The Peer Corner will be on hiatus during the summer months, from June 1st through late August, 2009. Please bookmark this page and check back for updates at the beginning of the Fall 2009 semester!
Best wishes for an enjoyable, productive and relaxing summer!
GO BEARS!
Hey everyone, how are you all doing on this fine day? Well considering it is now “crunch time”, that end-of semester-frenzy of final papers, projects, presentations, dissertations, honors thesis writing, and exams, I am sure we are all on our feet just counting the days till it’s over. Remember to breath, take things one day at a time, and try to ease yourself from anxiety by getting organized and comfortable. For many students, getting started is usually the hardest part, so focus on sitting down and beginning to concentrate on your year end priorities. If you have already gotten started then you are almost there! Find a way to conclude your paper or tie up those loose ends with your assignments and studying. No matter how much you have left to complete this semester, know that the end is near and as long as you do the best you can, you will do great!
If there is one thing I have learned during my time at
To the class of 2009, congratulations! You have survived this long enduring journey of smiles, tears, happy moments and breakdowns, and you are now ready to embark on the next exciting journey in your life. Whether that be grad school, time off, working, traveling, or something other, don’t lose site of your true essence, all that you have become and accomplished while in college, and all that still awaits to unfold. For those of you who have your "next step" all lined up, congratulations! But many of you may still be unsure about your plans for after graduation. If you are in need of some assistance, either with exploring career options or looking for a job, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor. Graduating seniors have free access to the Career Center services until the end of May, so act now!
To all who just arrived and or still have some time to go, hang in there, hang on tight. Your bright ideas and innovative minds will get you through yet another semester, and remember that the time flies by so very fast! Perhaps to make productive use of your time left, you can explore internships. Check out the
Post by Lisa Fojo, 4th year Psychology major.
“Should I go to Graduate School?” It’s a question that I get many times when I am working in the Career Center or doing a workshop. So, what is the answer to this hot button question? The answer is…..it depends. Faced with this current economic crisis, many students understandably feel pressure from a shirking job market and consider attending graduate or professional school as an alternative to finding a job. However, that is often not the best answer, going to graduate school is a huge commitment of your time and money, and there are many factors to consider before taking the plunge. But still, many students wonder if how to determine if graduate school is a good option for them at this point. Every time I get this question from a student, I encourage them to conduct EXTENSIVE research about the field and the programs they are considering, and to then take these specific steps:
1. Research to figure out what type of professional school interests you, and the associated career field you wish to pursue. Is a graduate degree required for entry into this field, and/or will it help to make you more competitive? Sometimes this is not the case….
2. Research the application & admissions requirements and any other logistics i.e. number of letters of recommendation, deadlines, standardized testing, statements of purpose, etc.
3. Network - Conduct informational interviews, go to Career Fairs and workshops, or talk to professors and family in the field. This will help you learn more to determine if graduate school is a good fit for you.
4. Talk to a career counselor to help you with your decision
Many students want to go into graduate school to avoid a declining job market; however, they do not realize that this is no easy feat, and often a risky investment. Therefore it is very important to figure out what is best for you and your career goals, both now and in the future . Ask yourself: What am I really looking for in my life and career? The Career Center has many resources available for students to help them network and talk to Cal alums, such as the @Cal Network which connects you to professionals for advice and informational interviews.
The Career Center also has tools to help you figure out your career interests via the Strong Interest Inventory and additional assessments. But ultimately the best resource that is available to you is our diverse team of counselors. They can help you decide if professional school is really what you want, give you helpful tips on how to creatively expand your job search, such as utilizing your Facebook or Twitter status to indicate that you are looking for a job in a certain field. So now armed with this information, when you are out there looking for a job and start wondering if graduate school would be better, remember the four steps that I mentioned, and Good Luck!!
Post by Kimesha Thomas, 4th year ISF major
Peer Advisors are
the liaison connecting students to the infinite resources offered by the
Career
Center
To apply, email your RESUME & COVER LETTER to Rebecca Christensen, Career Counselor, bchristensen@berkeley.edu.
See our job listing on Callisto/CalJobs or workstudy.berkeley.edu.
To learn more about the Career Center Peers, please visit our Peer Advisor website.
When reviewing a job or internship offer, how much time do you spend thinking about your values? As a graduating senior, I have so many things on my plate and feel quite overwhelmed at times. Despite my current stress levels, thinking about the future is pretty scary, but oh so necessary! As I figure out my future plans, I'm beginning to assess the happiness factor in my future career. What makes me feel good about my job? What will give me satisfaction in my future work? It is important to assess career values because I believe it will be extremely helpful when it comes to making decisions about future job opportunities that are well-aligned with your personality, priorities, and needs.
Values are essentially things that are important to you in your life and career. They are things that you feel strongly about such as job security, financial security, flexibility, autonomy, creativity, and independence. A strong value for me is social interaction. I would hate to come to work everyday and sit at a desk from 9-5 everyday, therefore I value flexibility, and ability to work and help people in a community setting. Others folks may value creativity, benefits, career development, and many other types of values. When you base a career choice off of what you value as an individual, you are more likely to be happy and satisfied in the choices that you make.
So you are probably asking, how do I know what my values are? Well, create a list of your top 5 values that you cannot live without on the job. Think about what is really important to you in your lifestyle and in your career. This means that you are picking values that are absolutely necessary for you to have before you even think about applying for a job. Then you want to rank the values you’ve selected. Ask yourself which ones are the most important or essential for your happiness, because we don't live in an ideal world and most of us will not get everything that we want, at least in our first job out of college. However, finding your dream job is similar to finding your dream mate. You need to know where you are willing to compromise and where you are not, and hold true to your values and priorities.
If you still need assistance in identifying your career values, consider coming in to the Career Center to speak with a Career Counselor. We offer a variety of career assessments, including a Values Card Sort to help you select and define your personal career priorities and values.
Post by Erica McClanahan, Senior in American Studies.
Although I have learned an infinite amount about networking, career fairs, and internships in my role as a Peer Advisor, talking to prospective employers and recruiters still makes me nervous. I have attended several career fairsthis semester, and I have been personally the most successful when I pre-selected a small number of employers to visit, and when I prepared notes and an elevator speech ahead of time.
While my methods may not work for everyone, as I am sure that some Cal undergrads are quite the “power networkers”, I prefer to talk to just three employers at each career fair. I look up the list of who is coming on Callisto(this is usually available two weeks ahead of time), and then choose three employers that interest me. I look at the internships that they have listed, print out my resume, and try to find overlap between what they skills and qualifications they want, and what I have to offer.
I then look up information about the company or organization on their website, focusing on new projects or current events. I compile the information about the job listing and a few talking points from the website onto an index card that I bring to the career fair.
Once I arrive at the career fair I bring my padfolio with at least 10 copies of my resume (even though I am targeting only three employers I may hand my resume out to others). I find the map provided by the Career Centerat the entrance, and then find my three employers for whom I have made index cards.
I always write the name of the recruiter I spoke with on the map below their station. This can be a good idea while waiting in line to speak with someone. During the waiting period I also review my index card and mingle with other Cal students. I think that being friendly with other students reflects well upon candidates, as it shows that you are professional and mature.
Once I have the opportunity to speak with a recruiter I make sure to identify who I am and why I am interested. It is important to both showcase your abilities while highlighting your intent and purpose for the conversation (i.e. a well-prepared elevator speech!). While speaking with one think-tank at the Internship & Summer Job Fair on February 19, 2009, I explained that I was interested in their research internship because I had recently written a research paper about Iraq’s economy. I mentioned that I had read some of their literature regarding the subject and asked probing questions about the future of that specific issue. While discussing a personal accomplishment I was able to include my knowledge of the organization and create an interesting conversation.
Good conversations with recruiters often happen by luck. They may have been in the same professional fraternity as you are, or they may have previously worked at the place where you are currently interning. I think that this method creates a more guaranteed meaningful conversation. But by preparing thoroughly in advance, and by trying to remove some stressful, overwhelming components of the career fair experience, I think students of all majors and backgrounds can excel with any recruiter just like I did!
Post by Mary Chesus, 2nd year Economics/PEIS major.
The Career Center offers tons of workshops every semester, and most of them are career or academic related. Some of them are lecture style, and some of them give you the opportunity to interact with alumni to talk about career interests. Are you looking for something more interactive, or perhaps some “knowledge” that you can apply to everyday life? Well I recently attended a workshop that I considered to be one of the most useful workshops I have ever attended – Business Dining Etiquette! It was hosted at the Alumni House on the evening of 3/18/09 with over 80 students attending. The host was a famous etiquette certified instructor, and the 3 course meal was free!
This type of event is extremely applicable and relevant because some employers take their interviewees out to lunch, for multiple reasons. For example, they may not be able to find a time to meet with the interviewee during office hour, they may want to see how the interviewee behaves when they are answering questions and eating at the same time, or perhaps they may wish to see how the interviewee would spend the company’s allowance simply by observing what the interviewee orders. Therefore it is probably a good idea to sharpen up your dining etiquette before going into your first lunch interview!
The workshop covered the smallest details such as how to fold your napkin, how to hold your fork and knife, when to start eating, at what speed you should eat, what to do when accidents happen at the table, what to order and what NOT to order…etc. The host walked the students through all the details throughout the meal process, and provided thorough answers to all the questions students raised. In addition, there was a representative from Philip Morris (oh forgot to mention the workshop is sponsored by them!) at each table to be the “host” of the table and to chat with students for about 20 minutes during the meal. At the end of the workshop, I felt that I was definitely much more prepared to go into a lunch interview without stressing out about my table manners, allowing me to focus on the actual interview questions!
The workshop is usually offered once a semester and RSVP’s are booked up quickly. Keep your eye on Callisto next semester, and RSVP immediately when it is available!!
By Shirley Lau, 3rd Year, Psychology Major
We’ve all been there. Those sweaty palms. The nervousness. Blanking out. You are sitting in an unfamiliar room and the interviewer just asked you the first question. It’s a fairly easy question: “So tell me about yourself…” but your mind goes blank and you don’t know what to say or where to even begin. What do you do?
After you’ve constructed a great resume and sent it in along with your awesomely-crafted cover letter, you’ve landed an interview! You feel that you are completely competent and qualified for the job position….great! Recruiters are looking for employees who are versatile, confident, and not afraid to just roll up their sleeves, lead and manage. However, you can’t get started with anything or prove your value until you’ve made it through the interview process! And believe me, you definitely don’t want to plunge into an interview with a blindfold on!
Interviewing is a definitely a learned skill. Like anything, it takes practice…and by that I mean lots of practice. I got my hands on 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions and the author mentions the many factors that should be avoided in any interview:
• poor grooming
• being tardy
• inappropriate dress
• an answer that doesn’t address the question
• lack of knowledge of the company, orb, or industry (showing poor preparation prior to the interview)
• dishonesty
• lack of enthusiasm
• differences between your resume/cover letter and the interview answers
• no eye contact
• negativity, especially in discussing people
• no focus
Now that we’re through with some of the biggest no-no’s during an interview, let’s get started on what you NEED to do to have the perfect interview experience.
Most employers will probably give 10-20 seconds of their time to scan your resume to see if they want to give you an interview. The interviewing process reminds me of a transaction. Here, you are the product, and the employer is the buyer. During the interview, you have to try to sell yourself by discussing all your good qualities and unique characteristics that will make you the perfect candidate for the position. Since the employer could basically ask you about anything (mostly job-related questions hopefully), it’s a good idea to assemble all of the experiences you have ever had: previous and present employment, volunteer work experiences, activities, awards and honors, and languages. You are probably wondering, “But my resume lists all of my experiences in chronological order, why should I spend even more time crafting a data sheet about myself?” True, the resume is a great tool for refreshing your mind the night before your interview about all of your commitments and your experiences. However, the resume should only be 1 page in length, so that doesn’t leave you a lot of space to put down all of your duties, skills and contributions.
Have a specific section for every part-time, full-time job or summer job you have ever had. For each job, note your specific duties as well as your responsibilities, including significant accomplishments, awards, special recognitions, and numbers of hours you worked every week.
You should also have a separate section for any volunteer work you have done. Employers definitely like to see people who take initiative to contribute to the betterment of society in their spare time. Include the number of hours you devoted to the activities or organization every month, your duties, specific skills, and any accomplishments and special recognition.
Under your activities section, list all of the activities that you do. For example, list all the sports, clubs and organizations you have participated in both inside and outside of school. Just like before, write down your duties, key accomplishments, awards, leadership, as well as reasons to why you did them.
After you’ve completed the previous 3 sections, make short sections for your awards/honors and your languages.
Whew! That sure was a lot of work! Now that you have all this information down, it’s very important to personalize and own them.
101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions has a list of questions for you to consider, and these are questions that you should expect to answer during interviews that get to the heart of your character, personality and work ethic:
“1. Which achievements did you enjoy most? Which are you proudest of? Be ready to discuss how these achievements relate to the position you are applying for.
2. What mistakes have you made? How have you learned from them?
3. How well do you interact with authority figures?
4. What are your favorite games and sports? Think about the way you play these games and what they say about you….Are you too competitive or do you give up too easily?
5. What kinds of people are your friends? What are some things that have led you to breaking friendships and what does that say about you?
6. What words would your friends and acquaintances use to describe you? Why would people describe you this way?”
By answering these questions, you’ll gain more insight to yourself. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to focus on your strongest skills, greatest areas of knowledge, greatest personality strengths, and most remarkable achievements.
What’s next you ask? Now it’s time to look over your most remarkable qualities and try to see how you are going to “sell” yourself to the employer. How are you going to show him or her that you are qualified for this position? Becoming comfortable telling stories that highlight your skills and accomplishments is a critical part of preparing for successful interviews.
Just remember, the interview process can be time-consuming and difficult. But the more work you put into it, the more likely you are to succeed! Ask your friends to “interview” you and do lots of practice! You want to rehearse what you want to say to the employer, yet not sound staged and trite at the same time. And lastly, definitely come down to the Career Center and take a practice run with the Peer Advisors! We hold drop-ins Monday from 12-4pm, and Tuesday-Friday from 12-5pm. Happy interviewing!
Hello everyone, this is the third blog of the series of blogs on gender inequality in the workplace. Enjoy!
We often think of the concept of the family as natural. We take it for granted and don’t give it much thought. However, the concept of the family is socially constructed. The family is a social unit. Within this social unit there is a gender division of labor. Women and men have different roles in the family. Often women’s roles are considered lesser. Women are traditionally the ones to stay at home and take care of the family and the household chores. The men traditionally work outside the home in the paid workforce. The notion of women’s work as lesser stems from this gender based division of labor in the family. Women who work outside the home have been subjected to domestic and service sector labor. Examples include working in hotels as maids or working for a family as a nanny or even primary school teachers. All these jobs are consistent with the gender based division of labor. These jobs are considered suitable for women. They use supposed skills that women “naturally” possess. In fact, these skills are not natural. Women have many other skills and are not naturally suited for any certain work, but have been socialized into these positions. Within our society and many others, women have been shunned out of many fields and higher education.
Here are a few theories that have been used to explain workplace gender inequality. The human capital theory asserts that inequalities between men and women in the workplace are due to differences in skills and experience (human capital), not overt discrimination. I highly disagree with this theory. The gender socialization theory claims that women and men are socialized to behave in gender appropriate ways from an early age. Therefore, women seek out jobs that best allow them to “do” their gender and so do men. This theory was truer in the past, but today both women and men are breaking out of this. More women are entering previously male dominated fields and some men are entering women dominated fields. For example more women are becoming engineers or architects or obtaining high level managerial positions. Men are becoming elementary school teachers or nurses. The last theory is gender organization theory. This theory states that organizations and everyday workplace interactions contain normative gender expectations that privilege men and disadvantage women. This was definitely true in the past and unfortunately still persists today.
Gender inequality in the workplace effects women in a myriad of different ways. Women receive lower pay for the same job with equivalent qualifications. They are often passed up for promotion, or do not get hired over men. Women are also subjected to sexual harassment. Also, they often feel the need to be overaggressive to assert competence, especially in male dominated fields. This over-aggression then reflects poorly on women by fellow workers. Tokenism places extreme pressure on the women who represent their gender at their place of employment. Being the only or one of few women at your workplace causes everyone to consider you as representing your entire gender. All these effects create added struggles that women face everyday at work. I encourage you to look for these and be aware of such issues.
In the next blog, I will discuss how women can survive the workplace and possible solutions to alleviate these problems. The next blog will be the final one in this series, so be sure to look out for it. This next entry will bring together all the issues I’ve discussed so far, and helpful, hopeful strategies will be presented in the face of such serious issues.
Feeling a little bit nervous about finding an internship? Regardless of your academic standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior), the process of searching for an internship can sometimes be overwhelming and confusing. This semester, many students have come into the Career Center with numerous questions about how to find internships, and though there are many resources that come to mind—Callisto/OCR, Careermail, etc.—the one tool that seems to be the most underutilized is networking. Networking initially seems like a nerve-wracking task to many students (don’t worry…you’re in good company ☺), but it is truly essential in finding many hidden opportunities that are frequently missed. This is something that I realized through first-hand experience last semester.
In the fall, I was able to get an internship as a research assistant over at UCSF. It was a great experience because it gave me a lot of insight into how the research process comes together and is conducted. I got to see and be a part of weekly lab meetings, assistant in recruitment, and gain valuable knowledge about how to work both independently and as a lab team with my fellow peers, as well as with the primary assistants to the researcher. As you may have guessed, this opportunity came to me through networking. I took a class this past summer at Berkeley and I met a classmate who told me about her research internship that she was going to start at the end of summer. I explained to her that I was looking for similar experience as a research assistant, and she mentioned to me that her researcher was interested in having a couple more interns join her research project. My friend gave me her email address, I got in contact with her, and ended up joining the research team for the fall!
What I learned and what I think is important for all students out there to realize is that networking can be as simple as talking to your friends or classmates. Many times it may seem intimidating to speak directly with people who you’ve never met before to tell them about your interests and professional goals. But instead I would suggest starting the process of networking with your friends and family. Practice communicating about your interests and goals, and work on developing your “elevator speech.” Not only will you feel more comfortable conversing with them, but you never know if your peers, friends, and relatives may know of an opportunity or another person who could further help you in finding that perfect internship position you’ve been searching so hard for. Once you get more comfortable speaking about your professional interests and past experiences, my advice would be to speak to anyone you can think of that may be of some help to you.
One of the advantages of being here at Cal is that there are so many people who could potentially be invaluable resources: professors, GSIs, academic advisers, career counselors, club/organization leaders, recruiters, Cal alums, friends, family, and of course us – the Career Center Peer Advisors! I think networking is an important skill that we learn to cultivate throughout our undergraduate experience, and continue to develop as we move on to graduate school and the work world. And, once we start to have professional experiences beyond the classroom, our network will only continue grow. Therefore, my last piece of advice would be to use your internships, volunteer experiences, and work experiences as opportunities not only to learn and gain skills, but also to expand your network. Oftentimes, our mentors or supervisors in our internships are fantastic resources in helping us get connected with other people who can help us further our practical “real-life” experience, and also give us useful advice or guidance about how to navigate through the career field that we ultimately hope to become a part of.
So therefore, don’t be afraid to articulate your goals (both short-term and long-term) out loud, because that’s the way others will know if they can be of any assistance to you or offer you an internship that would be a good fit. Our networking tab on the Career Center homepage is a great place to start if you’re looking for further resources on networking and who you can network with! Get out there and be heard!
Post by Peer Amy, 3rd year Psychology/Integrative Biology.
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