Author: Kamelia Kilawan

Kamelia Kilawan is a Jeannette K. Watson Fellow and a student at Baruch College studying journalism and religion and culture.

Building a Career in College

By: Paulina Jankovic
Peer for Career, Majoring in Marketing
As I completed my second year of college, there seemed to be a huge change in what everyone was talking about. Instead of conversations about summer fun, the halls filled with constant chatter of prestigious internships, hard earned jobs, and club leadership positions. And I was struck by feelings of intimidation.I had applied to numerous internships and still did not have a summer job. Tired of watching everyone seemingly progress and succeed, I curtailed my efforts and gave up.It was only a matter of time when all of this disappointment transformed into a new motivation. I realized that I did not want to sit by the sidelines and only watch others progress and succeed in their career paths.

I wanted to be part of the action. I quickly grasped a new mindset that, if you want to achieve something, you need to actively take steps to make it happen. Success doesn’t just fall into your lap.
I knew I wanted to pursue a career in Marketing. To make sure that I prepared, I knew I still needed to gain experience and knowledge in the marketing and sales fields, develop my leadership skills, get more involved on campus, and start building a network of connections.Since then, I have made sure to relentlessly keep trying, with my ultimate goal front and center in my mind.This fortitude has led me to land two marketing internships, and I plan to obtain even more. I have also acquired a sales and marketing position in a company to build a sales background.I am active on campus, holding a position in a student club. To hone in on my leadership skills I joined T.E.A.M. Baruch—Baruch’s on-campus leadership program. I have made sure to engage in any marketing or advertising networking events to gain valuable insight and advice from those already in the marketing field.

I certainly made progress in my career path and aspirations, but there still is a lot more work to do.

If we want something bad enough, we must pave our own paths to success. This valuable lesson learned continues to guide me. Now I know I will not just watch the crowd pass me by, but create my own accelerated path to success.

Baruch Students Give Thanks…because the Little Things do Count

By: Farzana Ghanie
Class of 2014, Peer for Career
As we, residents of the tri-state area, continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy many of us have realized how important the little things in life like basic necessities – truly are. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the Peers for Careers at the STARR Career Development Center thought it would be nice to share the gratitude that some Baruch students are feeling this holiday season.“Hurricane Sandy was a rude awakening for many of us. After seeing the severity of Sandy and the destruction it caused, I am grateful for having a roof over my head, food, water, power. My heart goes out to the families who have lost everything. The strength to get back on their feet is admiring, and the countless volunteers who have helped with recover process, their actions are endearing,” said Senior Nikita Singh.Singh was one of many students who shared her reactions to Sandy as well as her appreciation for having safely weathered the storm.

“I am thankful for my parents for holding it together during the hurricane,” said senior, Shirley Cheung, whose community suffered flooding and power outage as a result of the storm.

Living in an area, which was also affected by the natural disaster, junior, Yahya Khan, expressed his gratitude for the restoration of power and heat in his neighborhood.

“I am thankful for the understanding and determination that allows me to adapt to any situation,” said sophomore, Jason Ioffe.  As an active student leader, Ioffe helps students in various capacities through his different positions in many of the offices and around campus.

International business major, Harshita Parkh is grateful for pursuing a major that she is passionate about.  The Career Center has played an integral role in Parikh’s professional development.  Parikh joined Peers for Careers, a leadership program, which provides undergraduates with the opportunity to assist other students in their professional development during her freshman year.  This role has given her greater insight into resume, cover letter, and thank you letter writing, as well as interviewing techniques.

“I am thankful for the opportunities that have came my way and the resources at Baruch College that have helped me take advantage of the opportunities,” said Sam Wong, finance major.  Throughout her time at Baruch, Wong has also taken advantage of the many resources offered by the SCDC.  In addition to utilizing Baruch’s career database, STARR Search, Wong has participated in On Campus Recruiting.

Senior, Liz De La Cruz is thankful for her full-time offer as well as her acceptance to her chosen study abroad program.  De La Cruz will be spending the winter intersession taking classes in and travelling around Brazil.

Observing individuals, neighbors and strangers alike, helping each other as we travel down the road to recovery is heartwarming.  Sometimes we become so comfortable with the little things in life that we lose sight of their value.  Something as small as a smile or a simple “thank you” can make someone’s day so much brighter. As we enter the holiday season, let us celebrate and embrace the good things no matter how small, because as Sandy has shown us, sometimes it is the absence of the small things that have the biggest impacts on our lives.

On behalf of the Peers for Careers and Starr Career Development Center, I wish you a safe and festive Thanksgiving!

 

Owning Your Skills

By: Amanda Ramkissoon
Majoring in Operations Management
Class of 2013
Despite our diversity, Baruch Students all share similar concerns, the most popular being, “How will I get a job without relevant work experience?” In particular, I was worried about how to find a job in operations with little to no relevant experience.
It is this concern that seems to have plagued many business schools. How can a student with no relevant work experience enter the business field? I had to deal with this problem and as a student career advisor I also saw students facing the same challenge.
While there may be many reasons for students concerns over inadequate experience, there are also many easily accessible solutions.
I think my biggest challenge when applying for business jobs was getting into the right state of mind. I found myself comparing myself to other students who already had internships at top notch companies while I had nothing close to that. I needed to convince myself that although I may not have jobs within the business field, I did in fact have valuable transferable skills.
The first step I took was to identify these skill sets.
  • This can be accomplished by attending one of the many workshops offered by STARR, by finding someone that knows you well and can point these out to you, or that can look at your resume and highlight these areas.
  • If none of these options are accessible to you at the time, look at your resume yourself and reflect back on what you have done in the past. No one knows you better than yourself. I would like to advise caution here. You need to be comfortable enough to speak on these skill sets and display them during the interview and on the job. So be honest!
  • For example, many Baruch students have cashier experience and are Accounting majors. When you look at being a cashier, you may think of it is as simply putting money into a cash register. However, as an Accounting student, this displays responsibility in handling cash and performing calculations, responsibility in record management and many other skill sets that are often overlooked.

I am an Operations Management major who recently secured a job at a well-known       investment bank with much of my industry understanding based on one finance class. I competed with mainly finance students and my selling point was, “I have an operational mindset that is difficult to develop in a short time span and I can understand finance on the job.”

It’s all about playing up your strengths and using them to help you stand out. This is your time to shine. So don’t sell yourself short.