Category: Internship Search

Achieving Career Goals with a Personal Board of Advisors

Many of you have successfully identified either short-term or long-term career goals but can still struggle with how to “get from here to there” with your plans. If you stop to think about it, you can probably identify some of the things that have helped you achieved past goals you have set for yourself.

What helps us achieve a goal or purpose?

  • Clarity of understanding, enthusiasm or motivation for a goal
  • Information and access to resources
  • Ability to take risks and to take action
  • Accountability (holding self to course of action)
  • Ability to learn from experience, gain insight
  • Recognition of accomplishment (keeps us motivated to tackle the next thing on our list)

A mentor or advisor is someone who can add to our abilities in each of the areas above; who can accelerate the process of attaining goals, minimize both the effects and frequency of derailments, and expand our knowledge as we progress from goal to goal, and celebrate achievements.  That being said, most mentors and advisors do not have every skill or expertise you will need to develop to move ahead in your own professional development.  For example, a great researcher isn’t always a great communicator; a great writer may not be a great connector.  This is where the idea behind having a personal board of advisors for your career comes in:  rather than relying on a single advisor, you are more likely to succeed if you reach out to more people, and have their complementary skills and strengths serve your varying needs and goals.   This is a very strategic form of networking for professional development.

Does this idea intrigue you?  Here are some guidelines for creating a personal board of advisors for your career:

  • Identify people with strengths or experience you seek
  • Identify people with connections to others, or connections to resources that can help you
  • Identify people you respect but who have differing perspectives than your own
  • Identify people who will help you stay accountable

Think about a consortium of 4-5 people that would together have the expertise to meet your short term, and even some long term goals.  Who do you already know that fits one or more of the above criteria?  Personal advisory boards can be made up of individuals from any part of your life; not just school or work: family, friends, teachers, former supervisors, current advisors, coaches, leaders in certain fields of interest, alumni of your school or program.

For example, one of my current career goals is to develop my strengths related to leading a team. My board of advisors currently looks like this:

  • 2 former supervisors who have a lot of experience in my field, career counseling graduate students (strengths and connections)
  • 1 cousin, who has significant managerial experience in a totally different field, management consulting (differing perspectives)
  • 2 friends from graduate school, who provide psychological support, have seen my career grow over time (more than 15 years!), and serve as “cheerleaders” (keep me accountable, recognize accomplishments)

What do you need to do to make the most of the “wisdom” or strengths of your career advisory board?

  • Be prepared to discuss your goal(s)
  • Develop the ability to discuss both strengths and weakness; self-insight is required for this
  • Be open to feedback; and be willing to do things differently or see things differently
  • Have regular contact, including follow up after each interaction
  • Express gratitude and reciprocity (be engaged, appreciate your advisors’ efforts, and even offer to help others)

For more information on this concept, read some of the many articles online (some great ones are linked below), and share your networking and professional development goals by making an appointment with a Penn Career Services advisor: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/appointments

Personal Board of Advisors articles:

What graduate students/postdocs need to do at career fairs

Dr. Joseph Barber

It is time to revisit a post I wrote about making use of career fairs even when (and especially when) you are not actively looking for a job right now. We are about to enter the peak Career Fair season at Penn, and now is a good time to start thinking about how to make the most of these great opportunities. After all, these employers are coming to campus for the sole reason to talk with students and postdocs like you! If you have never attended a career fair before, then now is a great time to do so. Just showing up can be the beginning of the professional journey that helps you to achieve your career goals – or at least that helps you to figure out what your goals are. If you are nervous about career fairs, then set up an appointment with an advisor at Career Services and we can provide great suggestions and advice.

Six things you can do at career fairs even if you aren’t actively looking for a job

1) Hand people your well-formatted, mistake-free, Career Services’ critiqued resume. OK, if you are not looking for a job, this is one that you might be able to skip. But…, what happens if you are chatting with employers (see below), and someone asks about your experience, and then says, “do you have a resume I can take away with me?”. As you don’t want to miss this opportunity to network, which is the better answer:

  • “Errr…., no, but I can write my name and email on this napkin”
  • “Yes, this reflects my experience to date, and obviously I am going to be gaining more experience over the next few months/years. If I were interested in this type of opportunity, can you see any areas where additional experience might help me in this career field?”
  • “What’s a resume?”

2) Network. People with effective networks build them continuously over time, and may not seek anything from their contacts for many months or years. They spend their time developing and maintaining their network so that when they do need help, the network is already there for them, and the people within the network know and trust them. The best time to network from a career perspective is when you are not actively looking for a job. You have more time, and you come across as less desperate. If you work hard to help people remember you by staying in contact, then you increase the likelihood that they’ll be thinking of you when future job opportunities arise. So, take time at career fairs to share your information with people in different career fields, think of creative ways to maintain contact with them over time to establish an effective relationship, and ask the most important question of all to gain access to their network: “Do you anyone you think I should talk with to find out more information?“

3) Think about Plan B. You may have your heart set on one type of job, or working at one specific organization, and it is important that you work hard to achieve what you want. However, it never hurts to have a back-up plan, your career Plan B. If you are a graduate student, then you may be planning on following the tenure track, and seeking only academic teaching or research positions. The academic job market is hard to predict, and will always be changeable, but it will always be highly competitive, and there will always be someone who does not get the job they interviewed for. We hope that person is not you, and we’ll work hard with you to help you be the successful one, but it never hurts to be thinking about Plan B. If you need to switch tracks at a future date, will you have enough transferable skills and experiences to make you a competitive candidate in a completely different career field? At the career fair you can ask recruiters what they are looking for in resumes for the types of jobs they have available now. They might be able to help identify the kind of experiences you can gain in the present, and over the next few months/years, that might make you competitive for other types of jobs in the future.

4) Tell people about yourself. The question “tell me about yourself” will come up whenever you meet new people (whether spoken or inferred), but can also be asked during phone and in-person interviews. You need to have an interesting, succinct, and confident answer. You are the expert in the subject of you, and so it is the one topic that you should have no hesitation talking about. Career fairs are a great place to practice talking about yourself, as you need to summarize who you are, what skills you have, where you want to be going in the future, and how the person you are talking with might be able to help, all within about 30-60 seconds. When you are networking, people need to know what your network goals are so that they know how they can help you. For example, are you looking for information, opportunities, or future contacts?

5) Talk about your research. Graduate students have two types of tricky questions to answer in terms of what they have been doing with themselves. When telling people about yourself, you will of course mention the research you do, but research is not the only topic you should talk about. The “tell me about yourself” answer needs to be slightly broader (e.g., what brought you to Penn, what are some of the key skills you have, how have your experiences changed the way you think about aspects of the world, and how do you see yourself using your knowledge and skills in the future). When talking more specifically about your research, you will need to summarize what you do in a way that makes your subject understandable to a range of different people with differing degrees of expertise in your specific area. Can you tailor a summary about your research on ancient Aramaic texts or Tribble genes to experts in the field and to HR representatives? Can you make your research interesting and relevant to them? Again, career fairs are a great way to practice talking about your research, and it does take practice.

6) See how it is done. You don’t want your first career fair to be the one where you need to find a job. You want to work out all of your career fair nerves beforehand. Even if you don’t talk to any employers (and you really should – they won’t bite), you can still watch how your peers handle themselves at career fairs? You can see how they are dressed, and whether they are keeping their right hand free to shake hands with people they meet, without having to juggle paperwork and drinks (and that means thinking about which shoulder to hang your bag on, so it doesn’t slip off when extending your hand). Small things can sometimes count when you are trying to make a good first impression. You can listen to the types of questions they ask, and you can learn to emulate or avoid the good or bad approaches they use.

Enduring the Job or Internship Search Race

By Claire Klieger

pennrelaysIt’s that time of year again – the excitement of Pen Relays! This iconic event has gotten me thinking about the similarities between it and the experiences of many of the students I’ve seen this week who are still very much still in the midst of their own job or internship search run (and feeling like they are falling behind in the race). So, in honor of Penn Relays, I offer these comparisons between the search and track and field events:

Be prepared for hurdles.  pennrelayshurdle

Each step of the search process is like a hurdle that you must successfully clear. To feel prepared for your own race, try to anticipate the hurdles along your own course: what exactly does the application require? How can you tailor your resume for that opportunity? What kinds of questions might you get asked during an interview? Will there be an assessment? Whenever possible, do what you can to get ahead of such challenges by preparing effectively so you come across both confidently and comfortably during interviews (we in Career Services can help!). That said, there may be roadblocks you do not expect so keep your own mental agility in shape by re-familiarizing yourself everything on your resume and staying calm, cool and collected under pressure.

 At times you may feel like your world has been turned upside down.pennrelaysupsidedown

The landscape of your search can change very quickly so that you may go from feeling frustrated by not having any interviews or offers to have several at once or, more likely, a combination of the two. When you feel overwhelmed by the process, touch base with us to chat about how to ask for more time on an offer or let an employer with whom you have an interview know that you just received an offer elsewhere but are really more interested in their opportunity. And, if nothing else, this topsy-turvy positioning can certainly give you a fresh perspective!

 

Sometimes you are the baton.pennrelaysbaton

Even if you’ve been doing everything right in your search—applying for lots of positions, making sure your resume is in great shape, networking with alumni, and more–you may find that it takes a while to find something. And, it can be very frustrating because so much of the process is outside of your control. In a sense, you are like the baton, being passed from one interview round to the next without control over the outcome. However, just like the perfect baton pass, the opportunity and timing has to be right so if you did not get the offer you had wanted, it may not have had anything to do with your own efforts or talents. In many instances, it is because it was just not quite the right fit or the employer thought it was a slightly better fit for someone else. Take heart in knowing that employers were impressed enough with your credentials to ask you to interview so you indeed have everything you need to be successful.

Endurance is keypennrelaysendurance

When you’ve running what feels like your own job or internship search marathon for months, it can be hard to stay motivated, particularly if you’ve already encountered several situations when you made it to final rounds of interviews but failed to receive the offer. Or, it can be tempting to stop applying for other opportunities while you are in the midst of interviews. The trick to any successful marathon, however, is to keep at it. There are definitely many great things still out there. Employers hire all year round for full-time opportunities and even for internships, we find that some of the most interesting opportunities, particularly with start-ups and in entertainment, do not get posted until late in the spring. So, when you reach your own point of job search fatigue, stop by Penn Career Services to get the boost you may need to get back on track.

Good luck with your race!

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.

advancedsearch.pngPennLink 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.

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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!

 

A Notice to Sophomores Regarding Fall 2015 On Campus Recruiting

Dear Penn Sophomores:

Yesterday Career Services sent an email to Penn sophomores to inform them of planned changes to the internship recruiting timeline for next year.  We immediately received feedback from a substantial number of students who had been planning to study abroad during Fall 2015 who felt that they had not received enough time to adequately plan for such changes and who were not comfortable with the option of using videoconferencing to conduct their internship interviews from abroad. We apologize for not making the decision earlier in the year, but we felt it was important to gather statistics and data from the 2015 internship cycle to better inform our decision about the optimal timing for internship recruiting.  We were not able to make a decision until right before Spring Break and so announced it as soon possible when classes resumed.

We have heard from a significant number of students with concerns about the proposed change, and at this point we have decided that the best course of action will be to postpone the implementation of fall internship recruiting until Fall 2016.  For current sophomores, on-campus interviewing for non-technical internships will take place in Spring 2016.  Current freshmen should expect that internship recruiting will take place in Fall 2016 which will give students more time to adequately plan.

Again, our goal in Career Services is to help each and every student to clarify and pursue their career interests and we hope that the revised timeline will work for all of our students.  We urge rising juniors who are studying abroad next fall to meet with a career counselor this spring or summer to discuss any career concerns they may have and to plan in advance for their return to campus in Spring 2016.

Sincerely,
Career Services