Spring Break 2016 Bucket List: What Should You Add to Your List?

Are you ready for Spring Break yet? 

I know many of you have lots of tests or midterms to get through the week before you leave. As you make your final preparations for your Spring Break, do you have some things you want to accomplish during your week away? If you haven't thought about your "to do" list yet, check out our Spring Break Bucket List below. Which of these items do you need to mark off your list while you're gone on Spring Break?

Come see us in Career Services before you leave town if we can help you design some plans to get you on the right track to

• explore a new major, 
• look for a summer job or internship, 
• prepare for interviews for your first full-time job or 
• research graduate schools.

You can walk in to see us Monday through Friday for 10 Minute Walk-In Advising from 12 - 3pm, or call 540-231-6241 to make an appointment with a career advisor.

Let us help you launch your career plans! Now see how many of these you can check off during your Spring Break! Can you do all 26?

It's April Fool's Day, but don't be a fool forever

I was that person. You know, the one in your classes, who is too scared to ask a question or share an opinion. I was afraid of being wrong or looking stupid. They say with age, comes wisdom, and I'm definitely old enough to know how dumb I was then because I didn't raise my hand when I didn't understand or had a comment to share. The quote in the picture above hangs in my office as reminder to me to ask questions.

On this April Fool's Day, we don't want you to be a fool forever.  Below are 12 typical questions we often receive from students.

What are typical careers for a communication major? (or any other major)
Where can I go to get more information about what environmental engineers do? (or the occupation that interests you)
How can I answer the interview question, "What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"
Is this where I take the "test?"

What is the difference between a co-op and internship position?
Where can I find a summer internship in Seattle? (or some other location of interest)
What are other ways I can get experience besides working in an internship?
Does leadership experience count with employers or graduate programs?

What is the best format to use for my resume? (hint: there is not one right answer!)
Where can I get help with practicing for an interview?
What is the timeline to follow for my graduate school applications?
What kind of help do you provide as I apply to medical schools?

Which one of these questions do you want to ask? We have answers for these questions and more! You just need to take that first step and come see us for advising, available at these times and locations.

What questions do you have about your future plans? Career Services advisors can assist you. 

Let us help you reach the next step of the journey to your career.

Job Search Gone Cold? 7 ways to warm up!

We finally got our first big snow of 2015 and we’re in for a frigid week. While it’s cold outside, use this time to warm up your job search. Here are 6 warm ups for you with a bonus recipe thrown in!

Want to move to a different part of the country? Check out CareerSHIFT where you can customize your search for listings targeting a certain job title or location. And, if you have a dream employer but no contacts, you can search for contacts at employers as well. Once you locate an employer, send that contact a letter of inquiry with your resume.

Attend career fairs. Next week the Computer Science Consortium, Connection and CareerFest fairs will all be held. Connection is for ALL majors. And, if you don’t already have Spring Break plans, there are career fairs in Richmond and Northern Virginia during our break. Find out more about various fairs here.

Ramp up your brand online by fine tuning your LinkedIn profile. The more complete your profile, the more LinkedIn can help you, and the more you will bubble up in searches. Tap into a special job search site LinkedIn has created just for you. And, FIND ALUMNI by accessing them under CONNECTIONS in the LinkedIn tool bar. Tailor your requests to connect with alumni.

Make Hokies4Hire a regular part of your search by setting up saved searches (a job search agent), so you will get emails when a new job is added that meets your criteria. You can also participate in on campus interviews and look for contacts in the Employer Directory in Hokies4Hire.

Use GoinGlobal to research a city where you plan to relocate. This site features over 40 US City Guides with links to job listing sites. Tap into professional networking groups for a particular city and learn about top industries. And, if you are an international student, access the H1B Plus database to find employers who have been through the H1B process with other employees.

Put yourself out there! Don’t be afraid to reach out to contacts through friends of parents or parents of friends. Maybe that contact is a neighbor, someone you met at a conference, someone you know from class. Most people like helping others. If you find someone who won’t assist you, move on to the next contact. As I tell the 2 Hokies I raised, 

“It  never hurts to ask. The worst answer you will get is no!”

Need more ideas to warm up your job search? Come see us in Career Services or at a location near you. To make an appointment with a career advisor, call 540-231-6241. We can help you heat up your job search!

To close, warm up for real with this homemade hot chocolate recipe from the Hershey Cocoa box. Nothing like HOMEMADE HOT COCOA to warm up on these cold days we’ve been having. Stay warm and try some of these tips to make your job search heat up!

Picking the Right Fork and Acing the Job Dinner Interview

You’ve just received an interview with your dream company, but it includes a meal. Would you know what to do? Or which fork to use first? On Wednesday, October 24, Career Services hosted its annual Dining Etiquette Dinner. We have some advice on how to successfully navigate a meal interview with a potential employer. 

 DO dress appropriately. Men should wear at least a jacket to the meal, while women should stick to a dress or skirt and avoid sandals.

DO order your meal first. Since you are the guest, it is custom for you to order your meal first. It is also expected that your employer will pay for the meal, since they invited you.

DO remember to use polite table manners. Be sure to wait for everyone else to be seated before putting your napkin on your lap or opening the menu.

DO act gracious. Avoid causing a scene by sending food back or fussing over small errors with the order. The employers are taking note of how you behave in social situations.

DO build bridges, not ramps! By this, we mean to always put your knives, forks, and spoons down by placing the entire utensil on the plate. Don’t rest them on the table like a “ramp”. 

DON’T discuss controversial topics such as politics, religion or sex during the meal.

DON’T slouch or place your elbows on the table. An upright posture shows that you are positive and attentive to the conversation with the employer.

DON’T forget to treat this as any other interview. It is important to bring copies of your resume, to research the employer and position beforehand, and to have questions prepared for the interviewer.

DON’T leave your phone on. It would be rude to the employer if your phone went off during the interview. Be sure to also keep it off the table and hidden from sight.

DON’T order alcohol, even if you are of age.

If you follow these Do’s and Don’ts, your interview should run smoothly. Remember that the priority of your interview is to be respectful and polite—treat the meal as you would an interview in a professional setting. One of the advantages to a lunch or dinner interview is that you can utilize moments of chewing to think of your answers before responding!

It's almost Halloween--but career fairs aren't so spooky!

Business Horizons 2014. Photo credit: Pamplin: College of Business Magazine 

Walking into a career fair can be a terrifying experience—the room is filled with other students competing to impress potential employers for the same opportunities you want. However, if you choose to prepare for this event, your experience doesn’t have to be so scary. In fact, you will find being prepared leads to confidence and success. You can use these tips for the upcoming FallConnection Job Fair on Oct. 14^th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Squires Commonwealth.

Research the employers beforehand

Do your homework before the career fair. You should research which companies are coming to the fair, what kind of positions they have available, what the company does, and what they are looking for. Create a list of the companies you know you want to approach.

Look over your resume – again

Not only should you be proofreading your resume for any mistakes or checking to see if all your information is updated, but you should also be sure to refresh your memory on your experiences. Be prepared to talk in-depth about any experience on your resume, because a recruiter may ask for you to explain further. Be sure to print many copies on resume-quality paper!

Have your questions ready

Avoid questions like, “What does your company exactly do?” or “What is the salary?” You can stand out to an employer with smart and thoughtful questions. Some examples of good questions would be, “What opportunities are there for collaboration” or “What does an average day look like for an employee at your company?”

Know what you’re going to say

Be sure to have at least a 30 second introduction prepared. This elevator pitch should include who you are, what you have done, what you can do, and what you are interested in from the employer. It can be a good idea to end your pitch with a question regarding the position or company, so that you are pulling the employer into a conversation. After you’ve figured out what you want to say, practice it until it becomes smooth and natural.

Remember, if you take the time to prepare for each individual employer, your efforts will be noticed!

Snow Day: Prepare for next week!

Since you got your free pass from class thanks to Old Man Winter, how are you going to use your time? Sleep? Play video games? Study for your big test tomorrow? Here are 5 questions to ask yourself on this free day.

1.       Am I ready to introduce myself at career fairs next week? If you could use a little help, PWC has a great worksheet  for you to tweak your elevator pitch or introduction. And, check out the Career Spots video on The Elevator Pitch. You can practice your pitch using Interview Stream.

2.       Do I have a game plan for the employers I want to meet at career fairs? Visit the career fair site and create your target list of employers. Research them using LinkedIn, Google, or resources in the library. Create some questions to ask each employer.

3.       What will employers find if they google me? Have you ever googled yourself? You should. An employer who prepares to interview you will check out your online image. To make sure that image is professional, if you’re not on LinkedIn, work on your profile during this snowy day. Here are some tips to get you started. 

4.       What I will wear to the career fair? I’ve read several places, based on research done at NYU, that in 7 seconds people make 11 decisions about you. First impressions matter and appearance impacts our first impressions. You don’t have to wear a suit to the career fair (although you can if you want to look really professional), but you do want to dress a bit nicer than you might for class, wearing business casual attire. And, remember it’s BUSINESS casual not CLUB casual.

5.       Have I been outside? Take a break today and get outside and enjoy the snow. Build a snow man. Have a snowball battle. Go sledding. My favorite place to go sledding in Blacksburg when I was growing up was The Hill, the Blacksburg Municipal Golf Course. Great hills for sledding if you can make it there.

Need some more help as you gear up for a busy career fair week? Check out this infographic we posted in the fall.

Come see us in Career Services for Walk-In Advising, 12 – 3pm, Monday through Friday (when VT is open), or call 540-231-6241 to make an appointment with a career advisor.  All the best next week!

Now I need to get offline and go outside and play in the snow with my dog, Lexi.

Five Reasons You Should Consider Getting a Career Services Internship

It's that part of the year where everyone is scrambling to figure out what they're doing with their summer.  Some people already have internships with companies lined up. Others may be applying for jobs back at home.  Some might be traveling abroad for awesome international experiences.  And yet, you might be watching your friends planning for their summer activities without a clue of what you want to do.

If you are considering staying in the Blacksburg area over the summer, you should definitely think about applying for a Virginia Tech Career Services internship.  Take it from a girl who has spent her last year working for them- it's a great experience!  Not only did I get to work with some of the nicest people I have ever met, but the internship never felt like a job to me because I was having so much fun.  The experience is unique to every individual, but here are my five reasons why you should check out the Career Services Intern Program:

1) You have a great commute
If you're staying in Blacksburg, chances are you're either living on campus or in an apartment on the bus route.  This means that your longest commute is either a ten minute bus ride or a ten minute walk over to the Career Services building on campus, across the Washington Street from Schiffert Health Center.  If you happen to be working on a project that doesn't require you to be in the office, such as writing for Career Chassé, then you might even get to work from the comfort of your own home!  Either way, there's no worry about sitting in traffic during rush hour.

2) You get experience with a professional environment
Since you'll be working in a real professional environment, you'll be treated like a professional.  You won't be handed busy work to keep you occupied, but given actual assignments that affect the university and its students.  You will get to experience being held accountable for the responsibilities given to you and presenting your progress in meetings with both your supervisor and other interns.  Then, at the end of the term, you will present what you accomplished to an audience of interns and Career Services officials.  Although this might sound daunting to some, Career Services does a great job of creating a relaxed atmosphere that will ease you into the process you will most likely have in your career after graduating.

3)You could count your internship as class credit
Planning on taking classes over the summer?  Depending on your major, your internship might count for class credit!  Try talking to your department adviser to see if you could be getting both internship experience and credits in one go.

4) The monthly meetings are centered around teaching you what you want to learn
While the monthly meetings allow you to explain your progress in your internship, they are also a great learning tool.  Each month, interns get to decide what topic they would like discussed: interviewing tips, how to discuss salary with an employer, how to accept and reject offers gracefully, even how to apply for graduate school.  Whatever you might want to go over you can bring up with your supervisor and learn about at these monthly meetings.  After all, that is what Career Services is for!

5) Career Services is for students - meaning that school comes first
Most importantly in my mind, Career Services works for the university and knows the life of a student.  Thus, unlike many employers out there, they understand that you're a student first and an intern second.  If you have a rough week of classes, as long as you give warning to your supervisor, they will be gracious and understanding.  There's no worries about trying to explain finals or large projects and papers to a boss that's thirty years out of college.  Plus, if you ever feel over-stressed from your class workload, Career Services will be right there to offer great studying and time management tips.  Handy, isn't it?
If I've managed to spark an interest in you, check out the Career Services Internship Program page Career Services Internship Program page.  The application deadline for interning in Summer/Fall 2013 closes April 19th, so you have a few weeks to think about it.

I hope to see you around Career Services next semester!

Find your major out of chaos!

As the week of course request for Fall semester classes ends on Tuesday, you may be asking yourself if you are in the correct major. Maybe you thought you were good in math, so engineering was the direction you were leaning, but now you’re not so sure. Or maybe you took some intro classes in a certain major you thought you would like and now you think the classes are boring. If any of this sounds like you, a Career Advisor in Career Services can help you figure out your career direction, whether that is through a self-assessment tool or by devising a plan out of chaos.

Figure yourself out with self-assessments

Although self-assessment can’t give you the answer (you’re the one who holds the answers, right?), using a tool to look at your interests, skills, values and personality type, may give you some ideas of careers or majors to consider as you decide whether to make a change in your major or career plans. Students who take a self-assessment like MyPlan or Do What You Are, also sometimes find that one of these tools confirms a direction they were already wondering about, which makes them feel more confident as they make that choice.

With another tool, StrengthsQuest, you are able to learn about your talents that you can work on to turn into strengths. This instrument may help put a name on some of your key qualities that you might not have viewed as talents before - also beneficial as you make career or major choices. If you want to get started with one of these assessments, the first step is to make an appointment with a Career Advisor; call 540-231-6241. We’ll meet with you to talk about your particular situation, determine the best assessment tools to meet your needs, follow up to talk about your results and point you to people or places to find out more about majors or careers of interest.

Devise a plan out of chaos

If you feel you know yourself well enough but still want to take some action as you decide your major, another possible step is to create a Wandering Map. Dr. Katharine Brooks, author of You Majored in What (great book to figure out your career direction and get to know yourself better) suggests using this wandering map to look at your past for hints to help you plan your future. She applies chaos theory to making career decisions. Although the weather is difficult to predict and often chaotic, weather patterns emerge, and this is true of our lives too, where certain patterns come to light if we take the time to look.

Though the path that got you here may seem random to you, Dr. Brooks takes you through steps where you map out key events that have happened in your life this far. First, you brainstorm and list objects, events, people, and other things that have played a role in your life so far. Then you will review your ideas, add more items, and analyze your notes for categories and themes. Next, she asks you some key questions about those themes you’ve identified. Want to see if you can create a plan out of chaos? We can get you started with creating your own wandering map—call 540-231-6241 to meet with a Career Advisor to learn more.

Help is close by if you feel like you need a hand in your journey to your major or career. Set up a meeting with a Career Advisor today to get started with increasing your self-knowledge and mapping out a plan out of chaos.

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.