Yet another article with a unique take on career advice from one of my favorite blogs, Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist:  "I never watch American Idol, or other talent shows. I think I got my fill of them in the 1970s, watching year after year of the mind-numbing Miss American pageant. But there was too much hoop-la with Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent, so I had to see what I was missing. I ended up watching her audition fifty times. Because every time I'm feeling slow or unmotivated or depressed, the clip cheers me up. Last night she sang in the semi-finals,...

If you are job searching or even if you are not, you probably have received emails advertising work from home opportunities. There are plenty legitimate opportunities to work from home full or part time, but many of the jobs you hear of are scams.  “Scam artists follow market trends better than most corporations do, and, when they see a strong movement toward a certain product, service, or desire, they move quickly to bilk unsuspecting consumers out of their hard-earned cash,” says Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix, a training company that specializes in home-based jobs and telework. “Our researchers screen between 4,500 and 5,000...

  These notes come from Phil Gardner’s presentation at MPACE in San Diego on recruiting trends for 2008 – 2009 December 10, 2008. His research can be found at Michigan State University web site www.ceri.msu.edu as he offers up some thoughts for students on the job market and what his research shows is important to employers and what students need to know as they immerse themselves into their job search. How do you find sustainable/green industries companies? You can look for 100 fastest growing sustainable/environmental companies in a Google search. Most of these companies hire on an “as need” basis, however many are...

Do you know what STEP and SCEP are? STEP – Student Temporary Employment ProgramSCEP – Student Career Experience Program STEP positions are part-time paid federal positions that do not have to be related to your major. SCEP positions are a 640 hour commitment to a position that is related to your major that allows the federal government to hire you directly after you complete your service. These are great ways into the federal government and are often not posted on usajobs.gov. Go to http://www.makingthedifference.org/federalinternships/employmentprograms.shtml for more information. Posted by Barbara Diehl, WCNR Career Center Liaison

Building a good resume is easier than you think. Even volunteer positions can count as experience, particularly if you do something that involves organizing an event, recruiting volunteers, languages, tutoring, or program development. I know, school just started and your schedule is really full. But volunteer positions are easier to fit into your schedule. The Student Involvement Fair , hosted by the SLICE office, is September 3rd in the LSC open area and there is a great website for Fort Collins where you can search for positions as well: http://www.firstcall211.org/ You can also get experience in an internship and still...

Networking is a great way to build and maintain relationships with people who can help you with your job search. You never know when you might meet someone who could give you a great job lead. For some people however, networking can be quite difficult and uncomfortable. If you feel intimidated by the idea of networking, or just need some tips on how to network effectively, check out this post on Brazen Careerist by Angela Marino: http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/04/24/an-introvert%e2%80%99s-guide-to-networking/ Posted by: Susan LeBlanc, Generalist Career Counselor

The application process for graduate school can be time-consuming, so make sure you start yours as early as possible to ensure success. Below is a general timeline to follow for applying for graduate school, but it might vary depending on the specific programs you are applying for. Be sure to keep track of these different deadlines. Immediately: Maintain highest GPA possible. Gain relevant field and research experience. Get to know your faculty members. Junior Year: Spring/Summer Start researching graduate programs and potential faculty advisors....

Scott Newberg flew into Logan airport in the middle of the night. He went straight home to his office, and in the dark room the blue light of his computer glared – a screen full of unfinished work that piled up while he was gone. He sat down at the keyboard, and that's when he had the revelation. He gave notice. He has no other job lined up. He has no real plan for how he will make money. But the career he had was not fulfilling. One of the contributions Generations X and Y have made to the workplace...

Summer is here! It's a great time to go home to family, hang out with friends, and have a well-deserved break from classes (or take some summer classes to stay ahead of the game). If you feel like you have a little too much free time, here are some suggestions of great things to do that can help you explore careers or build up your resume: Get a job. Whether an internship or going back to that high school job, work experience can help you gain the transferrable skills that employers are looking for, like communication skills and...

As we approach graduation weekend, you'll be getting a lot of advice from various sources. Some good, some bad. Some funny, some strange. I'd like to share some advice that was originally published 11 years ago. Good luck graduates! "Everyone is Free" (to use sun screen) (Written by Chicago newspaper columnist, Mary Schmich -- recently recorded with music by Baz Luhrmann) Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97: Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my...

Will your job search take you to cities outside of Colorado? Do you want to live in an emerging and innovative city? You need to check out cities on the verge. According to Fast Company magazine (from Issue 117 | July 2007), these great urban centers made their list of innovative cities on the verge. Creative Class Meccas * Atlanta, Georgia * Los Angeles, California *Mumbai, India R&D Clusters * Boston, Massachusetts * Rochester, Minnesota * Tokyo, Japan Green Leaders *...

On Wednesday, April 30th, the Career Center and CSU students embarked on the final road trip of the semester to visit some cool engineering and tech companies. Along the way, we made stops at Agilent Technologies, Wolf Robotics, and ended the day at Vestas Blades in Windsor. It was a day filled with food, fun, and jam-packed with great tips from employers on how to land jobs or internships with their companies. Both Agilent and Wolf hire a number of CSU interns every year, and those interns oftentimes will get fulltime job offers when they graduate. ...

The Career Center will be offering its final Career Road Trip of the semester on Wednesday, April 30th. This trip will focus on Engineering/Technology Careers, and is a great chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at careers with some awesome companies! We will be visiting: Agilent Technologies Wolf Robotics Vestas Career Road Trips are open to CSU students in all majors. There are limited spaces available to participate in this Road Trip, so sign up today! To see more information and to sign up, go to http://www.career.colostate.edu/roadTrip/. See you on the road!

Did you know that the federal government hires all majors in a variety of fields? Check out the Hot Jobs and Cool Internships page: http://www.makingthedifference.org/index.shtml Additionally, the Federal Government has many internship opportunities in a wide variety of fields. You could find an internship in accounting, art and design, foreign languages, international relations, natural resources, natural sciences, social sciences, and transportation, just to name a few. Here's a sampling of the actual internships: International Affairs Intern National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationMaryland Graduate-Level Web Internship Program Department of Energy Washington, D.C. Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Department of Health and...

What changes were introduced into the GRE exam recently? Since January 2008, the GRE Program introduced reading passages in the Verbal Reasoning section of the computer-based GRE® General Test. In addition, since Nov. 2007, two new question types were introduced; the Numeric Entry and Text Completion. For more information on these and other changes visit www.ets.org/gre/ We will keep you updated on information regarding the grad and professional school application process.  Posted by: Brian O'Bruba, Associate Director, CSU Career Center

With social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, it is easier than ever to create information about yourself and share it with the world—and it's fun too! However, employers are starting to use the internet to help them evaluate applicants before they decide who they would like to interview. Before you start applying for jobs and internships, be sure to evaluate your online identity to make sure you are presenting yourself in a professional manner.  Check out the following article for some tips on how blogs and social networking sites can impact your job search: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchblogs/a/jobsearchblog.htm  Posted...

Vibe Manager, Hard Rock Hotel Do you like the atmosphere in the Hard Rock? People like John Resnick make it all come together. By ERIN CHAMBERS Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Even though John Resnick was raised with what he calls "hippie parents who were really into music," he never dreamed he'd end up working with music for a living. Today, armed with a prestigious graduate degree, he's a slave to rock and roll, and actually gets paid to keep one California hotel grooving. Erin Chambers sat down with Mr. Resnick to discuss his unusual career path. Edited excerpts follow. Monica Hoover Full...

On February 22 the Career Center took students on their first ever Career Road Trip. We loaded up the van and headed south to get the inside scoop on what makes northern Colorado companies tick. This day was focused on careers in business, so we made stops at Burns Marketing, Colorado Eagles, and Target and found all three companies had great internship programs and loved to hire CSU grads! Burns Marketing had some great tips for students on how to stand out from the crowd and how to get hired at any company. They had a...

I hope everyone had a relaxing winter break, and that the new semester is off to a good start! We have been busy here at the Career Center, and have a lot of exciting events coming up soon to help you with your career development. One of our newest programs is the Career Road Trip Series, and it is specifically for first and second year students who want to learn more about career options in a variety of fields. We have three Road Trips planned throughout the semester, where we will pile into a couple of vans and travel...

CSU students and graduates made a great impression on this global test and measurement company -- Agilent hired more students from CSU than anywhere else in the country last academic year. (Well, ok, so we tied for first with Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.) Agilent is known for its high tech test and measurement systems, for those of you in CS, ECE, Physics & Math, and has a strong Life Sciences division for all of you in the biologies, chemistry and other life sciences. They will be returning to campus this year to recruit, also, so keep an eye...