Save the Date! Reverse Career Fair!

SAVE THE DATE FOR THIS EXCITING CAREER FAIR!

WHO: The Reverse Career Fair is open to student leaders who are part of IPFW affiliated groups (including student orgs, Ambassadons, pep band members, Honors students, student housing RAs, peer advisors, etc.).

FIRST 45 TO REGISTER WILL RECEIVE: A printed display that features a full-color banner you will design and aluminum frame stand.

REGISTER HERE: http://ipfw-csm.symplicity.com/surveys/2013ReverseCareerFairStudent

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: February 1, 2013

Is Graduate School for Me?

Perhaps one of the biggest decisions one will make is whether or not to attend graduate school. It can be challenging to weigh the pros and cons of graduate school attendance. The following questions can be very helpful as you try and determine your future regarding graduate school. 

Am I prepared to commit to a career field?
Action point: take the free FOCUS career assessment and schedule a meeting with your career counselor to discuss results
Words of wisdom: Exploring the field with internships and job shadows will be extremely beneficial when trying to determine your interest in a career field.

Is it worth the financial investment?
Action point: familiarize yourself with potential funding sources
Words of Wisdom: Many institutions offer aid and tuition assistance through graduate assistantships. Federal loans are also available to many graduate students. Aid DOES vary based on institution, so it’s vital to do homework regarding institutions of interest.

Which institution do I want to attend?
Action point: Research, Research, Research!
Words of Wisdom: Some helpful questions to ask and research one when considering an institution include:

• What does the program emphasize? How many students are enrolled in the program?
• How long does it take to complete the program?
• Where is the institution located?
• What research areas are faculty members studying at the institution?

For more information please take advantage of the following free services

• Visit IPFW Career Services office, Helmke Library, or the office of your program of study 
• Published Guides: Peterson’s guides to graduate school available at www.petersons.com (highly recommended source) 
• Published rankings: Institutional rankings can be found through U.S. News and World Report, The Gourman Report, and McLean’s. *Please remember that these rankings are subjective and do not provide information regarding professors, job placement records, financial aid possibilities, etc.

Media Montage: Employer Site Visits

Media Montage: Employer Site Visits

Are you interested in getting involved in the television and radio industries?

Wednesday, November, 28th the IPFW Career Services Office will be hosting Media Montage: Employer Site Visits.

IPFW Students may register to attend this event where they will get to tour local television and radio companies and network with professionals.  The group will visist WFWA-PBS, WOWO, OASIS Radio Group, and Indiana's NewsCenter. 

There are only a few spots left.  Click here to register!   

Health Care Careers Panel

This Thursday at Noon!

Co-Sponsored by Office of Diversity & Multicultural Affairs

http://new.ipfw.edu/odma/

LinkedIn Profile Pictures

TheLadders Eye Tracking Study

How important can a LinkedIn profile picture be?  A recent study by TheLadders used eye tracking technology to study the factors employers focus on when reviewing a LinkedIn profile.  TheLadders found that employers spend 19% of the time they look at a profile examining the profile picture.  Maybe there is truth to the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Here are a few tips to help you communicate the right message to future employers with a professional profile picture. 

Do

-Dress for the Job. Your attire and appearance for a professional profile picture should also be appropriate for a job interview.

-Consider the Background. A plain or muted background will encourage others to look at you and not at what's behind you.

-Use a Headshot. Your profile picture should capture you from the top of your head to just below the shoulders.

-Be Yourself. This is not the time to try a new hairstyle. Just be yourself and offer a pleasant smile.

 

Don't

-Crop a photo from a recent vacation or photographed event. Avoid beach pictures and wedding photographs.

-Include others. Make it easy for employers to recognize you by only including yourself in your profile picture. 

-Take a self-portrait. Mirror shots are unprofessional. Ask a friend to use a camera or use a tripod and a timer to take your headshot.

-Use an outdated photo. Profile pictures should represent how you currently look, not how you looked ten years ago.

 

Need some helping making your profile picture professional?  During the month of November, the Career Services Office will be taking LinkedIn Profile Pictures during drop-in hours (Monday-Friday, 10am-2pm).  Stop by the office (KT109), take a quick photo, receive an electronic copy of your image, and improve your LinkedIn profile!

Externship Testimonials



Externs meeting with Ashley Calderon during Fall Break externships

Ever feel like you really wanted to gain some experience in your prospective field but are unable to
balance your crazy schedule between work, class, and everything else? The externship program offered through the IPFW Career Services office is designed just for you! So, what is an externship? An externship is a mini internship which allows individuals to job shadow professionals to better understand what a position in a prospective field may look like. The externship program originated during spring break week and has now grown to offer externships over fall break. Fall break externships focus on on-campus opportunities for students. Fall externships for 2012 just concluded! The feedback from the program was overwhelmingly positive. Below are some testimonials from individuals in the externship process 

"I really enjoyed my time during externship. I was able to learn so much about Human Resources and everyone answered all of my questions." - Human Resources extern

"I really enjoyed meeting with all of the different staff members. They were all so friendly and genuinely wanted to help. It was great to be able to network with them and just have all my questions answered. It really reaffirmed my desire to work in Human Resources." - Human Resources extern

"My favorite part of the externship process is just meeting with students. I really enjoy hearing from them, and they so frequently remind me of why I love my job. It's a great opportunity to mentor students and build long-term relationships with them." - Human Resources externship supervisor

If you are interested in externships, be sure to apply for the next externship program taking place March 11- March 15, 2013 (spring break week)! Space is limited so be sure to apply early:)

Check out http://new.ipfw.edu/offices/career/students/externships.html  for more information!

5 Things Wrong With Your Resume

Writing a winning resume is no walk in the park. You have to know yourself, you have to know your skills and if you want an employer to believe it, you have to believe it. The career website Vault.com talks about some of the basics. Here are 5 tips for you to consider:

Repetition. When an employer looks at your resume, they spend about 30 seconds on it. If you put something, and then you put it again somewhere else on your resume, you’ve potentially just wasted the employers’ time and cost yourself the job. Don’t repeat, anything. Words. Descriptions of similar jobs. Nothing.

Excess fat. Don’t get too wordy. If you get bored reading your own resume, others will too. Don’t take the time to go into too much detail about previous jobs (unless they are relevant to the employer that you’re applying for), ignoring everything that requires you to use first person. At the same time, you want to be sure you get the point across of what kind of importance your previous job held. “Stocked.” “Shipped.” “Packed.” Stocked what? Shipped, packed what? Sometimes, depending on where you worked, those things are self-explanatory. (i.e., you worked at a warehouse.) Tell the employer why your skills from previous employment are relevant to them if they hire you, and no periods on your resume.

The un-bolded beautiful. Don’t undersell yourself. If you were in charge of something or earned an award, ever, at a previous job, in a volunteer experience, from school, make it clear. The employer won’t know if you don’t tell them. Explain how you accomplished a task, what you gained from it, why it’s important to the employer. Always include dates and locations.

Not minding the gap. It happens. People get laid off, they get hurt, for some reason, they have to stop working. Clearly, lying is never a good idea. So here are your options: one, completely skip over the gap on your resume and don’t explain it at all, but be prepared to be asked about it in an interview. Have an answer. Don’t stumble around, trying to come up with an answer because that just looks worse. Two, briefly explain it at the bottom of your resume. Extremely personal details are not necessary, but a basic idea to let the employer know that you were focused on something beyond potato chips and daytime television.

Page two. Two page resumes are for the few and far between simply because it just takes a longer time to read. For that reason, most people stick to one page. Two pagers are for people with lots of really cool, really relevant experience over a period of time (not skipping from job to job!) So consider, if you want to go to two pages and you were an employer looking at your resume, would you without a doubt want to be aware of the information that you’ve provided? If not, then it’s gotta go.