Student Perspective – Page 17

CS Radio Episode 9: “Networking”

This week, we’re very excited to welcome our first student gust! McKenna Finger is a junior in Wharton and she joins us this week to talk about the power of networking and how she leveraged connections she made through Penn, friends and family into working opportunities. Mylène and Michael also provide some networking tips for everyone preparing to return home for Thanksgiving break. All that, plus This Week in Career Services!

Programming Note: Since Thanksgiving shortens the school week, we won’t have a new episode next week. We hope everyone has a peaceful and joyous Thanksgiving – we’ll see you back here with a new episode on November 30th!

Enjoy!

Finding an Internship Abroad

by Claudia Acha, CAS ’15

Finding an internship abroad can be difficult, but with the right approach you can make your search easier and more effective. First you have to figure out why you want to intern abroad. Is it to travel to a specific country, work for a specific organization, or get experience in a specific field? Once you figure out your objective, you can focus your search and start looking for opportunities that match your objective. Even though finding an internship abroad is harder than finding one in the US, the extra work is well worth it.

I wanted to spend this summer exploring my interests in marketing, Latin America, and the non-profit sector. Although there are opportunities to do this at in the US, the best option seemed like interning abroad. I began my search on goingglobal.com, devex.com, Pennlink, iNet, and idealist.org. I submitted more than 30 applications. I didn’t hear back from any positions I applied to until late April. Despite this setback, I was determined to spend my summer abroad so I looked for alternate sources. I met with the staff from career services for guidance, and with their help I was able to narrow and focus my search.

At Penn we are constantly reminded how important it is to utilize our networks, and this was my next step. I knew someone who worked at the Oxfam office in Washington DC and was able to get in touch with Oxfam’s offices in Latin America through him. I reached out directly to the Oxfam office in Nicaragua and was able to secure a communications internship this way. Securing this internship took much effort and time, but it was definitely worth it. I was able to get everything I had hoped out of my internship. I got to work at an international NGO, explore my interest in marketing, and travel throughout Nicaragua.

Tips on Interning Abroad
The biggest difference I have noticed with internships abroad and in the US are the cultural differences in the work place. During my internship at Korea Leadership Center there was an unspoken rule that employees should not leave until the boss leaves the office. In Nicaragua the workplace was a lot more casual than in most US offices. Employees are not required to be in their office from 8 to 5, instead, they are given much freedom and are each responsible for finishing their work by the deadline. Make sure to do some research about the country you will be working in to avoid any misunderstandings.

Funding
Some students rule out an internship abroad due to financial constraints. However, there are numerous resources to find funding for internships abroad. Like some students at Penn, I did not have the luxury of being able to have a non-paid internship. I tried looking for research opportunities, scholarships, and other sources for funds to pay for my internship abroad. Luckily, during my scholarship search I stumbled upon the Steven Alloy Global Internship Grant sponsored by the International Relations Department at Penn. Thanks to the generous support from the International Relations Department, I was able to spend my summer just the way I envisioned it.

My advice for students searching for opportunities abroad would be: start early, be creative with your search, tap into all of the resources you have access to, and persevere. This investment will be well worth the effort.

Examining and Defining Yourself Via Social Media

by Panxin Jiang, W’13

Every semester around the time OCR rolls around, I discover that suddenly, a portion of my friends start disappearing from my Facebook chats and messages and these new contacts appear. We always hear horror stories about how employers checked up on a person’s Facebook profile and decided to not hire them or to retract their offer as a result of what they find. As a result, a number of people modify their names so that prospective employers would be unable to find them using social media.

However, what people need to realize is that you aren’t only recruiting during recruiting season. Headhunters and companies are constantly taking names and reaching out to prospective employees. We all have friends working for other companies who might suggest your name when a position becomes available. Recruiting does not just occur when you are actively seeking a job, but also at times when you least expect it. Because of this, shouldn’t our online profiles reflect our best every day and not just days where we are actively seeking a job?

Our generation grew up in a world filled with social media. We are accustomed to posting photos on Facebook and tweeting our feelings on Twitter at our whim. In fact, it is difficult for me to imagine a time where we could not connect with friends via Facebook or Twitter. I often find myself deactivating from Facebook only to reactivate my profile a few hours later. And while there may be a number of benefits that social media brings into our lives, such as connecting with childhood friends who we haven’t seen in years and who live across the country, there are a number of disadvantages that we need to be wary of.

What you put on your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, or any other form of social media will stay with you forever. You might put up a potentially risqué photo only to take it down a few seconds later because of the nature of the photo. However, in the time it took you to delete it, a person, maybe a prospective employer, may have downloaded that photo onto their computer. Once you upload a photo onto the internet, you lose control of who has access to that photo.

Privacy settings may help, but in a world where we all know someone who knows someone, all it takes is a favor and everything on your profile could be leaked out to a company. Because of this, the best way to avoid having potentially damaging photo appear on your profile on any other social media site is to not put it out there for the world to see.

So, the next time you log into any social media platform that you use, look at your profile and think about whether it really reflects who you are and whether your profile is what you want portrayed about you. Who knows, it might even impress someone and land you a job.

Panxin Jiang is a senior at the Wharton School concentrating in Accounting, Finance, and Real Estate. Asides from social media, she enjoys shopping, cooking, baking, and exploring all that Philly has to offer. You can find her on LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Get Noticed: The Importance of Networking

by Anubha Kapur, SEAS ‘13

Recruiting is undergoing a vast phase change and one of the primary reasons for this reinvention is the advent of social media and its profound impact on society and people. Social networking is no longer just about webpages; it is an ever growing experience enriched with the interactions between people. Here are some ways to use social media to prepare for the career fairs next week, and in your general search.

LinkedIn
“Networking to get noticed” is a new mantra for climbing up the recruiting ladder. One of the most essential platforms is LinkedIn, where your profile speaks volumes about your career goals, expertise areas etc. Keeping your profile updated, following organizations you like, expanding your connections with recruiters etc. are key focus areas. If your profile shows up in the search tools used by recruiters, you’ve gained an edge over thousands of other candidates. Referrals and testimonials give a very good impression about your work ethic and commitment, thus making you a first choice for many firms. Penn Career Services organizes regular LinkedIn profile workshops that are a must for students to attend.

Facebook
With the introduction of Facebook Graph Search, you can easily connect with people of similar interests and field of work, thus expanding horizons. Regular updates by on Career Services’ Facebook page about upcoming information sessions, OCR workshops and career fairs is a good way to initiate and streamline search.

Connecting with Penn alumni working in the industry is another very powerful tool. A friend forwarded his resume seeking an internship to a recent Penn graduate working in a leading bank, and one week later, due to this referral, he got an interview. Who knows, your next recruiter, may be a senior you’ve known at some stage in your Penn journey. J

Twitter
I came across a feature on Twitter quite recently, where you can bookmark your tweets as favorites and embed them on your blog or Facebook page. If someone has a nice testimonial for you, why not tell the world and make them take notice?

Career Fair Prep
Career fairs are the best way to engage with people and learn about prospective opportunities in-person, and social media can help you prepare. When there are so many people in attendance at these events, it might be difficult to have a detailed conversation with the recruiters. Use social media to help with research on organizations and develop talking points. With the Spring Career Fair and Start up Fair next week, here are a few tips to remember while approaching recruiters:

Carry ample number of resumes that you can quickly reach for while speaking to the recruiters.
Introduce yourself and ask about available opportunities within the company.
Emphasize your potential and skills, and what it may add to the organization.
Request a business card for future reference or communication.
Follow @PennCareerServ on Twitter for live updates and information regarding the fair.

The wait to find out if your hard work and research paid off may frustrate you. Remember, with networking, patience and perseverance the wait can truly be worth it!

About: Anubha Kapur is a 2^nd year Master’s student in Systems Engineering. Apart from technology, her interests span creative writing, social blogging and travelling. She can be followed on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.