For starters, welcome to Abrakadabra JOB! This blog has been created by a few like-minded NYU college students interested in sharing their career and academically related experiences with the greater college community. Viewers of this blog are encouraged to pose questions about their own job/internship/school related curiosities, or comment on posts that are of interest to them. Without further ado....
Last evening a speaker series/informal dinner took place at the NYU Center for Career Development ("Wasserman"). The event featured a group of panelists who spoke about their experiences studying, working, and volunteering abroad, and most students in attendance were those interested in taking part in any or all of such things. Along with a team of my fellow "peer educators" (as we're called), I have spent the last couple of months planning, coordinating, and advertising for this event.
Given the amount of event invitations most college students are inundated with via facebook/email/posters, turnout is often unpredictable, even when there is promise of free food! Luckily we had an excellent turnout last night...and more importantly, it seemed like everyone really got a lot of solid information out of the program, had some laughs (there was a representative from the Peace Corps who went into detail about the lack of certain Western amenities in the area where he was stationed....such as toilet paper!!), and got to fill their bellies in the meantime! All in all, a wonderful evening if I do say so myself!
Posted by Arianna K Koudounas on November 21, 2008 2:05 PM
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February 12, 2010
Desire.
“DESIRE. That’s the one secret of every man’s career; not education, not being born with hidden talents, but desire.” –Bobby Unser
Sure, desire makes a great candidate for a job, but we all want a job, (and wait for it…) especially in this economy. But obviously, just because we want the job—or rather, the money—it doesn’t mean we’re going to get it. So how do we separate ourselves from the rest of the pack?
As a Peer Educator for the Wasserman Center, I would like to think that I’m pretty well-versed in my work world knowledge. But then I do n00b (yeah, I said it) things (see last entry). You definitely don't want to make yourself stand out like that. But one thing that can make the difference between a job offer and late nights on CareerNet is networking.
Since a couple months ago, I don’t really think I understood what networking really was—it’s definitely the hardest thing to teach and explain to someone else because what people don’t realize is that we network all the time. Think about a conversation with a new friend, now just take out the conversation about last night’s hook-up and words and phrases like n00b (not that there’s actually a rule against that, but just because any real professional will probably give you “the look”) and you’ve made a great connection to add to your network!
Every networking opportunity is an opportunity to learn about the professional world. And if you’re like me and you have no idea what you want to do with the rest of your life, this is a great way to do research. It’s a lot better than taking a Myers-Briggs test (in my opinion! But if you haven’t taken one yet, you should still totally do it!) because you get to socialize and be yourself. And who doesn’t love that?
I know, it can be a little intimidating to network at random school events and stuff because you don’t want to seem like the loser brownnoser. So why not start somewhere that everyone else is in the same boat? Remember that craziness at Kimmel two weeks ago? Well that was the Spring Job Fair and Diversity Expo, brought to you by the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! I know you’re a little bummed out that you missed out (or you totally pulled the jeans+blazer+converse faux-pas; ps check out Attire for Successful Hire). Or maybe you want to go into the non-profit, education, and/or healthcare industries. Well, lucky you! Because Wasserman is bringing it back again, but this time, it’s specifically catered for you folks looking to do something great with the world! It’s called (get excited!) the Non-Profit, Education and Healthcare Job Fair and it’s on Wednesday, March 3rd from 3pm to 7pm at the Kimmel Center!
Well, tonight was our annual staple Wasserman event, Attire for Successful Hire. While it's always been a great event, this year's turnout was beyond incredible. Who would have imagined that people would have to stand around the seating? Or that we'd have to order extra food?
We also hope that everyone enjoyed our new music video, "Resume and Cover Letta," which is based on Rihanna's single "Umbrella." It's because of your interest that we keep getting the support to make these videos for Wassertube. For your viewing pleasure, here it is:
Attire for Successful Hire's goal was to show you the importance of dressing correctly in the work environment--your appearance in the office (or interview) is an essential part of the whole package and can't be taken too lightly. But dressing for success shouldn't feel incredibly restrictive. Hopefully, tonight's presentation showed you that you can still be creative and individualistic with your business attire. Just make sure you stay within the bounds of appropriate dress.
Proper business (or business casual) attire should NEVER wash away your personality or sense of self. Use your fashions to let yourself pop. For example, Richard, the wonderful man at Macy's who advised the men's fashions, suggested wearing a uniquely-patterned tie in order to gain the attention and memory of interviewers. A purple dress shirt (like the one I wore) is perfectly appropriate for the business environment, but can easily transform into a more casual, after-work look. Dresses, while they shouldn't be cut too short or be reminiscent of prom, still come in endless varieties that are still eye-catching and appealing.
I could go on, but I should probably stop there. You get the idea. Attire is a key aspect in the employment process--while you should also be prepared with a great "Resume and Cover Letta" and interviewing skills, a poor outfit can pull things down. A smart outfit, on the other hand, can give you that boost above other prospective employees. Feel free to come to Wasserman or go to Macy's (which we thank for their support) to find out more about professional fashion.
On behalf of everyone at Wasserman, a million thanks to any and all that came out to support us (and didn't laugh too hard at our "Don't" pictures). Don't forget to check out the rest of our events throughout the semester, which you can find through CareerNet.
Another part of the job search is determining if the job environment is one that you can easily adjust into. As a student applying to medical school, medical school tours are a great way to learn more about the school! The Wasserman Center in conjunction with NYU School of Medicine is hosting a tour on Thursday, March 4th starting at 9 AM (make sure to RSVP on CareerNet). I have been to this visit before, and on my tour a resident showed me the Adult Emergency Services unit of the Emergency Department as well as the Endoscopy Suite. If you are a pre-health student reading this – you should sign up ASAP! While medical schools provide essentially the same information, the holistic experience of being a medical student for four years will be shaped by the immediate surroundings. Taking tours can also be a great networking tool, so take advantage of these resources!
In light of March being Women’s History month (and being a woman myself), I have started thinking about how much the present workforce has changed in the last century. During my internship at the New York State Judicial Institute a couple summers ago, I came across many female judges reminiscing about their years in law school. I had noticed that many of them had attended NYU Law, incidentally because it was one of the first law schools to admit women. Even then, these women were often in the very small minority. Many were even ridiculed and mocked by professors in the classroom, and their job prospects after graduation were not promising. Granted, I may not be in a better position upon graduation either, but at least I am not being purposefully overlooked for my gender (supposedly...).
Below you will find the Wasserman Center Calendar of Events for the month of March. Note the event titled “Preparing for a Career in Investment Banking” being held on March 11th, which is designed to give students like me a competitive edge in a predominantly male industry, an edge that women did not have thirty to forty years ago. Take advantage!
http://events.nyu.edu/?cmd=calmonth&cal=cal54
This past Wednesday, Wasserman held one of their biggest events – the Fall Job and Internship Fair. The event took place on two floors of Kimmel, with over 150 employers from different fields. Each employer had a table set up with representatives from the company to answer questions and meet students who are looking for jobs or internships for the school year or the summer.
If you were unable to attend the event, here are three words to help you understand what it was like: IT WAS PACKED! The event was a huge success, with hundreds of students meeting and networking with potential employers.
This year was my second time attending the event. It can be a bit scary attending a career fair for the first time, so I compiled a list of tips to help you combat the next career fair:
While preparing for the event…
- Practice a 60-90 second introduction about yourself.
This will make it much easier to start talking to a recruiter when you
approach the table.
- Print many copies of your resume.
Even if you are only planning on visiting two companies, you never know
what company might interest you while you are there.
- Prepare questions to ask the recruiters.
Research the company, and think of two or three questions about subjects
that you would like to learn more about.
- Wear business attire.
Even if you don’t want to walk around all day in a suit, it is definitely
needed.
While at the event remember to…
- Offer your resume to everyone.
Even if it doesn’t look like they are accepting them, it is always a good idea
to offer it just in case.
- Ask for a business card from everyone you meet.
This will allow you to follow-up about job opportunities that interest you.
- Take any available brochures or flyers they might have.
All of the information will allow you to better understand the company, for
future job applications or interviews.
Even after the event is over, the networking is not done yet! After the event…
- Send thank you e-mails to everyone you talked to.
This will help them remember who you are, and show that you have real
interest in their job opportunity.
Here is my last piece of advice:
If you have never attended a career fair and are a bit apprehensive about attending one as big as the one at Kimmel, let me tell you that it isn’t as bad as you might think. Once you are talking to an employer about a job that you are interested in, it becomes very easy to describe your interests and explain why that job is a good fit. If that isn’t enough convincing, visit Wasserman beforehand to discuss tips about networking, or even do a mock interview with a career counselor.
Wasserman will be holding several other career fairs this school year including: the Admissions Fair: Graduate & Professional Schools (Sept. 30), Women’s Foreign Policy Group Mentor Fair (Fall 2010 - Date TBA), the Government & Non-Profit Expo (Feb. 18), and several other specialized fairs. Good luck!
There was recently a really cool event focusing on the idea of crowdsouring.
Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.
The event was co-hosted by Promediacorp and Amazon at the offices of thelab. A panel discussed some uses of crowdsourcing and specifically Amazon's crowdsourcing platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk. The panelists were John Hoskins, business development manager for Amazon Mechanical Turk; Avi Wilensky, CEO of Promediacorp; and Joe Park, founder of Kozmo.com and Askville and now Senior VP of Digital Marketing at HarperCollins.
Joe Park gave a presentation on the beginnings of Askville which leveraged Mechanical Turk for answering questions in its early days. Avi Wilensky talked about using crowdsourcing for content generation, particularly video. The panel fielded questions from the audience. In attendance was Panos Iperiotis, NYU Stern Professor. He's likely the leading expert on crowdsourcing and focuses on Amazon Mechanical Turk with his research. He asked some great questions of John Hoskins.
In addition, there was live music, so the industry professionals in attendance could mingle and network before and after the panel.
Btw, Mechanical Turk could be a good platform for solving problems that a startup might be facing
(Also, in attendance was Dani Horowitz, owner of daniweb.com, the top tech site on the web.)
This Monday (Oct. 4th), LinkedIn, PwC, and the NYU Wasserman Center hosted an NYU exclusive launch event for Career Explorer. OMG! It was one of the most exciting events I've attended! The guest speakers included Jeff Weiner (CEO of LinkedIn), Bob Moritz (Chairman and Senior Partner at PWC), and Elissa Clapp (VP of Recruitment at Teach for America), and they shared the stories about their journeys toward discovering their career paths. From a college student, just like us, to where they are now, it seemed like a long (and sometimes almost accidental?) journey, but one common thought that they all shared was the importance of finding your passion that can be blended with your unique talent. The panel was truly inspiring and thought provoking as I'm on my way to prepare my job application this semester. 10 years later, I wish I could be someone like them, who can confidently say, "my job combines my true passion and skills!"
I didn't get to check out the workshops that was held through out the day (unfortunately, I had classes all day), but they all seemed very interactive and informative! You could even get your profile picture taken by a professional photographer for your LinkedIn account, or get your resume reviewed by the PWC professionals!
Yes, check out the LinkedIn's Career Explorer! You can just simply click through some questions, and it generates various possible career paths for you! I could even find some of the PWC professionals who have gone through very unique career paths. If you want to learn more about it, here's the link: http://press.linkedin.com/Career-Explorer. Try it, and let me know what you find!
Yes, that's what I think is Hindi for, "Hello, my name is Justin."
I was recently accepted into the India Global Study Program at Stern, and I'm pumped. The program consists of a two week trip to India and a course in the developing mega-economy (I'm coining that term. Tell your economist friends). It's going to be amazing.
Now let's get down to business.
I am the co-campus representative for LinkedIn here at NYU and there was a HUGE event that happened this past Monday. LinkedIn launched its new site, Career Explorer, with the help of PwC and Teach for America. The event was a huge success. Here's an article written by Paul Sailer from NYU Local:
Yesterday NYU, PricewaterhouseCoopers and LinkedIn held an event at the Kimmel Center to celebrate the launch of LinkedIn’s new feature for college students: Career Explorer. The day was filled with demos, guest speakers and giveaways — most of which I missed because of class. But that didn’t stop me from logging onto LinkedIn and trying out Career Explorer for myself so I could tell you all if it is actually worthwhile.
I’ll be honest, I expected very little from this new feature. Even as a business student, I seldom visit LinkedIn and it’s even rarer I hear someone talking about it. However, Career Explorer is an incredible idea, and I personally believe everyone should try it out at least once — unless you plan on being a lifelong entrepreneur.
You can find Career Explorer under the “Jobs” tab on LinkedIn. Once there, you’re prompted to enter your major (good luck with this one, Gallatin kids), degree, and expected industry. From there, LinkedIn uses its huge database of users to compile a list of entry-level positions, along with their salary ranges, average time you could expect to spend in the position, and the forecasted likelihood you’ll get that position.
Once you choose a position, you’ll get yet another list of positions, this time of common positions LinkedIn’s users have moved on to after the last one you chose. You’ll choose up to four positions for your career path, after which LinkedIn will provide you with a wealth of information related to your choices.
This information deluge includes: People currently in your aspirational positions (though apparently only for the intro-level position), top companies with people in the positions, and companies hiring for the positions. There are a few other cool features, like a U.S. map showing the position’s geographic density and a list of books recommended for your industry. Of course, you’re also encouraged to make more connections on LinkedIn to your classmates and people in your industry as well.
Here’s how LinkedIn explains Career Explorer (and their blog coverage too):
And an interesting interview with Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, filmed by our resident interview ninja, Natan Edelsburg:
The event had a Twitter hashtag as well: #NYUisIn. There’s not too many tweets there, but it’s worth a look.
Again, I’d highly recommend trying out Career Explorer at least once. It might just open your eyes to a potential new career path.
Link to the article: Here
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So that's that. I'm also an RA in Weinstein which is going extremely well (WHATUP 5B!). Stern Casino Night was a hit. The Light the Night Walk for NYU Stern is coming up quick. Sign up here! Life is good. Classes are good. Now I just need to get a job... Ohhh Waaasermannnnnn
Social Identity and Work: Make Genuine Connections!
Last Wednesday night, I helped out at an event at Wasserman called “Social Identity and Work: Make Genuine Connections”.
The event looked at how one’s social identity can be used to create long-lasting connections with colleagues and employers. Topics ranged from diversity, to personality, to social networking. The panel consisted of individuals from McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, GLAAD, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Sponsors of Educational Opportunity.
This event was one of the most useful and interesting events I have attended. The panelists not only spoke of their personal experiences of how they integrated their identity into their work life, but also gave tips on how we can impress employers and gain an advantage by using our personality to be unique and interesting.
A few of the key points from the event include:
1) Find Commonalities
Whether networking to find a job or speaking with colleagues at the workplace, always try to find commonalities with the other person.
When networking, this is a key way to make instant connections with the recruiter, and provides them with something other than your academic record or work experience to be remembered by. Even after finding a job, this is a way to create real relationships with your colleagues or boss, to be recognized not just as another employee, but instead as you.
However, with commonalities comes discretion. Always be conscious of how much you are sharing, and think about when sharing personal details is appropriate.
2) You are your “brand”
The panelist from the Sponsors of Educational Opportunity mentioned a study that found that the #1 thing companies look for in applicants to determine if they should be hired is “fit”. Although “fit” can be interpreted in many ways, it generally means that the applicant has the same values and interests as the current employees of the firm, and will be able to work well within the atmosphere of the firm.
This means that you should always be aware of your “brand”. Know what you value the most and the type of atmosphere you would like to work in. This not only helps distinguish which companies would be best for you, but will also help you show employers that you “fit” into their company.
3) First impressions
Be on time! First impressions are key to landing a job. So if you get an interview, make sure that you are not late.
In addition, LOOK INTO THEIR EYES! This was emphasized by several of the panelists. When speaking with a recruiter or employer, keeping eye contact is polite, and shows that you are sharing your true beliefs and not repeating memorized answers.
Finally, research the company beforehand, and of course, know yourself. Know why you want to have the job, and show genuine interest.
Although you may have heard some of these tips before, hearing them come from the panelists reinforces their importance. Each person is unique because of his or her interests, values and beliefs. Make sure to share these qualities with employers, to show why YOU deserve the job.
