Make a good impression at Meet The Reps by improving these key traits By Will LinkWith the Spring 2020 career fair and networking event, Meet The Reps, approaching, it is important to make sure that you are preparing to put your best foot forward for making new connections. One way to get ready for Meet The Reps is to continue to hone your soft skills. According to Indeed, soft skills can be classified as personality skills as opposed to hard skills which can be taught in a classroom setting or certified by passing a test. Soft skills take time and repetition to strengthen. They can always be improved. Some of the most sought after soft skills in the workplace include strong communication, writing effectively, initiative, passion, and a positive attitude. By developing these soft skills and utilizing them at Meet The Reps you will increase your chances of making a good impression on the employers and alumni that you will network with at the event. And effective networking always opens up the possibility of landing a job or internship offer in the future. Strong Communication Strong communication skills are important in any work environment. At Meet The Reps you might only have a short window of time to meet with an employer and showcase your skills. It’s best to introduce yourself with an elevator pitch: a 20- to 30-second summary of yourself that contains career interests, skills you can offer an employer, and an attribute that makes you unique. Career Services has a great elevator pitch template that you can find here. Confidence is behind all effective communication skills and confidence stems from being prepared. The Center for Career Services will have an event to get you ready for the career fair and networking event at 11 AM Tuesday, March 3. Writing Effectively
Writing is one of the most important transferable skills you can possess. Showcase your writing abilities by keeping a small portfolio of your written work with you that you would be willing to show to any potential employers. These pieces of writing do not have to be long papers or essays that you have written for your classes. They can be precis, news articles or summaries that you might have written for a class or a co-curricular activity. The point is to show that you can write and process and analyze information. Initiative While taking initiative is also beneficial in the workplace, you can practice this soft skill as you prepare for Meet The Reps. Make sure wear professional attire to Meet The Reps to show that you are ready to network. It’s a good idea to lay out your outfit of professional attire the night before even if you are not putting it on to start the day. Have a folder with copies of your resume and possibly other printed work samples to bring with you to the event as well. Taking these simple steps will make you less anxious during Meet The Reps. Passion Employer representatives will be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not you are passionate about something. Curiosity shows passion, but having curiosity is more than just wanting to know something. Curiosity is opening yourself to new ideas and experiences and being willing to leave behind any old, outdated, or incorrect mindsets and assumptions. Come to Meet The Reps with questions for the employers. When you meet with the representative of a given company you should have a list of general questions ready for them. You shouldn’t just ask any question that you could easily get the answer for on the company’s website or Wikipedia page. For example, a question that you could easily find the answer to would be, “where is your office located?” A better question to ask would be, “why do you like working at this company?” This question is specific and is something that the representative will be able to answer on a more personal level. Open-ended questions will bring about conversation topics and will show the representative you want to learn about them and the organization just as much as the representative wants to learn about you. After Meet The Reps you should make sure to follow up with all of the employers and alumni that you have met. Make sure to get their business cards, if they have them, and send each one of them a brief personalized email thanking them for taking the time to meet with you. Connecting on LinkedIn is also a great way to keep in touch with contacts that you meet at the event. Positive Attitude When you first meet an employer you should remember to smile and give them a friendly greeting and a firm handshake. Make sure that you are maintaining eye contact for a majority of the time that you are talking to the representative. Looking at the ground or around the room can make you seem uninterested or disengaged with the conversation. Try not to use your phone while you’re at Meet The Reps. While looking at your phone is often a defensive measure for when you don’t know what to do, it will only distract you from networking as you look to grow professionally. You can also try putting your phone on Do Not Disturb before the event so you won’t be alerted to any incoming messages or notifications. If you need additional assistance while at the event, or materials such as a list of employers in attendance, the Center for Career Services will have a table at the event with staff members to help you. Soft Skills are attributes that you have to continue working at your entire life. Despite the understated connotation, soft skills are integral to your career growth. By honing and practicing skills before Meet The Reps, you will leave a lasting impression on potential employers or future contacts that you make.
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By Will LinkCarmela D’Arienzo ’21 has had many learning experiences at Marist College, and the path to and experience at her first public relations internship were no different. In the summer of 2019 Carmela was an intern at DeVries Global, a public relations and communications firm in New York City. DeVries Global clients include a range of large brands such as IHOP, Samsung, Sephora and Skullcandy. Carmela first learned about DeVries Global by going on a Road to the Workplace trip sponsored by the Center for Career Services. Being a Communication major with Public Relations and Advertising concentrations, she was interested in seeing the work environment at a firm. Carmela said the trip was also a chance for her to begin networking with like-minded public relations professionals. “Being able to visit the DeVries Global office a semester before the internship application was open allowed me to connect with current employees and build meaningful relationships with them,” Carmela said. While on the Road to the Workplace trip, Carmela was introduced to Marist alumni Madison Gabor ’18, Katie Johnson ’16, and Stephanie Duffy ’15. The three are just some of the many Marist graduates who work at DeVries Global. Gabor and Johnson had interned with DeVries Global in the past and worked their way up to account executive roles. The group of Marist alumni spoke to students who were on the trip about their roles and day to day tasks at DeVries Global. They also provided general advice on beginning your career at a communications firm or agency. Though she did not know it at the time, Carmela ended up benefitting from Road to the Workplace even more when she saw DeVries Global had a table at the Fall 2018 Career and Internship Fair. Carmela followed up with Nicole Pace, a human resources contact she had met with on the trip, during the career fair. Carmela expressed her interest in working at DeVries Global. Carmela said participating in both networking events helped her secure her summer internship with DeVries Global, as the turnaround between the opening of the positions and her hiring was rapid. “(In the PR industry) the time between application postings, deadlines, and offers is very quick, so the whole process happened over a matter of weeks,” she said. After Carmela applied for her internship in February, she had a virtual and in-person interview the following month before receiving her offer. Carmela worked with many of the firm’s beauty clients during her internship. Her main client was Secret Deodorants, but she also got to work on accounts for Pantene, Aussie, and Verizon. Carmela said one of the most fulfilling and challenging assignments she had while interning at DeVries Global was a presumptive challenge from a client that gave her and her team instant feedback. “Aussie hair care wanted to continue their campaign and we made a whole pitch and got their live opinions,” Carmela said. “It taught me what it's like to learn in a real professional setting and test the advice of some extremely successful people.” Carmela also acquired soft skills while interning at DeVries because she had sets of daily and weekly deadlines from her clients. “Time management was crucial, and I definitely learned that by making sure all of my assignments were done to the best of my ability,” Carmela said. For Carmela, some of the most positive aspects of the internship were similar to the factors that helped her initially get her foot in the door: the connections that she built. “The company culture was very open and personable,” Carmela said. “It’s important to get to know you co-workers. When you work with people you like, you end up producing better work.” Though she had a great experience at DeVries Global, Carmela is not ready to rest on her laurels. “I want to keep changing and learning. The industry allows me to put myself into new environments and push boundaries.” “I want to keep changing and learning,” she said. “The industry allows me to put myself into new environments and push boundaries.”
Carmela is certainly on the right path to doing just that. She is currently studying abroad at the Marist campus in Florence, Italy, for Spring 2020. Carmela is enrolled in the five-year program for Integrated Marketing-Communication at Marist. She is expected to obtain her bachelor’s degree in communications in May 2021 and her master’s degree the following year. Good luck, Carmela, in all your endeavors! And thank you to DeVries Global for hosting and attending events hosted by the Marist College Center for Career Services. UPDATE: Carmela D'Arienzo’s internship experience at DeVries Global was also featured in a student achievement piece on the Marist College website titled Experience is the Best Teacher: Marist Students Share Their Internship Stories. Paisley Haddad '21 wrote the internship roundup, which was published May 26, 2020. A Guide to the New Trend for Young Professionals By Will LinkWhat is A Letter of Interest? For young professionals who are looking to jumpstart their career at a specific company, writing a letter of interest is a new trend that can begin the search for your next position. Instead of waiting for a job or internship from their dream company to appear on Indeed, LinkedIn, or another site, young professionals are instead taking initiative to reach out directly to employees or organizations that excite them. Sending a letter of interest is a great chance for you to express your passion about the work that your desired company is doing, inquire about the management structure and roles at the organization, and demonstrate what you have to offer as a prospective employee. Much like networking, writing a letter of interest could eventually provide you with a temporary or permanent opportunity in the future. How Do I Write a Letter of Interest? Putting together a letter of interest is almost like writing a cover letter. The only difference between a cover letter and letter of interest is that instead of applying for a specific open position like you would with a cover letter, you are reaching out to see if the company has any roles available while outlining your own achievements and goals in your letter of interest. Make sure to conclude your letter of interest by asking if you can meet or speak with a company representative sometime in the future. Glassdoor has a great a great article that gives you step by step instructions on how to write your letter of interest.
Formats for Letters of Interest When you are sending your letter of interest you need to make sure that the formatting looks professional, especially if it’s sent digitally. If your formatting is off the letter will be hard to read and you will come across as sloppy. The best practice would be to write the letter in a word document first and then proofread it for spelling, grammar, or other mistakes before composing it in the body of an email and hitting Send for example. Remember to include proper salutations, paragraphs, and closings even if you are sending your letter digitally. If you are going to use LinkedIn to connect and reach out to an employee, you should shorten your letter of interest to an elevator pitch. The elevator pitch will need to communicate similar points contained in the letter of interest in 300 characters or less. If you are using the LinkedIn app, it’s better to send a private message when adding a new connection because the app does not give you the option to add a note. When sending your letter of interest through LinkedIn you do not need to go into too much detail about your skills and accomplishments because they should already be on your LinkedIn profile. Who Should I Address? I recommend finding the name of an employee who works in a company and role that you want and addressing your letter to them. Your letter of interest will appear much more polished if the salutation contains a specific person rather than “To Whom it May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam”. The more formal greeting will also show that you have done thorough background research prior to reaching out. If you have a personal contact within the organization you can always send the letter to them or ask that they pass it on to their Human Resources department. LinkedIn is a primary resource for finding employees at a specific company, but it would also be helpful to use the Marist Alumni Career Network. The Alumni Career Network is a database of all Marist alumni who are willing and eager to help out current Marist students with professional development inquiries. You can search the network using a combination of filters such as name of the alumni, company they work for, degree earned, location, graduation year, and industry. Center for Career Services events and Road to the Workplace trips are also good opportunities to find contacts within a company. Company representatives come to Marist for events like the Career and Internship Fair and employer information sessions and usually have their business cards available to make it easier to follow up. During Road to Workplace trips students can actually tour a work environment and meet with company employees. I Sent My Letter of Interest…Now What? If you do not get a reply from your letter of interest after a few days you can always send a follow up note, but make sure you do not come off as too pushy. For more advice on the follow up process schedule an appointment with a career coach in the Center for Career Services using your FoxQuest account. Sending a letter of interest will show your initiative for progressing in your professional life, passion for your field, and interest in the company’s present and future projects. All of these attributes can potentially give you a leg up during a future application process. It could also result in an informational interview. At the very least, you can start to potentially make a new connection for your network by writing and sending a letter of interest. Start practicing these habits now for success as a student and in the workplace By Will LinkThe start of a semester is a great opportunity for you to begin working on the habits that will help you both as a student and in your career. While at Marist you have the flexibility and resources available to you that make developing these beneficial behaviors much easier. By strengthening your soft skills and practicing these psychological techniques, you will be able to leave Marist confident as you move on to the next chapter of your life. Make The Most of Your Time One of the most important skills that you can acquire right now is time management. In college your classes are laid out for the semester and because you receive your syllabi you know what assignments you will have for the semester and when they are due. In the workforce though, things might be a bit different. You will likely have your set deadlines for projects, but a last-minute need or event can come up that you will be responsible for. So when managing your time, always make sure to leave some flexibility in your schedule for any emergencies or delays that might come up. It is not worth it to trust yourself to memorize every single event, assignment or project that you have to work on. Your memory is not perfect and you will be bound to forget or overlook some things. A physical planner where you hand write your events is always a great option to organize yourself. If you prefer using a digital planner, I like Google Calendar. For more time management tips and advice check out our previous post titled It's Time to Prioritize Time Management. Keep a To-Do List for Your Daily Tasks & Goals In addition to writing down your long-term goals and events, you should also keep a To- Do List of things that you want to accomplish throughout each day. You can make the list right when you wake up in the morning or for the next day right before you go to bed at night. The process of writing down what you need to get done will help organize and clear your mind. When writing your To-Do List for any activities, you should also write out how long you believe that it will take to accomplish the task and the specific actions that it will take to do so. By writing down your plans and keeping them visible to you at all times, you will be significantly more motivated to accomplish those goals. You will be able to go to bed at night feeling more accomplished with what you did that day and wake up in the morning with a clearer plan of how you want to continue working on your goals for the day ahead. Change Your Point of View of Your Goals Research by neuroscientists has found that visualizing your goals, significantly improves your chances of achieving them. Look at achieving your goals as a process instead of just the goal itself, visualizing the specific actions that you will have to take in order to accomplish your tasks. This will allow you to create a more manageable and realistic plan that will make your end goal appear more attainable than abstract. Writing your goals down is also helpful. When you write something down, two things occur in your brain: external storage and encoding. External storage stores knowledge on the piece of paper that is a visual cue for you to remember your goal every time that you see it. Encoding, however, increases the chances that the goal will get stored in your long-term memory. This process is part of the generation effect, which shows that we remember things better if we have generated the material for ourselves rather than simply reading it. Learn How to Keep Yourself Organized
By keeping all of your appointments, projects, and documents organized you will be able to have a clearer head, and can worry less about having to remember something or find something. Color coordinated folders and notebooks for all of your classes or projects are a great way to keep all of your papers. Instead of searching through half a dozen folders for a specific assignment or syllabus, you can rest easy knowing that your Statistics homework is in the red folder and the notes are in the red notebook, and your Philosophy essay is in your blue folder and notes are in the blue notebook. To maintain your organization, try to set a little bit of time each day or each week to clean up any clutter that you might have accumulated. By having this time, you can remove any of the excess waste that you might have accumulated throughout the week and put back any loose papers back in their proper location. By keeping your personal and work spaces free of clutter and waste, you will be more focused when you work and be able to use your time more efficiently to work toward your goals. Each semester provides you with a fresh start to begin practicing habits that will help your professional development going forward. You have a variety of resources available to you at Marist to help you begin those habits and create a plan of action for achieving your goals. The Center for Career Services can assist you with your professional development goals. The Center for Advising and Academic Services can help you stay on track with selecting classes to ensure you will graduate on time. International Student Services can help international students adjust to a new environment and make sure they are meeting all of the requirements for studying in the United States. Developing these practices and habits now and using on-campus resources when you need them can help relieve any stress that can arise during your time as a Marist student and while transitioning into the workforce. |
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