November 3, 2014 Hire-a-Shocker Newsletter

Issue 5 / 11.03.14

Education Career Fair | The Perfect Education Resume Career Counselor Corner | Exploring Websites for Your Career | Why HR Should Look for “Shrek� When Recruiting

WSU Career Services

Hire-a-Shocker Building Shockers, Building Professionals

Education Career Fair November 14, 2014, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WSU Hughes Metropolitan Complex (29th and Oliver) Room 180 (Enter through Door N) We invite students to visit the fall 2014 Education Career Fair and learn more about school districts in the Wichita area and across the state. More than 25 school districts will be looking for teacher candidates to fill full-time teaching positions. This is an opportunity for students to meet representatives from a variety of districts and to learn more about district programs and enrollment.

Bring copies of your resume and dress to impress!

Attending Districts for the Education Career Fair Andover USD 385 Anthony-Harper USD 361 ANW Special Education Cooperative Arkansas City USD 470 Derby USD 260 Dodge City USD 443 El Dorado USD 490 Emporia USD 253 Emporia State University Master of Science in Business Education Enid, OK Public Schools Gardner Edgerton USD 231 Geary County Schools USD 475 Haysville USD 261 Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Liberal USD 480 Maize USD 266 Marion County Special Education Cooperative Mulvane USD 263 Newton USD 373 Peabody-Burns USD 398 Ponca City Public Schools Solomon USD 393 Special Education Cooperative at Goddard Spring Hill USD 230 Topeka Public Schools Wichita USD 259 WSU College of Education

The Perfect Education Resume The following tips, tailored to Education majors, will strengthen your resumes: OBJECTIVE: Including an objective is not always necessary, but if you do make sure you list the grades you want to teach.

EDUCATION: List the full degree name, license, graduation date, and your GPA (if it is above a 3.0).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE: You can separate all your work experience into Teaching Experience and Other Experience to highlight your teaching background. Make sure you list everything you did in each position, including teaching, preparing the course syllabus and assignments, grading assignments, tutoring, and communication with parents.

OTHER EXPERIENCE: It is important to focus on transferrable skills pertinent to teaching that you may have developed through other positions. Customer service, tutoring, mentoring, and writing skills are relevant and important to include in your resume if you have them!

NEW to Hire-a-Shocker FitBark FitBark is the world’s tiniest wireless activity tracker for man’s best friend. It collects physical activity and rest levels 24/7, providing useful insights into a dog’s behavior and activity trends.

Fitbark is made for families who are serious about staying connected with their dog from an iOS or Android smartphone, monitoring long-term health trends about Fido, and sharing important data about the dog with their vet.

SKILLS: You should list specific software or programs relevant for teaching positions you have experience using (such as Smartboard, Blackboard, Moodle).

FitBark currently has 4 jobs posted in Hire-a-Shocker for an iOS Developer, Android Developer, Backend Developer and Data Scientist and a Firmware Engineer. All jobs located in Kansas City, Missouri.

ACTIVITIES, HONORS, and AWARDS: Make sure to include volunteer experiences and highlight those related to teaching. Don’t forget to list awards and honors!

For more information on FitBark visit: http://www.fitbark.com/

EMPLOYER ON-THE-LINE...By Val Perkins Wichita Children’s Home

The Wichita Children’s Home serves a crucial need in the Wichita area.

In addition to working at the home by applying for recent jobs posted in Hire-a-Shocker (for example, Life Skills Coach, Residential Rover, Addiction Counselor, Street Outreach Worker), it is also a place where Shockers can volunteer for childcare, cooking, gardening, transportation and office support. Visit their website for more details at http://wch.org/.

Contact: Kim Swisher, HR Administrator Tell us about your organization.

The Wichita Children's Home was founded in 1888 as the city's first orphanage to "support and care for destitute and homeless children."

Today, the Home offers the only emergency, temporary, residential care for children in our community. The Home is open 24/7 and serves children from birth to 22 years of age in foster homes or in the shelter.

What majors should consider applying to Wichita Children’s Home?

Social Work, Psychology Do you have advice for employees on their first day/week?

Get a clear idea of what the expectations are for your position. Listen well and learn about what’s going on around you. Take notes for reference! The first few days might be a bit overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Would you share an interview tip for new grads?

Research the company so you can ask intelligent questions about the position and the company’s goals.

Bright Professional Blog The Game Changer

by Vivian Rohleder

Traditional career paths are nearing extinction due to a highly competitive global marketplace. Instead, forging your own path and designing—as well as marketing—your skillset is essential. To be an innovator or game changer within your field, you have to aim towards generating your own prospects.

In this case, those with an entrepreneurial mindset will thrive. Expand your knowledge of funding, marketing, sales, and professional development. Be an innovator in your field by staying abreast of ways to gain experience or exposure and develop new ways of reaching your target audience.

1. STAND OUT. Use social media platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud to gain recognition, exposure, and experience.

Create your own e-portfolio and/or website to showcase your skills.

2. NETWORK. Build and maintain relationships with professionals in your field through events, professional organizations, social groups, LinkedIn and Facebook.

3. OUTSMART. Invest your energy on startups, apps and innovative ideas. Be creative!

4. SPECIALIZE. Gain experience within your field by selling your services and skills through websites such as Fiverr or Distilled.

5. DREAM BIG. Reach your full potential by seeking support from others to fuel your ideas. Crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter allow you to garner donations and investments towards your projects.

Skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, and adaptability will be essential to succeed in such an open market. Game changer, leave your mark in your field!

The Art of Success

Caree Counr Cornselor er

Vivian Rohleder, WSU Career Services Career Counselor The entertainment industry is a fast-paced, aggressive environment. With a slower than average job growth rate – 4% – for the next decade, it is not for the faint of heart. Acting is a highly competitive field where there is not a set path to enter the industry. Bret Jones, Director of the Theater Department at Wichita State University, offered valuable insight to those seeking entry into the entertainment world upon graduation.

Actors without previous experience or connections, find volunteer opportunities in order to open doors. Be discerning, however, about the projects you choose to take on as they will set the course for future roles and positions. Similarly, research the theater company or organization you are affiliating with to ensure you agree with its practices and policies. When you find a team or company that mirrors your interests and values offer to help or join. These opportunities may not be available in your region. Dr. Jones recommends being creative in relocating to booming metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Houston, and Austin. These cities are gaining increasing recognition in the entertainment industry. Willingness to relocate will open opportunities often unavailable to those living in areas where theater and arts are not as prevalent.

Dr. Jones reiterated that graduates’ primary goal is to meet people and build a reputation in the entertainment industry. To achieve it, students should focus on becoming marketable through networking –increasingly accomplished via social media. “This is an industry where people talk more than others and that information –or reputation—will precede your credentials and work experience” Dr. Jones emphasized. Through the Wichita State University Theater program, graduates will enter the entertainment industry with a sharp website and professional resume. Additionally, students are encouraged to build and maintain LinkedIn, as well as other social media pages, and use them to network with other professionals in their industry.

A fundamental exercise upon graduation, is to critically think about who students want to be as performers.

This encompasses appearance, demeanor, and portrayal. As a performer, one must decide what look he or she wants and keep it for a few years. Regard the whole product, character, or entity you are creating and market it accordingly. Dr. Jones’ advice is to “be persistent and disciplined; if not, you will not do this work. Be disciplined in your work and efforts.” While the entertainment industry is highly competitive, those who are driven and persistent can create and capitalize on opportunities, thus attaining success.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Actors, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/actors.htm

Exploring Websites for Your Career

By Val Perkins, WSU Career Services Career Counselor With the information overload of career websites, it can be difficult to determine which have the most value. A recent Forbes article profiled 100 career websites. In addition to better known sites, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and SimplyHired, following are a few from that list that look especially interesting.

USAJobs: USAJobs is the government’s official site for Federal jobs and employment information. Information about eligibility, compensation and benefits for Federal workers is also available.

Lindsey Pollak: Lindsey Pollak, a spokesperson for LinkedIn and a millennial workplace expert, has lots of useful information to help students get from college to career.

I Want Her Job: I Want Her Job has many engaging profiles of women in interesting careers.

InternMatch: This site includes paid and unpaid internships and jobs in numerous categories including engineering, non-profit, real estate and sports.

Glassdoor: Employees and job seekers can anonymously review companies, interview experiences, CEOs, and salaries.

The Cool Works: Looking for something different? CoolWorks.com is a job search site for seasonal and volunteer work, aka, “Jobs in Great Places”.

Water Cooler Wisdom: To help you prepare for future career trends, look into the blog on this site written by a bestselling career author who has survived working in the real world.

Visit the Forbes website (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/09/18/the-top-100-websites-for-your-career/) and keep exploring!

HR should look for “Shrek” when recruiting

Courtesy of HRM America

Your best employees may not have charisma, good looks and confidence, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily unsuited to the job at hand. That’s why it’s so crucial for recruiters to recognize their own biases when making hiring decisions, so they can promptly put them aside, said HR expert Simone Allan, director of Mondo Search.

“Everyone has some level of opinion when they meet someone new; if you place 10 people in a row, you’ll find that you do form an opinion on each one before you even speak to them,” Allan said. “They may remind you of an uncle, past friend or acquaintance or even someone on the news. Recruiters need to put these opinions aside and look past appearances so that they remain neutral and open.”

The wrong hire can “cost three times the salary of a great hire,” Allan said, after you factor in the loss of productivity, workplace disruption and new hiring costs. So when you’re interviewing, it’s important to focus on competency and attitude.

“You need to try not to get swamped by presentation style, and look for the right attitude instead. People can look right who are wrong [for the role], and you can miss opportunities of people who look wrong but are right. I like to call them the ‘Shreks’ of your business,” Allan said.

“If you reflect on every great hire you’ve made or every great person you’ve worked with, the most critical factor is often a positive, ‘can do’ attitude – a willingness to help and go the extra mile. This attribute will always outweigh great knowledge or skills, as you can teach new skills and educate, but you can’t change a person’s attitude.”

Office Hours

FALL 2014 EVENTS

BRENNAN HALL II | Room 225

Nov. 14 - Education Career Fair Hughes Metroplex | 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Nov. 27-28 - Thanksgiving Break

Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

CAREER DEVELOPMENT | RSC | Room 205 Monday - Thursday 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Walk-In Hours

December 20 - January 5 - Winter Break

Tuesday & Wednesday 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Brennan Hall II | 225 1845 Fairmount Street, Wichita, KS 67260-0042 316.978.3435 - career.services@wichita.edu www.wichita.edu/career

SPRING 2015 EVENTS February 19 - Engineering & Science Career Fair February 20 - All-University Career Fair February 23 - Education Interview Day February 25 - Dine | Dress | Interview April 10 - Physical Therapy Career Fair

FYI

Notice of Nondiscrimination Wichita State University does not discriminate in its programs and activities on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, status as a veteran, genetic information or disability. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies: Director, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita KS 67260-0205; telephone (316) 978-6791.

Like Us, Follow Us, Connect With Us