Good News and Bad News on the Internship Front

By Zack on March 31, 2009

OK gang, it's time for a little segment we like to call "Good News Bad News." There have been some developments on the college and intern hiring front and it's a bit of a mixed bad. I'm the type who likes to get the bad news out of the way first, only to feast on the good news later, like a cherry that sunk to the bottom of the delicious sundae that is your career, bathed in the sweet juices of all that has gone before it.

Umm. Moving On.

The BAD NEWS:

According the the National Association of Colleges and Employers both internship hiring and college hiring fell by over 20 percent compared to last year. The separate studies, conducted by NACE, show Internship Hiring down 21 percent and College Hiring down 22 percent.

Employers taking part in NACE’s 2009 Experiential Education Survey cited budget cuts, decreased workloads, and company downsizing and restructuring as among the top reasons for bringing in 20.7 percent fewer interns this year than last year.

“The drop-off in internship opportunities mirrors what we’re seeing in terms of full-time hiring for new college graduates,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

The GOOD NEWS:

NACE also reports that, while internships as a whole are down, salaries for interns are up 5 percent. This brings the average hourly wage for an intern up to $17.13 - not too bad for an internship.

“We are seeing that intern hiring and full-time hiring are down this year due to the current economy. The increase in intern salaries may reflect a long-term strategy on the part of employers to ensure their internship programs continue to attract top students,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

Intern salaries are affected by the student’s major and year of study as well as the location of the internship.

“There are a variety of factors that determine salary,” says Mackes. “For example, in general, the further along the student is in school, the higher the salary, with sophomores earning more than freshmen, and juniors earning more than sophomores. By field, students in engineering and computer sciences earn the highest salaries on average.”

So what does this mean for you? Well, it means pretty much the same thing as the job outlook. You will face some stiff competition both coming out of school into the work force and as a current student applying for internships. However, if you are able to secure one of these jobs or internships, take comfort in the fact that employers are willing to recognize and reward the skills and work of their new employees. Just make sure that you are prepared for the job hunt, because if you are not, be assured someone else will.

Need some help to get you ahead of the competition? Try The Links ...

The Thin Pink Line Offers: Advice for graduating seniors who can't seem to land a job. Lindsey Pollack says not to worry, you can find short-term productive work to keep you in the game. Try temping, volunteering, tutoring and freelance to stay active while searching for that full-time gig.

Blue Sky Resumes Blog Explains: How to get feedback on your resume. "[A]sking for a general critique is generally a bad idea. In my experience, the best way to solicit feedback is to ask people who have worked closely with you: ‘does this resume accurately represent what I have accomplished?’ Sometimes, you’ll find that co-workers will say ‘No! You didn’t even mention X project!” or “you didn’t say that you know C++” and you’ll realize that they are right."

Brazen Careerist Anthony Portuesi Says: Joining Professional Organizations in college is a great way to get a leg up in the job hunt. The orgs are a great way to network, work on projects as an undergrad and get some useful experience that an be applied to real-world situations. One organization Anthony recommends is is Pi Sigma Epsilon. Check it out!

"Good News and Bad News" photo courtesy of Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via Flickr Creative Commons

In Tough Times Libraries Are A Popular Resource

By Zack on March 30, 2009

This weekend's New York Times features a profile of one free resource that could be very instrumental in the job search: The Public Library. In the current job market libraries have seen a boom in visitation and the absorbtion of resources.

[O]ut-of-work professionals crowd the computers in the afternoon, a time that had previously been dominated by elderly patrons, and books on résumé writing are hard to keep on the shelves. The Science, Industry and Business Library on 34th Street drew 700 people to a career preparedness fair in January, and the Bronx Library Center recently doubled the number of computer classes it offers to the elderly because people looking to re-enter the work force had packed the existing classes to overflow levels.

Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens all saw a rise in circulation during the fourth quarter of 2008, just as the job market was shrinking. If I had to guess, I would say that libraries everywhere are facing similar circumstances. The take away here is that the library is an excellent resource for the job hunter ... just know that these days you will face increased competitions for books, computers and other resources.

We have some other resources to shape your career, with The Links ...

TechCrunch Profiles: InternSHARE, "an all-in-one internship job and review portal where students can not only find a internship but also access the reviews of internships at companies, submitted by former interns." I think this sounds pretty cool ... absolutely worth a look.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Reports: on students outsourcing homework (via Andrew Sullivan). "The writers for essay mills are anonymous and often poorly paid. Some of them crank out 10 or more essays a week, hundreds over the course of a year. They earn anywhere from a few dollars to $40 per page, depending on the company and the subject." Insane. I hope none of you do this.

Mashable Reports: Birmingham City University, in England, is offering a Master's Degree in Social Networking. The program consists of a one-year course that costs about $6,000. I like this idea, but think it should be closer to a masters in a broader topic (Communications? Marketing?) with a concentration in Social Networking.

JibberJobber Summarizes: PC Mag's best job search websites. Coming in at the number 1 spot is Beyond.com, a job search network that pulls in from a number of different sites.

Lifehacker Has: 10 ways to get free education online. These range from how to learn a new language, how to learn new skills (like photography) and how to trade your skills online to learn new ones. Regardless of your major, career interests, etc, it's important to always be learning something new in a field outside your own. I think it keeps the mind fresh.

"Library Visitor" Photo courtesy of umjanedoan via Flickr Creative Commons.

YouTube EDU: Not just for the nerdy

By Mindy on March 27, 2009

What was the world like before YouTube? I mean, would the average modern college student be able to survive in a universe that was YouTube-free? Honestly, it scares me to think too hard about it.

TechCrunch had a post today about a new YouTube sub-site called YouTube EDU. The feature aggregates thousands of video channels from more than 100 colleges around the country. Now you can watch lectures from professors at MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford and Yale for free online.

You can browse the directory for a specific university to find lectures or even full courses. I pulled up MIT’s course called Exploring Black Holes: General Relativity and Astrophysics. It’s quite informative. I made through exactly 4 minutes and 29 seconds of the first video. But I also don’t have the best grasp on astrophysics. My science class in college was on earthquakes.

This video is the most watched on YouTube EDU. A University of Minnesota professor puts a scientific spin on the new movie The Watchmen. Really really cool (speaking of Watchmen, check out the link below to Marvel's new film writers program).

All in all, I’m really impressed with the site. It takes procrastination to a whole new and enlightening level. As in, “I could write my term final or I could learn about Quantum Physics on YouTube.”

Now go forth and learn something for free.. Oh and don't forget The Links:

/Film Uncovers: Marvel is starting a new writers program. The post reports on "rumors" that Marvel wants to find at least half a dozen film writers to work on some future comic book movie projects.

Brazen Careerist's Kelly Giles Says: That sending a post career fair thank you note can make a big impression. She has some links to good sample thank you notes and weighs in on the e-mail or snail mail dilemma.

Chris Anderson Points Out: That tweeting about how much you hate your job is really dumb. But apparantly everybody does it. If you are one of the people he found in this search, then we need to review our social media rules. Rule #1: You must remove all questionable drunk photos from Facebook. Rule #2: Tweet wisely.

Consider Relocation To Land Your First Job

By Zack on March 26, 2009

In headier times it may have been possible to pick and choose the city where you begin your career. If you went to school in Philadelphia and wanted to stay to start your career you probably had a pretty good chance. However, with the current job market you may have to look around and relocate to find the gig you are looking for.  One of the places that may be worth checking out is Raleigh, North Carolina.  Yesterday's Forbes.com features an ind-depth profile of the burgeoning hot spot for employment where "the three-year projected annual employment gain is 1.4%. according to Moody's Economy.com, 15th best in the country."

Helping fuel Raleigh's strong economy is the Research Triangle Park, one of the oldest and largest science parks in North America. It is located between Raleigh and Durham and is home to 170 companies employing 42,000 people. Big employers include Biogen Idec, Cisco Systems and IBM.

"Raleigh is holding up better than any other place in North Carolina," says Matthew Martin, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Va. He cites the significant higher education presence and low manufacturing base in the area for Raleigh's steady economy.

A good friend and old roomate of mine moved down to the Raleigh-Durham area about two years ago and is the happiest he has ever been. Between well paying jobs and a relatively low cost of living it makes for a very comfortable living.  You make have to make some sacrifices in this market regarding the selection of jobs, but it is good to know that there are areas of the country where you can still find what you are looking for.

The Forbes piece also looks at some other regions of the country and how they stack up.  Austin, Texas made a significant leap from 47th to 8th this year. And going in the other direction is California, which had just one of it's 21 metro areas in the top 100 (Riverside). Read the entire article for more.

On then to The Links ...

Chronicle of Higher Ed's Wired Campus Blog Announces: Blackboard has an iPhone App. The app, called Blackboard Learn allows students to check grades and receive class updates via there iPhone. It's free and can be found in the Apple App store.

Chronicle of Higher Ed's Wired Campus Blog Also Found: Internships with Google. "Google is handing out $4,500 stipends to a select group of college students who will spend this summer contributing to open-source projects, including ones that compete with Google’s own software." The program is called "Summer of Code."

Alison Doyle's Job Searching Blog Warns: Twitter can help you get a job. "However, there is a danger in thinking that all you need to do is go online and tweet yourself to a new job. There is no quick and easy way for most of us to find a job." Read Alison's post for a well rounded approach to finding a job.

Fistful of Talent Asks: Who has a better shot at scoring a job: The young college grad or the seasoned vet? Read the post for a breakdown on the advantages of each to see where you stand.

"Downtown Raleigh at sunset" Photo courtesy FotoDawg via Flickr's Creative Commons.

The Opening of Academic Material

By Zack on March 24, 2009

We have a relatively simple philosophy at ThinkTalk that essentially boils down to providing as much advice and knowledge as possible to aspiring careerists. This is one reason why we make all of our content free ... both online and the programming we distribute to schools.

Our feeling is that the more free educational content there is out there, the better. Which is why I am pretty excited about some recent developments on this front. The firs is a decion by MIT to provide all of its scholarly work for free online. MIT faculty voted to allow access to all facualty scholarly material in an online database in an effort to promote scholarship.  From the Chronicle for Higher Ed:

Peter Suber, a research professor of philosophy at Earlham College and a longtime promoter of open access to scholarly publications, said the move was a sign of growing momentum for open-access policies. “It’s a strong signal that these measures have faculty support,” he said. “The more momentum there is for open access, the more it looks like a mainstream idea,” he added. “There’s no doubt that it started out as a fringe idea.”

This goes hand in hand with today's profile at Techcrunch of Academic Earth, a video service providing free access to academic video courses and lectures online. From Techcrunch:

The site offers 60 full courses and 2,395 total lectures (almost 1300 hours of video) from Yale, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Princeton that can be browsed by subject, university, or instructor through a user-friendly interface. Additionally, editors have compiled lectures from different speakers into Playlists such as “Understanding the Financial Crisis” and “First Day Of Freshman Year.”

Without sparking a discussion on the future of education, I think these are important steps in the opening up of educational content for mass use. While universities can debate that allowing unfettered access to their content will diminish their ability the advantage of employing top quality educators, I think we will see that if everyone allows this access the debate will lose its bite. Personally, I am happy for these developments and look forward to the next step in the access of academic information.

We also advocate unfettered access of The Links ...

Brazen Careerist Josh Bauerle Share: His story of how a student with less-than-stellar grades and no experience scored a job at a Fortune 500 company. Josh overcame his deficiencies in college and through networking, creativity and persistence was able to score a job he loves. If you didn't capitalize fully while in school, it's not too late, so read Josh's post and see what lessons you  can learn.

College Candy Offers: A few ways to raise your credit score (via GradSpot). I think the key to good credit is moderation. You need to spend, but spend within your means. You need a credit card and you need to pay it on time. This post has some other good tips that you should check out.

Lindsey Pollack Provides: Advice on what to do if you can't get a job immediately after college. Lindsey advices pursuing part-time jobs and internships to build experience while also maintaining the ability to pay the bills.

Consumerist Informs: It takes 35 packets of Taco Bell Hot Sauce to fill up an empty hot sauce bottle. Because, well ... Tony just thought we needed to know that.

The Daily Roundup: When Ramen and Easy Mac Just Won't Cut It

By Zack on March 23, 2009

One thing that I'm sure is always on your mind as a college student is how to save money. We know all the cliches; Ramen Noodles, Easy Mac and having you friends sneak you in the rear-entrance of the dining hall. Well, these are cliches for a reason - they are absolutely true. One summer I worked on campus for $7 per hour and free room and board. And if you think I didn't eat two meals a day of McDonald's Dollar Menu, then you don't know me very well.

Now, speaking of working on campus for free room and board, this weekend's New York Times reports on the growing competition for Resident Adviser positions.

168 Seton Hall students applied this spring for 30 spots, up from 104 applicants two years ago. At New York University, where they use the more common term of resident adviser, the number of graduate students interested in a position jumped to 246 last year from 148. At Clemson University in South Carolina, applications more than doubled in the last year, to 240, while at the University of Virginia, 390 students submitted applications, nearly 100 more than usual.

Being a R.A. certainly isn't the easiest job in the world. As a student, I'm sure your quite aware of the challenges of exerting authority over your peers. It's a fine line to walk between acting as an authority figure and expressing the friendship and compassion an R.A. must posses for fellow students.

But there are benefits beyond the economic stability the position affords.

“These kids learn problem-solving, conflict resolution, crisis management, communication skills and programming,” said Mr. Dunkel, director of housing at the University of Florida. “You can translate that skill set to any career. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a teacher in a classroom or an accountant.”

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, I suggest reading the entire Times article and consulting with either your own R.A. or a member of the Housing Department staff.

A new week means a new batch of The Links ...

Cheezhead Explains: How colleges are using Twitter for recruitment. "There are over fifty active colleges and universities that are engaging with potential students, active students and alumni on Twitter. For the full list, there is a wiki document that lists the schools in alphabetical order."

Secrets of the Job Hunt Features: A breakdown of how companies filled empty jobs in 2008. Take note: 27% of jobs were filled through referrals, while 12% through job boards. This proves the increased importance of networking - both in person and online.

CareerHub Offers: Advice on maximizing the effect of your resume through the "file name." "The report advises that your first and last name always be included in the file name. It is also a good idea to include a word or short keyword phrase that describes your main skill set or industry (for example, CFO, Marketing Executive, etc.). It is important to keep the keyword phrase fairly short, so as not to create an unwieldy file name that extends beyond fields in a database or beyond the edge of the reader's window or screen (such as on a Blackberry)."

Brazen Careerist Lauren Friese Suggests: Volunteering to boost you resume (and,eventually, your wallet). "Volunteering is a great way to meet people and show them what you’re capable of at the same time. It can offer amazing learning opportunities that will pay off large in the long run, a little later in your career."

The Daily Roundup: The Real World Looms

By Zack on March 20, 2009

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

So Spring Break is over. For Seniors, next week you will be in the final stretch of your collegiate career. The job market is largely in shambles and you aren't sure what you are going to do. Luckily, we found this CBS News interview with career advice specialist Lindsey Pollack, by way of the great blog The Thin Pink Line. Here's some great advice from Lindsey on how to negotiate this job market as a graduating senior.

For some other great career advice, we present The Links ...

Cheezhead Investigates: The best and worst states for internships and entry-level positions. Well, let's just look at the best: "California with 2,152; New York wtih 1,487; Texas with 1,038; Florida with 911 and Illinois with 700. The states with the largest number of entry-level jobs are: California with 11,327; Texas with 8,723; Florida with 6,272; New York with 5,828 and Pennsylvania with 4,857."

Keppie Careers Gives: Useful advice on converting your resume to a text only file. Some job databases require ASCII file format (as oppose to Microsoft Word) for resumes, and Miriam Salpeter details the process of converting and checking your file.

The Wall Street Jounral Warns: Not to overlook the importance of your job references. "With applicant pools growing larger by the day, it would be good to assume that employers will be diligently contacting references. 'In my experience, references are always being checked,' says Dena Sneider, a career consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'In this market, they will certainly be checked since employers have their pick of candidates.'"

The Daily Roundup: The Truth is Out There

By Mindy on March 19, 2009

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

R.W. Goodwin says he’s “a lucky man.” We interviewed the veteran director, producer and screenwriter today in the ThinkTalk studios. He told Nellie that it’s a combo of luck and hard work that has made him successful. “Bob” Goodwin is the real thing—a producer who’s 100% likable and down-to-earth. He started in the mailroom of CBS delivering mail and went on to produce 5 seasons of the X-Files and is now the director of the new movie Alien Trespass (premiers April 3). It was a blast talking to him today and we can’t wait to release his Director’s Cut show.

Talking about sci-fi films, UFOs and all-things-alien has me in a spacey mood. So in honor of Goodwin, I traveled the digital universe to find some space-related jobs and internships.

For every kid-at-heart who has ever wanted to be an astronaut, NASA has a job for you. While there’s only been 321 astronauts ever selected since the “Original Seven,” there are plenty of openings at NASA for everything from engineering to medical support to public affairs specialist to accountant. If you want to get an idea what it’s really like to work for NASA, check out OpenNASA, a blog by the agency’s employees. There is a page for students with need-to-know facts and an applicants’ guide. I’ve heard that the closest thing to eternal life you’ll see in this world is a government job- probably true. So you can apply for a NASA job at USAJobs.gov.

I’m a museum geek, so a job at the National Air and Space Museum sounds awesome. The employment page doesn’t have any positions listed currently but if you check out the Smithsonian Institution Career Center you might find something.

One Day One Job had a great post about Digital Globe. The Web site says it is “the world’s leading provider of high resolution commercial imagery and the only company operating a constellation of sub-meter commercial imaging satellites.” Have you ever procrastinated using Google Earth to look up your best friend from elementary school’s old house? These are the people who are responsible for the Google app—pretty cool. Digital Globe’s career page has a list of techie jobs you can browse through.

The US Space and Rocket Center hosts space camp for wanna-be kid astronauts everywhere. They need counselors and permanent staff to run their summer camps and their museum in Hunstville, AL. They have open positions that would be suitable for students and recent grads.

If you are looking for an out-of-this-world internship, the National Space Society, The Space Studies Board, The Lunar and Planetary Institute and The National Radio Astronomy Observatory have summer internship programs but the deadlines have passed for 2009- keep them in mind for next year.

Keep searching the skies. The Links are out there somewhere…

Visual CV Offers: A free webinar “Incorporating Social Media in Your Job Search.” They will discuss how to leverage Internet tools to optimize you job search and how to build a great online resume. Register for the upcoming event on April 14th at noon EST. Mashable also has a great post about the top social sites for resume building.

The Creative Career Features: A career quiz: Are You Ready for PR or Marketing? The test for students interested in public relations or marketing (duh). Luckily I cleared the test and am ready for a career in pr (whew).

Careersthatdontsuck Reports: That “Grant Writing is Sexy Again.” Eh? Well then, sign me up.

The Resume Girl Studies: Classes that might actually matter after you graduate. She says that there are some courses that will “pay off” during your job hunt.

The Chronicle of Higher Education Finds: That biology assistants make bank. A survey of graduate assistants in six different areas at 111 different schools found that biology grads make the most money. Too bad I never took organic chem.

The Wall Street Journal Interviews: David Perry and Kevin Donlin, authors of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters about how to stand out among the masses of job seekers. One thing to not do: appear desperate. The Career Hub has some tips on how to keep from sabotaging your job hunt by looking too needy.

Busy Busy Busy

By Mindy on March 18, 2009

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

Let me take a second to catch my breath…

Today at ThinkTalk we’ve been busy busy busy. We’re working on a great show with R.W. Goodwin so make sure to check that out (The X-Files is probably my favorite series ever. I’m definitely asking him to sign my “I Want to Believe” poster.)

The trailer from R.W. Goodwin's new movie Alien Trespass

Crazy doing a million exciting things today, so I’ll let the Links do the talking:

Alexandra Levit Observes: That gap years are gaining popularity among American students. There are even gap year programs to help you focus your time and explore your talents.

Employment Digest Has: Some suggestions to dress up your resume so it’s “stylish but not childish.”

Minnesota Jobs Thinks: That temping is one the best ways to get a job right now. I know several people in DC that landed great jobs by temping for companies. Definitely worth a try.

CollegeRecruiter.com Gives: Advice on putting your Spring Break to good use. I know, I can already here the groans-but if you are graduating in the spring then there is valuable time a wastin. Maybe you can balance work and fun this break.

Dorie Morgan Advises: That you should know all you can know about your student loans. Now’s the time to learn more about your finances.

The Daily Roundup: Twitter For The Job

By Zack on March 17, 2009

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Each day at the ThinkTalk Blog we will post some links that we find informative, interesting, or just plain funny. The goal is to let you know what else is going on out there, and ultimately help you with the development of your career.

Today, Techcrunch, a technology news blog, has an interesting post on a new way to perform your job search.

TwitterJobsSearch is a search engine separate from Twitter that accumulates all of the job posting listed throughout the micro-blogging platform, and filters them through a specific search term. I find this simply amazing.

TwitterJobSearch pulls up Tweets that are only job-related and links to the underlying job posting. Most of these seem to link to other job sites such as CareerBuilder or more niche job sites which all seem to be using Twitter to post their latest openings. But with TwitterJobSearch, you search across all of them, and results are ranked by both relevance and by how recently they’ve been posted. A job search for “software engineer” returns 4,838 results, and you can reorder results by geography simply by adding the name of a city to the search.

I was admittedly skeptical of Twitter at first ... but to be thoroughly honest I have pulled a complete 360. This site gives the ability to conduct a virtually real-time search for jobs. Not that timing is always the most important aspect of job listings, but it certainly doesn't hurt. I am hooked on this service and question whether there is anything it can't do!

On to the Links ...

Blue Sky Resumes Blog Says: Ditch those Resume Objectives. "An objective is all about you (”seeking employment with a progressive company with strong growth plans blah blah) but your resume should be all about the employer...The employer is hiring people to fill a business need. She wants to know how you will help to meet that need. An objective does nothing to tell her that."

College Finance 101 Shows: You how to save money at school by sharing Textbooks. In this post the Retirement Guru lays out a scenario of how four friends can schedule classes in a way that allows students to save on the costs of textbooks.

Keppie Careers Gives: Advice on how to stay positive during a grueling job search. Don't underestimate the importance a positive attitude can have during the search process. This post has 5 tips on how to keep the best frame of mind.