I'm in the FOX Spotlight!

A few words for Temple's Fox School of Business students: get to know and use the Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD). To see why I say this and to read even more advice from others, check out the following page on their website where I was recently featured!

On this page, I describe some of the things that the CSPD did for me in my undergrad career which ultimately led me to my current post-graduate position as a Junior Product Manager:

"Fox Spotlight | When it comes to success stories, these alumni are writing their own chapters."

About the Short Story

I never thought I'd write a coming-of-age piece for a job application. Somehow, that's exactly what happened when I applied for a position with a well-known ad agency in NYC.

Suzie has been a character of mine since I was a kid. I used to create PowerPoint animations of her battling monsters and flying across the city after discovering the software on my parent's computer. You couldn't have told me that Word Art and Smart Art were meant for business presentations.

Over the years, I have sketched, written about, and modified this little girl, but I never thought she would grow up this way. Late one Sunday night, I was taken by surprise when these words started manifesting through the keyboard. My very own fingers were telling me that Suzie is a doll, representing a young girl who realizes it's time to grow up but is not quite sure she wants to let go.

I did get an interview from the agency after this, although I didn't end up with the position. I am happy to say, though, that I was offered a wonderful position with the company I've interned for since last September. I'm very happy that everything has worked out and excited for this new chapter in my life, although I guess a part of me wonders what that might mean for the little heroine from my youth...

Unemployed? Quite frankly, I'm JEALOUS!

Because no one's going to blame you for being a "slacker" now.

So I know this may sound weird. I'm the all-around "career woman" with ambition and motivation and all that. I'm totally grateful that I have found myself in a financially secure (as secure as anyone can be, I suppose) position this year and for the upcoming summer, and I worked darned hard to get here. I know there are plenty of other people who have also been working hard all their lives and now find themselves in an unfortunate circumstance. Believe me - a lot of them are my friends, peers, family members, so I understand. I will help anyone to the extent that I am able in finding an internship (see previous post), offering tips for a phone interview, or suggesting follow-up tactics.

However, at this time in our nation you can get away with not having a job or, for that matter a career path. No one can blame you and there are so many interesting and off-beat opportunities bubbling up that I wonder whether I shouldn't be a bit jealous.

For example, the ability to travel cheaply makes month-long European adventures a plausible reality for my soon-to-be-post-grad peers. For some who are continuing school, a restaurant or sales job may be in the making. As much as I despised the restaurant industry while I was in it, few can argue that a summer gig which leaves plenty of room for days at the beach and nights at the bar leaves little to be desired. Finally, I am now thinking back to years ago when I was a summer camp counselor, and before that a summer camp kid. Entering the professional arena, I may never have another chance to roast marshmallows around a campfire while signing "Kumbaya" with guitar accompaniment, or listen to my kiddies sing an a capella rendition of "How Great Thou Art."

Point being, if you're "jobless" and lacking in direction, you're not only not alone but you'd better realize your fortune. Since there are so many others in your situation right now, no one's going to blame you anymore for not having your career plans worked out 6 months before you graduate.

Stay tuned: if you need more ideas about productive uses of your newly-discovered free time, you'll enjoy my next post.

Conference Mailing Lists as a Job-searching Opportunity

Do you give your e-mail out at networking events and conferences?

In the fall semester, one of my marketing professors here at Temple paid out of pocket for a bunch of us American Marketing Association (AMA) students to go to a great conference in New York City. The conference was organized by the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) and took place at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea (downtown Manhattan). Here we are at the conference:

I got on AWNY's mailing list and last week received an e-mail about an internship opportunity for the summer 2009. Mind you, I haven't received one e-mail from them up until now, and I don't need an internship myself but I was excited to pass this along.

UPDATE: I was going to post the internship description here but Lynn Zalokar, AWNY's Membership Manager has asked me to take it down, since she has already received a number of resumes and only has one spot left.

Lesson learned: you never know when an opportunity may arise and you have to be quick to snatch it up. This can be really frustrating, especially when it seems like all the doors are slamming in your face. Stay positive and keep APPLYING YOURSELF through these tough times. I'm going to make my next entry more inspirational. In the meantime I'd like to know, what creative job-search strategies are you using?

Reminds me of my Internship at the Library

(more animals)

sanofi-aventis research library,
Summer 2007 bar-coding initiative

Internship Project

So I'm working on a marketing plan for my internship, which I am finally able to get back to now that summer classes and my birthday are over. By the way the party was a great time and I am soooo happy to have a social life again now that I am 21! Haha. Anyway I'm working on identifying the target market for Tri-State's future marketing efforts based on a bunch of membership data in an Excel spreadsheet. I wanted to post the Google map I made to see if it works, and looks like it does! This shows all the current member locations (zip codes, not exact addresses):

My marketing plan is gonna be hot hot hot. Gotta love Google!

Come to think of it, this automatically-generated map saves a lottt of time compared to when I had to make a Photoshop version to update the marketing materials for my internship at Vollmer a few years back. Even though it took me a while to enter in all the data for the cities and zipcodes on Google, you can always add or delete points easily and the map is totally interactive. If we had a database with exact office addresses, there is even a tool to turn the Excel spreadsheet right into a format Google can recognize. It didn't work with just the zipcodes but imagine the possibilities... what if people wanted to upload their own office information to the Tri-State map, so others could easily find them? Their privacy might be kaput but hey, who needs privacy anymore... read my entry "I See Hooters" for more.

Break It Off

Done with finals... good results so far :-)

Planning a holiday dinner party for this Friday.

Finishing up my internship.

Getting excited for ROME! (3 weeks!!!)