Planning Your Dream For the Holidays

Hi Cards! I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving break and is hitting it hard for finals week in a couple days. I know this time of year is hectic for everyone and there are a million things that you are worrying about. However, this is a time that you should start considering looking into if you are interested in graduate school. Undergrads start making a list of schools and programs you might be interested in, and start researching the requirements for application. Seniors now is the time to start looking at how to pay for grad school if that is in your future. As the Grad Seminar speakers stated before break apply early so you have time to follow up and look for scholarships to help finance your dream. Take a look at the following website to help you figure out the best way for you to make grad school a reality. 

http://www.graduateschool4you.com/paying-for-school.html


I hope all my readers enjoy the upcoming holidays, and as always it's a great day to be a cardinal!

WJC Grad Seminar

Yesterday, as you passed through the Union I hope you noticed the plethora of tables devoted to various graduate schools.I also hope that you stopped to chat with individuals about any questions, or interests you had in graduate school. However, if you didn't because you lacked the time or courage to ask questions I will summarize their information for you.

Marketability:
Although graduate school is a great marketing tool when applying for jobs make sure to highlight other important things about yourself as well. Were you involved in leadership positions in organizations, have you had job experience or internships, do you know knowledgeable individuals in your field? Graduate school on its own won't make you successful. It is important to continually work on your marketability to help you be successful.

Application Process:
Research the programs you are applying to, and stay organized. Different programs and universities will have different requirements and deadlines it is important not to mix information up during the application process. Try to apply well before the deadlines so that you can follow up and make sure all requirements are met.

What Grad Schools Look At:
Graduate schools obviously look at your transcripts from your undergraduate experience.They expect you to have a high grade point average, but they also look at the difficulty of the courses you have taken. If an individual was moderately successful in a very difficult degree they would be more likely to be accepted than an individual who was very successful in an easy degree. Graduate schools will also look as how well you performed on standardized tests (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc.) Another thing they will look at when you apply is your cover letter/ personal statement and reference letters. These both provide the college a better idea of who you are as an individual and describe your character. These should tell the college about you and should act as your interview. Don't have your resume restated in these, or state why you are interested in going to graduate school. Let them get to know your passions and involvement through a story. Make sure all your documents are error free and brief.

Test Prep:
Although not necissary it is a good idea to have some test prep before going into your standardized tests.It is a good idea to practice in the same environment as the one you will encounter when actually testing. Practice time management skills to give you ample time when testing. Finally make sure to research what tests are required for the program you are interested in. Also research if there are programs offered to help you prep for these tests. Take advantage of these opportunities.

Financial Aid:
There are scholarships and grants available to help pay for graduate school, but other options might include student loans or working. Other options to look into are tuition reimbursement programs through companies, or graduate assistance-ships. An online website they encourage individuals to look at is fastweb.com to show various scholarship opportunities.  

I hope this summarized information was helpful as you you continue to look at graduate school, and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. Look for the next posting after we return from break. Once again enjoy the week, and its a great day to be a cardinal!         

What now?

So, you are about to finish your undergraduate and don't know what to do with your future. Sounds like you and I are in the same boat. You know that your field requires an advanced degree, but how do you go about picking a school or program? Its important to weigh the pros and cons before applying for graduate school. Will it further your career? Do you have the time to commit to the work load the program requires? Financially can you afford to go back to school now? There are five things that you need to look at when deciding on a school.

1.What is the reputation of the school and its graduate program?
2. Are the faculty leaders in their field who are willing to mentor you?
3. Is the location acceptable and close enough for you?
4. What is the cost of tuition?
5. What is the length of the program, and do the classes meet when you are available?

This series is going to focus on helping you better understand the application process for graduate school, and hopefully help you make your decision about if graduate school is the best option for you. Look for next weeks blog and as always come out and support the cardinal football team this Saturday for the last home game!

Halloween Success for Career Athletes

Hey readers! This week is the final blog to focus specifically on Career Athletes. For those of you who walked through the Union on Halloween you saw Sarah and me handing out candy and signing people up for the networking site. We are so thankful for everyone who stopped to chat and learn more about how the site can help you guys both now and after graduation. We will begin transferring from Sarah to Chole as the on campus intern, so if you see her make sure to congratulate her, and ask any questions you may have. As always feel free to come visit me in Career Services and ask me any questions you might have about Career Athletes. Look out for the next blog series on grad schools and good luck to the William Jewell women’s soccer team in the GLVC’s final four tournament!

Finding Jobs on Career Athletes

Happy Friday Readers! This week I’m going to talk about how to use the Career Athletes website to search for national job postings. This is my favorite service offered by Career Athletes, and probably will be one of your favorites as well since I’m assuming you would also like to get a job after leaving Jewell. To begin hover your mouse over the tab entitled “Job Center” it will expand to three different subcategories:  “Search Jobs”, “Bookmarked Jobs”, and “Jobs Applied To”. Click on the subcategory entitled “Search Jobs”. This will bring up a page that allows you to narrow your search field by location, field of interest, and job post date. Make selections based on your requirements and then click “Search” at the bottom. All jobs posted through Career Athletes that match your requirements will be brought up allowing you to click on them and read more in-depth descriptions of the job opportunity.  Some cool features that Career Athletes offers includes tabs at the bottom of the job description that allow you to apply online, bookmark the job post for later reference, and allow you to email the job description to a friend. I would suggest utilizing this part of the website even if you don’t use the rest because it allows you to see thousands of job postings in your specific field. So get to it a start looking at job posting that are related to your field. Make sure to tune in next week for the last Career Athletes blog post, and as always it’s a great day to be a cardinal!

It's All About Who You Know

Hey guys! I know Tuesday isn’t my normal blog posting day, but since Fall Break starts tomorrow I am switching it for this week. As most of you have realized (at least I hope you have) a main function of Career Athletes is providing networking opportunities. Networking whether it is through this site or in face to face interactions is an important part of establishing yourself in a career field. As Career Athletes states on their website, “85% of careers are achieved through professional networking!” Since networking is such an important tool when looking for jobs you might be asking "How does someone go about setting up these connections in a professional manner?"  Not to worry Career Athletes provides you with six tips on how to accomplish this. To find these networking tips hover your mouse over the tab labeled “Get Career Advice” in the left hand home column. It will expand to show “Career Resource Center”, “Virtual Career Coach”, “Networking”, “Finding a Job”, and “Using Career Athletes”. Click on “Networking” and a list of the six steps will appear. These networking tips are geared specifically toward Career Athletes, but they can also be incorporated into face to face networking as well. As most people know it isn’t what you know, but rather who you know. Hopefully these tips will help you improve your networking, and I hope you all enjoy your Fall Break!

Lets Get Together: Groups on Career Athletes

Afternoon Readers! We are continuing the theme of short posts for yet another week, yay! The topic for today is connecting to groups on Career Athletes. Connecting to various groups that you have similar interests with allows you to gather more specific information that would benefit you in your networking and future job hunting. The first step in adding groups is to hover your mouse over the left hand tab labeled “Groups”. As with the other tabs this will break into subsections: “My Groups” “All Groups” and “Create Groups”. Click on the subsection labeled “All Groups”. This will bring up a list of all the groups that have been created. Then all you have to do is scroll through and request to join ones that are relevant or interesting to you. It might take a couple days for the group to accept your request which will then allow you to see the discussion boards. I would suggest joining these groups as a starting point if you are unsure what you are interested in:

• Athletes Helping Athletes
• Division II Athletes
• Internships Unlimited
• Kansas City Connect

As always I hope you all enjoy your weekend, and good luck to the Cardinal Swim Team today at their first meet of the season! See you all next week. :)

Adding Jewell Connections

Howdy readers! I hope you all have enjoyed homecoming week, and are ready to show some spirit tomorrow afternoon at the football game! Today the post is about how to connect with other William Jewell athletes on Career Athletes. This isn’t really challenging so short post today. Once you have logged on to your account hover your mouse over a tab labeled “Network with Athletes”. This will break into two subsections called “William Jewell College Athletes” and “All Athletes”. You can click on “William Jewell College Athletes” and peruse current and former Jewell Athletes and add them as connections by clicking on “Connect” to the right of their name. You can send them a personal message or simply send a prewritten explanation of why you want to connect with them. And bam you have connections at Jewell! But once again I hope you will all come out to support the William Jewell Football team at 1pm. Bring your signs paint yourselves and prep those voices for an afternoon full of cheering on our team! See you all at the game!

Adding a Resume

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and came out to support the Jewell Football team in their first win of the season. This week’s blog is related to last weeks as it’s a fairly simple task to complete, but is very important when it comes to networking. We are going to focus on how to add a resume to your Career Athletes page. Similar to updating your profile you will find a tab labeled “My Resume” which will expand to give you the following options: “View Resume” “Edit Resume” “Sample Resume”. Once again I will suggest that you look at the tab “Sample Resumes” to help you improve and polish your resume. Another option to take advantage of (wink wink nudge nudge—do this) is to come into Career Services and have Judy or one of the staff members edit your resume. We specialize in perfecting your resume and helping you put your best foot forward for organizations to look at. After perfecting your resume click on the tab entitled “Edit Resume”. Once you have done this you will have the option to either fill out a resume there, or upload your polished resume. I would suggest just uploading your finished resume. And bam you are finished! Pretty easy so get to it and get those resumes up. Also good luck to the William Jewell Volleyball team who is having a home tournament! Great day to be a Cardinal!

Update Your Profile

Hello readers! This week I have felt a little under the weather what with being bombarded with germs from moving back into the dorms, late nights finishing homework, and practices starting in both track and cheer. As a result we are going to keep this blog post short and to the point, or as much as I can since I have a tendency to ramble. Once you have successfully created your Career Athletes profile (which Sarah Stadnik and I will teach at one of your athletic team meetings) the first and most important thing to do is to update your profile. Updating your profile will allow other current athletes and alumni to get to know you and see if they would like to network with you. It will also provide your connections an idea of your career paths and interests allowing them to help you network by suggesting tips about groups to join or companies that are hiring. So, once again it is crucial that you update your profile. Now that you realize how important it is to update your profile here’s how you do it.  On the left hand side of your profile you will see a tab labeled “My Profile” hover your mouse over it and it will expand. You will be presented with the following options “View Profile” “Edit Profile” and “Sample Profile”. I would suggest clicking on “Sample Profile” and reading through their example of what types of information to include in your basic profile however if you choose not to click on the “Edit Profile” tab. This will bring up a basic questionnaire where you fill in your basic information such as graduation date, professional interests, past employment, current activities, and provides you with a spot for a brief bio. Fill out all the sections as accurately as possible making sure to check spelling and grammar.  This is something that employers will look at put your best foot forward. In addition you have the option to change your profile picture from the default cardinal to a personal picture. Individual team photo shots are a great idea for this as it looks professional and reinforces that you are a William Jewell Athlete. Once you have typed in all your info hit the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page and presto you have an updated profile. Anyway hope this blog was insightful and that your week has been going well. Make sure to show school spirit by coming to the first home football game tomorrow afternoon at 1pm! It’s a great day to be a Cardinal!

Hi My Name Is...

Hello readers! This is the first of several blogs that are going to chronicle my journey of figuring out how to use the Career Athletes website. Since we are going to spend a fair amount of time together I think it’s important for you to know a little bit about me and why I’m involved with Career Athletes. Firstly, my name is Elayna and I’m a junior here at William Jewell College. I’m majoring in sports and recreation management as well as getting minors in communication and American history. I’m also involved in track and field and cheerleading at Jewell as well as a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. As you have probably guessed I have a zero free time and am constantly having to juggle events and sometimes sacrifice sleep in order to stay ahead and prepared for everything.  Sports has been an instrumental part of my life and has greatly influenced the person I am today by teaching me traits such as time management, honesty, hard work, responsibility, team work, and self confidence. It was because of the positive influence sports (in particular gymnastics) had on my life that I came to Jewell and decided to pursue a degree in sports management. My ultimate goal is to come back to Jewell and help teach in the athletic department and coach the cheerleading team.  You are probably wondering what Career Athletes is and why I’m going to spend the next several weeks getting to know their website and company. Like you, until recently I had never heard of the company and had no idea what they did or why I should be involved with them. It wasn’t until my boss, Judy, informed me this week that because I am an athlete I would be teaching other athletes how to use the website that I actually found out about it and began looking into what they do. So, as a result this blog will demonstrate how simple and easy it is to use the website (because as my friends all know I’m not computer savvy at all). In addition it will show how it can help provide you with various networking and job opportunities as well as resume and interview tips. Feel free to come and ask me questions in Career Services or comment if you have questions or have experience with Career Athletes yourself. Hope you enjoyed the first post and continue to follow my journey!

Cheering on the William Jewell Football Team Freshman year!

Quick&Easy Survey

For those of you who recently graduated from Jewell, you have received an email from Career Services about taking the Quick&Easy (Q&E) survey. We have received quite a few responses, and we appreciate your feedback!  If you have not checked your Jewell email or if you have been avoiding sending in your response, please take a few minutes to complete the survey.

The survey basically asks whether you are job hunting, if you have found employment, or if you are continuing your education in graduate school.  It also gives you a chance to update your email to a non-Jewell email so we can get your current information.  For those who have either found a job or are continuing their education we ask that you give us a little info about what exactly you are doing; we love hearing about your new endeavors.

The information we obtain from the Q&E is vital for Jewell, but it also allows us at Career Services to know where former students stand in the job world.


For those individuals still job hunting, be sure and respond as well because you can still stay active or become active with eRecruiting.  You can use eRecruiting to post your resume online to potential employers, and sort through job postings.  New jobs are posted almost daily to eRecruiting, and we can send you jobs that apply to your degree from Jewell.  eRecruiting is a great tool that students seeking employment can use even after graduation.


So if you have not responded to the Q&E, please do so as soon as possible so we can either assist you in your career path or use your information to keep the school up to do date with your future.

My Experience with COL 98

Last semester, I took the COL 98 Career Explorations course as a sophomore.  I was not expecting to learn much from the class, but I was interested in gaining interview skills, and resume help.  A lot of students in the class had not declared a major, or were unsure of what they want to do in the future.  I am a Nonprofit Leadership major, and I have always been sure that is what I should go into, so I was not looking at possible careers.

The first assignment we had to complete was the Focus2 career assessment.  I was honestly dreading having to go through and take a test about my preferences.  The results listed personality types and occupations that could match me and it even took values and skills into consideration.  I scored extremely high in both artistic and social. It made me feel good to score high on social, because Nonprofit Leadership would be considered a social major.  Even though I had a set major, I found these assessments to be interesting and helpful in figuring out my best work environment and what type of job I would be happy at.

In COL 98 we also did a mock interview.  We had to dress in business attire and go in for an actual interview with the teacher; fortunately the interview was private and not in front of other students, so that helped with nervousness.  I found that the feedback the teacher gave me after my interview will be helpful in the future when I go into an actual job interview.  This assignment also helped me figure out what parts of my resume and life experience I want to try and feature in a future interview. 

One of the most helpful parts of this process, for me, was that we had to prepare and bring in a resume to our interview.  I had been putting off making one, and this class gave me the push I needed to go in and finally create my resume and also a cover letter.  We got our resumes back with tips and corrections that are helpful in having a solid resume.  About a week after I got my edited resume back, I was asked to send one in for a prospective internship.  It would not have reflected well on me to not have a resume prepared, and I am thankful I could send mine in promptly.

Post Spring Break Update

Okay so basically I am getting in touch with other people who work at various parts of the marketing team that I am assigned to at Hallmark which is great! I am getting to see the starting processes of a lot projects and things that I am use to like all the holiday planning ( yes they are starting that already) and it is a whole lot more than I thought. There is so much planning going on it is crazy.

If you a first year student you should definitely join us in April for our Career Services Jewell Feud Night full of a great game, food and prizes!

Also anyone that might be interested in the Career Mentor Program should stop by the office and grab an application. We have applications for first time mentees and returning mentees. The deadline is approaching so hurry in.

Mentor ship and More

Mentorship update!!! Everything is going great and as planned. I am keeping in touch with Amy and just looking at different aspects of the company and marketing that they have me working on. This whole experience is just fantastic and I can't wait to do more after spring break.

Which is right around the corner! I just have to get through mid terms and then I will be on my way to sunny AL/GA for a few days then move on to FL and New Orleans. With spring break coming up and mid terms this means that it is half way through the semester. This means that it is almost May, when the seniors graduate.

We have a senior in the office, the wonderful Gloria Rios! She is a fantastic person who is going places in life. Gloria is an Organizational Communications major with a Non Profit minor, who is apart of SIFE, newspaper, Career Services, CUA, Non Profit Leadership Alliance. She is quite busy with all the time that she dedicates to here classes and clubs on campus. This girl is always moving!

Gloria is well on her way to greatness as well, what I have learned about Gloria these past few months is that she has such a kind and giving heart that she is hopefully going to be using this next year down in San Antonio.

Gloria has applied to the program City Year and is anxiously wait to hear back from them! So let's hope for the best!

Project Fantastic!

I am so happy with my mentor! This is going to be a great experience and we have only had one meeting. The very first meeting was fun and informative. For the most part we just talked about ourselves and what we liked to do. Just background information basically.

But the fun part was when we started to talk about what we wanted from this mentor-ship and what could be done. So as we sat and talked in Panera for almost two hours we hashed out a basic schedule of times I could come in. Plus Amy, my mentor, talked about different projects I could help out with, the different people I could meet too. I am thrilled knowing that what I thought would be pretty basic is almost like an internship!

It is exciting to know that I am going to be helping Hallmark marketing and development.

I can't wait to blog more after my first meeting with the team next Wednesday.

But in the mean time I will blog about someone in the office by Friday!

Leggo

Tuesday. Oh Tuesday, you were an interesting day. I mean really you were like last minute crazy out of control some how pulled together crisp and clean in the end. Yeah I am that good. Okay so I did have some help but that is beside the point of this.

On Tuesday the first meeting for the Career Mentor Program 2012 started at 5:45. It was the orientation for the start of a whirl wind mentor ship in midst of a whirl wind semester. Talk about going crazy, last semester I thought would never end, now we are in February and the classes are flying by.

Any who the orientation was fantastic and informative as well. I found out the best ways to contact my mentor, and how to have really good first meeting! Needless to say I am stoked to meet my mentor from Hallmark!

At the meeting however I was posed a question, okay well we all were asked the same question, do you have questions for your mentor. So obviously I am nodding yes in response but when the question continued on. Do I have questions that are quick, simple and good for my first time meeting my mentor? The answer in nope. None what so ever, in any way, shape, or form. I am questionless.

So now comes the part of major panic on my part as I walk back to my dorm. I begin to think that the world am I going to be asking this slightly random person that I have never met in my life before that I am being paired with for the next couple of months. Truth be told I had a list of questions, but they are more appropriate for when I am actually working in the mentors field.

I am at a loss what do I ask, how do I ask it, what is good or bad, what if I hit a nerve by complete accident. I know that this is the first time meeting this person so I have to make an impression. I am still not sure exactly what I will be asking my mentor. I hope I have some questions written down before I meet her but who knows. Hopefully by the time I meet my mentor I will be 100% ready for it, but only time will tell... So leggo make some questions.

Suggestions?

Back on the Hill 2012!

Okay so it is a new year here at the Hill and Career Services is starting it off right. There are multiple events coming up in the next few weeks that will bring up many opportunities and may even bring about an exciting summer adventure. Located on our board down in the hallway by the Cage is a calendar that says all of the events that include times, locations and deadlines. If you have any questions at all about the calendar, just stop by the office, which is located on the second floor of the Union past the Perch and to the right. We’d love to help you with your resume and job searching needs.

Make sure to keep up with the blog because February is going to be resume month. We will be reviewing the aspects of a resume from the basic details to the things that will make your resume stand out.

Good luck with the job researching and classes everyone!