MyLifeMyCareer.com

Well, on Jobweb.com there was a fine article on your chances of finding a job in 2007. Another good year with high projections for companies hiring college graduates. Something like a 17% increasing in hirings of those graduating this year. It's always engineering and accounting as the in-demand and hot positions, but nursing is definately a big one if not the biggest. There are even television commercials right now talking about the incentives for new nurses to work in the Indianapolis area, and I know that this need extends across the nation. It's an interesting article, so check it out to see how this prediction may affect you (just a prediction).

I found this interviewing article on the Young Money website under the career advice for college students section. People used to tell me in grade school to visualize myself acing an exam in a very relaxing atmosphere. I would usually do that for about a minute before going and injuring myself attempted to race my bike at break-neck speeds. I think it helped in the long run though, mentally, and I'm sure it applies to interviewing as well. I remember getting this magazine every couple of weeks in the IDS at Indiana University, and it was always slightly entertaining. I'm sure many of you have seen it if many of you read the school paper. I like how they emphasize entrepreneurship, which isn't stressed enough around college students...unless you are a business student. It's important though, and I think there are many people with tons of potential and leadership skills that could run a business. Work for someone else for a few years to learn about how business really goes down, and then have a go at it. I think you become more responsible this way to minimize the risk that comes with running a business (80% of businesses fail before 3 years pass). It all starts with interviewing though. Get that first J-O-B (that's so lame when people do that, breaking down a 3 letter word is insulting to me). So, visualize yourself dominating an interview for a minute before riding a bike at break neck speeds or doing whatever you do.

I have seen the site, AfterCollege.com, before, and at first glance it looks like a career and job posting site targeted at college students. In fact, that is basically what it is. I can't speak for the results you may or may not get through their searches, but I did find an article that aligns itself with my opinion on resumes. I've touched on the technical aspects (in detail in a certain book), but I feel that this article adds a little more advice and insight on the technology used to accept masses of resumes. That's right, many times your resume won't even make it to the review process by humans when submitted online. (Hint: sell yourself in person, on-campus interviews, career fairs, etc. You will get this soon enough). Check out the article on resume advice in the world of online and electronic submissions. Sometimes, even your paper resume is fed to a scanner (or a paper shredder unfortunately), but at least in in an interview the recruiter will study it and it will see daylight. It's hard out there for a...resume. (*article link has also been posted in Resources section)

There still may be big name companies hiring soon to be college graduates, and many students build up infatuations for a company because of the salary, location, advertised job duties, or state of the art offices. Keep in mind that if the thought of working for "Awesome Company" is satisfying to you, than you will probably be in a line with tons of other students with their jaws on the floor, drooling on everything. And unless you have a 3.8+ GPA and the personality of your favorite comedian and actor/actress combined, you may get a few interviews but most likely will not be hired. The reality of the matter is this: I had the same feelings towards "big game" (yes, like in hunting in a safari setting) companies, and I know people who made it all the way through because they had the resumes, background, and personality to warrant the company taking a risk on hiring them. The majority of them have either quit or complain non-stop about being under utilized and how they feel like they were lied to in the hiring process. That's how our generation is perceived by the baby boomers and managers ahead of us: we were raised with a silver spoon in our mouths, and don't know anything about work ethics or working several years before getting that first promotion. We want it now or we're leaving. We get a horrible reputation due to the fact that so many students take jobs and accept offers with companies that are a horrible match for them leading to this negative attitude towards work. This leads to poor performance, bad reviews, and eventually resignations or dismissals (nice words for quitting and firing). Take the time to look for companies outside of your current spectrum, and you will find many diamonds in the rough. Align yourself with multiple, possible employers who agree with your personality, ambitions, and values. You will immediately begin to not only see, but feel the change in your perspective of companies out there. Then you will say to yourself, "Hmm...I guess it was just an infatuation".

If you haven't secured your offer yet (like me, my senior year), now is the time to really get out there. There are many quality companies still looking to give college students the start to their career. Don't just sit at your computer applying online at a job-posting site or directly with companies. Your chances are very slim of securing offers or even interviews among the thousands of students applying for the same job that interests you. Get to your career center on campus or subscribe to their email list to notify you of companies that will be conducting interviews on campus or having "open houses". Would you rather play poker at a table with the World Series of Poker all-stars or with a bunch of people who don't know an ace from a spade? I'm not saying you're more intelligent or marketable to a recruiter than the man or woman next to you, but less people will apply for an on campus interview opportunity and you get to sell yourself in person rather than being judged soley on your stats when you apply on-line. There is still time, but the duration of time from your first interview all the way to the offer being handed down can last several weeks to several months. Do the math.

The same company that ranked IU the #1 party school when I was a freshman (good times) is also a great source of career advice and articles to help you out with getting through college and transitioning after graduation. They also rank companies that hire college students as well as ranking the best internships. The page that I like most on their website is their advice portal which organizes and links to all of their content that is aimed at helping you with the different stages of your higher education. If you scroll halfway down the page, you will see the career advice (aka career planning and research) section. There is a quite a bit offered there, so check it out. I've also posted their link in my new Resoures page which will house all of the information that I keep finding.

No, this is not a flashy new name for the US military. It's more of a portal for opportunities to volunteer all across America. It was an initiative started by President Bush back during the first term, and is still growing. I don't believe they have full-time positions and internships, at least not through the site. This organization is operated as a branch of the White House, so you will probably have to go through their job site, USAjobs, to search for full-time positions. If you're in college or on break and looking for an opportunity to volunteer, this would be another good site to search through.

CARE is a lesser known non-profit organization, but they are one of my favorites. Their goal is to fight poverty internationally, and they especially emphasize helping women and children overcome social status issues that keep them in extreme poverty. CARE offers full-time, internship, and volunteer positions. You could get placed internationally or in one of their domestic offices (headquarters in hot-lanta). They have only a few positions so it will be competitive, but if you are interested you should at least apply. There's no harm in trying. Check out their site, very cool.

That's right, the organization that builds homes for those in need. You may have assisted as a volunteer in high school or college, taking a week to be a part of a build team. They also offer various professional positions that are salaried, as they are indeed a business (non-profit, of course) and need to manage the various business functions. They have been around awhile, and are in almost every community in the States, giving you several location options to work after school. If you are in school, I would recommend volunteering for a summer or maybe over spring break if you aren't going somewhere warm. A lot of campuses actually have Habitat for Humanity organizations that will have call-outs to gather volunteers and get people interested, so be on the lookout. Plenty of opportunities. Check out their site and job postings if you are interested and want more information. Enjoy.

Americorps will provide a wide range of "volunteering" opportunities that include teaching but extend further out to all aspects of the communities around us. Again, I have known people that have committed a summer of their (in lieu of an internship, looks great on the resume) and people that have graduated from college and given 2 years of their time. Again you will be paid with a modest living wage, helped with student loans if you are graduating, and you will gain many intangible benefits that will serve you in whatever job you choose to do afterwards. There are opportunities all across the country, but I would imagine their is still a great need in the gulf coast region cleaning up from Katrina. Just another option for those considering a position with a solid organization doing something out of the ordinary before moving on in life.

This week, I want to cover several organizations that offer tremendous opportunities to those with big hearts and the desire to help others. I swear I will not talk about Greenpeace, nothing against hippies, but the tactics used sometimes scare me. The first organization is Teach For America, which provides opportunities for you to teach in areas that are experiencing shortages of teachers or are not as educationally sound as the rest of the country. You don't have to have an educational instruction background or major, just great leadership skills and the willingness to help out. These are not volunteer positions and you will get a salary, moving expenses, and intense training. I remember watching "Dangerous Minds", "Lean on Me", and some recent movie with Matthew Perry teaching in an inner city school - all of which involved teachers making big sacrifices to create change in the minds of misguided youth. I know it would not be as easy as in the movies (unless you are smooth like Matthew Perry), but it would be pretty cool to be in that situation and influence someone with hidden potential. Wow, that didn't sound the least bit cheesy. In all seriousness, check out their website. The next deadline for applications is in mid-February, so check that out.

Among several emails from students with questions, I saw an email from Chimby.com which I immediately thought was spam. However, I did not delete it, opened it, and found out that Chimby is the "Career Advice Search" website, and that MyLifeMyCareer.com had been selected to be listed in their search engine of career sites and blogs. It's a cool site with links to many other cool sites such as quintcareers.com mentioned below as well as many career advice blogs such as this one. I like how they stress career advice, rather than just another career site. There's too many of those out there that pollute the results you get when googling for information to help you get a job or internship. Hopefully their site will be helpful to you, goofy name though. Catchy nonetheless.

After searching for valid and actually useful resources to supplement your job or internship search, after about a minute (it was a long search) I came across only one site that I really didn't leave after a matter of seconds. Quintessential Careers contains a lot of good information, some on the same path that I'm on and some going the other way. Like most career sites, you are going to have to sift around to find what you're looking for but I did find a bunch of good articles on "QC without the V" (they should pay me for that little marketing jingle) that I glanced at. They have the ads that contradict information presented on their site, but as I've said before, that's the nature of the beast when promoting a career site. As long as you focus on the content that is provided, you will probably benefit from your visit. You may be wondering, aren't they your competitor, Jared? You may also be wondering, why is this string tied to a 20 pound cement block (old school, will ferrell anyone)? In all seriousness, there is information there that you should see, so check them out. I will compete with them in a friendly match of ultimate fighting later on if need be (the preceding statement was a joke, I cannot fight...at all).

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. After seeing old friends and finding out what everyone is doing now that college has expired I found that several of them are working as financial advisors for some companies that rank high in the internship and entry-level college graduate positions. Here's a few of them:

Northwestern Mutual company site | internship | entry-level financial rep
They were ranked in the top 5 for best college internships last year, and offer great full-time opporunities as well.

Edward Jones company site | internship | entry-level graduate
Opportunities to work in a corporate setting or start your own office and build up your own client base for all you with the entrepreneurial spirit.

Ameriprise Financial company site | careers
Not well known for internships (if any), but they offer the same type of financial advisor or corporate positions as the other companies for recent graduates.