Tag Archives: Job Search

Finding A Way That Works For You

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Today I wanted to talk to you about how my activities on campus coincide with my major: legal studies. Arriving at the conclusion that I want to be a Legal Studies major has been a violently turbulent road. No, it do not just come to me. I’ve changed my mind probably around five times in the past two year. My point in telling you about my process is to assure you that whatever process you’re going through right now in deciding your major is ok. You’re going to find that something you’re passionate about no matter how many non-starters you encounter. All the different jobs you take on, no matter how strayed from your chosen major, will only lead you closer to what to you really want to do. I think something crucial to keep in mind is that how hard you work at Scripps (or any of the 5Cs) is probably a pretty good indicator as to the kind of work ethic you will carry with you through the rest of your career life.  So with this said, stay eager and curious my friends because you can go anywhere you want if you are hungry enough for the work.

When I was accepted Early Decision to NYU, I was thrilled to be part of the Global Liberal Studies or ‘GLS’ program.  I chose NYU because of the chance to expand my knowledge both inside the classroom, and through the resources of a great city.  While simultaneously having the chance to explore the city, and my place within it, I wanted to experience more diversity, which I did not have at my small, private high school; I was eager for something different and more outside my comfort zone. However, when I got to NYU, I quickly recognized that the GLS program was just too narrow for me.  There were only four majors options, and the closest fit to my interests in human rights and education was a concentration in global literature. Although I had brilliant professors and nothing but incredible academic experiences, I was seeking a more interdisciplinary course of study so I applied and was accepted to the Gallatin School where I had the freedom to “design my own major.”

 At Gallatin, I chose to concentrate my energies on the political sciences, journalism, and education. After taking one education course my first semester at Gallatin, I quickly realized education was not going to be for me. Truthfully, it was my experience working at the Santa Cecilia Orchestra day camp that had made me want to try out education. I loved my experience working with kids, and really imaged at one point, that I could do that for the rest of my life.

A little tangent about the Santa Cecilia Orchestra because I am very enthusiastic about their work: The summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I had the privilege of receiving the MUI (multicultural undergraduate internships) grant through the Getty Foundation to work as a visual arts teacher to kids ranging from 5-12 for 10 weeks at the Santa Cecilia camp. My job as an intern was to run a summer camp for the arts with only two other “interns” of my age. I assisted with violin, singing, journaling and a general arts & crafts classes. Between 9-5:30, everyday, the kids were under my co-worker(s) and my supervision. The woman who awarded me the Getty grant, Sonia León de Vega, was an incredible boss. Not only was Sonia one of the first Latin American women conductors in Los Angeles, but she also had the honor of performing at the Hollywood Bowl, and in front of the pope. In addition to all of this, she also runs this wonderful summer arts camp now in Eagle Rock right by her orchestra.

My second term at Gallatin was definitely a learning curve. In addition to taking a course in human rights, I also took: a course called “Crime in the USA” based on Michelle Alexander’s novel The New Jim Crow, a creative writing class that reviewed Baldwin and Virginia Woolf, and journalism with acclaimed NY Times best seller James McBride. I realized that semester that as eloquently as McBride’s spoke about journalism, the rigid stylistic writing form was just not for me. In contrast, in my creative writing class,  I could write all I wanted about my political views and thoughts on the times without having to think about word count restrictions. My creativity was at an all time high the second semester of my sophomore year, and I was eager to ride it.  This lead me to applying again for the MUI Getty Internship this past summer. After sending resumes and a cover letter to almost 16 different arts organizations around LA, I heard back from about half that amount. The organization I ended up working at, P.S. Arts, was my first choice.  Within a week, I heard back from them with the news that I would be there “Education and Media” Getty intern.

During those ten weeks, I was required to think more creatively than I have for any other job.  Inspired and privileged to be around such a hard working group of coworkers, I was humbled to be interning at P.S ARTS. From being able to collaborate on upcoming projects, to site visits to see the kids perform, (after having worked with the P.S ARTS teaching artists all year) I felt as though I could not have had a more well rounded internship experience. My internship was spent mainly working on projects for the programs department, who are in charge of overseeing P.S ARTS special events. One of my favorite projects that I had the chance to work on was the ‘Student Parent to-go.’ A ‘to-go’ is an easy to follow art project designed for kids who want to make arts and crafts at home.  I created five arts projects, but not before testing them out first. All of the supplies had to be able to be found at home. So as you can imagine, creating these “to-go’s” was no easy feat. Although, I had an enormous amount of support from the staff to guide me. The process requires researching artists, coming up with a skills based 6 step art project that is inspired by an artist, whose artwork must be appropriate enough for all age ranges . I would then present the project to the P.S. ARTS staff to see if it could work it for a potential Family Art Night. On this night, kids and their parents would come to the after school event to work on an art project together while simultaneously learning about a new artist from one of out teaching artists. We typically tried to pick artists who were underrepresented in the art world.  If you are interested in getting involved in this amazing arts organization that runs after school art programs at underprivileged public schools all throughout California PLEASE don’t hesitate to contact me: taronson4560@scrippscollege I would be more than happy to talk to you more about experience with the Getty Foundation, P.S Arts, or whatever it is– you name it!

 

 

 

 

 

That pretty much sums up everything  I’ve done these past two years. So as you can see, my passion for human rights has not limited me from pursuing my curiosity and love of the arts. My time at the Getty foundation taught me skills I will take with me through the rest of my life. How to be a good employee, as well as an active member of the community.. I also thought I would mention that the media portion of my summer internship introduced me to programs like Adobe InDesign, Premiere– skills employers are always on the lookout for, especially if your interested in any multimedia field!

If you understood nothing else from this, I hope you take away the following: wherever your “process” takes you, ride it, and try not to think so hard about what’s coming next. Anyway, that’s all for now folks. Until next week!

Xx,

Theri

 

Back From Break: A To Do List

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At school sometimes a week can fly by so fast that it feels like a day.  However, do not underestimate how long a week actually is, and what can be done during that time period.  Spring break may only be a little over seven days, but that is enough to throw you out of your groove.  Settling back in to courses and schedules can be a pretty big adjustment, even though our time away was technically short.

Where you are in your job search might have influenced how you treated your time off.  For me personally, I have not heard back from many places that I applied to, so I could not fully unplug.  However, I was not completely on top of my game either.  I checked my email every day for internship news and did my homework, but I dedicated most of my time during break to the purpose of taking an actual break.  Sometimes you need it, which is why we have it.  However, now that we are back in school, it is like I was never gone.

I heard back from two of the one dozen internships I applied to over break, and unfortunately did not move on in their hiring process, but that is not stopping me.  I hopped on to LinkedIn and Handshake the first night back on campus and set up a system.  I researched and selected several jobs from each site and moved each to their own tab.  I like to organize them by paid or non-paid, location, due date, and qualifications.  That way I can organize the order that I apply to them in based on how I should tailor my resume and when I should complete each one.  This is a very helpful strategy, at least for myself, because when we are dealing with school work and extracurriculars on top of job searching, we need all of the organization we can get.

I plan on applying to my new list over the course of the week.  There is something about filling out an organized schedule for my week and its workload that makes me feel like I am way more in control of my life than I probably am.

Speaking of managing time, I recently got a peer leader position for the Body Project Collaborative on campus.  I am very excited to start leading workshops, but first must go through a training course.  The course is all day Saturday and Sunday, meaning I am going to have to find time for homework.  I plan on dedicating all of Friday, as I do not have class, to completing as much homework as I can in order to prevent a stressful Sunday night.

I am passionate about social topics such as the media’s influence on body image and gender norms; I know I will enjoy facilitating Body Project workshops and developing my leadership skills.  Another plus side to getting the position is updating my resume, an activity that I always have fun with.  Adding experience always gives me a little boost of confidence.

Overall, getting back from spring break and settling into my routine once again has been fulfilling.  I am excited to get back to work and hopefully will receive some good news from internships within the next couple of weeks.

Networking Hacks: CP&R Resume Book

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This week, I thought I would take a little time to highlight one of CP&R’s resources that I have found helpful in the never-ending search for internships.  As I have said before, I think networking is valuable no matter what field you are going into.  Not only do personal connections give you a leg up in the application process, but you have the chance to make real, meaningful connections with professionals in your field.  It’s hard to put yourself out there to “network”, in whatever form that may take, but I have found that people are inherently kind and genuinely want to help.  Without further ado, here is one of my favorite weapons in my (not so secret) networking arsenal!

The CP&R Resume Book

Every year, Scripps Career Planning & Resources invites members of the current graduating class (and alumnae 1 year out) to submit their resume for an online resource called the Resume Book. It serves multiple purposes:

First, it is a publicly available document that allows recruiters to see the accomplishments of the graduating class and contact them about job opportunities.

Second, for first years, sophomores and juniors who may be stressed out looking for jobs/internships, it provides some wonderful ideas of internships that our amazing seniors have landed, formatting examples and a way to build a list of companies you might be interested in.

The Resume Book is organized by career interests, so all you need to do is look up professions you’re interested in and BOOM! you can see where past Scrippsies interned, what their activities they were involved in on campus, and get good examples of what a resume in your field might look like.  While I’m not saying that you need to follow someone’s exact career trajectory, it gives you a good idea of how their budding careers have evolved from student activities to professional experience.

When we think of networking, we usually think of contacting real, professional adults.  But your peers are also a invaluable resource.  For example, last year I was panicking about internships and began digging through the resume book.  I found, and reached out to, a then current senior who had interned at companies I was interested in.  When I emailed her, she warmly agreed to meet me at the Motley, we had a delightful conversation, and she then connected me to a company she had interned with.  Through a personal introduction, and subsequent calls with employees at the company, I landed an internship!  Because I have had such success with and find the resume book a valuable resource, I thought I would share this insider tip.

Networking Adventure

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What a Saturday! Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go to three networking events!  They were all one right after the other but I was able to attend all three (somehow).  Two were on campus and one was in LA.  All were absolutely wonderful and insightful but I am going to focus on my trip to LA.  First, a little background…

Earlier this week I ran into several recruiters at the Harvey Mudd dining hall.  They were representatives from Universal Creative, the theme park attraction designers in the company.  They were advertising their panel and their flyer indicated opportunities for Theater majors!  Naturally curious, I attended the event that night.  They described their division of the company; they do everything from conceptualizing to implementation of new attractions and experiences at the Universal owned parks.  They hire a variety of engineers and artists to make these visions come to life and operate in efficient, safe ways.  I really enjoyed interacting with the representatives and hearing them speak.  I wasn’t sure where my interests and passion for creative management/organizing fit into their organization but I left my resume anyway.  A few days later I got an email inviting me to their learning center at Universal City Walk for a networking event.  Still unsure if I was really interested in this field, I decided to take the opportunity anyway.

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I usually feel very confident about networking but this event was unlike anything I had been to before.  It was far less casual than the networking events I had been to.  The conference room was divided into engineers and “creatives” (art/architecture/theater).  Upon speaking with the other candidates, I quickly realized how out of my depth I was.  Many were extremely passionate about theme park design, touting portfolios and chatting about other professional mixers they attended.  Not that they were unfriendly, but I felt out of place in an industry that I stumbled into less than a week before.  But the recruiters must have seen something in my resume, so I plowed ahead.  I had a lovely conversation with the intake representative, trying to be as honest as I could.  She guided me towards some areas of their organization where my skill sets might fit and I discovered that she was friends with one of my internship bosses.  Overall, I am still not sure if theme park design is right for me.  But I’m glad I took the opportunity to go outside my comfort zone.  Because although I felt destabilized in the moment, it gave me the confidence to know that I can work through any situation by just calming down and doing it!

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Finding the Right Fit

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Part of the job search should consider workplace culture fit, including but also beyond what type of impression you get from the website and marketing materials. Answers to questions like “Would I wake up everyday looking forward to work?” or “How much room is there for growth over time?” are important but are not always at the forefront during the search and are usually the first things we forget to consider before taking an offer, because well, you know, employment.

I am very fortunate to have great work-life balance and really approachable, down-to earth coworkers, things I definitely got the positive sense for during the job process but fully realized and experienced after coming on board (There’s also a decent gym in the building and a trail around a lake in the neighboring residential area that I frequent often!). The job search is about employment, but it’s also about fit. You’re trying to find a good fit, and so is the company. It’s as much about your skills, work ethic, and experiences as it is your personality and demeanor. And if you’re ever in the situation where you want to make a change to a different path, more experience will help open up more opportunities.

In my search, because I thought about workplace culture fit, I ended up applying to a lot of different types of companies from performing art nonprofits, performance venues, privacy technology firms, research think tanks, and consulting firms. I used LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and the company website to get a surface level view on the company, and then tried to seek out people who worked there for informational interviews (there are a lot of no’s and unanswered queries throughout this part, and it is much easier for me to write about now because I have a job, but I’ve been there before and there’s no guarantee I won’t be at some point in the future).

Like any review site, Glassdoor testimonials should be taken with a grain of salt, but I do believe the average ratings speak for something. It is still filtered, but nonetheless a good resource to see what people are commenting on; the recruiting and interview process, on-boarding, and long-term employee satisfaction. I’ve found that people are most compelled to write reviews for really great experiences or really bad ones. So again, judge the material to your discretion. That’s why informational interviews with people who work at the company (who aren’t in HR or recruiting) are also very valuable. Regardless if you knew the individual for elsewhere or have connected with them for an informational interview, you’ll hear different insights, experiences, and perspectives. 

Finding a job and defining a working living is a hard process, to say the least, but we all ultimately want to be in a place that gives us a sense of purpose and drive, whatever that may look like. The path to that will be nonlinear, and may not start with your first job, but each opportunity can be a stepping stone to what you really want. It’s equally important to know what you want and what you don’t want. Don’t sell yourself short and decide when compromising may be more detrimental to your own goals. We deserve to be happy in our jobs!

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Next week I will be writing about finding balance between work, creativity, and life!

P.S. Here is a little work-place video to brighten up your day (yes, I have been re-watching The Office again).