The value of teaching
2022
F the IRS
Read perspectives from Makayla Kinsella and Praphanit Doowa
Our writers answer the question “Where do you want to be in five years?”
Adjusting your taxes to get your refund sooner rather than later
page 3
page 5
page 8
S T EN
R E 0 2 E R 17 A E C ID U G
E H T
Y L I DA
S E PR
AG
ood
any mp o C as Ple
M ire eH
e
rn: to nd nce _a ant Co Iw ___ ay and ___ It M _ ___ ___ om _ _ ___ at _ Wh ___ ___ ot To ork _ _ _ _ Iw mn ___ ___ n I’ ou. oa t e e is th y ea wh rd t i m _ wa nam _ w for ___ ach My ___ n re ook ___ a c ___ .Il ___ u ___ ___ . Yo ___ ___ ___ to _ ___ ___ like t _ a . ___ you ___ ___ om ___ _ _ fr y_ ___ or b ___ ___
2 // Career Guide The Daily
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
On writing resumes and chronicling your achievements
You’re on the list By Tim Gruver The Daily For virtually every job you ever apply for, an employer will tell you one thing for certain: “Send us your resume.” Resumes are documents designed to showcase your experiences, strengths, and skills. While all of these factors may differ from person to person, every resume should follow a few guiding principles. Here are just a few tips on how to write your own. Every resume should be single-spaced with a .75-inch to 1-inch margin and include these things: your name, current position, current employer, your start dates, end dates, and education. You resume should be easy to read above all, so use 10
to 12 point font and avoid silly fonts like Comic Sans. According to Business Insider, recruiters spend as little as six seconds reading a resume before making up their minds about a job candidate, so make every word count. No matter how long your career may span, resumes should be limited to a single page and read like a series of well-written bullet points, not a needless text wall. Your resume should speak to who you are as an employee, and vocabulary means everything when it comes to how a recruiter sees you. For Patrick Chidsey, associate director and career counselor at the UW Career and Internship Center, one of the many mistakes
Spectranetix
people make when writing their resumes is promoting themselves as someone they are not. “Do not misrepresent yourself,” Chidsey said. “Many people like to inflate their job title, or list a major they are are not in yet.” Refrain from fantastical descriptions of yourself like “strategic thinker,” “go-getter,” and “proactive.” Instead, ground your vocabulary with words that honestly illustrate your achievements, like “improved,” “won,” and “negotiated.” You should always make yourself available to a recruiter. Your phone number, email, and any relevant social media handles (this will vary by profession) should all be included at the very top of your resume, in addition to a one to two sentence overview of your
career. References are also a boost to any resume. These can include your teachers, former supervisors, co-workers, or anyone who can vouch for your skills and qualifications. Make sure to ask their permission before including someone as a reference and keep up to date with them about your career if you do use them on your resume. Never list friends as references. It is common practice to include your references’ contact information only by request. This generally screens out only the recruiters who are interested in you. Though your resume’s focus may depend on your given field, qualities like leadership, teamwork, work ethic, technical skills, and verbal and written communication are
typically what recruiters look for in job candidates. Never underestimate what you can bring to the table. Class projects, internships, volunteer work, and independent studies can offer an invaluable window into your capabilities as a professional. Lastly, the most competitive resumes are tailored to your employer. Know what their or their company’s values are and how you fit in with them. “The thing that people forget about resumes is that they are not static documents,” Chidsey said. “When you are writing a resume, you should think about, ‘Who is my audience?’ to order your content and focus toward a specific internship or job.” Reach writer Tim Gruver at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @T_TimeForce
Teaching as a career Beyond a 9 to 5
By Praphanit Doowa The Daily
HIRING HW, FPGA, and SW Engineers Explore a career in: SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE ELECTRONIC WARFARE SECURE COMMUNICATIONS www.spectranetix.com
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This famous Chinese proverb epitomizes teaching, and Adiam Tesfay, interim director of UW Academic Support Programs, agrees. “I think providing the tools necessary to allow someone to determine how they can make their life the best they want it to be is what a teacher’s job is,” Tesfay said. “I can’t teach all the content in the world, but how can I provide all the tools necessary so you can figure out how to learn, be curious, and figure out what you want to do and how you can do it?” Teaching is a lot harder than people think. It comes with responsibility and patience. But most importantly, it should be acknowledged that teaching as a career is beyond a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. “It’s not a job that you walk away from,” program manager for international student support Ryan Burt said. “You’re never done and you can’t just walk out of the office and stop. It’s about building an intentional community with your students where they all feel excited and engaged and supported.” Teaching is also about sharing knowledge, inspiring students to exceed expectations, and achieve beyond their assumed potential. It’s also about creating conversation and developing knowledge. “I got into teaching because I struggled as an undergrad,” Tesfay said. “My passion has been about creating access and support for students who don’t have the understanding to do this, whether they are less prepared, first generation, or have disadvantaged backgrounds.” EDUC 401: Tutoring and Mentorship in Higher Education class is a perfect example of how the UW is training prospective educators. The class involves looking beyond the specifics of contentbased tutoring and thinking more broadly about how
Andrew Chan The Daily Academic Support Services also organizes CLUE, the UW’s free multidisciplinary study center hosted at Mary Gates Hall from Sunday to Thursday. The program offers drop-in tutoring, discussion/review sessions led by graduate and senior undergraduate students, as well as a writing center. students learn. “The hardest part is seeing people who don’t succeed who want to be successful because of the things that get in the way,” Tesfay said. “Whether it’s their fault, their circumstances, or even the system’s, people who are stuck or are at a halt of being able to succeed is hard to see when you’re an educator because you want to open doors for everybody.” Despite how tough the job can get, it’s a rewarding and enriching experience. Not only are you helping students during that moment in time, you’re building a foundation for the rest of their lives. “A lot of times, it’s moments that I have with students that stick with me,” Burt said. “[Moments where] they have processed a [piece of information] or achieved something related to a course or program, and I’m really stoked and proud that they have done it or like the challenges and disappointments. It makes me think sometimes that I could have done more to teach them.” The nature of being a teacher involves balancing the role of friend with that of the instructor. “Beyond anything, if you really can’t connect and reach students, the content doesn’t
matter at that point,” said Leslie Ikeda, intern for UW Academic Support Programs. “I think my style is that once I can build that professional rapport with students then I can kind of ease up and feel like we can talk about what else is going on in their lives.” Ikeda and Emery Lohrasbi, CLUE program manager, also mentioned that there are a lot of societal messages that make teaching seem like an easy or a less-respected job. This thinking feeds into students’ understanding about what is valued and what makes money. Teaching as a career is more than bringing information to the table or handing out sheets for students to read. It’s about engaging with the text in a way that is most effective for the individual student. Every student is different and every teacher has a different approach, but it comes together when the two have the ability to communicate, influence, and learn from each other. “[Teaching] is kind of like a microcosm of the world you want to see outside of the class,” Burt said. Reach writer Praphanit Doowa at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @prabdoooowa
The Daily Career Guide // 3
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Letter from the Editor There are myriad paths one can take after graduation, including many that are not touched on in this Career Guide, like graduate or professional school. It’s my hope that some of the stories in this paper might help some readers answer the perennial question of “Where do you want to be in five years?” or trigger them to consider a career they may not have thought of before. Beyond that, you can find advice on more concrete issues, such as preparing your resume,
By Trevor McAllister-Day The Daily Graduation is fast approaching for many of us, and with it comes insecurity about jobs and the future. For others, graduation is one, two, or three years away, with many more unsure about what sort of career they’d like to have after graduation.
cover letters, or adjusting your payroll tax withholding to lower next year’s tax refund. As always, the UW Career and Internship Center in Mary Gates Hall is always available for advising, and the team there is busy hosting the annual Spring Career Fair on Thursday, April 20 in the HUB. Visit them in person or online at careers. uw.edu for more information. Reach Special Sections Editor Trevor McAllister-Day at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @TrevorMcDay
Educating America’s future is the best move for yours By Makayla Kinsella The Daily
WANTED:
DATA-DRIVEN PROBLEM SOLVERS MS IN BUSINESS ANALYTICS
0
10
SEATTLEU.EDU/ALBERS 80 60 40 20 0
There is no task more important than teaching. From learning to sing the alphabet and tie our shoes to the advanced chemistry series and getting behind the wheel of a car, we are constantly learning from the people fantastic enough to teach us. These teachers can be our parents or our friends — the people we learn from are all around us — but the most obvious and significant teachers in our lives are the educators we spend our weekdays with in classrooms. As the child of a teacher, I often tried to distance myself from the profession as a possible career for myself. When I was younger, I dreaded the idea of following in my mom’s footsteps; I wanted to be my own person. Luckily, I’ve grown up and not only realized that what my mom does is incredibly important, but that I can be a teacher like my mom and still be my own person. Teachers play an integral part in every person’s life. I would be willing to bet all the money I have that everyone has at least one teacher they’ve looked up to during their many years in school, who impacted them in a positive way. Despite all the ways we know teachers can leave a positive impact on students and change lives, there is currently a teacher shortage in Washington state. Students are no longer feeling the call to give back to the communities they learned from and are turning to more lucrative professions. It’s true, teachers don’t make a lot of money, but what the profession lacks in money, it more than makes up for in rewarding experiences. That’s why, instead of trying my hand at a higher
paying entry level position in business or accumulating more student loans at graduate school, I’m becoming a teacher next year. I’ll be joining the teaching profession by doing Teach For America. I chose this route because I wasn’t an education major in college and the organization provides support and training for those who weren’t always planning to go into the education profession. I decided to apply and become a teacher, not just because I thought it looked cool, or because one of my best friends recommended I look into it, but because I think it’s one of the best ways for me to make a lasting impact in communities I care about. Letting students know they are all capable of great learning no matter their background or circumstances is my greatest priority from the moment I step into my classroom. I strive to promote the idea that teachers are not just in classrooms to talk at their students and then go home as soon as they can. Teachers put in long hours and go beyond what is expected of them because they want to challenge and mentor their students, so they don’t just learn the materials, but also learn leadership and important skills to become successful in everything they do. Teaching may not be the most glamorous profession or the most lucrative, but it is undoubtedly rewarding. I can’t imagine spending the next several years of my life doing anything else, and I hope you’ll consider becoming a teacher as well. Reach Development Editor Makayla Kinsella at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @mmkin73
THE DAILY Advertising and Business Staff
Editorial Staff
Advertising Manager Zachary Weber admanager@dailyuw.com
Editor-in-Chief Mohammed Kloub editor@dailyuw.com
Photo Editor Aurora San Miguel photo@dailyuw.com
Campus Advertising campus@dailyuw.com
Copy Chiefs Angelina Caplanis Molly Quinton copy@dailyuw.com
Special Sections Editor Trevor McAllister-Day specials@dailyuw.com
Local Advertising ads@dailyuw.com Publisher Diana Kramer dianakramer@dailyuw.com
Design Editors Monica Niehaus Chloe Yeo design@dailyuw.com
Cover Design Monica Niehaus Chloe Yeo
Visit The Daily online at dailyuw.com.
4 // Career Guide The Daily
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
How to ace an interview By Tony Scigliano The Daily There’s no way to fully suppress the butterflies that take flight inside of our stomachs prior to an interview. Whether it’s for a job, school, or membership to a secret conspiratorial organization, interviews feel high-stakes. Some people would rather have teeth pulled than face the prospect of sitting across from a frightening figure in an immaculate suit, having their credentials microscopically scrutinized, probed for flaws in their resume. Regardless of how selective the position you’re applying for is, interviews are essentially the same: a small window of time where the objective is to sell yourself — personality, intelligence, work ethic — to a stranger, with nothing for props but a few sheets of paper and the most authentic smile you can muster. Fortuitously, there’s one good aspect to interviews: a plethora of instruction exists via literature, courses, videos, and mock interviews, that is at the disposal of anyone desiring to walk into, and out of, an interview with total confidence. Successful interviews start with realizing that the interviewer is not an immortal robot programmed to catch any miniscule slip-up and dash your dreams of success. They are likely nervous about their own performance leading the
interview, and they are not invincible to feeling insecure or wanting to make a good impression. Some cliches are cliches for a reason, especially the one about practice making perfect. The key point about an interview isn’t having scripted answers for every hypothetical question. Prepared responses certainly aren’t a bad idea, but better still is ensuring you are confident in thinking on your feet and openly discussing yourself. Interviewers are very well acquainted with the rote list of answers they are usually met with in interviews. They are more eager to hire someone who is capable of thoughtfully answering a question. Thinking critically is more valuable than memorization. It’s better to say that you need a minute to think through a question than to role play through previously scripted lines. A good way to practice rapid fire questions and answers is to attend a career fair, where students are often able to engage in mock interviews with representatives at the fair. Alternatively, The UW Career and Internship Center is available for scheduling mock interviews. A clean resume and cover letter are imperative when tackling an interview, and the Career Center is there to assist with that too. “We’re here to meet students where they’re at in their career development, whether
that means one-on-one help, scheduling mock interviews, or just work on strategies to get you where you want to be,” said Dillon Easter, client relations and communications manager at the center. These services don’t cost anything and are an excellent opportunity to practice important aspects of any interview, such as body language, building rapport, and thinking on your feet. Preparation aside, a surefire way to maintain confidence in
an interview is simply to feel qualified for the position. This, however, is often not the case. No one suddenly has three-plus decades of experience to their name immediately upon getting a degree. Displaying an ability to learn quickly, and exemplifying a well-founded prior knowledge of the organization, are solid ways to offset lack of experience. An article on themuse.com titled “Learn how to prepare for an interview” expands on this, outlining how important it is to get a sense of “who” the
Ben Celsi The Daily company or entity is prior to an interview, and becoming well acquainted with the values that they embody. It’s perfectly rational to feel apprehensive when confronting an upcoming interview, but with so many resources to assist you at your fingertips, it’s easier than ever to successfully navigate your way through even the most highcaliber interview. Reach writer Tony Scigliano at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @earth2tones
Tailored Tales: Writing a cover letter By Olivia Madewell The Daily Cover letters, as vital as they are for most job and internship applications, are generally some of the hardest documents to write. It can be tempting to follow one of those oversimplified how-to guides, but most often miss important components. Sha’terika Perkins, a career counselor at the UW’s Career and Internship Center, works with students and their cover letters on a daily basis, and has many insights to share. “There’s this old myth that you send out the same cover letter to every company,” Perkins said. “But that’s not how you’ll get seen.” Tailoring is the first thing students really struggle with, she continued, stressing that cover letters need to target the specific position and the specific company they are written for. To do this, Perkins suggests taking time to look at the job description thoroughly and identifying the top things the employer is looking for, but also looking more introspectively. Look at the top things about the company that interest you, look at their current projects that interest you, and see what part of their mission statement resonates with you. Perkins suggests that students not only look at the job description, but actually make use of it. “A lot of students talk about these great things they’ve accomplished … and that’s it,” Perkins says. “In these cases, the employer is like, ‘Okay, that’s great. So what?’” Instead of stopping after the facts, the cover letter is an opportunity to share how an experience has prepared you to do certain things for the company in the future. It’s always good to add a line or two toward the end that mentions how the experience developed particular skills that will be an asset to the position.
Addressing specific goals of the company that the skills align with is great, but it can require more work. Researching the company, its goals, and its values is the only way to tailor your experience. Students frequently feel limited by their experience when they don’t have direct experience in a field. Perkins reminds these students to look at transferable skills. She used the example of a student who wants to be a teacher but has never taken teaching classes: Teaching requires the ability to facilitate, to work with people of diverse backgrounds and learning styles, and to work on a team. When the job is broken down in this way, it’s easier to find experiences that build a useful skillset. When giving examples, though, Perkins emphasizes the importance of not just repeating what’s on the resume. Give the context, then turn it into a story. Focus on different pieces of a project, your processes and strategies, and the results. All the more power to you if a single story highlights multiple qualifications. Perkins also recommends students include some kind of line that reiterates this is what you want to do, what you’re giving to the employer, and how it’s a part of your envisioned future. Thinking of a cover letter as more of a conversation can take some of the stress and competition away. Focus first on what you’re good at and interested in, then see how that can be a good match for what they’re looking for. “It’s a two-way street,” Perkins says. “It should be a fit on your end as well — you’re going to find something that’s the right fit for you.”
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
PLEASE HIRE ME. I AM EMPLOYABLE.
Reach writer Olivia Madewell at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @OliviaGMadewell Monica Niehaus The Daily
The Daily Career Guide // 5
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
where do you want to be in 5 years? Ben Celsi The Daily
On LinkedIn and authoritarian regimes By Rebecca Gross The Daily The question of where I’ll be in five years is a perplexing one. It’s easy to dream, to get excited about ideas I have that might never happen. But it’s much tougher to genuinely have the insight to actually see where I’ll be at age 25. As a young writer, it is important to understand that my aspirations of finding a traditional journalism job may never come to reality. It’s not that journalism is dying, though, it’s just changing. Journalism is becoming more about multimedia, and journalists are therefore expected to do and know more than ever. As someone who doesn’t define herself as techsavvy, I’ll either need to learn how to step up my game or take my writing aspirations in a different direction as a scholar or professor. This is why, in five years, I see myself going down two potential life paths. On one path, I’m living back in Los Angeles where I grew up. In this dream life I’m not living in the San Fernando Valley at my mom’s house (hopefully), but instead I’m living as a music reporter in Echo Park. In this life, I go out to shows every night, meet musicians, and write show reviews and
artist profiles for Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, or Pitchfork. If I choose the other side of the fork in the road, I’ve gone to Berkeley for graduate school and I’m getting in way over my head writing my dissertation about identity politics dominating the news at that given moment. In this life, I’m loving all the research I’m doing, but I’m also in limbo land, stressed out of my mind about what I’ll do after I graduate. And beyond these two potential paths lies the possibility that neither will happen: that I’ll meet someone new, make a new business connection, or move to a different city along the way. What I do know, however, is that wherever I go I will be pursuing my passion in some way, shape, or form. So I can’t definitively say where I’ll be in five years. There are so many paths to success — and more importantly, happiness — that to be honest, it doesn’t really matter where exactly I am with my career in five years. I’m more looking forward to the journey of arriving there than I am to where I end up. Reach Opinion Editor Rebecca Gross at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
A rumination on future tidings By Shahbaz Khan The Daily There’s a logical progression in career development: You start with dreams and aspirations, lofty goals where life is sweet and wonderful, then you hit puberty and everything just kinda goes to s--- as you begin to realize you are just a mote in a cold and indifferent universe. Having realized the inevitability of your own irrelevance, you enter adulthood ready to accept a more realistic job that may leave you emotionally unfulfilled, but will at least satisfy your practical needs. … Yeah, I ended up going in reverse at some point, because I want to be Superman. You might laugh, but you should also realize I work for a newspaper that’s just a “Planet” or a “Star” away from being straight out of Metropolis. That’s not a coincidence. Neither are my glasses or my choice of attire. You don’t even have to read my column past the (absolutely adorable) logo (drawn by the incredibly talented Chloe Yeo) to know where its inspiration came from. This isn’t an adorable delusion. This is my life. At the age of 26, an unknown actor landed the role of his tragically short life in a film that had rejected him three times before. That actor was Christopher Reeve and that 1978 film went on to inspire generations of kids to
reach out for their dreams. I’m 19 and I’ve got two roles under my belt. I had every intention to come to the UW and study to be a doctor. What sensible Desi wouldn’t? You’re either a doctor, an engineer, or a failure. But when it came my turn for the abyss to stare into me, I stared back. Harder. And the sight laid out before me failed to impress. There’s no such thing as an irrelevant person, because no one is alone. Every person we meet irrevocably changes our lives in some way, shape, or form, and we change their lives in return. So even if individually we feel as inconsequential as a single drop of ink, the truth is we’re not. Because that’s the thing about ink. Even a single drop makes a mark. It might be small and indistinguishable from the rest, but its presence changes the picture. I just want mine to have a few more primary colors. I’m probably gonna end up living in a sewer pipe with my broken dreams laid out in front of me. I’m not nearly handsome enough to play Clark Kent. The chances of me getting cast are next to impossible, but it’s like the Big Blue Boyscout says: “When the odds are impossible, do the impossible.” Reach writer Shahbaz Khan at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @JadeMoonSpeaks
By Hannah Probst The Daily As a young adult, I am used to being asked where I want to be in five years. Thanks to my 12th grade history teacher, I have a prepared response that goes something like this: “Well, Auntie Anne, do you wanna know who else had a five-year-plan? Mao! And Stalin. Authoritarian regimes are really big fans of saying ‘This is where we’ll be in five years.’ I’m thinking that in five years I’d like to have advanced my industrialization and agricultural productivity by 270 percent!” My clear exasperation with this question doesn’t stem from a misunderstanding of its intention; I can happily recognize the intrigue of wanting to know about someone’s goals. My problem lies in the way this question privileges material gains over more subjective things like accumulated skills and experiences. When someone asks me where I want to be in five years, I can’t help but get the impression that they are asking me for an itemized list of all my projected accomplishments. It is decidedly discouraging to be so consistently bombarded with questions about awards and titles and other resume-builders. For all intents and purposes, the world might as well be telling me the meaning of life is to build a LinkedIn profile. But when the collegiate idealist in me imagines the future, she thinks about her character and her personal identity.
She doesn’t know what she wants her career to be yet, but she knows what she wants to grow her career out of. The five-year question, for her, is about values, behaviors, and characteristics. That’s all to say: I’m waiting for someone to ask me what I want to be like in five years. In five years, I want to be curious, growing, and flexible. I want to be stretching the feelers of my brain into new directions and developing emotional strength. I want to be constantly discovering things about the relationship between my evolving identity and the impact I am making in the workforce. Today, I acknowledge within myself the potential to explore and excel in so many different professional and academic places. In five years, I want to be able to see those potentials widened into an even broader kaleidoscope of possibilities. In five years, I want to feel like my career is dynamic, true to my spirit, and constantly teaching me something new. Those are the things I will need to be an active, engaged, and productive citizen of the Earth. Until my family members start asking the right questions, though, they are probably going to keep receiving snarky comparisons to 20th century dictators in lieu of any real future plans. Reach writer Hannah Probst at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @hannahpwrites
Five years and beyond By Olivia Madewell The Daily In a year and a half, I’ll graduate from the UW. In two years, I’ll be married and enjoying the bliss of not having any more long-distance relationships. In three years, I hope I still live in the Pacific Northwest. In four years, maybe I’ll have traveled to another continent. In five years, I hope I’ll love my job. Right now, that looks like working every day as an editor for a magazine. Then again, perhaps I’ll still be steadily building my way toward a career like that of my mentor, a city government’s communications specialist. I wonder what my first house will look like. I wonder if any of my children will be Huskies. I wonder if I’ll eventually publish my writing when I retire. I wonder what hobbies my love and I will explore in our old age. I’ll discover all that in time. But throughout my whole life, I hope many things stay the same. Now, my family is always behind me as I figure life out. They encourage me on days that I miss them an extra amount and redirect me when I want to be grumpy about my homework. They jokingly call me a wild child when I go out for ice cream with my roommate in the wee hours of the
morning. They laugh with me when I accidentally shrink my jeans in the dryer. Now, my boyfriend of three years texts me good morning every day. We wish each other sweet dreams every night. We tell each other about all the great books we’ve read. We keep track of the places we want to visit. We are happy to tell friends we’re waiting to see a new movie together. We plan details of the future, like how a printer will be at the top of our shopping list since we’ll both still be students. I feel his frustration while he tells me about a problem involving orbital mechanics that’s taking hours to do, and he listens to my rambling about multiliteracy in modern communication. Even if we don’t understand every detail, we enjoy each other’s excitement. Now, I am surrounded by friends, new and old. We study and make cookies together. We tolerate each other’s tastes in music. We try a new cafe while we catch up. We challenge each other in discussions and support each other in prayer. These are the most precious gifts in my life. These are the things I can’t imagine life without, whether it’s in five years or 95 years. Reach writer Olivia Madewell at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @OliviaGMadewell
6 // Career Guide The Daily
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
The best of both worlds Hannah Montana your education
ew every n g in h t e m o s n r a Do you want to le
Do you like sharing new ideas and knowing that you will be heard?
day?
Do you wish to be surrounded by people who are invested in your professional development and long-term success?
Then we look forward to meeting you on April 20th at the HUB! Stop by with your resume and sign up for the opportunity to win a Bose Soundlink Bluetooth Speaker!
Parker, Smith & Feek has been a part of the Pacific Northwest community since 1937 and has long been heralded as one of the top independently owned insurance brokerage firms in the nation. As our firm continues to grow, we look to partner with the University of Washington to identify and develop our future leaders.
Check out our latest posting at Husky Jobs: #113726
www.psfinc.com
Ben Celsi The Daily By Emma Bueren The Daily The worst thing about being an English and microbiology double major is that at least once a week — if not more often — I’ll have 10 minutes to sprint down to the Health Sciences Building from the Quad. At this point in my college career, I could probably make the cut in a professional speed-walking team, especially because most speed-walking tracks don’t have red bricks that are slippery when wet. Athleticism aside, getting a bachelor’s degree in both arts and sciences is worth the extra legwork. Some might worry that dividing your interests could make you less qualified in both fields, but if anything, I’ve found it’s made me more qualified for a career in either field. There’s nothing scientists need more than strong communication skills, and the methodical logic of science has done nothing but strengthen my essays. You can even hybridize the two like I’ve done and find a niche that lets you do both: in my case, writing about science. Admittedly, fitting in all the necessary classes for a double major can be tricky, especially when it comes to balancing labs, two-hour lectures, and internships.
It also makes you think twice about the classes you take: Which class are you going to learn the most in? Studying dual areas also gives me a much-needed break from the other. Sometimes if I spend too much time in lab, staring down the barrel of a microscope, I start to go stir crazy. Talking about literature gives me a chance to step away from complicated biochemical pathways and into a whole different area. It’s a hiatus, sure, but not one that entirely shuts down my critical thinking. It just diverts it down another path. The same can be said for when a text from the 17th century gets a little too wordy or weird; there’s always some chemical reactions to delve deeper into. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to major in just the arts or just the sciences if you’re pulled strongly in one direction, but don’t be afraid to keep one foot on either side of the fence. People aren’t actually left-brained or rightbrained, so why would you want your education to be that way? Reach Science Editor Emma Bueren at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @EmBueren
Have a nice Daily!
The Daily Career Guide // 7
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Why you should pursue a STEM degree Logical thinking, career prospects, and collaborative skills By Mitali Palekar The Daily Thousands of students grow up hearing about the value associated with a STEM degree in college. It is often considered an extremely valuable major field among students, their families, and society in general — but is it? STEM careers are always in demand because they play a central role in making important advancements to our lives in fields like medicine and energy conservation, as well as allow us to develop efficient and practical solutions to engineering problems. In fields like computer science, where the demand for talented software engineers is much higher than the supply, these degrees are considered extremely valuable and are rewarded handsomely. “Engineering is the basis of creating new things,” said Gail Cornelius, director of the Career Center @ Engineering (CC@E). According to a recent article published by Forbes magazine, 13 of the top 15 “Most Valuable” majors were
STEM majors, including biomedical engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics. These rankings were directly associated with the median starting and mid-career salaries earned by the average college graduate in that field, and many UW students seem to agree with the high return on investment associated with STEM majors. “The market is rich [for STEM majors] due to the versatility of jobs that one can pursue post-graduation,” Cornelius said. “STEM jobs aren’t going anywhere,” said Arianna Aldebot, associate director of the CC@E. Beyond post-career plans, STEM degrees help students to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills, making them inclined to work with an innovative approach and collaborative skills and allowing them to apply the rigor of their STEM methodology and thinking to complex and varied situations. “Engineers have a good sense of how things work in a system,” Aldebot said. “They know how to contribute to teams through their group projects, which
Ben Celsi The Daily
allows them to contribute to their future employers in terms of both their hard and soft skills.” Moreover, UW engineering classes and major tracks are often known for their rigor in terms of content as well as time required to understand the material well. Additionally, Shanai Lechtenberg, associate director of academic services in the College of Engineering, believes that the important life skills that STEM students develop — such as diligence, persistence and a goal-driven attitude — are invaluable in terms of character development. Even though STEM degrees are extremely valuable in terms of problemsolving skills, return on investment, and industry applicability, the value of a degree is directly correlated to what each student enjoys. As with every major, if you do not enjoy it, you will not be motivated to be successful nor will you have the passion to learn the skills and knowledge that your degree provides you with. “Every major is what you make of it,” Aldebot said. “Just because you are an
engineering major that doesn’t mean you will get a job right away; you still have to make yourself a competitive candidate.” While many STEM students are extremely adept in terms of linear thinking, they must be careful not to forget the importance of developing strong soft skills. “Students should recognize that a sound foundation in non-STEM disciplines will be critical to their future success,” said Brian Fabien, associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Engineering. “In particular, to be a good engineer you must know how to communicate well, you must understand how technology has shaped our history, and you must understand our ethical responsibilities to society. These are subjects that are best explored in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.” Reach writer Mitali Palekar at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @mitalipalekar
8 // Career Guide The Daily
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Why didn’t they teach us this in high school? Adjusting your taxes for 2017 By Zackary Bonser The Daily Hooray! You did your taxes this year (I hope) and now can sleep at ease knowing that a tax return is safely being mailed to you — or sleep horribly thinking of the horrors of wage garnishment and frozen bank assets, because you underestimated your tax bracket and didn’t adjust from last year. For most of us young folks it’s either going to be a spending or a saving spree, as we get back what was essentially a zero-percent interest loan to the federal government. So what exactly goes into doing your taxes? Will you need to amend your return? Can you adjust your taxes to prevent a large return or a large debt? These are all important questions for college-aged students who aren’t typically taught about taxes in high school. The first thing you’ll meet in the quest to do your taxes is a certain paper sent to your mailbox: a W-2. This is the first sign that the end is nigh and that every day that passes is a procrastinatory step. The second sign is a bonafide barrage of advertisements on TV about tax season, with meticulously detailed lady liberties claiming that they alone can get you every dollar you deserve. It’s best you don’t lose your W-2s, as doing so could cause a slew of headaches, not the least of which being the possibility of identity theft, as your social security number is printed right on the first page. Time recommends you contact your employer first and the IRS second if you lose it, and amend your filing later once it’s safely in your hands again. Now, if you’re like me, you’ve most likely discovered the wonders of modern
automation, otherwise known as electing to have someone else, specifically someone else’s computer program, do your taxes for you. This is not an endorsement, but companies such as TurboTax, one of the most popular tax software companies, will let you file your taxes for free if you made $33,000 or less and have a relatively simple return. If you’ve already done your taxes but discover an error, there’s a process known as amending your taxes, which is when you file a 1040X, an amended version of the fabled 1040 we’re (mostly) all familiar with. To do so, you’ll need all of your original documents, receipts, and new documents, and you’ll need to go through the tax filing process all over again to discover how it affects your return. Good news though: You won’t need to update everything, just the new and pertinent information on the amended form. Earlier I mentioned that you can adjust your taxes, and for some this can be extremely useful, as any tax return is simply money you overpaid to the federal government and any taxes owed means you underpaid. Ideally, you want to have the smallest return possible, as it would appreciate faster in an average savings account than being held by the federal government. If you owe the IRS, you can claim fewer personal allowances for the next year. If you got a refund, you can claim more allowances on a W-4, also known as an employee’s withholding allowance certificate. A W-4 is usually signed with your employer upon being hired and swiftly forgotten. Its purpose is to have your employer know the amount of money that should be withheld from payroll to pay
FOLLOW YOUR PASSION, THEN PLAN YOUR CAREER EXPAND YOUR CAREER OPTIONS WITH THE BRIDGE MBA AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY. • For non-business majors • 12 month program to completion • No work experience required The Bridge MBA at Seattle University. For more information, call (206) 398-4628 or email albersgrad@seattleu.edu.
http://www.seattleu.edu/albers/bridgemba/
Aurora San Miguel The Daily into federal taxes before the remainder is paid out to you. To update your W-4, you must file a new one with the IRS, as you cannot actually physically update the old one. A new W-4 submission will take the place of the old one. The next step is to go line-byline through the personal allowances to choose the correct ones that apply to your situation: whether or not your spouse is employed, whether or not you have dependents, etc. These can help accurately predict what credits and deductions you will be able to claim come tax time.
Updating your W-4 every year can potentially prevent the headaches of owing taxes or the inefficiency of getting a check for an amount you overpaid to Uncle Sam over the course of the working year. Of course, there are numerous guidelines surrounding W-4s, but should you go the route of adjustment, all you have to do for these situations is give the updated W-4 to your employer. Reach writer Zackary Bonser at specials@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ZackaryBonser
PRACTICAL TO QUIRKY Everything you need for living, studying and playing on campus and beyond.
Hours: Open to everyone on Tuesdays, noon – 6 p.m.
shop M, W–F 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
BEDROOM & STORAGE
CHAIRS
ELECTRONICS
OFFICE FURNITURE
Location: Find us across the street from University Village 4515 25th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105
More information at UWSURPLUS.COM