PORTFOLIO CAREER NEWS October 2014
Loyola University New Orleans College of Business
W
elcome to the first issue of Portfolio Career News, a new feature of your Portfolio Program. This newsletter is designed to bring you the latest in career development news and trends. Each month we will spotlight a CoB intern and a young alumnus. We will also include book reviews, important internship and career tips, and other news and stories to help you in your professional development. Please take the time to read through it and learn even more about what is going on in the world of career development. We hope you enjoy!
“The future depends on what you do today.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Industry News “The number of health care jobs in the greater New Orleans area is expected to increase close to 20 percent by 2022… that translates into 12,785 clinical and nonclinical jobs.” (NOLA City Business, Aug 15-21 2014, pg 14)
“10 In-Demand Occupations in Finance and Insurance Industry– June 2014 vs. June 2013” (The Times-Picayune, August 3, 2014, pp G-1)
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Intern Spotlight Lily Wang, Junior/ Management and Marketing major; Audubon Nature Institute/Human Resources Intern/Summer 2014
Lilly Wang, Audubon Institute
“Having the opportunity to intern for Audubon Nature Institute in the HR Department has been not only a pleasure, but also an unforgettable experience. Each week of my internship brought something new and challenging. I was constantly tasked with different projects and responsibilities making each day feel like the first. I learned about topics such as HR laws, payroll, hiring training, and benefits, just to name a few. I was able to interact and learn from vice presidents across various departments while at the same time building my brand and expanding my network. One of the greatest things about interning in Human Resources at Audubon is being able to tailor what you’d like to learn and accomplish during your time there. My mentor, Philip Lenz, shaped the internship to meet my goals and expectations of the program, allowing me to develop and learn different skill sets.”
Alumni Spotlight Gracie Palombo, ’13, Marketing/International Business, Minor: French. Senior Analyst, Talent Management, Burger King Corporate/Miami, FL.
“Burger King Corporation is a global brand that is well known around the world, but runs the operations as a small, startup company. We have 250 people in our global headquarters, and I have interaction with every person. It is a pleasure to come to work and know the people who are on the elevator. Because of our lean structure, I have the opportunity to interact with people from various departments during the day. I interact with Senior Executives and they are available to work with me. Also, we are able to move at a very quick pace. Approvals, contracts, and projects move extremely fast due to our horizontal structure. Highlights of my career, so far, include having the opportunity to travel to Europe, which was an amazing experience. I was able to bring the tools and tasks that I learned in Miami, to our European office in Germany and England and train our employees there to continue the projects that we do in the US. Another highlight would have to be the recognition I receive from our upper-level executives. It has been amazing to hear my name called out at an all-employee meeting due to the work that I have done thus far. My advice to students who are in the job search is to be persistent, stay focused and humble. Do not lose sight of what you want to do, but be open to new opportunities that you may not have known about.”
Gracie Palombo, Sr. Analyst, Burger King Corporation
Featured Article Some things for CoB students to consider...Career Development DON’TS:
THE BIGGEST MISTAKES 20-SOMETHING JOB SEEKERS MAKE There was the young job seeker who showed up at his interview 15 minutes late, failed to apologize, and then asked if the interviewer had a garbage can so he could throw away his gum. There was also the 20-something applicant whose call to the hiring manager went dead in the middle of the conversation. The young woman didn’t call back for two hours, only to explain, without apology, that she had dropped her phone in a tub of water while she was getting a manicure. Then there was the mother who called her son’s boss when he wasn’t hired at the end of his internship, and demanded to know why. Dani Ticktin Koplik, 59, an executive and performance coach in Englewood, NJ, has lots of stories like these. For the last several years, half of Koplik’s coaching practice has been made up of so-called Generation Y, or Millennial, job seekers. This group, age 20-32, makes a series of job-searching mistakes that stem from their sense of entitlement, lack of deference to authority and over-involvement by their parents. Koplik says in her own practice, parents frequently call and email, and try to micro-manage the coaching process. To run interference, Koplik schedules a monthly meeting with parents, mostly to tell them to stop meddling. She also coaches them to give their kids a consistent message. Too many parents tell their offspring that they have to earn a living, and then let them live at home indefinitely rent-free. Koplik recommends timetables and limits. I asked Koplik for a list of mistakes her 20-something clients make, and she had plenty of ideas. Here is her list of the top ten. Acting entitled: One of the consequences of over-involved parents is that young people feel as though they deserve an easy ride. Koplik tells of an intern who, on the first day, informed his supervisor that he had to leave early that Thursday for a horseback riding lesson. “It didn’t dawn on this person that he was being totally inappropriate and sabotaging his career,” says Koplik. Starting the process too late: Ideally, college students should start looking for meaningful internships for the summer after their freshman year. Students who assume that they will get a job without too much effort, wait too long to begin the process. Under-utilizing the alumni network: Though parents and their friends can provide good contacts, the network of professionals that comes through a college or university should be one of the first places a young job seeker turns. Using a résumé that’s sloppy and too self-centered: Young job seekers are often weak on résumé basics, like clear, tidy layout, careful proofreading for grammar and punctuation, and use of keywords from the job description. Another big problem: the “objective” section tends to be too much about what they want, and not enough about the potential employer. For example, young applicants often say, “entry level position where I can use my skills, ideas and enthusiasm and I can learn a lot.” Instead, the emphasis should be on what they can contribute to the employer. Applicants should also leave off menial jobs like camp counselor, unless they can quantify their achievements, like saying they organized waterfront activities for a group of 150 campers. Writing cover letters that repeat the résumé: Many young applicants regurgitate their résumé accomplishments in their cover letters. Instead, cover letters should be short and vivid, and say something particular about what the applicant can bring to the job. Doing poor research: Young job seekers often just glance at a company website before an interview. Instead they should read everything on the site, search for news clippings about the company, and track social media information, like Twitter TWTR +1.93% feeds, on company managers. Failing to clean up their social media profile: All of those drunken, bikini-clad pictures on Facebook should be removed, or locked down with privacy settings. Everyone, including college students, needs a polished LinkedIn LNKD +3.28% profile. Not showing enough appreciation for the interviewer: Young applicants often fail to conclude an interview with an expression of gratitude for the interviewer’s time. Always thank the interviewer in person, make it clear you would consider it a privilege to work at the company and ask about the next step in the process. Then follow up with a handwritten thank-you note or email that references specifics discussed in the interview. Failing to show generational deference: Koplik tells of the summer intern who, at the end of his time on the job, marched into the office of the chief diversity officer at a big company and said, “Could I give you some feedback on my internship?” Young people are so used to being included in conversations, they fail to grasp their position in the pecking order. Relying too heavily on listings and job fairs: I write this in every article about job search mistakes, because it’s a chronic problem. Koplik says that young job seekers are just as guilty of spending too much time applying to online listings, and through anonymous job fairs, as their more senior peers. We say this over and over: People find jobs through people they know, rather than through advertisements. If you see a listing for a job, try to find a personal connection to the employer and use that as your entry point. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/07/29/the-biggest-mistakes-20-something-job-seekers-make-3/? utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Article and Book Resources “25 Apps College Students Shouldn’t Live Without” It’s true that students use different mobile applications not only for entertainment, but for studying as well. Both Apple and Android provide dozens of programs and apps for college students that can be very informative and useful if you want to keep up with the times and boost your studying process. Every student probably knows plenty of applications that fit his or her needs most, but there are still some mobile “helpers” no student should live without. Read more at http://www.lifehack.org/ articles/technology/25-apps-college-students-shouldnt-live-without.html Article By Alex Strike
The Start-up of You by R, Hoffman and B Casnocha (2012) The authors encourage readers in the career development process to “think of yourself as an entrepreneur at the helm of at least one, living, growing start-up venture: your career.” The book is an interesting read and different from other job search/career development books in that this is not a how-to on writing resumes or interviewing. Rather, the authors explain the mindset and strategies that go into starting a new business and illustrate how these same strategies can be applied to the career development process. The authors present “The Start-up of You Skill Set” chapter by chapter with action items on how to put these skills into practice. (Book available for check-out from the Portfolio lending library, Miller 206)
NACE Job Data National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is the leading source of employment and career data and resources.
Keeping Jesuit Values in Your Job and Internship Search
According to the 2014 NACE Job Outlook, NACE surveyed various employers, and found the most common attributes they look for in students’ resumes are:
Does your resume reflect most of these skills in your descriptions of your experiences? If not, see the Portfolio Office for resume assistance.
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