Dance First, Think Later

By: Amber McCraw, Career Advising Fellow

Today’s post title was inspired by a book titled “Dance First. Think Later: 618 Rules to Live By” by Kathryn and Ross Petras. Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to read the book, but it is on my “to do” list.

I really enjoy this mantra and think it is perfectly applicable to the job search.  Currently, I am in the job search since the fellowship ends in May, so this phrase is on my mind personally, but also in my advising appointments with students. In regards to the job search, we need to “Dance first and think later.”

What do I mean by this?

I hear so many students question whether a job will be the right fit for them in terms of qualifications, location, job responsibilities, etc before they even apply for a position. I’ll admit that I am also guilty of this. But, how do you know if a position will be right for you if you don’t apply and interview for it.  If you choose not to apply, then you’ve cut yourself off from the position without giving it a chance.  If you apply and it doesn’t work out, then at least you did everything possible on your end.  The same goes for your qualifications – you may think you are slightly under-qualified for a position, but you never know what mix of skills, characteristics, knowledge, and experience an employer is truly looking for.

That being said, if you absolutely know you don’t want to move to a certain location or you truly don’t have the qualifications for a position, then, remember that your time is valuable, so it should be spent applying to positions that are genuine possibilities.

So, “Dance First. Think Later.”

Breathe

May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be peaceful
May I be safe

May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be peaceful
May you be safe

(Loving-Kindness Meditation)

This fellowship has been more than just a professional opportunity full of growth and learning, it has also been an opportunity for mental and physical growth for myself. I have signed up for my fourth half marathon in April (yay!) and I have begun the rigorous (and fun) training involved. I have found my times outside or on the treadmill challenging and exhausting as I ‘sweat out’ the day’s stress and projects, yet finishing with a clearer mind and a positive attitude. I have found myself no longer needing to run with my iPod as I have become more mindful in listening to my breathing, foot steps, and nature around me. I no longer find myself turning to music as a distraction, rather nature encourages me to move forward. I have found it necessary, for work-life balance, to make time in my calendar for physical exercise and to decompress after a busy work day. More importantly, to step away from a computer or phone screen, and to let my eyes rest from technology.

race

Yay! That’s me running at my most recent 10k in Raleigh in November. It was a hard race for me, but I continued forward and ran the entire way. My body definitely felt it afterwards :)

I have also found myself practicing meditation. This is new to me and as I am still exploring the meditation practices, I have found it to be internally peaceful and rejuvenating. I have frequented Elon’s 20 Minutes Still once a week which I have thoroughly enjoyed. At yesterday’s session, the instructor said that we were happy to facilitate an upcoming session if we wanted. Hey, why not?! I took a Stressed Out class during my undergraduate and practiced different kinds of meditation, and I am interested in revisiting these sessions. I am all for trying something new. And if I’m feeling super adventurous, I’ll potentially even invite the career services staff.

What have I learned from both of these opportunities? I have learned that it is vital to make time (I wouldn’t even say find time, because there is very little time to find! Making time, takes action!) to focus on mental and physical development. When taking time (even if it is just 20 minutes every day) to spend on this aspect, my whole being is much more satisfied and I perform better at work. I feel happier, healthier and more grounded. What more could I ask for?

-Namaste!

Experiment (Part 1)! Presentation Skills

By Career Advising Fellow, Danielle Golinski

After reviewing my mid-year report with my supervisor last month, I made it a priority to work on some skills for the second half of my fellowship. With the first half of the academic year, I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the ins and outs of the fellowship; my confidence has grown and I am ready to consciously challenge myself. Where do I start? My presentation skills, naturally! I’m doing it all of the time in group/classroom settings and also during one-on-one conversations. I’ve already seen myself grow with my presentation abilities since I gave my first presentation to the SPDC last April for a part of the fellowship interviewing process, and since then I’ve given countless other presentations. I love it, but I want to grow. How will this happen? A science-like experiment! I’m going back to my high school days of chemistry where I fell in love with the scientific process and the method. But first, I’m Googling the scientific method (cue refresher course and the scientific jargon for your reading pleasure), and then I’ll be relating this to my presentation goals. I won’t be going too scientifically deep with my experiment, but rather, just a tip of the iceberg. Come with me and learn!

Scientific Method: A way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments (sounds simple enough!).

Ask a Question: How can I improve my presentation skills to not only grow my confidence but also to involve the students, increase participation, and improve overall presentation engagement?

Do Background Research: (common suggestions, particularly catered on areas of improvement for myself)

  • Stand, rather than sit, and move around a little; be careful not to pace
  • Make eye contact with the audience
  • Talk naturally to the audience
  • Vary tone, pitch, and volume of my voice; slow down!
  • Watch for fillers
  • Be entertaining; have fun!
  • Be understandable: be free of jargon, complexity, and confusion – make the headline “Twitter friendly”
  • Be memorable: “the human mind can only consume anywhere from three to seven points in short term, or ‘working memory’…the magic number – not too many and not too few – seems to be three” (Forbes.com). Incorporate the rule of three into presentations: three parts, three benefits, three action steps.
  • Be emotional: storytelling is the easiest and most effective way to make a presentation remembered. Put this story in the beginning to make a connection with the audience – it can be a story, a question or a shocking statistic.
  • Learn about the human attention span (please forgive my psychology background ‘geeking out’ right about now!):

attention

  1. “Almost everyone listens in the beginning. This is THE moment to make clear that you will present work that the audience cannot afford to miss.
  2. If you want to get your message through, you should state it loud and clear in the beginning, and repeat it at the end.
  3. The best approach, however, is to divide your presentation in several parts, each ended by an intermediate conclusion. People in the audience who got distracted can always easily catch up with  you, particularly if you outline the structure of your talk in the beginning”

attent2

Why does an audience get distracted?

  • The structure of the presentation is unclear and hard to follow
  • Speaker is too fast/too slow; monotonous sentences, long, complicated sentences

Construct a Hypothesis (or an educated guess): If I focus my presentation around the number 3, and break up my presentation into smaller chunks and summarize each chunk with a conclusion, work on moving around the room when presenting, and be conscious of my fillers, and volume then the students will be attentive during presentation, ask questions, and show engagement.

Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment: Coming to the blog in Part II. You can certainly guess what the experiment is going to entail – actually doing the above!

Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion: Coming to the blog in Part II

Communicate Your Results: Coming to the blog in Part II

Be on the lookout for my Part II! Starting next week, my presentations start for the spring semester. Hang tight, as I give this experiment a few weeks to work its magic.

Fake Break

By Kristen Aquilino, International Career Fellow

Elon students have been enjoying a quick reprieve between having finished their Winter Term this past Tuesday and prior to beginning the Spring Semester tomorrow. During “Fake Break” some students choose to head home, others are using that time to relax around campus (especially those whose travel was challenged by the weather up north), and we’ve even received word of students who are using this time to … drum roll please… apply to jobs! We’re always happy to get that report :)

Not only is Elon’s Fake Break a good time for students to get some rest and prepare for the next semester, but it is also a great opportunity for faculty and staff to do some of those things we’ve been meaning to accomplish, like clean our desks, finalize syllabi and even attend some trainings and professional development meetings that we would not have time for during the semester. So, amidst the organizing, planning and preparation for the coming semester, Amber, Danielle and I also took part in some awesome learning opportunities.

AllyTraining

This past Tuesday, the SPDC team participated in an Ally Training. Matthew Antonio Bosch, the Director of Elon’s Gender and LGBTQIA Center, led the training and educated us about the latest identity terminology and LGBTQIA history, and guided us in discussion about real-life scenarios.  It was an important, interactive and informative training. You can follow the Gender and LGBTQIA Center on Facebook and Twitter to learn more!

WWWLuncheonFollowing up to Tuesday, the three fellows and our colleague Aisha Mitchell drove to the Alamance County Women’s Resource Center where we attended a Working Women’s Wednesday luncheon. Guest speaker, Alexandra Zagbayou, shared about her role as High School Program Director of Student U in Durham. Through sharing her story and describing her work, Alexandra challenged everyone in the room to think critically about our society and what we are doing to build stronger individuals and communities through education.  You can follow Student U on Facebook and Twitter to learn more!

Today is the last day of Fake Break and classes begin tomorrow.  Have a great start to the spring semester and we’ll check in soon!

First Things First

By Danielle Golinski, Career Advising Fellow

This past week has consisted of a lot of firsts (and last firsts – if that even makes sense!):

  • My first independent conversation with a parent.
  • My first conversation with an alum.
  • My first conversation with a campus staff member about their next step in their career journey.
  • My last class of my first Winter Term where I co-taught a Transition Strategies “Life After Elon” class with my co-fellow Amber.
  • And, I finished my first time being a part of a book club and committing myself to 3 weeks of conversation and reflection on the book 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. (All I can say about this book is, wow!)

What have all of these experiences shown me? That I can actually do a lot, and that my time as a Fellow continues to develop as my dabbling continues to grow, and as long as people continue to look for support and guidance with their futures, my name always has the potential of being passed around. Fortunately, it is a very good reason for my name (smiles!) which is increasing my network as well (cue, more smiles).thumbsup

It is very exciting! And do you know what else I have discovered? I have enjoyed every single aspect of these diverse conversations (all of them just happening to fit within a weeks’ time). It is these experiences that I have listed above and many others (can refer to Amber’s post below) that continues to provide me with firsthand experience in career services every single day. It also reminds me that a lot of people have the same concerns: that they want to be successful in their future (or for their child to have a successful future). A common thread I recognized between all three of these individuals (and the students in my Transition Strategies class) is that of motivation. If an individual is willing to self-motivate regarding their future, other beneficial things will come down the pipeline as well: Preparation, time-management, focus, and determination. This is an effective formula. If a person is willing to make a change regarding their future, they must first find motivation (most likely from within). It starts to “stir the pot”, gets “the juices flowing”. The end result? Results! The worst case scenario? At least a step in a direction (even if it is not in the right direction).

I also look forward to my weekend commitments as I will be experiencing my first men’s basketball game of my time while here at Elon and my first theater production for this year from Elon’s talented group of theater majors. I continue to dive headfirst into both my professional and personal experiences while at Elon. North Carolina continues to amaze me, and as my fellowship ends in May, I am making sure that every moment counts, whether it is going to be my first or my last moment.

Lifelong Learning – Professional Development

By: Amber McCraw, Career Advising Fellow 

Throughout this fellowship, Danielle, Kristen, and I have been encouraged to take advantage of any opportunities we have to continue to develop ourselves professionally.  We knew coming into these positions that we would be spending the next 10 months immersing ourselves and learning as much as possible about career services and other areas or topics that are beneficial to our development. The amount of time and resources we utilize to participate in these activities is indicative of how much this position and office encourages our growth as professionals.

Between the three of us, we have attended:

In addition to the formal conferences and workshops, we’ve also conducted informational interviews at 3 universities in the surrounding area.  We’ve had meetings with and continue to communicate with over 30 professionals throughout the various offices and departments across Elon’s campus to promote partnerships and collaboration.  Finally, we share helpful articles and resources as we are come across them.

Professional development is important no matter how much experience you have.  What are your suggestions for lifelong learning?  How do you stay up-to-date in your career?

Tis the Season for New Year’s Resolutions

By: Amber McCraw, Career Advising Fellow

Welcome to 2015 – what an exciting time it is!  Tis the season for setting goals, reflecting on the past year, and making fresh starts.  Obviously, you can do these things at any point during the year, but the start of a new year is a natural time to for this process to occur.  So, let’s talk about New Year’s Resolutions.

This past year was the first year that I was actually successful in sticking to my New Year’s Resolution.  I am 24 years old, so why was this the first time in 24 years that I was able to keep my resolution?  I set a goal that was simple, but necessary: Have a more positive outlook on life.

At the beginning of 2014, I was starting my last semester of graduate school at the University of Georgia in College Student Affairs Administration.  I knew it was going to be a busy semester and first half of the year between studying for and taking the comprehensive exam, working 20+ hours per week in my assistantship with University Housing, finishing up my academic work, job searching, and spending as much time as possible with my friends before we all went our separate ways.

So, was it easy to maintain a positive outlook at all times?  Absolutely not – let’s be honest. I certainly encountered challenges along the way.  How did I do it?

If you ask most people how they are doing, they will likely respond with “fine,” “good,” or “well.”  I chose to respond with “Delightful!” It sets a positive tone and I believe that positivity and happiness are contagious.  To further spread the positivity, I made it a point to write notes of encouragement to my friends and the students I worked with randomly throughout the year. After a particularly challenging part of the year, I followed a trend on Instagram (#100happydays) and posted a photo a day for 100 days about something that made me happy each day. It was encouraging to notice the small things in life that brought a smile to my face.  Lastly, I am of the opinion that everything happens for a reason and I tried to reframe any challenges and obstacles that I encountered to find the silver lining.

As a result, people that I’ve met since the start of 2014 have commented on how much they appreciate my positivity, positivity is now one of my top 5 Strengths according to StrengthsFinder, friends seek encouragement from me, and personally, I have learned to complain less, which has made a huge difference.

Resolutions can be personal or professional.  For 2015, one of my resolutions falls on the professional side.  I absolutely love this fellowship, but come May, it will be ending.  I resolve to find another position that is both fulfilling and fun.  In addition, I resolve to be patient in this search as it may take a while to find the right fit.

What are your professional resolutions?  Maybe you want to take more vacation time, find another position that more closely aligns with your values, spend more time with your colleagues, make more professional connections, engage with social media more often, or start a new project at work.  Whatever it is, resolve to do it and stick with it!  It may be challenging or it may scare you a little, but that’s the beauty of it.  You’ll be so proud of yourself when 2016 rolls around.

Happy New Year!  Make 2015 both meaningful and memorable!