*Abrakadabra JOB!*

Hi everybody! I hope you're enjoying this blog so far. We're just getting it off the ground but it should be pretty steady soon.

The holidays are here! :-) In a few seconds, I'm actually going to put on sparkly reindeer "ears" (not really antlers, more of a campy headband) and join my fellow peer educators for a pre-finals holiday get-together. Should be fun! And, speaking of the holidays, is anybody out there looking for some extra holiday money? Do yourselves a favour and check out Craiglist. Really! I suppose most people find it to be...skeevy, and those who don't usually use it to look for apartments and used furniture, but it can actually be a surprisingly useful job resource. Case in point: a few weeks ago, I found myself trolling through the job directory (keyword: "music") and stumbled across a listing for an internship in the management office of a rather legendary recording artist. The details, like many Clist ads, were a bit vague, but it seemed pretty cool and before long, I'd emailed a resume and set up an interview for the following week. I'll admit to now knowing much about the artist in question, so to prep in the days leading up to the interview, I did a Wikipedia search of both her and her general genre of music, and looked up the company online to learn the names of some of their important people. It's always good to have some background knowledge of any place you're working to become a part of.
The day of the interview, I made a quick list of everything related to artist management that I'd learned in some prior internships, and allowed myself enough time for a nice, leisurely walk up to the office. The actual interview itself was pretty casual, actually, although my new boss is kind of quirky and I was a little caught off-guard. But, I just answered honestly about what I knew and what I hoped to learn, and it worked, because I ended up getting hired! It's really casual, just 1 or 2 days a week (and unpaid) but it's a good way to keep myself involved in the industry and make some connections during an otherwise very academically heavy semester. I'll keep you updated as I go. It's been pretty educational so far, and I'm glad to be helping out.

So, the point of all that? Never be afraid to extend your feelers a little beyond your normal comfort zone, because you never know what you might come across. Usually, the rewards far outweigh the risks. :-) Time for my reindeer headband and some hot chocolate. Bye, guys!

As a Peer in Career, I feel it is my duty to talk about one of the most awkward aspects of career development: networking.

So, I realized an important networking lesson even when I was applying for a scholarship: I wrote the primary essay, had my transcript mailed – I had all that time-consuming stuff completed. And then letters of recommendation. I didn’t realize this until I was forced to ask my professors to do something for me – but our professors are our best networks who actually do want to help us out (even if it is disguised in brutally difficult exams). Besides going to office hours (yes, I admit, it can be tedious), it is so important to maintain conversation after the course, too. It might be nice to drop by and pay a visit to a professor who was interesting and even got to know you somewhat. Invite your professor out for coffee and, heck, they ‘re likely/they might even pick up the tab.

If the concept is a nebulous one for you, Wasserman hosts a bunch of networking how-to seminars, which I highly recommend for anybody who might find themselves being overly conscious when making “connections”.

Stay in touch, for networking purposes, needs to be more than just something we say to wrap up conversations. So, stay in touch. Seriously. --Lokesh