Month: November 2017

For my 3rd and last blog post I decided to take the career workshop offered at the Starr Career Development Center called, “Mastering the Job Interview- Focuses on the second interview or the site interview”. Going into the workshop I thought that it would be pretty pointless with tips that would not help me. On the other hand, I gained much more out of this workshop than I had expected! First of all, the environment of the workshop was amazing. The environment included a group of people of about 25-30 people. All the people were of like mind as myself and wanted to improve their skills. The workshop taught me a bunch of tips and tricks that I could actually use in an interview. The first tip that I learned during the workshop about job interviews was about walking into the room. I learned that right before you walk into a room for a job interview you should stop and pause at the door. Once you have stopped at the door, you think about your exact purpose in the interview and focus. You stand up straighter and become prepared to speak in a loud, clear, and most importantly, a confident voice. Second, I learned about answering questions. I learned that it is very important to pause and really think about your answer before you speak. When you think about what you speak about before you say it, your mind has time to think of a truly unique and purposeful response that will incite interest from the interview to you. Also, as a secondary interview question, I learned that there are also countless others who have the second interview as well and that this interview counts just as much as the other one, if not more in that you must impress the interview most. We learned about trying to relate the interviewer’s life to my own life by talking after the interview well. Most importantly, we learned that one’s expression is the most important part of the interview as a whole. The way one sits, dresses, and speaks gives the interviewer the best representation of the type of person you are. You must sit straight with a flat back and your shoulders back. Also you must dress to impress; do not wear the same clothes that everyone else in the room wears, yet keep the dress code proper. Finally, speak loudly, clearly, and confidently. I really enjoyed the workshop and hope to attend more in the future.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any career workshops these past couple weeks that interested me, however back in September, my friend and I went to a workshop organized in Baruch by STARR. I did not take a picture at that point because I felt that it was unnecessary at the time, however, now I feel a bit dumb that I did not take the picture because it would have come useful to use for the blog post. This  workshop was based around resume building and cover letters. I do not remember the instructor’s name, but her lesson was mainly talking about what kinds of things should be included in our resumes, such as our favorite hobbies that may apply to the career we are interested in, useful skills that may stand out to employers in our particular job opportunities, and any past experiences that can relate in any way or help with getting the job we are applying to. She also let us know that we should definitely include our high school and current college GPAs if they are over 3.5. This is a good way to stand out from the rest of the applicants if they employers sees that you are an amazing student with incredible potential. She also told us that having internships on a resume is extremely important. This shows the employer that we are going out of our way to get the experience and knowledge for the job opening. Something she told us that I was confused about was the objective section on the top of my resume. I had an objective stated on my resume, however she told us that we shouldn’t have those. I did not understand, and still do not understand why she told us to remove the objective. She said they look unprofessional and they give the impression that you are “stuck with only one career path”. It makes some sense, but I still feel like employers should know which direction in life you are trying to aim for. I recommend at least one resume workshop for any student during their college career. It definitely helped me with my resume, and I assume will benefit me in the future to impress an employer. Before this workshop, I never had anyone help me with my resume and it was never complete, however now I am very confident with it.

On DAY, I went to the Career Workshop set up by Starr Career Development Center called “Let’s Get Starrted: Career Building Blocks”. I went together with Samuel Kim, a fellow classmate in my block. I found out this was the fourth session, and I thought I would be very confused, as I did not go to the previous three sessions. However, I was pleasantly surprised because each session could be understood as a standalone part or a cumulative lesson. Since, I did not go to the previous ones, I was attentive and took in a lot of information. The person in charge was Ms.Tucker, who was very engaging as well as informative. First, she went over resources that Baruch College offered such as the Starr Career Development Center. We received a sheet of paper that gave us a general outline of what we should do and how we can accomplish the task. I found out there were many who are on the accounting or finance track in the room. One thing that Ms.Tucker emphasized was internships. These are a way to stand out compared to other students; she mentioned that, even if your grades are lacking, having valuable experience from internships can give you an edge over other applicants that have superior grades compared to yours. However, she did mention not to solely rely on internships because grades do matter too. In addition, she spoke of a vital resource that many students do not take advantage of as much as they should: professors. They were once students, and they may have valuable experience and/or advice to provide. Building relationships with professors is something students should seek out. Finally, Ms. Tucker warned us about our social media pages. Frequently used sites by students like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, can ruin your reputation for recruiters. On the other hand, a good social media profile can give employers a positive impression of the candidate.

The workshop was informative, and the information was vital to me. This was my first workshop, and I see myself attending more in the future.

Today, I went to a Career Workshop that was hosted by the Starr Career Development Center. It was called “Let’s Get Starrted: Career Building Blocks”. I attended the fourth session, and even though I didn’t attend the first three, I did not feel out of the loop. The person running this workshop was Ms. Tucker. She was extremely welcoming and was very informative. She went over some resources and services that Baruch College offered that would help students plan and go about their future. A sheet was handed to us that would help us plan out our steps in order to be successful in using our educational experience to set us up for our future careers. Many of the students in the workshop were accounting or finance majors, so, in terms of resources and services, we hovered around those two majors. Ms. Tucker encouraged all of us to look into internships and associations related to our major as it would help us set ourselves up for success in our careers. She mentioned that internships are crucial in obtaining jobs in accounting and finance because it is so competitive. Having many internships and experiences in the fields relating to our career under our belts, gives us a big advantage over other applicants. Ms. Tucker also recommended using other campus resources like clubs, the Starr Career Development Center, and our professors. Clubs can also play a crucial role in career development as it can help people build relationships and as it has room for many people to network as well. The Starr Career Development Center also has many opportunities and workshops to educate and guide individuals through different processes relating to the pursuit of a career. Additionally, it’s important to build relationships with professors as they have most likely worked in the field that they are teaching before they became professors. Having relationships with individuals that have had first hand experience in working in a specific field of interest may help a lot.

Ms. Tucker also spoke about managing our social media pages. She emphasized the importance of maintaining a positive personal brand. She encouraged us to filter through our various social media sites and get rid of anything that would ruin our reputation and credibility. We received a handout that showed us how employers screen their job applicants. This study shows that many employers use social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to generate an idea of the applicant. Most rejections are based on inappropriate photos and comments found on an applicants profile. On the other hand, some profiles give employers a positive impression of the applicant’s personality and organizational fit.

Freskim Noka

I went to a Citrin Cooperman business starters meeting for freshman, as I had seen them recruiting in Baruch. I signed up and they had the meeting like 2 weeks ago. There they had food, drinks, and plenty of stations to learn more about the company and the work they provide. They had programs to learn more about making a resume, learning how to communicate, and how to prepare for an internship. They gave us a tour of the building showing us how people work, and how the company is like a family. It really opened my eyes on the career i want to pursue because it seems like something I would do; waking up every morning, getting dressed in a suit and going to my desk job with people who are diverse. I met a lot of people from other schools, and I feel like I would love to work for the company, seeing as I met the CEO and he offered me the opportunity of working as soon as I took my accounting classes.

I highly recommend getting yourself affilated with a company, as they love to see freshamn progress throughout the year, as this is what they told me. They requested my highschool GPA, my current classes, my SAT scores and an essay. It was a great experience overall.

On November 15th I went t the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To start off I would like to say how enormous this place is. In the museum I explored the many interesting galleries and exhibits. One thing that I found most interesting  was the American wing. This wing had quite a number if important historical artifacts and antiques that are probably no where else in the United States. Another exhibit that really caught my eyes was the ancient greek and roman sculptures. Greek mythology and history always fascinated me and seeing these works of art up close and personal was quite an experience. These were sculptures that I had either read about or only seen pictures on. These pieces seemed to be crafted to perfection, and all of their details perfect. However something else that caught my attention from the start was the, pay what you want, pricing model. This huge museum is operational based on essentially donations, and it is meant to be accessible to anyone who wanted to go. This museum was also huge and I am certain that I did not finish exploring it. Which is what will motivate me to go again. Next week I will be going to see an opera there as well. It will be for my music class, so it will be another great experience

On Wednesday, November 15 I attended a STARR Career development workshop. The name of the workshop is “Lets Get Starrted: Career Building Blocks”.The workshop began at 11 and went to 12:15, I had my english class end at 11:35. I arrived late to the second floor however there were others who were attempting to attend this workshop. We had went to the STARR Career main desk we asked if we would be admitted. They told us no we will not be admitted , we were 35 minutes late, however I know that its the legends who don’t let the haters tell them not what to do.We went to the workshop room and quietly and in a non-distracting way we entered the class. There were about twenty students attending, about fifteen there just to get a blog done. This is career building blocks, so the instructor today was going over how to build a strong convincing resume. As a student looking to apply for a part-time job, I found her tips and slides helpful to create a better resume and feel more confident. I learned that for a student with not much work experience highlighting academics and leadership skills. A thick packet was handed out. This packet full of many pages was a valuable resource. There was section on words that are more convincing and can replace words that are weaker. I believe little details like this in a resume can make you seem like a better candidate. There were also multiple sample resumes in the packets. The samples were helpful to use as a model, observing what a good resume looks like. At the workshop we had the opportunity to talk to other students. We discussed what we can do to make better resumes. What me and two other people had in common was little and no prior work experience. We had discussed how using school and other activities can strengthen and put some substance on a resume. Overall I found the instructor and the workshop useful. I learned there is much more than just having a great resume, other steps to take are getting involved in clubs and community service as well as getting work experience and plan to work with internships.

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Last week I went to the career workshop called “small talk, it’s a big deal”. I went with my boys Jarrett, Sahil, Simon, and Mohtaz. It was a very humbling experience in that it really showed just how bad we are at small talking. The instructor made us role-play real life situations that we need to small talk in. We kind of cheated because we all knew each other and it would just be like any other conversation. Jarrett has trouble looking me in the eye for more than a second, which I’m not sure why but perhaps it is because I am very good looking. The instructor gave us a whole list of tips for small talking that were useful but also very obvious. Obviously I should of looked at the tips before hand because during our role play I decided to go for a compliment and told Jarrett he had a nice shirt of extravagant colors I have never seen before when he was just wearing a plain white t shirt. The instructor also mentioned how breathing helps you maintain composure and keep calm which I definitely agree with. I also liked the tip to stare in between someone’s eyebrows if direct eye contact is uncomfortable. Overall, the workshop didn’t really help because I still suck at small talking but I think it would of been better if we split up throughout the room instead of sitting next to each other.

On October 30th, Annie and I went to an Internship Seminar Workshop. This seminar ran from 3pm-4:30pm and we managed to fit it in our schedule because our math class for that day was cancelled. At this workshop, we learned about internships and how we could find and apply for them. The presenter, Michael Kalish explained about On Campus Recruitment, where representatives from companies come to Baruch to recruit and interview students to intern for them. This was interesting to learn about because I would like to intern in the upcoming spring semester/summer, so it was very convenient for me to attend this workshop. The presenter also reminded us that Baruch has many resources: they have many workshops to help us find internships, they offer help with resumes, and etc. I would definitely go to a resume workshop in the future to have a professional take a look at my resume and fix it up. This workshop was very helpful with providing information about internships and reminding us how we should take advantage of the free things offered by Baruch.