Time for Spring Break! Here's your To Do List!

1.      Take your resume with you.  You never know whom you might meet while you’re traveling.  Update your resume, or if you don’t have one, then use this time to create one.  For assistance, see the Career Services Career Planning Guide or visit here.

2.  Start looking for an internship or co-op position for the summer.  Here are some places to start looking on-line:

Hokies for Hire

Internship Listing Sites

Co-op/Intern Program Employers by Major

3. Research what you could do with your major after you graduate.  Check out these sites:

Post-Graduation Report

More sites with information on majors and careers

4.  Network while you’re having fun!  Someone you meet on Break might be able to help you.  Or, look up some alums on LinkedIn who live where you’re visiting and talk to them:

LinkedIn
Alumni Chapter Contacts all over the world

5.  Research locations you visit during Break. Would you like to live and work there for the summer or after you graduate?

6. Go shopping for an interview suit, so you will be ready for interviews. Need advice about what to buy? Check out this advice about interview attire.

Career Exploration: Self Assessment

Finding a major and career fit for you can be tough.  For all the pressure high school likes to push on you to know everyone you want out of life by age seventeen, many college students still find themselves without a sense of direction.  Even students who start out thinking they know exactly where they want to go can end up questioning themselves a year later.

Hokies, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay.  You’re not alone in feeling this.  Even I, who had the rare insight of knowing what she wanted to do since middle school, have questioned if I really am where I’m supposed to be.

The great news is your school is here to support you and help you find your way.

So how can you start this self-finding journey?

The best start would be in some personality assessment.  If you’re trying to find a career that fits you, after all, you should learn more about yourself first! 

Start with collegescope.  After registering with the website, you’ll want to take the “Do What You Are” test.  In this test, you will answer a series of questions that places you in one of sixteen Myer-Brigg personality types.

Hold the phone, you say.  This sounds like something thirteen year old girls do in their spare time, and then post on their facebook wall for all their friends to see.

Yes, I was a little skeptical of it at first as well.  However, the results you get from this test are incredible.  Once the test places you in one of the personality types, it not only gives a small description of that personality type (which for me was surprisingly accurate), but then went into detail about various strengths and weaknesses people in that particular personality type might have, what to look for to get the most satisfying college experience, and potential careers that fit the personality well.

Of course, these results will be withheld from you until you make an appointment with an advisor from career services and meet with them in person.  From there, you can not only look at your results, but discuss them, find majors or careers that interest you, and then do your own research from there.

When I took the test, I found out I was an “INTJ”- a personality type that fits amazingly well within my chosen major of computer science.  That was a reassurance, but not enough to convince me that I was in the right major.

This is when the next batch of tests comes in.  Another great tool for students exploring what to do with their lives is myplan.  Make sure to get the school’s license code from a career service’s adviser before registering, for the website’s services are not free.  However, as a hokie, the school is paying for those services for you!

At this site, you will find four assessments to take: two personality tests that put you in a Myer-Brigg personality type and give you a Holland Code (a personality code based on your interests), a skills assessment that ranks what careers best fit your strengths, and a values test that ranks what you find most important and fulfilling in a work environment.  After taking these four tests, a composite score is created for you that shows what careers best match the results from your four tests.

The results I got from these tests further convinced me that I was in the right major.  My top interest in the interest test was conventional- an area that focuses on problem solving, detailed oriented tasks, and routine over chaos.  Sure enough, on the handout I got from my adviser on this test showed computer science as one of the best majors for this category.  My values test also showed that one of my biggest priorities when working is getting a strong sense of achievement and accomplishment, something else that computer science is great at as well.

Of course, whether your results are reassuring or surprising, they should be discussed with a career services adviser (hopefully in the same meeting you discuss your results from collegescope).    Once you have a sense of what all of these personality assessments mean, you’ll be on your way to finding the major and career for you.

So if you need a break from homework, try these tests out!  You never know what you might find out about yourself.

One of the First Things to Do when You Return from Break: Unplug!

The Friday before Spring Break, I spent my day at an advising conference on campus where the keynote speaker, Dr. Peter Doolittle, an educational psychology professor at Virginia Tech, talked about mindfulness. One definition I found in Psychology Today identifies this term as “a state of active, open attention on the present.”

For us to be more mindful, we need to take a break from all the messages that are thrown our way and just be. March 20 is the first day of spring, so here is my mindfulness prescription for all of us.

Unplug. Take a break from your smart phone for a whole afternoon on the next beautiful spring day (come on, you can do it!). Put your phone down, turn off your laptop and head outside.

Savoring Spring: Top 10 Things to See or Do on Your Mindfulness Journey!

1.       Look for your first Robin, a sign that Spring is on its way.

2.      See if you can find some daffodils and crocuses blooming, another sure sign of the start of Spring

3.      Visit the fields near Smithfield Plantation to see a newborn foal or lamb

4.      Walk around the Duck Pond to view the baby ducks or geese

5.      Visit the Drillfield and the April 16 Memorial  for a moment of silence and appreciation for those who went before us

6.      Take a blanket outside, soak up the sun, and catch up on some reading

7.      Throw a Frisbee, kick a soccer ball, or play catch with a friend

8.      Look at the view from the Pylons at the War Memorial and pause for a time of thankfulness for those who gave up their lives for our freedom

9.      Admire the blooms on the Bradford Pear trees across campus

10.   Enjoy an ice cream cone, smoothie, milk shake or some other frozen treat

Rejoice in the rebirth that comes with spring! Get unplugged and celebrate the world right in front of your eyes, if you will only take the time to look. Savor the Spring!

Check out this article from the CT

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/21576/declining-value-of-college-degrees-makes-way-for-increase-in-value-of-internships

Check out this recent article about social resumes: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20130216-goodbye-paper-hello-social-resume.ece

Follow-Up is Key to Job Search Success!

So maybe you are one of the over 1500 students who attended the Connection Job Fair last week. What do you do now? If you really want that internship opportunity you learned more about at the fair, then follow-up is key for you to move forward in the process.

3 Reasons Follow-Up Makes a Difference

1.       Every time you follow up with employers, your name gets in front of them again – a great tool to remind employers of conversations you had at Connection.

2.      When you reach out to employers after meeting them, you are demonstrating your sincere interest in their organization and the internship opportunity.

3.      You are proving that you know how to take initiative, not something all your peers can do.

How to Follow-Up

The best way to make contact after an initial conversation with an employer is to call the employer, if at all possible. Why is calling preferable to an email? Calling is more personal than an email. Many employers are difficult to catch by phone. To avoid playing phone tag, when you leave a voice mail message, be sure to

1.       Leave your first and last name

2.      Let the employer know why you are calling, i.e. to check on the status of your application

3.      Slowly give your phone number

4.      Let the employer know a few times you will definitely be available when they can return your call  

5.      Repeat your name and phone number one last time before hanging up

A Follow-Up Success Story

A few years ago, late in the fall semester, Megan applied for a Career Services Internship. Right before final exams, she was invited for an interview via email. However, the email went into her Junk Mail which she rarely checked. Over Winter Break, as Megan cleaned out her Junk Mail, she came upon the email interview invitation. She was horrified! She had missed an opportunity!

Immediately she emailed the Internship Coordinator and told her what had happened and apologized for the oversight. And, Megan asked if there were still any spots available as she was really interested in getting experience. After doing some checking, the Intern Coordinator connected Megan to a possible opportunity with an advisor. Megan interviewed for the position, accepted the offer and gained valuable experience that helped her obtain her first full-time position after graduation.

That’s just one follow-up success story; there are lots more. Let us know how follow up helped move you forward in the job search process!! Follow up can be a difference maker!