College Internship Help

Summer college internships.... most students need them to graduate but other than asking the career office at your school or word of mouth, where can you find them? The best thing to do is network by reaching out to your family, friends, social, fraternity or sorority contacts and others. If that doesn't work, here are a couple of website suggestions.

http://www.internjobs.com/
http://www.internships.com/student
http://www.quintcareers.com/grad_internships.html A list of valuable of internship sites.
http://www.nj.gov/oag/law/internship.htm 
http://www.indeed.com/ Type in Internship and state in the search area.

Make sure your resume is ready to go and your LinkedIn profile is up to date. Also, remove any unprofessional photos and wording from your social media sites including Twitter, Instragram and Facebook. Also, Google yourself to see what pops up because if it pops up for you, if will pop up for anyone else.

Good luck in your search for the perfect internship!

Interview Thank You Note - Free!

In the spirit of giving, I thought that I would give you a free thank you note that you can email or send to a hiring manager after an interview.  What? You don't send thank you notes? Try it, you may find that it improves your chances of being hired. It doesn't hurt, that's for sure.

Make sure that your thank you covers a few points; it contains the name of person with whom you interviewed (if you interviewed with a few people, they should each get a note and obviously you need to change the wording in each note). Also, make sure that your note includes something in it that will remind the interviewer of who you are. 

Are you ready? Here is a thank you note for you - please tailor it to fit your needs. The red type shows areas that you would want to change to reflect the job, job requirements and your skill set.

Salutation – Add Name, Company, Address, Date

Dear

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today about the (name of) position. Our conversation reaffirmed my interest in working with you at (Company name) and I was eager to learn about the products, services and resources that you offer.

I hope that I was able to communicate to you that my past experience in (specific area) would be beneficial in solving your issues with (some situation or job need that was discussed).  One of my passions is to improve business processes through (list several of your strengths as they match the open position). I would very much like to use these skills to help (Company name) fulfill its mission of helping clients, “build and sustain a successful business.”

If you have any further questions, I would be happy to talk with you again. Feel free to call me at (number).  I am more than ready to move into this role; I am a quick learner and eager to get started. Thank you once again.
Sincerely,

Jean from the Emergency Room

Today in the hospital I met an older woman named Jean who came from Plainfield, NJ. She has diabetes, got shaky and fell in the parking lot as she was going to her friend’s funeral this morning. She split her lip and scratched up her hands.  The hospital put her on a gurney outside my mother in law’s room in the emergency department and there she sat all day long. 

Jean was widowed two years ago after 54 years of marriage.  She also lost a son eight years ago. Talking about her husband and son brings her to tears.

While she was there she called her other three sons and none of them answered.  She did speak to a daughter in law.  For the twelve hours that Jean was on that gurney in the emergency department and in the hallway, not one of her sons came to see how she was.  They are all local too.

Every time I came out of my mother in law’s room I talked to Jean. She told me that she was going to catch the bus home and hoped that she’d be discharged in time to catch one. I said that I didn’t think that the hospital would let her and that most likely a friend or one of her sons would need to get her. She said that her sons all worked shift work and wouldn’t be able to do that.  Funny…we were in that hospital for a part of all three shifts and did any of her sons come by and check on her? No. Not one. Not ever. 

Jean is one of those senior citizens who just wanted someone to talk to and to bring her some water and a warm, damp towel to wipe the blood off her split lip. I don’t know the story behind Jean’s sons but I do know that I hurt for her because they weren’t there for her today. I was actually sad when we left her to move my mother in law into her hospital room. Jean was going to be admitted too.  I hope her boys come by tomorrow.

Another LinkedIn Rant

I'm not a LinkedIn expert by any means.  I know enough to teach a two hour class on it though and I know enough to pass along a few tips on using it wisely to help you find a new career.   

This morning I checked my email messages and there were a few emails asking if we could connect on LinkedIn.  Of the four requests, only one person personalized his note. Guess who I connected with? Why would I accept an invitation to connect if I don't know why you are "reaching out" (I hate that term) to me? I deleted the three emails and ignored (LinkedIn's word) the three cookie cutter invitations that were also embedded in my LinkedIn messages. Here is an article I wrote on how to personally connect on LinkedIn.

I've also noticed that some profiles don't have photographs.  Why not? Why not ask someone to take a head shot of you using your living room wall as the background? Some people have posted "selfies"  and we've all noticed. If  you can't get someone to take your professional picture inside your house, perhaps someone will take your photo outside.  It doesn't matter really; just as long it is professional.  

That brings me to my third and final point.  If you do post a picture, save the one that you want to use for a dating site for just that.  Make sure that you're dressed and posed professionally. LinkedIn isn't the place to show your sultry side - it is a professional networking site.

If 94% of recruiters and companies are turning to LinkedIn to help them recruit it makes sense to give them what they want and need to help them make the best hiring decisions. 

A Celebration for Many

This past weekend my sister and I traveled to Massachusetts to attend a bridal shower for my daughter. It was hosted by her future mother-in-law and was a delightful celebration for family and friends. It was a warm, beautiful day and springtime was on display both inside and outside of the house.

After an amazing lunch, we moved into the dining room for coffee, tea and the most beautiful celebratory cake that I have ever seen. I joined a small group of new friends and someone asked me about my profession. When I said I was a job search trainer and coach, the conversation turned to unemployment and underemployment and how difficult it is for “older” job seeker. What were the odds that of this small group of women chatting around the dining room table, 75% of us had been released from our former companies later on in our careers? Luckily we have all moved on and found other meaningful work somewhere else or in another field. 

I am proud of the resilience of the Baby Boomer generation and how a job loss at an older age didn’t break any of us.  It only made us stronger.  That was another reason for a celebration!

Interviewing Cheatsheets

I'm reposting this because I've been asked to share the worksheets:

When you attend any of my job search classes you leave with an armful of worksheets designed to help you write your resume, interview or network. You’ll get as many free samples and tools that you’re comfortable using. Two of these tools are designed for resume writing; specifically for writing your accomplishments. Writing  your accomplishments is one of the hardest parts of resume design.  Most people don’t think of about the impact of their actions and instead, use their resumes as a listing of job activities.  This is the worst thing you can do with your resume and is a good guarantee that it will end up in the trash.  Resumes must be tailored to each position and need specific, measurable examples of your accomplishments. After all, an interviewer or resume reviewer wants to know, “What’s in it for us?”

The first worksheet, Measurable Accomplishments looks like this:

What did you do?	Who was Involved?	Why did you do it?	How did you do it?	What was the result?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The purpose of this form is to review you job responsibilities and as you are doing so, jot down the answers to these questions.  Your honest evaluation should help you uncover the measurable results of your actions. 

The second worksheet is a simple two-column chart.  On the left you will list the responsibilities of the open position and on the right, you would add examples of your experience that match with or align with those responsibilities.

New Position Responsibilities	Examples of Your Accomplishments That Support These

Both of these worksheets should help your identify your accomplishments and allow you to build a specific, tailored resume.  They will also help you with the interview, especially with any behavioral questions.

Our USA Magazine

One of my favorite magazines hands down is Our USA Magazine.  It doesn't skimp on the artwork or the articles and many or the authors are regular people just like you and me. The Spring 2014 edition features many articles about American artists and art types and again, the photographs are a delight to the eyes.  

What I like about this issue are the stories of regular people who after losing their jobs, picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and went on to discover a second chance or in my case, I Earned My Wings.  Take a look; I don't think that you will be disappointed.  Rather, I think that you will be uplifted!