Up Where We Belong

By Nellie on May 29, 2009

Can you believe it? Its finally here, Disney/Pixar's new animated feature film Up is in theatres today. I've been keeping my eye on this film since last year and reading reviews about it on blogs like /Film and IGN. Need more persuasion? You can find glowing and heartfelt reviews on Up from the New York Times to Slate magazine to MTV's Movies Blog.

As popular as this film is becoming what's more interesting and inspiring are the stories of the people behind the film. As industry insiders know, Pixar is not an easy crowd to get into, take it from Up's writer and co-director Bob Peterson. In an interview with The Washington Post Bob said it took him seven years to find a way into Pixar. As lucky of a number as "seven" is, seven years of courting a company takes mad persistence and unflinching passion (Lucky? Not so much). But maybe that is why all of Pixar's films bring so much heart to each story and keep audiences around the world anticipating the next film.

If you'd like a head start in finding your way to Pixar take some time this weekend to read up on their Intern/New Grad FAQ page. While you are there check out their New Graduates and Interns pages to learn more about the company via employees and recent interns. Take it from Mike who was a Technical Director Intern/Past Production Engineering Intern at Pixar from the University of Waterloo:

The coolest thing about this place is that this attitude is also present at every level of management in the company. One day, we had lunch with Ed Catmull, the President and Co-Founder of Pixar. He told us that we are and always will be a storytelling company. Our job is to make timeless stories that inspire people, make them cry and make them laugh. We are not here to just make a quick buck.

When the intentions and goals of the entire company are so grand, Pixar becomes something MUCH more than just a job. It is much more than just a cool place to work. It is a place where you can live out your childhood dreams of storytelling and filmmaking, and know that your hard work is inspiring people of all ages, all over the world.”

One character from Up that is sure to be memorable and heartfelt is Dug the Talking Dog (voice of Bob Peterson). Enjoy this video of the creators' passion and take on Dug.

Hey, it wouldn't be a ThinkTalk Blog without our kickin' Links...

CareerDiva Shares: Advice on what to do when your job has been postponed. It may feel awkward to be a little pushy with finding out why the job was pushed back but read what the experts say about this issue.

Zen College Life Occupies: You (College Student) with How to Use Your Summer Vacation and adds a bonus blog on More Great Things To Do This Summer. Yes, still think about your career but remember if you don't know how to relax and enjoy life you'll probably burn out before your time!

Applicant Changes: The way you spruce up your resume. Maybe you don't want to get too crazy with what you send a future employer but creatively customizing your resume to fit a job description is never uncalled for.

Xatal Dishes: Perspective on when and what classes to take for the next semester. Xatal blog is written by UC Santa Cruz freshman Paul. He offers great advice to students transitioning from home life to dorm life.

Poorer than You Schedules: Their channel to ABC channel tonight at 9pm EDT for a special called UN-BROKE: What You Need to Know About Money. Hollywood celebs like Seth Green, Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Oscar the Grouch and more are all in this one hour special to entertain and talk about money and finance. This should be interesting for us twenty-somethings having to excel-spreadsheet our finances for the first time.

Have a great weekend and see you at the theaters with my 3-D glasses for UP in 3-D!

Identity Thieves Need Jobs Too

By Mindy on May 28, 2009

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This phrase may have blown through your head once or twice while you apply for every kind of job that you find on every kind of job search engine. You know you've hit that point when you respond to job postings for copy editor (you’re a math major) or daycare teacher (you can’t stand kids).

Competition is tough. The find-a-job-clock is ticking, and it’s understandable if you are willing to try everything. But the folks at Satisfying Career- Happier Life have a word of warning to pass along: be aware that identity thieves may be on those job boards with you.

The bad news is that identity thieves are well aware of this increased vulnerability among job seekers and use it to their advantage. The good news is that understanding the risks before you begin your job search can not only help you avoid identity theft, it can make your job search more productive, too. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report, 10% of all respondents who said they were victims of identity theft spent 55 hours or more resolving the problem. That’s time that could be better spent on your job search!

Satisfying Career- Happier Life interviewed Jeremy Miller, director of operations at Kroll Fraud Solutions. He gives six guidelines to follow to make sure your job search is safe as well as successful. Definitely check out the post if you are perusing job search engines.

The Links would watch your back if they could… but they can’t. Because they’re Links.

The Personal Branding Blog Studies: The Art of the Ask. I hate asking for things- but this post makes a lot of good points. Liz Lynch from the Center of Networking Excellence says it’s much better if you treat your contacts as relationships instead of business transactions. “Asking for something that can be fulfilled creates positive feelings, which then strengthens the relationship and sets up an environment for more help to flow in the future.”

Blueskyresumes Finds: A guy who isn’t afraid to promote himself in a big way. But he manages to make it both funny and to the point- after looking at the Web site I know what his skills and expertise are.

Secrets of the Job Hunt Gives: A few more tips on preparing for and excelling at your next job fair. Always good to review your basic dos and don’ts. Plus I like her last point: Get into a good mood. The hiring person at the table knows you're nervous- they’ve been there, too. So do your best to smile and relax

Career Hub Says: Your resume sucks if: It sounds like somebody else wrote it; It looks like a template; or it’s a boring version of your past. There are other warning flags to give you an idea if your resume still needs work. Need help? Visit the Resume Center at MSN.com.

The Neverending Story

By Mindy on May 27, 2009

Looking for a job is (ironically) a full-time job. Especially as competition heats up, it's essential that you tackle your job hunt with the same go-getter mindset and solid work ethic that you will eventually employ at your job.

I read a post at Keppie Careers today that put it this way: you are never really done working on your resume. Since every job description is different, it follows that your resume should be tailored differently for every job you apply for. You can add a lot of strength to your application just by editing the bullet points in the skill and work experience sections. Keppie Careers recommends "fixing" your headlines and highlighted sections so that they speak directly to the job description.

Have you been unemployed and/or looking for work for a long time? Longer than you thought you would be? Remember, this is not a come as you are job market. There are fewer jobs and more people looking. You must do whatever you can to give yourself an advantage over the competition if you want to be gainfully employed anytime soon. For some, this just means looking more carefully at job descriptions and targeting their resumes accordingly. For others, it means hiring a professional to help them identify and outline all of the great skills they have to offer.

Keppie Careers acknowledges that this kind of attention to detail is time consuming and can be frustrating. But how far do you think your paperwork will get when another candidate took the time to obviously organize his/her resume to match the job description? At the end of my post-graduation job hunt, I had more than 20 versions of my resume saved on my desktop, each tailored to a different type of job (event planner, assistant, PR representative, copy editor, writer etc). And it payed off!

The moral of this story is: If you really want a job, you have to take the time to prove that you are the best candidate to fill the position. It shows when you've tailored your resume to match a particular employer's needs.

The neverending Links...

Alison's Job Search Blog Reviews: Lindsey Pollak's book, Getting from College to Career. Alison says that the book is "full of practical advice on how to discover what you want to do... and the best ways to get ahead of the crowd when you're job searching."

Careersthatdontsuck.com Reveals: That your plan of moving to Europe, getting your dream job and living your dream life might have some holes in it. According to the post, the European Union's unemployment rate is the same as the United State's: a fun-fun 8.9 percent.

ERE.net Profiles: A Boston College MBA student who is using a Facebook ad to get a job with Microsoft. Eric Barker says he's having good return with his ad "Considering this was just a little experiment in unconventional job hunting that cost about a half hour of my time and less than $50, it’s been insanely successful. My ad got tens of thousands of impressions and hundreds of clicks and more than 20 people contacted me with offers of assistance."

One Day One Job Says: You could get a job at the Chronicle of Higher Education. There is a college reporter position available that allows you to combine you love of higher ed with the need to make some money. To apply, visit the job page to find out where to send you resume, cover letter and 5 clips.

"Fuchur from The Neverending Story" courtesy schoschie via Flickr's Creative Commons.

The Importance of Perspective

By Zack on May 26, 2009

A few weeks ago I linked to a report assessing the grim state of '09 grads and jobs. Less graduates than usual have secured jobs as of graduation, and can now look forward to a summer on the hunt, looking for that very first gig.

This morning, while listening to NPR (true story: Scientists have found that as you age, there is a direct negative correlation between time spent partying and time spent listening to NPR. I also think this relates the the distance of your pants' to your navel ... but that data is inconclusive) I heard the story of Emma Jacobs, a recent Columbia grad, and her struggles landing her first job. Emma relates the frustration of rejection, the fear of uncertainty and the self-doubt that come from consistent rejection (a low point was three rejections in one day!)

I highly recommend you take a listen if you have also struggled to find a job. Sometimes the job search isn't just about what you can do to find that next (or first) job. Sometimes it is about knowing that you are not alone in your rejection and frustration. We are in a very tough market - hopefully the toughest you will ever have to face - and there are a lot of very skilled, highly educated and highly qualified individuals who just cannot find work.

It is important to keep perspective in this situation. You are (most likely) not the problem. The problem is one of sheer economics and numbers ... not enough jobs, too many people. Finding a job will prove to take a certain amount of dedication, hard work and just plain luck. But it is important not to let the grind get you down and to realize that there are still jobs to be had.

For advice on finding these jobs, let's turn to The Links ...

Secrets of the Job Hunt Provides: Tips for non-traditional interview setups. This post talks about pre-interview computer screening as well as some hints for handling phone interviews, web interviews and even a bit on video resumes. Good resource to have in case such a situation should arise.

Christine Hassler Tackles: The question of the most important thing to learn in your twenties. Christine attended a Seminar over the weekend and posed this question to a number of successful speakers and got a wide range of answers. Head on over to the Huffington Post to read the answers.

Cheehead Reports: Monster.com is adding a background check. "The background screening services will be offered through an alliance with HireRight, a global employment screening provider. Monster said the partnership will help streamline the candidate background-check process for businesses, increase the quality of new hires and help reduce liability. The service will be integrated with the Monster.com desktop and candidate management tools."

Mashable Explains: How to personalize and brand your Twitter page. Dan Schawbel (one of the post's author Ben Parr's examples) has a very professional looking Twitter page and has made a very successful living at personal branding, so his is as good as any for a reference. This post gives some great examples of how customize your account without looking fake and foolish.

"Reflective Perspective" courtesy of S.Su via Flickr Creative Commons

Ask Not What Commencement Can Do For You ...

By Zack on May 22, 2009

To wrap up commencement week, I thought we could go old school. My old school: American University. This weekend, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank will be giving the commencement speech at my Alma Mater. But 46 years ago, another man who served in congress from the great state of Massachusetts gave the speech as President of the United States. Ladies and Gentleman, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

If you've graduated or are graduating this weekend, congratulations and best of luck with your career from everyone at ThinkTalk. If you have not yet, hang in there, the time will pass quicker than today's roundup of The Links ...

Gradspot Features: An exclusive excerpt of Kanye West's commencement speech to The University of Phoenix Online. CAPS LOCK FTW!

College Humor Found: A commencement program that speaks to students, on the reals. Be prepared to hear a lot of the "classical song that's not that famous graduation song." Also, be prepared to hear advice from some old guy who was the "Secretary of Not Being Dane Cook" (jeez, they say that like "not being Dane Cook" is a bad thing. It is decidedly NOT a bad thing.)

Mashable Reminds Us: That the recession could be worse. And they have proof: photos of the Great Depression on Flickr. See that grads? It's not that bad out there. So congrats again on your triumph over the rigors of Academia (and beerpong!) and good luck with your career search starting ... Now.

Tutu says "Dream Big"

By Mindy on May 21, 2009

We're marching on through Commencement Week here at the ThinkTalk blog. Nellie found an inspirational (but still fun) speech by Desmond Tutu. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, spoke at UNC-Chapel Hill's 2009 ceremony last weekend.

Tutu’s speech covers a lot of ground (yes, it’s long) and has a solid message about our responsibility to help those in need. He told the graduates to not be "affected by the cynicism of oldies like us" and touches on students’ responses to apartheid in South Africa, the prospect of eradicating world hunger, and the need for an inclusive global community. His presence- a raspy voice and huge smile- were great as well.

For more commencement week entertainment, read this "commencement speech" written by Christopher Trela, the humor columnist at Coast Magazine. It's not quite as inspiring at Tutu's, but still hilarious. He talks about the recession, unemployment, denial and ripping off tourists at Disney Land with an admirable amount of eloquence.

And now some Links for your viewing pleasure:

Alexandra Levit Interviews: The CEO of Experience, Inc. about gap years and the value of gaining some life experience after college. You can listen to the replay of yesterday's 30/20 show to see what career experts think about taking time for "volunteerism, a year abroad, teaching or other programs."

CareerAlley Has It All: For you recent or upcoming graduates. There's useful links for alumni resources, college internships, summer jobs and job boards for MBA students and recent grads.

Secrets of the Job Hunt Warns: About the common pitfalls we come across on online job applications. Hannah Morgan covers how to handle salary requirements as well as work and salary histories.

College Finance 101 Theorizes: That the change from your piggy bank could be enough to get you started in the stock market. I know next to nothing about buying stocks and the writers readily admit they they aren't certified financial planners or analysts. Still, they have a point in that investing a little now while you're young could help a lot more than hurt.

You Can Dance if You Want To

By Zack on May 20, 2009

Today's commencement speech comes courtesy of Tulane University's class of 2009 (The Katrina Class) and comedian/talk show host/dancer Ellen Degeneres. Ellen never graduated from college, but has certainly led an interesting life. Her speech is honest, candid and most of all funny.

Look at you all here, in your robes. Usually when you wear a robe at 10 in the morning it means you've given up.

My point is, by the time I was your age, I really thought I knew who I was ... But I had no idea. Like For example, when I was your age, I was dating men.

The speech, overall, is a little uneven, and Ellen rambles a bit at times, but the message is clear: The journey you are about to begin is about you. Along the way you will discover who you really are and what you really want to do ... and it won't be what you thought it was. When you come to this realization, embrace it. Don't worry what others will say, or think, or how it may help or hurt your life. Embrace who you are, use it to your advantage and everything will be OK. Enjoy!

Let's Dance on to The Links ...

Timonthy Noah at Slate Thinks: Schools have this commencement business backwards. Don't invite successful speakers ... Invite those who Fail. "There are two problems with this formula. The first is that any narrative of success is bound to be at least a little bit dull. The second is that successful people are almost never able to pinpoint what it was that made them so." Well, why don't you ruin commencement week, Tim!

Richard Florida at The Atlantic Discovers: College Towns are thriving better than other areas during the recession. I like the way this guy thinks. Maybe you should stick around town a little after college and sees what pops up.

Cheezhead Lists: The Ten best niche job sites. Great resource for jobs in HR, Medicine, Marketing, the Government, Education and more.

The Wall Street Journal Explores: The JD/MBA. Enrollment in these specialized programs is dropping and schools are cutting back on the time investment to complete the program in response. Most schools are dropping a year of the traditional 4 year program in hopes of increasing enrollment.

Connecting the Dots with Steve Jobs

By Zack on May 19, 2009

To continue with Commencement week, we're going to hear from someone who didn't even graduate from college: Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. In 2005 Jobs spoke to the graduating class of Stanford University. While Jobs did not graduate he discusses how his experiences while he was at Reed College shaped the decisions he made with his career and looking back, what advice he has to offer new workers.

You can't connect the dots looking forwards, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something; your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road gives you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

On to The Links ...

Lane Wallace at The Atlantic Defends: The Liberal Arts Education. And nails it: "In a flash, I grasped the true value of a college degree. It didn't matter what I majored in. It didn't even matter all that much what my grades were. What mattered was that I got that rectangular piece of paper that said, 'Lane Wallace never has to work in a corrugated cardboard factory again.'"

The Washington Examiner Reports: All you new grads are flocking to the District. DC is tops on a number of best city for jobs lists, which has kept it's unemployment at the relatively stable 6%. So if you are heading here, expect competition. And no, you cannot sleep on my couch.

Cheezhead Reviews: A new Facebook App to help with your career search. Inside Job hooks up FB users with other users who have interviewed or worked at different companies to help users get an insider view of that specific company. I think it sounds good in theory, but how willing will users be to mix professional and personal lives over Facebook? This sounds like a service better served by LinkedIn.

Commencement Week

By Zack on May 18, 2009

The semester is over. No more ThinkTalk shows until September, but don't worry we will be posting each and everyday right here on the Career Blog. Just because we are not on air, summer doesn't necessarily represent down time at the ThinkTalk HQ. We'll be working on some projects for the fall and are always tweaking with the dot com to provide the best career advice and service we can.

One improvement we have made is the addition of Seesmic commenting on our guest pages and blogs. This, we hope, will make it easier for students to submit questions to our upcoming guests. We're also working on a career news feed that will work as a supplement to the daily links we post in the blog. These feeds can be found on our sidebar under the "Gig-formation" (get it: information on gigs!) and "Career Opportunities" for job postings and listings we see that stand out. As always your input is welcomed on how these services increase your user experience.

For this week, in honor of all the graduates, we are going to be presenting the best commencement video's we see from this year's closing ceremonies. If there is a particular commencement video you think we should highlight, drop me a line at zack at thinktalk dot com. Today's video comes courtesy of Carnegie Mellon class of 2009 featuring Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

On the The Links ...

The Atlantic's Richard Florida Breaks Down: Where 2009's 2.3 million graduates are going for jobs. "The list is heavy on big cities. It differs considerably from the Wall Street Journal's youth magnet list, but it's quite similar to a list my research team and I developed of the best places for recent college graduates which put big cities like San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Los Angeles, and New York on top."

Cheezhead Found: An "internship stimulus package.""Think Intern, a new internship search engine, resource, and scholarship website, is offering relief in the form of scholarship money to recent college graduates struggling to find a job. Jeffrey Adler, co-founder of Think Intern, said the new $3,000 scholarship created by Think Intern and The Gallery Collection aims to offset the financial burdens of interning during a student’s college career."

Secrets of the Job Hunt Discusses: The importance of industry contacts in landing a job ... and what to do if you don't have any. This is a very informative post with some good ideas on getting your foot in the door when you don't have a real world contact. As I've mentioned before, the majority of jobs come from connections, not search engines, so do what you need to cultivate these relationships.

4.2 Million and Counting

By Mindy on May 15, 2009

The wonderful folks at Careersthatdontsuck.com have an encouraging post today--the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics isn't necessarily good news, but it does have silver linings:

According to the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report published on May 12, there were 4.2 million people hired and 2.7 million new job openings in March. In the 12 months ending in March, hires totaled 54.6 million. Although there was a net employment loss over the past 12 months, the hiring part’s still good news for those of us still in the job hunt.

4.2 million is a lot of people. If that many found jobs in a month, then there isn't any reason why you shouldn't, too.  CareerAlley has checklist of resources to make sure that your job search materials are up to date. I liked the link for the Job Search Materials PowerPoint, provided by the University of Maryland career center, which has a thorough summary of items (resume, cover letters, references, thank-you and follow-up letters) that no job seeker should be without.

Over at the Personal Branding Blog, Jun Loayza advises a graduate who has her big interview in one week at the FDA. If you've gotten a call for a big interview, or even if you're still waiting, Jun has some good tips to make the most of your time. He suggests you create a LinkedIn page, adjust your Facebook settings and research the company and any recent industry news (fairly typical). The genius part is that the interviewee then took the information she had collected into an informational Web page.

This was the final step. Instead of spending the time to create a blog, I developed an informational page for her with her resume, image, and industry news that she researched... [because] a blog would take too long to create. Furthermore, a blog usually has areas like archives and comments that would give away how long she has had the site up for. With the information page, the reader does not immediately know how long the site has been up or that no one is reading the information. All you can see is the hard work that has been put into it.

Preparing for an interview this way could be what makes you stand out over the competition. Penelope Trunk at BrazenCareerist also suggests that you prepare for an interview by knowing what they're going to ask first. She profiled Glassdoor, "an interview resource where you can report what sorts of questions you got from a given employer." The site also gives an idea what sort of interview format a company favors (behavioral, technical, brain teaser, personal, etc.)

Even though unemployment is up, people are still finding jobss. There's plenty of time for you to polish up you job search materials and interview skills so you can be one of them!

Feelin' my Links today...

StudentRate Has: Awesome discounts and deals for students. The site features national vendor offers from places like Apple and Macy's, but also has deals that are local-specific to your school. Registration is free, and you can sign up for e-mail updates.

What Would Day Say Features: Some thoughts and ideas from the co-founder of Under30CEO.com, a social networking site for young entrepreneurs.

Secrets of the Job Hunt Seeks: A volunteer community manager. This could be a great gig if you are currently searching for your perfect job. You must be web savvy, a member of the SOTJH community (free to join), and able to work an hour or two a day on the site. Could be a great resume booster.

Lifehacker Found: FREE desktop backgrounds based on what the designer Orioto imagines "high-definition versions of classic video games would look like if they could be rendered on modern gaming systems." Geeky? Perhaps. Totally cool? Definitely.

"Happy Apple Store Employees in Wallisellen" courtesy dunlan via Flickr's Creative Commons.