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5 Hidden Costs Of Not Interning Before You Graduate

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Guest post written by

Kaytie Zimmerman

I write about money and career for millennials at optimisticmillennial.com.

kaytie

Summer break for college students has finally arrived. They have plans to spend time at the beach, lake, or music festivals. Relaxation is important, but they may not realize that there are hidden costs if they don’t use this time to complete an internship before they graduate.

The costs are in the form of career potential, earnings, and time. All of these are important, but which are most significant to a new graduate?

Inability to Compete with Other Graduates

As students don their black robes and graduation caps this spring, they’ll enter a competitive pool of job seekers. Do you know how you stack up against your peers?

In 2014, 75% of graduates left school with at least one internship completed. Further, employers are now looking for work experience above other factors in selecting entry-level candidates.

It comes back to the all-too-painful chicken and egg reality most millennials have faced. They are told they need experience to get a job, but they need a job to get experience.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education and the American Public Media’s Marketplace survey, internship experience is the single most important credential for recent graduates to have on their resume in their job search.

Adding an internship to your resume before you hit the real world will at least keep you on pace with your peers, if not give you an edge.

Lose Out on ‘Foot in the Door’ Opportunities

Most job seekers are familiar with online job submissions being referred to as the “black hole” where their resume disappears, never to be found again.

One of the ways to get a foot in the door to your first job is to find an internship at a company that regularly hires their interns as full-time employees.  Read more…

What hiring managers are really trying to figure out when they ask, ‘What are your hobbies?’

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Jacquelyn Smith May 9, 2016

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Jeff Hitchcock/flickr

Don’t just say, “I love photography.” Explain why.

When you’re in the hot seat interviewing for a job, you’re answering questions such as “What’s your greatest weakness?” and “Why should we hire you?” — so a query like “What are your hobbies?” will probably seem like a piece of cake.

But before you start babbling about your lifelong obsession with horses or your newfound passion for baking, consider this: The hiring manager wants to get a better sense of who you are, so it’s important to think about which hobbies best showcase your strengths, passions, and skills — and then discuss only those in the interview.

“The employer is trying to determine whether you’d be a good fit, and getting insight into your interests, hobbies, and personality all help in evaluating that,” says Amy Hoover, president of the job board Talent Zoo.

Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job,” agrees: “By learning more about your outside interests, they can glean more about your personality, and even draw some conclusions about how you may thrive in the organization.”

 

Read more…

4 Simple Ways to Be More Original (and Satisfied) at Work by J.T. O’Donnell

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IMAGE: Getty Images

For many people, work lacks freedom – a nagging feeling there’s a set of golden handcuffs keeping you from unleashing your potential. A study by Gallup shows just 13% of workers feel engaged at work. Leaving the majority of the world’s working population wondering how they got trapped in their careers and longing to not be one of the masses. But rather, an original.

Sadly, so few ever take the steps necessary to become an original. Why?

In a word: fear.

In his newest book, Originals, Professor Adam Grant sets upon a journey to debunk the myth being an original requires extreme risk taking. His goal? To persuade you and I that originals are actually far more ordinary than we realize. More importantly, to encourage us all to be more original because of the incredible professional benefits it provides.

2 Paths To Achievement… Which One Are You On?

Psychologists determined years ago achievement is accomplished in one of two ways: conformity or originality. The first stays the proven course. The second takes the road less traveled. Conformity plays it safe, while originality challenges the status quo. It’s not hard to see why we all admire originality – it’s so much rarer than conformity. As a result, it gets labeled as harder.  Read more…

 

Things To Consider Before Accepting A Job Offer 7 Things You MUST Consider Before Accepting A Job by Ariella Coombs

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Before accepting a job, it’s important to understand a few things about the company (and about yourself). The last thing you want to do is take a job now only to leave in six months because you’re miserable. Here are some things you should think about before accepting that job offer:

1. Do I like the people I’d be working with at this company?

The truth is, you’re not going to get along with everybody, and no everybody is going to get along with you. However, it’s important to realize that you’ll be spending the majority of your days with your co-workers. While you don’t necessarily have to be buddy-buddy with them, you want to make sure you can at least get along so you can work together effectively.

Make an effort to get to know the people you’d be working with before moving too far into the hiring process. This will not only help you learn who they are and if you’d be able to get along with them, but it’ll also strengthen your network within that company. Having good relationships with people who work within your target companies can increase your chances of getting referred in. Read more…

3 Reasons Millennials Are Getting Fired A backlash to Milllennials’ mindsets at work is causing some to get fired. Here’s why.

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BY J.T. O’DONNELL

Founder and CEO, CareerHMO.com
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IMAGE: Getty Images

Recently, I wrote this article explaining why Millennials aren’t getting promoted. In response to Millennial readers’ requests for a deeper understanding of how being misperceived can negatively affect their careers, I’m taking it a step further and outlining exactly what’s getting them fired.

Employers are seriously fed up.

To get a sense of how heated this has become, read this article by one irate employerand his prediction of the backlash that will soon ensue from the Millennials’ attitudes toward work.

Additionally, this survey by SmartRecruiter of 28,000 bosses detailing where Millennials are falling short is just one example of the data to support the huge disconnect costing some Millennials their jobs. Here are the key takeaways Millennials need to know.

1. Employers don’t want to be parents.

Growing up, Millennials were coached their entire lives and they unknowingly assume employers will coach them too. However, the relationship isn’t the same. An employer pays us to do a job. We are service providers. Expecting extensive training and professional development to do the job doesn’t make financial sense. In many employers’ minds (especially, small to midsized businesses with limited budgets and resources), Millennials should foot the bill to develop themselves and make themselves worth more to the employer.

read more…