From the English Department at Niagara University. Clips and comments specifically for English majors. Finding a job; upcoming events; money management... the essentials of a professionally fulfilling life after college!
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Your skills in the job market
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Friday, October 31, 2014
Journalism Correspondent (Internship)
Wouldn't it be great to work as a college correspondent--basically, an intern reporting to a major news outlet without having to pack up and go somewhere else?
This tweet caught my eye:
This tweet caught my eye:
Here's that link again, in clickable form: usat.ly/1s2DlT8.
The deadline for spring 2015 is November 11, 2014 -- but the application forms look pretty straight-forward. Why not apply? Hey, you never know!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Internship Info, Buffalo: Albright-Knox
Great internship positions, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
An educational experience in a museum environment for undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent graduates; course credit possible!
Internships available for
- Spring 2015 (deadline Dec. 07, 2014)
- Summer 2015 (deadline May 01, 2015
- Fall 2015 (deadline Aug. 10, 2015)
- Accounting
- Archives
- Curatorial
- Public Arts Initiative Curatorial
- Deputy Director’s Office
- Development
- Education
- Guest Services
- Human Resources
- Library
- Publications
- Registrar’s Office
- Shop AK
- Technology Services
- Digital Media Collection
- Events Planning/ Marketing/ Public Relations
For more information, contact Kelly Macagnone (School Program Coordinator, Museum Internship Program) at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery at 716.270.8283, or kmacagnone@albrightknox.org; or visit this link: http://www.albrightknox.org/about-ak/internships/
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Accept or reject?
Not them—you.
You have my permission to
reject a job offer.
“Wait—me? But I’m
desperate!” Everyone who’s heading out to find that first fulltime,
professional job after college is worried about being rejected. It happens
often enough—you send off your stuff over and over. You get no answer, over and
over. Rinse, repeat. The process can be disheartening.
But there are predators
out there who know you’re frustrated, worried, got ants in your pants about the
job market. And they are willing to take advantage of it. Examples:
- You’re led to believe the job you applied for an accepted pays $50,000 a year. (Woo-hoo!) But at your first day of work, you’re informed you’ll be earning minimum wage, because you’re “on probation” for six months. Or that the $50K is actually based on commissions.
- You’re asked what salary you expect; without doing any research, you give a bottom-of-the-barrel response (hoping to please the prospective employer with how cheaply you’re willing to work). Within a week of starting work, you talk to someone doing the same job and credentials, getting double your salary.
As a bonus, you’ll learn
how to say “thanks, but no thanks” to a job offer in a way that doesn’t burn
bridges, or get you a bad reputation.
Thanks and a tip o’ the
Twitter hat to Marcia LaReau, @ForwardMotionUS.
More on the subject here: http://corcodilos.com/blog/7561/how-can-i-go-back-and-ask-for-more-money?
More on the subject here: http://corcodilos.com/blog/7561/how-can-i-go-back-and-ask-for-more-money?
Monday, October 27, 2014
Easy Networking Trick: Email.
http://www.careerealism.com/email-signature-job-seekers/
Here's a great way to reclaim underutilized (virtual) real estate: your email's signature block. All email programs allow you to customize your signature block. You can set up a standard sign-off for all emails, or select from a few you've created.
If you are (or will shortly be) looking for a job, why not gussy up the space immediately below your "Sincerely, Jane Doe" closing to add a professional-looking block of information? There are some good suggestions in the blog I've linked to--your full name as it appears on LinkedIn; an embedded link to additional resources; even a statement of the industry or type of job you're seeking.
I would add a caveat to this blog's advice, though. Your sign-off block can quickly become cluttered. If you have a few volleys of email back and forth, and you keep the papertrail of previous emails to which you're responding, you could end up with clutter because:
And keep in mind that not everybody prefers or can access html (which gives you "pretty" formatting). Without html, your message appears in monospace type, like this sentence.
You can, however, offer your name, title, and then a shortened website address, connected to your "landing page." A landing page is a website where you can supply alternate emails, phones, text, fax, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other social platforms you're involved in. You can make one free through Google and other venues, or pay a nominal fee for one.
Thanks and a tip o' the Twitter hat for the link, to @jtodonnell, where I first saw this item mentioned.
Here's a great way to reclaim underutilized (virtual) real estate: your email's signature block. All email programs allow you to customize your signature block. You can set up a standard sign-off for all emails, or select from a few you've created.
If you are (or will shortly be) looking for a job, why not gussy up the space immediately below your "Sincerely, Jane Doe" closing to add a professional-looking block of information? There are some good suggestions in the blog I've linked to--your full name as it appears on LinkedIn; an embedded link to additional resources; even a statement of the industry or type of job you're seeking.
I would add a caveat to this blog's advice, though. Your sign-off block can quickly become cluttered. If you have a few volleys of email back and forth, and you keep the papertrail of previous emails to which you're responding, you could end up with clutter because:
- Your address block will be repeated over, and over, and over
- A copy of your photo or avatar will be attached over, and over, and over
And keep in mind that not everybody prefers or can access html (which gives you "pretty" formatting). Without html, your message appears in monospace type, like this sentence.
You can, however, offer your name, title, and then a shortened website address, connected to your "landing page." A landing page is a website where you can supply alternate emails, phones, text, fax, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other social platforms you're involved in. You can make one free through Google and other venues, or pay a nominal fee for one.
Thanks and a tip o' the Twitter hat for the link, to @jtodonnell, where I first saw this item mentioned.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Chinese: Mark Zuckerberg studies it. So should you!
Or any language. NU offers a handful: Spanish, French, ASL,
and introductory Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Italian....
Why study a language, especially if you're not going to
become radically fluent in it, and travel to a country where that's the primary
language?
- Studying a language in college can get your feet wet with the basic. Study now and you can pick up more later without as steep a learning curve.
- Studying a language will help you learn other languages. Understanding how language works teaches you what you need to know.
- Languages other than English help you understand English better. You'll understand what syntax, grammar, word order are and do. Your English will improve.
- You'll pick up at least a few social niceties in your chosen language. They'll stick. If you find yourself in China, Mexico, etc., that "Xièxiè" or "Gracias" or whatever will roll off your tongue without your scrambling for your phrase-book or app.
- Movies with sub-titles won't be quite as much as a mystery. Books with a phrase or two from your target language won't seem as opaque.
- If you choose American Sign Language, you'll be able to talk with your mouth full, underwater, and at a distance in a crowded area with your friends who also know ASL.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Gender: It’s Not Just for Women Anymore!
Okay,
so Niagara University’s minor in stuff relating to gender is still called
“women’s studies.” But it’s “men’s studies” too. And “transpeople’s studies,”
for that matter. You don’t have to have gender to enjoy what we’ve called
Women’s Studies here!
Dr.
Hope Russell is an amazing adjunct faculty member who has been at Niagara
University for a goodly amount of time. She’s a great teacher, and well worth
taking if you need distribution courses (left side of the card) tagged
“Cultural Diversity” (CD) or “Humanities” (H). Here are your options:
Spring
2015,
TTh, 11:10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
WMS
200A: Introduction to Women’s Studies
What
is Women’s Studies? Contemporary social issues
Spring
2015,
TTh, 9:40 – 11:00 a.m.
WMS
350A: Special Topic, Women & Music
Music,
music videos, films about women and music
And
while later catalogs aren’t out yet, here’s a sneak peek:
Summer
2015, all
online in two different summer sessions
WMS
200: Introduction to Women’s Studies
What
is Women’s Studies? Contemporary social issues
Summer
2015, all
online in Summer Session I (5/26/15 – 6/18/15)
WMS
350: Special Topic, Gender and Sports
Gender
issues in sports; sports and social justice issues
Fall
2015,
TTh, 2:10 – 3:30 p.m.
WMS
200: Introduction to Women’s Studies
What
is Women’s Studies? Contemporary social issues
Fall 2015,
TTh, 3:40 – 5:00 p.m.
WMS
350A: Special Topic, Women & Music
Music, music videos, films about women and music
Music, music videos, films about women and music
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
"Its the Economy, Stupid!" And Now It's Fun!
- What do My Little Ponies, Neanderthals, foreign aid and the Pilobolus dance company have to do with each other?
- Can you tell the difference between the Federal Reserve and Fresh Lemonade?
- Are you terrified a prospective employer is going to talk way over your head about market economy, stuff you know you should know, but all you can think of is Shakespeare quotes?
Learn and have fun watching We The Economy, a series being compared to "Schoolhouse Rock."
Head to the website (or
the iOS or Android apps, or Netflix, or YouTube… or just about any
platform you can think of that delivers
movies). You’ll find a series of 20 short films (average 5 minutes), produced
by an eclectic mix of Important People in the film industry, assembled by
Morgan Spurlock (Academy Award nominee for the fast food documentary “Super
Size Me”) and Paul G. Allen (Microsoft
co-founder). In a radical departure from standard media distribution practices,
the film package is being distributed free, across platforms and venues.
Free. And you don’t have
to watch cheesy advertising to get at the funny, intelligent, entertaining
content.
If you want to read what others
are saying, visit any of these links as a starting point:
- http://laist.com/2014/10/21/move_over_schoolhouse_rock_we_the_e.php
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/dinagachman/2014/10/21/morgan-spurlock-and-paul-g-allen-break-distribution-barriers-with-we-the-economy/
- http://talkingpointsmemo.com/sponsored/how-comedy-dance-and-animation-helps-you-understand-the-economy
- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/business/media/the-economy-explored-on-film.html
Monday, October 20, 2014
Stalking the Wily Job Opening with Research
Job-hunters are told they should research companies they
want to work at. But what does that mean?
Here’s a quartet of articles that provides tips for
pre-interview information-gathering:
- What kinds of information you need, and what’s less important;
- Where to look for this information;
- What to do with the information once you get it, and blunders to avoid in using it.
- http://www.beyond.com/articles/what-to-research-prior-to-the-interview-15904-article.html
- http://www.careercast.com/career-news/research-company-job-interview
- http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/employer-questions-to-research-before-a-job-interv.html
- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-research-a-company-before-the-job-interview/
But since today’s market is so competitive, you’ve probably
figured out that waiting until after
you get the interview to do any
research might not be such a good idea.
Instead, think about setting up a separate folder for each
job you apply to, using your computer’s desktop or your web-browser (or even a
real, paper folder if that’s your style). Or, use one of the internet clipping
services like Instapaper, Evernote, OneNote or others—the ability to review
information on your phone or tablet could come in handy.
Look up the basics of the employer before you apply so you
can fine-tune your pitch about why you would be a great employee. Then, if the employer shows
interest, you can add to that information to prepare for the interview.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Pixar's 22 Rules and Your Resume
"Pixar's
22 Rules For Telling A Great Story" is a compilation of wisdom from Emma
Coates, who worked as a Pixar employee. She tweeted items from the
list about a year ago; and various blogs have picked it up over time. It
remains as fresh as the first time you saw Toy
Story, Finding Nemo, or Wall-E.
But what
does that have to do with your resume or cover letter?
When you
apply for a job, you tell where you’ve been, and how you’ve gotten to be the
perfect person to fill this job. In other words, you tell a story about
yourself. (And as an English major, you should be really good at understanding story!)
Pixar’s 22 Rules can help you think creatively about what you tell, and how you shape the plot line of your life in your search for a great job.
Pixar’s 22 Rules can help you think creatively about what you tell, and how you shape the plot line of your life in your search for a great job.
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