Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Turkey Day Aftermath....

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I am still full after this years Thanksgiving celebration! Just kidding! Although, I am pretty tired after all the eating and then shopping the day after! Yes, I was one of those crazy people who went out on Black Friday and what did I buy you ask....NOTHING! My boyfriend was set on getting a TV that was on sale at Best Buy and we knew that people would be out there waiting for a few days prior to, so he finally kicked into gear and realized, it wasn't worth the wait, especially since when researching the TV, there wasn't much information available, so it seemed like a big waste of time, to me at least!

So after an unsuccessful shopping adventure due to the crazy crowded stores, I did go out on Saturday and got a lot of items for my family and took advantage of the great deals that continued on through the lovely weekend! So while I am happy I didn't wait in crazy lines on Black Friday, I am also disappointed I wasted my time on Black Friday when I could have been sleeping away my hours! It was good quality bonding time with my boyfriend and it ended up being a nice little adventure for the time being.

Now, it's back to reality! I started back at the company I was interning at last Monday, so getting into the groove of working is taking a little adjusting since I'm just use to school and my little part time job in my town. It feels good to be getting up and going to work though! As much as I would LOVE to sit home on some days and vegetate, I feel really good about getting up and going to work! I am working part time at this company now, so of course I am looking for something full time, but in the mean time it will help me get my feet on the ground and also gain some more knowledge and experience in a job that I LOVE to do and that some of the other companies I looked at, are looking for that experience!

When it comes to a job search, it's always about the EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE, and oh yeah, EXPERIENCE! It's a bummer especially being right out of college, but you have to remember, without a college degree, you are really at the bottom and how do you show you could do a job, without a degree or without experience? I can understand it's difficult because I have personally gone through this myself, but STICK TO IT! If you give up, you live off of what? You earn a college degree, just to sit on it? No way...It's all about pushing yourself and finding something. Even if you start out doing something not related to your degree, you can gain experience and work yourself toward that specific area. I see so many people give up and what for? You get knocked down once, doesn't mean it's going to happen every time.

I went on an interview, 3 interviews in fact, and I ended up not getting the job due to lack of experience, but that didn't stop me. I did make an impression on the company, so if something were to come up in the future, they may come back to my resume and reach out to me. You never know what could happen, so it's best to take in the criticism or the rejections because they only make you stronger. You get bummed for the little bit of time in between, but you got to push, push, push!

I hope everyone is having a great quarter and to all my alumni, I hope you are all having a great time with your jobs or job searches! Feel free to share your job search tips with us!

ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR WEEK!

Friday, November 18, 2011

TGIF!

Friday, Friday, Fridayyyyyy! Oh wait, did I mention IT'S FRIDAY! I am so ready for the weekend, I don't know about you! It feel so weird to be out of school, but I hope the quarter is going by quickly for everyone! As we approach the holidays, time sure does seem to fly right on by, which could be good and bad!

Alumni life is great, although I do miss my Berkeley family! I have been on my job search and recently was asked to go back to where I was interning, so I have decided to go back and work there. This will give me more experience in the Marketing field and will also help me develop better skills that I only had brief knowledge of during my internship! I am so honored to be able to go back there and contribute to their marketing department! I will be going back there on Monday and it will be one great week because that is also Thanksgiving week! It will be short, but I will start getting back in the routine and it will be great!

As we prepare for Thanksgiving week, I will offer some advice to all current students...get all those papers and homework out of the way NOW, so you can spend all of your time with your family, because that is what Thanksgiving is all about! Who wants to give thanks to their homework? I'm sure you don't! LOL

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What about Black Friday? Who is going to be braving the crowds at all crazy hours of the morning? As crazy as it is, I think I am! I went last year sick as a dog and man I told myself, NEVER AGAIN, but at one point, we all say tat and still go back to do it again!

I hope everyone is having a great quarter thus far and hang in there, only a few more weeks to go! Get ready to kick off the holiday season next week with all your families and friends! That will sure make time fly right on by.....

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Finally out from the dark....

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Well, since I missed you guys on Halloween, Happy LATE Halloween! The snow storm affected my home town big time, so I was without power for a few days but I am happy to be back in action! I hope everyone was still able to enjoy Halloween despite this ridiculous snow storm and I hope you all were safe & sound! The worst thing is losing power for a few days because you start to go crazy, much like I did! The lack of technology....

So these past few weeks have been busy, busy, busy! I applied for a job about a month ago, did the phone interview, did my second interview (in-person), and then went back for a final interview, and now I am sitting here going crazy to hear the answer! I worked myself up so much preparing for the interview, that when I look back at it now, I think to myself, "You were so ridiculous!" I literally was pulling my hair out of my head because I had no idea what to expect! I prepared like crazy, printed out a million copies of my work, and just kept thinking over ways to answer questions and all that fun interviewing stuff! In order to save you from half the craziness I put myself through, I want to share some tips to help you really prepare for the interviewing process.

Some of you may get called to come right in for an in-person interview and skip over the phone pre-screening interview before the real deal. That wasn't the case for me, but everyone is different. Here's the deal, Berkeley offers you the convenience of sitting down with a career counselor to go over your resume and help you get everything together for the interviews. My advice would be to visit your career counselor PRIOR to submitting an application for a job because if you send over your resume and you either missed some things or didn't provide much in the resume, it may be overlooked and you lose the opportunity.

First things first, write out your resume or review your resume, if you already have one put together. This will allow you to make sure everything is up to date and that you have included EVERYTHING that you want your potential employer to know about you and your experience. Next, contact Berkeley College Career Services via phone or email, which I will provide contact information for below. Once you touch base with Career Services, they will either schedule an appointment with you to go to one of the campuses or they could help you out right over the phone. They are there to help, so don't be afraid to ask!! Once Career Services has given you the OK on your resume and cover letter, this is when you want to submit your application and all necessary papers to the company. (Keep track of the day and time you sent over your information, in case you need to refer to it at a later date.)

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Ok, so you got an email or phone call regarding your application and they want to interview you! GREAT, but now what?! Be excited, go crazy, but don't worry, you got this! There is nothing more an interviewer hates when someone comes unprepared to an interview. It's just like going to class without your books or a pencil/notepad to take notes! ***DO NOT GO TO AN INTERVIEW WITHOUT ANYTHING TO SUPPORT YOUR WANT FOR THE JOB*** If you have no idea why you want the job or why you are even going to an interview, chances are you really do not care and aren't truly interested in the job.

Now, in order to prepare, take a look at the job spec again. Do they want examples of your work to show that you've done something in relation? Do they want to see recommendation letters or have references to contact? What is this potential employer expecting of you if you land the job? You will be asked questions among questions, so you better know both your resume and the job specs inside out!

In the process of preparing for your interview, make 3-4 extra copies of your resume. You never know who may pop in during your interview. Secondly, bring copies of your work, whether it be copy for a newsletter or whatever type of work that relates to the job spec that you could share. (For example, the job I applied for requires knowledge of Social Media (Facebook). I brought along with my copies of a Facebook Fan Page I manage and showed how I used Social Media to promote an event. I also brought along copy I did for a newsletter and other materials.)Materials always help, but make sure they are in a presentable format! I also recommend bringing recommendation letters with you just to have in case you get asked, "Do you have someone that would recommend you for this type of position or would recommend you based on the work you do?" If you have a rec letter on you, this could be a great way to lead into bringing out that rec letter to share. (Again, BRING EXTRA COPIES!)

You may also want to prepare questions to ask the potential employer. It's very common at the end of an interview for the employer to ask, "Do you have any questions for me?" Think about it, they spend a great amount of time picking your brain, so return the favor and ask some questions pertaining to the job. One question I used was "What do you expect of me within the first 90 days on the job?" This shows that you are very interested in the job and want to make sure that you can accomplish any tasks they put you to! You can always use Google to search some of the top questions to ask during an interview! (Do your research!)

Here's the simple run down:

1) Contact Career Services to review your resume
2) Apply for the job/submit all materials requested
3) Research the company
4) PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE (extra copies of EVERYTHING)
5) Dress the part (ALWAYS WEAR A SUIT)
6) Don't stress yourself out!

I know, I know, easier said than done, but Berkeley is always there to assist you along the way, so go get em' and GOOD LUCK!