The 5 Paths of Personal and Professional Success

On Friday, August 7th, my co-worker, Michele Roberts, and I attended a workshop by Dr. Zebulun Davenport, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Indiana University. His workshop was titled 5 Tools to Create Success In Your Personal and Professional Life.

In this workshop, Dr. Zebulun gave 5 tips that we could start using immediately to improve our lives:

1. Start your day with a positive attitude.

2. Set goals in your life and stay focused on those goals.

3. Take responsibility for your life and actions.

4) Take advantage of the here and now.

5) Laugh sometimes.

As Dr. Zebulun talked about his "5 Tools", he also gave extra important lessons to keep in mind. One of them was that life is too short to worry about what others think of us, what we are and what we do. It is important to grow in ways that are authentic to you. Also notable was when he defined FEAR as "false experiences appearing real."

I am glad I took the time to see this workshop. The messages in it were simple but still impactful, and an effective pick-me-up as we get very close to the start of the Fall semester.

Try to see how you can use these 5 tools in your life starting today. And, as Dr. Zebulun says, success is the journey not the destination.

Nayelli Perez

Assistant Director

The Read to Success: Summer Edition

Summertime is the time to take a breather, have a break from schoolwork (if you are not taking Summer classes), and hopefully go on some trips. It could also be a time when you take charge of your own learning and get knowledge on important things that you won’t learn in the classroom and could impact your life.

If you are looking for some impactful summer reading, here are 3 suggestions:

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business – Josh Kaufman

Kaufman basically believes that getting an MBA is a hard expense to justify, which is an opinion I find debatable. However, this book covers various areas of business such as entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, finance, and working with others. This is a great read if you are debating whether you would like to get your MBA or are a non-business major interested in business.

StrengthsFinder 2.0 – Tom Rath

I am a huge fan of StrengthsFinder. This book contains an assessment you can take to see what your top strengths are. Knowing your strengths has many benefits that will help you figure out how to live your life according to your strengths and thrive in ways that are authentic to you. [Side Note: The Career Center is here to help if you want to discuss how you can use your top 5 Strengths in your future career and goals. You can make an appointment at Hofstra.edu/career or by calling 516-463-6060.]

The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level – Gay Hendricks

Hendricks’ book gives tips on how we could overcome our fears to eliminate the barriers that are holding us back from success in our life, relationships and career. 

     Nayelli Perez,

     Assistant Director

What Makes a Great Internship?

 

As the semester is coming to an end, you may be starting to apply to internships. There are tons of internship opportunities to apply to, and it may be hard to figure which ones are the best fit for you. Vault.com has made this process much easier with its Top Internship Rankings.

Vault.com surveyed thousands of current and former interns about their internship programs. Respondents rated their experiences in five areas: Quality of Life; Compensation & Benefits; Interview Process; Career Development, and Full-time Employment Prospects.

In addition, to the best overall internships, there are rankings for the best internships based on industry such as Accounting, Finance, Energy, Media and Retail.

Don’t forget to take advantage of your free account at Vault.com. All Hofstra students are eligible for a free account by registering. You can do this by entering your my.hofstra.edu portal, clicking on “my apps” on the top right corner, and clicking on the Vault icon in the pop-up window.

By using your account, you can view Vault’s industry guides, internship reviews from former interns, apply to internships and full-time positions, and much more.

Nayelli Perez, Assistant Director

Feel the Fear and Connect Anyway

One of the best ways that you can learn about an industry is by networking. Many students don’t know how to network or where to start. This article by The Seattle Times gives some easy to use pointers on how to conduct an informational interview (one of the best tools in networking), which include:

• “Once you specify a few companies you think would be the best places to start, go through your LinkedIn contacts and see how close a connection you have to employees there.”
• “Look over the interviewee’s profile on LinkedIn and come up with some questions about his or her career history. The more you know going in, the more the interviewee will be likely to share insights with you.”
• “never, ever ask the interviewee directly for a job.”
• “to keep your momentum going, ask for the name of a colleague or another person in the profession whom you should contact.” 

One important tip I would add is to prepare questions before your informational interview. Doing this will allow you to make the best use of your time and show that you are prepared. Our Career Planning Handbook provides sample informational interview questions in the Interview section.

Happy Networking!

Nayelli Perez, Assistant Director

You Can Go The Distance in Your Career!

Have you ever wanted to work in another country but don’t know how to get started?  Are you an international student that wants to find out how to work in the US in the future? Hofstra can help with both!

If you go on the main page of Pride CMS (my.hofstra.edu à my apps à Pride – Career Management System), you can now click on the link for Going Global.

This site, which is free for Hofstra students, gives useful information on how to find jobs and internships in any country you want to work in.

Here are the top 3 things you can do to get started, once you find your country of interest:

• Find Professional Associations or Networking Groups – Try to get in touch with these groups to see if they offer an event you might want to attend if you visit the country. You can also see if you can have an informational interview by phone or skype/facetime with people from these groups to find out more about what it’s like to work in the country.
• Check out the Work Permit and Visas section to see what the application process is like to get work authorization to work in the country of your choice.
• Look at the Resume and Cover Letter Guidelines to see if you will need to edit your resume and cover letter according to what is the norm in the country you want to work in. 

If you need extra help, make sure to make an appointment with The Career Center or stop by the Multicultural & International Students Programs Office to speak to staff members on campus that can help you with your relocation journey.

 

Nayelli Perez, Assistant Director 

How to Turn a Great Impression into a Letter of Recommendation

When applying to graduate school, to certain experiential learning opportunities, or even to jobs, you may find that you need to submit letters of recommendation as part of your application. Thinking about this requirement as early as possible puts you in a great position to start making connections and ensuring that when the time comes, not only do your professors want to write a letter on your behalf, they'll know you enough to write a great letter!

This article shares some tips on how to get a great recommendation letter from your professors. The key is to form a good relationship with the professor that shows your interest and allows you to share your accomplishments with them even after the semester is over.

The sooner you start making a great impression on your professors and show them your dedication, the easier it will be when the time comes to ask for letters of recommendation. Want advice on how to start the conversation? Just ask us!

Nayelli Perez,

Assistant Director

Plug Into Your Career!

Are you interested in the tech industry or working for a start-up, but don’t know where to start?

Information Technology (IT) is a growing industry, but you don’t have to be an IT major to find your place in the field. Many tech companies need to fill up their positions fast, which may include areas such as marketing and administrative roles, according to The Wall Street Journal article “Forget the Stereotype: Profile of an IT Worker.”

Plug Into Your Career, taking place today, April 30, at 6pm, will feature panelists from various areas of the IT industry, including a public relations and management major. Find out how to enter this growing and profitable industry from professionals in the following companies:

CA Technologies

Wolters Kluwer

e-gifter

Wakefield Media

So join us tonight, Wednesday, April 30th, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm in the Multipurpose Room East of the Mack Student Center and Plug Into Your Career!

Nayelli Perez,
Assistant Director

How to be #RejectedWithPRIDE

When the career search goes wrong, and you don’t get that position you were setting your sights on, what do you do?

Every person has gone through rejection at least once; it happens to the best of us.

Here are tips on how to navigate through the “grieving process” stages and exit as a better than ever version of yourself:

1. Denial

This is the stage when you first hear the news of no job/internship offer, and you cannot believe it. You were so sure you were the perfect fit for this position. If you get a clear-cut no email, phone call, etc. from an employer, there’s no mistaking that it’s a “no.” Better hurry on to the next stage…

2. Anger

After you are beyond sure that you got rejected, the “anger gates” burst open. Suddenly, the employer, company and position were horrible anyway and you think the world has failed you.

But instead of letting the anger define you (or even worse, bad-mouthing the employer), use that energy to take some action steps forward.

• Ask the interviewer if there is anything you could have done differently in the interviewing process that could have changed the outcome.
• Do informational interviews with people in the industry you want to get into.
• Schedule a Mock Interview at The Career Center.

3. Bargaining

After the Anger stage of grieving, you may think you’re over the rejection but you probably are not. At this point, you’re not angry or even visibly sad, but you may be wondering “what if’s”, thinking of ways in which you can convince the company that you are right for the position anyway, or even reading your horoscope to see if the employer will give you a second chance.

Instead of wondering, be proactive for the next opportunity:

• Do some shadowing or interning at a similar company.
• Get a job where you can get related experience.
• Get advice on updating your resume at The Career Center.

4. Depression

When you realize that you were not over it, because you are obviously not at stage 5 yet, you may feel sadness again. This realization that there is in fact no job/internship can seem hard to overcome. You may think that things will never work out.

Remember, that appointments are available at The Career Center all year round to talk with a career counselor about your career development and struggles. For more focused counseling assistance, you can contact Student Counseling Services at 516-463-6791.

Over time, this feeling will pass and you will arrive at…

5. Acceptance
The last stage includes making peace with the fact that this position has come and went, and now it’s time to move forward.

• Continue applying to other positions; one day the right fit will happen if you do the prep necessary to get there.
• Networking is a valuable tool – make sure your LinkedIn profile is updated, attend events where you can learn more about your dream career and make connections.

Lastly, remember that when one door closes, another one is bound to open. We are here to help you each step of the way!

Nayelli Perez,
Assistant Director

The Top 10 Mistakes That Could Keep You Away from Financial Freedom After Graduation

With the summer approaching, lots of students are facing a new chapter in their lives that will probably involve more bills and the dreaded student loan repayments.

Being financially healthy is key to attaining a life balance.

Here are the top 10 mistakes that many young adults make, which keep them from becoming financially successful.

1. Not setting financial goals.
2. Staying financially illiterate.
3. Living together with your Significant Other without discussing finances.
4. Not negotiating for your first full-time salary.
5. Not working on paying off your debt (student loans and credit card).
6. Getting into debt: Not distinguishing between wants and needs.
7. Not budgeting.
8. Not investing.
9. Not knowing how to do a tax return.
10. Not taking care of your most important asset: You.

To learn about these mistakes and how to avoid them, check out the Women’s Leadership Conference this Friday (March 28) from 1 – 5pm at the Student Center. During the Conference, you can choose to attend the seminar: Women & Finance: The Top 10 Mistakes at 2pm.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Nayelli Perez, Assistant Director