimes I struggle with the balance, but it’s good to know that I’m not alone in this. Our management team is trying as a whole to strike a good balance between a casual and professional work environment. We all want Phonathon to be fun and still a professional space. At the end of the day, I remind my friends, if an issue comes up, that I’m just doing my job and that they’re paid to do theirs.

But sometimes it still ends up being awkward.

But sometimes it still ends up being awkward.

Letters to Juliet (Ahem…Employers)

So you interviewed for an awesome job or internship. It’s all out of your hands now, right? No, you can still woo them with love notes…ahem…I mean thank you notes! Let’s take some inspiration from one of my favorite bad movies, Letters to Juliet, and win over your dream job/internship’s HR department with a thank you note (or two). The job search doesn’t end with the interview which is actually good news for you. It’s more work, but it means that you can still do more to help yourself get the position you really want. You can (and should) write thank you notes to everyone who interviewed you.

“How many Sophies do you think there are on this planet? Don’t wait fifty years like I did.”  AKA: Don’t wait around for that interviewer to get back to you! Go get that internship 😉 

Email makes immediate correspondence an option—so you should use it. Try to send an email to each person who interviewed you within 24 hours. At least send it soon after the interview so that the note comes across as sincere and not as an afterthought. This can set you apart from the other people interviewing for that job or internship.

It's no longer necessary to win them over with a letter in an old wall. Just send an email!

It’s no longer necessary to win them over with a letter in an old wall. Just send an email!

What’re the points to make in your thank you email? Let’s turn to another list:

  1. You appreciated their time and were grateful for the opportunity to interview.
  2. You paid attention in the interview. Make sure that you say something that tells the interviewer that you were listening.
  3. You’re still excited about the opportunity and let them know that you’re still very interested in the position.
  4. You can clear up any confusion that you think might have been left after the interview.
  5. Take this opportunity to also ask any questions you might have.

By sending this email right away, you come off as engaged and memorable to the interviewers. Be sure to send individualized notes if more than one person interviewed you.

Create your own destiny and put your best foot forward!

Create your own destiny and put your best foot forward!

Consider writing a handwritten note. These days, anyone can send a quick email, but it shows true and genuine interest to take the time to mail a thank you note on top of that email. Of course, make your handwritten note different from your email so that you’re not redundant. So many people apply to positions and you want the selection committee to spend as much time thinking about and considering you as possible! Scripps women have a lot to offer, so make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. Good luck!

PS: Remember to keep your notes professional. Don't shock them, woo them!

PS: Remember to keep your notes professional. Don’t shock them, woo them!

Just Keep Swimming

Right now, I’m taking my inspiration from Dory. I’m in 5 classes, 1 CLORG, write for 2 publications, work as a manager for Scripps College Phonathon, and am applying for internships and study abroad. Each piece of every day isn’t unmanageable, but boy do I feel like drowning sometimes from the constant work. As it’s the week before spring break, I’m sure I’m not the only Scripps student who feels like she’s swimming against the current!! So I’m going to be like Dory and swim at my own pace and keep at it. Obviously, if you’re swamped and need to say good-bye to some activities or commitments, that’s a completely valid choice.

Accurate.

Accurate.

I, however, have decided that I love everything that I’m doing and that I won’t be cutting out activities or a 5th class to have more free time. Will I ever overload again? Hopefully NOT, but I do love all my classes and my professors are all great. “Just keep swimming” doesn’t mean overextend yourself or flail until you get some air. To me, it means: keep working at what you’re doing and don’t let yourself or jellyfish or anything else get in the way of you doing what you love.

 

KeepSwimmingWhen I have a lot to do, I tend to get overwhelmed and shut down and I certainly don’t keep up with my applications. But I have been trying to combat that this semester by making a lot of to-do lists and prioritizing my internship search even when it’s hard. There is always time, but sometimes you have to just be steady and persistent and make time for what you need to do. With 6 papers in one week, it’s hard to remember to write cover letters and fill out applications, but sometimes your schoolwork and internship search overlap. I’ve found that making lists and staying organized allow me to keep swimming. It may seem counterintuitive, but I would advise going to CP&R if you’re feeling overwhelmed and like you don’t know how to make time for your internship search. It may seem like you can’t take the time out of your day to go to an appointment or drop-in hours, but really it allows you to be more efficient.

 

Dory

Follow this list!

So let’s list what you can do to keep swimming because we all know that’s what I’m good for:

  1. Remember to breathe. Not breathing is clearly a bad plan in the first place, but remember to give yourself breaks and maybe a Motley drink or two to relax.
  2. Go talk to CP&R and make a plan. Why just make a plan when you can get expert advice on your plan?
  3. Keep up with your to-do lists. Once you’ve laid out what you have to do, it’s important to make sure that you’re keeping up with that and initiating your plan.
  4. Have a set time for internship applications. It’s sometimes hard to do, but this makes sure you’re applying AND not using applications as procrastination *I see you not finishing your essay while writing that cover letter*
  5. Apply to positions that motivate you. If you’re excited about the opportunity, chances are that you will want to apply for it.

 

Whale2

Try speaking whale in your next interview! It’ll work woooooondeeerrrrrrrssss!

Remember to stay positive and keep swimming! That doesn’t mean go as fast as possible, but just to keep working at your own pace. The internship search can feel very daunting–especially as it is later in the game–but try to remember that internships are cool opportunities for you to take advantage of!! Keep swimming and I’ll report back on my swim next week 😉

Call Me, Alumnae

As you may or may not know, I’m a Scripps College Phonathon manager–yes, I am Sam‘s boss. I call alumnae for six hours every week, manage a shift of other people for three and a half hours and meet with the management team for one hour. Basically, a lot of my week involves the Scripps college alumnae and parent networks and I absolutely love it! I really value my interactions with Scripps alumnae and love the Phonathon team.

Me when people don't pick up. I get at least 100 dials pretty much every shift...nbd

Me when people don’t pick up. I get at least 100 dials pretty much every shift…nbd

While Phonathon has been a part of my Scripps experience since the very beginning of my first year, I had never called an alumna outside of Phonathon before today. So I want to talk about how we as Scripps students can benefit from our alumnae network now–while looking for jobs and experiences as well as way before. I’ve emailed alumnae because of Phonathon connections and had coffee with an alumna, but today’s call was entirely my own doing.

I was looking for Scripps alumnae who are lawyers working in Chicago on Life Connections and found a couple alumnae to contact. However, it wasn’t that simple. Life Connections is a fantastic resource, but it can be out of date if the alumna gets a new job and doesn’t update her profile. The alumna I was looking to talk to about law hadn’t updated her profile, which I figured out when the email I attempted to send her could not be sent. This, however, is not the point to give up at! I then searched for her name in the Scripps College Alumnae Association group on LinkedIn and sent her a message through the group. As I expected, she was more than willing to speak with me and we arranged a time.

It was really helpful to speak with an alumna about her experience in law and to hear some of her advice. While I only received one perspective, I am currently reaching out to more alumnae and hope to learn more about what careers in the law are like from them. My conversation with the wonderful alumna was great and she was happy to speak with me. I highly recommend reaching out to alumnae, so I made a list (of course) of tips:

1. Use both Life Connections and LinkedIn to find alumnae to contact–perhaps both! Searching for these alumnae in these systems can be tricky, so try popping by CP&R for some assistance with how to find the alumnae you’d like to contact.

2. Remember that the alumnae who are on the Life Connections database as well as the LinkedIn group (to a lesser extent possibly) are looking to make connections within the Scripps community. You have an in with them–use it!

3. Don’t be overly aggressive or expect a job offer (right away). This is not to say that networking this way cannot yield job offers, but to say that you might want to first ask for advice instead of an internship. Build that rapport and relationship–learn a bit from them–and then see if you feel like it’s a good call to ask about opportunities. (See what I did there?)

4. Have a list of questions ready. It’s so important to be engaging and present over the phone, but you want to keep them talking and learn about their careers, right? So keep those open ended questions coming!

5. Remember to thank them! That follow-up email counts and even thanking the alumna for her time over the phone is important. Keeping in mind that they’re taking time out of their day to speak with you and help you is essential!

Remember to also watch out for ruff connections ;)

Remember to also watch out for ruff connections 😉

This is what I’ve been learning about networking with alumnae on Life Connections and LinkedIn and I hope that you all can use these resources to build connections and learn about potential paths too! Good luck 🙂