Feature Article: Your Senior Year in College: 15 Activities that are Pivotal to Your Job-Search Success
Special Feature: Your First Year of College: 25 Tips to Help You Survive and Thrive Your Freshman Year and Beyond
A Quintet of Quick Questions: QuintZine's Q&A with a Career Expert: Blair Stobaugh, vice president of
new business development at Bisk Education
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Latest Additions: What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
This year, our annual Back to Campus
issue addresses several groups hitting college
campuses this fall: college seniors, first-year
college students, and those who attend -- or
are considering attending -- a virtual campus,
in other words, pursuing further education
through distance learning.
We wish a successful academic year for all --
no matter what stage of learning you
find yourself in.
Attention employers, HR folks, and hiring managers
in our readership: Career Masters Institute is
conducting a research study entitled "What Drives
Employers' Hiring Decisions," the results of which
should be extremely helpful for job-seekers and
employers alike. If you have a moment to participate in
a short, five-question survey,
please send us an e-mail
and we'll send you the questions.
(If your e-mail program doesn't let you click on the link above
to open a new e-mail message, just write to
quintzine@quintcareers.com using the subject line
Hiring_Decision_Survey). Many thanks!
Your Senior Year in College: 15 Activities that are Pivotal to Your Job-Search Success
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. and Katharine Hansen
It may seem like just a short time ago you were
first arriving on campus, ready to make the transition
from high school to college . . . and now you stand
ready to make the even bigger transition from college
to the workforce. You've spent three (or more) years
getting to this point, so it's time to party and savor
your senior year, right? There's no harm in enjoying
your senior year, but if
And don't miss a fantastic sidebar article,
Voices of Experience: Recent Grads Reveal their Most Effective Strategies for Senior Year Success.
We asked recent graduates of Stetson University,
DeLand, FL, to reveal their most effective strategies
for using senior year as a launch pad for career or
grad-school success:
Read what they had to say.
A Quintessential Back-to-School Special!
A must-have book for high-school and college students,
Write Your Way to a Higher GPA is now available for just $9
-- including shipping anywhere in the U.S.
The book, which normally retails for $11.95,
makes a great gift for any student returning to
or starting high school or college this fall.
Better grades constitute the mission of
Write Your Way to a Higher GPA. Specific
improvements in student writing skills can raise
grades in every class. Take advantage of the 25 writing
techniques and avoid the 29 writing flaws -- and you'll
be well on your way to making your teachers/professors
sit up and take notice!
Special Feature: Surviving Your First Year of College
Your First Year of College: 25 Tips to Help You Survive and Thrive Your Freshman Year and Beyond
by Randall Hansen, Ph.D.
Perhaps you were class president in high school.
Or perhaps you were a member of the honor society.
You could have graduated in the top percentile of
your graduating class; perhaps you were even
valedictorian. Maybe your were in the honors
program or the International Baccalaureate program.
Actually, it doesn't really matter what you did in
high school as you make the transition to college.
High school success (or lack of it) doesn't
automatically apply to college.
You start college with a clean academic slate,
along with a lot of independence and a myriad of
critical decisions as you begin the transition
into adulthood. The decisions that you make and
the actions you take during this first year of
college will have a major impact on the rest of
your college experience.
According to American College Testing (ACT), one
in every four college students leaves before completing
his or her sophomore year -- and nearly half of all
first-year students will either drop out before obtaining
a degree or complete their college education elsewhere.
But wait! This article is not meant to scare you or
take away any of the joy, excitement, and anticipation
you feel about going to college. Quite the opposite.
It's all about the things you need to do
to not only survive your first year of college, but
to thrive in college. And many of the tools, skills,
and habits you develop through this article can not
only be used to help you succeed in college, but in
your future career as well.
A comprehensive online course that includes
exercises designed to help you achieve career
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Learn to market yourself the Career Journal way. With specialized tracks
designed for people in different stages of career
development, this course can help any job-seeker,
from the unsure student to the experienced job-seeker.
By keeping and using a structured career-development
journal based on solid career-marketing principles,
you will experience new insights and growth --
into yourself and your career.
Blair Stobaugh is vice president of new business development at Bisk Education.
"Distance learning fills a tremendous void for
the working adult learner who cannot attend a class
each week because of professional and family commitments," noted
Stobaugh in the Q&A we did with him. "For many working
professionals, attending a weekly class is just not an option.
The flexibility of distance learning provides a unique solution.
Within existing classroom-based programs, distance education
can
become a part of the class materials or taken as a
stand-alone course. Factors such as individual learning styles,
convenience, location, and cost are all factored into the
learners' ultimate choice of learning options," Stobaugh said.
Read more of Stobaugh's thoughts on distance learning, including
little-known facts and trends in the field, in our complete
Q&A with Blair Stobaugh.
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This site provides reviews and letter grades
of Web sites of interest to college students,
including sites relating to admissions, alumni,
apartments, campus life, careers/internships,
classwork, financial aid, parents, grad school,
news/media, online courses, and study abroad.
The site also reviews shopping Web sites of
interest to college students.
CollegeGathering.com offers a small selection of articles
and invites students to submit "fresh, opinionated
articles about any aspect of the college experience"
and receive gift certificates for their efforts.
We are pleased to announce these additions
to the Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters product line:
E-mailable Electronic Resume Makeover Package:
If you want to be on the cutting edge of what employers
want and already have an existing resume that needs
sprucing up or revamping, order our Electronic Resume
Makeover Package.
For a truly complete package, add a text-based cover letter:
Order our Electronic Resume Makeover and Cover Letter Package.
CertificateUniverse --
a great site for locating certificate program providers and online course providers, financial aid information, and other
key resources. Covers the areas of corporate training, channel partner management and opportunities, educational
support for professional positions, vocational jobs and entrepreneurial goals and objectives and more.
MyMajors.com
-- a nice tool for high school and college students trying to identify potential college majors. This
site asks you about your interests and experiences, analyzes the information, and then suggests six
college majors for you to think about. While this tool should not be your only source of deciding on a
major, it's a neat tool that can help jump-start your planning process. Free.
The New Social Worker Online
-- an online magazine (with companion print version) for social work students and recent graduates that
includes information for social workers worldwide on social work careers, jobs, and practice. A
fantastic starting place to find links to all the social work education, career, and job links and
resources you need to succeed. Free to job-seekers.
Vocational Schools Guide
-- an emerging guide for students who are considering attending a vocational school, trade school, or community
college in the U.S. or Canada. Students can search for programs by state or by degree program. Free to students.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Amanda writes: "I am having some problems deciding
on what I want to major in for college. I've taken a
year and a half of general courses so far. I know that
I am great with people and would like to help people
throughout my life. My plan was to get a master's in
social work, but I have been told that social work can
be a hard field in which to find a good job. I want
something that deals with people, where I'll earn
pretty decent money and won't be in school for the
next 6-7 years. Do you have any suggestions?"
Laura writes: "Would it be 'career suicide' to take a
position within HR at another company which is
not-for-profit -- and the pay is $12K less than my
current salary? The position that I currently have
may be in jeopardy due to a merger, and I would rather
be employed than unemployed. What other factors do
I need to consider?"
May writes: "I am very interested in becoming a
newspaper or magazine editor. What kind of qualifications
would I need? And would I have to major/minor in a certain
subject in college in order to qualify? How competitive is
it? Would I be able to take on this job while I am still
in college? (I am currently a sophomore studying business
administration -- marketing and management). I would really
appreciate it if you can provide me with some information
on how I might go about taking this career path."
Nancy writes: "What should I do when an employer job
posting or classified advertisement asks for a brief
writing sample to be included with my resume and cover
letter? Are they requesting a sample of my handwriting,
an original composition, or a combination of both?"
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Get Educated's Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools (BLDGS)
is an annual series of free downloadable PDF guidebooks
that profile accredited distance-learning graduate schools
headquartered in the USA (Go here
for current guidebook).
These programs are all:
Accredited by an agency recognized by the Council
on Higher Education Accreditation (commonly either
regional accreditation or Distance Education
& Training Council accreditation).
Offer either post-baccalaureate degrees
(commonly master's or doctorates) or career certificates
(Programs that offer only discrete courses are not profiled
in BDLGS.)
Offer degrees or certificates in a subject area covered
by one of the three guide books.
(Though the guide is free, recipients are required to register to receive it.)
A relatively new feature at Monster.com is a
partnership with Brainbench, which provides skills
certifications. In a confidential, self-administered
online format, participants can assess and certify
their ability to perform any number of 350+ skills.
These certifications are used by employers in IT, finance,
healthcare, software and more.
Learn more.
Law school and graduate applications are soaring, reported
Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press recently. Law school
applications are seeing the biggest increase in at least two
decades -- as more young people are deciding the job market out
there is just too rough, Dale noted. Business schools and other
graduate programs also reporting a surge in applications. "Some
of those applying are going straight from college to graduate school,"
Dale wrote. "Others have been working but have decided to go back
to school." Law school applications are up 17.9 percent for 2002-03,
the biggest spike in more than 20 years, according to the Law School
Admission Council.
We'd Love You to Link to Quintessential Careers!
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Cover letters to recruiters
* How to create and publish a Web-ready resume
* Crafting a successful e-mail resume
* The interview as sales call
* Getting the raise you deserve
* 10 things I wish I'd known before starting college
* 10 things I wish I'd known before starting my first job
* Letters of recommendation
* 10 ways to develop job leads
* Why, how, when to use a career coach -- and whom to choose
* Employer research: step by step
* Learn about careers through job-shadowing
* Balancing career and family
* 10 job-search reality checks
* Is job flexibility right for you?
* First days on the job: Strategies to get ahead
* Dealing with a bad boss
* Making your case for telecommuting
* A day in the life of a recruiter
* Don't wait by the phone: Following up on all job leads
* Dining etiquette
* Career journaling
* The relationship between personality and career choice
* What employers are really looking for
* How to create and use a networking card
* How to resign from your job gracefully
* Step-by-step guide to career planning
* New series: 10 mistakes to avoid in: resumes, cover letters, interviews, salary
negotiation, career change, networking, job-search
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
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Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
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need assistance in researching and writing their
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Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
event at your college or organization? The Quintessential
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can provide presentations/workshops on a variety of
career-related topics.
