Monday, April 22, 2013

"Take the Advice of a Senior" - Now What?


Matthew Percival a USF senior graduating in May 2013 has written a great article in the Foghorn that everyone should read. He is giving advice to those freshman and sophomore from his experience. Please take his advice to heart and think about your future. MAKE USE OF YOUR FREE TIME & GET AN INTERNSHIP!!! PREPARE!!!

Read his article (link posted bellow):

http://foghorn.usfca.edu/2013/04/graduating-senior-asks-peers-now-what/


And please stop by our office just to see how we can help you! I am sure we can help you in one way or another. Stop by for a quick 15 minute appointment during drop in hours Monday - Friday 11am to 2pm. Located UC 5floor. Or contact us at 415-422-6216 or careeerservices@usfca.edu

Have a great week! And think its "your future."

Aloha,
Nate

Friday, April 19, 2013

Summer Internships!

This week I wanted to write about something that's been on my mind and probably on many of your minds as well. SUMMER. I'm excited for summer but it's also stressful trying to figure out productive plans during that free time. So far, I've applied to about 7 internships, I've been rejected from one and I have an interview with another. I haven't heard back from a lot of the others, even though I sent a follow up email. My point is, apply to a variety because summer internships are competitive. 

Here are the steps to finding an internship smoothly:

1. Come into our office and perfect your resume (please bring a hardcopy)! 
2. Look for positions on DonsCareers, Internship Exchange (UCAN) and other internship websites (resources can be found on our website). You can also look up some of your favorite companies and see if they're hiring, keep in mind you'll probably be at the bottom of the totem poll doing classic intern duties like coffee and filing. 
3. Schedule an appointment with one of our counselors to get help on your cover letters. Keep in mind you'll need to print out the job descriptions for all the positions you're applying for and bring them to your appointment.
4. Update and contact your references about the positions you're applying for; collect letters of recommendation if you need them.  
5. Begin practicing your interview skills either on your own or through a mock interview with our office. 
6. Buy professional clothes for interviews. Guidelines on our website. 
7. After you've applied, you can send a follow up email 2 weeks later, checking in and expressing your continued interest in the position. 
8. If you get an interview, send a thank you letter soon after (examples can be found on our website). 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

2nd Annual Best SeniorLinkedIn Profile Contest!!!!

HEY SENIORS: 

It's that time of year again!

The Career Services Center is proud to announce the 


 ~ 2nd Annual Best SeniorLinkedIn Profile Contest ~

Contest Dates: April 1 - 28, 2013

1st Place Prize - Kindle & USF Leather Portfolio
2nd Place Prize - USF Gift Basket ($50 value)
3rd Place Prize - USF Leather Portfolio

Contest Rules:
* In order to be considered for the contest you must connect with Ellen Kelly Daley (Associate Director of USF's Career Services Center)
* When adding Ellen as a connection, add in the personal message that you are applying for the contest
* Last Day to add Ellen as a connection and to be considered for the Contest is Friday April 28th at 11:59pm
* Tip for success: A more complete LinkedIn profile has the best chances of winning!

For help with your LinkedIn profile, resume, or any other career related services, please visit the Career Services Center, UC 5th Floor, www.usfca.edu/career415-422-6216. Drop-In hours Monday - Friday, 11 am - 2 pm.

Also, be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Friday, April 5, 2013

Interview Workshop and Professional Dress

Hi everyone, 

There was a big turnout at Ellen's CSC Interview Workshop and the information was relevant for all of us undergraduates so I thought I would share some of the highlights. 

The interview process can be really stressful and many students avoid applying to jobs for fear of the interview. It doesn't have to be so scary however, if you follow the advice Ellen gives. First, be on time, have a good handshake, smile and make eye contact. All of these things may seem obvious but they make a huge impression. There are a list of interview questions you can find on our website here. You should go through these and write out answers for each one in the days before your interview because you could be asked any of them. Ellen taught us the STAR system, situation, task, action and result. In your responses give specific examples of your experience and use these 4 points as a guideline, addressing each.

Professional dress was one part of Ellen's presentation that I believe it would be important to highlight here because after the career fair it seems obvious many people are not aware of how to dress professionally. To me, professional dress seems daunting and to be honest I don't have much professional apparel at the moment. I'm planning on going downtown to buy some things to be prepared for my summer internship interviews. Some stores for professional clothes are H&M, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx and Macy's. You can find some great professional clothes, even on a budget. All of these stores also sell the opposite of professional clothes so be very careful in your selections, keep it conservative and don't show a lot of skin. My boss said to our office last week, "the more skin you show, the more you're viewed according to your gender, not as a professional." Professional dress may be a very sexist institution but in order to succeed you need to dress as much like a man as you can without seeming androgynous/we need to play this to our advantage and use dress to benefit us, not have it work against us. Your rule of thumb should be: if you would wear it out, it's not professional. A mistake many young women make is wearing high heels.Heels should be no more than 1-2 inches, keep it kitten. Men, you have it easy, a classy suit is all you need to worry about having. You can go here for a prezi on how to dress professionally. You can also find the video of Ellen's workshop here
 
Kelleen 

How to Succeed in Interviews


Last week one of our career counselors put on a workshop on how to succeed in interviews. I personally learned quite a bit from it.
Two things I took home that I knew I needed to fix when I go in for interviews, and the third thing that was reinforced (as I had learned the hard way):
1.      I need to buy a portfolio. I have gone into interviews without them before and gotten hired at places like a local grocery store. It’s very different, however, when going in for interviews for graduate school or jobs in the workplace. In situations like these, a portfolio is necessary.
2.     How to dress the part. I have never owned a pair of slacks. Up till now I refused to buy them simply because I didn’t think they were cute or worth any amount of money. If you don’t go in to an interview properly dressed (including, slacks/ professional business skirt, a button up shirt/ professional-looking blouse that covers everything) you most likely will not get the job. So, after attending the work shop I invested in some slacks, shirts, and flats, from H&M that were professional and cute. Girls, if you are looking for a good deal on professional attire, Forever 21 and H&M are stepping up their game. I’d start there. As for guys, I did see a professional attire section on the guy’s side at H&M as well. Here is a prezi from our website on how to dress for an interview: http://prezi.com/pvxnuxbwy9mx/interview-attire/
3.     Ask questions at the end of an interview. In my experience with interviews thus far with college, this actually does make a difference. I have had three interviews for on-campus jobs total in my two years at USF, and the one that I didn’t get the job went embarrassingly like this:

Interviewer: So do you have any questions?
Me: No
At this point I was so nervous, my cheeks were turning red. Honestly, I was so nervous I couldn’t think of any questions because my mind had blanked.
Interviewer: Ok, it was nice to meet you. We will be in contact with you shortly.
It was probably a combination of being so nervous and not asking any questions about the job as to why I wasn’t chosen. Which leads me to my next tip…how do you stay calm during interviews? As a freshman, I had zero job experience and zero experience with interviews. On top of that I am a painfully shy person. The best advice anyone can give you is to practice what you are going to say and how you are going to say it, as well as putting perspective on the interview process so you don’t work yourself up into a ball of nerves. With that being said, a great tool you can use to practice interviewing is through our Mock Interview program. You can have a mock interview with a recruiter or with a career counselor. Check out our website for more details:
Next time, I will I talk in more detail about how I personally learned how to stay calm and collected during interviews…

-Elaine

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

INTERNSHIPS WORKSHOP-TUESDAY, 4/9, 5PM, MCLAREN 250

 LAST CHANCE FOR INTERNSHIPS WORKSHOP
 Learn How To Get An Internship And Why You Should Have One
TUESDAY, April 9, 5:00-6:00 PM
MCLAREN 250 (PLEASE IGNORE POSTERS STATING FROMM-MAIER)

*The Best Internship Resources
 *Paid Vs. Unpaid Internships
 *How much should you be paid for an internship?
*Get a full time job from your internship
 *We will announce fresh, never before seen internships during the presentation!



 Priscilla A. Scotlan Career Center
 University of San Francisco
 2130 Fulton Street, UC 5th Floor 
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080
415-422-6216
www.usfca.edu/csc

-Nate
Rosie
rosie

Rosie is an outgoing Junior Psychology major who has worked in the office since her Freshman year. She wears multiple hats including president of her sorority Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc. and Vice President of Internal Affairs for Greek Council. As a very involved student leader she is a great resource for all things USF
Nathan
rosie

Nathan hails from the tropical state of Hawaii. When he is not in his business suit for his business classes, he is just "chilling" and bringing the Aloha Spirit to the office. He has worked for the Career Services Center for three years and has extensive experience with other internships including his most upcoming internship with Bank of Hawaii in summer 2012