Author Archives: bcoleman

Real life?

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During a rare moment of calm today, I found my brain wandering off campus and imagining my life in the future. This was vaguely stressful, because I still don’t have a job. But let’s not focus on that.

I tried to think about life, about what I would be doing and thinking outside of work. And I realized that there are some pretty important questions I’ve never had to ask before. For example:

  • Where will I live?
  • Can Craigslist roommates be trusted, or should I look for a Middkid?
  • How will I handle a long commute?
  • Should I take the train, or lease a car?
  • How much should I budget for food each month?
  • What if my computer dies?
  • Do I need to buy health insurance?
  • What the !@#% is a 401k?
  • How will I find new friends?
  • Taxes??!?

I felt myself slipping into yet another post-spring-break panic attack. What am I doing!? I’ve never had to establish an entire life for myself. I can talk with my own network about some of these questions — my family, friends, recent Midd grads — but Middlebury also provides resources to help students survive the next big transition.

Jaimie recently posted about the panel that Career Services is holding in BiHall 220 on April 5th. The seven panelists include recent grads and local professionals, all of whom have made this transition and helped people through it before. I hope I’ll see some of you there!

Spring Recruiting Event in D.C.

Capital Consortium (CapCon)

Interview Day: February 5, 2010 in Arlington, VA
Application Deadline: January 6 — Apply over winter break!

What is the Capital Consortium? Basically, it’s a one-day interview extravaganza.  Students from Middlebury, Connecticut College, Colgate, Hamilton, Smith, Tufts, Trinity, and Wesleyan apply to interview for jobs.

This event is an easy, efficient way to avoid the job-search panic of spring semester — especially if you’re going to be in the D.C. area for February break. Numerous Middlebury graduates have received job offers from this event!

15 employers are currently registered to interview students at the event and more are anticipated to register before the January 6 student application deadline date.

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Don’t forget LACN!

Hopefully you’ve got the hang of using MOJO to apply for jobs and keep track of on-campus recruiting events. It’s a great resource that focuses on employers who actively recruit Middlebury students, so the chances of them liking you are high! But, how often do you head over to LACN from MOJO?

LACN…”lackin”… is that even a word?

No, it’s not. But it is another place to search for employers who are actively targeting students like you — smart, hard-working, multi-talented liberal arts kids. You can get to LACN by linking to it from MOJO. Unfortunately, the process for linking directly is complicated and you would have to register, etc. The easiest way is to head to the MOJO home page, and under “Jump to” click LACN. The format is almost exactly the same, but there are a lot more jobs!

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The Elevator Pitch

You’re a student, not a drone in a high-rise office building, so you may never have heard of an “elevator pitch.” I hadn’t until I read about them on the Harvard Business blog.

The personal elevator pitch is basically a 30-second commercial all about you. The hard part is that you have to write, direct, rehearse, and perform this commercial by yourself. But how great would it feel to have the perfect answer to “What are you interested in?”or “What do you do?” So great.

One of the tricky things about elevator pitches is that they are not just for whipping out in elevators at big companies. They’re great for talking with employers in any informal setting, like talking to recruiting reps at CSO’s Spring Fling or Recruiter-in-Residence hours, or to someone sitting next to you on an airplane, or to that weird neighbor you only see at holiday gatherings. You never know where potential employers might be hiding! And even if the person you’re talking to isn’t an HR rep, they might be able to give you a personal “in” with the employer of your dreams.

Daisy Wademan Downing at the Harvard Business blog wrote this article about perfecting your personal elevator pitch. It should get you started.

The 10 Most Common Questions

You thought you were just supposed to be honest? Well, you’re sort of right. Gottamentor.com posted this article on what interviewers really want to hear when they ask you the most common interview questions.

What are the top ten questions, you ask?

  1. Tell me about yourself.
  2. Why should we hire you?
  3. Why are you interested in this company?
  4. Why are you interested in this job?
  5. What is your greatest weakness?
  6. What are your salary expectations?
  7. What are your long-term goals?
  8. Tell me about a problem and how you solved it.
  9. Tell me about a time you had to lead a team.
  10. How would your best friend describe you?

Do you have any idea how you’d answer these questions? See what Gina Chung at Gotta Mentor suggests.

Harvard Business Blog: Acing The Interview

The wise editors of the Harvard Business blog suggest that you focus on these three things in order to convince an interviewer that you’re the right person for the job:

1. Do research about the interviewer, the job, and the company

2. Show interest in the job and the interviewer

3. Don’t forget to listen to what the interviewer has to say

These tips sound simple, but it takes some skill to sound interested without sounding like a stalker.

Read the full article for explanations and advice from David Silverman at the Harvard blog.

(The Harvard Business blog is a great resource for career advice. You’ll be seeing a lot of posts from them here!)

MiddNet is for us too!

You thought MiddNet was just for alumni? INCORRECT. MiddNet also helps undergraduates find alumni who can help with career networking. Secret: alumni love current students. They also love to talk about how successful they are and how much they’ve learned about their chosen career. Search MiddNet for alumni in your field, in your region, or even in a specific company if you want an “in.”

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Senior meeting? What?

In order to participate in on-campus recruiting (like job interviews), you have to go to the Senior Meeting.

Wait, that was in September…

You can still get access to on-campus programming by completing a make-up of the meeting. To do so, drop by the CSO in Adirondack House any day during Drop-In Hours between 2:00 and 5:00 and ask to see the Senior Meeting video. You’ll also have to fill out some paperwork that you missed in September. (Unfortunately, the video is only available in the CSO itself, not online. They want to make sure you actually watch it.)

After that, go to MOJO and get working! Good luck.