Michael Moore Hugs a Republican

By Zack on September 30, 2009

At least, I think he was a Republican. He certainly talked like one. And he had the matching t-shirt

Yesterday was the day of our big Question and Answer session with Michael Moore at George Washington University. The Q & A, held in conjunction with the GWU College Democrats had around 400 students and featured some great conversation, a little debate and even a little bi-partisan love.

Moore was in town to talk about his newest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story. I moderated the hour-long discussion, but luckily had very little talking to do (better for everyone involved, I think) because we had so many students ask so many great questions. We discussed Michael's problems with our current financial system, the hypocrisy of Wall Street corporations asking for a tax-payer bailout, health care and the role of media in politics. Plus a lot lot more.

Granted, the show was a little more political than we tend to get on ThinkTalk. But every once in a while it's good to mix things up. And as the image shows, it wasn't all arch-liberal propaganda. I think we actually had a very good mix of students and covered a lot of sides of the economic debate. To whet your appetite a bit, I've included a short clip below of the event.

If that's not enough, don't worry, the entire interview will be available on ThinkTalk.com this Friday, October 2nd, which - not coincidentally - is the day that the film opens nationwide. Check back Friday (well, check back every day but Friday for Michael Moore) to see the full show.

Good Old Fashioned Career Advice

By Mindy on September 30, 2009

This video is from the good people at the Career Center of University of California, Irvine about job fairs (in case you missed my last life-changing post, check it out for more career fair tips). They interviewed recruiters to see what they would tell students approaching their tables.There's common-sense advice in here if you have a career fair in your future.

I thought today would be a good time to get back to our roots at the ThinkTalk Career Blog, which means a lot of good, old-fashioned career advice. Read and learn, my friends.

The Good Old Fashioned Links:

Allison's Job Searching Blog Warns You Should Know Where Your Interview Pants Are: You have the perfect resume, the perfect answer to the dreaded Strengths and Weaknesses Question, and the perfect interview handshake. But if you can't find your suit, you could be out of luck. "Don't wait to be sure that all your interview attire is in order. The college student who (good thinking) decided to get his clothes ready for a career fair at the end of the week got an unpleasant surprise yesterday. He couldn't find his one and only good suit. It wasn't in his dorm. It wasn't at home. It wasn't anywhere." No fun- plan ahead.

BullsEyeResumes Says to Read Beyond the Job Titles: Think there aren't any jobs out there for you? You may not be reading the job descriptions closely enough. "Many people get attached to their job titles and their current job descriptions, they may actually be overlooking the actual day-to-day assignments involved in a particular job... Online job boards today, do a pretty incredible job of making it easy for people to find job opportunities just by using keywords. However, job seekers should keep in mind though that although keywords can help us really narrow the scope quickly, reading the job descriptions carefully is still a good idea. As we read the job description, think about the skills, behaviors and experiences that are transferable from one industry to the next and one job to the next."

Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Interviews Job Search Strategist: Laura Labovich's job is to find other people jobs. She did a Q&A session to share some of her "secrets" for making resumes that HR professionals will notice. She says one characteristic of an attention-grabbing resume is "relevant keywords found by analyzing a job posting and sprinkling them throughout the resume (I distinctly remember a hiring manager counting the number of times an applicant listed java and c++ in his resume)."

Lindsey Pollak Helps You Inventory All Your Professional Experience: When writing your resume, cover letter or even LinkedIn profile, it's important that you take inventory of all your relevant experiences to showcase for employers. Lindsey says you probably have more than you think you do- jobs and internships aren't the only things you can put on your resume. In this first post of a series, she breaks down your education to point out all the relevant skills you could use. "How far back should you go in your analysis? As a general rule, resume-relevant experience goes back four years for students and recent grads."

Around Campus

By Zack on September 28, 2009

Each week we take a look at what is happening on campus at ThinkTalk schools. This week we have internet entrepreneurs in Central Florida, social responsibility in business at the University of Maryland, the fast-paced world of fashion in New York and helping the homeless in DC.

The GW Hatchet Profiles a Junior Making a Difference: "Over the summer, Thal created Furniture For Good, a company that resells furniture and other household items to raise money that will help feed the homeless. Sales come via the company's Web site, and 60 percent of the money from each sale is allocated to feeding the homeless in D.C."

The UMD Diamondback Features a University Center Stressing Social Responsibility in Business: "The program brings business leaders to the campus for panels and workshops. It will also offer graduate classes in the spring and may offer undergraduate classes as early as next fall. It is also looking to start sponsoring study abroad trips that focus on students fostering change in developing countries, said Melissa Carrier, the center's executive director."

New York University's NYU News Has the Story on One Interns Fashin Experience: Junior Teresa Lee interviewed "90210" start Shenae Grimes, French clothing designer Jean-Paul Knott and the editor-in-chief of Women's Wear Daily Paris for her internship with style.com. She's attended more than 50 shows. has her own videoblog and is even planning her own collection. That's a pretty solid internship.

Central Florida Future Reports on Two UCF Students With Entrepreneurial Dreams: "Max Tau, a senior majoring in political science, and Eric Marks, a senior majoring in marketing, developed OrderKnight.com ” an online restaurant directory that allows students to have food delivered to their doorstep with the click of a mouse." Food to your dorm? Wish I had this in college!

Werner Herzog Rogue Film School Teaches the Art of Filmmaking

By on September 25, 2009

I will assume we all know how to travel on foot, but imagine if we all knew how to travel on foot, pick locks and forge signatures. Well then, we would all be amazing film directors like Werner Herzog, who happens to be teaching all these things in his new Rogue Film School.

The Rogue Film School is not for the faint-hearted; it is for those who have traveled on foot, who have worked as bouncers in sex clubs or as wardens in a lunatic asylum, for those who are willing to learn about lock-picking or forging shooting permits in countries not favoring their projects. In short: it is for those who have a sense for poetry. For those who are pilgrims. For those who can tell a story to four-year-old children and hold their attention. For those who have a fire burning within. For those who have a dream."

Obviously you have to be a minimum of 18 years old, but that's about the only prerequisite. A college education and/or work experience is of minor importance according to Herzog. However, he will expect that you are capable of shooting and editing your own film prior to the class. The first seminar is going to be in LA and will cost the individual $1450 if selected. The main difference between the Rogue Film School and any other film school is the lack of technical filmmaking concepts and abundance of essential questions:

1. How does music function in film?
2. How do you narrate a story?
3. How do you sensitize an audience?
4. How is space created and understood by an audience?
5. How do you produce and edit a film?
6. How do you create illumination and an ecstasy of truth?

The idea is interesting yet weird, similar to Werner Herzog himself. Aside from not being allowed to bring your laptop, cell phone or pager (who ever uses those anymore) you will also not be allowed to, "talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth". I guess that's the nice way of saying NO HIPPIES ALLOWED! Maybe the Rogue Film School is not meant for every filmmaker, but it's worth checking out, especially if you have have interest in the Guerrilla film tactics of creating your own shooting permits.

Work For the Job You Have ... and the Job Want

By Zack on September 23, 2009

I like Brazen Careerist. If you haven't visited the site, it's a useful resource for college students and recent grads in that it will a) syndicate your blog (you do have a blog, right?) and b) serve as a social network for young, aspiring professionals.

One of the website's founders, Penelope Trunk, has an interesting post on her personal blog today centered on lessons her experience with Brazen Careerist has taught her about finding the right job. One point particularly stuck out to me:

A lot of people say they should be doing a job they do not have the authority to do. Here’s some news, though: You’d be doing it already if you were great at it. Ryan Healy is now Chief Operating Officer at Brazen Careerist because he’s already shown he can do the job. That’s how you get serious promotions: doing the job first, in an outstanding way.

This is the best way to stand out in an organization. They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have. This says, work for the job you want, not the job you have. That isn't to say you should not be doing the work that is assigned for you. Not at all. What I mean is, do that work, plus the other tasks that will make you stand out to your supervisors. Go above and beyond, and show the talent and skills that you feel would make you eligible for more responsibility. Sure, it's a bit of a risk. It may piss some people off. But success is often times built on the backs of risk. So take the shot, surprise somebody and prove your worth.

Let's get to some Links ...

Careerealism Explains the True Meaning of a Job Description: "Some employers have a tendency to use verbiage that makes their open positions sound better than they really are. Over the years, I’ve noticed some popular job descriptors that should be viewed as warning flags a potential employer might be trying to put an overly optimistic spin on a less-than-stellar work situation." There's also a handy translation guide.

KeppieCareers Profiles JobShouts: JobShouts is a new job search tool that is attempting to use social networking to connect job seekers to potential employers. It's relatively new to the game, but seems like a novel idea. You enter your location and your skills and it attempts to match you up with an available job. Check it out.

The Career Doctor Provides Resume Resources: I liked this: "I think the most important thing any job-seeker should do before attempting to write a resume is to first sit down and make a list of your skills and accomplishments from all your previous experiences (work, volunteer, school, etc.) because you will take from this list those critical skills and accomplishments — not your duties and responsibilities — that highlight your fit for the next job you are seeking. "

Directions For Crafting Your Interview Story

By Zack on September 22, 2009

Recently the Wall Street Journal gave some excellent advice on how to get back into the interview process after years with the same employer. Not very useful to the recent college grad ... or is it? (hat tip to lifehacker for the WSJ article)

Starting from scratch as a recent grad is not all that different from getting back into the game after a long absence, and the journal article has some very useful advice on the oft dreaded interview process.

It is imperative for people to know their strengths and how they can present these strengths to hiring managers. They need to learn how to tell a why hire m story until it sounds natural, and not canned. Once you have a solid story, you can use it in every situation with slight variations. This is a huge advantage and something you can always fall back on during the interview. People who have not interviewed in years simply don't realize they need to have a compelling story to tell.

[...]

When asked the question "Tell me about yourself?" people talk too much about things that are irrelevant. Remember what the company is looking for when answering this question. [Others] act as if they are lucky to have the interview, showing a lack of confidence. [Some] people make too many assumptions throughout the interview process. They need to ask more questions to further define what the ideal candidate looks like. Then they can properly sell why they are the right person for the job.

This concept of "why hire me" is something that every prospective employee needs to have prepared for a job interview, for the reasons outlined above. As for telling an interviewer about yourself, and shaping your story a career consultant once gave me so very good advice. The key is to find key words, phrases and goals that the potential employer outlines either in the job listing or in the company's literature. Use these words and phrases in your story to strengthen your appearance to the potential employer. If the company asks for strong leadership skills, think of instances in your life when you have had to execute leadership and craft an approach that allows you to work that story into your narrative.

.In this job market, you will face increased competition from others searching for jobs, so it's even more important to use your "why hire me" story to your advantage.

On to The Links ...

KeppieCareers Stresses the Importance of Social Networking In the Job Hunt: The video featured is attempting to debunk social media as a fad has been making some rounds. I've seen it a few places and it is definitely convincing. One important stat: 80% of Companies use LinkedIn as the primary way to find employers. Use it!

Secrets of the Job Hunt Gives Some Info on Green Jobs: Today the President addressed the urgent and serious threat of Climate Change, so if you think jobs in the green sector aren't on the rise you are nuts. This post has some good starting off points for these jobs, and we plan on covering them more in depth in the future. Stay tuned.

Lifehacker Tackles the Best Music For Being Productive: Studies have shown that certain types of music can help you be more productive, focused and get more work done. Productivity blog (and a personal fav) Lifehacker rounds up the best type of music to listen to to help this process along, looking at classical, ambient techno and even general ambient noise. Cool stuff.

"Story Road" courtesy umjanedoan via Flickr Creative Commons

ThinkTalk Interviews: Anne Fontaine, Director Coco Before Chanel

By Zack on September 21, 2009

You don't have to be a titan of the fashion industry (or even interested in fashion!) to appreciate the Coco Chanel biopic that hits theaters this week. All you have to be is willing to empathize with the story of a young person who dreams of success and is in search of a way to make it all materialize. Sound like your situation? Then Coco Before Chanel should be on your must see list.

Director Anne Fontaine joined us to discuss her most recent film as well as the key pointers for those seeking a career in cinema.

What does Anne find most importantly when directing a script? She advises being as knowledgeable as possible regarding character elements and the story you want to tell. Knowing all the complex angles of the personalities within the story allows one to create the solid foundation on which the story will be told.

Anne also discusses the ways in which her career as an actress has influenced her role as a director. So which does she prefer acting or directing? Find out by checking out our interview with Anne Fontaine!

Job Fair Extravaganza

By Mindy on September 21, 2009

There's no time like the present.

Always a good adage, but especially relevant to your spring job and internship hunt. Seem a little too early for be looking for a spring position? You better get in gear, because many schools will be holding careers fairs in the next month.

If you are new to the career fair circuit, or even if you're an old pro, it's a good idea to prepare before you walk up to a recruiter's table. Quintessential Careers has a thorough tutorial on how to prepare for an upcoming job fair. According to the guide, having a strategy is key to a successful day of interviews.

...[To] enhance your chances for success, you should develop a plan of attack -- actually map your route of organizations you plan to visit, in priority order. Place the prospective employers that have the best fit and with which you have the most interest first on the list -- and work your way downward.

The experts at Quintessential Careers also recommend that you prepare an "elevator pitch" to make the most of your limited amount of time:

As the name implies, an elevator speech is a relatively short -- typically 15 to 30 seconds (though sometimes as long as a few minutes) -- commercial that job-seekers use in a variety of situations (career fairs, networking events, job interviews, cold calling) that succinctly tells the person you are giving it to who you are, what makes you unique, and the benefits you can provide.

For another excellent collection of resources, visit CareerAlley's Job Fair Toolkit. One great site found by CareerAlley is National Career Fairs. If you are looking for more opportunities outside your school's fair, then there are "more than 300 career fairs in 74 cities" to check out. I searched the DC area for upcoming events and found a fair taking place on November 10.

George Washington University has a mutli-media presentation on making the most of your career fair experience. There are some good ideas in the video about how to approach recruiters' table and how to handle all the information you will collect during the fair.

Arrive early at the fair to give yourself enough time. Some employers leave before the fair is over and if they don't they might be really tired by the end of the day. Start with an employer that might not be your number one to get a feel for how it might go... Make sure you have several copies of your resume on hand to give to employers. Provide the employer with your resume on good resume paper, and make sure the resume was critiqued beforehand. Pick up the employer literature and obtain the employer’s business card. Place these materials in the folder you brought.

As a follow-up, it's a good idea to send a personal thank you to recruiters that you interviewed with. Before you go to bed that night, write the notes while the details of the interview are still fresh in you mind. Whether you write an e-mail or hand-written letter, Career Services at Saint John's University has a good sample to look at.

To Round-up the weekend, here are a few hot headlines from our ThinkTalk schools:

NYU Behind New "Business Incubator": Washington Square News announces that a new city-funded organization is partnering with entrepreneurs to launch their dream companies. Bruce Niswander, director of the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, is heading up the new NYU business incubator helps new start-up companies get on their feet until they are read to leave the organization and survive on their own.

Millersville University Has Younger Graduate Population: The Snapper notes that graduate students at Millersville are getting younger as the economy gets tougher. Higher degrees can mean better jobs, and there are other benefits to continuing your education now. "One bonus to becoming a graduate student... is the possibility of obtaining a graduate assistantship. The program waives tuition and gives a stipend that is enough to pay for books and housing."

Recruiters at University of Central Florida Dismayed by Program Cuts: Central Florida Future talks to several companies who rely on UCF graduates to fill many of their open positions. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, several majors are disappearing from the curriculum and with them, qualified graduates. "The five programs cut by the Board of Trustees over the summer were cardiopulmonary sciences, engineering technology, management information systems, statistics and actuarial science. Students who have chosen these majors have two years to complete their degree, change their major or move to another college before the program will disappear from UCF."

"career fair" courtesy yngrich via Flickr Creative Commons

The State of the Finance Job Market

By Zack on September 18, 2009

So Fed Charimen Ben Bernanke says the recession is over. And while many many critics dispute this (especially the unemployed) it may be time to assess the job market for those interested in Finance. [googles "careers in finance." Looks around. Shakes head. sighs.] Ok, it sucks:

Over the past 20 years, finance grew faster than almost any other sector of the U.S. economy, offering rich pay and luring a growing share of bright minds to trade securities, make loans, manage portfolios, engineer mergers and turn mortgages into complex derivatives. Now the finance bubble has deflated, forcing hundreds of thousands of employees to search for other work and sending new graduates looking elsewhere for careers.

The job losses in finance extend far beyond the money center of New York. About 3,400 people in Seattle lost their jobs when a stumbling Washington Mutual was suddenly sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. last year. Charlotte, N.C., headquarters of Bank of America Corp., is down 9,000 finance and insurance jobs, or 14%, from its peak in May 2006, according to Moody's Economy.com. The firm counts 23,000 lost finance jobs in Chicago, 47,100 in Los Angeles and 437,700 nationwide, a 7.1% drop.

It certainly looks like we're moving into a post-finance job market ... something that has been addressed by The Washington Post's uber-blogger Ezra Klein. I covered this before, but just to reiterate, Ezra worries about where all these talented grads are going to end up. Which may be the same question you are asking right now if you're a finance major.

Well, the same Wall Street Journal piece from above sites Harvard University as a model of what the future may look like. 20% of 2009 grads are entering finance as opposed to 47% in '08, while "Fifteen percent this year planned to go into education -- up by half from last year -- and the proportion going into health care doubled to 12%."

So maybe this post-finance job market isn't such a bad thing. The article goes on to note:

Even a modest of shift of talent could have an effect on society. When smart people become entrepreneurs, "they improve technology in the line of business they pursue, and, as a result, productivity and income grow," said a study by economists Kevin M. Murphy, Robert W. Vishny and Andrei Schleifer in 1990. By contrast, they said, allocation of talent to professions such as finance and law -- where returns come from distribution of wealth from others rather than wealth creation -- leads to lower productivity growth, fewer technological opportunities and slower economic growth.

Obviously - and as the article states - if you were already entrenched in a career in finance you are probably in trouble. If you are still in school, or even fresh our, it's not too late to turn your career in another direction. And as the study above indicates, it could even help out the economy ... so long as you don't go to law school.

Let's hit the Links ...

Alison's Job Search Blog Details Poor Interview Clothing: "'[W]hat not to wear' interview clothes include dirty t-shirts, skimpy tank tops with bras showing in all the wrong places, a nice suit with not much underneath, bright green shoes, and flip-flops. The flip-flops, by the way, are on the list even if you're a teenager who never wears anything else on your feet." It's a little sad this even had to be written.

Career Hub Has Resume Advice From Voltaire: Just what you need, snotty advice from enlightened dead thinkers: "The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out." I'll admit, that's good advice. Try not to ramble on and on about every single experience you've ever had ever. Keep it short, sweet, and most importantly, punchy.

Get Your Education Wherever You Can Find It

By Zack on September 17, 2009

An excellent resource for students (or anyone) looking to learn about a particular topic is TED. TED - an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design - features a series of talks on those topics and more, featuring successful and well known individuals. One of the best aspects of these talks is that you don't have to attend in person, you can view them all online or take them with you. TED formats the talks in MP4 for your desktop and iTunes for viewing on your iPod/Touch/Phone.

A post on TED at Inside Higher Ed caught my attentional today. The author, Joshua Kim, laments the challenges TED presents to academic institutions.

The quality of the freely available content gives lie to the notion that the best lectures occur within the gates of academe. The format of the talks can teach us a thing or two about the optimal length, timing, pace and content of the lecture. And the conversations around the online lectures remind us that the degree to which learning is social.

[...]

I strongly suspect that our students will grow accustomed to and prefer media that can be consumed on mobile devices (I know I have!). The instinct is often to lock down our curricular media content in order to comply with copyright restrictions. Working within the parameters of the law is important, but we should recognize that we also need to stay relevant to our students. Part of this effort involves providing our curricular media in formats that allow their consumption on the device of choice.

These are some important points. First of all, the best advice and content isn't locked within the gates of academia. ThinkTalk, for instance, also tries to serve as a supplement to the learning that you are getting in class. It's important not to limit yourself to one source of input in respect to your education. Keep your mind open and constantly be searching for new ideas, knowledge and advice wherever you can find it. Especially here, at ThinkTalk!

Enough self-aggrandizing, let's get to some Links ...

College Finance 101 Has Advice For Jobs Abroad: The guest-poster, Austin, is a recent grad who is teaching abroad in Japan. The article has advice on the types of jobs to look for abroad. Options include teaching English, volunteering for the Peace Corp, working on an Organic farm and more. Just because you recently graduated does not mean that you need to dive full-bore into full-time work. These options are respectable and worth exploring.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Doesn't Think Students Cheat More in Online Classes: The common perception among educators seems to be that students cheat more in online classes. But, a new study may contradict that. I'm actually taking an online grad class write now, and I certainly wouldn't assume that the atmosphere lends itself more to cheating. What are your thought, have you taken online courses?

The Monster Blog Gives the Lowdown on Job Search Networking: Job Search Networking groups are prevalent: "At present, I attend 3 job search networking groups on a fairly regular basis. One meets weekly, another bimonthly and yet another monthly. I also have at least 2 others I try to attend monthly, time permitting." The article goes on to discuss how to get the most out of these events

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Reports Harvard is Starting an Online Magazine for College Women: Her Campus covers style, love and health topics for women, written by college students. "“There really isn’t any media that targets college women directly,” said Stephanie Kaplan, co-founder and a Harvard senior, adding that magazines college students usually read, such as Seventeen or Glamour, don't address life on campus." What a great idea!