Final Part 3: Long Story Short...

Clearly, it's taking me way longer than it should to finish all the parts of my story... I think it's senioritis... -_- so I'll try to sum it up succinctly and make the long story short.

After I met the recruiters at the Fall Career Fair and they asked me to send in my resume, I was extremely hesitant to follow through for many reasons: one was because I was in the process of waiting to hear back from another internship; other reasons simply included that I did not make time for it (in other words, I procrastinated).
But that Friday, bored at work in the office, I applied on their website and submitted my resume (literally 3 days after I was asked).... and.... with no cover letter.... *Disclaimer: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!* - you should ALWAYS send a cover letter even if they don't ask for one and try to do so in a timely manner. 3 days is pushing it. It may have worked for me but it will not work for everyone especially when planned happenstance is not involved.

So they receive my resume and I guess they liked what they saw, because on Monday I received a call from their Headquarters. Little did I know this was the screening call/the first interview.
*Advice: ALWAYS be ready and on your toes when speaking to any representative of the company over the phone. You probably won't be able to tell it's the first rounds of interviews.

By the end of our conversation, I was invited to a mixer/group interview a few weeks later. Totally unexpected.

The day of the group interview came around and had it not been for a follow up call I received that same day from the same rep whom I had been keeping in contact, I would not have gone to the interview. I was feeling extremely lazy and simply "not feeling it" anymore. All I have to say is: *Advice: Please be sure to follow through with any scheduled calls or interviews with a prospective employer.

Suffice it to say, the road to landing the internship was filled with planned happenstance. After leaving the group interview/mixer I was pretty sure I wan't going to get the job buuuuut I was offered the internship (the next day) and 2 months in, I am absolutely loving every part of it!

I am happy and comfortable with where I am and in the end, that's the most important thing. :)


Hang in there gang,
Rosie

Part 2: Fall Career Fair - Where it all began...

The Fall Career Fair we hosted in early October was the perfect opportunity for me to overcome my fear and begin the search for a real internship. It helped that 1) I worked the event as a Student Assistant for CSC so I had to be there and 2) that I had the physical support of one of my closest friends going around with me to the different tables as I asked questions, learned about the companies and picked up their free goodies! One organization in particular I had never heard about and I sincerely wanted to know who they were and what they did. Little did I know, that moment of intrigue was going to start the phenomena our counselors like to refer to as  

planned happenstance.

And it all started with the question: "Can you tell me a little bit more about what indeed.com does?"

I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy Sara, the recruiter, had as she explained that indeed.com is the #1 search engine for jobs (the Google of job searching, if you will). She went on to tell me how they were recruiting for a few sales interns at their Mountain View location. We small talked about school and other things and at the end of our conversation she asked for my resume. I had not gone prepared with any copies since I was working the event so she gave me her business card and told me to email it to her.

It's one thing to be super in the moment and really excited/determined to apply right then and there and it's another thing when you leave the hype of the moment and get back to your daily routine and have time to think about or simply forget about things... that was my issue. After the fair I was so tired I did not want to think about resumes or employers or anything CSC related. (This is actually pretty typical for everyone in the office after a major fair... :p )

The few days after the Career Fair, the critical period for following through with an employer, were days of hesitation and procrastination for me.

Coming Next... Part 3: The Hesitation and The Screening

My very own success story in the making! PART 1

I just recently got offered an internship with indeed.com and I wanted to share my WHOLE experience with you through blog posts from the very beginning of my journey to the day I got the offer. It's actually quite an interesting story I am sure many of you will relate to some aspects of it. I will be doing it in parts as it is a somewhat lengthy reflection and I don't wanna bore you. I guess it also adds to the suspense... so here we go! Part 1.


Anyone who knows me knows that for the past 3.5 years the Career Services Center has been the center of my professional life. I am definitely not complaining. As a matter of fact, I always look forward to going in to work because I absolutely love doing what I do at the CSC and the wonderful people I work with! :)

There have been some times, though, where I couldn't help but feel a bit of incongruity within myself. After all, here I am counseling my peers during drop ins, strongly encouraging them to have at least 3 internships before graduation, and yet, I hadn't been pushing myself to live up to the same standards. :/ I had managed to convince myself that my position as a Career Planning Peer was sufficient enough of an 'internship'. I would also reflect on the fact that I was more than content with what I had professionally and thought there was no need to look for something else. I was afraid. Afraid of rejection and afraid of not being able to balance something new.

But that BIG million dollar question every senior repeatedly gets asked when people figure out you're graduating soon was adding a lot of pressure. You know the whole, "so what are you doing after graduation?" question.... If it were up to me I would stay at USF forever but the reality is, that can't happen. I know I will soon have to leave my comfort zone here and needed to start pushing myself to start exploring more diverse experiences in an effort to figure out what I want out of life. I couldn't be afraid anymore.

I started telling myself it was time to be selfish and take advantage of the many platforms USF offers for networking and finding new opportunities rather than just promoting them. My first step was going around to speak to the employers and grad schools at the Fall Career Fair...

*Part II: 2012 Fall Career Fair, Where it All Began coming next ;) stay tuned!

Rosie

Who do you want to be?

This past week I attended a 6 day long leadership institute in Los Angeles hosted by the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values (AFLV) Conference. Needless to say, I learned A LOT, and as cheesy as it sounds, it changed my life. :)

One of the things that continues to resonate with me (maybe because it is imprinted on the back of the shirt we got...) is a very simple and yet complex question, "Who do you want to be?"

Prior to this institute, you asked me this question and I would quickly reply with a long confusing roundabout answer of where I've always pictured myself career-wise and why but how that's changing and now I don't know... -_-

But as we began the discussion of deciphering the question I realized there was more to this question than the simple WHO you want to be and answering with a possible career choice. The concept of integrity and being true to our core values continued to emerge time and time again. (Integrity we then defined as when your values, thoughts and behaviors are in alignment. The topic of values is another complex conversation we will leave for another blog post...) By the end of the conversation and with the clearer concept of what the question was actually asking we all discovered who we wanted to be as individuals and how we wanted to be remembered: as people and leaders who lived out our values in everything we did, living with integrity in our leadership positions, future careers, with friends and family, etc.

Reflecting on this question more I thought it appropriate as career advice and wanted to share with you guys because we often get caught up on on being who someone else wants us to be or living out someone else's values.

I challenge each one of you to decipher this question for yourself taking into consideration what your core values are and how you can represent them with integrity. This will also help you whether you are still questioning your career choice, considering a change in career or simply need a morale/energy boost in the career you've had for years now.

Don't be afraid to think about it... ;)

~Rosie