Grads
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
What’s it like to be a….School Social Worker?
What does a normal day look like? Is it consistent throughout the year? If you’ve had this position for a while, how have things changed?
A normal day for me consists of seeing kids in the school setting who need counseling services for social and emotional concerns or behavioral problems. I also meet with teachers on a regular basis to talk about concerns they have regarding students. I then can offer suggestions and a variety of accommodations and modifications that the teacher can make in their classroom to help that student be more successful. I also spend a large amount of time attending IEP meetings for students who require special education services.
School social work has changed over the years in the sense that school social workers are not pulling kids out on a regular basis from class for counseling sessions. We are now looking to work collaboratively with teachers in the classroom setting to help their students be successful within their learning environment without having to be removed from class for long periods of time.
School social workers also need to be extremely proficient and up to date with the latest special education initiatives and laws as a large part of your role is leading and facilitating IEP meetings for special education students. At these meetings, you help the special education team decide which services are most appropriate for the student in the school setting to best help them be academically and socially successful.
Monday, July 07, 2008
What’s it like to be a …..Curator of Archives?
Check out the following for a glimpse into a curator’s world, where multi-tasking and creative thinking are essential survival tools:
Q. What does your typical day look like?
A.Typically I spend the first hour of the day answering email, which comes from around the world; usually inquiring about resources available in our collections.
○ Then I move on to specific projects underway, which can range from reviewing finding aids for processed collections, to producing reports (including statistical summaries) of date we collect for the college, the seminary, or the denomination (we serve as the archives for all three).
○Probably ten percent of my time every week is spent in some sort of committee related function.
○ Throughout the day I am on-call for researchers who come in and have questions about the collections – from genealogists to post-doctoral scholars.
○ I determine which collections to acquire and then spend time working on acquiring those collections. This requires a sense of what data is or may become of interest to the wide range of researchers that will visit our collection.
○ I work on the various administrative functions (budget, personnel, etc.) necessary to run the department.
○I spend time researching and doing some writing on the history of the three member institutions (denomination, college, seminary), some of this writing is intended for publication.
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Friday, July 04, 2008
What’s it like to be a…Marketing Specialist?
Marketing Specialist at a multi-national footwear company:
A typical day for me starts with checking my email. Usually there are orders to be filled for the sales people out on the road or questions from the creative department on the projects that we are working on. Throughout the day I do the majority of my work on the computer. I use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher to work on catalogs and buyers guides, filling orders, coming up with and proofing ads, etc.
This is usually pretty consistent throughout the year. My focus changes a little bit depending on if we are working on a new line of shoes or not. A new line of shoes means a new catalog and that makes things a little busier. Also, after a new line comes out the sales people are making more visits to accounts so usually requests for orders are more frequent.
I started my career path working in shoe sales, but I also interned on Capitol Hill, worked as an administrative assistant, and managed a retail clothing boutique.
I came to the company where I am at now because a friend of mine worked here. I was looking for a new job and she told me that I could forward my resume to her boss. I came in to meet with him for an informational meeting. When a position opened up, they thought of me for the job and, after interviewing, I was offered my position.
In terms of educational background, I received a BA in business and political science from Calvin. I feel that my education, combined with my work experience is very beneficial in my position. I gained confidence in my writing and presentation skills while an intern. I learned leadership and problem solving while working in retail and I learned multitasking and office skills while working as an administrative assistant. I feel that all of those skills make someone in my position successful.
One of the greatest rewards of this position is being able to see a finished product after hard work. Completing catalogs or seeing the final version of an ad is exciting. A good day is one that is busy with all different kinds of work.
The biggest trend/change I see in the future is the shift towards technology. In the next 5-10 years it will be essential for people to have a good understanding of computers and technology because that is where we are headed.
For further information on marketing careers, check out American Marketing Association‘s Career Management/Ask the Expert link.
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Tuesday, July 01, 2008
What’s it like to be a ____? (series intro)
Freshmen ask. Seniors ask. Even grads arrive in my office with variations on the same question. Sometimes even wistfully, they ask something to this effect, “I’d like to know where to go with my major/gifts/talents, but how do I find out what’s out there?”
Good question. How do you know where to head if you don’t know what the destination will look like? What’s it like to be a doctor, lawyer, or social worker? Or going beyond the obvious, what’s it like to be a child life specialist, a credit analyst, an archivist? A marketing specialist or actuary? What do these people do every day and how do you know if it will a good fit for you in particular?
Of course, there’s always the web. One can start researching careers at sites like Career Browser or the gold standard of them all, O*Net. Great sites. Helpful information but, at best, still generic. Not personalized. Not necessarily what you have been gifted to do.
What I typically suggest is that people follow up with their own informational interviews, i.e. that they spend time with a professional who can pass along rubber-meets-the-road type of advice. Stuff you can’t get from books.
So to help students in that fact finding endeavor, I have decided to put on my own research cap and run a series of blog entries straight from the mouths of professionals in the field. It’s all up and coming under the title of “What’s it like to be a ______?” So check out the forthcoming stories or email if you’re interested in letting students know what you do every day.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Getting back in gear…
Re-starting a blog is just like any other lapsed activity. One has to exert a significant amount of energy to kick start before momentum takes over. Take exercise, for example. Due to a lengthy post-surgery recovery last summer, I found myself slouching rather than standing, panting rather than breathing and discouraged rather than hopeful. The way back to functional fitness looked like the proverbial mountain. But with a little help from my trainer-friends at the local health club and a lot of persistence, I’m back to where I was a year ago--or almost.
So too with the job search. Seniors arrive on my (office) door step in various stages of preparedness, from those just getting started to those in need of an encouraging word after months of seemingly fruitless searching. The point is, they come. One at a time. Scared or enthused.
If you find yourself with your head in the sand, ignoring all that awaits after graduation, start the first step by showing up. Because despite the dismal prognosis filling even the most positive of publications, people are still uncovering opportunities, finding jobs and moving on.
To quote The Source: as your day, so shall your strength be.
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Friday, April 28, 2006
Readers Question: Should I go to law school?
Dear Aunt Bonnie-
I’m a junior who’s finally chosen a major. After considering a number of them, including education and social work, I finally chose English because I love to write. I also want to help people, as you can see from the majors I considered but did not choose. It seems like my best choice might be law. Then I can write and help people at the same time. What do you think about my idea?
James
Friday, April 21, 2006
Take the quiz before you get the box
Some of my blog titles have admitedly been a bit obscure. So much so that sometimes I find myself reading a list of previous titles and wondering what I managed to stuff into the blog body.
So let me be right up front about this one. The quiz refers to what’s to follow, namely a quiz on how well you’re doing at your current job. Pass it and you might not receive “the box”, i.e. the one you pack with your personal belongings just before security or someone less scary escorts you out the door. For good. Often as not, that lonely walk happens on a Friday afternoon. So, check out the quiz instead.
(Hint: true or false answers work the best.)
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Resume Objectives--real life examples
I’m looking at a veritable tower of resumes--all real life samples from different colleges and universities--so my desk resembles that of an employer overwhelmed with choices. Lots of competition for perhaps one or two job openings. So since I’ve got this pile of gold here, I thought I’d pass along a number of objectives and let you draw your own conclusions about candidate potential.
Note: Though these objectives are all directed towards education, they highlight typical resume objective foibles.
With no further ado, then, check out the following:
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Job Fair Insights: From the mouth of a recruiter
Put yourself in this person’s place. You’re a recruiter for a coveted school district knowing that it will take the person at the end of the line 90 minutes to reach first place. By the end of the day, you will have collected 400 resumes for two open positions. How do you possibly sort through the crowd?
Well, a lunch time conversation did much to demystify the process. According to one recruiter, candidates are rated on three criteria.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Random questions about resumes
With the job search ramping up for many seniors, I’m getting a lot of scattered and random questions about resumes, questions about small and subtle details, the sum of which ends up being greater than the individual parts.
So, I thought I’d take today to answer a few of the more common inquiries.
Q: If my resume is two pages, do you staple them together?…
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Getting the most out of your references
Someone recently asked me to fill out a reference for them. Thoughtfully, they provided a brief “cheat sheet” so that I’d be up to date on their past experiences. I thought this was a good idea and felt well prepared to gush over them. Until I took one look at the reference form, that is. As it turned out, I could only fill in 50% of the questions about that particular person. Though I knew them well within one context, the reference form asked for information beyond that bandwidth. Sadly, I was not sure whether I’d be of much help at all.
Resulting advice? Make sure you cover your bases when asking for references. If your reference has not observed you within a certain setting--and here’s where it helps to review the questions on the reference form--prep them. Let them know in detail who you are across the spectrum so that they have an adequate base from which to speak.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
It’s spring. Do you know where your job search is?
Serious spring fever hasn’t hit yet but it’s pretty close. With temps hovering around 65 and birds singing, the last thing most students want to do today is sit in a library. Even worse, contemplate The Job Hunt, synonomous for many seniors with an identity shift from life long student to professional. Too much to deal with at one time. So head-burying may seem like a better option, fueled by internal phrases like “I’ll find something when I graduate. It shoudn’t be too hard. Something will work out.” Anything other than face the frightening fact that in a few weeks you will no longer be a student.
So if the Big seems to much to handle, how about taking a few baby steps? Consider completing one of the following in the next week.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Would You Steal This Job….
I recently came across a site running what I would love to cover--mini stories of actual people from a rather interesting spectrum of jobs. Check out Would You Steal This Job for at least a cursory introduction to jobs like community director, college recruiter and photographer, just to name a few. If you’ve found yourself wondering, as I have, what’s that job like? Well, here’s a place that will provide you with a quick glimpse. Not exactly a day-in-the-life-of, but at least some sites for further research.
And, a closing note for today. Aunt Bonnie will be taking spring break until the last week of March when blogging will resume.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
When to use resume and cover letter templates…
I know of few people who get all geeked about writing their own resume or, much less, constructing a cover letter. So, the quickest way possible to complete this onerous task is to revert to a template--pulled from MS Word if you’re looking for a way to basically fill in the blanks or copied directly from other resources.
There. The job is done and you’ve got something ready for your job search, right? Well, yes and no. Yes in the sense that you’ve got something to distribute but no in the sense that it may not be all that effective.
Here’s what I mean. Suppose you’re an HR specialist who sees literally hundreds of resumes a day. What would grab your attention more, a resume from the very predictable Word template or one where the writer took a bit more care to craft its contents? The answer, I’m sure, is obvious. After a while, it takes effort to get past the same-old same-old template look and really pay attention to the contents, even if it’s great stuff.
So, best use of the template in my personal opinion is as a structure for your initial draft. After that, ditch it in favor of something more distinctive.
On to cover letters. Again, there are samples all over the place. But here’s my suggestion. Tweak and adjust the standard stuff so that it’s really you who’s coming across. This is especially true if your particular job search does not match the sample cover letter. For instance, I heard from someone today who ended their cover letter with a phrase saying that she would call in 10 days to check on the possibility of an interview. Good stuff normally. That’s how the sample letter was worded. However, the companies where that person was applying did not provide names or phone numbers, thus rendering the phrase meaningless and inappropriate for that particular employer.
So, take resume and cover letter samples as just that--spring boards for your own creative additions and subtractions.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Marketing yourself…yuck
I realize that today’s title flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Current job search literature is replete with admonitions to market and brand yourself, the end result being a coherent product ready for employers to pick off the shelf, as it were.
Personally, however, I find the idea mildly repugnant. And a number of Calvin students seem to agree. Modesty rules, putting us at a seeming disadvantage in job search situations.
But, there’s nothing wrong with communicating who you are, right? I mean, how else will an employer know who they’re hiring?
So, in lieu of marketing yourself, may I suggest the following strategy:
Categories
Email Aunt Bonnie with your questions or comments!
Most recent entries
- What’s it like to be a….School Social Worker?
- What’s it like to be a …Water Treatment Engineer?
- What’s it like to be an ….Independent Consultant?
- What’s it like to be a ….Director of Curriculum and Instruction?
- What’s it like to be a….Tax Preparer?
- What’s it like to be a…Pre-school Teacher?
- What’s it like to be a….News Reporter?
- What’s it like to be an….Interior Design Assistant?
- What’s it like to be a …Senior Architect?
- What’s it like to be a …..Curator of Archives?
- What’s it like to be a…Marketing Specialist?
- What’s it like to be a ____? (series intro)
- Networking 101
- The Buzz About Strengths
- How to communicate strengths to your boss
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