Career Management Alliance Blog

Allison writes: My professors keep telling me I need to get at least one internship before I graduate, and I am thinking of trying to get one for next summer. I was planning on waiting to look for internships until spring break, but one of my friends told me that I should start looking like sooner. Also, what are the best sources for internships? Continue Reading »

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Anonymous writes: How do get a job in waitressing or retail without work experience in those? I have degrees but no work experience. No one told me I needed to do part-time jobs like this before graduating from college. They just said get a degree and go to grad school, even counselors said this. Is it too late to do this? Should I give up? I would like a job as a hostess/waitress or clerk or something now.

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The Career Doctor responds: Wow. There are two major flaws in your job-search situation, one that your college should never have allowed and one that you need to change now. Not to sound elitist, but as a former college professor and a big believer in the value of education, I have to tell you that you should not be trying to get a job as a waitress or store clerk now that you have a college degree — unless you are doing so as a stepping stone to some sort of management-training program. I’m not blaming you for this flaw in your job search. One of the problems I see in a number of universities is an almost single-minded focus on graduate school with little or no career counseling for those who choose job over grad school. You should have already had at least one internship, perhaps several informational interviews and job-shadowing opportunities, and perhaps some volunteering work - all giving you a much clearer focus on your career goals as well as beefing up your resume. My suggestion is to first research the jobs for which you qualify, then narrow the list to jobs that interest you, and then develop a resume that will get you into the hiring manager’s door. While you gained no outside experience while in college, look to school projects and part-time jobs to build at least some experience on your resume. If you really have very little experience, consider professional temping (certainly before waitressing or clerking) to gain experience and a foot in the door of prospective employers. If possible, also try volunteering in your field to gain even more experience. For more advice, read these articles on Quintessential Careers: Temping Offers a Way to Build Your Resume — and Much More and Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Job Skills is a Vital Job-Search Technique. Finally, we have a new free tutorial to help college grads with the transition from college to career. Go to: Conquering the Real World: A Guide for Achieving Success After College.

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As the saying goes, we get only one chance to make a first impression, explains Elizabeth Freedman in her article for Quint Careers, Cover Letters That Count. In a competitive job market where human resources departments are flooded with applicants, a first impression may be your only opportunity to make an impact. When trying to land a first job or internship, a strong, succinct cover letter is one of the best tools you can use to get noticed. And unlike other first impressions, the cover letter puts the opportunity to succeed largely in your hands.

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Internships and other ways to make a use of your summer vacation By Claudine Vainrub Gone are the days when summer vacation time was solely used for going to the beach, being lazy and relaxing around the house. With the Continue Reading »

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Jonee writes: I am a college student majoring in psychology and a minor in business. I would like to know what type of job opportunities are available for someone in my position. I would like a career more on the business side and would like to know if a psychology degree has any value in the business world. I have one more year left to complete my degree and could use some advice.

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The Career Doctor responds: The list of job possibilities are almost endless for you. The degree is the most important element here, not your major or minor…though I will say that business uses a lot of theories from psychology, from management to marketing. I recommend you go to Quintessential Careers Career Exploration and What Can I do With a Major in…? These sites will give you a broad range of jobs and career paths. Finally, I recommend that you get some experience. Use this summer to get an internship in an area of business that interests you. The internship will help solidify your decision about a career in business and will give you the much-needed experience that most employers are looking for — even from recent college graduates.

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Adena writes: I am a recent college graduate hoping to pursue a career as a journalist (feature writer). Currently, I am a marketing intern at a respected, award-winning regional theatre company. In college I majored in theatre, although I also minored in journalism, wrote for the school paper and interned with two renowned journalists. I have sent out resumes to a few newspapers for reporter positions and recently received an offer to work in a primarily administrative position as an editorial assistant (this is not the position I applied for, but it is the one that has been offered to me.) Time permitting, I might also be allowed to write feature stories on occasion. Continue Reading »

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Anonymous writes: I have applied several times to a particular company and just discovered, much to my horror, that I had been spelling the city’s name wrong (at least three applications so far). It’s a two-word name and I made it one word. Worse, it’s a company I do business with regularly and that’s one of my “ins” into the company, my “knowledge” of them, and yet I didn’t know such a small thing. How embarrassing, but worse, how damaging to my credibility. I just applied for THE position I had been waiting for and it was after I mailed that letter that I realized the mistake I had been making. I was hoping so much to finally get an interview with this company and now this. Is there any way to recover from this error? Should I follow-up with an “at least I’m consistent” light-hearted, letter or hope they didn’t notice as it was going to a different department?

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The Career Doctor responds: If the job you are applying for is that of an editor or proofreader, then perhaps it’s a major blunder, but otherwise I think you can just let this error be. In the great scheme of cover letters, it is MUCH more important to get the name of the hiring manager and name of the company spelled correctly — and I am assuming you did that. Look at DeLand, where I am based. Most of the mailed correspondence I get spells it as Deland, and don’t even get me started about how people pronounce it. Regardless, while I would of course recommend all job-seekers have perfect spelling and grammar in your cover letters, I would not make a big deal of your oversight. I might be concerned, however, about someone who has applied for three different positions within the company. Are the positions similar? Do you have any sense why you were not interviewed for the previous positions? If you do have a few contacts within the company, I would ask them whether there is any “word” on your reputation from the people within the departments you are applying to. And speaking of cover letters, wanted to share this comment from a job-seeker who had asked me how to make a bigger impact with his cover letter for an internship — and I told him to deliver it to the manager personally, but when doing so to be prepared for an on-the-spot interview, which is just what happened: “Just writing to thank you again for your advice with my cover letter for an internship and how to deliver it. I found the manager’s name, and went to deliver my letter to her today. She was so impressed with my initiative of actually delivering the letter by hand, that she interviewed me on the spot, and wants to set up a more formal interview in the near future. Thanks so much, your edits and advice about actually hand-delivering the letter were invaluable, and I really appreciate your time.”

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Here are some ideas of excellent summer programs for high school students interested in combining music and/or business. This career is becoming more popular as students seek to get into the music business, not necessarily being musicians, but just interested in this industry… -          Wagner College in NY on Staten Island. -          “What Makes a Star” program [...] Continue Reading »

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Nicole writes: I am 21 years old and I am going to enter the workforce in about a year. I am completely stressing out about my future as well as my major. I received my AA in communication studies. Communications is what I intended to major in for my bachelor’s, but instead chose sociology. The reason why I am so concerned is because many people have told me that there is virtually nothing you can do with a degree in sociology. I am not sure as of yet what I would like to do but my interests sway toward marketing, advertising, or public relations. My question for you is if it is possible for me to still have the opportunity to get into these fields with a sociology degree? I plan to intern at a public relations firm this year. Continue Reading »

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Heidi writes: Hoping you will answer a couple of questions about our 4 college students and summer employment. My husband and I are at odds about our 4 college students 20, 22, 23, and 24 years old (none of whom have ever really been gainfully employed for long, we have made the mistake of paying for everything for them, college, books, cars, insurance, spending cash and on and on). Continue Reading »

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