IPFW Mastodon Job and Internship Fair Sept. 23

Find the list of participating employers at www.ipfw.edu/jobzone!

Free Career Assessment: FOCUS 2

Did you know IPFW offers a free online career assessment for students? Go to: http://www.ipfw.edu/offices/career/about/focus.html for more information.

FOCUS is a self-paced, online career guidance tool used to assist you in self-assessment and career exploration. Users of FOCUS learn to make more realistic decisions about their goals and plans, how to self-manage their careers and the importance of adaptability in these times of change.  In order to login, you must create an account on the FOCUS site.  To create an account go here: https://www.focuscareer2.com/Portal/Register.cfm?SID=369

We strongly recommend that you go over your FOCUS results with an IPFW Career Counselor.   A Career Counselor can help you sort out the many questions and possibilities that may arise during your career exploration process. Call 260-481-0689 for an appointment.

FOCUS offers a variety of self-assessments. The Work Interest Assessment and the Leisure Interest Assessment are two of my favorites.

FOCUS also offers lots of occupational information. Some occupations even have their own videos.

Thinking Like an Interviewer

The Seven Point Plan
adapted from The Perfect Interview by Max Eggert

Preparing for an upcoming job interview?  During your preparation, take some time to think from the perspective of the interviewer.  If you'll be meeting with someone from Human Resources, it's likely they've had some training on how to conduct interviews.  The following seven points illustrate the areas interviewers are likely to examine during interviews with potential job candidates.

1. Attainment:  Do you meet the academic and professional experience qualifications? Does your experience make you the right person to be successful in the position?

2. Disposition: What is your personality like?  How will your personality affect the fulfillment of the open position? 

3. Special Aptitudes: Do you have any special aptitudes/competencies/talents that would benefit the company or position?

4. Interests: How do you spend your spare time/money?  What might this say about your potential to be motivated and successful in the position?

5. General Intelligence: How intelligent are you?  How will your intelligence be used in the position?

6. Physical Aspects: Do you have the appropriate health, build, and physical stamina to successfully fulfill the open position?

7. Circumstances: What effects have your personal circumstances had on your career development and success?  How will current and future circumstances affect your performance if selected for the position? 

By thinking through these concepts before the interview, you'll be better prepared to answer questions that may seem completely irrelevant but really examine one of the seven different areas.  Once you understand what the interviewer is looking for, you'll be able to provide an answer that summarizes your experiences and demonstrates that you're the right person for the job.

Want more information about interviewing? Interested in doing a mock interview? Contact IPFW Career Services at (260) 481-0689 or come to Kettler Hall Room 109 to schedule an appointment with a career counselor.  Drop-in availability: Monday-Friday 10am-2pm.   

Values

Overwhelmed by too many career options? Considering your values might help you out!

A lot of times when we think of the phrase values, we think about our personal moral or ethical beliefs. But, in terms of making a career choice, when we use the word values, we’re talking more about personal priorities and preferences. (I like to operate under the assumption that anyone who might read this blog would choose a moral and legal career path!)

About.com’s Career Planning Section provides the following list of values and their corresponding definitions:

• Autonomy: receiving no or little supervision
• Helping Others: providing assistance to individuals or groups
• Prestige: having high standing
• Job Security: a high probability that one will remain employed
• Collaboration: working with others
• Helping Society: contributing to the betterment of the world
• Recognition: receiving attention for your work
• Compensation: receiving adequate pay
• Achievement: doing work that yields results
• Utilizing Your Skills and Background: using your education and work experience to do your job
• Leadership: supervising/managing others
• Creativity: using your own ideas
• Variety: doing different activities
• Challenge: performing tasks that are difficult
• Leisure: having adequate time away from work
• Recognition: receiving credit for achievements
• Artistic Expression: expressing one's artistic talents
• Influence: having the ability to affect people's opinions and ideas

Sometimes individuals can have value conflicts. Value conflicts arise when two or more values compete with each other. For example, the values of High Earnings and Leisure Time may conflict, as those professionals who have a higher salary may be required to work longer hours.

Values can serve as a good way to narrow down competing career choices. You may enjoy a variety of career related activities, but if these possibilities don’t provide you with things like adequate compensation or job security, it may be time to check out other options.

Job Fair Success

Our job fairs are the largest events we organize at the office of Career Services. We already have 80 employers signed up for the NICE Career Fair. From our experience running these massive events, we've come up with a few suggestions for improving job fair success for students.

Dress Appropriately: One of the most common complaints we get from recruiters is that students don't dress appropriately for our events. Don't let an overly casual appearance detract from your qualifications!

Do Your Research: We post the list of attending employers weeks in advance of our career fairs. Doing prior research on employers of interest will provide you with two benefits. First, you'll come off as more prepared and professional when you speak with employers and second, you'll be less overwhelmed by the number of recruiters available to talk to if you know ahead of time who your target contacts are.

Prepare a Resume, But Don't Be Disappointed if a Recruiter Asks You to Apply Online: There are some anti-discrimination related federal guidelines that prevent larger companies from taking paper resumes from students. If a recruiter asks you to apply online do so and be sure to remind them that you met at the job fair.

Follow-Up: Ask employers 'What's the best way to follow-up with you?' THEN DO IT. Send thank-you notes to employers with whom you met.

Attend the Job Fair Prep Sessions: Take advantage of the drop-in assistance Career Services offers the Monday and Tuesday (April 9^th and 10^th) before the job fair. You can bring in a copy of your resume and get advice on what to wear and how to introduce yourself to employers.
The NICE Career Fair is Wednesday, April 11^th, 1pm-5pm, in the new International Ballroom in Walb.

A Poem

You need not see what someone is doing
to know if it is his vocation,

you have only to watch his eyes:
a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon

making a primary incision,
a clerk completing a bill of lading,

wear the same rapt expression, forgetting
themselves in a function.

How beautiful it is,
that eye-on-the-object look.

—W. H. Auden

Volunteering, You & Your Job

The holiday season has always been a time for giving and sharing good will to all those in need. It’s no surprise, with all this charitable giving, that holiday seasons are associated with words like happy, merry, and joy! Volunteering doesn't just benefit those in need, it benefits you, the helper, and even your workplace.

BACKING IT UP...
There have been numerous studies about the positive effects of volunteering, and these effects can spill over into your work life. Allen Luks researched the cause and effect relationship between helping and good health and found that after doing an act of kindness there is a physical reaction called a “helper high” and that is followed by a “longer period of calm and improved emotional wellbeing.” This period of positive mental health affects all areas of a person’s life. Luks continues, stating the period of wellbeing can stay for hours or days and reduce negative feelings which cause “stress, overeating, ulcers,” and more. Good news, too, because an academic study reported that a manager can waste $75 per week due to being “psychologically distressed.”

Diane Stafford’s article from the St. Petersburg Times states that a person’s “psychological well-being is a significant indicator of job performance.” Her article goes on to point to stress on the job as being an indicator of low psychological wellbeing, but if we refer back to Luks’s research there is a clear option for improvement. Help others.

THE CHALLENGE!!

I challenge you and myself to volunteer not just during the holiday seasons, but the rest of the year as well. There's this classic Christmas song entitled Christmas All Year Long where the artist sings about the things he likes about the season and wishing it would carry throughout the year. The bridge is my favorite part of the song with the lyrics stating, "I wish that every spirit in the world could feel the power, and know love not once a year but every minute and every hour." This is exactly what I mean by the helper high and volunteering having an impact on your mental wellbeing. You could personally have your own holiday spirit all year long if you so choose.

HOW TO KEEP POSITIVE MENTAL WELLBEING

Perform acts of kindness like donating to a worthy cause, spending time with people who are lonely, or specifically do something special for people at your workplace. Now here’s the kicker, these acts of kindness must be completely altruistic. After all, if you expect something in return then you’ll prevent your heart from receiving the true gifts of love and joy—along with other life-enhancing benefits. As you consider this, let me leave you with one last piece of evidence, “studies suggest that people with greater personal well-being may volunteer more often, and people who are involved in community service may have greater life satisfaction, self-esteem, sense of purpose in life, physical health, and mental health.” Read more about this study here.

Unlock Your Potential

I was introduced to a new webpage today: Experience.com

This is an excellent site with resources for students, alumni, employers, and schools.

Features for students:

• Discover opportunities - what's out there and where you fit in
• Be introduced to alumni, career experts and industry insiders
• Learn more about industries, mentors and career resources
• Present your Experience and stand out to employers

Features for alumni:

• Search exclusive jobs posted by fellow alumni
• Get timely industry content and career-focused guidance
• Be introduced to alumni, career experts and industry insiders
• Package and present your personal brand to employers

Features for employers:

• Largest Network of College Students and Recent Grads - Over 4 million high-quality candidates from our exclusive partnerships with university career centers, alumni associations, and honor societies.
• Focused. Cost-effective. Easy. - Target your job to precisely the candidates that you want. Proactively outreach to pre-qualified students and grads.

Features for schools:

• A Single University-Wide System - Leverage our scalable solution for career management, career fairs, alumni mentoring and engagement with your corporate partners
• 100,000+ Employers - Give your students and alumni access to exclusive opportunities from top employers throughout the Experience Network
• The Industry Leader - Join the largest network of universities, alumni associations, honor societies and organizations providing lifelong career services

There are even more features for these groups, like a career dashboard, blog, tweets, latest news, recruiting solutions, and conferences/webinars.

Self-Assessment and Decision Making

Last night I presented to a group of students pursuing their GED about career planning, namely self-assessment and decision making. I utilized a packet of handouts developed by Smith College's Career Development Office given to me by a colleague--the packet covered interests, skills, values, an experience log, the importance of support systems, and accomplishments. The accomplishments handout seemed to elicit the best response from the group, and it got me to thinking about using it every time we write a resume or interview for a job.

Think about it: most of us are really uncomfortable "bragging" about ourselves on a resume, never mind the interview. Does that come from a lack of self-confidence, or from lack of practice talking about ourselves that way? You can practice speaking highly of yourself till the cows come home, but believing it is a totally different thing. So then it becomes a confidence issue. Maybe a way to tackle that is thinking back on our life accomplishments (education, work, volunteering, helping out a friend, hobbies, etc.) and acknowledging what we gained from these accomplishments.

So I've got a challenge for you: make a list of 5 accomplishments you've experienced throughout your life. Then, list the skills you obtained from that achievement, as well as the characteristics or qualities that allowed you to complete those accomplishments. An example...

Accomplishment: Earning a 3.0 GPA for the semester
Skills: Communicating with my professor outside of class time to ask questions, time management, effective studying, working as part of a team in a study group, gathering and making sense of information for exams and papers, research skills, etc.
Characteristics: Dedicated, persevering, goal-oriented, disciplined, interpersonal skills (getting along with my study group members), self-motivated, etc.

Try this before you write your next resume or prepare for your next interview, and see if it helps to build your self-confidence. If nothing else, it'll give you something to talk about in the interview!

Summer Internships

Want an internship for summer? DON'T WAIT! Start now to increase chances of your top internship choice. Indiana INTERNnet published some simple steps in their December 2008 Newsletter on how to get an internship by summer. Click here for the complete article.

Here are some basic steps to get you started:
January

1. Visit the Career Services office (KT 109 at IPFW)
2. Write down some goals/objectives for a positive internship experience
3. Update your resume
4. Research companies and internship directories (like JobZone and Indiana INTERNnet)

February

1. Attend workshops and practice your interviewing & networking skills
2. Request a mock interview with Career Services
3. Attend any career fairs in the area
   

March

1. Attend career fairs
2. Continue to apply for positions found on company websites and internship directories
3. Begin interviewing (don't forget to send thank you notes after interviews)
4. Continue networking with faculty, alumni, and employers
5. Attend the Mock Interview Day on March 25th (call 260-481-0689 for more info)

April

1. Attend Summer Job & Internship Fair (April 2nd in Walb Ballroom 10am-2pm)
2. Attend NICE Expo (April 16th in Walb Ballroom 2-6pm)
3. Continue researching companies, applying and interviewing

May

1. Accept offered position via letter of acceptance
2. Contact the Office of Career Services or your major department (which ever applies) to inform them of internship and ensure all proper paperwork is completed for the school
3. Start your internship (some internships won't start until June, though)

For more information about which office you should contact at IPFW when doing an internship, please review the slide presentation below. Good Luck Internship Hunting!

Job Security vs. Happiness

I found an article titled "They Left the Corporate Cocoon to Blossom" on CNN.com this morning. It profiles three people who left high-paying positions at large corporations to pursue their dreams. It got me to thinking about the role your values play in the career choices you make.

I must admit that job security is probably my number one work value, but, as this article illustrates and reminds us career counselors, it's not the number one work value for everyone. I think in these challenging economic times, we tend to think, though, that everyone values job security above everything else. However, this article shows how it doesn't have to, and makes some excellent points regarding how work values like challenging assignments, job satisfaction, and productivity at work can override the idea that we should stay in our current job no matter what, given the job market these days. Check it out: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/01/08/jumping.ship/index.html

"Inside" resource for job-hunters and business professionals

Are you getting nowhere with job searching and have exhausted many resources? Check out the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance webpage. The Alliance works hard at developing Allen County and allowing businesses to expand in the area.

In their words: "We are your economic development experts. We employ a holistic approach when your company is seeking advice, support, and financial incentives. We are your first point of contact when you’re looking to locate, relocate, or expand your operations. Our project managers streamline the process (from project start, to end, to follow-up) of working with government entities, commercial brokers, and workforce development organizations."


What's great about The Alliance for job seekers is their News Center. It feeds you news, events, rankings, case studies and newsletters that tell you about growth in the area and other newsworthy information. And, where there's growth there are new jobs!

Go to: http://www.theallianceonline.com/ for more information about The Alliance and to subscribe to their RSS feed in the News Center.

Internships on a Time-Budget

I don't want to hear the excuses of: "I don't have time to do an internship" or "I need to keep my current job because I have bills to pay" or "My degree will guarantee me a job, I don't need an internship." All of these thoughts are either outdated, false, or just an excuse to not leave the comfortable job you have now. It's scary to embark on a new experience and take a risk, but that's exactly what you need to do if you want to be successful upon graduation. I'm not saying you should quit your current job before you even start looking for an internship, but just because you have certain needs doesn't mean you can't have the same opportunities as other students.

Employers are now expecting students to graduate and already have experience. Most students will then say, "How can I get experience if you won't hire me?" The answer to this Catch-22 is INTERNSHIPS!! An internship, or two, while in college shows not only that you're interested in your career path by going the extra mile to gain relevant experience, but it also demonstrates to employers that you are committed to your career, a hard worker, and a multi-tasker. Plus, when employers see candidates with experience versus candidates without experience, who do you think they will pick?

It's a competitive job market right now with national unemployment reaching 6.5% and Indiana unemployment reaching 6.4%, the highest rates in 16 years! Schmitt & Baker (1), researched recession periods in America and predict that it will only get worse before it gets better. According to their assessments we fall in the Severe Projected Recession category with a prediction of national unemployment reaching 8.4% in 2011. "What are you saying Karen?!" I'm saying that you need to do everything you can now, to prevent yourself from falling in that unemployment statistic in the future.

Now that I have your attention and your heart is racing with anxiety, let me put it at ease with some comforting options and truths about gaining relevant experience before you graduate.

• TRUTH: Co-ops (Cooperative Education experiences) are always paid and are renewable. They are also one way to gain relevant experience within your major. Check with your academic department if this is an option for your major.

• TRUTH: A lot of internships are already paid. Employers base the pay for interns on their budget and most will offer some type of compensation for students. If the internship description does not specifically mention that it's paid, you can always inquire about your options AFTER the company offers you the internship. Check out ways to negotiate your salary for some good tips. You can find books on these and there is a section in our career guide about it as well.

• TRUTH: You can turn your current volunteer experience into a great internship. Many places that work with volunteers are in a constant need for help and if you only ask what more you can do, then more could be granted. I highly suggest preparing your "pitch" with examples of what you can do to help that also matches your major. Remind the organization that you are being trained in this particular major and if you could keep your current hours, or add a couple on to sweeten the deal, then they can only gain from this opportunity.
  

• TRUTH: Ask for more responsibilities at your current part-time job and gain relevant experience. If applicable... Some jobs may not have this option for you but if you are working a part-time job now and are interested in gaining more experience, then ask your supervisor for more responsibilities and turn this job into something more.
  

• TRUTH: Job Shadowing is another viable option. You have the opportunity to learn about the company and know if you would be a good fit within the certain position you shadow. This is also a great way to network and "get your foot in the door" at an organization/company in which you're interested. You only have to give up a couple hours out of one day to do job shadowing, a great option for busy students.
  

Employers are still looking for interns for this coming spring 2009 semester and are beginning to look for summer 2009 interns. Check out JobZone at www.ipfw.edu/jobzone and Indiana INTERNnet at www.indianaintern.net for current internship opportunities. Utilize your networks like professors, family members, friends, and the friendly counselors in the Office of Career Services, when looking for internships. Good luck and don't get caught in the Catch-22... INTERN NOW!


1. Schmitt, J. and Baker, D., What We’re In For: Projected Economic Impact of the Next Recession, Center for Economic and Policy Research, January 2008.

IPFW Career Counselor Featured on Blog-Fame and Fortune Follows

So, I’m not really famous, but I have made a few new online friends since my presentation about the Adventures of Johnny Bunko was featured on the book’s blog. New York Times Bestselling author Dan Pink uses the unique medium of manga to impart six essential career lessons for the new millennium.
The book centers around a character named Johnny, a dissatisfied entry-level accountant who followed all of the right career advice from everyone, until he began to suspect that everyone was wrong.

The lessons are:
Lesson 1: There is no plan.
Lesson 2: Think strengths, not weaknesses.
Lesson 3: It’s not about you.
Lesson 4: Persistence trumps talent.
Lesson 5: Make excellent mistakes.
Lesson 6: Leave an imprint.

The PowerPoint for my full presentation is below.







Presenting at CDPI was such a fun experience. I’d love the chance to speak to a group about Bunko again. If you’re part of a student or community organization with members that would be interested in learning more about The Adventures of Johnny Bunko give me a call at (260) 481-0689.

Career Development Month

National Career Development Month, held every November, is a reason to get serious about your career path. IPFW Career Services is providing you with a number of networking panels and dinners to assist you with determining your ideal career path.

Check out these events on campus!

November 3rd - Pin the Tail on the Mastodon (games & prizes); Walb Union 1st floor 11am-1pm

November 4th - Government Networking Panel: Red, White & Blue jobs; SB 176 12-1:30pm

November 6th - I heart my major, but I need to pay the bills: Liberal Arts Degrees; KT G41 12-1:15pm

November 10th - Career Jeopardy (games & prizes); Walb Union 1st floor 11am-1pm

November 12th - Career Services Open House; KT 109 11am-2pm

November 13th - Internships on a Time-Budget; Walb Ballroom 6-8pm --Co-hosted by the Center for Women & Returning Adults

November 17th - Fish for your Career (games & prizes); Walb Union 1st floor 11am-1pm

November 19th - Cool Science Careers; SB 185 12-1:15pm

November 20th - Non-Profit Networking Panel; NF 133 12-1:30pm

Contact the Office of Career Services at 481-0689 or Karen Obringer, Career Counselor, at obringek@ipfw.edu for more information on any events.