Tag Archives: jobs

Preparing for an Interview

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The interview is one of the best opportunities to impress a potential employer during the hiring process. Not only are they putting a face to your name, they’re pairing a personality to your accomplishments.

This past summer I interviewed and was hired to be a sales associate at a stationery store. I had interviewed for colleges before, but never for a job. I didn’t know what to expect but managed to impress my soon-to-be manager during the interview. Here are some key ways to turn the nerve-wracking interview process into the reason you get the job.

1.Ask friends and family:
Your friends and family know you better than anyone else and can give you an idea of how to answer questions like these…

  • What are three of your biggest strengths?
  • What is your biggest weakness?
  • What do you have to offer that other candidates don’t?

2.Search and practice common interview questions Hint: Check CP&R’s Services Guide and online interview resources. 

  • Tell me about yourself?
  • Why do you want this position?
  • Describe a situation in which you faced a challenge and how you overcame that challenge.
  • Why do you want to work for our organization?

3.Practice presentation:
Eye contact and a firm handshake are key elements of presenting yourself professionally. Also, do not underestimate the importance of presenting yourself as someone who is kind and thoughtful. Over the summer, when I was working with the manager who hired me for my summer job, she said to me proudly: “I hire nice people.” Essentially, consider that your interviewer is hiring you as a colleague. Show them why you are someone they should want to work with.

4.Summon your confidence:
This is your time to brag about yourself. Explain your accomplishments and experience in the depth that you weren’t able to go into on your resume. Most importantly, talk about the things that don’t neatly fit into the boxes on your resume that make you stand out. Consider what your most important commitment is and how it is (and isn’t!) represented on your resume.

5.Ask your own questions:
Being curious about the position that you are interviewing for will show your interviewer that you are invested in this opportunity. Prepare three questions to ask at the end of the interview, and take note of the response your interviewer gives you. Some potential questions could include…

  • What would my day-to-day responsibilities look like?
  • What do you like most about working here?
  • What does success look like?

Prepare questions that surround the position you are applying for specifically as well. Before your interview, research the company’s mission statement or values and ask about how your interviewer feels those values are manifested in the company. Ask about the position you’re applying for and how it contributes to the company as a whole.

6.Practice makes perfect:
You can practice with friends, but you can even prepare by heading to the CP&R office and scheduling a mock interview. By practicing with others you will be sure to be pushed to answer tougher questions. Get feedback on how to get the position of your dreams!

Working While Away

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I’m someone who has a really close relationship with my family and friends from home, and I can easily say that I’m happy to be going home to them over breaks. I think I’ve finally adjusted to being at school without them even over spring and fall breaks, but at the same time I know that whether it’s this summer or a future one I may not be home all the time then either.

If you’re worried about loosing touch with your roots while working away from friends and family over break, try some of these tips to keep connected while still enjoying your exciting job or internship.

  1. Set up a regular call time: We’re all pretty busy, but if you can find the same time every week to do so (sharing GCals is super helpful here). It may not necessarily be weekly or even for the same amount of time every time, but it’s good to try to regularly touch base and get into a routine with that to keep you from missing home while you’re working away.
  2. Try Social  Networking Sites (SNS): As much as I have trouble admitting to enjoying social networking sites, I think that they are a fantastic tool to keep up with what’s going on at home. I personally like Snapchat (again, I can’t believe that I’m saying it) because the construct of Snap Streaks reminds you to keep in contact with people that you want to or already talk to frequently. A good morning or a good night snap is nice even if you’re on the go. If Snap isn’t your thing, there are TONS of sites out there. I’m also a fan of Instagram, but lots of people use Facebook. LinkedIn is not the best way to stay in touch with mom and dad though, even though there is a messaging feature. LinkedIn is great for career things though 😉
  3. Write ACTUAL Letters: I’m pretty sure it’s not *just* me that loves snail mail. If you have a consistent address for your summer, trying sending some notes back in forth with your people back home! Stamps aren’t always the cheapest, but that 49 cents will give someone a million-dollar smile when they open up their mailbox. I find that a good old fashioned handwritten letter is a wonderful way to catch up on news (even if it’s not as immediate) and let someone know that you’ve been thinking about them.

Remember that summer isn’t forever, so you should make the most of what you have going on, and remember that you will be able to connect with people even from far away.

I hope that you all have a lovely summer!

Signing off,

Olivia

What Keeps me Blogging

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In early high school, I had a blog of my own. I had an alias and kept the blog a secret from my friends but open to the internet as a sort of online diary. I talked about school, books that I was reading, and what (in general) was on my mind. It’s unpublished now, so you won’t be able to find it. 😉

After a year or so, I discontinued blogging and went back to good old paper and pencil writing and continued with poetry as well as journaling fiction to produce the same reflective or cathartic effect.

When I entered college, I didn’t expect to go back to blogging. However, when I was looking at positions on campus on Handshake, and I saw that a position to blog was open for the Career Planning & Services center was available and began to think about starting to blog again. I emailed to ask some initial questions about post content and time commitment and was happy with the answers that I received. So, I submitted an application — the process was straightforward — and here I am today.

First semester and for part of this semester I blogged weekly, but now I am blogging bi-weekly. I’ve been happy with the flexibility of my blogging schedule, and I’ve been able to get a week or two off if I had big deadlines as well.

I haven’t had much time to write or read independent from school work this semester. I’ve barely touched a book I’ve been reading for ages except for over breaks, and I feel bad about not updating my stories on Wattpad for more than a month…

However, blogging forces me to set aside time for me to have the reflection time that I need. Thorough blogging, I create space for myself to take some time to consider some of the things going on with academics or careers and synthesize them in a way that is hopefully helpful and productive to readers as well as myself.

Blogging for CP&R has made me more comfortable going in to ask questions about my resume or cover letters during drop in hours and to check out other services. I’m happy to have been able to be part of the blogger team at CP&R my first year, and I’d recommend it to anyone hoping to set aside time reflect and to think about what she/he/ze wants to do moving forward.

 

 

It’s All Conncted

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Some things we do for fun, and others because we are actually pretty serious about them. Maybe the activities are related to long term goals, or maybe they are something that have a significance because of what they stand for. I know my activities have run the range of those categories, and though it may seem unfocused, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

One of the most interesting twists I’ve noticed from high school to college is the amount of activities I’m doing outside of classes, and how they are similar and different. Back in high school, library volunteering and Science Olympiad were my two favorite activities. Nowadays, library volunteering is a peripheral activity (I did a lot of it more back home), and science is all but absent from my schedule outside of my lab science GE that I’m taking this semester.

I did dabble in science… Above is a photo from Science Olympiad at State my junior year of high school.

From all of the activities I did in high school, I find that I’ve funneled down into a smaller number that I commit large chunks of time to per week, versus in high school where it was medium chunks to many activities.

This funneling has allowed me to zero in on things that I have identified as continuing (or even new) interests. Like library volunteering, I also did a bit of journalism and yearbook in high school. Flash forward to now: I’m working for The Student Life and for the yearbook at Scripps. I’ve started ballroom here at the Claremont Colleges as well (one of those I’ve-always-admired-this-but-never-tried-until-now things).

If I look at what I’m doing for extra curricular activities, I can gather some helpful tidbits of information about what I’m interested in. First off, as much as I enjoy ballroom, I do not have the skill set to become a pro (nor an interest in being a pro). It’s a more casual, productive, and fun activity that stretches my artistic side.

Some things that I’ve ascertained from my other activities are that I enjoy collaboration/working with people, I like being able to support a cause, and I like to help deliver ideas clearly. Though I may never work as a copy editor for a newspaper after college, being one has given me some ideas about what type of work could interest me, or at least be an application of my interest area.

What have you learned about your interest through the activities you participate in? I’d love to hear your comments below!

It’s Okay to Be Uncertain

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Wouldn’t it be handy to be able to see the future? Think of all of the tests you could have studied harder (or less) for, or how much time you could have saved on _____ if only you had known that _____. It sounds wonderful, right? Being in the know is definitely a stress reliever and can definitely make work easier.

The bummer is that nobody can see the future. Everything, as far as you and I know, is up for grabs. It can be stressful, in fact, sometimes it is incredibly stressful. I think back to college apps and wished I could have reminded myself from the future (even though I probably knew) that things would work out one way or another.

Uncertainties can be found in a variety of departments from jobs to school to relationships to majors and beyond. Postulating about what may be rarely helps, even though it may feel like you’re preparing for what may come. What does help is action.

Actively looking for things you can do to help yourself out is one way you can not read, but maybe adjust your future. I rarely believe in luck; favorable probabilities tend to result from hard work and strategy, though sometimes there is a little magic to how things turn out.

I know that I’m not entirely sure where my life is going in the grand scheme of things, but I can identify immediate interests (I’ve declared a Foreign Languages major, I’m joining clubs) that help me explore possibilities and whittle down some uncertainties. My next step is summer jobs and internships, which I’ve heard is invaluable in helping find out what you enjoy. As I look around for things, I’m excited to have the chance to apply to (and if I’m lucky, try out) something new.

So if you’re stressing out about finding summer jobs or jobs for the semester, or maybe you’re waiting to hear back from grad schools that you’ve applied to, have faith. With your hard work going in and some patience (as well as some flexibility), whatever the end result is, you will be able to live with it and work from there. For now, sit back, set the stress from uncertainty to the side because you have probably done just about everything you can.