Searching for Some Clarity

by Sarah Hastings

I’ve been there.  As a career counselor, I often meet with students and alumni who ask questions about career planning and the job search that I also had at different points throughout my education and career.  When I think back to my own indecision as an undergraduate, I remember finding it helpful at times to hear that someone else was uncertain about what to do next.  Sometimes I felt like I was the only one!  So, if it makes you feel better…

When I left for college in the early 90s, I had very clear career goals.  I was going to be a pediatrician!  I liked science and math in high school and knew I wanted a career in medicine.  If that isn’t convincing enough for you, then you should know this dream went as far back as my childhood.  Medical school, here I come!

As I forged ahead and began the premed coursework, my gut was telling me that it wasn’t going to be the right fit for me after all.  Actually, it wasn’t just my gut telling me, it was also my head, arms, the stars, the moon…get the picture?  I didn’t need a palm reader, I could see my future and organic chemistry was not in it.

I then went on what you could call a crash course in exploring what I “wanted to be.” I applied to the university’s education school, studied for and took the LSAT, and even researched culinary schools.  All along I wondered, when is my “Ah ha!” moment going to come?  I told myself that I had to figure it out by my senior year.  It didn’t take long to realize that the way I was going about my search was pretty exhausting and wasn’t giving me the insight I had hoped.  I also realized that by talking to people about my interests and learning from others, I could gather a whole lot more information that helped me make decisions (aka networking).

By graduation I hadn’t exactly found my calling, but I knew what I wanted to do for the next year and that was good enough for me, and felt great.  I left the country!  Through the BUNAC program (http://www.bunac.org/), I secured a six-month work visa in the UK.  Before leaving for that adventure, I was able to secure a position working for an investment firm in London.  Networking enabled me to connect with an alum who owned that company.  I was hired, psychology major and all.  Those six months were fantastic.  When my work visa expired there, I moved to Galway, Ireland so that I could continue to live and work abroad.  I found a job as a server in a restaurant and lived above a pub.

I didn’t make much of a salary that year abroad, but I gained unique experience that I feel paved the way for me in my future endeavors.  I was also better prepared to explore my interests and more open-minded about what those might be.

Not knowing what to do next is ok, even though it doesn’t always feel so great.  Accept the challenge of finding answers and use that as motivation to explore.  Talk to others, share your interests, and connect with the Penn network.  I encourage you to also keep an open mind about what you find.  What interests you along the way may be unexpected.  Take it from an almost doctor turned lawyer, who wanted to be a nurse, and then considered teaching as well as becoming a professional chef, that clarity will come.

And the Results are In…..

Barbara Hewitt

The Career Services staff has been spending lots of time lately collecting and reviewing data for our Postgraduate Career Plans and Summer Surveys. I recently completed the Career Plans Survey for the Wharton Undergraduate Class of 2011. Guess what? They did fabulous! In fact, we had the lowest percentage of graduates still seeking opportunities (as of the end of October) than I have witnessed in my 13 years at Penn. Although data from last year is not necessarily a predictor of what will happen with the Class of 2012, it is important to remember that Penn graduates traditionally do very well upon graduation. While we are not immune to the recent economic uncertainty and turmoil, it is important not to let the nightly news get you too discouraged… there are interesting and rewarding opportunities out there.

A few interesting facts about the Wharton Undergraduate Class of 2011:

• The average starting base salary was $66,412. The range was $20,000 – $120,000.
• 89.5% of respondents were employed and 5.6% planned to pursue additional education.
• The average student had 12.5 first-round interviews and received 2.2 job offers.
• Of the students who reported accepting jobs, 82.5% accepted them during the fall and 95.6% accepted before graduation. 4.4% of students reported they were still seeking opportunities (employment or graduate school) as of October 2011.

We prepare post-graduate reports for each of the undergraduate schools at Penn which can be found on our surveys page: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/reports.html. (The CAS and SEAS reports are in progress and should be available soon.) We also prepare reports on summer experiences, particularly focused on those between junior and senior years. We are currently putting out a last call for undergraduate students to tell us what you did last summer! We will be analyzing data from Summer 2011 in the next few weeks. If you haven’t completed the survey yet please take a few minutes to do so now at: https://secure.www.upenn.edu/vpul/careerservices/forms/2011summersurvey/survey.php. (Note you will need your PennKey and PennKey password to access the survey.) Your participation will greatly enhance the accuracy and usefulness of our survey and will be much appreciated by the Career Services staff (and your fellow students!)

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

Dr. Joseph Barber

Sometimes the simplest advice is the best advice, and so I am going to give you some simple advice. It is advice that you may choose to ignore during finals, or might be prevented from heeding at other times because small creatures (e.g., cats, dogs, wicked babies) spend the twilight hours wailing. But the advice is “get enough sleep”. It is advice that I certainly hope to follow again someday very soon (wicked baby permitting).

It may come as no surprise that lack of sleep can have an effect on mood, on health, on the ability to access different types of knowledge, on relationships, on academic success, and potentially on your ability to maximize career opportunities. Getting enough sleep before that important job interview should be a critical part of your preparations. There are lots of studies investigating the link between sleep deprivation and disruption and many of the factors I list above. If you are looking for some (somewhat soporific) reading materials to help you slumber, then you can check out some of these studies and see the results for yourself:

  • Gomes et al. 2011. Sleep and academic performance in undergraduates: a multi-measure, multi-predictor approach. CHRONOBIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 28(9): 786-801
  • Gunzelmann et al. 2011. Diminished access to declarative knowledge with sleep deprivation. COGNITIVE SYSTEMS RESEARCH 13(1): 1-11
  • Soares et al. 2011. Sleep disturbances, body mass index and eating behaviour in undergraduate students. JOURNAL OF SLEEP RESEARCH 20(3): 479-486
  • Forquer et al. 2008. Sleep patterns of college students at a public university. JOURNAL OF AMERICAN COLLEGE HEALTH 56(5): 563-565
  • Pallos et al. 2007. The quality of sleep and factors associated with poor sleep in Japanese graduate students. SLEEP AND BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS 5(4): 234-238

The reasons that undergraduates and graduates may have poor sleep habits may vary, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of sleep-specific research that focuses primarily on graduate students out there. Stereotypes might suggest that in the wee hours of the morning undergraduates are out partying, and graduates are locked away in libraries or labs trying to make progress on writing their thesis or getting experiments to work. There is probably some truth in these, but these stereotypes obviously won’t tell the whole story.

Now, there is not much we can do at Career Services to help you sleep better (unless you sleep better listening to online OCR orientations). However, if you are worried about finding internships or jobs, then perhaps the advice of a career advisor will help you feel more prepared and confident – and that will certainly help you sleep better. Addressing your stress and anxiety is important, and if helpful advice from a career advisor doesn’t necessarily help, then make use of some of the other student services available to you as well. It is worth it for a good night’s sleep.

I’ll let Wordsworth have the last word today, and wish you all a good night (do I hear the wailing of my nocturnal baby?).

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by,
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky;
I’ve thought of all by turns; and still do lie
Sleepless; and soon the small birds’ melodies
Must hear, first utter’d from my orchard trees;
And the first Cuckoo’s melancholy cry.
Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth:
So do not let me wear to night away:
Without Thee what is all the morning’s wealth?
Come, blessed barrier betwixt day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!

“To Sleep” William Wordsworth

Social Media Update

by Shannon Kelly

It’s been a busy semester here at Career Services.  As a result, we knew it was critical to get creative and look for some new tools to add to our social media presence.  We’re always looking on ways to keep our resources up-to-date and help you get the information you need in a way that meets your busy schedule.

New Tool #1: Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/penncareerserv/.  What is it? According to their website, “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” We took this in a new direction and are treating it as a visual bookmarking tool to share career resources we come across while surfing the web.  Yes, we have our website that has a TON of useful content.  But, there is so many helpful resources out there that we can’t pass up, and we know these resources are critical to your career and internship search.  We’re creating boards (or categories) organically, so as we find a new resource – we’ll create a board.  I think the most fun boards we have are What To Wear – Men, What To Wear – Women and our Words of Wisdom.  Do you have outfits/words of wisdom/resources to share? Let us know!

New Tool #2: Storify – http://storify.com/PennCareerServ. What is it?  “Storify helps its users tell stories by curating social media”, this was taken from the startup’s About section.   We realize we have lots of social media channels, and that we share a lot of information on them.  Not to mention there are even more resources out there that aren’t created by us on LinkedIn, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, online news outlets, etc.  Phew, that is overwhelming!  Well, our Storify account will help aggregate that information and put it in one place.  This means, if you missed our alum post on @PennCareerDay or didn’t realize we had a week dedicated to Careers in Design resources on our social media platforms – you can access this information after-the-fact.

Stay tuned when you get back after winter break (or over it) for even more from us.  We’re excited to have our brand new Social Media Advisory Board, comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, to help us roll out new tools and enhance our existing ones.

 

 

Tattoos: Think Before You Ink

by Patricia Rose, Director of Career Services

The good news is that the job market for new college graduates is not as bad as the press is reporting, or rather, it’s not as bad for Penn grads. Quite the contrary, the 2011 grads did well in the job market, and while some sectors have reduced their interviews, others are ramping up.

But the less good news is that the market is still very competitive. Employers have their pick of good candidates. That means you have to make a strong first impression, and to present yourself as professionally as possible.

Last week I received an email from a student at another university, who was writing a paper on tattoos in the workforce. She asked me questions I couldn’t answer, such as, have tattoos become more acceptable in the last ten years. I suspect the answer to that is yes, but a very qualified yes. A Vault.com survey from 10 years ago found that almost 60% of employers said they were less likely to hire a candidate with tattoos or piercings. Maybe fewer feel that way now. A quick search didn’t turn up more recent studies. But even if that percentage has been reduced by half, about one in three interviewers will still reject you if you have tattoos.

What that means for job hunters is this: as far as employment is concerned, think twice before getting a tattoo in any place that is visible when you are dressed for a summer’s day. While certain fields, such as the arts, may be more accepting, I would not take the risk.

If you already have a tattoo, my advice is to cover it up during the interview process and, at least initially, in the workplace. This assumes your tattoo is not offensive. If anyone could be offended, keep it covered up at all times. (And if you have multiple piercings, remove some of your rings too, but that’s a subject for another blog.)

Employers are looking for new hires who will fit in with existing staff, and who will represent the organization well with clients or others in external organizations. They may personally not object to tattoos, but don’t want to risk offending clients. So before you do something you may later regret, think before you ink.