QUAR TER LY
CAREER SERVICES AT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE | SANTA FE | APRIL/MAY 2014
My Odyssey Bound Story: Referring to Odyssey Bound when it was a combination of the student centric stories and a list of opportunities at the end,
Emma Goos
“I don’t just read Odyssey Bound every once in a while, I read it every time it comes out. It’s one of the emails I look forward to and read regularly. It’s helpful that there are internships listed at the end and that’s always my favorite part. The reason is that I usually look at internships based on where I am as opposed to searching based on what kind of internship I want. Odyssey Bound (Spotlight) has them all listed by field, for example, ‘If you want an art internship, here are things that are coming up.’ It helps me keep myself aware of due dates, and things that are going on nationally that I might not have seen if you guys hadn’t put them in there. I also really like the interviews with people who have completed Ariel Internships. It’s helpful to see what my peers have done, what they are interested in and also how successful they were at those things. So, it’s an awesome publication. I think splitting the publications could make reading the Odyssey Bound Quarterly easier because of less content. It will also be just like looking for support from other people and what they are doing. It’s good to realize there are some students at St. John’s who are thinking about careers and the future. It’s nice to know who is thinking about that stuff and who has gone out there and given it a shot, and maybe succeeded or made mistakes.”
SENIORS! If you haven’t stopped by the Career Services office for your exit interview, now is the time. Set up an appointment as soon as possible with Margaret Odell. You can call x6067 or email: modell@sjc.edu
CONTENTS > > >
Ariel Internship Winners and their interests The Reverse Resume – Learning what kind of job suits you Networking ideas
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Congratulations to the 2014 Ariel Internship Winners This year 34 undergraduates submitted proposals for Ariel summer internship funding. There are two kinds of Ariel awards, those for bio-medical research and more general internships. Students pursuing bio-medical topics can be awarded up to $4000 for a summer of research or medical career exploration. The bio-medical stipends are generously funded by Dr. Stephen Forman (AN70). Students applying in the more general category, which is funded by St. John’s directly, and, this year for the first time by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, will receive up to $4000 as well. This year’s Internship Committee welcomed all 34 applications but finally decided the following 28 were the strongest. The committee wishes to thank each of the applicants for their interest and efforts, and encourages all undergraduate students to consider applying in 2015.
2014 Ariel Recipients (Those marked with an * are still awaiting confirmation of their internship placements.)
Bio-Medical Awards: Dongyu Cui (SO) – preparation for medical school by gaining hands-on experience with medical research through a cancer research internship at the City of Hope Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy, in Duarte, CA. Kaytlin Gochenaur (SO) – gaining first-hand experience with research in the fields of pathology and immunology at the Adirondack Medical Center, in Saranac Lake, NY. Mia Goldman (SR) – an opportunity to begin a highly focused inquiry into human development through the study of Human Ecology at the Cornell University’s, Department of Human Development, in Ithaca, NY. Unhye Myong (SO) – securing more knowledge about the field of psychology at Agave Health, Inc. Santa Fe, NM. Cody O’Ferrall (JR) – studying complex systems by working on epidemiological problems, at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM. Rachel Reid (JR) – gaining more insight into the field of regenerative medicine through cancer research at the City of Hope, in Duarte, CA. General Ariel Awards: Gabriela Amaya-Williams (JR) – being a different kind of teacher by interning in the education department of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, in Santa Fe, NM. Kudakwashe Bhejana (SO) – exploring the world of finance and wealth management at Summit Investment Group, in Santa Fe, NM. Cale Carson (JR) – gaining hands-on experience in the world of criminal law at the Law Offices of Joachim Marjon, in Santa Fe, NM. Elliot Chen (SR) – paving a way to proficiency in programming through understanding the computer language, C++ while working on muon tomography for Decision Sciences International Corp, in Poway, CA. 2
Jackson Cusick* (SR) – pursuing a writing passion by being a copywriter and analyst in a strategic branding firm like Siegelvision, or Matchstic in Atlanta, GA. Quinn Ernwood (JR) – searching for experience and perspective in the field of blacksmithing at the Prosser Forge in Santa Fe, NM. Andrea Fiegel* (JR) – learning about the management of natural history museum collections with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, CO. Alexandra Fitzmorris (SR) – learning how to create and operate a co-op business as part of a community garden at Fresno State University, in Fresno, CA, with mentor Ms. Christina Raines (AN12). Jingxing Gao (JR) – exploring liberal education with an educational management internship at the Fujen Summer School, in Shanghai, China. Stephen Hendrix (JR) – developing the ability to lead and inspire middle-school students to enjoy learning by interning with Breakthrough Collaborative, in Santa Fe, NM. Benjamin Holme (JR) – seeking to develop writing and communication skills with the Idea Group in Santa Fe, NM. Katie Huang (SR) – gaining professional experience whilst developing computer modelling skills with Hibser Yamauchi Architects Inc., in Oakland, CA. Michael Johnston (SO) – assisting with historical and structural construction and site management while learning basic adobe-making skills, through Cornerstones Community Partnerships, in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, NM. Ian MacMillan (SR) – pursuing journalism and a writing career with The Santa Fe Reporter, in Santa Fe, NM. Selena Makrides (JR) – immersion in the field of marketing and public relations at BurnAway in Atlanta GA. Johannes Maronga (FR) – pursuing law and justice with the law firm of Gill, Godlonton and Gerrans, in Harare, Zimbabwe. Caitlin O’Brien (JR) – learning classical and experimental techniques in book binding, the use of different materials for both the cover and the book block, and various other book printing related skills with the SFCC Center for Book Art & Printmaking, in Santa Fe, NM. Ashley Stanley (JR) – exploring history and folklore with the New Mexico History Museum, in Santa Fe, NM. Jemima Strong (JR) – learning more about sustainability and creating stable lifestyles for people by working with The Island Institute, in Sitka, AK. John Stupfel (JR) – looking for hands-on experience with print media at The Santa Fe Reporter, Santa Fe, NM. Maggie Thorton (JR) – learning more about web development and design by working with other talented designers, programmers and marketers at Mindshare Studios, Inc., in Santa Fe, NM. Zizheng Wang (FR) – exploring passion in internet entrepreneurship by joining a non-profit, 100State, founded by Adam Braus (SF08) in Madison, WI.
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Congratulations to the 2014 Project for Peace winners The Davis Foundation will be funding a project proposed by students of St. John’s College, Santa Fe. The project titled “Creating Constructive Communication-the Socratic Seminar in China” was proposed by Dongyu Cui, SO (China), Zizheng Wang, FR (China), Indira Cabrera, SO (U.S.) and Zachary Thomas, SO (U.S.) These students will be working together with Mr. Grant Franks and Ms. Patricia Locke, members of the St. John’s College faculty who have agreed to be a part of project. China is facing a number of social hazards that the students above have attributed to “the lack of training in expressing and listening to opinions in China’s education system.” Many Chinese people apparently find communicating in conflicts very challenging. The students say, “We plan to promote and teach the Socratic-style seminar in Beijing, China, as a way of modeling a form of constructive communication. High school students are our target participants because they are open to new ideas and are responsible for the future of the country. We will invite 10 students from one of the best high schools in Beijing, The Affiliated High School of Peking University, to participate in our seminars, because they have a high possibility of being influential in China.” The Socratic seminar is best known to help develop communication skills, and is an invaluable tool in everyone’s tool-kit of life. We wish the students and tutors all the best and hope to hear in the fall about the successful project. Once again, we would like to congratulate these students on being awarded the Davis Foundation’s Projects for Peace Award.
Revenge of the Liberal Arts Major J. Jennings Moss
If you’re in college, or happen to be about to graduate, and you’ve been mocked for getting a liberal arts degree, here’s a piece of welcome news: You’re actually in more demand than those who are getting finance and accounting degrees. That’s one of the findings of a survey of 225 employers issued May 14, 2012 by Millennial Branding and Experience Inc. The main takeaway of the survey, at least according to the press release that went out with it, was that there’s a disconnect taking place with regard to internships. While 91 percent of employers think students should have one or two of the temporary, professionally focused positions before they graduate, 50 percent haven’t actually hired any interns in the last six months. Somehow, we don’t think this is going to change either the crush of students looking for internships or the stated desire of employers to hire those who have internships under their belts. More interesting, at least for those of us who got some parental grief over our college choice, was the apparent love being shown for liberal arts majors. Thirty percent of surveyed employers said they were recruiting liberal arts types, second only to the 34 percent who said they were going after engineering and computer information systems majors. Trailing were finance and accounting majors, as only 18 percent of employers said they were recruiting targets.
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“The No. 1 skill that employers are looking for are communication skills and liberal arts students who take classes in writing and speaking,” said Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and an expert on Generation Y. “They need to become good communicators in order to graduate with a liberal arts degree. Companies are looking for soft skills over hard skills now because hard skills can be learned, while soft skills need to be developed.” One other finding from the survey to emphasize: 29 percent of employers said they were looking for graduates with entrepreneurial experience. That’s far behind the 69 percent who think relevant courses are an important factor to someone’s candidacy, or the 65 percent who say a referral from a boss or professor is significant, or the 50 percent who like to see a leadership position in a campus organization. But at least it’s a recognition that an entrepreneurial spirit or go-getter attitude can be a clear plus. “Employers are looking for entrepreneurship experience now because they have more pressure to innovate from within,” Schawbel said in an email exchange with Portfolio.com, predicting this number would rise. “Entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is defined as ‘personal accountability.’ You don’t need to own a company to be an entrepreneur. The entrepreneurial attitude is cherished because they are goal-oriented, have sales skills, and have good business sense.” For more on the survey, click here for the press release Courtesy of Upstart Business Journal, http://upstart.bizjournals.com/
The Reverse Resume Daniel. B., Co-Founder, TheCareerists.com, Top Contributor
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. - Lewis Carroll There’s no question that a great resume can make all the difference between waiting for that call and actually getting a job. But when you do get the job, you want to make sure it does more than just pay the bills. You spend too many hours at work to settle for one that just pays the bills and leaves your soul drained. So, how do you know that the job you’re after is one that is going to be really right for you? How can you know that you’ll find the work meaningful, fulfilling and within your “zone of genius”? You can help to ensure that your next job is your dream job by searching your soul before searching the want ads. Here is an effective tool to help you do just that. Introducing, the “reverse-resume”. The reverse-resume is a tool to help search for what you want and need in your next job so that when you land it, you’ll know it’s a great fit for you. It is a structure to use for figuring out what qualifications the JOB needs to have before you’ll entertain giving it some of the best years of your life. Job searching that starts with soul searching is much more likely to land you a job that feels more like a calling. But first you have to know where you are going. The way to do that is to write your reverse-resume. Here’s a basic template to get you started. It may look familiar at first glance, because it looks much like a regular resume. But notice how the answers are not about what you can do for the job, but about what the job does for you. • Objective: What is your objective? Not just to find a job, but to find one that gives you 5
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meaning, purpose, and contributes to your overall happiness. It’s your responsibility to define this as clearly as possible for yourself. What ticks those boxes for you? What do you find meaningful? What gives you happiness? And what purpose or vision do you have for yourself? • Experience(s): What do you want to experience in this next job situation? Do you want to lead a team, be part of something that’s growing, and have a chance to travel or work on a particular project? What things will you be doing day-to-day and also what larger vision will you be working towards? Define your desired experiences no matter how large or small. • Education: What do you want to learn from this? From skills to personal growth experiences, what do you want to gain? • Skills: What parts of who you are and what you know do you want to get to use on a regular basis? Do you love to do something and you want to do it as part of the next job? If so, write it down! • Salary Requirements: What do you want to make? What will make you feel great about your financial health? It’s easy to say you’d like to make a million dollars – but if so, be prepared to work for it. This isn’t an exercise in the law of attraction as much as it is about defining your goals. So write down what you think your work is really worth, and your goal will be to not accept a penny less. Your reverse-resume, the product of your soul searching, will then inform your real resume, and which jobs you send that resume out to. If you find that you must compromise – even after gaining clarity on the work you want to do – then you will at least fully understand where you have compromised. Understanding where your job falls short does a few things. • It places the “blame” where it belongs: You know your job isn’t as great a fit for you as it could be, and you’re less likely to blame yourself. While before you might have wondered “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just do my job and get along?” You’ll now know that it is because the job didn’t quite meet your standards. It moves the “blame,” and you’re less likely to feel broken and more likely to recognize the situation for what it is. • You can be proactive: When you know where your job falls short, you know what direction to move in, and you may be able to make changes. Do you want more of something and less of something else? Work with your boss, be outstanding at what you can control, and do everything you can to move your job closer to what you want it to be. A couple more tips: • Strive to create a balance between your vision and what is realistic — there may be several jobs between where you are now and the ultimate vision. • Rely on a great resume writer to help you position yourself so you are poised to land the job of your dreams, even if there’s a gap between where you are and where you want to be. • If you lack clarity about what you really want, what you are best suited for, or what work you will find most fulfilling, get coaching! It’s better to take some time now to know where you are going than to end up where you don’t really want to be. (Again!) A reverse-resume is a great tool to help you gain clarity on yourself and to connect that knowledge to your job search. Good luck! 6
Make Networking Work for You Article by Tyron Turner http://tyroneturner.blogspot.com/, Summary by Lise Lookmanl
The object of networking is to build relationships. These relationships, besides being pleasant social interactions, can lead to jobs, internships, and new career opportunities. Monster.ca estimates that “60-80% of jobs are found through some form of networking.” To help you start on the road to effective networking, it would be good to know the different types of formal networking groups that exist so you can join some. Tyrone Turner lists The 7 Different Types of Networking Groups in his blog, “The Home Biz Newsletter Blog Page”. It is advised that you should belong to at least three of these groups. 1.Strong Contact Networking Groups. These are business groups that usually meet on a regular basis, are somewhat formal, and exist for the exchange of referrals. Business Networking International (BNI) is an example of this type of group and is the largest networking organization in the world. 2.Casual Contact Networking Groups. These are informal groups that usually have monthly meetings where people from different professions mingle and/or listen to guest speakers. An example of this group would be a Chamber of Commerce. 3.Community Service Organizations. These groups serve their communities. The Rotary Club, Lions Club, Kiwanis, and houses of worship are in this category. 4.Women’s Networking Organizations. These groups often combine one or more kinds of groups. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) would be an example of a women’s group that also advocates a social issue. Many women’s groups do allow men to join. 5.Cocktail Mixer Business Networking Events. These aren’t really groups, but rather are events that are usually held at bars and restaurants. Check the newspaper’s business section for these events. Do not drink too much! 6.Professional/Trade Organizations. These groups are for specific professions and trades. Examples would be the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA). 7. Hybrid Networking Organizations. These are groups that don’t fit into the above categories. An example is the Grassroots Business Network which is a casual contact group with strong contact networking, who also tend to be a community service organization.
Networking with St. John’s alumni is also a great way to learn about career paths and actual jobs. Take a look at the many Facebook Affinity Groups (https://www.facebook.com/notes/st-johns-college/sjc-affinity-groups-on-facebook-careers-only/10151437464666669) which range from Johnnie Jobs, to Johnnies in Education, Law, Neuroscience, Medicine, Agriculture and the Arts, to Johnnies in Europe and East Asia. The affinity groups were created and are maintained by SJC graduates who are happy to talk with current students and recent graduates about what they are doing with their own St. John’s educations. They can help by answering questions, offering advice, and helping you to make connections with people who did not graduate from St. John’s. There is also a St. John’s Annapolis-Santa Fe LinkedIn group whose members discuss matters pertaining to the world of business and topics of concern to members of the St. John’s community. There are also SJC alumni and friends of the college who have registered as mentors in Agora and are willing to answer questions and offer advice. So be sure to get out there and join one or all of the St. John’s networking resources or some of the seven types of groups mentioned by Mr. Turner. Make friends, attend meetings and workshops, and keep your eyes and ears open for leads to the job or internship you are looking for.
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Career Services Office
CONTACT: Career Services 505-984-6066 Fax 505-984-6167 Web address: www.stjohnscollege. edu/admin/SF/career.shtml AGORA: www.myinterfase.com/sjcsf/student Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjcsf careerservices Email: santafe.careerservices@sjc.edu Office located in the basement of Weigle Hall, Room 13 Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or by appointment Career Services Staff: Margaret Odell Director Barbara Lucero Sand Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator Allen Matsika Publication Editor Pari Sitaula Research Assistant Melissa Latham-Stevens Art Director
Disclaimer: The St. John’s College Career Services office produces Odyssey Bound as a service to St. John’s College students and community members for their career development and educational and life planning. Any jobs or other opportunities listed herein do not indicate an endorsement or recommendation from St. John’s College or the Career Services office. Students and individuals from the St. John’s College community are responsible for all necessary precautions when interviewing for or accepting these positions or awards. They are also responsible for checking the credentials and integrity of all employers or organizations. St. John’s College and the Career Services office assume no liability for acts or omissions by third parties or for material supplied by them. The St. John’s College Career Services office is not responsible for anything that happens at a given job site. The presence of an employment listing in Odyssey Bound does not guarantee any given employer’s compliance with legal behavior. If a student or individual experiences discrimination or sexual harassment on the job or in a job interview, he or she is encouraged to call the Department of Fair Employment in the state in which the violation occurred. Career Services makes every effort to publish the most current information, but unforeseen publishing problems may render some events obsolete. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause the reader.
ENDNOTES We’re on Facebook! Look us up – www.facebook.com/sjcsf careerservices — and stay updated on important dates and opportunities.
Check us out online! www.stjohnscollege.edu/admin/SF/ career_newsletter.shtml or in the Agora Resource Library
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