Freshman Seminar Fall 2017 – BTA

For my career blog post, what better place to attend an event than the STARR Career Development Center?  Well, that’s exactly where I went, and I definitely do not regret it.  I attended the cover letter workshop for quite a few reasons (other than the fact that I needed a third blog post event.)  I knew that it would benefit me in the near and distant future to learn a few things about creating a proper cover letter.  I wanted to test my current knowledge of cover letters to see if what I thought I knew was true and if there was anything that needed improvement.  At the workshop, Ricki Weitizen, the staff member who led the workshop,  went through a number of activities and lessons to demonstrate how to write a cover letter.  Ricki, with help from the rest of the staff, provided tips that proved to be not only essential but also convenient when making a cover letter.  One main point I took away from this workshop is that cover letters can be utilized on numerous occasions, including not only formal ones for resumes but also for things such as thank you letters.  I was able to learn the basics for writing a cover letter, and I will be sure to use this newly acquired information when creating my next cover letter for job or internship applications; or maybe even just an email or a thank you letter.  I found this information to be extremely useful because even if you are unsure of your career path, these skills will prove to be necessary no matter what field you decide to enter.  I would like to build off this experience by visiting another workshop that has to do with resume writing because I believe these skills go hand in hand.  A strong resume paired with a strong cover letter will make a very solid first impression on any job or internship application, regardless of your career path.

 

For my final Baruch Blog post, I attended the November Majors/Minors Fair. At the Majors/Minors Fair, I was able to connect with advisers and faculty from different academic departments to learn more about what their programs can offer Baruch students. After speaking with the representatives from the Department of Natural Sciences, I became more aware of the different options and directions I could pursue alongside my Biology degree. The Department of Natural Sciences at Baruch’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences offers a variety of flexible programs that can be tailored to my interests to help achieve my career goals. The representative I spoke with, informed me of all the opportunities I could partake in to enhance my resume for future employers and/or Medical Schools. Although I spent most of my time at the Natural Sciences Department table, I did get the opportunity to explore all of the other exciting options Baruch has to offer its students. Many of the faculty recommended having a non-scientific minor to complement my biology major. This is a possibility I will definitely be considering in the upcoming semesters, leading to the declaration of either my double major or minor.

What made this event so helpful, was the fact that it was filled with advisors and faculty from a wide range of the majors and minors on campus. This allowed me the opportunity to interact not only with informants from my major, but also with great faculty from varying departments. All in all, this fair was a great success, and it has helped me to move on forward with my career choices at Baruch.

A few weeks ago I attended the start up fair co sponsored by Tamid group and Hillel. The start up fair was a fantastic opportunity to network with members of start up companies. The networking allowed me to explore working options I can have down the road. Some of the start up members gave me their business card and encourage me to reach out to them in the near future. Many of the companies were technology based. This opportunity also showed me the importance of a resume. I did not bring copies and therefore felt like I was at a disadvantage. In the future I will make sure to have resumes available at similar events. This wonderful event also allowed me to interact with other students with similar interests. These connections can be valuable when sharing experiences. Additionally there was a panel consisting of eight start up founders that informed the audience how to be successful in the start up and entrepreneurial world. I also noted that many of the start up members were interested in character. They noted that a positive attitude, charisma and patience were vital in the start up world just as much as a high IQ score. Overall this career experience should propel me to succeed in the future.

Thursday the 16th I and a few classmates attended the Baruch Hillel’s tech startup fair in the multipurpose room. The meat and potatoes of the event was a panel consisting of representatives of various tech startups that was organized by the Hillel. The event took me a bit by surprise, as I didn’t know it was being held until I stumbled into the line, but the speakers of the panel approached the audience like they were more than just students, and afterwards accepting cover sheets at their respective booths.

One of the focuses of the panel’s discussion was the pointlessness of creating a mobile app these days. They said that the market for mobile apps is very unforgiving and there’s an extremely high “buy-in” price for newcomers that is continuously rising. They drove the point home by quizzing the audience about their interactions with mobile apps today, making the case that while advertising for apps is at an all-time high, actual downloading of said apps is decreasing.

Funnily enough, another recurring discussion point was the uselessness of college, more specifically how all of the success they’ve achieved was directly from on-job experience.

Something else that came up was how successful bitcoin is doing, as at the time the price per coin was approaching $9000.

There were more than a few interesting companies that spoke at the panel, and most importantly the experience overall left me with a sense of confidence in Baruch’s ability as a school to help bring potential employment opportunities to its students. I definitely will head to more career fairs in the future.

This past Thursday I attended the Hillel at Baruch start-up tech fair.  This is an event held in the multipurpose room on the first floor, and was run by the Jewish campus organization known as Hillel.  They brought a bunch of tech-based start-up companies to have a panel discussion regarding their respective companies.  Not only was this an informative event, it also gave students a chance to get their names and resumes out there.  due to the fact that it was held in the multipurpose room, and it was not widely advertised around school, there were not an overwhelming amount of students at this event.  this gave the attendees more of an opportunity to personally connect with the business professionals that were there. Many students were walking around with resumes and cover letters, handing them to representatives at the booths of their companies.  It was an amazing experience, and gave many the chance to meet new business professionals, and possibly leave with an interview for a prospective job or internship.  And on top of all that, what really attracted me, was the food.  Right as we entered, there was a long table filled with tons of kosher food.  There were sandwiches of all different varieties, salads, snacks and refreshments.  That was a huge bonus for me, and was absolutely the deciding factor on wether I was going or not.  But above all, this was an awesome way to experience different career paths and job opportunities, and I now realize a lot more about sectors of business I never would otherwise have given a chance.

 

On Monday, I had the opportunity to go to STARR career development center for a resume check in. While I was there, we took a look at my 2 resumes and talked about what I needed to tweak to make it better and more efficient. The counselor, Katherine, told me what order I should put things in, how I should use a certain system for my bullet points, and a variety of little pointers. The experience was different from what I was expecting mainly because I didn’t think that I had many things wrong with my resume, but once we started talking we pointed out a lot of things. For one, even though I had written a description, Katherine told me that it was just occupying space and if the employer wants to learn more about it they could by looking it up. Another point that she made was that I should put my level of proficiency in all of the things I put under skill, to make sure that the employer does not misunderstand and think that I am more proficient than I really am at something. Though I do not really have a purpose for my resume at the moment since I’m not really looking for a job or an internship at the moment, I know that it’s an important part in applying for positions. Hopefully in the future when I am applying my resume will stick out to employers.

For my career blog post, I attended a Bloomberg workshop at the trading floor in the library. It was an introduction to Bloomberg’s Professional Services which  provides real time and financial data. This is used for stock trading. Knowing how a public company is currently doing at the time and how it might do in the future.

Throughout the workshop, I learned many new things. It was more to it than I originally thought. There is so many things that you can get into. Like the different types of investments and tools there are on the site. They offer things like the Bloomberg terminal, Bloomberg trade book, execution and order management, data and content, financial data management and integration and distribution. Personally I find trading and equity investment very interesting and this provided a first real good insight into what it is. I do some trading on my free time as a hobby and know some of the basic indicators to use when trading. From time to time, I would end up on the Bloomberg site because it provides useful information. Attending this event helped me learn more about it and the process that goes into researching public companies.

I went back home and looked at the site myself. I could not finish looking through everything but I will continue to do my own research and try to learn as much as I can. This workshop was a great opportunity for me because it showed how you can succeed beyond the classroom.

A month ago I attended the TEAM Baruch Orientation/Info Day. During this time I learned about all the position opportunities that TEAM Baruch offers. I was especially interested in the TEAM Baruch peer mentor position in which your mentor new freshmen. I find this job to be an especially special one because through this you can really aid the high school to college transition that all the freshman go through, one that can be especially hard. Going to this event made me eager to attain a peer mentor position in the future so that I can make sure that other students have a good transition, learn about their resources here at Baruch, and feel very welcome. I think that this would be a good position for me one day because I enjoy working with other people and making others feel comfortable in situations. TEAM Baruch emphasized the importance of working together as a community within the school, something I find very important at a commuter school like Baruch. I think because Baruch is a commuter school, it makes the transition for new students especially difficult. I think it’s great that TEAM Baruch offers jobs for students to make the Baruch experience better for them and other students. I learned that TEAM Baruch offers jobs in the career counselling department, and that there are even tutoring jobs available for Baruch students as well. I even bumped into one of the Baruch Career counselors that was at the meeting who also happens to be one of my neighbors, which was a funny coincidence. Overall, my experience learning about TEAM Baruch and the positions available was very enlightening. I hope that in the future I can join TEAM Baruch and become part of the community that makes Baruch a better place in all aspects of student life.

(Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic but I have email confirmation proof of my attendance)