Finding a job is probably uppermost in your mind (and your parents’) especially if you’re about to become a college graduate. Graduation time is nearing, and if you’re not going on to grad school, a full time job is usually the next step.
Ideally, the time to look for a job is before graduation, not afterwards. Checking in at your college’s career center is one of the first places college students can go for guidance. This could be done even when just a freshman. Yet, there are many other steps that a college student can take to help with a job search, even now.
One important way to find a job is to build a network. Start out by making a list of contacts – perhaps people you know who are working in the field you are interested in. Even if you think you don’t know anyone who could be helpful, your networking list can include not only everyone you know, but even your parents’ friends and your friends’ parents’ friends! They in turn will know other people, and so on. After you let your contacts know what kind of position you’re looking for and what your experience is, leads could very well develop for you.
An atypical, but more of a take-charge approach would be to go into a local professional building, write down the names of company employees listed in the directory, and after researching the company, contact them about possible openings. Before going on any interview, the company should be researched so that you can explain how your skills and experience would work within the company, plus you would better understand the company’s goals. Also if you look for a company that promotes from within, there are possibilities for advancement.
Real-world experience is always advantageous. If you’ve been able to acquire an internship, whether paid or not, it’s not only a way for you to see what the company is like to work for, and gives you work experience, but it shows the company what you are like. So internships, or even volunteering your time in other areas, are experiences that should be highlighted in your resume.
Of course, your resume should be professional-looking. That means no typos. It should look neat, and be written in a clear, concise way. Resumes are a way of showing what you’ve learned, and what qualifications you would bring to the company. For assistance with resume formatting and writing, Pongoresume.com is a terrific resource. References are important as well. Favorite teachers would be perfect choices to write you a great letter of recommendation. Other ideas to strengthen one’s potential on the job-market is to customize your resume for each job, not to overdo it with lots of fonts and text effects, to write a cover letter, which highlights personal accomplishments, and to take multiple copies of your resume to interviews to show how prepared you are.
Keep in mind some mistakes not to make when looking for a job:
· Don’t have your parents involved in the interviewing, recruiting and negotiation process of your job search. If you keep your parents’ advice to yourself, recruiters may find you more professional and mature.
· Don’t neglect to write thank you notes to interviewers or to people who have helped you. A short e-mail might be all it takes for you to stand out.
· Make sure your voice mail greetings don’t leave a bad impression.
· If the interviewer has your cell phone number, if you’re at a place that doesn’t allow for quiet conversation, let the call go to your voice mail.
· Don’t post anything on websites that you wouldn’t want a recruiter to see.
Once you’ve graduated from college, and are still looking for a job, that is a full-time job in itself. You can join a professional organization and attend meetings and events to continue to make contacts. You can always go on the internet to see about job openings. Don’t forget that there’s always the tried and true approach of going through the want ads in a newspaper.
When looking for a job, there is always some rejection. The word is to try and stay “positive”. When you get a job, even if it’s not the job of your dreams, your best efforts and your work ethic serve you well as you begin your career.
As a parent or relative of a graduating student from either high school or college, you are probably experiencing many emotions during this time of year. Graduation will be one of the most important ceremonies your child or loved one will ever experience. Of course, you will be there to watch them receive their diploma and throw their cap in the air along with their entire graduating class. But you also want to capture every moment and emotion on this important day. These tips can help you take great graduation photos that are full of emotion. There is no better way to capture and relive those irreplaceable moments in life.
- Take Candids! Especially with a digital camera that allows you to be selective and edit later, just take lots of pictures! The more you take, the greater the chances of capturing a perfect candid moment. Consider shooting photos of:
- Teachers, Professors, Speakers or Honorary Graduates enjoying the ceremony
- Excited parents and family members waiting for their loved one to get their diploma. Get up close to capture the anticipation and pride in their faces!
- The grad trying on their cap and gown for the first time.
- Get your grad having fun with their friends, hugging, waving, decorating their caps, or sharing a quiet moment together.
- Use a telephoto lens to capture them receiving their diploma, shaking hands with faculty, moving their tassel over on their cap, or marching in their gown and sash.
Casual and unplanned photos can be the most sentimental of all.
- Get as close as possible to the stage without interfering with the ceremony or getting in the way of other photographers. Again, a telephoto lens can be invaluable in these situations.
- Consider asking a “graduating” friend to take some photos for you. They may be seated nearer to the stage. Your grad could reciprocate, especially if names are called alphabetically and they are in different call groups going to the stage.
- Take photographs from two or more different angles to get more variety. This will spice up your graduation photograph collection.
- Get in even closer than you think you should. For great emotion, close-in on faces and capture those great expressions and connections between people.
- If the graduation ceremony is inside, keep in mind a flash typically only captures a ten foot range. Try to get as close as possible to the stage or podium. Get to the ceremony as early as possible to ensure a great seat or to take a quick shot of your grad on stage!
- If the graduation ceremony is outside, keep the camera in flash mode. This will eliminate unwanted facial shadows on the subject.
- If it is very sunny outside, make sure the sun is not directly behind you (the photographer) so the subject does not have to squint. Angle yourself so the sun is behind you, but to the side.
- Find out if the school hires a professional photographer to take the actual receiving of the diploma and the Principal or Dean handshake. If so, don’t stress about getting the perfect photograph. Don’t focus too much on the receiving of the diploma, so you don’t miss the pictures with more meaning; such as what the soon-to-be graduate’s face looks like right before his or her name is called or their facial expressions after they receive their diploma.
- For group shots, it can be quite complicated to get everyone in the shot looking at the camera lens at one time. To eliminate this, try and take multiple shots very quickly.
Visit the following sites for more information and resources for taking better photographs at graduation:
HP Digital Photography
Kodak
Did you know that the Department of Veterans Affairs offers a thoughtful Presidential Memorial Certificate program to memorialize your beloved deceased veteran? The certificate is an elegant presentation, personalized in calligraphy lettering with the name of the veteran. It includes a gold foil embossed seal of the Great Seal of the United States, and is signed by the President. This program was initiated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and has been continued by all subsequent Presidents.
The Presidential Memorial Certificate program is open to the families of honorably discharged, deceased veterans from all branches of the United States Military. Eligible recipients include the next of kin and loved ones of honorably discharged deceased veterans. More than one certificate may be requested by the family, and there is no cost.
Family members may apply for the Presidential Memorial Certificate (PMC) at any Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office or by U.S. Mail or fax. To request the PMC, please complete the form at this link, or send a letter requesting a Presidential Memorial Certificate. Be sure to enclose a copy of the veteran's discharge and death certificate to verify eligibility (do not send originals, and copies will not be returned.) You should include the veteran’s name, as well as your full name, mailing address, and a telephone number with area code.
Forms may be faxed to: 1 (800) 455-7143
Or sent via mail to this address: Presidential Memorial Certificates (41A1C), National Cemetery Administration, 5109 Russell Road Quantico, VA 22134-3903
If you wish to telephone for further information, call (202) 565-4964.
For more information, visit the VA Affairs site.
You may be interested in framing your Presidential Memorial Certificate in a frame for your loved one’s branch of service, or you may want to create your own custom frame to coordinate with your home or office. The PMC is a vertical document printed on cream paper that measures 11” X 8.5” with an actual printed area of 9” X 6.”
I recently spotted some fascinating statistics about woman-owned businesses, published by the Center for Women’s Business Research.
This CWDC’s mission is to identify the trends, characteristics, achievements, and challenges of U.S. woman-owned businesses. According to their recent research, majority-owned female enterprises:
- Number 10.4 million in the U.S.
- Employ more than 12.8 million people.
- Generate $1.9 trillion in annual sales.
- Have grown at around two times the rate of all firms (42% vs. 24%) over the past 20 years!
- Are more likely to have hands-on owners, especially relative to technology decisions.
- Use technology to more integrate between home and work.
- Focus on relationship-building and seek consensus in areas ranging from banking to succession planning.
- Are more likely to take risk, seek outside expertise, and to join business organizations than their male counterparts.
Personally, I identify very closely with these study results. As a female business owner for the past 17 years, I’ve traveled the road from my basement to managing a fast-growing company with a national client base. Our work force is over 80% female, and relationship-building has been so important to our growth. For our employees, we began by offering women flexible work schedules and today we continue to retain women because of this. My personal pet-project is technology. I’m always seeking new ways to improve our ability to work remotely, to streamline our work flow, or to replace a sea of paper with interactive systems.
I’ve never really thought of it as a "more-female" trait, but from this research I see in myself and in my female peers that our nurturing instincts probably play a bigger role in business than we realize. My experience and these study results suggest women business owners are using their instincts to collaborate, care, and multi-task as a competitive advantage. Collectively, our instincts and willingness to take risks are paying off in positive results for women business owners.
The Center for Women’s Business Research has a great listing of advocacy, networking, and resource organizations for women. Their site also offers research and reference materials to assist a wide spectrum of woman and minority business owners, including excellent resources for accelerating growth for women of color in business. Several additional detailed study results, including pieces on exit strategies for women and women’s use of financial services, are available for purchase online.
Many thanks to Nancy Loderick for her thoughtful input on this blog entry.