Heather Tranen – Penn & Beyond

Find your perfect match…on PennLink

Valentine’s Day is less than a month away. Perhaps you have found your perfect match. Maybe you are still looking. We have found the best way to find a perfect match is on the internet. What’s the best platform, you ask? Where do individuals find the most results? Pennlink, of course!

We’re talking about internships, fellowships, and full-time opportunities – what were you thinking?

Some people may have difficulty finding their perfect match, and that’s why we are here to help. Going to Advanced Search and selecting items like geographic preference, job function, and class year can help you find that perfect match.

Need some help? Our career advisers are here to support you during walk-ins and appointments. You can also check out our Navigating PennLink tutorial.

Gobble up some LinkedIn tools

Heather Tranen – College of Arts & Sciences Career Advisor

I know it’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving break will be here before we know it. Until them, make sure to first, breathe. Midterms will be over soon, too. Also, consider brushing up on some of your LinkedIn skills. This way, you can identify members of your network effectively while on Thanksgiving break.

Lucky for you, Career Services created a comprehensive LinkedIn Basics Guide to help get you started. Take a peek and gobble, gobble, gobble up the information along with your mashed potatoes and stuffing!

Have a career story? Tell us through the #myPennPath social media campaign

We at Career Services strive to give our students the very best resources to help them along their career paths. Knowing that many of you love sharing things on social media, we thought we’d come up with a campaign that allows you to tell your career stories to your friends. Our hope is that more students will learn the great things their peers are doing, and become interested in coming in to see us to get more information. We thought we’d throw in some prizes as incentive, too. Below outlines the overall campaign. We hope you’ll share your story!

What is #myPennPath?

A new initiative to share career resources and learn about career options.
An exciting opportunity where a simple tweet, or post on Facebook or Instagram can win you cool prizes.
A growing community that shares information on diverse, interesting career pathways.
Contributing a career tip, favorite resource, or story about your volunteer, fellowship, or full-time opportunity and using #MyPennPath enriches the #myPennPath community… AND enters you into a raffle to win prizes from Career Services.

Here’s how it works:

Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. We want you to share your stories on your favorite social platform.

Take a selfie, a picture of your office, volunteer work, your mentor, or post anything career-related you’re doing during the summer and beyond. Have a career tip? Post a video. Headed to a conference? That counts, too!

Tell your friends about #MyPennPath and encourage them to share

Win prizes from Career Services.

Examples of potential posts:
First time at @PennCareerServ for walk-ins and now have a great consulting resume. Next stop: Biomedical Career Fair #myPennPath

I wrote a blog for @PennCareerServ. Check out my experience at an environmental nonprofit #myPennPath::::link to blog::::

Found a great job on PennLink and @PennCareerServ helped me make a tailored cover letter for it! #myPennPath

Vault Career Insider helped me explore different careers in healthcare. Check it out! #myPennPath:::link to Vault guide::

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I started #myPennPath. Now I’m excited about my career in digital media :::link to video:::

I’ll be tweeting a #DayintheLife for @PennCareerServ tomorrow. Check out #myPennPath

Having a great summer internship as part of #myPennPath, making new connections and learning a lot!

Career Services’ Summer Reading List

Summer is finally here! Break out the flip flops and the sunscreen. With the summer also comes the time to get in some leisure reading. As such, I wanted to share a list of books from some career experts. The list below will help you define your career goals, feel confident networking, and get you to the next stage of your career. Enjoy these books, and don’t forget to check in with us for help along the way!

Don’t let your wallflower ways keep you from getting what you want. The Art of Mingling offers great tips on how to work any room. Your network is your net worth regardless of your target industry or academic pursuits. This book will help you! We also host panel and networking events throughout the semester so stay on top of our calendar of events.

Want to know the key to success? According to Ferrazzi and Raz it is networking. Learning how to cultivate relationships is an important part of life. Never Eat Alone teaches readers how to make connections using their handy outlines and strategies. The important thing to remember is that it isn’t just about getting what you want; it’s also about making sure those who are important to you also get what they want.

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers is the go to guide for job searching. What Color is Your Parchute? Bolles gives advice on a variety of topics from how to use social media tools for your advantage to updated tips on networking, interviewing, salary negotiations and even entrepreneurialism. The best part is this is not specific to one industry everyone can take advantage of the advice here. Of course, we are here all summer for walk-in hours and an appointment to discuss your parachute color preferences, and other important career-related topics.

This book outlines important conversations you may have throughout your life and walks you through how to navigate them. Through this book you learn the fine line between being persuasive vs. abrasive in different situations.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity–principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

Getting from College to Career by Career Expert and Global Spokesperson for LinkedIn, Lindsey Pollak, is an insightful, essential world guide for college students and recent graduates who are preparing to embark upon a career beyond the university walls. Now newly revised to reflect the most recent changes in the economy and job market, these “90 things to do before you join the real world” will give every young grad a head start, providing essential information for adapting to and succeeding in a marketplace that is now more competitive than ever.

Expanded and updated exclusively for graduates just entering the workforce, this edition of Lean In includes a letter to graduates from Sheryl Sandberg and six additional chapters from experts offering advice on finding and getting the most out of a first job; resume writing; best interviewing practices; negotiating your salary; listening to your inner voice; owning who you are; and leaning in for millennial men.

These books are just a start. Career Services is here to support you throughout the summer. We encourage you to make a Skype of phone appointment if you are away from Philadelphia. We hope you are enjoying the break from school, and finding time to relax before the fall semester!

Debunking Internship Search Myths

by Heather Tranen, Associate Director

With winter safely behind us and the promise of summer within reach, it’s a happy time of year.

Many of you already secured your summer plans – congrats! For those of you still working on them, it’s important to stay positive and focused. That’s why I wanted to take a moment to debunk some myths that have the potential to slow you down and leave you feeling defeated during the internship search process.

MYTH 1: Everyone has an internship but me! Perhaps one of the most common myths, and it is definitely not true. In reality, it may feel like everyone and his or her first and second cousin all have internships. Keep in mind different industries have different hiring timelines. Try your best not to get discouraged. Ignore that pesky voice in your head that tells you that you’re alone in this process. Come get a pep talk from one of your trusty career advisers during walk-in hours. We’ll pull you out of your internship rut.

MYTH 2: PennLink is only for finance jobs. I invite you to try the Advanced Search function to learn how untrue this statement is. By searching through job function, you can see different jobs at a plethora of different organizations that are of interest to you. You can even set it up so that you get daily, weekly, or monthly email updates with relevant jobs.

PennLink still not for you? No worries. Our Resources by Career Field page, iNet, and other job search resources serve as additional ways to find the right opportunity for you.

MYTH 3: I applied to every job on the internet and no one called me for an interview. I doubt you applied to every job, but maybe you did. If that’s the case then it’s important to think about how you are marketing yourself through your resume, cover letter, and networking strategy. Are you targeting the right jobs for your skills, interests, and experiences? Self-assessment is key. Talking to a career advisor during an appointment and taking a career assessment like the MBTI or the Strong Interest Inventory is a great way to evaluate this.

MYTH 4: Alumni don’t want to hear from me. Networking is a key component to a successful internship search. If you were a professional who found great success in your career, wouldn’t you want to help someone in your situation? If you answered yes, then you are like the many Penn Alumni who would be more than happy to support you in your career development.

Use tools like QuakerNet and the LinkedIn Alumni Platform to target alums to reach out to for informational interviewing. Set a goal for how many alumni you will reach out to on a weekly basis. Informational interviews are a great way to expand your network, and uncover the hidden job market.

MYTH 5: If I don’t get an internship I’ll never get a full-time job. This is untrue! Employers like to see that you have transferable skills, and have a strong work ethic. This often comes in the form of volunteering, job shadowing, or simply by working in a part-time job. Attending industry-specific networking events, or joining professional associations is also a good way of staying productive and learning more about industries of interest to you. If you aren’t going the internship route this summer, doing something to stay productive is key.

I am sure you hear other myths like these on a regular basis. If you feel discouraged about your summer plans, reach out to us at Career Services, friends, family, professors, and anyone else you can go to for support!