Feature Article: Make Your College Application Shine: Six Strategies For Success
Special Feature: Answers to Common College Admissions Questions
Bonus Feature: What's New About the New SAT: It's Back to the Basics and the Three R's
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Quintessential Reading: QuintZine's Review of Career Books
What's New on Quintessential Careers: Latest Additions
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
Last year, I embarrassed myself when I said our annual College Bound issue
was just for our younger readers and friends and family of younger readers. What a dope!
I forgot that plenty of nontraditional-age folks go back to college. I was one of them myself.
So this year's issue is especially dedicated to college-bound readers OF ALL AGES. We offer
articles on great college applications, the new SAT, and our second panel discussion
with college admissions officials on hot issues in the admissions world.
Speaking of misspeaking -- A couple of issues ago I looked forward to the
end of hurricane season on Nov. 1. Wrong. It's not till Nov. 30. We still have a few weeks
to sweat it out here at Quintessential Careers World Headquarters in Florida.
This is a big issue for 8's. It comes out Nov. 8 and also marks the 8th anniversary
of Quintessential Careers. Happy anniversary to us and thank you to all of our readers
and visitors for another great year.
--Katharine Hansen, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Make Your Application Shine
Make Your College Application Shine: Six Strategies for Success
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
One of the most critical stages in a college-bound teen's life is the process of applying to college.
And while many activities lead up to the point of applying to a select group of colleges, the focus
of this article is on maximizing your efforts on your college applications.
Top admissions officials from some of the best colleges and universities around the U.S. offer insight and
advice to common college admission questions.
The college admissions process is all about marketing and fit. Initially, the colleges market themselves to
prospective students in an attempt to get a diverse group of applicants (and to meet certain quotas). Once a student
decides which colleges
he/she wants to apply to, then it's the student's turn to market his/her unique qualifications to the colleges.
Once the marketing game has played out, the decisions by the colleges on which students to accept
and by the students on which schools they will attend all come down to fit; the college admissions staff wants to
admit students who will fit well on campus, and the students want a place where they feel they belong.
What’s New About the New SAT: It’s Back to the Basics and the Three R’s
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
The Times They Are A-Changin'. So goes a Bob Dylan song -- and so too for the SAT, the most popular standardized
test used for college admission decisions.
Just about every aspect of the venerable test, a rite of passage for generations of college-bound teens,
is changing as of March 2005. Find out about the changes in our article.
Have You Taken Our Latest Quiz?
Could You Benefit from a Professional Resume Writer?
An Assessment for Job-seekers
Are you thinking about engaging the services of a professional writer
for your resume, CV, cover letter, thank-you letter, or other career-marketing
correspondence? Before you take this step, consider how a professional resume writer
could benefit you.
The idea of choosing a college, of narrowing down the list of the thousands of possible choices of
colleges and universities of all sizes and shapes in all parts of the country, can be -- and often
is -- a daunting task for any high-school junior.
And it's not just the sheer number of possible choices, but also the great wealth of sources of
information. College bombard postal and email boxes, beckoning you to their Web sites where they tell you
how great they are. And then there are all the college-choice Web sites and guide books, with their various descriptions
and rankings.
With this information overload and marketing hype looming all around, there is hope in the form of
the very user-friendly and informative Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges
2005. The book is written in a very casual style, and offers practical and opinionated advice college-bound
students won't find anywhere else. (That's the inside joke -- it's a biased book with "unbiased" in the title,
with the "un" crossed out.)
The thing that makes the Unbiased Guide so good is that these 331 colleges are an eclectic mix
of college and universities that offer strong programs and opportunities for their students.
There are no rankings in this book -- and there are more than a few of the more "selective" colleges
that did not even make the cut, replaced by schools you might otherwise never have known existed.
At My College Guide, college-bound students can search for colleges that meet their criteria
(such as location, cost, freshman class size, school type) -- or browse the alphabetical listings,
get critical advice from the Admissions Guru, read interesting articles about college life, and even
download the common application that several hundred colleges use for admissions.
Free to students.
Have you read the Quint Careers Weblog (Blog)?
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
Jeffrey writes: "My son is a junior in high school with a 3.8 GPA, but he can't define what he wants
to do in life. His mother and I have been telling him to pick something even if it is wrong.
This will at least give him some focus and direction so that we may line up potential
colleges. What do you recommend?"
Sarah writes: "Recently I had to quit my job at a local food store and I really need a new job.
I was at that job for six months. Before that I worked at a sandwich shop from Aug. 2002 to July 2003.
It's really hard to find a job, especially since I'm 17. I've applied to about 20 places. Any ideas?"
Anonymous writes: "I worked as a police officer for 17 years then resigned to become a deputy in a county
jail facility. Needless to say,
it didn't work out; that was approximately a year ago. After having many
interviews and an attempt at a career change, it all seems in vain. Will I ever get a position that meets
my specifications? What move should I make next?"
Christine writes: "I am interested in a career in fashion design, fashion merchandising, and fashion journalism.
I know I can take courses in fashion design and merchandising at community colleges, but I didn't see any courses in
fashion journalism. Would I just need to take a regular journalism course and also the courses I need to take
to do fashion design and merchandising to be able to do all three?"
ClassiJob -- for job-seekers searching
for employment opportunities in and around Singapore. Job-seekers can search for jobs
(by keywords, job category, industry, more), as well as post your resume. Includes some
basic career resources. Free to job-seekers.
DiversityHealthWorks.com -- a
comprehensive career portal with content dedicated and related to diversity in the healthcare workforce. Job-seekers can
search job listings (by location, occupation, job type, keywords), as well as post your resume. Job-seekers can also register
for a job-search agent as well as participate in a virtual career fair. Free to job-seekers.
Fashion Career Center -- where fashion
industry job candidates can search job listings (by keyword, location), as well as post your
resume and register for a job-search agent. Also includes information on fashion schools, some
career resources/tips, and suggested reading. Free to job-seekers.
Online College Courses -- a
comprehensive directory of online college courses that have accredited online university or degree programs
in business, law, technology, psychology, web design, art, and more. Free.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
High-school seniors with college plans aren't sitting back and taking it easy. Today, the competition
among students to earn a spot at a post-secondary institution is more competitive, which has students
working harder than ever just to make sure they get accepted to the school of their choice.
Read more from the Star Tribune.
Going to college can improve a worker's ability to earn a higher income, but the experience of going to
college can also teach valuable skills for success at work and in life. A recent study found that college
grads not only earn more than workers with a high-school education, but they also participate more in their
communities and have higher levels of self-esteem.
Read
more in the article from The Arizona Republic.
While the prospective college Class of 2009 is busy applying to colleges, the Class of 2005
is feeling a bit gloomy about its post-college job prospects. CollegeGrad.com recently
released its survey results on employment expectations for next spring's grads. Only 29 percent of college
seniors recently surveyed expect to find employment by graduation. The remaining 71 percent expect their job search to continue
through the summer, for six months or even more following graduation. Some students attribute their low
expectations to a poor job market, while others are just waiting to begin their job search until after they graduate.
The economy is not the only factor in the expectations that college seniors have of the current job market.
Many students struggle with the "experience" dilemma. Frank Prioleau Jr, who will graduate in December 2004
with a computer-science degree from Limestone College explains, "I have gotten letters saying I don't have
the experience needed. How can I get experience if no one gives me the chance?"
Career center advisors repeatedly lament the fact that students do not make their job search their
first priority. "There is not a universal impetus for resume and job hunting until the last minute,"
said Mary Banks, director of the Business Career Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"The most frustrating excuse that I hear regularly from college seniors is that they are just too busy
with their coursework and their athletic teams to spend time on their job search!" said Grady McClendon,
director of Career Services at Webber International University. "In other words, their job search doesn't
seem to be very high among their priorities."
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:
* Dining etiquette
* Career Focus Quiz
* Pre-Employment Testing
* Exude Confidence in Interviews
* Pros and Cons of Nontraditional Careers
* Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women
* Internet Jobhunting Annual Report
* Top 5 Networking Strategies
* 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.
Ad: Quintessential Careers Career Coaching Services
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desiring to bounce ideas off of a career expert?
trying to discover the keys to career success?
Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
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And for an economical online-only career-coaching alternative,
visit The Career Clinic.
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Quintessential Careers also offers writing services
for those who have been asked to give a speech and
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Need a speaker for your career-oriented conference or
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This is a big issue for 8's. It comes out Nov. 8 and also marks the 8th anniversary
of Quintessential Careers. Happy anniversary to us and thank you to all of our readers
and visitors for another great year.
