Tag Archives: preparation

Making the Most of Breaks

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Many of us Scippsies are lucky enough to not have classes on Fridays, making every weekend a three day weekend! This made fall break, for both me and many of my peers, feel like quite a good chunk of time to either rest, travel or get ahead on work. In most cases, I have found that doing a combination of these things is the best way to utilize a break.

1.Rest and Travel:

Over fall break, I visited a friend at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and chose to take the redeye when flying there. I was able to sleep on the plane ride and, although hesitant at first, was glad that I chose to take the redeye. By travelling at night I didn’t feel like I lost the 12 hours that the train ride, bus ride, uber, and plane ride surmounted to. Although not the most comfortable for resting, I did sleep while on the plane. It was rest that I desperately needed from various midterms and essays due right before fall break. I was able to both travel and rest. But most importantly, I was able to rest while travelling, truly making the best use of my time.

2.Travel and Get Ahead on Work:

Two of my friends traveled to Santa Barbara for fall break and utilized the four-hour train ride to get ahead on work. They read their Core reading that was due the week after the break. They were able to make use of the combined eight hours that could have gone to waste. Ultimately, they alieved future potential stress and budgeted time in the future to work on other projects after the break. Travelling does not have to take away from productivity. In fact, it can often facilitate productivity because of the chunks of time that travelling demands you surrender to activities that are easily done while in transport, like reading.

3.Get Ahead on Work and Rest: (and Travel a bit too!)

Another one of my friends chose to make the short commute home and was overjoyed to be sleeping in her own bed for the first time since school began. She rested more deeply than she has so far as a college student and was able to do work in the environment where she had been productive for her whole life: her childhood home and, in particular, her beloved desk. Being at home facilitated her to work more productively than she had in months.

We should remember that it is time’s gift to have no classes on Fridays, or even classes that end early on Fridays. Our weekends, although not as long as fall break, can be utilized in the same way that we utilized fall break. It is a resting time. Travelling is more than possible here at the 5C’s whether it be walking to the farmer’s market in Claremont or renting a Scripps van and visiting LA for the day. Not having morning classes like we often do Monday through Thursday is the perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep for the week ahead. Moreso, doing work to prepare for the week, rather than just for Monday, is immensely helpful in catching those Z’s once the week comes. Resting, travelling, and getting ahead are all attainable on weekends and will make the week ahead much more enjoyable.

Interviewing 101

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Interviews are a crucial part of any internship or job recruitment process as they provide the opportunity to interact one-on-one with the recruiter, and can make or break an internship or job offer. After completing my first internship recruitment process, I experienced many great interviews, and one or two not so great interviews. Here are the tips I gathered about how to perform well in interviews that helped me the most:

  1. Do Your Research

One of the most common interview questions I received was “Why are you interested in working with ___?” Through simply looking through the organization’s website, I found relevant information that I could reference in my interview such as their mission and work environment. I recommend making a list of what you learned in your research and practicing your response to this interview question.

  1. Do Research on websites like Glassdoor

Glassdoor is an online resource where past employees or people who have interviewed at various organizations can review their experience and even list the interview questions they received. I found it very helpful to practice answering the questions that were listed on Glassdoor by past interviewees.

  1. Know Why You Are Qualified

Another common interview question I received is “Why are you qualified for this position?” To answer this question, it is important to reference the specific qualifications listed on the posting for the internship or job. For each major qualification, I came up with an example of how my experience meets the specific qualification. For example, one of the qualifications listed for an internship I interviewed for was strong writing skills. To meet this qualification, I talked about my love of writing and how I received an award in high school in writing.

  1. Recognize What You’re Good At, and What You Might Not Be So Good At

As part of preparing for interviews, I typed out my professional strengths and weaknesses. Doing so allowed me to be prepared to highlight my strengths, but also to practice discussing my weaknesses. I find it difficult to talk about my weaknesses because I don’t want to come across as unprepared for the position or unable to perform well. Writing these out before the interview really helped me to succinctly and accurately express my strengths and weaknesses.

  1. Be Yourself and Calm Down

I know it’s cheesy, but it is so important to remain your authentic self in interviews. Interviewers want to get to know you and your personality, and see if you are a good fit for the position. While it is hard to be yourself if you’re nervous, I find that taking a few deep breaths or taking some time to yourself before the interview can really help.

What are some interview tips you have gathered along the way?

Learning to “Ask for It”

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I have a new obsession, and for once, it’s unrelated to Gilmore Girls. I’m obsessed with learning about negotiation.

Pretty weird focus considering the amazing alternatives that Netflix supplies. (Source: giphy.com)

Before winter break, I planned to prepare for my job offer negotiations by eating a lot of chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream and Golden Oreos. However, this plan was probably not going to be productive, especially when I remembered that during the “Bridging the Gender Gap” workshop last semester I learned that the first negotiation is crucial for defining the rest of our careers, from title, to bonuses, to salary. Obviously, it was going to take more than a lot of junk food.

In CP&R there is an entire section of the library dedicated to Job Offers and Negotiation, and in it I found the book, Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. If you have any qualms about negotiation (regardless of your gender identity!) I highly recommend this book. Not only did it help me understand why I need to negotiate (and subsequently motivated me to do so), but Babcock and Laschever talk through strategies to help with the process itself.

So I know that everyone reading this post has ample free-time because it’s not like we are swamped with classes, theses, extra-curriculars, job searches, and, you know, Tumblr. But in case you don’t have the time to read Ask for It right now, I thought I’d tell you how it allayed my particular concerns…

WHY AM I DOING THIS?!

The first line of the book illustrated my feelings about negotiation perfectly. “If you’re a woman, you probably have a voice inside your head that whispers: ‘Are you sure you’re as good as you think you are?” (Once again, this can apply regardless of gender identity…) I totally have that voice. That voice wants me to take whatever is offered because it thinks that offer will be the only one and it’ll be the best I can possibly get. Babcock and Laschever remind us otherwise. “That voice is not the voice of experience and it’s not your common sense. It’s not even your voice. It’s the voice of a society that hasn’t progressed nearly as far as we like to think, a society that’s still trying to tell [people] how they should and shouldn’t behave.” And if there’s one thing we’ve learned from our Scripps education, it’s that we’re NOT going to let this patriarchal society dictate our behavior, so that’s why we’re doing this.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?!

We begin by realizing that negotiating isn’t just for the Big Things like a job offer or a pay raise; we do it, or don’t do it, every day. Personally, I don’t want to ask for help on my CS5 homework because I don’t want to inconvenience my friends. Sometimes, I refrain from asking if the workload in a group project can be redistributed so I don’t have to pull an all-nighter. These examples, and more, fit under the negotiation definition that Babcock and Laschever created for us. Realizing that it’s ok to take up space and ask for things in our daily lives is our practice for those Big Things, simply because we’re learning how to ask. You can start by asking for something easy, like requesting that your lab group meets at a different time that’s better for you, and work your way up. Sometimes we’re going to hear, “no,” and that’s ok. It’s not a reflection on us and it’s not a reason to stop asking.

HOW DO I PREP FOR THOSE BIG THINGS?!

Ok, I’ll admit, there’s not quite as much as stake when you’re asking your partner to make dinner three times a week as when you’re negotiating your starting salary… However, this is the moment when you get to do something you’re already great at: research. We do it daily for classes, now we just have to apply it to the real world. Using sites like glassdoor.com you can learn what the salary is for a similar position in the same location. These numbers will help you create a salary range. You can also research similar positions’ job requirements, so you can see how your qualifications stack up against others’. Additionally, you need to keep in mind that negotiation can apply to more than your salary; it can cover everything from you title to your start date to a signing bonus. Then you write out your goals and AIM HIGH. And you trust me that you’re worth whatever number/title/date/bonus you wrote there, and you’re probably worth more. (Or you can make the time to read Ask For It, and you’ll believe it!)

Negotiation is scary and it’s not going to be easy, but it’s unquestionably worth it. Below you’ll find some other links that can help with the process, but they aren’t our only resources. Please comment with your own experiences and advice so we can work together to make this process less intimidating!

Online Resources:

http://www.wageproject.org/

http://www.glassdoor.com/

http://www.aauw.org/

 

What Not To Do At A Career Fair

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I went to my first career fair last fall. It was the Harvey Mudd Career Fair and I was READY. I attended every Career-Fair-Prep that CP&R offered. I researched at least twenty companies I wanted to talk to. I wrote three sentences about each of them and then I alphabetized that list so I’d be able to find each name quickly. So when I say that I was ready, I’m not kidding.

Yet, somehow, it didn’t go so well. But… at least it was a learning experience? I hate when people tell me that, but it’s annoyingly true here.

So today I’m going to tell you what I’m not going to do at the Harvey Mudd Career Fair this semester, and how I’m going to do differently. I hope you learn from my mistakes:

I’m not going to get super overwhelmed and lost.

I was told so many times about how career fairs can be overwhelming, but I guess I didn’t totally believe it. But it is. There are a lot of booths, with a lot of colors and banners and sometimes there are balloons. Everything is really close together and there are a lot of people. I’m going to take the map they give me, circle the booths I want to go to, and make sure I know how to orient myself according to the map AND IM GOING TO DO THIS BEFORE I GO INTO THE ROOM AND GET OVERWHELMED.

I’m not going to apologize for being there.

I started with the same spiel at every booth, “Yes, my name tag is correct. I am a psych major at Scripps but I’m still interested in working at *insert company name here.* … No, I don’t know how to code, but I’m interested in working in Human Resources. I know that’s not necessarily what you’re here looking for but if you could take my resume anyway…?” I’d ask as I trailed off awkwardly. It wasn’t a confidence-inspiring introduction. I’m going to proudly introduce myself and explain why I’m there. They won’t wonder why I don’t do computer science if I don’t give them a reason to.

I’m not going to be too embarrassed or awkward to ask for business cards.

I don’t like networking, but I’m starting to realize why it’s important. It’s one thing to apply for a job and just be a resume in a pile, but if I get a connection then I can be a person, and, with a business card, I have their email so I can remind them of that! Even though I still think it’s kind of awkward, I know it will be worth it. I’m going to say, “It’s been great talking to you and learning about *insert company name here* but I don’t want to take up too much of your time. Could I have your business card so I can follow up about opportunities with *insert company name here*?”

 

And then a few other bits of wisdom I’d like to pass on:

  • The food isn’t for you. Don’t go sit in that area just to the left of the sign-in table. (I didn’t eat the food, but I did sit there, and it was awkward.)
  • When planning your outfit, remember it’s going to be hot in there. Put on a little extra deodorant that morning… Nerves + tons of people in one room = sweat. You’ll be glad you did.
  • Get at least some swag, but not too much! Bring a bag, or go to a table that’s giving bags, to carry everything. I got my favorite pen at the last career fair, and a really sexy water bottle.

    Who knew water bottles could be sexy?!

If you have any career fair horror stories or advice, post them in the comments below so someone else isn’t writing a “What Not To Do” post again next semester!