The big question: how do I get a job after college? We’re all wondering…

Here’s an answer. Check out this article for details on these six key steps to readying yourself for the job market after graduation. Though things like LinkedIn, blogging, or utilizing Middlebury’s Career Services in EIA (that’s us!) have seemed the work of over-achievers in the past, today they are absolutely necessary. If you haven’t started networking, putting together a LinkedIn profile and doing internships, you need to start… three years ago. Schwabel even suggests that we should have started in high school! Don’t panic, just read up on your career advice!

Do read all the article has to say, but for now here’s the skinny:

1. Create a LinkedIn profile

2. Establish a presence on WordPress or other blog

3. Get an internship as early as possible

4. Get creative about finding a mentor

5. Use your school’s career services office

6. Join a professional development or industry-specific group

A pretty heavy question to consider this early in the academic year, but it’s on my mind because I was at a career conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson last night and she brought it up. With a small group of about 10 students, she was discussing her career in print journalism and how she got from one place to another. She started with a story from one of her first internships where she had to write an article about the last day of school in an elementary school. Although not initially enthused by the idea, she grew to enjoy it and only later in her career did she realize the impact this first assignment had on her.

Her basic message: opportunities do not always present themselves to you. Keep your eyes open to different experiences.

Here in EIA we are all about helping put some focus and direction to your life path. It starts with you walking in the door and engaging with us. I encourage you to start, anywhere, even if you know us folks in ADK well, or never imagined even what happens inside that old white building with the tall skinny tree in that roundabout where the buses leave from for breaks.

First things first, Senior Meeting is Wednesday at 1, 4 or 6 in Dana so pick the time best for you, and come get an introduction to how we can help you this senior year.

And by the way, Isabel’s answer to her own question was “leave the world a little better place than when you got here”. What’s yours?

We all have our dream city in which we imagine our future, freshly graduated selves. Perhaps you dream of burrowing in a Seattle houseboat, with a warm mug of fair-trade coffee and a misty view of the Space Needle from your window, or watching the sun rise in the Rocky Mountains, or hosting cramped dinner parties in a shoe-box New York apartment.

Check out GOOD Magazine’s Guide to Hustlin’ for some tips on the best cities to get your start when you’re young and broke!

“You can’t just say, ‘I have a college degree, I have a right to a job, now someone else should figure out how to hire and train me.’ ” (Reid Garrett Hoffman, The Start-Up of You). Unfortunately, it’s not that easy in today’s job market as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s article highlights. Along with your excellent Bachelors Degree and your unique experiences, you are also required creativity and ability to (re)invent yourself, something perhaps a little more subtle and beyond traditional academia. Think as entrepreneur, not “just” as a job seeker!

Read New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s article “The Start-Up of You” at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/opinion/13friedman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

Dear Soon To Be College Graduates,

The ongoing recession has taken its toll on upcoming job opportunities as well, and companies are not as inclined to hire as they used to be.

Here are a few pointers to help you compensate for these “recessionary changes”:

Network, network, network! – it still pays (literally as well!) to  know someone high up in a company you are interested in.

Do not overlook internships! Even though they may not be the best source of financial income, they are a great way to get your foot in the door of a company you would like to work with.

Grades do matter- so don’t slack!

Last but not least, patience is a definite requirement.  Hard work and proactive job seekers will be successful during these times that require more endurance.

 Source: Economy Affecting College Graduates? Jobs 4 Grads Now.

By Catherine Rampell
March 1, 2011

If Alison Sadock had finished college before the financial crisis, she probably would have done something corporate. Maybe a job in retail, or finance, or brand management at a big company — the kind of work her oldest sister, who graduated in the economically effervescent year of 2005, does at PepsiCo.

“You know, a normal job,” Ms. Sadock says.
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Name: Mo Tooker
Current job title: Sr. Vice president and Head of Global Property Facultative at General Reinsurance Corp.
Graduated from Middlebury: 1991
Major: Economics and Environmental Studies

Where did your interest come from to work in this career?

I, like many others, fell in to the insurance/reinsurance industry without too much prior thought.  I found General Re through a friend of a friend and have been here ever since graduating from Middlebury in 1991.  I have found that the industry offers a great mixture of sales/marketing experiences and broad intellectual challenges thinking through the various risks individuals and companies in our world face today.

What are typical entry level positions in your field and what does a career path look like?

I started as an underwriter where, after an intensive training program, I joined a team of more experienced underwriters whose job it was to develop relationships with insurance company underwriters.  Through these relationships, we worked to assume risks from insurance companies.  My job involved evaluating those risks and negotiating a price with the customer.  Career paths vary considerably but there are many opportunities to develop deep technical knowledge in various industries, to look after relationships with larger and larger customers and to lead teams of associates.

How are you using your Middlebury degree?

In whatever degree you obtain from Middlebury, you emerge equipped to identify an issue, evaluate alternatives and work through solutions.  I have found that the broad nature of the liberal arts education is very well suited for the marketing and underwriting challenges I am facing today.

What skills do you think a person needs to be successful in your position?

We are looking for people who have a broad skill set that includes interpersonal, analytical and leadership abilities.  We take these raw materials and will put individuals through a broad based training program where we introduce them to the insurance/reinsurance industry, sales and marketing and underwriting.

What do you like best/least about your work?

Two main reasons I am still excited about General Re after almost 20 years:

• The people around me – They challenge me intellectually in an atmosphere that stresses teamwork and good humor.
• The mixture of marketing and analytical activity — Every day is different but I know that I will have a good mixture of intellectual challenges and social opportunities.

What does an average day or week look like for you?

The average day for underwriters is a mixture of marketing and underwriting activity.  Marketing activity involves working on customer strategies, taking part in marketing activities and negotiating with customers.  Underwriting involves analyzing risks by applying your judgment to sophisticated tools and working with associates to deliver the most appropriate answers to our customers.

Find more information about how to intern at GenRe this summer on MOJO at http://www.middmojo.com!

By Peter DiPrinzio ’13

Arthur Mittnacht IV graduated in a tough jobs climate in 2009, but managed to land on his feet at the New York branch of the German finance firm, Commerzbank. After training in London, he now works in Corporate Solutions Sales. He recently returned to Middlebury on homecoming weekend to share his journey and discuss the possibilities for Midd Kids to work at Commerzbank.

Full interview after the jump.

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What’s so great about a liberal arts education? Every Midd Kid asks this question especially during their senior year when they see job posts that specifically seek out undergraduate students with a communications or business major. Well Midd Kid, let me answer your question.

WRITING SKILLS. Think about the 2 CW courses that we are required to take in order to graduate. Remember your FYS and how you had to write and rewrite essays during your first months at Midd? What about all those papers you have to write for class? Correct me if I’m wrong but, thinking back on my 24 classes (Chinese included), each class required some sort of writing, and each professor had their own specific writing preferences that Midd Kids had to cater to. Middlebury basically gives you 4 years to seriously hone those writing skills that businesses want!

Don’t believe me? Just ask Dalya F. Massachi from OpportunityKnocks.org.

Massachi wrote: Employers know that writing well will help you succeed in fundraising, marketing/outreach, advocacy, project management, administration, etc. No matter if you’re at the entry level or in senior management, strong writing skills are critical if you want to capture the interest and attention of your constituents and prospective donors. Virtually everyone working in the nonprofit sector has to do some writing at some point. And the better you can do that, the deeper and broader your impact will be. Your organization may produce great work or come up with outstanding ideas, but if you present those achievements or thoughts poorly they will not get very far.

Midd Kid, you are special. There are people out there who want you.