Author: hcwebdev

Although it’s hard to believe, winter is finally behind us and we can look forward to the (short lived) spring season on the Hill. With this passage of time comes the hopes & worries for the coming future, namely in the form of summer plans. As a sophomore and an intern in the Career Planning Center, I have come up with a few points of advice for students who are either stressed or confused (maybe even both) about what’s to come with regard to summer 2015. These tips originate from my own personal strategies and from what I’ve heard in the office, whether it be from students or career counselors.

1. Prioritize
   • Of course this is kind of a no-brainer, but with the combined stress of finals season and the closure of many application deadlines, successful prioritization of tasks becomes pivotal. Take a step back and ask yourself; how would you like to spend your time this summer? This may not be an easy question to ask, but it is a necessary one to at least bring up if you want to take initiative and close out the rest of the year right.
   • If you are looking for an internship and haven’t had much luck yet – keep searching!! Even if you don’t find one for this summer, you’ve increased your awareness of the opportunities out there and have also probably improved your application materials. This will only benefit you in the long run!
   • I came into this semester with the hope of having a concrete plan for my summer by midterm season, and as of April 1st, 2015, I still have no idea what I’m doing. It definitely isn’t ideal, but I have created a bunch of plan b’s and c’s for the summer, and you should do the same thing!
2. Stay open-minded
   • As I just said, it’s important to be open to advice and constructive criticism in the internship search process. Be open to multiple possibilities, and try not to obsess on one potential summer opportunity.
   • Creating backup plans will ease your mind and ultimately give you something to lean on if your initial plan doesn’t work out. For example, if I don’t find an intern position, I will work in my hometown and take classes at a nearby college to set myself up for an easier junior year.
   • Things like taking classes elsewhere, volunteering, shadowing alumni or finding some kind of interesting summer program to participate in will definitely benefit you, so don’t be dispirited if you don’t find an internship.
3. Make use of your resources
   • Since the year is quickly coming to a close, the stresses of finding something to keep yourself productive this summer are increasing rapidly. At Holy Cross, there are a bunch of people and places to confer if you are in need of an outside opinion or advice concerning a plan that you may have.
   • The Career Planning Center (Hogan 203) should be your first stop if you are in the search process for an opportunity this summer (or anytime for that matter). A simple visit to drop-in hours (M-F, 1-4pm) is guaranteed to be helpful, regardless of how far you are in the process of preparing application materials.
   • Know that it never hurts to apply, even if the deadline seems like it may be too close or if you think you don’t fulfill the position’s requirements. You never know what a specific employer is going to think about you!
4. Utilize ‘free’ time
   • If you are reading this, it is probably after Easter break so I just hope what I’m about to say applies to you. When you are relaxing at home, devote a couple of hours a day to researching positions or sending out applications! General productivity can’t hurt, especially when you have the time off from attending classes and taking care of immediate assignments.
   • Don’t stress yourself out though; Easter break is a time to spend with family and get off campus for a bit. Nonetheless, taking care of extracurricular tasks like internship applications during this long weekend would definitely be beneficial.

The year has flown by, and it will be no time until you reflect back on reading this blog post sometime in late May or June and reflect on how much it taught you (just kidding, maybe not … who knows). If you feel inspired or have any questions then I hope you find your way to the Career Planning Center sometime ( if you haven’t already ) to familiarize yourself with the office and what it can provide you!

Name: Irvin Scott

Graduation Year: 2014

Major: English

Industry: Financial Services, BNY Mellon and Acting, Eaux de vie Bluespark Collaborative Documentary

Favorite Class: Bible and Literature- Professor Kee and Cording

Campus Involvement: Interdenominational Services, BSU, D1AA Varsity Football

College Internship/Work Experience (if you were in Summer Internship Program, Academic Internship Program, other programs): Northwestern Mutual College Intern Program (Junior Year)

What were some of the most defining events/opportunities/aspects of your time at Holy Cross? My most defining moment was when I spoke at my class’ Holy Cross Baccalaureate Mass.

What is one thing someone should be certain to do before they graduate? There is no one right answer to this question, but I’d say receiving some professional exposure in whatever field you are looking to become involved in is essential. If you don’t know what particular field is, shop around, try things out but whatever you do, don’t sit around and wait.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field? The financial service industry is extremely lucrative with an array of avenues you can go down. The most important thing to do is become familiar with the field you are looking to go into quickly. If it’s insurance, get certified as soon as possible. If it’s banking, get your securities license (Series 6, 7) early. Get your foot in the door early through internships. Reach out to Alumni in the financial service industry.

The acting is more of a hobby than a career, but getting involved after college is essential.

What skills have you found most useful in your professional life that you attribute from learning at Holy Cross?

My ability to learn new material is something I attribute from my Holy Cross education. You will notice that you are an anomaly in most work settings because of your natural intuitive skills. Being able to clearly articulate my thoughts is something I attribute to my background in English.

What is the most important advice you could give a student on obtaining an internship or a job?

Don’t put too much emphasis on landing the “BIG TIME” internship or job. Understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and see where you can be both an asset and sponge. Apply to as many companies as possible. Whether it’s an internship or a job, pick whatever company or industry you feel provides the most stability and education. There will never be a company that’s the absolute perfect fit but make the most out of every opportunity that presents itself. As I mentioned before, spend less time thinking about what you want to do and more time trying out what you think you want to do.

Is your resume looking a little dull? Here are 4  tips and tricks we found helpful to boost your resume game!

1.) Job Description

If you can’t seem to describe your job/experience or are having a hard time remembering what you did, Google it. Hit the search tab and Google: “(your job) description” and see how others describe it. Maybe this will give you an idea. For example, this summer I was a hostess, but when I went into the Career Planning Center to add my new experience I couldn’t think of how to describe what I had done.During my meeting a career counselor gave me this simple idea, which is one of the most helpful tips I’ve ever gotten.

2.) Proofread!

You can never overly-check your resume for spelling errors, because spell check will not catch every mistake.

3.) Wording

Use present action verbs for current positions. (ex. “resolve” not “revolved” )

4.) Ordering

Keep your positions organized in reverse-chronological order by END DATE within each section.  Recruiters want to know what you’re currently doing or what you’ve done most recently, so make sure that’s listed first.

The Summer Internship Program (SIP) offers a select group of Holy Cross students the opportunity to work directly with Career Planning employees throughout the year to hopefully attain one of the designated SIP internships for the upcoming summer season.  However, SIP is only one of the resources available to students for finding summer internships.  In reality, Hogan 203 is around to aid students with their various questions concerning applications, potential internships and/or careers whether they are part of SIP or not. I am writing this to give everyone a generalized list of steps that I have learned, both through personal experience and by working in the Career Planning Office, that will help one become a competitive applicant for internships this summer.

1. Use your resources

Come to the Career Planning Center! Drop-in hours are every day from 1pm-4pm, so as long as you are willing to devote 30-40 minutes of your day to sign-in, wait for an available counselor, discuss your queries and schedule any sort of follow ups, then you are taking productive steps to finding an internship. I work in the office every day of the week (except for Wednesday) and I can tell you that I see some students coming into the office multiple times a week, and it definitely pays off (and will if it hasn’t already). And if you need somewhere to begin looking for prospective positions, Crusader Connections and the resources page on the Career Planning site (http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning/resources) are a great place to start.  Over 500 internships are posted to Crusader Connections every year that are open to all students!  Plus, you have access to the LACN Internship Database through Crusader Connections, too. Finally, if you feel like drop-in hours don’t provide you with enough time or attention for whatever you need help with, then you can come in and easily schedule an appointment (which can last for up to an hour) with Noriah or Beckey at the front desk.

2. Perfect your Resume

Keep editing and revising, while maintaining routine trips to the Career Planning office for the advice of our counselors. The mantra you should follow with regard to your resume is ‘practice makes perfect’ because you will never construct the best resume you can the first time around. Your resume is supposed to show employers the best of the best with regard to your past work experiences, education, leadership positions and skills. The more attention you devote to this aspect of your application the better, because it gives employers a holistic view of what you can bring to their company. Personally, I have met with the counselors in Hogan 203 probably around five times total (from the very end of last year to the first few months of this year) solely for critique of my resume. I have found that the more times you bring it in, the better, because chances are you will get multiple views on your resume which allows for different aspects of it to be revised or improved.

3. Keep applying

If at first you don’t succeed, try again. There is no limit to the amount of places you can apply – this aspect lies solely on your persistence in searching for internships that suit you. Don’t get down on yourself or give up if you don’t get hired for a summer position after your first few applications. There are people out there who sent their resumes to 246182946 companies and still fall short of landing a position, so don’t worry (unless you are actually approaching that arbitrary amount).

4. Realize what your weaknesses are

This is one of the most important parts of the intern (/job) searching process. As Holy Cross students, we sometimes fail to admit to ourselves what our weaknesses are and what sets us apart from the rest of the applicant pool. Some people are really bad with interviews, some may even have problems with nit-picky grammatical mistakes in their resume or cover letter. Whatever it may be, it is crucial that you figure out what you aren’t the best at, and work towards finding a remedy for those faults. The counselors in Career Planning are there to help you with whatever you need help with! Come in to schedule a mock-interview or to go over your written materials, and the counselors will tell you what (if anything) falls short and how you can mediate those problems.

So that concludes the steps that I think are pivotal in searching for potential internships. Again, don’t fret if you weren’t accepted into SIP because you can still find a summer internship perfectly fine, as long as you are committed to the process. With this said, counselors in Hogan 203 don’t discriminate and/or care if you are in SIP or not – as long as you come to the office with your concerns and have the willpower to improve your various application materials, then you should have no problem finding a summer internship.

After the first week of school, as students we become overwhelmed with homework, exams, and school activities. We tend to forget about our future plans (summer internship, winter break activities, applications, networking opportunities, etc.). All of us, whether a freshmen, sophomore, junior,  or senior experience the feeling that we have too much to do, but don’t possibly have enough time to do everything. We find ourselves debating between writing the cover letter for our dream internship or studying for the exam we have in a couple of days. It may seem like we only have one choice, however with these tips we can do both!

1. Create a daily plan 

First make a to-do list with your class assignments and times/location of events to attend. It’s important to have a big monthly calendar to visually see upcoming events, so you are more likely to remember deadlines in advance. Make sure to not only include school assignments but also application deadlines, info-session tables, career fairs, networking events, luncheons, conferences, etc…

It’s important to go to events where you will be able to network with people in the field of your interest, even if it doesn’t land you an internship or a job immediately. Keep in touch and reach out if you find a job or internship at their organization that interests you. The people you meet just might be the ones to connect you to the recruiter or hiring manager for a great internship or job later on.

2. Prioritize 

Remember that your goal is to complete the to-do list you made! When making your daily plan, your can list you activities from the most important to the least important. It’s also helpful to check assignments off as you finish; seeing those check marks will keep you motivated to keep going !

3. Budget your time 

How much time do you spend doing each assignment/activity? Schedule time to do your work before adding any additional commitments to you schedule. If you don’t think you can apply for something because you schedule looks too busy, simply break it down to bite-sized pieces. Work on an application for 30 minutes a day, bring a first draft into the career planning office for drop-ins another day, fix the errors, and then submit it when you’re ready.

4. Positive Thoughts 

Stay calm and collected and know that everything will be okay. Try not to get overwhelmed and slowly take your time finishing your work. Remember, you have a bright future ahead of you! If you need advice on your next step in life come to the career Planning Center.

College of the Holy Cross has many great opportunities, one of them being the amazing alumnus who want to give back to current students.

Joshua Rivera’15 and  Yachira Torres’10                                                                 Ron Lawson ’75

The ALANA Networking event gave ALANA students on campus the opportunity to speak with alums. Alums shared tips and advice for students as they explored possible career opportunities. 

Terrill Harris’ 04, Michelle Jin’17, Julia Galvao’15 , and DeLeaver’74             

It was a beneficial experience networking with alums, both regarding career exploration and life on the hill. It’s always great to connect with alums who understand our day to day experiences on the hill because they’ve taken the same steps as we have. 

As a second-year student, I feel as though most of my peers access the Holy Cross homepage solely to navigate to Moodle or STAR, and thus don’t see all of the helpful resources affiliated with different office & group pages. The Career Planning Site, located at http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning, offers students multiple tips & tricks, resources and guidelines to successfully find an internship or a job post-graduation.

I was charged with exploring these Career resources (found on the “Online Resources” tab http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning/resources) to see what sites (slash databases) were the easiest to use and the most helpful for students.

Here’s my top 3:

1. What Can I Do With This Major ( http://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/ )

Personally, I thought that this site was pretty cool. This site is a great starting point for students who aren’t sure as to what career fields come out of their major and, on the other side, what kinds of majors work in the career fields students are interested in. It’s definitely useful and interesting because it gives several “typical” career plans for graduates with the degree you’re seeking. It doesn’t go too in-depth with describing specifically what jobs are available, but it helps students to see the amount of positions available for their desired majors. To see the full potential of this site, I would suggest that users click through the majors listed and do some research onwhich major leads to their preferred career. The information gathered from this site is informative and gives students a good foundation to continue their search for an ideal major / career path. (I would recommend thatstudents who are at this stage of their search also check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ to see the actual metrics behind different occupations).

2. CareerBeam (http://cb.careersearch.net/login/?school_id=2475)

CareerBeam is probably the most comprehensive tool listed on this page of resources. It requires registration, which may deter some students, but it takes around 3 minutes to sign up and start navigating the site. The ‘careersearch’ feature on CareerBeam is both simple and user-friendly, allowing students to search for positions/internships in certain areas. I feel as though this feature extends some of the capabilities of Crusader Connections (the main internship/job posting database for the Career Planning Center) because a good portion of Crusader Connections postings are based in the New England / Tri-state area, while CareerBeam is nation-wide. In addition, CareerBeam has supplementary pages on different techniques for finding jobs and impressing employers. Overall, I believe that CareerBeam can be an invaluable resource for students who actually devote the time to using it.

3. lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/)

Lynda.com is a new resource that Holy Cross has acquired for all students to use. After navigating Lynda.com and seeing its numerous features, it was necessary to add it to my top 3. This service provides multiple online video tutorials from topics in software development to photography and audio mixing. What’s best about Lynda.com is that it offers a diverse range of videos in very desireable skill sets. For students who are looking to dabble in say a programming language or digital publishing (these are just random examples), Lynda’s informative and interactive video / practice series allows you to see if something sparks an interest in you thatyou may not necessarily have a chance to see in the classroom. Finally, Lynda is very easy to navigate and the extensive support of the site means that new content will always be added.

So there’s my three top resources on the Career Planning page! I hope you readers find some time in your busy schedules to check them out.

Also, don’t forget to apply to the Summer Internship Program (SIP) by 11:59 on Thursday, October 2nd!

Have you seen the NEWEST FEATURES  on the Career Planning Center Site?

Welcome aboard to a Virtual Tour:  

Direction: Click on the tab with the label “student”

Home › Career Planning Center › Students

One of our newest features includes selecting your class and being able to seek advice depending on where you currently are in your Holy Cross career. Click on your class! 

Once you’ve clicked on your class you are now able to see the career planning center’s suggestions.

Direction: Click on the tab with the label “Find an Internship”

Home › Career Planning Center › Students › Find an Internship

EXAMPLE: Interested in gaining some experience in a field your interest in. Let’s find you an internship! 

This link helps you use different tools offered by the Career Planning Center to find out:

1. Information about our popular summer internship program offered to sophomores and juniors.
2. Different types of recruitment styles companies use to hire students.
3. Information on how to network and different places you can network with Holy Cross graduates
4. Specialized programs to inform student about career options and different site links to submit application and find internships.

Crusader Connections

Spotlight on Careers

CareerBeam

Passport Career

Glassdoor

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Direction: Click on the tab with the label “Affinity”

Home › Career Planning Center › Affinity Groups

REPETITATIVE**Do you describe yourself in one of these categories? We made a page just for you! Once you’ve clicked on a box, you will be able to find tools that will aid you in career services.

Direction: Click on the tab with the label “Calendar”                                                                                                                          Home › Career Planning Center › Calendar

Are you in the loop on what’s happening right now? Click on calendar and see today’s events! You can even print the whole month and be prepared for future events.

Direction: Click on the tab with the label “Calendar”

Home › Career Planning Center › How to Make an Appointment

Come in and see a counselor today! All the information you need to get your questions answered.