Major Indecision Part I

     One of the first things you get asked meeting new people as a college student is "What's your major?". I had grown to despise this question because my answer was always "undeclared" and I felt like being undeclared made people take me less seriously. At first it was fine. I was a freshman and being undeclared was pretty common but as time went on I felt more and more anxious about not having a major. Everyone I knew had at least some idea of what they were going to do in the future. I, on the other hand, only knew that I did not want to work in math or science.

      I met with Ellen Kelly Daley, one of the counselors at our office and she helped me narrow things down by giving me the iStartStrong test and other exercises to help me decide my major. One exercise she suggested was going through the required classes of my top choices and rating them by interest. This exercise helped me realize I definitely didn't want to become a business major. Ellen also had me look carefully at my iStartStrong results to determine my top interests. There were great resources on what people from different majors are currently doing and what their salaries are. I found that the majors that were most interesting to me were International Studies, Media Studies, Communications, Sociology, Politics and Psychology.
     
       I had finished the easier part, narrowing it down to a few majors but I still had six different majors that were all equally desirable to me. All that was left to do was to make the hard decision but I was having a really hard time doing that because I didn't know what the classes were like for these different majors. I asked people's opinions of what I should do but they all said pretty much the same thing, that I needed to decide that for myself and that I should go with the major I felt most passionate about.

Stay tuned for part II next week!

Holiday Drop In Hours

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The Career Service Center Holiday Drop In Hours: 

 

Starting: Thursday, December 6, 2012 

12:00pm-1:00pm

Ending: Friday, January 18, 2013

Office will also be closed for Christmas & New Years: 
Starting: Friday, December 21, 2012
Ending: Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Aloha From- Career Service Center

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

Best Jobs on Campus for your future!

I know it’s a tough market to get a job on-campus, but I am here today to tell you what yahoo and others claim are the best on-campus jobs. There are two ways to look at jobs on-campus - either they could be overall great jobs that will help you in almost every career path, or a specific job for a specific career path. 

If we are talking about the best overall job that will help you in any career path with the skills it gives you, I'd recommend these:

1. Student Guides/Student Ambassadors- great job and normally easy to schedule around your classes, improves communications skills (public speaking and personal) which is the most important thing in getting any job. 

2. College Newspaper/College Radio Station- amazing job where you will possibly get to interview people, which teaches you research, writing, and broadcast media skills.

3. IT Support Job- Computers have become part of everyday life.  Here you will get to work with other technicians and students, and gain real world work experience. 

4. Resident Assistant- Monitors, counselors and mentors freshman students - not to mention free housing and stipend! - and also helps you gain interpersonal and organization skills. 

5. Career Services Assistant- desk jobs are great on campus especially in a office that looks to help you plan for your future.  There are multiple teams in our office, from Career Planning Peers to Graphic Designers, so be sure to take a close look at listings - there might be something for you! 

If we are talking about specific jobs for a specific career path, it will all depend on what you are looking to do.  For example, if you're interested in working in journalism or publishing, you might want to get an on-campus job as a Website Manager or Publications Coordinator. Another example is if you are interested in communications you might want to think about getting a job as a Tour Guide or Library Student Employee or Resident Safety Representative or even with Alumni Services.   If your interested in the sciences, a Lab Assistant/Research Assistant position is normally a good resume builder in the field your looking to work for - you can also build relationships with professors for possible future recommendations. 

There are many on and off campus jobs that can truly help you in the near future. Experience is experience and it is better than no experience at all, so please go out there and get some!  Listed bellow are a few other links of interesting college jobs that could highly benefit your future. 

Aloha, 

Nate

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

Job Search & LinkedIn Workshop!

Don't miss the Job Search & LinkedIn Workshop!

In today's job market, it is absolutely essential to have a complete LinkedIn profile and know how to use LinkedIn to your utmost advantage. Come get tips and tricks for navigating LinkedIn, as well as other job search strategies.  Lynn Butler, one of LinkedIn's Top 100 Influencers, will be co-presenting on how recruiters utilize LinkedIn to find qualified candidates.
Wednesday, November 14
5:00 pm
Maier Room, Fromm Hall

Check out the presenters LinkedIn profiles:

www.linkedin.com/in/ellenkellydaley
www.linkedin.com/pub/lynn-butler/0/53a/15b

Sponsored by the USF Priscilla A. Scotlan Career Services Center
www.usfca.edu/career
415-422-6216


- Nate

CAREERS IN FINANCE

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2012 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

WHERE: FROMM HALL BERMAN ROOM

A panel of business professionals discuss their career paths and success strategies. 

Topics include: 

• Is now a good time to be starting a career in the financial sector? 
• What types of internships are important? 
• What's life really like in the world of finance? 
• What are the current financial career trends? 
• What are the different career options in finance? 
• How important is an MBA or CFA?
• What does it take to make it in investment banking? 
• What is essential daily reading for your career? 

Please feel free to leave early or arrive late if you need to come from or get to a class!

Aloha,
Nate