THANK YOU LETTERS!!!

Thank you letters! How important do you think they are? To be honest, they are extremely important and believe it or not most people never think of writing a thank you letter after an interview. There are a couple of reasons why they are so important. First, it is a great way to show gratitude and thank the employer/recruiter for taking the time out of his or her day to meet with you. Second, which is the most important reason, is a thank you letter puts your name and face back into their minds when they are trying to make a decision on who to choose for the vacant position. Third, it shows you want the job while giving you a last chance to say a few things that you might not have mentioned in the interview. Lastly, if the position comes down to two people that have the same qualifications and one wrote a thank you letter and the other did not, most times than none the applicant with the thank you letter will receive the job.  

When writing a thank you letter you want to write it as soon as possible after your interview. It might also be smart to send them a thank you email as well the day after the interview just in case your letter gets lost. In the thank you letter you want to include when your interview was, what you talked about, something you never mentioned, and that you are still interested in the position. 

After thinking about what you need in your thank you letter, the question now becomes should I hand write it or type it. This is a very controversial issue. It honestly depends on the employer and what they like. I personally will always send hand written thank you cards because it is more personal and that’s who I want them to remember me by. For me the hand written thank you letter has helped me numerous of times in getting jobs and internships because the employer liked how personal I made them. But on the other hand some people like the professional thank you letter, typed and printed on resume paper. So when it comes down to it, it is ultimately up to you unless you are in KO's Hospitality class where it is required to type your professional thank you letters for the class. So ultimately decide depending on the situation you are in and no matter what you choose your thoughts and considerations in writing the thank you letter is more than enough! If you need some help writing them or want us to look over your thank you letters bring them in to drop in hours Monday-Friday 11am-2pm located on the 5th floor! 

Aloha- Nate

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS!!!

Hi All, 

I know its midterm week and everyone has test, papers, and projects due before spring breaks hits. But it is also a great time to prepare and set up some INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS with people to gain information about something you're interested in or even expand your networking for future endeavors. I will be going back to Hawaii for spring break and have set up a few informational interviews with professionals in financial based occupations. Its quite easy to set one up and can be done with any free time you have, not just only over breaks. All you need to do is search for members of professional associations in the industries your interested in or network and contact a family friend that is in interest field of work. You can basically contact everyone and anyone that might interest you. 

So you might ask why set up a informational interview? There are a lot of reasons, including learning firsthand what it is like to do a particular kind of work at a particular organization, or to develop contacts in key positions with people who hire or who make recommendations, or to even find out about jobs and career paths you did not know exist. 

Once you have found a possible informational interview contact them and tell your contact that you are in the process of making some decisions about your career, and you want to learn more about his or her field. In particular, you want to learn whether, and how, someone with your background might enter and succeed in that field. But always remember you are not yet in a job search! After giving your contact some background information and a brief summary of what you want to know. Ask the professional to meet either in their office or over Starbucks or Jamba Juice. 

Once you have set the informational interview, prepare questions but remember that you are NOT asking this person for a job. An example question would be: In the position you now hold, what do you do in a typical day? But for more information come into CSC to check out some handouts for possible questions on Informational interviews on the UC 5th Floor or check out the PDF on our website: http://usfca.edu/uploadedFiles/Destinations/Offices_and_Services/CSC/docs/Informational%20Interviews.pdf. Also don't forget to offer to pay for Starbucks or Jamba Juice because your contact did take time out of his or her day to meet with you and don't forget thank you card, thank you card, send a hand written thank you card, thanking them for taking time out of their day to talk to you. Let them know you want to keep in touch. 

So set those INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS UP!

Aloha- Nate

The 23rd Annual Career and Internship Fair

Can you feel it in the air? It's my favorite time of year again. What, you ask? Why, the career and internship season of course. The time of year when students finishing their degrees begin to seriously question "what's next", and when all the underclassmen start contemplating how and when to get the best experience for their resume. It's daunting, yes, but it's also quite exciting. A world of possibilities is open at your feet.

We here at career services want to help make this time as easy and straight-forward as possible. This is where our annual Career and Internship Fair comes into play. What easier way to network and find out about internship or job opportunities than by having all the employee-seeking companies here for you, under one roof? No easier way, that's what. So make sure you take advantage of this opportunity!

When: Friday, March 4th, 11am - 3pm
Where: McLaren Complex
What: 50+ employers in the health, financial, tech, hospitality, public, nonprofit, education, fashion, and marketing industries.  Find the full of employers list here.

Important Info: Make sure you bring several copies of your resume, do your research on interesting companies before attending the fair, and dress to impress.

I'll be writing another post in a few days with more details on how to best prepare, so keep an eye out. Until then, keep this fast approaching event on your radar - there's nothing but possibility awaiting you.

-Sarah

Video Recap of "Careers in Social Justice" Panel

Careers for Social Justice

Calling all students looking to work in social justice!! Last week, CSC’s intern, Geneva, put on a stunningly successful workshop called, “Careers for Social Justice”. With five knowledgeable panelists who work in all different parts of the social justice world, attendees of the workshop were able to walk away with a wealth of knowledge about many aspects of the social justice/ non-profit work field.

I’ll try to summarize, so that those of you who weren’t able to make it can benefit as well!

1. Networking- This is SO important, BUT it’s not as scary as it sounds! Basically, networking is a fancy word for talking to people. It’s making connections with people, talking to friends of friends, finding out what people do, and asking around. It’s asking people, “who would I talk to for…”? Which brings me to my next point….
2. Informational interviews- One fantastic way to put yourself on the radar AND to learn about a potential career path, is to set up an informational interview with someone. People like being asked about themselves, and feeling like an expert. Ask things like, “what do you do?” You want to understand what the day to day of a job entails before you pursue it… (Hopefully sometime soon, we’ll be able to give you more details about how exactly to conduct these interviews, including a video example.)
3. Breaking into the biz- The panelists stressed that it is important to understand that most everyone starts at the bottom and works their way up. A great way to get your foot in the door is to volunteer at the type of place you could see yourself working for. Be helpful, work hard, and treat it like any professional job you might have. Many volunteers get hired after they put in their time, and the more valuable of an asset you become, the more likely your volunteer time could turn into a paid position. Another suggestion made was to keep your eyes open to any and all opportunities. Put yourself on tons of mailing lists, and filter what comes through. You never know where your break is going to come from, so make yourself available!
4. Money, money, money- Many people shy away from the non-profit sector because it has a reputation of being a low paying field. The truth? Panelists claim that they have little problem making the money work, and that the benefits are usually great (healthcare, etc.). Also, the more experience you have (practical and educational), the more specific your work can be, and the more you will be paid. Most of the panelists recognized that although the money isn’t as high as it would be in other fields, the importance of having a vocation, a calling, rather than just a job, was just as important, if not more, than making the big bucks. Another thing to keep in mind that working for social justice does not necessarily equal working in a non-profit. Salaries are generally going to be higher in for profit businesses. (Pick up a handout at CSC on career options you might have thought of that work towards social justice. For example: lawyer, policy maker, teacher, etc.)

Finally, as satisfying as this kind of work can be, it is hard! All of the panelist agreed on how important it is to balance out your life with activities that you enjoy, to offset the potential stress, as well as to have a strong support system! 

Stay tuned for a video recap... tomorrow!

Go out and do good!
-Allison

TODAY Careers for Social Justice workshop

Don't forget that our Careers for Social Justice workshop is TODAY!!!

Careers for Social Justice
TODAY Tuesday, March 30th
5:30-7:00pm
McLaren 252

Passion, purpose, paycheck! Come learn about exciting and rewarding social justice careers from a panel of change agents and professionals from education, non-profit, community health, and more! Learn about career options, practical strategies, and tips for succeeding in preparing and searching for careers for social justice.

Here are the professional biographies of the panelists:

Tina Duong has been the Director of Development at Habitat for Humanity SF for almost a year and a half. With Habitat for humanity, she works to end poverty housing in the US and abroad by creating equal access to safe and affordable homes while fundraising. Her bachelor’s is in Business and International Marketing from USF, and this degree helped prepare her for positions with the Youth Leadership Institute and Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, both in a development capacity. Before entering the non-profit sector, Tina held various sales and marketing positions at high-tech services firms for 7 years.

Melanie Raygoza is an Employment Specialist for the Positive Resource Center. In this position for almost 2 years, she provides employment counseling and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS and people with mental health disabilities. This is Melanie’s first professional position after earning her bachelor’s in Sociology and International Studies from USF. As a USF student, she worked as an Advocate for Community Engagement for USF's Office of Service-Learning and Community Action and served as a liaison between service-learning students, professors, and community partners to coordinate projects. Melanie also interned for a year with the St. Anthony Foundation, where she assisted the staff to provide computer training and employment preparation assistance to homeless and low-income individuals. She hopes to pursue a Masters degree in social work beginning in fall 2010 or spring 2011.

Thom Lynch has served as the Interim Executive Director for the New Leaf Services for Our Community for less than a year, but has extensive experience in working with non-profit and community health organizations on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco and in Spain. Before coming to New Leaf, Thom served as the CEO and President of the SF LGBT Community Center for nearly 5 years and the Deputy Executive Director at Project Open Hand for 8 years, among other positions. Currently, he serves on the LGBT Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch and served six years as the San Francisco County Chair of the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Thom has an academic background in Theology, with a both bachelor’s and 2 years of graduate coursework in Theology.

Mary Grace Almandrez is the Assistant Dean for the USF Multicultural Student Services, where she addresses issues related to equity and inclusion in higher education with particular attention to racism and heterosexism. As a professional in higher education student affairs, Mary Grace has been at USF for almost 6 years and has also worked as the Director for the Office of Mission and Diversity at Notre Dame de Namur University and the Director of Multicultural Services at McDaniel College. She prepared for these positions with a bachelor’s in Sociology, a master’s in Human Resources Development. Mary Grace is currently working toward her EdD in Organization & Leadership here at USF.

Megan Martin is the Operations Manager for Abraham’s Vision of Peace, a non-profit organization that works on issues of conflict transformation, particularly working with students connected to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. With a bachelor’s in History with an Anthropology minor and a Masters in Politics with a concentration in International Relations, Megan has been working with Abraham’s Vision of Peace for less than a year. Previous to this, she worked as the Deputy Finance Director for a political campaign in New York.

For more information, please contact Geneva Sarcedo at the Career Services Center, (415) 422-6216.

Hope to see you there!

Geneva

Careers for Social Justice workshop 3/30

The Priscilla A. Scotlan Career Services Center is pleased to invite you to the Careers for Social Justice workshop:

Careers for Social Justice
Tuesday, March 30th
5:30-7:00pm
McLaren 252

Passion, purpose, paycheck! Come learn about exciting and rewarding social justice careers from a panel of change agents and professionals from education, non-profit, community health, and more! Learn about career options, practical strategies, and tips for succeeding in preparing and searching for careers for social justice.

For more information, please contact Geneva Sarcedo at the Career Services Center, (415) 422-6216.

Hope to see you there!

Geneva