Monthly Archives: August 2012

GUEST POST: Underemployed can lead to overjoyed

Posted on by
Reply


After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with honors in only 2 1/2 years, Toni immediately entered graduate school in the Fall of 2011. After only 3 semesters, she graduated again with a Master of Arts in Education, concentration early and elementary education with a specialization in child development.

I thought I would be underemployed forever. Well not forever, but at least for a few years.

When I graduated from undergraduate I immediately started graduate school, so I just took a job as an intern at an investment bank because I could do my readings and such at work and still get paid. This was working well for me until I realized that I needed to actually have some experience in the education field before anyone would accept me into an education doctoral program. Then came the job search…

So here I was looking for a job, an honor graduate from the freaking University of Texas at Austin, almost finished with a Master’s degree in education and I was having a ridiculously hard time finding a job that I was qualified for. I was turned down for a director of a day care position, assistant director, preschool teacher, admissions representative, etc. etc.

While I was in the middle of my unsuccessful job search one of my classmates from graduate school suggested that I work on an alternative teaching certificate, take a job as an “instructional assistant”, and possibly start teaching the next school year, if everything went well.

Long story short, everything went well. The principal loved me with the children and when a teaching position became available she interviewed and asked HR to offer me the job.

But before that job offer came no less than 35 applications submitted online at various school districts, daycares, preschools, private schools, career colleges, basically anywhere that had anything to do with education.

Moral of the story: Your resume can only take you so far. Who you know matters. If you can get in the door and “show them what you got”, go for it! Impressing your boss now in a job you are just settling for can mean landing that job you’ve always wanted in the future.

- Toni

GUEST POST – Which Internships are Likely to Lead to Employment?

Posted on by
Reply

By Tim Crandall of college-works-painting.net

Some consider an internship as just as important as the courses they take as part of their college’s academic program. Not only does it give the you something to put on your resume, it allows you to develop real world job skills, network with people in a given industry, and may even land you a job offer following graduation. But which internships are more likely to lead to employment? How can one tell whether an internship is likely to earn them a job offer?

For one, ask! A lot of companies will make it known that their interns may be offered employment at the end of the program, or once they graduate. Many will hold off on guaranteeing employment, of course, as an internship may be used by the company to see if the student is a competent, hard worker who will be an asset to the company. Some interns may be offered a job, others may not be depending on how well they perform during their time with the company.

If the company does not advertise whether job opportunities are available after the internship program, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Most companies will give an answer similar to what was mentioned in the previous paragraph: that the internship may lead to employment in the future, or that some may be offered employment at the end of the program. Ask about criteria used to evaluate intern performance and how it is determined which interns will be offered a job.

If the internship offers you an opportunity to participate in the professional operations of the company, they will likely get a better sense of your potential contribution as a full-time employee. If you’re just filing papers and getting people coffee, they may not get as good a sense of how you’d fit as a professional with their company. Of course, performing such tasks should not turn a student off to an internship, as most people have to pay their dues in the beginning. But a lot of internships allow interns to perform other tasks in addition to the boring, menial ones.

Whatever you do, make the most of the opportunity. Take whatever chance you can to impress your boss or others within the company. Show initiative and a desire to learn and put in the work. Even if the company does not offer a direct internship-to-employment route, putting in the effort may improve your chances of being hired with the company after college.

**Evelyn Edit**
I agree with Bill. If your goal is to get a full-time job within the company, you gotta ask if employment is possible. Do they even have a spot open? Also, in my experience, the smaller the company, the more an intern gets to do. You can reach for the prestige of a big name company, but you may be subject to refilling the printer with paper and answering phones. Small companies have less people, so every single person is vital to the operation. Including us interns. Thanks Bill!

LET ME TAKE YOU TO THE MAX – Advice for incoming freshmen

Posted on by
2


Yes. I get intense when I hit my ratchet Dallas dance moves. On top of someone’s couch. I had fun in college AND graduated. It’s possible.

FRESHMEN!!!!!!!! Wow. The class of 2016, huh? The years straight up Usain Bolted my ass. Just the other day, it seems, it was August 2008 and I was makin’ my way downtown walkin fast finding my way around campus for the first time.

It’s normal to feel nervous about your freshman year, especially if you’re moving away from home. Personally, I was ready for the plunge. I busted my butt in high school to ensure an easy admissions process, and I was positive that UT Austin was where I wanted to go. My freshman year, I met the majority of the friends I currently have, I worked for the student newspaper, and I hit that party trail HEAVY – something I never got to do in high school. Freedom!!!! Right?

Your first year is crucial because it sets the tone for the rest of your college career. Habits are formed. Routines as set. You figure out what works, what doesn’t and proceed accordingly. Universities pull out all the stops to attract new students. Now that you’ve made it here, the race ain’t over. It’s just begun, my friend. *suspenseful music*

Here’s my advice to the you, Bright-Eyed College Freshman. Take heed. The race that is higher education? It’s a marathon, not a 400m. So yeah. Listen to the Kenyan. #pow

Continue reading →

PHOENIX FOR THE SUMMER (4) – the wrap up

Posted on by
6

If you’ve been following me on various spaces of the internets, you know I left all my ex’s in Texas to spend the summer in Phoenix, Arizona working as a blogger for the local alternative weekly. Expletive-worthy weather notwithstanding, this gig was the learning experience I needed it to be. One, I got to flex my journalistic and creative muscle. Two, I got paid for it. Real American dollars, kid. Mama, I made it!

Okay, okay, I have 20ish years before I reach the Big Time, but this was my first real stint as a working journalist. I was out on my own, 17 hours and one time zone away from my family, using my 6-month old journalism degree to cover the arts and culture section. I’m back in DFW now, and ready to reflect on my months in The Valley of the Sun. Here’s what I learned Continue reading →

Follow The Post College Life on Tumblr!

Posted on by
Reply

So I made a tumblr of all the music I’m listening to. That’s it. It’s just music. A lot of y’all akks what I listen to because i put various music like such as in all my youtube videos so I decided to make a tumblr so you have quick and easy access to what’s bouncing off my eardrum at any given moment. It’s a lot easier to keep up with than my Youtube Music Playlist Show Thing.

CLICK TO FOLLOW THE POST COLLEGE SOUNDTRACK ON TUMBLR.

PHOENIX FOR THE SUMMER (3) – i been here a while, mayne

Posted on by
Reply

Hello?

*peeks out into the internets*

Is…is anyone there?

I’m not going to apologize for my blog absence because I’m a thug and you’ll live with it. BOOM.

I’ve been in Phoenix, Arizona for 7 weeks now. Complaining about the heat is pointless. 104 degrees is basically cardigan weather for me now anyway. I’ve been doing a lot of various things like such as during my time here. I’ve been scrambling to shoot videos for Phoenix New Times. I got to hit a few donuts in the passenger’s seat of a high-speed desert car. I went to the Big Ditch Grand Caynon. I’ve tried and failed to exercise regularly. I climbed a mountain in the rain and lightening like a boss. I’ve been eating a whole lotta Mexican food with my roommate ARod, who’s a food writer. I’ve been dranking drank because happy hour starts whenever the heck i say it does. And I turned 22.

The program ends on Aug. 10. There’s so much more work to do before that day comes…

I don’t know what’s going to happen to me after this. Texas? New York? Somewhere else? I try not to worry too much about it because it makes me want to frowwww up.

So I’ll focus on the present and kick as much ass and take as many names as possible.

This has been an update. *goes back to dranking my drank*

Oh and p.s.: I would just like to give the biggest thank you to anyone who’s ever Facebooked, Youtube messaged, or Tweeted me about a job opening somewhere and how it made them think of me and you passed the link my way. Y’all are really somethin’ special. And…if you have any cool cousin Ray Rays in the industry that are hiring, I do videography, video editing, blogging, journalistic writing, reporting, all that shit! PUT ME ON!!! *drops the mic*