A Remarkable Learning Experience Through Informational Interviewing

By Jamie Douglass-Espaillat, SCDC Higher Education Intern

An informational interview differs greatly from a formal interview. The purpose behind informational interviewing is to gain knowledge of a certain field while networking and creating industry contacts. I decided to conduct an informational interview in an effort to uncover a direction towards an area of full-time work upon my graduation this May. After reaching my contact and arranging a time and place to meet via email, I created a list of questions for the interview. I did not want to be confined to this list; it was created merely to provide some direction during the interview, in case I found it was needed.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Maziely (Mazi) Crisostomo, Director of the College Now program here at Baruch. I was excited; assisting high school students with navigating their way through higher education choices was my motivation behind pursuing a Master’s degree in the first place. College Now is a program that mentors high school students who attend public institutions within our city. The program provides the opportunity to high school juniors and seniors attending schools in traditionally underserved neighborhoods to partake in college level courses through dual enrollment. College Now also extends its services to home-schooled students and students with disabilities.

Mazi has an extensive history of working in college access. She began as an outreach worker at Queens Community House, assisting students with a history of truancy to navigate accelerated paths to their high schools diplomas. She then moved on to Phipps Community Development Corporation in the Bronx where she helped students apply to college, and later to Good Shepherd Services at West Brooklyn Community High School where she resumed working with truant students. Mazi thoroughly enjoyed her work but wanted more. She eventually transitioned to College Now and is juggling a variety of responsibilities in her new role as Director.

When speaking of her new position and how it fulfills her, Mazi said she finds the most enjoyment in seeing her students succeed and watching them promote the program to their peers. Receiving gratitude from the students she mentors is also fulfilling. When discussing challenges within her role, Mazi’s concern is the ability to sufficiently promote the program and be available to students while handling the administrative duties that come with her position in a short-staffed office. She was also concerned with keeping her students motivated.

The interview concluded with a discussion about the plethora of resources available to students, especially those who are interested in pursuing vocational paths. Mazi’s passion for assisting students in navigating the sometimes blurry high school-to-college pathway is evident through her extensive knowledge and desire to mentor. Speaking with her was not only personally informative, but also reinforced my decision to pursue a career in higher education.

Prior to meeting with Mazi, I was aware that conducting an informational interview would be beneficial; after all, what opportunity to learn isn’t? What I was not aware of was the reassurance I would gain from the experience. Meeting with Mazi not only provided encouragement of my professional choices but was also inspirational. It gave me the motivation I needed to enter my last semester of graduate school here at Baruch with excitement and vigor.

Time to Move on

By Yahya Khan, Peer for Career

As 2014 comes to a close, so does my undergraduate career. I came to Baruch four years ago as a freshman, ready to embark on an exciting and transformative journey. Now, that journey is at an end; I will graduate at the end of this semester, and with it ends an era of my life. I have been lucky enough to land a full time offer with a large financial services firm and I will start my employment shortly after graduating. While I am glad to have obtained meaningful employment and excited to commence a new chapter in my journey, I am also saddened by the end of a significant phase of my life and by the radical change that it heralds. I have had the opportunity to discuss these particular feelings with many of my peers as well as mentors that have already traversed through this particular canyon, and now I want to share a few insights that might be useful.

1. Time is precious. Transitioning from college to a full time work life normally leads to a reduction in disposable time. The ability to have free time and how we choose to spend it becomes increasingly valuable. With work weeks approaching 50-60 hours and sometimes even more, a major change that many entry level professionals go through is prioritizing their relationships, friendships, and who they choose to spend their time with. This can have both positive and negative outcomes: it allows us to curate our lives and allocate time to what we perceive to be the most important or enjoyable endeavors, but it deprives us of those chance encounters and “out of the box” activities that can lead to personal growth.

2. Motivation at work. Once the initial excitement of starting a new job wears off, it is important to deploy mechanisms that keep the initial spark alive. One of the key ways of doing so is to have self- assigned goals and challenges that motivate the desire to work and to improve. For many of us starting careers in large, global organizations, it is sometimes hard to envisage the impact our work creates or its importance to others. Therefore, in order to remain motivated and passionate, it is important to have definite, measurable goals and to understand the larger picture of why our work is important.

3. Charting a life course. Life in college follows a structured path. Students are generally familiar with what they need to do in order to achieve good grades and to be successful in academic life. The transition to a work life disrupts that orderly existence. While responsibilities and activities at work might be structured and assigned by someone else, a person’s own career trajectory is completely defined by their own accomplishments and desires. Therefore, it is important to take a step back from the day to day humdrum of life and think about what our own definition of “success” is, what we want to achieve in life, and how our current employment aids that effort.

The end of my time at Baruch is both nostalgic and exciting. I am delighted by the friendships and relationships I have had in my time here and by the plethora of life experiences that I will take away from this institution. However, I am also saddened by the thought of leaving so many friends and fond memories behind. In conclusion, regardless of how I feel about this change, it will happen, and the best I can do is to equip myself with the right tools and go out in the world ready to take on the next challenge.

Step Up and Speak

By Christopher Woo, Peer for Career

Along with spiders, flying, and the dark, public speaking is one of the things that people fear most. Spiders and airplanes can be avoided, but unfortunately, a student can never avoid the anxiety and stress that is public speaking. Whether it comes to presentations, speeches, or networking, a student will eventually be required to get up and talk in front of a group of strangers. Although initially unnerving, there are many things that you can do (besides picture the crowd in their underwear) to prepare and make the whole ordeal of speaking to a room of glaring eyes a lot less daunting.

Prior to getting up to deliver your presentation or speech, there are a couple steps that you need to take. For one, know your material and practice, practice, practice. Some may think that they can wing a presentation, but that is never recommended. Knowing your material inside and out gives you confidence, and when talking to strangers, confidence is key. You will be able to answer any follow up questions and you can speak knowledgeably about your topic. Another thing you can do to build confidence is dress appropriately on the day of your presentation. Looking good will make you feel good, resulting in a higher level of confidence. Pay attention to your hair, makeup, dress, tie dimples, and whatever else it takes to make you feel good about yourself going into the presentation.

Time to present. Now during the presentation, there are some things that you want to take note of. Know your audience. Notice where the professionals are, where the professors are, where that kid in the corner dozing off is. Know who you are talking to and target your presentation to them in terms of language and details. You would use different vocabulary and details for a group of students than you would for a group of professionals in the industry.

While speaking, be aware of your tone of voice and the rate at which you speak. Some people tend to have a higher-pitched voice when nervous, and that is fine. Just make sure you speak at a tone and rate where people can understand you. Usually that means talking at a normal, maybe even slightly slower than normal, pace and enunciating your words. You can have the best ideas ever, but if no one can understand you, it won’t matter. Keeping eye contact with your audience will also help you appear more confident and gain the audience’s trust. Try not to stare at the floor or your notes all the time or the audience will think you have not prepared well and stare even more blankly at you.

Most of all, the key to public speaking is to relax. You prepared, dressed well, and you are the expert on the topic you are presenting. Even if you skipped a line on your notes or missed a sentence on a slide, don’t worry about it. Your audience does not know your presentation and won’t even realize the mistake unless you make a big deal out of it. As hard as it sounds, try to enjoy yourself and have fun. It is your time to command the room.

Lessons Learned: An International Student’s Story

By Jubi Gauchan, Peer for Career

My journey as an international student in the USA has not been easy. It has been a road fraught with difficulties and heartbreaks. In a world where many people come into New York knowing what they want to become, I was the exact opposite! I had just given up on my dream that I had since I was six, of becoming a doctor due to the enormous costs of medical school. Thus my first steps into NY: no idea what I wanted to major in, experiencing the brutal cold and not knowing anybody here. It was a start afresh after living for 18 years in Asia.

I was initially attending another college before transferring to Baruch during my sophomore year. Thus, I was one of the newest newbies you could find at Baruch: an international student and a transfer student!

Coming to Baruch was an eye-opener. To quote our President, we have our “own mini-UN” here, filled with people from all over the world speaking so many different languages! The potpourri was intimidating, but awe-striking. As a sophomore still, I had no idea what I truly wanted to major in. I was torn between accounting and finance. That first semester, I became a commuter student, going for classes and then heading back home. Time was just ticking by and I still had no clue as to what I wanted to major in. Also, I barely knew anyone. I knew that this soon had to change.

By chance, I happened to come across a brochure for the Rising Starr Sophomore Program (RSSP). I decided to challenge myself and break out of my comfort zone and applied. I had no confidence that I would even get in as they were targeting the best sophomores at Baruch. As luck would have it, I got into the program where I met so many bright people who were in similar situations as me (not knowing their exact major yet) but very much involved at Baruch. Looking at them as an inspiration, I took up the offer of joining Baruch’s oldest Honors society, Sigma Alpha Delta, in order to become more active on campus and get to know more people.

Long story short, one step led to another and I ended up joining T.E.A.M. Baruch. Through there, I met the most wonderful people on campus- people who are my closest friends at Baruch- and learned even more about leadership. After the general leadership training, I underwent another semester of rigorous training to be in the Peers for Careers program. Meanwhile, my year long journey with RSSP and the Starr Career Development Center helped me to decide upon my major.

It was a daunting task to finally decide that Finance was going to be my major. I was afraid. As an international student, it would be even more difficult to land a job in Finance, and all my international friends were pushing me to do accounting because of the perception that accounting is recession-proof. Regardless, I went with my gut and declared Finance as a major. Now came the tough part: finding an internship. With no prior finance-related work experience and little knowledge of the finance world, I took my major classes and went to events, workshops and career fairs. As I challenged myself more, I faced setbacks and triumphs and grew more as a person. Soon, after countless hours of preparations, I finally landed my first internship which then created even more opportunities for me.

Now in my senior year, as I look back, I see that all these years have been extremely challenging but equally as rewarding. In my journey as an international student, I have found these lessons helpful and I hope you find use of them too:

1) Never follow the path most traveled. Listen to your heart, find your own path and create your own opportunities. Believe that you can make it happen. Believe in yourself!

2) There will be days when you feel like nothing is going right in the world for you and everything seems to be unattainable. At that point, take a deep breath and just go do something else for that moment, such as watching your favorite TV shows, going for a long run, or talking with your close friends (which always helps!) Soon enough, you will find that the tasks you have to complete are not as daunting anymore.

3) Always be humble. There are so many people from different backgrounds that one can learn from, be they your professors, your peers, or the many people who keep our school running. Everybody has their own life stories that we can learn something from.

4) Do not burn bridges. Nobody will remain where they are at this particular point of time. Life is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. There may come a day when they are in a more favorable position than you. At that point, it is not the words that you spoke that they will remember, but the way you made them feel.

5) Always be grateful for the opportunities you have. Take advantage of being in one of the greatest cities in the world and at Baruch! Also, never consider something as beneath you, for every experience- good or bad- helps you to grow as a person and leads you to the next step in your journey to success.
In conclusion, regardless of our backgrounds, in our challenging world today it is all too easy to get caught up in our fast-paced lives and forget that we do not live forever. Hence, live each moment to the fullest. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Steve Prefontaine:

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”