Last Tuesday, I covered the Knicks Hornets game on WBMB Baruch College Radio. This is something I really enjoyed, and I’m glad I participated in Student Life to find this. Not only did I have a good time doing the game, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come in the future. I’ll be in the booth calling Baruch basketball games (home games only, I believe), and will be premiering my new sports show tomorrow night at 8, alongside my partner David Just. To tune in go to www.wbmbbiz.com/590am/

I went to the “No Major No Problem” event hosted by STARR. It started off with a quick presentation debunking career and major myths such as a one track career or your major dictates your career. After the presentation we had a quick set up of FOCUS 2 and proceeded to take assessments such as interests and personality assessments. These tests are use to find the best careers suited for you. I ended up deciding to major in entrepreneurship.

Last Thursday I attended Baruch Voices, a spoken word event for the freshman class of Baruch College. Students from each freshman seminar class presented monologues they had composed themselves to their classmates and two people from each class were voted to present at this event. When I arrived, the entire room was packed so I stood with a friend among a crowd of students standing along the sidelines. The monologues presented were lyrical, captivating and some of them were very deep and personal. One of my favorites was by a girl presenting her piece called “God’s Grace”. It was about her the negative feedback she and her parents received from relatives and family friends about her decision to go to college in New York City, rather than in Hong Kong where her family lives. The comments were rude and unsupportive (and some of them quite sexist) but fortunately she had the support of her parents who believed that she could come here and be successful without falling into the fallacy of losing her culture or becoming “too American”. Another monologue that I like was a guy who presented a list of things he didn’t like. His list ranged from his cat who was too lazy and should “get a job” to guys who hold their audiences hostage and rant about things they don’t like. It served as a much needed comedic relief as a lot of the monologues presented were, while poetic and inspiring, quite depressing. The one thing I did regret about going to Baruch Voices was that it everyone was not able to present their pieces, including the two students voted from our freshman seminar class, Kenechi and Ashaki. Overall it was a very pleasant and entertaining experience and I am glad I attended 🙂

For my third blog post, I attended an interview workshop by STARR.  This session was about approaching and how to handle a case interview.  A case interview is the analysis of a business question.  The interview is an interactive process where the interviewer presents a business problem and asks you for your thoughts.  Their was a presentation and worksheet on how to prepare and what to do for these case interviews.  The steps to approaching the interview are: repeat, ask, stop, construct, answer, loosen up, and summarize.  This session helped me a lot and I hope to use these skills in the future.

For my third blog post, I actually went to two resume building workshops, one hosted by Phi Eta Sigma and the other hosted by UCLA, both with JP Morgan. Surprisingly, the speakers were the same for both workshops. I went to the one held by PES during a FRO class, in which more than half the class went to. The speakers talked a lot about how to properly format a resume, what to include, what not to include, how to attack the interview, and gave us a lot of tips and advice. This information will be very helpful when I create my own resume and prepare for future interviews.

For my blog post 3 I attended a Interview session (provided by the starr weekly) where it gave explanation on how to approach and take on specific interview questions. In this session, we specifically targeted a “case interview.” A case interview is when the person who is interviewed must ask questions to the interviewer to obtain enough enough to answer the objective question. This process allows us to use our logical thinking, organization and communication skills to the fullest. In addition, a handout was given to help us go through the steps needed to accomplish the task; repeat, ask, stop, construct, answer, loosen up, summarize. Furthermore, such a class can help individuals improve on their interviewing abilities as well as applying for jobs. I would highly recommend this session because it helps people succeed in their future.

For my third blog post, I decided to go to two JP Morgan resume building workshops. The first time I went, I wasn’t prepared with my own resume because I heard last minute, but after hearing about a second one hosted by UCLA, I went prepared. During the workshop, the representatives talked about the proper formatting of the resume as well as what should be in it to make it look more appealing to the interviewer. From there, they talked about how to approach an interview and most of the aspects about it like what to wear, how to act during the interview, and many more fundamental things. They also told us to prepare certain things and to have a good background knowledge on the company before going into an interview. Overall, the workshops were very beneficial, especially the second time through, and hopefully the tips that they gave will be able to help me in the future.

On September 29^th most of the FRO class and myself attended the PES/WIB/USG/UCLA Resume Workshop with JP Morgan during FRO (thanks Jawad!) Not only was this workshop great because we didn’t have to sit through a session of FRO but I also learned a lot of great tips for creating a resume and attacking an interview. Even though I’m a freshman and I’m not able to apply to places like JP Morgan was still very insightful and I hope to put these tips to use while editing my own resume and hopefully interviewing for companies in the future!

For my student life workshop, I attended the FUSION Fear Factor event. The event was held in the multipurpose room, where a myriad of clubs competed in a food eating contest. Based off the stunt and dare television show, “Fear Factor,” contestants were racing to eat ‘exotic’ foods ranging from chicken hearts to silk worms. Pairs were chosen from each club to take on the challenge. The last pair standing failed the challenged and were immediately eliminated. As the game progressed, the foods that were given became more and more uncanny and eventually contestants had to result to the drink and chew method. Although I didn’t stay for too long, the event was unusually fun and offered me an insight into what club events in Baruch were really like.  

http://imgur.com/VWtf0of

For the career section of the blog posts, I decided to attend a STARR career workshop. I chose “Small Talk Part II: It’s a BIG deal!” under the direction of Ms. Adia Tucker. I enjoyed the workshop and thought it was useful in addressing something many of us overlook or fail to take seriously. Small talk is a part of our everyday lives and assists in forming/receiving an appropriate and crucial first impression (depending on who we’re talking to). I believed I could easily do it, however, a few minutes in I realized I didn’t. The workshop was a series of activities where participants would act as representatives, recruiters, potential employers and employees, co-workers and/or complete strangers and engage in conversation to practice their small talk skills. I enjoyed these activities and learned new ways of introducing myself or striking up a conversation with someone I wouldn’t be too familiar with. I’m happy I chose this workshop because it has shown me how my small talk/sociable skills need some sharpening and has laid down the basics of achieving just that. I look to improve on this tiny but important skill, especially with the help of the STARR Career Development Center, and better the impression I give off throughout my college career, professional career and day-to-day life.