Vassar College CDO Career Assistants

"Are you in/I am countin'/1,2,3" (...4,5)

2010-01-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Seniors,

Even though you’re probably recuperating from the stress of theses, term papers, and final exams, here’s yet another “life after Vassar” blog post for you, just in case the realization that you’re one semester away from leaving the bubble isn’t anxiety-inducing enough.

Although checking Mads several times a day is a (somewhat) productive way to spend four weeks at home, there are things (well, more like five) you could be doing to jumpstart your post-graduate plans. Best part is, you can do it all from the comfort of your couch!

1. Update (or create, which I really hope you’ve done already…REALLY hope) your resume. Maybe you haven’t touched it since it got you that unpaid internship stuffing envelopes last summer. Maybe you’ve done so much that you can’t possible fit it onto one page (if you fall into this category, I’m jealous). Regardless of the state of your resume, take a quick look and see if it needs a fix-up. OptimalResume (http://vassar.optimalresume.com), a resume-writing wizard, is a great resource. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me when a student comes in with an OptimalResume-generated resume.

2. Join professional networking sites like LinkedIn or V-NET. LinkedIn is kinda like Facebook, except more professional (because I’m pretty sure you don’t want future employers seeing pictures of you that are…let’s just say, INCREDIBLY unflattering). V-NET is a database of over 2500 VC alums who are willing to serve as career mentors in a wide variety of industries, occupations, and geographic regions. Don’t underestimate the VC connection: V-Netters include the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Memorial-Sloan Kettering, Vice President at Credit Suisse, and a Senior Vice President at Christie’s. You’ve got nothing to lose by reaching out (just don’t stalk).

3. Consider a job shadow, informational interview, or mini-internship over the break. It’s a great opportunity for exposure to an industry you’ve always been interested and the ability to network with professionals in your area. Not to mention, two words: resume builder.

4. Think about what you’ve done and where you want to go. You have one more semester at good ol’ 124 Raymond Ave—make it count! Thought about doing field work but didn’t know how to start the process? Been meaning to stop by our office, but always got “conveniently detoured” by a sudden urge for Retreat chili? Now’s the time to take the plunge!

5. Think about recommendations. No matter what you plan on doing after May 23, you’re probably going to need recommendations. If you haven’t started a reference file with us, you should. If you haven’t thought about which faculty members could write you a strong rec letter, you should. And if you haven’t updated your resume to give to said recommenders for additional information, you should. A word of advice: Ask the letter-writers now, while you’re still fresh in their minds. If you can’t remember what you had for dinner last week, your freshmen writing seminar professor isn’t going to remember you two years after you graduate.

There you go, five things you could be doing right now to get a head start on your post-graduation plans. If, over break, you start having fits of paralyzing fear and anxiety because it seems like all of your friends have jobs waiting for them, call the office and set up a phone appointment. Happy Winter Break!

"So, what are you planning on doing this summer?"

2009-11-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

If you are one of the students who will respond to this question (usually asked by parents over some sort of meal) with an “Umm…” and an awkward laugh, you should come to this workshop. Then, you’ll be one of the lucky ones who has a game plan! Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to know that after May finals are done, you’ll be off to some amazing (and maybe paid) experience?

During this workshop, we’ll answer the following questions (and more!):

· How do I start looking for an internship?

· How do I start building a resume?

· Are there Vassar alums who can help me make some sweet connections? (Hint: Yes!)

· Are there on-campus summer opportunities?

· How can I get funding for an unpaid internship?

The workshop will be held on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, at 3:00 PM in the FACULTY COMMONS. So, put off that overwhelming amount of end-of-term work and come learn how to beat the crowd and get one step closer to an awesome summer experience!

The Street with no Wall

2009-11-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

The Street with no Wall

a recap of the 2009 Financial Services Immersion Program

In 1653, Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of New Netherland, constructed a 12-foot-high stockade on the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement to keep out the Lenape Indians, the New England colonists, and the British.

That plan did not work.

In 1699, the British tore down the wall. The name of the street, however, remained as the Wall Street. In 1792, 24 prominent brokers, speculators and merchants met under a buttonwood tree at the foot of the Wall Street and formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement. The association later evolved into the largest stock exchange in the world, the New York Stock Exchange.

My two-day financial services immersion program began with a visit to Citigroup after an early train-ride to Grand Central. At Citigroup Investment Banking Section, we were kindly greeted by Greg and Jane, both Vassar graduates. The encounter was informal, but engaging and valuable. The active conversation was a great appetizer for those who are hungry for a taste of investment banking. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that it is not necessary to be a finance or economics major to pursue a career in investment banking: Jane, for example, majored in English at Vassar College, discovered her negotiation talent through selling cup cakes in New York, realized interest in cooperate law after interning with HSBC, and is now working for Paralegal at Citigroup.

With my stomach stuffed with a Swiss meatball Ragu hot wrap and a delicious parfait, we set out for a tour of the Museum of American Finance with the group. If you want to learn more about the financial crisis, there is a very helpful timeline provided by the museum. To me, the architecture of the building was as interesting as the exhibition: cantilevered marble staircase, enormous brass chandeliers, checkered marble floor, murals painted by J. Monroe Hewlett, all took me back to the 18th century in a mere of seconds.

Another quick subway ride, we found ourselves in the center of the hustle and bustle of the city, Times Square. Everything was as I remembered: endless streams of tourists, countless billboards of shows, and limitless neon lights. Well, almost everything. The 745 7 Ave silently embraced its new owner: in the world of finance, one day you are green, the other day you are blue. Barclays Capital now takes over most of the Lehman Brothers business and occupies its New York headquarters. We met a very diverse group of new analysts at Barclays Capital, who attended colleges ranging from Cornell, NYU to Middlebury and, of course Vassar (Dan Tan,'09).

The evening at the Yale Club was another delightful experience. After a lecture we sat down with a few wonderful Vassar graduates and an important guest, Debbie Treyz, who is the Head of Wealth Advisory and Fiduciary of J.P. Morgan, and thanks to her support and generosity, this Financial Immersion Program is able to carry on. Our visit to J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Management the morning after was one of the highlights of the program. It turns out that investment banking and wealth management share quite a bit in common. The excitement and tension of the visit could hardly be recreated with a few words, but consider the following questions (allow yourself 5 seconds before you answer each question):

1. What is the headline of today's Wall Street Journal?

2. What stocks do you think I should buy this year? Why?

3. And, tell me something I don't know about economics.

In order to succeed in the ever-changing and competitive world of business, you always need to be ready: this probably means that you may need to go to sleep with today's stock portfolio, or wake to the New York Times headlines, or give a convincing alternative when you know little about the answer, in front of a group of exceptionally acute minds.

Surrounded by stores like H&M, Zara, Express, Gap, Banana Republic and Bloomingdales, one could be easily be distracted and miss the Bloomberg Tower. Yet it takes only one visit for the building to remember you: the photo you take before going through the security of the building will be stored for years. The Bloomberg building was a piece of MoMA: large-scale light installations, eccentric sponge sofas, colorful fish tanks scattered around, numerous sculptures, Bloomberg museum displaying the evolution of its terminals… and did I mention those free food stations (imagine going to a store where you can grab everything on the shelf for free) on each floor? The working environment oozes color, exudes energy and sends out a tinge of ephemeral existence. In the blink of an eye, a piece of news loses its all value.

In a street with no walls, in a world with no barriers, there is unbounded opportunities and immense competition. Here is an African proverb that I read years ago but still motivates me today: “Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running”.

You might ask, why do I want this? Why should I be a lion or an antelope in Serengeti? Why would people want to go to investment banking? My answer is, at the end of the day, if you are a lion that captures a prey or an antelope that escapes the fastest lion, you survive.

There is nothing better than knowing that you have lived and you have survived.

For Now.

One more reason to put off that midterm due at midnight

2009-10-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

If you're a senior, you've probably gotten a million (except not really) emails from the office about FRC, SLAC, LACN, etc (just a few more, and we'll have as many acronyms as the RSL Office). This week's post is going to be about SLAC, you can go on and be a SLAC-ker! (My midterms are sucking all of the energy/happiness/sarcasm out of me, so deal with the corniness until October Break comes and I finally get some rest.)

What is SLAC?
The Selective Liberal Arts Consortium, or SLAC, offers college students the opportunity to interview with organizations that do not ordinarily visit college campuses (aka they don’t have the time to travel all the way out to Po-Town to sit in the Faculty Commons for an hour). These companies are pretty legit, too—Greencorps, Federal Reserve Bank, and Bain & Company, just to name a few. So it’s probably worth your while to wake up early and take the train into one of the major cities mentioned below.

When/where are the regional recruiting days?
SLAC will be taking place in Chicago (December 4, 2009), Boston (January 6, 2010), New York City (January 7, 2010), and Washington, DC (January 11, 2010).

So, who’s coming? And what positions are they looking to fill?
A sampling of employers who are currently signed up (and what they’re looking for):

Chicago
Bain & Company, Inc. (associate consultant)
Chicago Trading Company (trading assistant)
Duff & Phelps Business (analyst)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (associate economist)
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (canvass director/assistant director)
L.E.K. Consulting LLC (associate)

Boston
New England Center for Children (teachers/graduate assistantship)
Carney, Sandoe & Associates (teachers in independent schools)
Analysis Group, Inc. (analyst)
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (research analyst)
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (canvass director/assistant director)
Immune Disease Institute (research technician)
LECG Inc. (research analyst)

NYC
Carney, Sandoe & Associates (teachers in independent schools)
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (canvass director/assistant director)
GSI Commerce (interactive marketing associate)
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (physician office assistant/research study assistant/research technician/session assistant)
NERA Economic Consulting (research associate)
Shearman & Sterling LLP (paralegal)
The Nielsen Company (analyst)

Washington, DC
American Enterprise Institute (staff/research assistant)
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP (paralegal)
Congressional Budget Office (assistant analyst)
Economists Inc. (research associate)
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (canvass director/assistant director)
National Human Genome Research Institute (scientific program analyst)
U.S. Department of Justice (paralegal specialist)

I want to interview for those jobs! How can I do that?
Easy. Just go to http://slac.experience.com/er/security/login.jsp and log in. Your username is your full college email address_slac (so, mavassar@vassar.edu_slac) and the password is “recruiting.” You choose which recruiting day you want to go to, review the available job descriptions, and submit your applications. Employers then select which applicants they want to interview (hopefully you), and you’re on your way!

Additionally, if you are selected to interview on any of these days, you'll need to be able to get there (Bolt Bus is a good option for NY/DC/Boston!). These are great opportunities and students DO get job offers!

Freshmen, you're breakin' my heart

2009-10-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week’s post will be divided into two parts:

BLOG PART UNO: ATTENTION ALL FRESHMEN (and freshwomen, if you went to an all-female high school and berated anyone who referred to your estrogen filled first-year class as “freshmen”)

This past Friday, we had our first Freshmen Friday from 1:00-4:00 pm. There were packets of information regarding internships, choosing a major, figuring out a life plan, and free food. And all except for about seven members of your class committed a cardinal sin of college life (no, not the “two-week rule” you learned during orientation): you turned down free food (and stood us up). I got to talk to a really nice fresher (how the English refer to you), who knew exactly what he was going to major in and what he was going to do after Vassar and all he wanted was information about summer research opportunities. And I know that for every student that has the next 4-10 years planned out, there’s at least 2-3 students who don’t even know what they’re going to have for dinner, much less what their major is going to be. And then there’s the rest of you who are somewhere in between (i.e. you know what you want to major in, but you don’t know how it’ll fit into your career plans). Point is, the CDO really wants to help you out (if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be enticing you with free food and an entire afternoon dedicated to you), but it goes both ways. So come and visit, and help make our next Freshmen Friday a success!

BLOG PART DOS: ATTENTION EVERYONE (freshmen, freshwomen, upperclassmen, upperclasswomen, you hippies who don’t like to classify yourself in any particular class year because you think it’s conformist)

The usual info sessions…hey, with this economy, you’re lucky these employers are trekking all the way to Po-Town.

University of Minnesota

Graduate Study in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Sustainable Design

October 5, 5:00 pm, Faculty Parlor

(Pizza will be provided)

One of the top-ranked professional programs, the University of Minnesota offers Masters programs in architecture (with concentrations in either sustainable design or heritage preservation), and landscape architecture. After you do that, maybe you could come back and redo Noyes Circle by putting a giant parade of shrubbery animals in the middle.

Yale Divinity School

October 5, 5:00 pm, Faculty Commons

If architecture isn’t for you, maybe Yale Divinity School is (and if both are for you, then you’ll have to make an info session choice. I’d go with God, because He’s, you know, the Big Guy, but that’s just me). Their graduate programs include a Master of Divinity, MA in Religion, or Master of Sacred Theology. Next year there will be a Master of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. No matter what program you choose, you’ll be totes besties with God, and Jesus and Mary will be your homeboy/girl. You might be receiving an email from me around finals time asking for the intercessions of your entourage.

United States Department of State

October 6, 5:00 pm, Faculty Commons

Big government organization willingly coming and seeking out students of an incredibly liberal school for internships and jobs. This means one of two things: 1) the government is really hard up for qualified employees (which might actually be true, seeing as how many qualified employees are either in jail or want absolutely nothing to do with the government because they’re afraid they’ll end up in jail), or 2) they want to prevent the liberal minds of tomorrow’s leaders from eventually rising up against them, so they plan on luring them into an attractive summer internship or postgraduate job. Tell the rep that you really enjoyed the info session and that you’ll be happy to stop by and visit when you go down to DC with ACT OUT for the National Equality March.

GRE Practice Session

October 7, 5:30pm - 8:30pm, GIS Lab, Room 114, Ely Hall

*Registration required: getter@vassar.edu

Ehh, I got nothing. Those of you who want to take it already know what the GRE’s all about, and those of you who are scared about taking it know what it’s about. And those of you who know nothing about the GRE shouldn’t be taking a practice one.

Fall Recruiting Consortium Oh Yeah!

2009-09-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Attention Vassar juniors and seniors:
Where there's smoke, there's fire. Where there are interviews, there are jobs. With that rhetorical flourish, I'm pleased to inform you about the Tenth Annual Fall Recruiting Consortium in New York City. The FRC is a day full of interviews held only for students from Vassar, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Sarah Lawrence, Wesleyan, and Middlebury. This is a great opportunity to find either a full-time job or internship, as the very fact that these companies are participating in this event is a testament to their interest in Vassar students. Besides, don't you want to have the satisfaction of once more besting our rivals by taking away some of their post-college career opportunities? I know I do...

In any event, here's how it works. Log onto the FRC website, scope out all the jobs that strike your fancy, apply to the aforementioned jobs, and wait for the interview offers to start rollin' on in. Then, on Friday, October 30th, you'll head over to that place called New York City to interview with the firms from which you have received offers.

It's all happening much sooner than you'd think, so put your application hats on and get cracking!

GET INFORMED!

2009-09-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

With summer nearing an end (on September 22, 2009, at 5:18 PM EDT, according to the US Naval Observatory), classes coming into full swing, and your inbox being flooded with all those orgs you signed up for during the activities fair (whether you wanted to or not), we here at the CDO have yet another thing for you to add to your schedule—info sessions!

Morningstar, Inc.
Monday, September 21, 6:00 pm
Faculty Commons

Morningstar (no, not the veggie burger company) is a Chicago-based independent investment research company with offices in more than 20 countries, and they’re looking for employees to help create their growing line of software, websites, consulting services, and publications. Apparently they’re one of those “hip” companies who have a Facebook (facebook.com/MorningstarDevelopmentProgram), Twitter (twitter.com/mdps), and a YouTube (youtube.com/mstarhr). Does “tweeting” count as an action word on a resume?

PricewaterhouseCoopers
Tuesday, September 22, 5:00 pm
Faculty Commons

Jean Wyer, Class of 1970, will be coming to talk about the accounting profession, including how large companies recruit, business schools/MBAs, PwC’s new Liberal Arts Masters Program, and how they count the Oscar ballots (no, seriously). If there’s any reason to become an accountant, it’s so that you can know next year’s Best Picture winner (maybe you could be one of those guys who walks down the red carpet handcuffed to a briefcase) and score some tickets for your favorite CDO staff.

M&T Bank
Thursday, September 24, 5:30 pm
Faculty Commons

Cam-Thach Tran, Class of 2006, will be discussing M&T’s Management Development Program. Good news: M&T Bank Corporation had $65 billion in assets as of March 2009 and is one of the 20 largest bank holding companies in the U.S., with over 700 branches located in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Even better news: M&T Bank Stadium is home to the Baltimore Ravens. If you can’t get us tickets to the Oscars, Skybox seats to an NFL game will do.

Peace Corps
Wednesday, September 30, 5:00 pm
Faculty Commons

“Peace Corps volunteers serve in 74 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Collaborating with local community members, volunteers work in areas like education, youth outreach and community development, the environment, and information technology*.” Okay, fine, we guess plane tickets to Fiji/Jamaica/the Philippines will do. We’ll just tell Cappy it’s an employer research trip.
*http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn

So, check out these info sessions (our goal is to beat the attendance of last week’s Trustees’ student forum; thank you, Misc), land a job, and just send those Oscar/NFL/exotic getaway tickets along to Box 7.

Gearin' up for another awesome year at the CDO!

2009-08-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Summer, my fellow Vassarions! I hope all of you are enjoying yourselves traveling, working, interning, or just hanging out. Classes don’t start for another 20-ish days or so, but we at the CDO are always working to make sure that you have as many career-planning resources as possible. Here are some CDO events happening within the first few weeks of school. We know these first few weeks can be crazy, so here’s a virtual heads up. Don’t blame us if your reason for not going is, “I didn’t hear about it.”

For those of you who are thinking about/applying to/gearing up to apply to/absolutely terrified of applying to GRADUATE SCHOOL:

Funding Your Graduate and Professional School Education Info Session

Tuesday, September 15, 5:00 PM

Faculty Commons

Applying to Graduate School Workshop

Wednesday, September 16, 4:00 PM
Faculty Commons

For those of you who are thinking about/applying to/gearing up to apply to/absolutely terrified of applying to LAW SCHOOL:

LSAT Information Session

Wednesday, September 2, 5:30 PM

Library Room 160

LSAT Practice Session

Wednesday, September 9, 5:30-8:00 PM

Library Classroom 160

Applying to Law School Panel

Wednesday, September 16, 5:00 PM

Jade Parlor

***And for anybody, regardless of year, who even has an iota of interest in graduate or professional school, there is a MONUMENTALLY IMPORTANT EVENT HAPPENING ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16***

Graduate and Professional School Fair

Wednesday, September 16, 1:00-4:00 PM

Villard Room and CC MPR

The graduate and professional school fair is one of THE biggest events the CDO puts together during the fall, and what makes it so successful is YOUR attendance (I’m talking to YOU, Seniors. Just because it’s “only” September doesn’t mean you don’t have time to stop by and help plan your future). Representatives from schools all over the country fill the Villard Room and CC MPR, eager to tell you about their programs (and give you free stuff!), which range from library science to marine biology (and bags to ID holders). And for you pre-professional students who don’t think you could benefit from this fair: medical and law schools come, too. You never know who the representative talks to over at admissions, so chatting with the person behind the table might just help your application.

Yes, I know this schedule is a lot of information to take in, but let’s face it: pursuing postgraduate education can help increase your employability, which is a significant asset in today’s job market. So come to any (or all) of our events (unless you’re picky and have decided to only come to one; in that case, I would recommend the fair), and take advantage of all the services/advice the CDO has to offer.

For the freshmen reading this: Deciding whether to buy twin long or extra-long sheet is probably higher up on your “to-do” list than planning for your post-graduate life, but telling your parents, “Yeah, stopped by this big fair-thingie and spoke with this lady and got a pen from Kalamazoo University,” will make them smile and think, “Oh, look at our child planning for the future…” and will placate them…until Winter Break, when they ask you what you’re doing for the summer and you haven’t a clue. Don’t worry, we’ll help you out then, too.

For the upperclassmen: You might THINK you have plenty of time, but it’s never too early to start planning for life (gasp) post-Vassar. Now, I’m not saying start downloading those PhD applications; just get an idea, come to the CDO, talk it over with a counselor, and go from there. You never know where you might end up…

Dressing for Success (or, How Not to Look Homeless)

2009-04-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, a few months ago, you sent out your job/internship applications, and—score!—the employer has contacted you for an interview. Ever hear that interviewers can make a decision within the first minute of meeting you? Here’s how to dazzle them with your appearance so you can go on to impress them with your wit and intelligence.

Recommendations for women:

-A conservative colored suit or tailored dress. Skirts should come to around the knee (no high slits), and trousers shouldn’t be low-rise. No employer wants to see your muffin-tops, that bellybutton ring you thought was so trendy, or the thong you got on sale at Victoria’s Secret.

-A white/pastel-colored blouse that has sleeves and a decent neckline. I know you’re proud of the ladies, but they’re not the ones getting you the job (I hope).

-Black/brown comfortable shoes that don’t look like they’re falling apart. And yes, this means no moccasins, flip-flops, Uggs, Fuggs, gladiators, or 3-inch oxfords.

-Pantyhose…yes, pantyhose, preferably in neutral tones, even if you think those purple fishnets look oh, so perfect.

-Conservative accessories, such as simple earrings (keep it to one per ear), practical handbag, and a professional portfolio for extra resume copies, paper, and a pen. As much as I think you’re a total rebel for having a metal bar through your ear, your interviewer might think “walking tetanus.” You can also leave your favorite hemp, “One earth, one love” shoulder bag at home for the day. Just go and stimulate the economy with a trip to Target.

Recommendations for men:

-Black, gray, or navy suit. I know, I know, “A suit?! What am I, like, 30?” The short answer: No, but you will be someday, and wearing the suit your mother bought you when you were 17 isn’t going to cut it. I know this also goes without saying, but a proper suit has never included, and will never include SKINNY JEANS.

-Long-sleeved, white/light blue button down shirt that’s also tucked into your (non-skinny) pants along with a tie. Kanye might be able to rock the t-shirt/suit jacket look, but you’re not Kanye, are you?

-For shoe recommendations, see above recommendations for women (including the bit about the 3-inch oxfords). Same goes for accessories.

Lastly, some general tips:

-Your hair (on your head and on your face) should be well-groomed. You might have mastered the “I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-see-how-cool-I-look” look, but your interviewer, mother, and I would probably agree: a little shampoo, conditioner, and product goes a long way.

-Keep cologne/perfume to a minimum. You’re not going to get a job just because you smell like junior high girls experimenting at a slumber party. If you’re that conscious about body odor, shower and lay on the deodorant.

Now, go forth and impress. Don’t forget, the CDO also does mock interviews if you’d like that extra prep.

Really useful!

2009-03-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

I hope you had an amazing or at least a very relaxing spring break and now you’re ready for the final (and I think) hardest part of the year.

Most of you probably already had applied for internships and jobs over the summer but for those who still don’t know what they want to do or how to find something interesting - don't worry it’s never too late. You can always stop by the office and browse our internship and job directories or you can use our on-line resources like http://vassar.erecruiting.com . Just click on the Resources part on our web page and you will find numerous links to different on-line job directories.

Let me just show you what types of internships/ jobs are offered on these websites and I’ll leave it to you to decide how helpful they can be…

Right now on erecruting you can find positions such as:

Intern- SPHE Publicity, California, Los Angeles - Sony Pictures Entertainment - you can work in a real studio!

Intern - Software Engineer (C /Java), Riverdale, Maryland - Raytheon

Job - Sales / Business Development Executive, New York, New York - Business Monitor International (BMI)

Job - Artist's Assistant , New York, New York - Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum

So don’t waste more time and get to work. Do your job search on-line or with us and take advantage of everything the Vassar CDO has to offer!

M. E.

Seniors: You better work it!

2009-03-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

In about two months, you will be leaving the Vassar bubble and (gasp!) starting your careers. For those of you going to graduate school, you get to delay your grand entrance a bit longer, but it’s never too early to start thinking about the start of the rest of your life.

Get a (Financial) Life: Beth Kobliner, author of the New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, will be hosting a workshop about credit card debt, student loans, and investing and long-term savings. The CDO’s first choice, Bernie Madoff, was unexpectedly detained.
Villard Room, Wednesday, April 1 @ 3 pm

Salary and Benefits: Leslie Power, VC’s Benefits Program Manager, will talk about how to make the best use of benefits that come along with your job offer. You’ll finally know what people mean when they brag about “full dental.”
Villard Room, Wednesday, April 8 @ 3 pm

Getting from College to Career: Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World, will offer motivational and confidence-building tips students need to build careers in the 21st century. “Go, Seniors, go! Come on! You can do it! Go after those jobs like US corporations after bailout money!”
Villard Room, Wednesday, April 15 @ 3 pm

Location, Location, Location!: The CDO Career Counselors will talk about cities around the US in terms of cost of living, job opportunities, and quality of life. Unfortunately, the Schrute Beet Farm did not make the list.
Rocky 200, Wednesday, April 22 @ 3 pm

And yes, there will be light refreshments at each workshop, as well as a raffle drawing for a Babycakes gift certificate (because if there’s anything to lessen the sting of entering the workforce during a recession, it’s a free chai latte and pastry).

Show us your IGF application and we will (try) to show you the money.

2009-03-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

is your internship unpaid? are you going to be living away from home and need some money for housing? do you need to pay for your own gas and need funds? if you answered yes to any of the above, or if you need money for some other reason, read below and listen to the wonders of the CDO's Internship Grant Fund.

the Internship Grant Fund (IGF) was created last year with a generous gift from an alumnae. the purpose of the IGF is to help Vassar students who demonstrate a need for some financial assistance when it comes to their career (think internships).

a couple of important things to know:

1) you have to be either a freshman, sophomore, or junior to apply. sorry seniors, you are ineligible.

2)you can download the 2009 application on our website under the section called downloadable handouts.

3)if you are JYA you can apply!!! you just must email the application. Note: you may only email if you are JYA, all other students must hand in a hard copy.

now, for some more details:

last year over 100 students applied and 17 were awarded grants. the amounts ranged from $460 to $2500. this is basically how IGF works: you must submit FIVE applications. One original with your name and signature on it, and four others with only your Vassar ID on it.

the application packet consists of the following:

-an application
-answers to the supplemental questions
-statement of living expenses/income/fund requests
-resume
anddd.....
-any cover letter, essay, or other materials you used to apply for the internship associated with the financial assistance you are requesting.

once you have those all collected...hand the thing in by FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 at NOON!!!!! (you can either bring it to the CDO and drop it off or drop it in our mailbox (box 7))

the applications are then reviewed by the IGF Selection Committee and evaluated based on the clarity and completeness of the application, the relevance of your proposed experience to your academic and career goals, and the level of financial need. sometimes, personal interviews are also requested.

a couple of more things you may be thinking about:

-the IGF cannot be used to pay for a summer program. (sorry!)
-if you are applying for more than one internship, just submit one application but make sure to include information from all internships you are applying to.
-if you are, or aren't on financial aid, you can apply. financial aid status does not matter when it comes to the IGF.
-you can apply to IGF in conjunction with other funding opportunities.
if you have any more questions about IGF, stop into the office and ask a counselor or a career assistant. Or, send any and all inquires to: igf@vassar.edu and you will get an answer pretty quickly!

any additional questions? stop on in and ask them. good luck and happy internship hunting!

The Top 5 List!

2009-02-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Five Common Résumé-Writing Mistakes

Hey, all! The summer job and internship application crunch is in full press, and we at the CDO have been hard at work helping with the ever-necessary (and ever-confusing) résumé. We’ve noticed that the problems in most people’s first drafts tend to be pretty much the same. Here for your résumé reworking convenience are some of the most common, and how to correct them:

#1: Inconsistency
Résumés should be nothing if not orderly. To make sure they don’t come off seeming thrown together willy-nilly, make sure all information of the same type is presented in the same way. For instance, if you’ve formatted your “Education” section with relevant dates along the right margin, put them there for the other sections as well, unless you have a very, very good reason not to. This is a simple change that will make your résumé that much more readable and clear.

#2: Order of Sections
On a résumé, it’s important that the most important information is most readily accessible to the reader. How else to make it more accessible than to put it above everything else? Almost always for a college student, the best order is:
(Objective, if you choose to include one) – Education – Work Experience – Honors and Activities – Skills

#3: Order of Information
In listing their prior or current job experience or activities, many people order by default in chronological order. This is the right idea. As we’ve said before, however, it’s important to present the most important information first, and since the summer internship you had last year (or the campus job you have now) is more important than your 7th grade paper route, you should list your points in reverse chronological order.

#4: Information Elaboration
The idea for the little bulletpoints underneath each summer job or club is this: To give as much pertinent information as possible in as flattering way as possible in the shortest way possible. Some signs that your elaborations could use improving:

· A bulletpoint runs on for more than two lines of text

· There are more than four points for a single activity

· There is boring language like “Took care of kids” (“Supervised and cared for children ages X to Y,” perhaps?)

· The points are in different tenses (“Supervised children” vs. “Delivering newspapers” vs. “To serve food to customers.”)

#5: Addresses (yes, plural)
Especially among freshman, I have noticed many résumé-writers have been leaving their Vassar addresses off of their résumé. It’s important that you include that – for most of us, it’s a more reliable address to reach us at than our home addresses. Ideally, your campus address should match up with your home address at the top of the page, on the opposite margin. And don’t forget to label one “Home” and the other “Campus.”

As you are thinking about and writing your resume, feel free to stop into the CDO to sit down with one of us (the Career Assistants) to help you with the development of your resume. Once you've had it reviewed by a Career Assistant and would like a counselor to look at it, you can call for an appointment or come in for a drop-in.

csj

Cover Letters!

2009-02-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a weekend full of love, chocolates and fun and now you’re ready to get back to work!

This month has been one of the busiest for the CDO with many applications due and so many people looking for summer internship/job opportunities. We try to help everybody with their research and give the best advices and assistance but still some of you might not have the time to stop by the CDO. This is why this week the blog will focus on something that’s been troubling the students a lot lately - the cover letter.

Here are some good ideas you should keep in mind when writing it:

Before you start you should learn about the organization, its need and its challenges by researching it on the Internet. Also take advantage of all the useful info that the advertisement tells you about the skills, knowledge and competencies that are essential to the employer for the particular position.

You should consider the cover letter to be an effective advertisement that highlights the qualities and strengths you already mentioned in your resume. It should capture the readers attention and invite him/her to focus on your resume. You need to envision yourself as the only and perfect “solution” the employer is looking for.

There are several key components that your cover letter should include:

-Your contact info
-Date (perfect format: month dd,yyyy)
-Employer’s name and inside address
-Salutation
-Opening paragraph where you explain who you are and why you’re writing (the more compelled the better). Mention any referrals.
-Main body where you state your unique skills and the reasons why you’re ideal for the position in question (usually 3-4 paragraphs). Refer to your enclosed resume.
-Closing paragraph where you tell the reader when and how you plan to follow up. Indicate your interest in meeting to discuss the position.
-Appropriate closing, your name and signature
-Enclosures

Finally, keep in mind that your cover letter should match your resume, it should be targeted to the right audience and most importantly - you should try to put yourself in the employer’s shoes.

Don't forget that if you have any questions you're welcome to visit us and schedule an appointment with one of our amazing counselors or just talk with any of the student assistants.

Good luck!

-Marina

Stop your slackin' and Join LACN!

2009-02-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Senior searching for posted jobs?
Underclassmen seeking a summer internship?
Here's yet another CDO resource for you to check out.

LACN (the Liberal Arts Career Network) is a really easily navigable job and internship database available to 28 liberal arts schools including Vassar. Employers who desire liberal arts graduates as interns or employees post opportunities, both entry-level and more advanced. Log onto the website (https://lacn-csm.symplicity.com/index.php?cck=1&au=&ck=)
Then click on "for students/alumni"

Your username is your complete Vassar email address (e.g., mavassar@vassar.edu); to retrieve your password, click the “Lost Password” link, and your password will be sent to your Vassar email account from “60watt@gmail.com”). (It’s a little backwards, we know.)

Search by geographical area or field of interest and filter based on what you're interested in doing. Job postings are updated on a daily basis. Vassar subscribes to this website so it's free for us students and alumni. LACN is a fantastic resource for Vassar students and grads because it links us with potential employers who understand the diverse skills and open minds of liberal arts students and selectively seek this particular group for employment.

Some other good online databases to check out include the following:
Service, Social Justice:
http://www.americorps.org
http://www.campusprogress.org
http://www.idealist.org
Arts, Film, Media:
http://www.artjob.org
http://www.mandy.com
http://www.mediabistro.com
International, Politics, Public Affairs:
http://www.goingglobal.com
http://www.fpa.org
http://www.internationaljobs.org
http://www.politixgroup.com
Environmental:
http://www.ecojobs.com
http:/lwww.justmeans.com
http://www.idealist.com

And of course, eRecruiting if you haven't already signed in.

(The CDO website's job database listing is at http://careers.vassar.edu/category/resources/jobs/)

Good luck with your search-- come by the CDO for a resume critique, cover letter review, or some additional resource suggestions any ol' time.

-Sara

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Come one, come all to the CDO Internship Fair!

2009-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Ahh, February…the month of Valentine’s Day, Black History, and…the CDO Internship Fair! Ever since we got back from winter break, it seems like a switch has been flipped, and EVERYONE is coming into the CDO looking for something to do this summer (and for Seniors, something to do post-graduation that doesn’t involve living in your parents’ basement). I know it can be hard trying to get an appointment with one of our Career Counselors, so the CDO is hosting its annual Internship Fair, an event where we put all of our resources out on display for you to check out (and hopefully find your dream—paid—internship!).

So, why should you come to the CDO Internship Fair this Wednesday, February 4^th, from 1-4 pm?

-There will be all sorts of directories containing internships in all fields, from communications to science research to film (although if you want to get a job making advertisements for a movie about the wonders of Drosophila, you might have to do some digging)

-Refreshments will be provided (I don’t know about you, but free food is always a good reason to attend an event)

-Our staff (including Career Assistants) will be on hand to help with any questions (and resume critiques!)

-Don’t let that job on the other side of the country slip away because you don’t know where to live! We have summer housing info for all major metro areas (NYU dorms, anyone?).

-Not sure about what area of work you want to go into over the summer? No worries, we also have flyers on temp agencies around the country (who knows, maybe you’ll end up attending business school, becoming a “wunderkind” at Corporate, and hopefully not end up in jail for fraud).

Hope to see you there! (Mention this blog, and you’ll receive a free “No, I don’t know what I’m doing after graduation” pin!)

happy happy 2009!

2009-01-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

welcome back! i hope all those breaks went well for all and that seniors with theses are practicing their breathing routines. there are a couple of things that i will address in this new year's post. first, career assistant im hours are ending. unfortunately, it seems as though the word did not get out and therefore im hours have been suspended. perhaps in the future they will come back again...but no worries, the career assistants are still available for help during regular office hours. even better news,possible evening hours could be opening in the near future for those students who have more free time in the evening. who doesn't love late night resume help?

second order of business, please excuse our bulletin board maintenance in the student center. we are currently fixing the place up. the board will soon be featuring upcoming application deadlines, upcoming events, highlighting some things our office is here for, and listing the career assistant hours. (that means that if you really like one of us and want to come in when we are working, you can just look up our hours on the bulletin board.)

now, for some career advice...for those of you who have already come into our office, you may have noticed that our career counselor appointments are filling up fast. as of today, there are no open slots for about a week (besides drop in appointments which occur M-F) therefore, this is my advice to you:

first, come in and make an appointment as soon as possible. in the meantime, you may want to start your search on your own. this, in my honest opinion, this site is a good place to start: https://lacn-csm.symplicity.com

if you are a student, or a friend, who has ever asked me where they should start their search, this website is usually my answer. it is a website run by LACN, the Liberal Arts Career Network. because vassar is so awesome, each student already has an account with LACN. when you log on, click on the link that says for students, and sign up. a password will be sent to you within a day and then you are all set to go in.

clicking on the jobs & internships tab will take you to the job board, which is updated daily with about 10-20 jobs or internships. some are even paid internships, and that's something not too easy to find. examples of what is currently up right now:

A Summer Internship at the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Ohio.
A 2009 Summer Fellowship opportunity at the International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc.
An entry level job as a Marketing Manager in Vermont.
A psychology internship opportunity at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

for more jobs and internships, log on now to LACN. good luck with your internship and job hunting. hope to see you in the cdo soon. -tkh

2008-12-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Time!

It’s the end of the semester and things are getting really hectic with huge papers and scary finals coming our way. But don’t lose hope, Christmas is coming and we will have some fun at last!
At this busy time of the year probably most of you won’t have the chance to stop by our office for assistance with your internship and job search. But don’t worry, we can still help you. The Career Counselors will be here during (most of) the winter break! The CDO will be closed December 24th through the holidays but will be back in business beginning Monday, January 5th. So if you don't have time to stop by before you leave for the break, you can always set up a phone appointment during the break, or call to schedule an appointment for when you return from the break.

Also you can do your research or find good resume hints on our website. We have so many useful online resources that you will be overwhelmed with helpful information and will have most of your questions answered.

Many of you come to the office for a quick advice and revision ideas for your resume, let me give you some very basic guidelines you can use when writing it:

1.Don’t forget to add your Vassar address so that people can contact you easily. After all, you spend most of your time here on campus.
2.Include not only the year but also the months of your previous job positions, in this way your resume will be more accurate.
3.Elaborate a little bit on the obligations and work you did before, use some of the action words that have been carefully selected for you in our Resume Writing Guide which you can find online on our website.
4.Don’t forget to include any computer skills or language skills you have. Employers are very interested in this part of your resume as well.
5.Keep your resume clean and concise and try not to exceed one page.

I wish you luck with all your exams and wonderful, jolly and happy holidays! We are looking forward to helping you with your New Year’s career resolutions!!! And don’t forget about our last CDO event this Friday with the Estee Lauder Companies from 1pm-2 pm in the Faculty Parlor.

Cheers!

Marina

International Organizations!

2008-11-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in working for the United Nations? World Health Organization? International Monetary Fund? World Bank? Food and Agriculture Organization? Entering the job world of international organizations is not only difficult, it involves extensive long-term planning. Not only is graduate school necessary, but reputation-building in the global community, field work, employment experience and character are also critical to a strong job application.

If you've dreamed of conferencing with nation leaders, making global policy change, and affecting world economies, it's time to learn about where to start. Come to the Vassar CDO to find out how. We recently attended International Organizations Day hosted by Columbia University's career development office and listened to informative presentations by numerous inter-government agencies and aid organizations. Entering this job sector is incredibly competitive, which is why networking early is critical. Organizations recruit from a wide range of academic disciplines, nationalities, and expertises.

Download the conference program here:
http://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/sites/cce/files/IOD%20Profile%20Book%20for%20Web.pdf

Remember-- the CDO has some great networking resources (meet Vassar alums who work in the UN, get some premium resume-building advice and more!) so stop by before Winter Break! And good luck navigating through the throngs of relatives this holiday season who refuse to take "Mannn, I just don't know yet!" as the answer to their endless post-graduation interrogations. Hang in there, guys!

--Sara--

V-NET and working abroad

2008-10-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody-

How's it going? Hope you're all enjoying this beautiful October weather. It's been so perfect for playing frisbee, jumping in leaf piles, and baking apple pies. And also for career developing! If you haven't been by the CDO yet, come stop in. We're a friendly bunch, there's free candy, and tons of resources to help you locate internships, explore job opportunities, revise your resume, and apply for grad school. I'm an Urban Studies major (concentrations: Media Studies and Environmental Studies) with a Japanese correlate, so you can imagine the difficulty I'm having thinking about life after Vassar. It's a wild world out there! However recently I've met with some of our career counselors and they've directed me toward several of our job directories and helped me focus my thoughts. You should totally do the same.

A resource I want to highlight is V-NET, our alumnae database maintained by Vassar's Alumnae Association. V-NET is accessible through our CDO website (http://careers.vassar.edu) by searching "V-NET." Login with your Vassar name and year, and you can search through alums who have volunteered their contact information so we can get in touch with them about their field of work, internships, jobs, housing, and more. Filter your search for anything from their Vassar major to current geographic location. This is a great resources if you're freaking out about what a Victorian Studies major can do post-graduation, or how to find an apartment in Seattle. Check it out.

Also, if you're thinking about working or interning abroad, or taking some time off school to travel, I would love to talk to you as would many of the CDO counselors. This past winter I spent three months in Ethiopia working for a local NGO. The CDO helped me prepare for the internship by providing me with some important literature on working abroad. You can read about my experience here (this is a cool website, FYI):
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/studentwritingcontest/internship_for_an_ethiopian_ngo.shtml

So good luck with the rest of the semester. Come hang out, peruse our vast library, chat with a Career Assistant, bring your resume or job application. We're all here to help!

Take it easy,
Sara

Demystifying the Behavioral Interview

2008-09-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hello dear Vassar students,

My name is Mariya Panayotova and I am a Career Assistant at the CDO. I am currently a senior and since I know most of you are applying for jobs/internships, I thought it would be a great idea to talk a little bit about my experience with behavioral interviewing. I chose behavioral interviews as a topic of my blog because I feel they are becoming more and more popular among employers but unfortunately not many students take them seriously enough. It is a common mistake to think that preparing answers for complicated technical questions is more important than coming up with stories from your life. I cannot tell you what is more important, but I can assure you that employers want to get to know you as a person and behavioral questions are your chance to dazzle them with your unique personality. So use this tool wisely and you will succeed!

First of all, what is a behavioral interview? The formal definition says that the essence of this type of interview is that "the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation". The way I always understood this statement is : " I will give you concrete examples from my life that will show you I am the best possible candidate for your position". So, the conclusion is to think well about specific situations from your life, studies, extracurricular activities, campus jobs, etc. that will reveal positive sides of your character relevant to the position you are applying to. This is not the time to be shy about yourself ! The best thing is, you do not need to be a Physics Research Assistant in order to mention a story about your campus job. You may be working in ACDC and still find plenty of good stories to show what a cordial, well-organized and responsible person your are. My advice is to tell your story quickly but to include some details. Allow the interviewer to get to know you and like your character.

Now let's be more specific and give some examples. Most behavioral questions fall into one of the following categories: Decision Making and Problem Solving, Leadership, Motivation, Communication, Teamwork, Planning and Organization. Let's take Teamwork. I will give you an example of a tricky questions in order to show you that behavioral questions are challenging: "Describe a team experience you found disappointing. What would you have done to prevent this?" This is a tricky question because it assumes in itself that once you failed: you were part of a team but you were disappointed with the work done, although you could have done something to prevent it. My approach to this question would be the following. (Keep in mind that this is not a real situation from my life because I am simply illustrating my point with it). First, I will give an example of a teamwork experience that was a success: " I was working in the School Parliament in my highschool and we organized a volunteer campaign to support first-graders in a poor neighborhood. We were selling crepes on the mainstreet and we raised a significant sum of money. I organized a shuffle for my classmates with fun inexpensive gifts and tickets for entry and raised additional funds." Now you start thinking, why this experience is actually disappointing and here is the end of my story: " When we went to give the money to the school in the poor neighborhood I realized how much more money they were actually needing. Our gift was helpful but was not as significant as I wanted it to be. I was very disappointed but I knew how we could have prevented this. On the next year we organized a bigger campaign, I publisized it very well and attracted some important people from our town to support it. As a result, we raised enough money to actually restructure the school."

I know this story was a bit extreme but I wanted to show you my point. Now I will leave you with some behavioral questions you can think about. You will be amazed how many things you learn about yourself just by preparing the answers :)

Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a group.

Give an example of a situation when others were intense but you were able to maintain your composure.

Tell us about the most difficult or frustrating individual that you've ever had to work with, and how you managed to work with them.

Give us an example of a stressful situation you have faced. How did you deal with it?

Good luck!

Mariya

Current Financial Crisis

2008-09-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

First, a quick intro: I am a Career Assistant at the Vassar CDO, and an econ major looking into finance after I graduate. My name is Stephen Donnelly. I will be posting on this blog every now and then, and more likely than not, my posts will usually contain something related to finance. Even if you aren’t looking into this field, it is pretty far reaching into many industries.

So the financial world is rocking and rolling. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Bank of America bought out Merrill in a forced sale, and volatility is at historical levels. Now the government is planning a $700 BILLION bailout of financials. This is the biggest financial crisis since the great depression. But I won’t go into details of what is causing this crisis, how it could have been prevented, or what it means on the global scale. You can look that up anywhere, or attend the Investment Club panel discussion on financial markets coming up before October Break. Vassar students want to know the answer to other questions. Most importantly, can we get jobs?

Getting a job during a recession (although we technically aren’t in one at the moment, the possibility looms large, and regardless, the economy stinks) is never as easy as in a period of healthy growth. This, as Ron Burgandy would say, is a given. However, it’s a little too simplistic to say its tough to get a job, because in reality, the health of current labor markets is very industry specific.

On the one hand, if you are looking at working for a large non-profit organization, or a service organization (such as Americorps, Peacecorp, or Teach for America), you don’t need to worry; these organizations are hiring as much as ever. Additionally, positions in healthcare will stay at relatively stable levels. After all, people always need doctors. Jobs in education are definitely out there. In a time where the market is rough, more rising college students will be looking at grad school, as opposed to starting work immediately.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a position in finance… things are interesting. Lehman’s employees are hungry on the street, and banks everywhere are letting people go. Hiring for banks is at extremely low levels. In addition, the financial market is somewhere in the process of a complete overhaul. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are now bank holding companies under the eye of the fed, and much regulation is coming. The optimist might say it’s best to enter the markets at the low point (and from an investment standpoint this is of course true), but don’t expect the same volume of investment banking analyst positions for the next few years.

However, at the same time, don’t give up hope if you are looking at going into finance. There are a number of ways to enter that aren’t through a major bank. Corporate finance is one area that won’t be nearly as choked. In addition, international financial markets are healthier than American markets, and students looking into finance should take a look overseas. Also, financial consulting (north-face vests, TGI Fridays, and all…) is a healthy industry.

The bottom line is that it is a period of financial change. The structure of financial institutions must shift after the government throws $700 Billion at them, and along with this shift, jobs will be both created and destroyed. In the meantime, there are two important points to take away. First, you can always change jobs if you can’t find what you want right now. If there is a certain field that isn’t hiring in 2009, this doesn’t mean they will be stagnant forever. In the meantime, if you are set on a certain path, choose a position that will give you experience relative to what you ultimately want to do. Second, no matter what you majored in, firms are looking for thinkers with specific skills. So, despite what the economy looks like, don’t let your major hold you back from a desirable position that seems “unrelated”. With many fields, this isn’t nearly as important as what you bring to the table. And smart, independent Vassar students bring a lot to the table… right? Right.

Regards,

Stephen Donnelly

graduate/medicial/law school week!

2008-09-15T06:13:00.001-07:00

coming up later this week, and during the following week, the cdo will have varying info sessions and fairs that all center around graduate schools and law schools.

the first thing of importance is coming up this wednesday, september 17. this very lovely day is graduate & professional school day. the cdo will be holding three very important events:

1. from the hours of 1-4pm, the College Center Villard Room will be filled with a variety of graduate school representatives, law school representatives, and medical school representatives. for a full list of these schools, come into the cdo and get a green hand out, or check out erecruiting. come pick up some packets of information, talk to the reps, and pray that nyu gives out really cool freebies.

2. after the fair is over at 4pm, the cdo is hosting an "applying to graduate school workshop" in College Center 204. there is no need to sign up for the event, just pop in and listen to what we have to say. chances are, we can give you some pointers and some breathing exercises.

3. lastly, at 7pm there will be a law school panel in the faculty room in Main (in the corner of the retreat). for those of you thinking about applying to law school, this is worth it. this panel will consist of law school admissions representatives that will be answering questions about the application process. so if you are still wondering what you should or shouldn't write in that personal statement, i'd drop by for at least a little bit and listen to some advice.

if you are a senior thinking about applying to either law/graduate/medicial school, these three events can really help you out. and hey, if you are a junior/sophomore/freshman and you are already thinking of what to do and want to get a (very large) head start, it can't hurt to stop by.

and remember, coming in and making appointments is always cute too, then you can pick up a cool pin that says, "no, i don't know what i'm doing after graduation."

see you then.

-taylor k.

right this second...

2008-08-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

i am extremely happy right now for the following reasons:

it's almost time to return to vassar! i will be there on Monday (the 25th, also my birthday, feel free to buy me presents) and the rest of the campus should be filing in after the 25th!
i'm currently watching project runway!
cdo training starts very very soon!
andddd...i just finished looking over my senior letter from the cdo & it's my job to share some upcoming events with the senior class!

i strongly encourage all seniors to read this letter and jot down some of the dates in a planner, on a sticky note, or on your hand. there are many wonderful events scheduled for us. here is one i specifically want to mention:

The Senior Reception, held on Wednesday, September 10th from 1:00-4:00pm in the CDO.

think of this reception as an open house. our office, located on the south side of main (take a right when you walk into the front of main and keep going) will be open for a couple of hours. we will have plenty of information about on and off campus recruiting events, resources for graduate schools, etc. this reception is a nice little jump start.

just stop by for five, ten, twenty minutes, pick up some information, ask some questions, drink some snapple and get on with your weekend. it will be well worth the visit. i promise. and if you disagree, feel free to hunt me down and i will give you a voucher for resume review i.o.u.

for all of you non class of 09ers...

fear not. we have plenty of things for you too. come to think of it, on September 10 there is a Sophomore Roadmap from 3:00-4:00pm (i didn't really just think of this, all this information is on e-recruiting).

It will be a panel with representatives from many offices (think CDO, Field Work, Student Employment) and the aim is to help students find out information on what is needed to make sophomore year wonderful and successful.

and if you aren't a senior or a sophomore, just wait, we have plenty of class neutral panels and events coming up. but if you just simply cannot wait for your turn, stop by in the office with all your questions. we will have some answers and appointments available come September.

-taylor.k

{image courtesy of jasmin}

enjoy.

2008-08-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

i might as well begin the blog by introducing myself and letting you all know some random facts about me. my name is taylor herman, i'm in the class of 2009, and i'm about to start my second year working for the CDO.

three quick facts about myself: number one. i really hate capital letters. i would rather not use them at all, in case you already couldn't tell, but i'm sure my teachers wouldn't be too happy about that decision. number two. if you see me around campus, you would probably think i was a freshman or a sophomore. i don't really look my age, and whenever i go to an R rated movie at the Poughkeepsie Galleria, I am carded. number three. my goal post graduation is to go to law school, though i won't say which one (i'm kind of superstitious).

now getting past the informal "getting to know you" part of my post, i should probably move onto the more official stuff, like telling you the purpose behind this blog.

after some discussion, the staff of the CDO decided it was time to enter the blogging realm. our hope was that this blog could be a place for us to share our own experiences. a place where we could talk about what career paths we were taking, what decisions we are struggling with, a place where we could share our knowledge with all of you.

since there are seven of us, all with different experiences, different goals, and different personalities, we all have different things to share. and we will all take turns blogging, so you will be sure to hear about all we have to say.

it is our hope that you check back with us often to read what we have to say and visit us at office hours. just remember, we are here to make your lives easier.

so, i will now end this very long first post by saying this: welcome, sit back, and enjoy.

-taylor.k.