Know what you're getting yourself into

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
41

<p>There are big job boards like monster that carry a very small percentage of openings. Usually, going to a specific company’s website will yield visibility to a higher percentage of openings. Then some jobs just are not publicized through these means and go through retained search firms - especially for executive level positions. Sometimes headhunters are used for lower level positions.</p>

<p>When a company, or headhunter, receives a resume I promise you that each resume gets either put through an automated program searching for keywords, and/or a 5-second skim. Only the best-of-the-best resumes make it past this initial screening process. That is why it is so important to make sure that the resume/cover package is tight, well written, organized effectively and well thought out - this is not the time to fly by the seat of your pants. Otherwise, you are right - it will never get anyone’s full attention.</p>

<p>The career center is a wonderful resource that will only be available during college and early career that every student should exploit to their advantage. I am surprised that 12% of Washu students did not use career advisors. </p>

<p>I told my S when I dropped him off 3 years ago as a freshman to unpack his bags, figure out logistics of campus, and then go to the career center - immediately - first week. Introduce yourself and “make friends”. One of the few times in his life when he actually listened to me and as a result had summer internships after freshman, sophmore and junior years. It works if you focus, listen and preservere.</p>

<p>It is always better to go through someone that you know. Of course, no one would argue that point. However, as a rising senior in college, exactly how many people do you know in companies where you are interested in working? I assume that would be a limited number. And this is exactly why that strategy has lower odds for you than for someone like me. </p>

<p>After nearly 30 years of business experience my network is big enough that I can practically get anything done through it. I have over 600 people in my LinkedIn network and this translates into access to millions of people with the click of a mouse. These people are all manager, director, vp or c-level professionals. Since your professional network is not as large you need to leverage every resource available to you. Including the Internet.</p>

42

<p>RaVn - very, very true. I just think it’s foolish to completely write-off a valid way to apply to positions when the OP currently has a very small network to work from.</p>

<p>TheFallenOne - here’s another source for you to “resume-bomb”: nationwide career fairs. I have a friend who attended one in her field in , all on her own (personal initiative) in California, and came back with a ton of new contacts and had 10 interviews set up within a week. It was really impressive, actually; apparently the people there loved the initiative she took and it grew her network massively. I have another friend who did something similar in the past few weeks, and has a handful of interviews right now.</p>

<p>Similarly, are you part of any groups that go in groups to nationwide career fairs? I know in engineering that both SWE and NSBE set up trips each year. Perhaps OBC/AKPsi/DSP have good resources for both career fairs/ job hunting as well?</p>

43

<p>Again, the career center hasn’t helped because all I ask from them is to get some feedback on my progress and they haven’t done any of that at all. The only consistent thing they do is tell me it’s all going to be fine even when it’s not. You think they’re helpful, but how often do you visit them? I visit them literally at least once a week. At this point, I’m inclined to believe that the only way these other students get internships is through their parents. </p>

<p>None of you understand this because none of you are looking at a future of unemployment. After leveraging everything I could think of (believe me I have been casting a very wide net), it still doesn’t work. This year, I made friends with someone with connections to several major Fortune companies, a roommate whose dad is a CEO, and many others. Nothing works. You think I’m not doing enough but I’m doing more than you can possibly imagine. I started my internship in August this past school year. I got only 6 on campus interviews the entire year and nothing else, and I apply to every position I see. I check LinkedIn more than facebook and have tried calling other companies any chance I get.</p>

<p>So as you can see, this isn’t a typical problem. I’m doing far beyond what I should and even can do to get an internship and absolutely nothing works. </p>

<p>I don’t care how ****ed up this economy is. It’s tough to get a job, but it’s not supposed to be tough if you attend a top 5 school in the country. If I went to some random state school or liberal arts college, then that’s understandable. But this is a top tier school; no one here should be looking at a bleak future. I’m supposed to be working at a large company in NYC or some big city, making bank (donating some to charity), and actually helping people out. Instead, the best thing for me is probably working at a factory in some third-world country setting.</p>

<p>I loved WashU when I first came here. I’ve met great people and made great friends and have memorable moments; that’s all true. Partying is always fun too. I’m not in a fraternity, but the guys in TKE and SAE aren’t half-bad (Not dissing on the other fraternities, but I just happen to these people more). But none of that matters if I can’t even get a simple internship.</p>

44

<p>I bought the book that RaVNzCRoFT recommended - The Defining Decade. It is phenomonal. I plan to buy copies for both my kids. You should read it too - I think it might help.</p>

45

<p>Oh, and there is power in the spoken word - sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy when you talk about a life of unemployment and a bleak future. Knock it off!</p>

46

<p>I’m so glad you bought the book and enjoyed it! Coincidentally, my mom is the one who recommended it to me. Just goes to show you how phenomenal it is–that it is a great read for people of all ages despite being most applicable to young adults.</p>

47

<p>FallenOne
You know what, reading all your post, I am giving up on you. You are just full of negativity and contradictions. A lot of people have asked you specific questions but most of your answers are in general and foggy. You say you started your internship in August this past year but you kept on insisting you did not get an internship. You had an internship offer but you did not accept it because the career center recommended not to. But knowing that was your only offer, you decided not to. You said you have done everything but you did not go to Jumpstart. You never said you got a job of any type this summer but i heard that Washu offers a lot of summer opportunities as long as you apllied early and are qualified.
You think because you go to Washu that it should not be too hard to get a job and you should be working in a large company in NYC. Did the career center tell you this also? You are high on something. Do you really think this situation is only happening to you? News Flash! Thousands of people are in your shoes. But most keep on chugging and persevere after they fall down and hit different obstacles. They wipe the dirt off and continue on. Because that person controls his own destiny. Stop harping on the career center. If they have failed in assisting you, then do not use them. I am sure there is a city employment center in St Louis. You had 6 on campus interviews and none of them panned out. Maybe you have an interview problem because you did not impress them enough.
Well, I wish you success. Get rid of your me against the world attitude. I was not going to post here anymore because of your replies. And this post will probably be ignored by you again. But there is that hope that you would take the advise from the posters. Hope you sent your cover letter and resume to the few posters who offered to read it to get a different perspective. Lastly you may have to start your career in a factory in some third world country setting and move your way up from there. Everyone has to start somewhere. Stay humble.</p>

48

<p>FallenOne, have you considered going to the main Career Center and seeing an adviser there? There are a few that I have had great experiences with, if you would be open to suggestions. It looks like maybe where you need the most help is with mock interviews. They can do mock phone interviews over the summer too. </p>

<p>I’d also recommend attending Career Camp in August - they also bring in a ton of outside speakers and recruiters, and have sessions for specific industry areas.</p>

49

<p>Every semester the fallen one has complained about something absolutely ridiculous. Just look at his past posts.</p>

<p>He clearly is an exception and while obviously people are entitled to his opinion, the feelings he has are not representative of others.</p>

<p>You’re throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping something sticks. If you have specific issues, then that may help people more than saying the weather sucks.</p>

50

<p>As for math, I have taken 12 math courses so far. I can’t complain about the department. Sure there are some lousy faculty but that’s true of any department. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every math courses I’ve taken over the past several years.</p>

51

<p>We’ve all witnessed crazy things that defy common sense. It’s not impossible to believe this isn’t one of those things to. </p>

<p>@Marcdvl- It seems that you’ve graduated already. Times have changed, so maybe something particular about the op matters a lot more now than before. But you shouldn’t instantly call it full of crap. Nobody believed the boy who cried wolf until it was too late (yeah sorry, bad metaphor). Are you always going to reject something just because your common sense says otherwise?</p>

<p>@FLtoWashU, you’re a freshman, wait until you’re a junior and then you’ll see how it is. You probably don’t even have experience in this matter. And you’ve got time to plan and prepare. Let’s see how you handle this situation in the future when the economy becomes worse with possibly another recession.</p>

<p>And regarding both the Olin and regular career centers, they’re not bad, they just offer advice that’s too general (In that sense, you can see it as “bad”). But they would never take the time to carefully plan out a specialized solution for one student, because that’d be just too much work.</p>

<p>Yeah I get it; they suck. They don’t want to exert effort to help someone even when you need it so much. But why should they? Their loyalty is to the school, not you. They have not obligation to care, because all they want is to see you get a job so they can boost the school’s rankings. They don’t care if you’re unemployed or if you live or die. At the end of the day, you’re just a statistic, and once you graduate, the school’s only going to be demanding money from you as a alum. By then, no one is even going to remember you.</p>

<p>Besides, if you are really only one student without work experience vs about 200 others, do you really think they’ll care at all? One student not getting an internship won’t even budge the ranking figures. Here’s the deal: you have no leverage over the career center. The career center has absolutely no stake in it, so course they have not motivation or obligation to help you. You should’ve learned this in your classes: if you really want someone to cooperate with you, make sure they have something to lose or gain. You want someone to help you? Find someone who has a stake in the matter. Of course, that’s probably no one, so you’re on your own.</p>

<p>And as a business student, you of all people should know that higher education is a business. It’s all about money, not your well-being or success. </p>

<p>It’s ok to talk to career advisors for connections. But as far as actually helping you with the process goes, I think you’ve learned just how “helpful” they really are. And if you heavily depending on them and blaming them for your misfortunes, then you’re really screwed.</p>

52

<p>DarkKnight - there are defintely ways to exploit the career center and get what you want from them. Some of it is understanding politics, and relationships (making friends - I mean there are just some people that you just want to help) and just being a good listener who can execute their recommendations. It is a 50/50 partnership between the career center and the individual student.</p>

53

<p>Kennedy, when you last visited the career center, what did they tell you? Did they give your personalized tips based on you, or just general advice that you can find on any career guide or online?</p>