Take Your Coworker to Work Day - Job Shadowing

Take Your Coworker to Work Day - Job ShadowingTake Your Coworker to Work Day - Job ShadowingTake Your Child to Work Day has become a tradition on the fourth Thursday in April in some workplaces. But, at the TechSmith Corporation in Okemos, MI, the concept morphed into an opportunity for internal on-the-job training, and a new form of job shadowing. This story demonstrates employee ideas that you might want to incorporate in your workplace. But, it also lays out a process for how employee ideas can happen with commitment and support. Consider supporting the implementation of employee ideas similarly in your organization. The Generation of an Employee Idea The concept originated when Jim Hidlay, ausverkauf VP, told technical development staff members that he wished that they could sit in on several sales meetings. He felt that the experience would really open up their minds about the customer experience and the job of selling the products they developed. A technical staff member, A ndy Rudnitsky, thought that might, in fact, be a grand idea not just for sales, but across the company. He had read about Take Your Child to Work Day and he thought that the concept could apply to coworkers, too. As the company had grown, employees were separately working in five buildings. Some departments never crossed paths. Other company employees never saw each other or interacted and the departmental functions were all housed separately. This welches a far cry from earlier days when you could see every employee from your work station. He developed the idea of a Take Your Coworker to Work Day in which a coworker would visit with a buddy in another department to learn the ins and outs of that employees job. While visiting and learning about the coworkers daily job, the employee from another department would gain a new understanding and respect for the person and the function that he or she job shadowed. Nervous about presenting the idea to the management team, because it requir ed a significant investment of employee time, Rudnitsky bounced the idea off of a number of colleagues who were universally excited. He floated the idea to solicit input and feedback because he recognized that he would be unable to implement the concept without help. In a company with a history of supporting employee-sponsored events, ideas, trips, and concepts, Rudnitskys manager suggested that he put together a proposal to explore with the management team. They supported the idea. A number of employees volunteered to assist him. Rationale for Take a Coworker to Work Day Rudnitsky prepared a solid rationale for why bring a coworker to work day welches a win for his company. He believed that this font of activity would Build informal employee relationships,Create knowledge and understanding between company functions and departments,Eliminate stereotypes that employees had of each other and other departments,Give employees a chance to interact with employees that they might never know under usual circumstances, to enhance company-wide team building,Help employees gain respect for the work of other departments,Counteract the traditional employee process of making things up when they didnt know or understand what was actually happening in another department, and Demonstrate and share the root and core of the TechSmith culture and work environment help employees step out of their comfort zones, provide the time to understand the point of view of others, and incorporate and demonstrate the company values in action. Implementation of Take a Coworker to Work Day Everyone loved the idea, but in the midst of employees busy work days, Rudnitsky had a hard time getting help to implement the idea. So, he made an internal company video that marketed the idea and asked for help via direct employee emails. Excited team volunteers formulated the guidelines for Take a Coworker to Work Day. Interested employees were asked to make three choices of jobs they wished to sha dow for a day. A popular selection from the list of department and function choices was the open-ended choice surprise me. Interested employees turned in their Take a Coworker to Work requests.Employees were matched as closely as possible to other volunteers from their first choices of departments. Rudnitsky says that the matching was challenging in that each participant had different wishes based on his or her choices of departments and functions. Several employees received unconventional and unrequested matches. Since no one complained, he assumes that coworkers were able to work out the details to meet their needs. Once matched and notified, the employees contacted their coworker to schedule their time together. Job shadowing time included attending meetings, participating in the daily details of the employees job, reviewing the coworkers goals and responsibilities, and holding informal lunches for discussion.Employee time together depended on the job and was necessarily flexible . Employees were able to schedule half days, whole days, specific meetings, lunch dates, and so forth whatever it took for the coworker to job shadow the most significant components of his or her coworkers job. Employees from every department, including managers and executives, participated and tried to give their buddy a positive, learning experience. Each employee was also asked to maintain the confidentiality of the other employees job contents when needed. The Success of Take Your Coworker to Work Day During the first Take Your Coworker to Work Day, about 25% of employees applied and participated. The second year, closer to 45% participated. Popular departments included sales, marketing, and development big time. Employees were so interested that a team of eight employees, including executives and managers, went out to lunch to discuss how to keep the process going. Rudnitsky was excited to share the challenge of the marketing, matching, and publicity with other employees, once again, as he realized how much time he and the team had invested the first year. Fortunately, several volunteers came forward, including Jessica LaHaie, who provided behind-the-scenes leadership with an employee team that included Rudnitsky, and the program continued for thesecond year. The employee participation rate in the second year was up 52% from the first year. Employees who participated filled out evaluations, made suggestions for improvement, received participation t-shirts, and attended a celebration luncheon provided by the company. The evaluations of Take a Coworker to Work Day were so positive that the team hopes to continue the program in years to come. On a personal level, the implementation of employee ideas adds value and engages your workforce in unpredictable ways. Employee involvement rules. Rudnitsky said, I never saw myself as the kind of person who would do this kind of thing generate the idea, run with it and find fertile ground for implementation in a c ompany that was open and receptive. We have an attitude here that we will try stuff. There is a real openness to trying. And, if you can make the people better around you, by implementing this shadowing program or any other employee ideas, what else can you ask? Indeed, Andy, what else can you ask?

Americans are spending more time sitting than they were ever before

Americans are spending more time sitting than they were ever beforeAmericans are spending more time sitting than they were ever beforeIf you feel like youre strapped to a chair all day, you probably are, according to a new study.Americans spend nearly a third of their day sitting down, taking life from a seat with adolescents leading the pack. US teens are sitting around eight hours while adults sit almost 6 hours a day, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreResearchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that both adults and teens have increased their seated time by nearly an hour a day from 2007 to 2016. The compiled data included school and workloads, but the study also found that Americans of all ages have increased their computer time.Its very concerning when theres such an increase in sit ting time on a national level across all age groups, especially taking into consideration the health risks that come with this, Dr. Yin Cao, the author of the study conducted by Washington Univesity in St. Louis, said, via the Guardian.There are medical risks attributed to sitting down for too long. A study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2018 claimed too much leisure time increased your chances of death from multiple causes including cancer, stroke and other ailments.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Skipping Work After the Big Game

Skipping Work After the Big GameSkipping Work After the Big GameSKIPPING WORK AFTER THE BIG GAME54% of professionals know someone whos called in sick or made an excuse for skipping work the day after a sporting event, such as the Super BowlTOTALAGE 18-34AGE 35-54AGE 55+GENDER MALEGENDER FEMALEYes54%65%52%36%63%44%No46%35%48%64%37%56%The fruchtwein distracting or annoying employee behavior when it comes to major sporting events, according to senior managers42% Calling in sick/making an excuse for skipping work the day after18% Spending too much time talking sports17% Showing up the day after tired/under the weather15% Being a poor sport/overly competitive8% Overdoing it with team decorations/attireCities with the most managers annoyed by workers playing hooky1 Cleveland2 Denver3 Chicago

To appear confident, stop power posing and just be authentic

To appear confident, stop power posing and just be authenticTo appear confident, stop power posing and just be authenticNerves are the bane of any good presentation, since half your energy seems to go into not giving away how worried you are that youll screw up.Ergo the cottage industry in advice about body language the poses and hand gestures that, like some kind of corporate gang sign, are supposed to indicate to the tribe that you belong, and you get the language.A Harvard geschftlicher umgang Review articlecalled 6 Ways to Look More Confident During a Presentation explored what adopting certain posessignals to others. There were six examples from the Center for Body Language, but here are a few Moving your hands within a limited space, orthe box, is supposed to signal that youre trustworthy, truthful. Acting like a you have a basketball in your hands, orholding the ball, should make you look commanding, dominant, while a wide stance is supposed to make you look confident, in cont rol.Researchers have studied what it means to be confident and how to translate that into your body language. We were interested in how it compared to the power of being vulnerable enough to be your authentic self with others.Power posingThe ongoing dialogue about what poses make you feel and/or look powerful has been raging for years now.Social psychologistAmy Cuddy talked about the power posing during a 2012teddy boy Talk. She conducted a study of body language, where participants took on high-power poses that made them look confident and low-power poses make themselves look small for two minutes. They also took saliva from the participants.So two minutes lead to these hormonal changes that configure your brain to basically be either assertive, confident and comfortable, or really stress-reactive, and feeling sort of shut downSo it seems that our nonverbals do govern how we think and feel about ourselves, so its not just others, but its also ourselves. Also, our bodies change our minds, Cuddy said in the 2012 TED Talk.But the teams 2010findings were challenged later on. Another team replicated the study on a larger scale and found no effect,the findings of which were published in 2015, according to Slate.The other team shared their analysis with Cuddy, who replied and her team published a responsein Psychological Science, according toSlate.While fake it til you make it is often popular and sometimes valuable advice, it doesnt seem to always work. And a new kind of concept is having its day being yourself. It takes a lot less energy than trying to appear perfect and infallible, which requires a lot of thought and wastes energy in trying to control other peoples perceptions.Another bonus being yourself makes you more sought-after and trusted, as long as you are introspective about your own actions and respectful toward others.Authenticity is the new measure of leadershipAt what point does your being yourself outweigh striking a pose? It all comes from the same place compassion for flaws, whether theyre yours or someone elses.For researcher BrenBrown, feeling your best and treating others well starts with being vulnerable- she talked about it in a 2010 TED Talkin Houston.when we work from a place, I believe, that says, Im enough then we stop screaming and start listening, were kinder and gentler to the people around us, and were kinder and gentler to ourselves, Brown said in the 2010 talk.In a vulnerable moment during anotherTED Talk in 2012, Brown herself opened up about having the worst vulnerability hangover of my life after her 2010 talk in Houston, and talked about telling her friend about what she was going through over lunch, doubting her decision to talk so openly.But that kind of self-doubt is the sure road to authenticity and by extension better leadership, because it forces us to examine who we are. While power-posing can fake confidence enough to get into a room, no amount of body language can replace the good judgment that m akes a leader.Be a truth-teller, and be around truth-tellersBill George, a senior fellow and lecturer on leadership at Harvard Business School, has written that one of the keys to authentic leadership is examining our origins and our crucibles, or those times when we are changed by the pressure and fire around us.As leaders explore their life stories and crucibles, and process their experiences, they develop deeper understanding of themselves and feel increasingly comfortable being authentic, George wrote. This is a lifelong journey in which we are always discovering the next layer, much like peeling an onion. As leaders discover their truth, their True North, they gain confidence and resilience to face difficult situations.Drop the mask, because no ones fooledThe old corporate idea of getting promoted and rising rewarded masks and costumes the perfect suit functioned as a kind of corporate armor to keep people at arms length, and Dale Carnegie techniques such as repeating peoples n ames imitated a genuine interest in others.But the newer science on leadership is looking at the power of honesty wearing what makes you feel capable and comfortable like Mark Zuckerberg and his 20 gray t-shirts speaking with radical candor seeking out advisers who are truth-tellers instead of sycophants. That means making sure your body language is calm and reflects that you are listening and interested, not copying someone elses idea of what looks powerful.Either way, tapping into who you really are deep down is sure to help you feel more confident with yourself and others atwork- maybe even during that big company presentation. Being comfortable in your own skin is the ultimate power pose.

Reported Buzz on Create Resume from Linkedin Uncovered

Reported Buzz on Create Resume from Linkedin Uncovered If you own a profile on LinkedIn, take a peek at it now. First off make certain youre logged in to LinkedIn. LinkedIn is really the most formal of all of the social networking platforms, but its more conversational than a resume. LinkedIn offers users numerous methods to create an impressive profile. LinkedIn know their platform is where to be for all things career and skilled networking. Open networking is the best way to go. LinkedIn summaries are absolutely different. The advice for LinkedIn is, naturally, the precise opposite. LinkedIn isnt just an extraordinary approach to network, its also increasingly employed by recruiters to post vacancies and, more to the point, to hunt for candidates. For some folks, LinkedIn can function as a personal site. LinkedIn is an outstanding asset to your professional and company development. Including a hyperlink to a lousy LinkedIn profile will do more damage than good. One of t he absolute most important components of LinkedIn is your profile. On LinkedIn, make an effort not to go on and on and on. You should also ensure that youve got an expert photo and a superb quantity of connections. You might need to use one of the coloured variety for a single form of job and the Exectuive style for one more. Including a second element like a LinkedIn profile or cover letter typically costs about half the cost of the very first project. Those 3 parts appear in a LinkedIn search, together with your photo. Or all you have to do is click the word Profile itself. At this time youre see all the different resume styles Word has to offer you. Microsoft Word provides a bunch of resume templates. You can bring in a PDF which will either download straight to your computer for printing later or you may print it immediately. It is essential that you should have each of the informations in advance before you set in the info. You can decide to share the resume right from the application or you can put it to private. Scannable resumes need specific page designs because computer scanners cannot read certain products.Youre able to add your interests, personal info and contact details. Just sign up there, complete the details and your Resume is about to download. There are lots of methods to submit your resume on the internet. You can pick from different available themes and data shown on resume can be edited also. Top Create Resume from Linkedin Secrets Best wishes, Samantha Bee There are some requirements that each resume should not have any matter the sttte or variety of job. To a point, it probably depends upon your goals for LinkedIn and your very own personal philosophy, but should you wish to be found in the utmost amount of searches, theres no debate. The first thing you need to do whenever you arent looking for employment is surely learned how to begin a resume. The other reason I really like it is since its my online resume, that anybody can find, read and earn confidence in my capabilities. Create Resume from Linkedin Secrets So creating a great profile is essential to being found for your next career prospect. When applying for work, its wise to phone in advance and learn if the business youre applying to scans their resume submissions. Every customer may consult us at any opportunity to select the templates, an illustration of the greatest resumes, a market, a deadline, and several other elements essential to finish the purchase. Or DoYouBuzz, which is an incredibly user-friendly website with both free and paid plans, providing you with a lot of template options and is an extremely smooth process too. After you spot a job which you like, go straight to the work opening on LinkedIn to find out more regarding the chance and apply. You arent likely to have the job if you are unable to get contacted pertaining to an interview, plain and easy. Because resumes have limited space, your career objective h as to be concise. Infographic resumes become increasingly more common. LinkedIn is among the most effective career tools for your job search fremd from your resume. Prospective employers are able to at a glance, visit LinkedIn to find out more about you and your abilities and qualifications. Match your resume to the specific job.

Women of Optoro

Women of Optoro Below is an article originally written by Sarah Foulke at PowerToFly Partner Optoro, and published on February 28, 2019. Go to Optoros page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.Optoro is made up of a diverse collection of individuals who have come together to achieve a single missionto transform the reverse logistics industry by finding homes for used and excess goods. We like to highlight that diversity with our Employee Spotlight blog series, during which we sit down with an employee every month to hear a little bit about the people who make the Optoro culture so distinctive.How would you describe yourself in 10 keywords or fewer?Go big or go home.What is your role at Optoro, and what do you do?Im the software development lead for the Return to Vendor team. We make a product that helps our client manage a workflow to return items to their original manufacturers for credit, based on agreements that retailers have with their vendors. I work with th e other developers on my team, as well as design, product management, and quality engineering to develop and deliver new features to the Return to Vendor product.What did you do before Optoro, and why did you choose to work at Optoro?Before Optoro, I worked as a software developer at another DC startup. I chose to come to Optoro to get a new experience with a different technology and a larger team. I welches attracted to the mission, product, and vision at Optoro, and knew that this welches a place where I could grow my career. The company is in a really exciting place right now, and I thought it was a great time to join the team.What is the most important thing you have learned since starting at Optoro?If youre afraid to do something, you should do it more often.What is the best part of working at Optoro?I think Optoro is especially unique in the way that everyone truly cares about each other. People say that a lot, but it does really feel different to me here. Everyone I work with is constantly seeking out ways to collaborate to get to a team goal. People are open and honest about what they feel is working and what isnt, and everyone is always trying to make Optoro a better place for all employees to work.What would you most likely be doing on a normal Saturday afternoon in your free time?fruchtwein weekends youll find me exploring DC and all it has to offer I sold my car about a year and a half ago and Im loving my car-free life. My fiance and I are usually going for a run in Rock Creek Park, working on projects in our new condo, trying out new restaurants with friends, or kicking back with our cat and watching some terrible reality television. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individua l contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.

Why Advertising in a Bad Economy Is Good

Why Advertising in a Bad Economy Is GoodWhy Advertising in a Bad Economy Is GoodIn a recession, the first dollars that a company usually cuts come from the advertising budget. Thats a big mistake. Advertising in a recession is actually a smart geschftsleben move to grow your business, both now, and for the future. Its not the risk you may think it is. McGraw-Hill Research conducted a study of U.S. recessions from 1980-1985. Out of the 600 business-to-business companies analyzed, the ones who continued to advertise during the 1981-1982 recession hit a 256-percent growth by 1985 over their competitors that eliminated or decreased spending. American Business Press analyzed 143 companies during the economic downturn back in 1974 and 1975. Companies that advertised in those years saw the highest growth in ausverkauf and net income during the recession and the two years that followed. The numbers arent a fluke. They prove theres a reward for companies who are aggressive with their advertis ing efforts in a recession. Here are even more reasons why you need to advertise your business in a bad economy Your Competition Wont Advertise Most small businesses have a limited advertising budget. During a recession, its easy to make up some of those dollars by holding back on advertising. But all that really does is open up the marketplace for that companys most savvy competitors. The presence the business has spent ad dollars on to build up is now an open field for the competitors that are willing to advertise. Lets say you own an auto partes store. Consumers leise need your company, no matter what the economy. Cars still break down. They still need windshield wipers and people will even buy those tree air fresheners. By advertising when all other stores are pinching pennies, you can scoop up a ton of new business. You Can Tailor Your Message and Make More Sales Think of it this way during a booming economy, people are playing more fast and loose with their money, so t heyre not as discerning. While you may believe that is a good thing, it can hurt a lot of smaller businesses. Money is no object, so the big brands can scoop up premium advertising space and blast it at every conceivable target audience. But during a recession, consumers pull back hard on those spending reins and are much more careful about how they put their money to work. Thats when you can really take advantage. The big brands will reduce their spend, giving you not only a gunst der stunde to talk to people you would never usually talk to but to also tailor cost-saving messages just for them. You know that whats first and foremost on their minds is money, and saving it. Now, they can get a quality item for less, because theyre not paying for a bunch of advertising and marketing (Beats headphones are a prime example of this...mediocre product, huge ad, and product design costs). This is your chance to talk openly about costs, and how you can help. Once the recession is over, youl l have gained a whole new customer base that wont go back to the competition. You Can Create a Long-Term Position for Your Business Standing out in the marketplace is hard enough when you and your competition are battling it out in the ad world. As your competition cuts back on ad spending, your advertising can cut through that clutter. Consumers may not be spending as much but they are still spending. If youre not the company they think of when they do spend, your sales will decrease. While your competition is cutting back, you have the chance to be the company consumers spend with now while gaining their future business as you continue to advertise in good times and bad. You Can Establish Advertising Contacts This is the perfect time to establish a relationship with the person youll be doing business with at TV stations, radio stations, magazines, online, etc. An account executive can be your go-to contact to get your ads in prime placement, negotiate good deals on rates a nd even get extras thrown in for your ads. You can also use this new relationship to further grow your business. Talk with the AE about sponsorships, advertising trades, and partnering. You Will Get Better Deals on Advertising This is where you can use your new advertising contacts. Ad inventory still has to be sold. TV stations, radio stations, websites, outdoor vendors, and magazines still have budgets to make. Nows a good time to get deals on your ad space. You can get more exposure through more ad placement and even freebies added into the mix. If youre trying to get airtime on TV, for example, a station might also offer online advertising on its website as part of the deal. Or to be more accurate these days, buying a huge amount of space online could lead to additional impressions elsewhere, again thrown in as a special offer. You Can Speak Directly to Bargain Hunters Dont be afraid to address the bad economy in your advertising. Customers are looking for good deals. So me national advertisers are a prime example of this. Travelocity aired a simple commercial to announce its Silver Lining Sale. In the first three seconds, you see the words, We know times are tight. Wal-Mart continually runs effective ad campaigns in poor economic climates. The commercials dont say, Hey, come on out. Weve got electronics, clothes, sporting goods, prescriptions and more at a low cost. Instead, the ads focus on very specific items and how much youll save over a year by purchasing these items directly from Wal-Mart. In a bad economy, there are many opportunities to expose your business to new customers that arent always possible in a good economy. Every one of them can be explored to help you solidify your place in business and stand out from your competitors.

Dont forget to take out the trash!

Dont forget to take out the trashDont forget to take out the trashDanielle Correa is the Diversity Project Assistant here at Vault. She also endured one of the most painful internships of all-time while an underemployed undergrad, hoping to beef up her resume before graduation. When it welches all over after just three hellish weeks, she endured six months of unemployment (during which, we assume, a few more great storiesoccurred). So what would you have done? Save yourself the misery, or endure this weeks edition of Temporary Tales? Read on and decide for yourself, then let us know And as always, if youve got a tale of your own, be sure to send it to PinkSlippedVault.comAbout a month before graduation, it occurred to me that my resume could use a little boost. My fabulous life of bartending and waitressing didnt exactly scream Hire me to potential post-grad employers, so I decided (I still cant believe I did, but I did) to branch out in search of the perfect internship. No longer ab le to count on the $300 nightly direct deposit directly into my pocket, zing I knew that while padding my resume, I needed something that would keep my checking account in the black. One April afternoon in the Montclair State computer lab, I stumbled upon what I thought was just that a forwarded email from my department head advertising an internship entitled Creative Writer, which I thought was just perfect, as I wanted to write. Just how wrong I was, I wouldnt know until I had spent three weeks as the most miserable intern in the tri-state area. On my first day I arrived at 8 am sharp to discover that I was the first person there and the office door was locked. The office was situated on the second floor of a realtors office, and knowing that the company was tiny only 8 people, including me I figured I had no choice but to ask the realtors receptionist for a key. She kindly requested that I please bugger off and wait outside. No one had told her there was an intern arriving f or her first day that day (and whos going to give a key to the intern, honestly?). I was a little perturbed, but what could I do? I went outside as instructed and my interviewer arrived about 10 minutes later apologizing for being late on my first day. Sensing this might become a regular occurrence, I asked him about getting a key. I was met with something along the lines of, We dont give keys to interns. Strike oneOnce upstairs, I found my new desk waiting for me, miles from the other cubicles and very close to the door, suspiciously so, since I believed my job would involve working closely with the rest of the team. I was told that they were in the process of hiring a receptionist but hadnt found one yet. Can you guess who got to be the resident Pam Beesley in the meantime? Alright, so I had just become a Creative Writer slash Secretary. I guess this might have been okay if I had ever been given a single chance to write. Things really seemed to be working out so far.When it came time to meet the rest of my co-workers, they were welcoming at first, but for the remainder of my time with the company I heard the snickering and whispering by the water cooler. I saw them look at me and then turn away and laugh amongst themselves, which would have been uncomfortable enough before factoring in that I was the only woman working for this company. Strike twoFinally, the fun part meeting the CEO. Pardon my French when I say, what an arrogant, sexist $* Clearly I wouldnt have been so eager to take the internship if Personal slave to CEO were listed under the job requirements. When he needed something mailed, I licked the stamps, got into my beat up 1992 Honda Prelude and drove across town to the post office (his letters almost always had to be mailed internationally). I did this every day for three weeks, rain or shine. I made coffee. Of course, Mr. CEO liked his coffee stronger than everyone else, so I made two separate pots of coffee three times a day. Every day I o rdered his lunch and picked it up since the jerk was too cheap to pay for delivery. If he had a meeting, I ordered clients lunches as well, and was then forced to place plates, utensils, condiments the works in front of behauptung clients, as if I were some baboon Whenever anyone called the office, I had to get up and announce who was calling, why, and from what company rather than simply transfer Mr. CEOs calls directly. I wasnt allowed to email him messages or forward voicemails, either. I had to write them down, then go to his desk and announce the list to him twice a day. By the grace of the internship gods, I was afforded an hour lunch break my lone perk.Sadly, all of this was a cakewalk compared with my most miserable task. The company had no janitor or cleaning service, so after a long day of running errands, jumping through hoops like a circus ape and doing the opposite of the job I thought I was hired to do, I got to take out the trash. I was required to collect everyone s personal garbage and the large one from the kitchen, then lug them to the one nearby dumpster a block away. And you know Mr. CEO never forgot to poke his head over my desk at 455 as he was heading out the door and say, Dont forget to take out the trash.Its one thing to treat the intern like, well, garbage. However, Mr. CEO didnt even pretend to respect me. Hed berate me in front of the entire office, and never coached me on how he wanted things done, despite my repeated inquiries. I think you know where this is going Strike threeAfter three weeks, I finally put my foot down and quit. Stressing over some two-bit CEOs personal errands? Really not worth the $8.50 an hour. To recap, thats $300-a-night waitressing gig gone, and miserable (but paid) internship gone. In spite of it all, I was proud that I had stood up for myself, confident that I could command respect from my superiors in the future, and sure that I really had tried my best. I looked ahead and searched for my new enterpr ise. It awaited me somewhere.And if you think that was awful, stay tuned for the journey that follows this temporary talesix months of unemploymentPosted by Danielle Correa, Vault Diversity Project Asst.

Resume Tips for College Students and Recent Grads

Resume Tips for College Students and Recent GradsResume Tips for College Students and Recent GradsWhen you are a college student seeking an internship or a job your resume can look just like everyone elses and that can make your job search a challenge. How can you get your resume noticed when all the candidates are basically equal when it comes to their educational background? Its important, in this competitive job market, to have more than your education on your resume. A college degree in and of itself isnt enough. Every college student should find time, even though time can be hard to find, to do as many internships as possible, to volunteer, to work on college projects, participate in clubs and organizations on campus, and to participate in activities which will not only help your resume stand out from the crowd, but will provide you with the opportunity to explore options and career paths for the future. The next step is to make your resume shine. The time you spend on extra-cur ricular activities will be time well spent. Youll have more information to include on your resume than just your education. The key to success is to properly present your experience so it will impress your prospective employers and help you get invited for an interview. Heres a list of skills college students can include, listed by major. Helen Zucchini, Director, Career Connections at Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder, share herbei tips for how to create a resume that will distinguish you from the competition Details Count- and Your Gut Is Usually Right Make sure the formatting is consistent and text is aligned. Ive seen resumes where the formatting was all over the place. Or fonts that just dont look right, colors that are off. Check grammar and spelling (the kind of stuff that spell check doesnt catch)- theyre vs. their- herd vs. heard - I see this all the time. Most of the time, you know it in your gut. So listen to your gut, and also run it b y friends and tell them they HAVE to be brutally honest with you, to look at it from the perspective of hiring you- not the perspective of going out for drinks with you later Maybe Youre Special, but Make Yourself Extra Special Despite what your friends and family say- youre not that special. Or maybe you are, but youre competing with a lot of other special people. Tough love? Absolutely. So when preparing a resume, highlight specific results you achieved. And make sure those are the results that matter to the partie whos going to be interviewing you. And show that you understand the job is about doing something for the company, not the company doing something for you. Your passionate interest in becoming an ad executive isnt enough to make you a great candidate for the job. Solve Problems and Set up Some Stories Employers want to hire people who can demonstrate they are problem solvers. Create your resume with specific scenarios that demonstrate how you solved a problem, wh ether its with internships or college projects. Dont just write what you did transform that into how you did it and show how the way you think can help the organization with which youre interviewing. Another tip setting up your resume like this will give you interesting, compelling things to talk about with the interviewer. Stories and projects are way more engaging than a list of duties. It will make you feel more comfortable, and it will make the interviewer more interested. The Critical Element of Resume-Writing Getting It Read You can have the best resume, but when its stacked with hundreds of others it needs to get noticed. In other words, your resume, no matter how good, wont do all the work on its own. You put the time in to make it great, now make sure you also make it seen. So network. Networking also takes work - but its much easier than fruchtwein people think. People are always surprised at how many friends and neighbors have great contacts, and how many of those con tacts are perfectly happy to chat with you. Also ask your career or alumni office, friends, parents, and professors to introduce you to people in your area of interest (marketing, banking, energy, etc.) and tell them you are astudent wanting to learn more about what they do, how they got into their industry. Offer to buy them a coffee - people love talking about themselves, and this is a great way to get in front of key decision makers while also learning about the industry or career.