As the semester dwindles down...

...How are you going to divide your time this Winter break?

As a current student, I can relate to the stress of finals and the desire to have all assignments be completed and handed in with a nice, neat bow. And when that is all said and done, everyone deserves a break! But while Winter break is among us and you divide your time between seeing friends and family, eating food for the Holidays, and catching up on all your sleep, we hope that you'll spend some time getting ahead on your job and internship search!

The Career Hub is a great resource for Hofstra students and alumni to utilize to explore various industries, receive tips on the career process, and to search for jobs, volunteer opportunities, and internships! So while you're sipping on hot cocoa, we hope you'll spend some time searching, especially if you're looking to obtain a position for Spring or Summer!

And as always, The Career Center is here to support you! We will be closed starting December 24th and will resume normal hours January 4th. Don't forget to give us a call at (516) 463-6060 to schedule an appointment!

Anne Monique Concepcion,
Graduate Assistant

What is Your Weakness?

Last week a global financial services firm visited The Career Center to conduct interviews with Hofstra students. I had the opportunity to meet with the recruiters afterwards to “de-brief” and find out how the students did.

For each of the students, the weakness was, well, the weakness question.  In most interviews, you will be asked some form of this question.  It could be phrased in several ways, including:

“What are your biggest weaknesses?”

or

“What are some areas in which you would like to improve?”

I will let you in on an interviewing secret. The point of this question is usually not to find out the weakness itself, but to ascertain what you are doing to OVERCOME what you perceive to be a problem area for you.  It’s really designed to learn about your ability to solve a problem.

For example, if I said during an interview that my weakness is that I am afraid of public speaking, the interviewer would be looking for me to follow that with an explanation of how I am trying to overcome that fear.  An appropriate answer might be “My weakness tends to be my fear of public speaking. However, I am currently taking a public speaking class at Hofstra and I can see positive results already!”

Effectively answering this question requires some introspection.  Write down three areas that you feel are weaknesses and then think about ways to overcome them.  Then implement those solutions!

Of course, the best way to prepare for this or any interview question is to make an appointment for a mock interview in The Career Center. Give us a call at 463-6060.  We would be happy to help you ace your next interview!

Meet Our HU Students: Letisha Thakoordeen

Name: Letisha Thakoordeen

Hometown: New York

Major(s): Health Science

When you were young, what did you think you wanted to be "when you grow up?"

I think from a young age I've always known I've wanted to be a doctor, and now I'm at Hofstra pursuing that goal!

What career do you hope your first job after graduate will be?

After graduating I hope to go to Medical School, so I hope my first job will be a Resident working in the hospitals.

What experience have you had so far that you think is best preparing you to reach that goal?

I've been fortunate to have good advisement from major heads in my department, this has allowed me to take classes to prepare me for my future career as a Doctor.

What advice would you have for others who are pursuing this same career?

Study, study, study! Don't lose track of the big picture and as long as you stay focused you will be fine!

Who at Hofstra has had the biggest positive impact on you?

Dr. Israel Schwartz has had a huge impact, I owe him a great deal for helping me to stay focused on my path to my career.

Meet Our HU Students: Joseph Bellina

Name: Joseph Bellina (Junior at Hofstra)

Hometown: Staten Island, New York

Major(s): Marketing Major, Finance Minor

When you were young, what did you think you wanted to be "when you grow up?"

Originally, I wanted to become a vet, or some form of doctor. I’ve always loved animals and felt it would be an interesting career choice.

What career do you hope your first job after graduate will be?

Ideally, I would want something with a high starting salary. Just kidding! I would really enjoy a job in the real estate business.

What experience have you had so far that you think is best preparing you to reach that goal?

Last summer I had the opportunity to intern at MHP Real Estate, so that was pretty cool. In addition, I am currently studying in order to obtain my sales persons license in order to sell real estate.

What advice would you have for others who are pursuing this same career?

I think the best advice to become successful within the field is to network as much as possible. When searching for internships, I did my best to email each and every company that I could possibly find in order to get my name out there.

Who at Hofstra has had the biggest positive impact on you?

Professor Krapp has been my literature professor for two semesters now, and I feel as if he has inspired me to excel here at Hofstra. Whenever I feel as if I have a lot on my plate, I can always remember him telling me to “use my time wisely”. I would say that time management is one of the most important skills that you can obtain from a college experience.

Meet Our HU Students: Neil A. Carousso

Sean: Alright, can I please have your name, your hometown, and your major?

Neil: Sure, it’s Neil A. Carousso. I am a Journalism and Accounting major with a Political Science minor. I’m from Bayside, Queens, New York.

S: So, Neil, when you were young what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

N: You know when I was young I remember, and you know I work at the radio station here at WRHU [Radio Hofstra University] and I remember calling games in front of my TV. Like, I would sit in front of a Mets baseball game and I would call play-by-play of it into a recorder and I would keep the score of it and everything. So I’ve always loved TV, I’ve always loved broadcasting so it has actually been one of my passions since I was a little kid. And I used to do even a talk show in my living room, so I always kinda wanted to do radio and TV in some fashion. Whether I knew it or not I always did broadcasting and always wanted to be a broadcaster and a journalist.

S: So what job do you hope will be the first job that you take after you graduate?

N:  Well I do a lot of producing here, a lot of producing, a lot of executive producing, and building the content for a show. Luckily here at the station, here at WRHU, I’ve been able to put together shows that I’ve been producing on air for. I mean ultimately I would like to produce and be on air for the same program. However any producing job I think is you know really powerful to control the content of a program so I’m looking towards television and hopefully working for a network in New York City.

S: So what experience do you believe has best prepared you to reach this goal?

N: Certainly my experiences here at WRHU as the producer and host of the morning show, WRHU’s Morning Wake-Up Call, doing the evening news as a producer and anchor for Newsline, and really just going out and reporting and finding stories. Enterprising stories, tracking down people, going out on location, meeting people in person, doing interviews, and reporting on those stories people don’t know about or people wouldn’t have a chance to know about unless you actually put it there on the airwaves so we’ve a powerful job to do and I think that when you could enterprise and report a story you’re doing the community a better service and that’s something that has prepared me the most.

S: What advice would you give for others that are trying to follow in the same career path?

N: I advise that you really delve into your college radio station, into your college TV station, or your high school. Try to get some experience in some way, write for the school newspaper, and really you learn by doing. So if you want to be on the air, I mean, the biggest part is writing so definitely get involved in your school newspaper and learn how to write properly and learn proper English and really just get involved. I mean, if you can get into your college radio station and pick up a few slots and the more time you put in the more you’ll get out of it.

S:  So who here at Hofstra University would you say had the biggest positive impact on you?

N: I would probably say John Mullen, who is our faculty advisor here at WRHU and he has given me great advice whether it’s putting together a report or going out on location or just the business of news, the business of sports, the business of broadcasting and ratings, and things like that that they don’t normally teach in the classroom. So John has been a big influence on me in preparing me for the outside work.

Making Your Space Cubicle Chic

Working in a cubicle is sometimes a way of life in office settings. But, depending on the rules of the organization, that doesn’t mean yours has to be boring. So, here are five great examples of “cubicle chic” to inspire you in the workplace.  Be sure to talk with your supervisor before you get too creative!

Gary Alan Miller,
Executive Director

Just Add Some Lemon!

Although water is essential for life, sometimes it gets pretty bland and you need a bit of zest to make things interesting. I personally like to add lemons to my water, some people add mint, but it's up to your personal preference of how you want to shake things up from the monotony of every day water.

Think about how this could relate to the career-application process. Every day employers are getting piles of resumes and cover letters or conducting interviews, and the ones that stand out are the ones that have that "oomph". There are many ways to personalize your documents to stand out:

• Depending on the industry, you could add color in your resume. You don't want to go overboard with color, but minimally adding a pop of color could make your resume stand out.
• Changing up your font from the generic 'Times New Roman'. Try out a new professional font (no comic sans or curlz!) and see how it changes the "feel" of your resume. 
• Add an objective that personalizes your resume to the specific opportunity you are applying for. This shows the employer that you didn't just write a generic cover letter to send to multiple jobs!
• Personalize your documents for the type of position you are applying for. If you are applying for a retail sales position, your documents should reflect more customer service skills than if you were applying for a desk-job. Think about the skills that you'll need for that position and make it unique for each document!

These are just a few of the things you could do to metaphorically "add the lemon" to your career-application process. And as always, if you need support and advice on how to stand out, give us a call at (516) 463-6060 and schedule an appointment!

Anne Monique Concepcion,
Graduate Assistant

What Did You Do Over The Summer?

Well, it’s officially Fall! There is a slight chill in the air and you can get just about anything pumpkin-flavored that you could possibly want. But let’s not forget so quickly about this past summer! How did you spend your time off? Did you travel extensively? Were you working? Volunteering? Learning a new computer skill? Any of these things can now be put on your resume.

Never underestimate the value of any part-time job. Say, for example, you are a Public Relations major and you were a lifeguard one day a week over the summer. You may think that putting this position on your resume doesn’t make sense because it’s not related to your major and because it was only one day a week. However, there is no requirement on the number of hours that you need to do a job in order to put it on your resume. Also, while the position itself may not be related to your career goal, the transferable skills learned and used at that job would be relevant to any position. As a lifeguard you have a serious amount of responsibility and must work under pressure.  You also must pay attention to what is going on around you and respond when needed. Maybe you also trained new lifeguards, supervised others, or were given responsibility to open and close the pool area. All of those job duties would fit in quite nicely on a resume!

The Career Center is here to help you take those summer experiences and put them on a resume or practice talking about them in an interview. Make an appointment with us before those summer memories fade away like your tan lines.

Darlene Johnson,
Director of External Relations

The Story of the Black Blazer

Yesterday, one of our Career Center team members came into the office having just spilled coffee on her shirt whilst driving to work. As we talked about how to best hide the stain for her meetings throughout the day, I remembered that hanging in my office was a black blazer that I keep in my office “just-in-case.” She threw on the blazer, and it covered up the stains so she could go about her day looking polished and professional (and, might I add, it fit perfectly!).

This blazer was one which I had long ago left in The Career Center one day, but decided to keep there after a conversation with another colleague about a tie that I found in an office drawer. The tie, I found out, was used by a previous tenant of my office during our On-Campus Recruiting programs in the event that someone came in for an interview without a tie, or needed to learn how to tie one in preparation for an interview of their own. I looked at the black blazer hanging in my office (which I had consistently forgotten to bring home with me each day… oops) and I knew that if it stayed hanging there, its time of necessity would come… and it did!

The age-old motto of the Boy Scouts is “Be Prepared,” and I think that saying holds true for most, if not all, aspects of our lives—especially our careers! Whether you keep a few printed resumes in a portfolio during a meeting with your advisor, or business cards in your pocket at a networking event, you can keep yourself ready for any opportunity that may present itself to you. Of course, we never know what can happen over the course of a semester, a week, or even a day. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a very different position at the end of the day than when we woke up! Similarly, you never know when something will pop up that affects a friend, family member, or colleague, and your preparation or quick-thinking could be the thing that not only gets them through, but shows them they have your support. Our best weapon against uncertainty is to expect the unexpected, and when we see an opportunity to prepare ourselves for whatever may arise (like keeping a black blazer at the ready), we should do so!

Happy Prepping!

Amy Smith,
Assistant Director

It's Almost Career Fair Season!

It’s that time of year again, when we start to say farewell to summer and to say hello to a new season… career fair season! If you just groaned, I apologize. I understand that career fairs are perhaps produce a bit of anxiety.  But, they really are a great opportunity to meet people and explore possible jobs and internships.  So, here are three good ways to prepare for any of the upcoming fairs (and if you don’t know when they are, log into Handshake via the Career Hub).

Tip 1: Research the companies in advance.  By logging into Handshake and clicking on the “fairs” link on the left, you can browse each fair and see what employers are attending.  Once you’ve identified those of interest (and don’t let the company name be your only guide – look at the actual positions for which they are recruiting), then be sure to research both the positions and the companies so you can be well prepared when you meet them.

Tip 2: Practice introducing yourself.  You’ll be interacting with a lot of people at the fair, and each of them will want to hear some basic information about you when you first approach their table.  So, prepare a short overview that sounds something like this:  “My name is Gary Miller, and I’m a senior here at Hofstra studying Philosophy and Psychology.  I’m interested in positions that involve critical thinking and analysis and have had some great opportunities to develop those skills in some past internships and campus opportunities.  I understand you’re here to recruit for (position name here), and I’d love to hear more about what you’re seeking.”

Tip 3: Freshen up your resume and have plenty of copies on hand.  Not every company accepts resumes on the spot, so don’t be offended if they ask you to apply online.  But, most organizations at the fair will want to take a copy of your resume.  So, make sure you update it and make sure it’s telling the narrative you really want to tell.  If you need help with that, please come see us at an appointment or in our Quick Questions service.

We look forward to seeing you at any of the upcoming fairs this fall and are excited to see you present yourself with confidence!  You never know who you might meet at the fair – it’s might just change your life!

Gary Alan Miller, Executive Director