The January-February months are a busy time for Princeton students. Still, between exams, intercession, and new classes, this motivated group has managed to keep an eye out on their futures and career. On a bright January afternoon, I went around campus to ask students about their career goals and resolutions for 2012. Here’s what they had to say:
Tag Archives: blogs
Resource Spotlight: Career Spots
Career Services at Princeton University has so many extra cool resources on their homepage; all for students to use! I decided to dedicate this blog to highlighting and reviewing one of those resources, Career Spots. In the “About Us” section of their website, CareerSpots states:
Life is complicated. Our mission is simple. CareerSpots strives to help students be best prepared for the job search. Our straightforward, compelling videos clearly illustrate what students need to know BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the job interview. We pledge to provide the most relevant career advice and information available today from leading experts across the country.
Hmmm…this seems pretty cool. Videos to illustrate what to do during the job interview process? This is definitely something interesting. With the advent of Youtube, it seems like one can almost find “how-to’s” on pretty much any subject. A whole site dedicated to providing video how-to’s for the job search process is definitely a resource that a lot of students will find useful. Students can access videos, on the go or even during their down-time. How do you use CareerSpots? In order to access Career Spots, follow these steps:
1. Visit www.princeton.edu/career
2. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage
3. Find and click on “CareerSpots” along the bottom panel of the homepage
Once you click, you’ll be on the CareerSpots homepage. On this page, you’ll find 18 videos related to the interview process. The videos cover a variety of subjects. The first video that caught my attention was “Stand Out Resumes”. I clicked on the video and watched. I found the video very useful. The video featured Heidi Grouix, a senior recruiter from Whirlpool Corporation. In the video (which was only 1:20), Heidi highlighted key features of a standout resume. The information was detailed, but structured in a concise way that was easy to understand. After the video was done, one has the option to watch other career-related videos. Some of the videos even come with “Quick tips” handouts that are available for download or printing. This was my first time using this Career Services resource. I definitely recommend students to explore the videos and content on this site. The career tips and videos posted here are filled with value and can definitely be a great resource for students who have career questions! So what are you waiting for, go check it out!
UCAN
Looking for a job or summer internship? Check out UCAN, or University Career Action Network, an intercollegiate job/internship database and my personal favorite career tool. Maintained by a 22-university syndicate, UCAN’s expansive network is a goldmine for even the pickiest job searcher.
Perhaps “you-can” sounds unfamiliar to you. If you’ve ever browsed TigerTracks or another similar job/internship search site, you’re probably familiar with the process. Just register with your Princeton email address, punch in basic profile information, and you’re good to go. You can also add basic academic information, upload your resume, and create a Onestop Talent Search profile. This last feature enters your information and resume into a search engine for employers that helps them find and recruit their candidate of best fit. That’s right, employers search for YOU.
If you’ve ever researched jobs and internships, you probably know that effective search tools make all the difference. One of my favorite features of the UCAN website is the sheer multitude of ways to approach the job search. On the internship homepage, you can browse opportunities by job title, employer, keyword, employer name, description, major, and location, either separately or all at once.
Another of UCAN’s perks is its search employer feature. Say you want to search journalism opportunities in New York City. Just go to the employer tab at the top, plug in the information, and a list of employers and their corresponding websites appears on your page. Tip: if a company does not have an internship posted on UCAN, check out their website. Usually under “career,” “contact us,” or (of course) “internships” you’ll find details on the position you’re looking for. UCAN also contains a list of contacts from companies listed by industry, if you’re looking for career advice from someone in the business.
If you’re motivated or just plain curious about your career future, UCAN is the perfect place to start or refine your search. Just go to Princeton’s Career Services website, click on UCAN on the right-hand sidebar, and check it out for yourself!
Why I Love the Princeton University Career Services Facebook Page
I can’t imagine the world without Facebook! In high school, I was an avid MySpace user, but by the time I arrived at college, I had become a full blown Facebook addict. Although I sometimes find myself on the site when I should be doing other productive things, there is something alluring about the site that keeps me on it. Social media functions as a mechanism for users to share information with each other. As Facebook’s technology becomes even more sophisticated, the ways that users can share information and the type of information that can be shared seems endless. I wanted to get some quick facts about Facebook, so I went to their Statistics page. Here are some cool facts that I found:
- Facebook has more than 800 million active users
- More than 50% of their active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- There are more than 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events, and community pages)
- The average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups, events
- On average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded per day
- More than 350 million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices
I find it extremely cool that Facebook connects so many users and that it serves as a forum for information to be shared. So, you are probably wondering why do I love the Princeton University Career Services Facebook page? Here are some cool facts about our Facebook page:
- Mythbusting Mondays – Every Monday the fanpage busts career-related myths. These myth-busting facts are normally linked to interesting articles or Career Center events that pertain to the topic
- Event Photos – Career Services hosts numerous events each semester. We love taking pictures at these events to put up on our site. Students also like seeing themselves.
- Fun Career Center Surveys – Throughout the semester, Career Services likes to get student feedback on a lot of career center initiatives. Students even have a chance to win prizes!
- Interesting Articles – Every week, we try to post links to career-related articles that will grab reader’s attention. Recent posts that I’ve enjoyed reading have been “Why You Should Have a LinkedIn Profile,” “Getting Noticed, Getting Hired: Candidate Attributes That Recruiters Seek,” and “The Art of Choosing the Right Social Media Profile Photo.” All of these articles are shareable, so you can share them with others in your network.
- Career Services Events – All of Career Services’ events are posted under the “events” tab on our page. Browsers can peruse this portion of the page to see what kind of events will be going on for the rest of the semester
- 690+ “likes”- We have over 690 people who currently “like” our page. We love that so many people are interested in staying connected with Career Services. It is also very cool that not only students like our page, but so many alumni and recruiters do as well. So, if you haven’t done so already, make sure to go to Facebook and like our page—you will be in very good company!
Whether you are at home, school, the office, or even on the go, you can stay connected to Career Services on Facebook—it is like a one-stop shop for everything related to Career Services.
WELCOME BACK
Hi everyone! My name is Rana Campbell and I am one of Career Services’ student bloggers for the spring 2012 semester. Some of you may remember me from my blog posts last year, but for those of you new to the site, I am one of the Princeton University Career Services’ Communications and Marketing interns and also a student blogger, responsible for providing you with interesting career-related content. There is so much information about careers out there and sometimes it is hard to navigate and prioritize. So, my blog will focus on bringing you all of the highlights as well as telling you a little bit about my own career planning experiences. I am eager to share helpful career information with you and am also excited about all the interesting events Career Services has coming up this semester.
I can’t believe I’m a second-semester junior already. It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was writing my first career services blog post as a sophomore. Furthermore, I can’t believe how fast the year went by. The next thing I know it’ll be summer again and I’ll be back at my summer internship. Last summer, I interned at CBS in New York City. For half the summer, I worked at CBS News in the Newspath department (CBS’ video affiliate service), which was really cool. I helped produce new packages and worked with the live web stream. I even got to do my own demo reel of the CBS Moneywatch newscast. For the other half of the summer, I interned with CBS Watch! Magazine, which is CBS’ premiere network magazine. Both internships allowed me to develop lots of new skills such as how to navigate the WordPress blogging platform, track artwork for magazine publishing, and use video archival software.
Winter break has ended and getting back to my campus schedule can seem a bit hectic. Whether it is writing papers, studying for exams, trying to finalize this semester’s schedule, catching up with friends, or planning extracurricular events, time management can get a bit crazy. That’s how I am feeling right now, but one thing I am excited for are all the events Career Services has planned for the semester. The Summer Internship Fair is coming up on Friday, February 17th, in Dillon Gymnasium from 1-4 pm. For tips on how to be successful at a career fair, click here to visit Career Services’ “Working a Career Fair” webpage. Be sure to watch the “How to Make the Most of a Career Fair” video with tips and career fair advice from students who attended last year’s Summer Internship Fair. This year the Summer Internship Fair will be at a bigger venue with more than double the number of employers than we have had in previous years! Whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior, attending the fair is a way to get information about internship programs, different career fields, and organizations, and begin making connections with future employers. This is an event that you do NOT want to miss!
Stay tuned for more of my blog posts this year. I plan to blog weekly on interesting topics such as reviews of Career Services online resources, student spotlight video interviews, “how-to” tutorials, and more…