Career Shift – An Interesting Tool

A short time back, I was asked to test out a  job search service that Career Development had bought a subscription to on a trial basis. The website named, Career Shift, promises to help job seekers “successfully navigate the published and hidden job market to find gainful employment.” Of course, the first thing I did upon being asked to try out Career Shift was to find out what made this website service better than the numerous others which are also available. On their “about us” section Career Shift is cites the fact that they use ” an exclusively licensed, patent-pending set of integrated tools, job seekers are able to find employment more easily and conveniently.”  With that in mind, I delved into using Career Shift and finding out if this job search tool would be useful to the fine students of Chestnut Hill College.

What I found was quite encouraging. The first thing I want to talk about is the ease with which you can navigate the job search on Career Shift. You just need to add in the name of the profession that you seek and the results will appear as long as there are openings for your desired job. What also makes the search engine a pleasure to use is the fact that your search can be narrowed down to area of the country that you are seeking to work in. For instance, I have lived in Philadelphia for the past 10 years and I don’t have the intent of moving anytime soon so I don’t need to look at jobs in other areas. On the other hand, if you are someone who is not from the Philadelphia area and is going to back to their state of residence, you can find jobs in that region too.

Another aspect of Career Shift that is remarkable is saving your job searches. As someone who has used other job search websites, I cannot truly express just how happy it makes me that Career Shift allows you to save the jobs that you are interested in. Furthermore, Career Shift allows you to have a calendar which allows you to save appointments or plans on a particular day. I will freely admit that I’m not the most organized person so for Career Shift to include this kind of tool in quite beneficial for me. Now, I can have my job searches, my interview dates among other plans to all be saved in one place.

After my experience on Career Shift, my answer to Career Development was a resounding yes. Chestnut Hill should indeed use Career Shift as a job search tool for current students because Career Shit is in unique, easy and comprehensive which is what I want from my job search website. However, if you don’t believe me — Chestnut Hill College students are free to try for themselves.  

Employment Resources for Students with Disabilities

As graduation is fast approaching for some of us, it is common to feel a bit of pressure when thinking about our first steps into the world. Conversing with a family member one day, we came upon the subject of finding employment after graduation. Even though the thought is scary for most, my cousin, who has spina bifida, was most concerned because of his disability.
After our conversation, I decided to search for some great resources for persons with physical and learning disabilities.

Courtesy of Works For Me PA.

Works for Me is a free resource that connects persons with disabilities with agencies and programs in Pennsylvania. They will help you find jobs, obtain essential training and support applicants in any other areas needed (health benefits, assistive technology, financial security).
The sometimes all too common misconception for persons with disabilities is that once you start earning your own income, you will lose any or all of your health insurance benefits. Works for Me offers work incentives, which are a set of rules designed to protect your monthly Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare or any other payments you receive. In other words, the organization assures you that you can work without the worry of losing any benefits; helping to promote workers to eventually become self-supporting, if possible.
The Office of Career Development is also a great place of resource if you are a person with a disability. Last November, they held a recruiting event with the Workforce Recruitment Program, funded by the government, which offered summer internships with potential for full-time employment. A total of eight students (including some from other Sepche schools) met with a recruiter; an event Nancy Dachille, the director of Career Development, is excited to offer again.

Courtesy of Workforce Recruitment Program.

“This was a great way for students with disabilities to prepare for and participate in the interview process—especially from the comfort of their own campus,” said Dachille.
In writing this, I was very pleased to see all the resources available for individuals with disabilities. Knowing that these support systems work to ensure that those who have disabilities feel valued is a great comfort.

For more information visit the Office of Career Development or click the provided links above!

Information and Networking Event

From roofing to mutual funds, from graduate school to the FBI, and from insurance companies to defense logistic companies, the Office of Career Development and the Business Department’s Information and Networking Event had it all! On March 14, 2013, twenty-six businesses, graduate schools, and organizations flooded the floor of Sorgenti Arena for CHC students who sought jobs, internships, and professional-networks. This well attended event provided foundations for CHC students as they walk into their future life in the post-CHC world – the workforce or graduate school. 

As I walked into the arena, sounds of students making connections with various businesspersons, the sights of decorated tables from the twenty-six organizations presents, and the smell of mints (provided for you when you walked in by the Office of Career Development) greeted my senses. I delighted in the fact that the Office of Career Development and the Business Department provided so many students with the opportunity to talk face-to-face with potential future employers and graduate schools.

Two tables grabbed my attention as I walked around the arena. I stopped at the table for Rider University, and I spoke with their contact person. After I finished talking to her about the opportunities at Rider, she told me that she had never seen so many enthusiastic and well-engaged students at a job fair than at CHC (one hundred points for the Griffins!).

In addition to the Rider table, the Defense Logistics Agency possessed a wonderfully decorated table that grabbed anyone’s eye! After discussing the fantastic opportunities at the company, the gentlemen at the table offered to me an arsenal of free stuff, such as backpacks, highlighters, and key-chains (needless to say, one of my favorite tables!).

The information and networking event provided for CHC students the opportunity to discuss with potential employers and graduate schools in an informal, face-to-face, and welcoming environment. I would recommend this event to any students seeking a summer job or internship and to any student exploring graduate schools in the business and communications fields.

Pinterest: The New Way To Job Search

Over the years many social media sites have been developed for both personal and work purposes. Rarely however does one social media site work for both your personal and professional use. Typically, in the work world it is most ideal to keep your personal and work life separate so you can increase your chances of getting a job. However, Pinterest might be an exception to this rule.

Pinterest is a website that works almost as a bulletin board where you can save images that are of interest to you.It is a social media site that can be used for both personal and professional use. You can use it for anything, from planning your wedding, to finding recipes or DIY activities to even some of the more important things like job searching.  Pinterest can introduce you to many new ideas and new ways of doing things and allows you to save all of those findings to “boards”. You can have multiple different boards for categories of ideas.

Pinterest has become a new tool in assisting in your job search.  The Chestnut Hill College Office of Career Development has joined in this movement and created a Pinterest page to help CHC students in their job search and overall career development. This Pinterestpage can assist you in your job search in many ways with advice, articles, and other content handpicked by our team here at Career Development to best assist you as students. A couple of our best categories are as follows:

• Resume tips and tricks
  • To help you produce an informative and creative resume that will stand out in an employer’s mind.
• Social Media Tips
  • We offer ways to help you limit or censor your social media output
• How to get hired
• Networking
  • We help you find the best ways to go about networking and tips on how to take advantage of this important tool.
• What to Wear
  • This board will show you the most appropriate business attire for the workplace!

You can find all this helpful information and more at www.pintrest.com/chccareer

-Emily Elizabeth Sanders

Sometimes, It is About Who You Know.

Finding the job you want (or a job, period) nowadays is hard and sometimes having all the credentials in the world may not cut it. With the surge of social media came the idea of self-branding sometimes being a deal-breaker; who you know and what they know about you can actually work to your advantage.
Sure, Facebook is a good way to stay connected to old friends, classmates and relatives and keep them updated on your many misadventures, but would you really want an employer to see your photos from Spring Break ’11 or reading your 2 am sleep deprived status update?
Since LinkedIn jumped onto the scene, some of us avoided (or deleted, like I did) those pesky emails stating, “[Insert name of person you haven’t talked to since graduation] would like to stay connected on LinkedIn!”, as it was just like Facebook, but dressed in a power suit. But, as hard as you may have fought to not sign up, having a LinkedIn profile is a pretty solid first step towards enhancing yourself as the total package.
Your profile serves as an even better way to stay in contact with former employers, co-workers and those professors who helped groom you for the real world; it keeps them updated on what you’ve done and what you are doing professionally. It is also available for anyone to see, which is extremely beneficial because potential employers can zero in on candidates who may fit into a specific job description they’re seeking. And, it can also help to establish future references if needed. For example; a good friend of mine, who is a stylist in New York City, hesitantly joined LinkedIn after much goading by her boss at the time. Within a few months of joining, she received a message from a magazine editor in Japan asking if she would like to help style a shoot based on NYC fashion trends. It turned out that this editor had a mutual connection with her boss, who is now one of her best friends and mentor, and after asking for recommendations for stylists, her boss immediately recommended her for the position.
Even though that may seem like an almost unlikely scenario, it isn’t and it doesn’t have to be. How you market yourself and establish as your image, coupled with your experience, can be a strong way to create new prospects and maintain a good rapport with those who have helped you along the way. Needless to say, after much consideration, I finally decided to join the club.
Now if only I were better at maintaining my profile…

A Career in Public Relations

Unfortunately, for us at Career Development it has been a while since Senior Jessica O’Neil posted one of her “A Career in” posts. However, those posts continue to be one of the highlights of ourblog which is why I decided to revive an age old tradition just in time for the holidays.

So, before we get any farther, people always ask regarding the definition of Public Relations. Having taken a course on the subject, it was defined as “Public Relations is a leadership and management function that helps achieve organizational objectives, define philosophy, and facilitate organizational change. PR practioners communicate with all relevant external and internal publics to develop and maintain positive relationships.”

There is also the fact that Public Relation industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the nation. In fact, here are some statistics on how much PR is growing.

• Almost $4.3 billion spent each year in the U.S
• Approximately $3 billion spent each year in Europe
• Approximately $1.8 billion spent by 2010 in China

What sort of work do you do in the Public Relations industry?

“Public relations specialists handle organizational functions such as media, community, consumer, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; or employee and investor relations. However, public relations is not only telling the organizations story. Understanding the attitudes and concerns of consumers, employees, and various other groups is also a vital part of the job. To improve communications, public relations specialists establish and maintain cooperative relationships with representatives of community, consumer, employee, and public interest groups and those in print and broadcast journalism.” College Grad.com

According to a salary survey conducted for the Public Relations Society of America, the overall median salary in public relations was about $49,100.  However, salaries in the field could range from $22,800 to $141,000. Obviously, that is a large difference but it shows that in this ever growing field there is room to climb up and make more money.

Public Relations is a growing field and it will always need people who are creative, hard-working, ethical, and can be strategic. If you possess those qualities, Public Relations will always be interested in hiring you.

Also, Happy Holidays to everyone out there from Career Development!

Skype in the Workplace

 

Since its inception in the minds of creators Janus Friis (Denmark) and Niklas Zennstrom (Sweden) in 2003, the voice over Internet protocol technology known as Skype has grown exponentially. In fact, the online service had approximately 663 million registered users as of September 2011. What started as an idea has come to change technology and our everyday habits. Not only is Skype used by college students everywhere to talk to their friends and family, it has also started to be used by workplaces all around the United States. So, just how has Skype changed the workplace?

Interviews – Do you live hundreds of miles away from a potential place of employment? Years ago, you would have to pick your best suit and head to whatever city the company you were looking to be employed by was located. However, Skype has changed all of that. Now, all you have to do is sit in front of your computer or laptop and you can be talking to your potential employers. It’s important to keep in mind that the rules for an interview still apply which means that you should dress well for the interview. Moreover, make sure that the room you are sitting in is clean and organized. Whether face to face or on Skype, first impressions still do matter.   

Conference Calls – Would you like to make a presentation to a boos that’s on vacation or is overseas? Perhaps, you are in a situation where you have to taalk to several people at the same time. In either situation, Skype will be your new best friend. Skype gives office workers the capability to talk long distance or include several people in the same conversation.

Those are just two of major uses of Skype in the workplace, the creative possibilities that Skype provides are endless. If you have used Skype in a creative manner, we would love to hear from you. Let us know in the comments section!

Phone Interviews

Apart from being a Social/New Media Assistant for the office of Career development, I’m also a Resident Assistant for the Residence Life Department of Chestnut Hill College. During a meeting with my Residence Coordinator (my supervisor), we were discussing her future job options once she leaves Chestnut Hill College. She brought up the fact that she had interviewed at several places (including Penn State University) and she had a phone interview lined up in the upcoming weeks. Earlier on in the year, I had heard about phone interviews but this truly got my interest piqued regarding phone interviews. After asking some questions of other job seekers, I learned that phone interviews are quite important for job seekers With that in mind, I fully immersed myself in research and came up with some tips for those who will have to face phone interviews in their quest to locate jobs.

First, it’s important to know that employers use phone interviews as a way of  identifying and recruiting candidates for employment. Furthermore, phone interviews are often used to screen candidates in order to diminish the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person interviews. They can also be used by companies in order to lessen the costs of interviewing a candidate who is out-of-town or out-of-state.

After figuring out what phone interviews are used for, I conducted some high-class research in order to find out some tips for a successful phone interviewing tips.

• Use a landline - Although cell phones are the choice of communication for most of the younger generation, when it comes to a phone interview, you should play it safe and use a landline. Don’t allow outside noises or a choppy cell signal keep you from an awesome opportunity. Making the call from a landline leaves less room for misinterpretation and cuts the odds of disconnection to a minimum
• No pets allowed – Look everyone loves their pet but no one is going to think any less of you if you move your pet for the duration of the interview. If you conduct the phone interview from home, do it in a pet-free room. Make sure your cat, dog or bird is occupied and safe in another room, so barking and meowing is out of earshot. As cuddly as they might be, don’t give a pet the opportunity to be a distraction during this important phone call.
•  Be ready! – Prepare all of the materials you will need for the interview and be at the location of the call at least five minutes early. The interviewer can call early. In fact, some hiring agents use this as a tactic to test candidates. If you want to take it a step further, have a physical copy of your resume and the job description in front of you during the call. Type up a bulleted list of items you want to cover during the conversation.

Hopefully, now you are prepared for any future phone interviews that come your way. Good Luck, Griffins!

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: 34 Reasons the 22nd Annual Job Fair was a Success

On March 21^st Chestnut Hill College hosted 2012’s 22^nd job fair. The fair was composed of several different types of employers from government jobs like the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support all the way to the neighborhood friendly WAWA. Sorgenti Arena was filled with Chestnut Hill undergraduates as well as many graduate students and members of other colleges.

The job fair was a great chance for students to show off their newly polished resumes and for other students it was a chance to learn what employers were looking for. Job fairs are not exactly meant to get someone a job on the spot, though eventually it may turn into an opportunity, but instead they should be used by students as confidence builders and opportunities to make connections with potential employers or someone that may lead you to employment.

So if you attended the job fair and didn’t walk away with a job don’t be discouraged. In all things you gained some experience and knowledge that will be beneficial in the future. For those that were not able to make it to the job fair do not be alarmed at all the opportunities you missed. Career Development will meet with you on the 3^rd floor of SJH – North Corridor.

If you do not have time to come see us, log into our Blackboard site.  Look under “Jobs-Full-time” of the 22^nd Annual Job Fair Directory which will show you all the employers that came to the job fair!

*This blog post was written by Aaaron Simpson’ 14

Greater Philadelphia Teacher Job Fair 2012

Job Fair History and Details

                For those of you who may have missed the Greater Philadelphia Teacher Job Fair, here is some important information on what happened the day of the event and how you still have a chance to get involved! Beginning approximately twenty years ago, institutions of higher education in the Philadelphia area decided to gather their career service departments together in order to exchange information and ideas. Fourteen years ago the twenty-seven institutions formed what is now known as the Delaware Valley Career Planners, this Consortium’s sole purpose today is to sponsor the annual teacher job fair.

This year the job fair was held on March 15, 2012, from 9:00am-3:30pm at West Chester University. Students at Chestnut Hill were preparing before this day; however, with forty-seven pre-registering for the event and thirteen additional students who registered the day of the event. As a tip for future candidates, pre-registering for the event is always a great idea.  There are two advantages: first, the price of admission is just five dollars instead of the fifteen at the door; second, you are able to enter the fair an entire hour earlier before other candidates. All together the event drew an estimated 2,000 job candidates, final numbers have not been posted yet.  Around 200 employees present from various school districts around the area such as: Philadelphia, Cheltenham, and Upper Darby just to name a few.

 

Scholarship Information

Whether you attended the Job Fair or not, there is still another opportunity available from the Delaware Valley Career Planners. As a student in one of the DVEC Schools, you are also eligible to apply for one of the Hannah Amgott Memorial scholarships! If you will be completing your degree or completing coursework for certification in May, August, or December of 2013 you are able to apply. Created to reward students exhibiting excellence in the pursuit of education, up to five awards of $1000 each will be offered, based on merit. Details and applications are available in the Career Development Office on the 3^rd Floor of Saint Joseph’s Hall, come in as soon as possible; the deadline for applications is April 6, 2012!