Today's question: I've heard a number of horror stories involving job and internship applications. How can I avoid some of the most common "deal breakers?"
Answered by: Robin Kahan, Tufts Career ServicesBefore I came to Tufts, I worked in HR in a large corporation for years, the last 5 as the College Relations Manager. In that role, I got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly side of students applying for jobs and internships. In all your interactions with employers you want to realize you are being judged.
Use a dictionary, spell checker, grammar checker and a friend who is a good proof-reader before sending your resume and/or cover letter.
A couple of small errors can ruin your chances of getting your resume to the hiring manager. The HR person is screening for attention to detail and may reject a good candidate because he or she types 'there' instead of 'their.'Don’t 
call me Mr.
Oftentimes a name does not help you determine the gender of the person to whom you are writing, examples include: Alex, Pat, Taylor, and Chris. Do not guess! Use resources like LinkedIn or call the company to make sure before sending your letter. On a related note, you should make every effort to write to a person by name (not "To Whom it May Concern," or something similar, unless the organization requests this). I know managers who devalue an application if a candidate does not even try to find a name at the company.
If you are interviewing for a job at a company, you had better know about the company and why you want the job.
There is truly nothing worse than a candidate who shows up to an interview without doing his/her homework. You want to be able to bridge your knowledge, skills and abilities with what the company needs, and how can you effectively do that if you don’t know anything about the company?
Don’t ask about salary, but be ready to tell the company your expectations.
Again, do your homework. Understand salaries based on industry, location, size of firm, job title and other specifics of the position for which you are applying. My best advice is not to make it seem like salary is the most important element of the job for you- this rarely helps you land the job. Again, not having an answer to the question on salary expectations will make an employer feel you did not do your research. You don’t necessarily need to have a specific number - a range will do. Whenever possible give a specific answer. 
Interviewers are taught that past performance is the best predictor of future behavior. You want to give an actual example for each question posed. If you remember STAR (specific) situation, task, action, result– you will give an excellent answer in 4-6 sentences.Do not “stalk” recruiters.
It is fine to follow-up on a resume or interview, but don’t do it every day. As a colleague of mine explained, recruiters will not want to “put annoying people in front of managers!"
Obviously, Tufts students never make any of the above mistakes. I just wanted to share some of the things that drive HR people crazy.
Today's question: I sent out a bunch of emails to alumni in the advisory network and I haven’t heard back from anyone. What’s wrong? Why did they join the network if they’re not going to respond?Answered by: Donna Milmore, Tufts Career ServicesYour question is particularly timely. Many students will be thinking about using winter break to explore careers through networking. This is an ideal time to look closely at subject lines and salutations: two key components of networking requests by email.Assuming that you sent your emails to people who are employed, you must keep in mind that they’re leading busy lives. Their responsibilities often extend beyond the workplace, including partners, families, professional and community commitments. Students have breaks between classes, long vacations, and a predictable cycle of work but the ‘real world’ doesn’t operate that way. Be patient; you may hear back when they’re able to turn from more pressing work to your email which seems less time-sensitive (to them, not to you :))
In the meantime, I recommend that you meet with a Career Counselor to review what you wrote in your email. Students can inadvertently sabotage their networking efforts through careless communication. First, think about what you wrote in the subject line of your email. Subject lines are comparable to headlines; they influence what people choose to read ~ and in which order they read. Ineffective subject lines could be general phrases such as “Career Advice,” “Job search,” or most disastrous of all, the absence of a subject line.If you’re writing to a Tufts alumnus/a, make sure to include “Tufts” in your subject line. Example: "Career Question from Tufts Junior." If someone has given you a contact, include that person’s name in the subject line. Example: "Referral from Prof. Smith at Tufts."
Crafting subject lines can get your email opened more quickly and get you off to a good start with a new contact. Next, your salutation can continue to create a positive impression ~ or not. Avoid the informality that is characteristic of texting or emailing with friends. For example, never say “Hey” when addressing a business contact. Use the same formal salutation that you’d find in formal correspondence. Example: “Dear Ms. Smith,” but not “Dear Jennifer Smith.”Subject lines and salutations are the first things that your recipients will note in your correspondence; it’s your ‘first impression.’ Harness their power to get off to a good start in your new relationships.
Today's question: I'm thinking about applying for a Career Services Summer Internship Grant; what advice would you give for creating a strong application?
Answered by: Donna Esposito, Tufts Career Services
Through generous donations from alumni, foundations and the Tufts Diversity Fund, Career Services is able to provide funding for up to 39 internships for the Summer of 2011. These grants offer students in AS&E the opportunity to explore career fields and gain experience through full-time, unpaid internships. Students must work a minimum of 350 hours (i.e. 35 hours/week for 10 weeks). Because the awarding of these grants is a competitive process, the following tips are provided to help make your application a strong one! - Remember the basics: prepare a neat and well written application. We have to read yours, and many others...so please make it easy for us!
- Read the directions thoroughly and make sure you submit all components of the application (4 hard copies) by the deadline—April 1, 2011.
- Check with Career Services to make sure that both of your recommendation letters have arrived by the deadline. Ask people to recommend you who are familiar with your professional and/or academic strengths and skills. Two letters are required!
- Contact Career Services for alternative application procedures if you are studying abroad this spring and will not be here to submit hard copies of your application. Applying from abroad is absolutely possible for many students; however, it often takes a bit more time and planning.
- Spend some quality time on the learning contract! Identify what you would like to learn from the internship experience and how this relates to your career, and possibly academic, goals. Contact your internship site supervisor to discuss what his or her goals are for you, and how this learning will be accomplished throughout the internship. Be as specific as possible.
- Please include details on the type and amount of supervision you will receive, and from whom.
FOR AN APPLICATION & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBSITE - Good luck!
At this point in our college careers, we’re more or less familiar with the language of the US academic system. Waiting at the end of our 4-year trek is our parchment-sealed bachelors degree, proudly posted on office walls and kitchen fridges all around the nation. But our academic prowess doesn’t end here. After a summer of celebratory grad toasts, many of us pursue a number of higher-learning options, whose corresponding degrees label us the most accomplished in our field. There’s the chance to emerge with a burnished Master’s Degree, deeming you a self-proclaimed “master” in the subject. Then there’s the golden Doctorate, a degree that confers its lucky holder the chance to pursue high-level teaching or a top professional position. Of course, our brains have been wired to associate these glossy degrees with post-college success--the result of panning out high scores in our nation’s slew of cutthroat grad schools. Depending on our career choice, we take on the role of student years beyond claiming alumni-status and departing from Tuft’s cozy doors.
With this mentality in mind, I was surprised to learn that while sitting right alongside them in lectures--scribbling the same notes and listening to the same drone of the professor day in and out--my career path looked entirely different from the students to my left and right. Upon my arrival, I’d been shocked
to discover that the 23-year-old intercambio I’d just shared savory tapas with was a practicing lawyer --a position he’s boasted since completing his university studies. Another 21-year-old friend of mine, currently swimming through a 50-page thesis, enthusiastically explains how he is about to title himself a practicing engineer. Each and every graduating university senior I chat with slides into conversation their excitement to wheedle their way into Alcala’s fancy professional crew. Where was the swamping med school applications, the grueling LSAT classes, the top-notch business schools marked by shiny, golden plaques? How do Spanish students seem to pass-on-by higher-learning options to smooth-sail into the professional scene of their dreams?
I was soon to discover that these post-grad discrepancies have their origins in the very makings of the Spanish university degree. In Spain, at the prestigious University of Alcala included, a very popular undergraduate option is the Licenciatura--one that requires 4-6 years of rigorous university study in a specific academic field. But here’s the catch. While achieved at the undergraduate level, the Spanish Licenciatura degree holds the same professional weight as an American postgraduate masters degree. With this golden ticket in hand, Spanish students are granted direct access to the fields that correspond with their academic specialties--a smooth, jump-start into their “real-world” careers. A Licenciatura law degree, for example, grants its holder professional membership in an upscale Bar Association--the immediate chance to enter fancy firms and mahogany-walled courtrooms. Likewise, after 6-years of messy labs and thorny equations, med students put on blue scrubs and proclaim themselves doctors in-training. Unlike our slew of specialized, post-grad programs disconnected from college grounds, Spanish undergraduate and mastery study is consolidated into one, uniform endeavor. Once achieved, it becomes the very stepping-stone into each competitive field of employment.
This quasi-magical Licenciatura degree, also commonly labeled a “second-cycle” or “superior” degree, isn’t the only option under Spain’s university umbrella. Similar to our US bachelor degrees, Spain also offers a more “general” degree that encompasses just undergraduate studies and, therefore, doesn’t directly route into the professional arena. These “first-cycle” or “intermediate” university degrees are commonly achieved after three years of study, rather than our typical four. To tiptoe into the professional camp, Spanish students with this degree might also require a more advanced program option--depending, of course, on their specific career aspirations. An “interme
diate” Spanish degree can in fact confer you professional access to the field of Diplomacy and Technical Engineering, for example.
In light of the spiraling career differences I just ticked off, Spain is currently undergoing an important change in its university system--part of an ongoing movement to standardize university degrees around one common code. The Licenciatura and intermediate degrees distinct to the Spanish university are being progressively transformed to the Grado and Master system, one that just about mirrors the competitive lingo of our own career hunt. This future Grado, achieved after 4 years of academic study, will basically parallel the US bachelor’s degree. Plumping it up with a higher-level degree will require an additional 1-2 years in a masters program--marked, in turn, by a separate masters diploma. The Grado will essentially replace Spain’s old “intermediate degree,” but its completion will require added courses, requirements, and time within the university’s doors. And, as opposed to an all-in-one Licenciatura, those with higher-education aims will bulk up their four-year title with a separate masters title--relatively new career jargon to Spain’s career-hungry undergrads.
Between its efforts to modify its antique academic system, Spain seems dedicated to “slowing down” the process down a bit more--allotting students more time in the comforting world of academia. This exploratory, self-set student pace, the drawing out of academics before hovering real-world reality sets in, has always sat at the forefront of US academics. It’s this single idea that sits at the foundation of liberal arts schools like Tufts--swarming with a diverse tangle of majors, classes, professors, and extracurricular opportunities. Conversely, Spain’s current academic system entails solidifying your professional goals upfront--setting yourself on an academic track to quickly enter its real-world equivalent. For those early-dreamers who knew their career w
ith the spelling of their names, the licenciatura option is both appealing and pragmatic--a confident, lets-get-this-show-on-the-road mentality. But for the more back-and-forth rest of us, the chance to dabble in varied subjects--choose a major that doesn’t exactly have a concrete, career equivalent (English, anyone?)--lets us explore our options before narrowing down a specific career venue. We have the right to snag degrees in areas that simply interest us and later on pursue advanced studies more connected to our career route. While it slightly elongates that encounter with real-world professionalism, Spain’s academic revamp introduces this exploratory, US, mentality into the framework of its academic values. And, depending on the career course, it assures those in Spain stay students for just a tad longer. Considering our unwavering love for our prestigious, Jumbo-headed, Tufts, that can’t be such a bad thing, right?
Earlier this fall, Career Services hosted an MBA Admissions Panel featuring representatives from several schools who shared their advice and strategies for tackling the B-school admissions process. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth provided a handout with some great tips (thanks, Tuck!) Here are some things to consider:- Take the GMAT before or within 6 months of graduating to capitalize on being in "study mode" before work and other commitments further divert your attention.
- Beef up your MBA network. Keep the names and contact information of mentors and colleagues who have completed the MBA. Search the Tufts Career Network by graduate degree to find Tufts alumni with MBAs who are willing to share advice with you.
- Perform well in your internships and first professional positions to maximize your reputation with potential recommenders.
- Seek leadership opportunities, both formal and informal. For example, stay involved with extracurricular activities and organizations you enjoy. Seek opportunities to impact those organizations. Quality is more important than quantity. MBA programs would rather see deep, lasting commitment to a few organizations than shallow involvement in many.
- Seek international experience, both formal and informal. Even if you do not have the opportunity to travel abroad, seek opportunities to work on diverse teams with people from other countries.
- Research pre-MBA organizations such as The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, the Forte Foundation, INROADS, MLT, SEO, and others.
- Start to think about what you want in a graduate program, from both a community and a curricular standpoint. Much like your undergraduate college search, your MBA program search should focus on finding the balance between size, rankings, curriculum strengths and location.
- If your coursework did not/does not include quantitative classes, take additional courses to enhance your skills and your candidacy. Some classes you might consider: Statistics, Economics, Accounting, Calculus, and Finance.
- Explore a variety of careers. Reflect on your interests, skills, values, and cultural background. Read about different career fields using Career Services' subscription to the Vault Online Library, for example, the Vault Guide to Consulting, Guide to the Top Financial Services Employers, or the Guide to Management and Leadership Development Programs.
- Speak with MBA alumni and corporate recruiters to learn what sort of skill sets they look for in their new hires.
Check out the Graduate School section of the Career Services website for more information and tips!
Today's question: I've heard a number of horror stories involving job and internship applications. How can I avoid some of the most common "deal breakers?"
call me Mr.
Obviously, Tufts students never make any of the above mistakes. I just wanted to share some of the things that drive HR people crazy.
