Monday, December 30, 2013

Keep Your New Year's Resolutions Beyond January

With the New Year around the corner, it's inevitable that you or someone else in your life is putting together a list of resolutions.

As tempting as it is for me to give you a list like "Five New Year's Resolutions for College Students," I won't bother.  Resolutions don't work if they are too vague.  For instance, my friends and I were having dinner a couple nights ago.  One of them said her resolution was to go to the gym more.  Given that she didn't keep track of her gym habits for 2013, it would be hard to say if she actually met this goal for 2014.  "Going to the gym more" could be 30 or 300 times per year for all she knows.

Regardless of what resolutions you make, you are more likely to reach them if you do the following:

  1. REFLECT.  Before you set your list of resolutions in stone, you should make sure you thoroughly reflect on the past year.  What were your resolutions for 2013?  Did you reach your goals?  Did you consistently follow your plan throughout the last 12 months?  If not, what threw you off?  These questions should inform how you move forward with 2014. 
  2. BRAINSTORM.  After you reflect on what worked in the Old Year, brainstorm what you want in the New Year.  Think of every part of your life to make sure this list is well-rounded:  friends, family, classes, jobs and internships, extracurriculars, hobbies, etc.  List every possible resolution you could have without second-guessing it.  Worry about editing another time.
  3. PRIORITIZE.  Okay, you let your mind run wild as your brainstormed.  Now it's time to prioritize what matters to you most on your potential resolution list.  Is any item that is essential to making 2014 a successful year for you?  Is there something on the list that has a pending deadline?  Yeah, those resolutions should probably get your highest priority.
  4. EDIT.  Since you have determined what matters most to you, it's time to edit your resolutions list.  If your list is too long, it could be hard to stay focused. Ask yourself how many resolutions are feasible for you to tackle in one year.  Two?  Four?  Also ask yourself if your goals are specific enough.  Like my friend, you want to set goals that can be measured.  Instead of "going to the gym more," consider how many times per week you want to go to the gym.  You can't know if you reached a goal if you never specified a benchmark of success.
  5. FORM A SUPPORT TEAM.  If you slip in reaching your goals, who will hold you accountable?  If you said yourself, that is not enough.  Share your resolutions with people that will keep tabs on your progress throughout the year.  You do the same for them if they ask.  Resolutions are so much easier to keep when you have a support team at your back.
Remember:  Dreams are so much easier to reach when you develop plans and strategies to break them down into concrete tasks.  Whatever your resolutions, best of luck in committing to them!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

What's the Value of College Prestige?

If you go online and type in "college prestige," some phrases start popping up:

"College prestige rankings"

"College prestige matter[s]"

"College prestige vs cost"

"College prestige important"

"College prestige doesn't matter"

Chances are you considered a college's prestige when you selected which school to attend.  If you are thinking of transferring to another university or going back to school after many years away, you are probably taking into account different schools' prestige--among other factors--all over again.

I come from the college access world, in which educators advise students and families on what to consider in the college application and selection processes.  Even within this field of educational professionals, there is a wide range of opinion on how much college prestige matters.

While there are merits to different sides of this argument, I find that general arguments on college prestige cannot fully address what you as an individual student need or want.

For example, I went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, a.k.a. U of I, for my undergrad.  One of my friends started off at a less prestigious yet more affordable college and transferred to U of I because it had a renowned engineering program.

Ultimately, she felt it was worth it to make the jump to a pricier yet more prestigious university because U of I's engineering school connected her to more competitive internships and jobs than what she would've had at her previous university.

The prestige of the university mattered to her because it translated into greater employment prospects at top-notch companies, better access to higher-paying jobs, and support from a well-connected alumni network.

Let me be clear:  the moral of the story is not that prestige in itself matters.  You want to consider what prestige means for your educational benefits.  If you're thinking of prestige only in terms of college rankings and what is published in a college's glossy brochures or flashy website, that's not enough research to know the value of a college's prestige.

The value of college prestige depends on what you value.  My friend valued having a secure engineering job for a well-known company, a competitive salary, and access to a successful alumni network.  She gained those educational and professional benefits when she transferred to U of I.

However, your values may differ from hers, or you may put them in a different order from her.  Some students may need a small college environment.  Others may opt to attend a college closer to home so they could be closer to their parents or other family members.  Everyone is different.

In fact, I have another friend who majored in finance at U of I.  After freshmen year, she transferred from U of I to another college with a less prestigious finance program because she missed being close to her family.  While many people--including myself at the time--thought that was a poor decision … she did graduate from college and was able to do better because she had the immediate support of her tight-knit family.

Her second college may not have had the alumni network or connections to jobs at top-notch companies like U of I's business college did … but she didn't care.  Those weren't the things she valued most in a college education, and what's important is that she found a school where she could be near what she did value most--her family.      

Whether you're starting college as a freshman, transfer student, or student who has been away for a while, it is important to know what you value most in a college education.  Additionally, it is vital to know how you prioritize those values.  Knowing your values will guide you as you figure out how much prestige and other factors matter when determining the next steps in your college education and beyond.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Get Ready for This Holiday Question: What Are You Going to Do After You Graduate from College?

"What are you going to do after you graduate from college?"

If you're a college senior, this question is inevitable at a holiday party.

If you're like a few of my friends were in college, you may already know where you will work, what you will do, and how you will spend your final semester of senioritis.

If you're like I was, you may have no clue what to say.  No fear.  You might not know exactly what you will do after college, but at least you could have a plan in place for figuring it out.  Even if you don't have a concrete answer for relatives and friends, these are five job search points you will want to consider before entering a holiday party and before starting your last semester as an undergrad:  
  1. What Type of Job Do You Want Right After College?  For some students, this is straightforward.  If you're an accounting major, you probably (but not always) want to be an accountant.  If you're an engineering major, you probably (but not always) want to be an engineer.  If you're major is in the liberal arts (i.e. history), you might want to see how what you value about that major aligns with potential careers.  Then again, your future job is not always directly linked to your major.  Take a look at school clubs, volunteer activities, or internships that you have done (you have been active in extracurriculars all throughout college, right? … I hope).  Is there a way to link those experiences to your first job right after college?  Brainstorm on your own before you ask….  
  2. How Could You Better Learn and Prepare for Your Ideal Career?  If you're a college student, one ideal starting point would be your college's career center.  The center will have resources for researching different fields, getting your resumes and cover letters critiqued, getting career skills assessments, attending employer information sessions, and attending career fairs.  If you feel overwhelmed by the massive resources offered by your career center, do not hesitate to set up an appointment with a career counselor, preferably one who specializes in your field, so you could address your concerns and carve out some job search strategies that fit your college graduation timeline. 
  3. How Could You Connect to People Who Have Your Ideal Career?  Researching a career could mean reading about it on the Occupational Outlook Handbook.  While general knowledge of a career is important, it is also vital to have knowledge of specific employers or jobs.  Therefore, talking to a person who has your ideal career is key to having a more concrete understanding of the reality behind a job.  This is where informational interviewing and job shadowing come in handy.  If you need more details on those activities, check out your career center for information on them.  Quintessential Careers is another good resource for informational interviewing, job shadowing, and other job search strategies.
  4. Are You on LinkedIn?  If you do not already have a profile, go to LinkedIn now to set up an account.  This gives you the opportunity to showcase your educational, professional, and other marketable experiences and skills online.  Professors, supervisors, and coworkers could recommend you right on your profile.  If an employer searches for you on LinkedIn, they get to see the recommendations even before reaching out directly to you or your job references.  On top of that, you could use LinkedIn to connect to people who have your ideal career (See Job Search Point #3).  While contacting alumni of your university is a good starting point, it is by no means the only one.  Join professional groups on LinkedIn and reach out to other people that way.  Because the people behind LinkedIn recognize that navigating the website could be daunting, they even give you tips on how to approach it.  In fact, they even wrote a blog geared toward students just like you. 
  5. Who Is In Your Support Network?  Your support network may have a variety of people.  They could be your family members, friends, professors, work supervisors, and other mentors.  These will be the people in your corner to celebrate your successes like your first job offer or to commiserate if things don't go as planned.  While some of them may serve as job references, others will be there more for moral support.  At the end of the day, it is good to have these people to keep your spirits up regardless of your job search situation.  Who knows … Some of them may be waiting for you at your next holiday party.