I have been with Harrison as the first Director of Career Services for the online division of Harrison College (one of Indiana's Best Places to Work) since August 2006. Prior to joining the team at Harrison, I worked in Purdue University's Center for Career Opportunities. I have an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Management and Human Resources and a BA from Dartmouth College in English (so now you know what English majors do with their degrees.)
I had considered different Human Resource Careers, but chose to work in career services after completing my MBA because I enjoy helping people move on to the next step in their careers. I have a special interest in how social media/web 2.0 is changing how people look for jobs.
When I work with people on their career advancement, I often encounter people who are unhappy in their current roles and are interested in changing their paths. Some of them seem to have a clear idea of what they need to do (go back to school, volunteer in an area that will help them to build skills etc.) and are well on their way to change. However, many seem to be stuck - they focus on the "rocks in the road" instead of their eventual destination.
One reason people often cite as to why they are hesitant to make a change is age - "I'm too old to go back to school." Or, "I'm too old to learn a new job in a new industry." Well, I ran across a story recently of a 95-year-old retiree. Chester Reed worked for the post office and never missed a shift, but what I found amazing about his story was that he was 58 on his first day on the job!
Try to follow Chester Reed's example - you are never to old to start a new career!
Today, the Department of Education released a study of different facets of the state of our educational system. As someone who works in career development, I was interested in the information regarding the effect that education has on an individual's earning potentional. I've pulled the relevant information from the report as well as included a link to the whole report.
From
the Condition of Education 2010 In 2008, among young adults ages 25–34 who worked full time throughout a full year, those with a bachelor’s degree earned 28 percent more than young adults with an associate’s degree, 53 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 96 percent more than young adults who did not earn a high school diploma. The median of the earnings for young adults with a bachelor’s degree was $46,000; for those with an associate’s degree, $36,000; for high school completers, $30,000; and for those who did not earn a high school diploma or equivalent certificate, $23,500.
Of course, what you earn as an individual will vary greatly depending on your field of interest, location etc., but the study does point conclusively to the role of education in increasing your earning potential. To learn more about the degree programs offered by Harrison, visit our website at
www.harrison.edu.
Potential and current students often ask what employers think about degrees earned at a distance learning college relative to those earned on ground. I would like to be able to provide a definite answer, but really as with many questions related to employer hiring behavior it depends on the employer. Just like some employers prefer to hire only graduates of their alma mater, some will prefer to hire graduates of brick-and-mortar campuses and some will find the technical skills that students learn online appealing.
Overall, when you are looking for a job, the most important thing to do is to focus on what you can control - yourself. This means thinking about what it is that you really want to do and making the best argument you can that you are well prepared to do it. Don't spend time worrying about what potential employers might or might not be thinking and use your time instead to work on your resume, interviewing skills, and other items relevant to your career advancement.
As you are preparing for your job search, be sure to prepare a list of all the skills that you have developed as an online student. For example, because there are no time scheduled for classes, students have to manage their own time and when they will be in the classroom. Being able to manage time effectively and self-start are two skills that employers want in potential employees. Having examples of all the skills you have developed will impress any employer!
If you are in an active job search or thinking through how additional education can help you with your career advancement, Harrison College has resources that can help you. Check out our website at www.harrison.edu for additional information.
Whether you are happy in your current position or in an active job search, it is important to keep your resume up-to-date. If you wait too long between updates, you run the risk of forgetting all the great things that you have accomplished in your position as well as not having it ready to help you prepare for your annual review or jump into an unanticipated job search.
If you do spend time at least once a year working on your resume, it will give you an opportunity to evaluate your career advancement. Have you accomplished what you wanted in the last 12 months? Are there any holes in your skill set that you should address?
A yearly review will also provide you a chance to continue to polish your resume. You may catch something this year that you did not last year. For example, I just went through my resume and saw two misspellings that I missed previously - proving that even those of us who provide career development assistance can sometimes not proofread as closely as we should.
If it has been a long time since you have updated your resume, reach out to your the career services staff at your
campus for assistance or check out the resources in Harrison College's
Learning Resource Center.
In this year's NCAA tournament, the team of another Indiana College, the Butler Bulldogs, made an improbable run all the way to the championship game. As the sportscasters were telling the team's story, one mentioned that Butler's coach had been working for a local company, but always dreamed of coaching college basketball. To move himself toward his dream, he volunteered with Butler's team, was eventually hired and promoted until he found himself in the top job.
So, what does this story mean for the career advancement prospects of Harrison College students? First, you have to set a defined goal for your career. I hear far too many people tell me that they are just "looking for a job." If your goal is this broad, it is harder for you to figure out what steps you should take and for others to help you.
Once you have your goal, break it down into realistic, achievable steps - in this case, the Butler coach set a goal of being a basketball coach and one of his steps was to volunteer with a local team. His eventual goal was lofty, but he broke it down into actions that he could take and was eventually successful.
How might this process work for you as a Harrison College student? If you are interested in a career in Human Resources, don't overlook opportunities to volunteer as a way to build your resume. Many non-profit organizations need help recruiting and managing volunteers. Recruiting and managing volunteers could be a first step to recruiting and managing staff as a career.
Good luck as you move toward the career of your dreams. If you will need additional training or education to get there, check out all the different programs offered by Harrison.
When I work with job seekers on their resumes, they often struggle with their objective statements. First of all, an objective statement is not a required part of a resume. If an employer can clearly tell from your educational background and work experience what type of position you are seeking, you can skip an objective statement and use the space for something else.
If, however, you are entering a new field, an objective statement can be useful. It tells the employer how you hope to fit into the organization as well as helps you to focus your resume on the skills that are most relevant to the type of position your are seeking.
A good objective statement includes the type of position you are seeking (function and/or industry) and can also include relevant skills. Mine for example might say: Seeking a position as Director of Career Services that requires experience working with students in a distance learning college.
So from my objective statement, a potential employer can tell that I want to work in career services and that I have an interest in or experience with working with online students on their career advancement.
Good examples:
Remember that a good objective statement will state an interest in a specific position or industry and may include reference to a skill set.
- To obtain a position as a referee that requires past experience playing basketball.
- Seeking a role as a celebrity publicist.
- Interested in using a background in criminal justice to contribute to a program that assists juvenile offenders in learning to make better choices.
Bad examples:
What you want to avoid are statements that are too general or not relevant to the type of position you are seeking. For example:
- Seeking a position in your company (doing what? Always remember that an employer is trying to fill a position, not find you a job).
- Interested in a role that requires strong organizational skills in which I can advance my career (This is the first sell statement of your resume so keep the focus on what you will bring to the employer rather than what you hope to gain.)
- Shooting for the stars and bringing excellence to your organization. (This just doesn't make any sense.)
If you are stumped on how to put together your own objective statement, contact your campus career services department. Contact information is available on the Harrison website www.harrison.edu.
When I conduct mock interviews with Harrison College students, the most feared question is always "Tell me about yourself." Given that you will ALWAYS face this question in one form or another (why are you interested in this job is a variation), it is important to practice it. You don't want to seem over-rehearsed, but you do want to make sure that you have a feeling for what you want to say to share during the interview.
A good answer starts with why you are interested in a particular career area, position, or company. It also covers some information on your experience and skills. I have been recently interviewing candidates for a position in my department. I have been more impressed by candidates who could talk to me about why they wanted to provide career development assistance for students and how they had prepared in past positions rather than those who were just looking to move into higher education. In the end, both candidates might be hard workers and could be a great fit, but I will have to pick the one who can help me see her working in my department.
I also encourage people to avoid sharing personal information - how long they have been married, how many they have, etc. Although this is important part of who you are, it isn't related to the qualifications required to be successful in the position. Employers aren't supposed to consider personal information when they are making employment decisions so try to keep candidates (or at least they should) from straying into the personal.
If you are a Harrison College student or alumni and would like help developing your interviewing skills or need other career development assistance, talk with your campus Director of Career Services (contact information is available on the website
www.harrison.edu)
As you are working on your career advancement, it is natural to think about what you want to do and what you need to study or the skills to develop to be able to reach your career goal. However, in addition to building your core career skill set, you also need to think about building your job search skills.
When I'm working with students who have sought career development assistance, one job search skill that I think makes a huge difference is between candidates is the ability to interview well. Interviewing is a learned skill - there are few to no people who are natural interviewers, but everyone can learn to be a great interview as long as they are willing to put in a bit of time.
The first thing to do is to contact your career services office to schedule a mock interview. This will give you a good baseline as to where you are now and what to develop. Mostly like, you will need to develop examples to use in answering behaviorial interview questions. These types of questions ask you to share an example of a specific time (in detail - aim for an answer that lasts 60 to 90 seconds) that you accomplished a related task or project. The aim of behaviorial questions is to get a better idea of what type of employee you will be by finding out more about the type of employee you were in the past.
So, to get started improving your interviewing skills first conduct a mock interview, develop your examples, and go back for a follow-up mock. If you need any help getting started, visit
us online to find the contact information for your local career services staff. Good luck!
Networking is a crucial part of job search and career development. However, many people are stuck on how to get started. In working with job seekers, I find that they get stuck on the word networking and have trouble breaking it down into smaller, actionable steps.
One great way to get started networking is to join a professional association. Professional associations bring together people who have a shared interest in a particular work function or industry. There are others that are for professionals who live in the same geographic area. Professional associations usually have meetings for members to attend and learn more about a relevant topic as well as to meet other members.
Once you identify an organization of interest, commit to a time-based, actionable goal that you are likely to follow through on, such as attending two meetings by yourself in the next two months. Attending by yourself makes it more likely that you will make an effort to talk to others at the meeting rather than sticking by the side of the person you came with.
Some good resources for identifying professional associations are the association directory on
Weddles or doing a search for different positions on the Occupational Outlook Handbook on the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (don't let the name scare you aware - it is a great job search resource).
Or you can check with others in your field. For example, if you are interested in Human Resource Careers and were to talk with a human resources professional, that person would likely point you in the direction of the Society of Human Resource Management or SHRM. Or, if you attend out Evansville college, you may be directed toward the Evansville Chamber of Commerce.
Another option is to join an affinity group, such as an alumni association. Harrison College's alumni association has over 400 members - if you are an alumni, please check out the
Harrison College Alumni site for more information. .
Harrison College was once again selected as one of Indiana's Best Places to Work. As you may have read in previous posts, employees at each of the nominated companies were surveyed and their responses determined which companies were selected.
For job seekers, a list like this is a great way to build your target list of potential employers or to use in researching potential employers. If a company in on a best places to work list (and there are a few different ones - there are others by city/state, profession or affinity group, such as best places to work for moms), check out the criteria as to how companies are selected. If it is based on employee responses, such as the Indiana Best Places to Work list, you have good reason to believe that the organization treats their employees well. And that is a great thing to know before you accept an offer!
Also, sharing that you saw the company on the list during an interview or in your cover letter, lets those involved in the hiring process know that you did your research and are interested in this company specifically. Knowing that they are on your target list of potential employers and that you have done your research is impressive to any potential employer.
So, if you are interviewing with Harrison College, whether the Fort Wayne College, Elkhart College, the Online Division, or any other campus, let your interviewer know that you saw us on the list of Best Places to Work in Indiana!
Vist
harrison.edu for current openings at Harrison College.
When you begin your program with Harrison, you should keep the end in mind - what do you want to do when you've finished your studies? Is there a specific company that you've always dreamed of working for? How will you move in the direction you are interested in?
Today, the Internet offers a multitude of different tools that you can use to create your personal brand that will allow you to share your background and career interest with others. For example, you could create a profile on LinkedIn that shares your plans to become a Medical Reimbursement Specialist or that you are pursuing an Online Business Finance Degree. Or look for a blog that is written by someone who is interested in Human Resources Careers and add a comment to an entry that you find relevant to your own interests.
Brainstorm on different websites that will help you to build the brand that you want to be know for. Your goal is to make sure that whatever keywords an employer would use to look for someone with your background are associated with your name. That way, when an employer uses Google or another tool to search for job candidates, you are increasingly the possibility that she will find you.
Do be careful that you Google (or use another search engine) your name on a regular basis so that you know what information is out there about you and are certain that it all reflects well on you and your capabilities. If you know that there is negative information out there about you, you can take steps to remove or minimize it, which I will talk about in a future post.
Although creating an online brand can be useful, it isn't for everyone. Be careful with the amount and type of information you share about yourself (never give anyone else your passwords or other personal information). Only share as much information as you are comfortable sharing.
If you are a current Harrison student and would like ideas on how to brand yourself online, contact the Career Services Staff at your campus.
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