Author: kehugh17

Vault.com is a new tool available on the Center for Career Development online resources page. It provides in-depth intelligence on what it’s really like to work in an industry, company or profession—and how to position yourself to land that job. Research a company, school or industry, get the inside scoop on what it’s really like, and find the career advice you need to launch your career. Our Center for Career Development interns recently explored Vault.com. Check out what they had to say!

 

Researching Industries & Professions…

One defining feature of Vault is its Industries & Professions tab – here, students can select an industry (with selections from Accounting to Writing and Editing) and read an overview of the industry as a whole, along with other key features about the field. The general overview includes the goals of the industry, a brief history, the impact emerging technology has had on the industry, and the way that profession has recently impacted the economy and vice versa. I have never come across one website that offers so much information about such a wide array of industries! As a student, I would use this feature of Vault to explore industries that interest me, in hopes of better positioning myself as a candidate to future employers.  

Other tabs will walk you through the current state of each industry, offer insight into what it would be like to work in the industry, and provide information to weigh potential pros and cons to better help you consider whether a job in this field is something worth pursuing. At the end, Vault provides an extensive list of resources and associations within each field, along with a short description and contact information for each resource. Once you have reviewed the information available for the industries that interest you, you can narrow your exploration into specific companies within those industries with Vault’s Company Analysis feature.

Researching Companies…

Vault features in-depth company profiling and market analysis to provide a holistic glimpse of a company’s presence in a certain industry. Along with the “Industry and Professions” section discussed above, the “Companies” page is directly accessible from Vault’s homepage. Once you select the “Companies” tab at the top of the home page, you’ll be asked to select from a list of industry and firm categories. This allows someone who may not be as knowledgeable on specific companies to search and find some that they might be interested in based on different credentials. Within each industry tab, Vault includes a variety of “Tops” and “Bests” of companies per certain variables related to that industry. For example, if one were to choose the “Consulting Firms” tab, they would be greeted by lists that rank consulting firms based on their prestige in certain focus areas (like technology advising, defense, strategic consulting, etc.). Additionally, you can also filter by region if you would like to target a specific location.

Hovering over the “Companies” tab also allows you to perform a more focused search for a specific company. If you know the name or some keywords related to the company, you can enter that into the search bar at the top of the page. Moreover, you are able to limit your search by selecting from a list of industries, company size ranges, regions, and publically traded versus privately held. Vault’s attention to detail in the actual company profiles truly sets them apart from other company ranking & review websites. They separate their analysis into the company’s operations, their geographical reach, sales & marketing initiatives, financial performance, strategies (mergers & acquisitions), competitor lists, along with recent company news and publications. Moreover, at the top of each company profile there lies a brief summary of what it’s like to work for them, and the “Uppers” (pros) and “Downers” (cons) employees experience while being there.

I believe that Vault provides substantial information to students; both those just entering the job or internship search, along with those a bit more versed in the subject. Vault’s features within the “Companies” tab makes meandering through different industries and related companies simple. I also really like how each industry has their own unique “Top” lists for different performance markings specific to that industry. This allows for one to learn both about the industry playground as a whole, while also finding the constituent companies that align with his or her interests.

 

Written by Catherine Cote ’18 & Kyle Hughes ’17

 

Although it’s hard to believe, winter is finally behind us and we can look forward to the (short lived) spring season on the Hill. With this passage of time comes the hopes & worries for the coming future, namely in the form of summer plans. As a sophomore and an intern in the Career Planning Center, I have come up with a few points of advice for students who are either stressed or confused (maybe even both) about what’s to come with regard to summer 2015. These tips originate from my own personal strategies and from what I’ve heard in the office, whether it be from students or career counselors.

1. Prioritize
   • Of course this is kind of a no-brainer, but with the combined stress of finals season and the closure of many application deadlines, successful prioritization of tasks becomes pivotal. Take a step back and ask yourself; how would you like to spend your time this summer? This may not be an easy question to ask, but it is a necessary one to at least bring up if you want to take initiative and close out the rest of the year right.
   • If you are looking for an internship and haven’t had much luck yet – keep searching!! Even if you don’t find one for this summer, you’ve increased your awareness of the opportunities out there and have also probably improved your application materials. This will only benefit you in the long run!
   • I came into this semester with the hope of having a concrete plan for my summer by midterm season, and as of April 1st, 2015, I still have no idea what I’m doing. It definitely isn’t ideal, but I have created a bunch of plan b’s and c’s for the summer, and you should do the same thing!
2. Stay open-minded
   • As I just said, it’s important to be open to advice and constructive criticism in the internship search process. Be open to multiple possibilities, and try not to obsess on one potential summer opportunity.
   • Creating backup plans will ease your mind and ultimately give you something to lean on if your initial plan doesn’t work out. For example, if I don’t find an intern position, I will work in my hometown and take classes at a nearby college to set myself up for an easier junior year.
   • Things like taking classes elsewhere, volunteering, shadowing alumni or finding some kind of interesting summer program to participate in will definitely benefit you, so don’t be dispirited if you don’t find an internship.
3. Make use of your resources
   • Since the year is quickly coming to a close, the stresses of finding something to keep yourself productive this summer are increasing rapidly. At Holy Cross, there are a bunch of people and places to confer if you are in need of an outside opinion or advice concerning a plan that you may have.
   • The Career Planning Center (Hogan 203) should be your first stop if you are in the search process for an opportunity this summer (or anytime for that matter). A simple visit to drop-in hours (M-F, 1-4pm) is guaranteed to be helpful, regardless of how far you are in the process of preparing application materials.
   • Know that it never hurts to apply, even if the deadline seems like it may be too close or if you think you don’t fulfill the position’s requirements. You never know what a specific employer is going to think about you!
4. Utilize ‘free’ time
   • If you are reading this, it is probably after Easter break so I just hope what I’m about to say applies to you. When you are relaxing at home, devote a couple of hours a day to researching positions or sending out applications! General productivity can’t hurt, especially when you have the time off from attending classes and taking care of immediate assignments.
   • Don’t stress yourself out though; Easter break is a time to spend with family and get off campus for a bit. Nonetheless, taking care of extracurricular tasks like internship applications during this long weekend would definitely be beneficial.

 

The year has flown by, and it will be no time until you reflect back on reading this blog post sometime in late May or June and reflect on how much it taught you (just kidding, maybe not … who knows). If you feel inspired or have any questions then I hope you find your way to the Career Planning Center sometime ( if you haven’t already ) to familiarize yourself with the office and what it can provide you!

The Summer Internship Program (SIP) offers a select group of Holy Cross students the opportunity to work directly with Career Planning employees throughout the year to hopefully attain one of the designated SIP internships for the upcoming summer season.  However, SIP is only one of the resources available to students for finding summer internships.  In reality, Hogan 203 is around to aid students with their various questions concerning applications, potential internships and/or careers whether they are part of SIP or not. I am writing this to give everyone a generalized list of steps that I have learned, both through personal experience and by working in the Career Planning Office, that will help one become a competitive applicant for internships this summer.

 

1. Use your resources

Come to the Career Planning Center! Drop-in hours are every day from 1pm-4pm, so as long as you are willing to devote 30-40 minutes of your day to sign-in, wait for an available counselor, discuss your queries and schedule any sort of follow ups, then you are taking productive steps to finding an internship. I work in the office every day of the week (except for Wednesday) and I can tell you that I see some students coming into the office multiple times a week, and it definitely pays off (and will if it hasn’t already). And if you need somewhere to begin looking for prospective positions, Crusader Connections and the resources page on the Career Planning site (http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning/resources) are a great place to start.  Over 500 internships are posted to Crusader Connections every year that are open to all students!  Plus, you have access to the LACN Internship Database through Crusader Connections, too. Finally, if you feel like drop-in hours don’t provide you with enough time or attention for whatever you need help with, then you can come in and easily schedule an appointment (which can last for up to an hour) with Noriah or Beckey at the front desk.

2. Perfect your Resume

Keep editing and revising, while maintaining routine trips to the Career Planning office for the advice of our counselors. The mantra you should follow with regard to your resume is ‘practice makes perfect’ because you will never construct the best resume you can the first time around. Your resume is supposed to show employers the best of the best with regard to your past work experiences, education, leadership positions and skills. The more attention you devote to this aspect of your application the better, because it gives employers a holistic view of what you can bring to their company. Personally, I have met with the counselors in Hogan 203 probably around five times total (from the very end of last year to the first few months of this year) solely for critique of my resume. I have found that the more times you bring it in, the better, because chances are you will get multiple views on your resume which allows for different aspects of it to be revised or improved.

3. Keep applying

If at first you don’t succeed, try again. There is no limit to the amount of places you can apply – this aspect lies solely on your persistence in searching for internships that suit you. Don’t get down on yourself or give up if you don’t get hired for a summer position after your first few applications. There are people out there who sent their resumes to 246182946 companies and still fall short of landing a position, so don’t worry (unless you are actually approaching that arbitrary amount).

4. Realize what your weaknesses are

This is one of the most important parts of the intern (/job) searching process. As Holy Cross students, we sometimes fail to admit to ourselves what our weaknesses are and what sets us apart from the rest of the applicant pool. Some people are really bad with interviews, some may even have problems with nit-picky grammatical mistakes in their resume or cover letter. Whatever it may be, it is crucial that you figure out what you aren’t the best at, and work towards finding a remedy for those faults. The counselors in Career Planning are there to help you with whatever you need help with! Come in to schedule a mock-interview or to go over your written materials, and the counselors will tell you what (if anything) falls short and how you can mediate those problems.

 

So that concludes the steps that I think are pivotal in searching for potential internships. Again, don’t fret if you weren’t accepted into SIP because you can still find a summer internship perfectly fine, as long as you are committed to the process. With this said, counselors in Hogan 203 don’t discriminate and/or care if you are in SIP or not – as long as you come to the office with your concerns and have the willpower to improve your various application materials, then you should have no problem finding a summer internship.

 

As a second-year student, I feel as though most of my peers access the Holy Cross homepage solely to navigate to Moodle or STAR, and thus don’t see all of the helpful resources affiliated with different office & group pages. The Career Planning Site, located at http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning, offers students multiple tips & tricks, resources and guidelines to successfully find an internship or a job post-graduation.

 

I was charged with exploring these Career resources (found on the “Online Resources” tab http://offices.holycross.edu/careerplanning/resources) to see what sites (slash databases) were the easiest to use and the most helpful for students.

Here’s my top 3:

 

1. What Can I Do With This Major ( http://whatcanidowiththismajor.com/major/ )

Personally, I thought that this site was pretty cool. This site is a great starting point for students who aren’t sure as to what career fields come out of their major and, on the other side, what kinds of majors work in the career fields students are interested in. It’s definitely useful and interesting because it gives several “typical” career plans for graduates with the degree you’re seeking. It doesn’t go too in-depth with describing specifically what jobs are available, but it helps students to see the amount of positions available for their desired majors. To see the full potential of this site, I would suggest that users click through the majors listed and do some research onwhich major leads to their preferred career. The information gathered from this site is informative and gives students a good foundation to continue their search for an ideal major / career path. (I would recommend thatstudents who are at this stage of their search also check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ to see the actual metrics behind different occupations).

 

2. CareerBeam (http://cb.careersearch.net/login/?school_id=2475)

CareerBeam is probably the most comprehensive tool listed on this page of resources. It requires registration, which may deter some students, but it takes around 3 minutes to sign up and start navigating the site. The ‘careersearch’ feature on CareerBeam is both simple and user-friendly, allowing students to search for positions/internships in certain areas. I feel as though this feature extends some of the capabilities of Crusader Connections (the main internship/job posting database for the Career Planning Center) because a good portion of Crusader Connections postings are based in the New England / Tri-state area, while CareerBeam is nation-wide. In addition, CareerBeam has supplementary pages on different techniques for finding jobs and impressing employers. Overall, I believe that CareerBeam can be an invaluable resource for students who actually devote the time to using it.

3. lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/)

Lynda.com is a new resource that Holy Cross has acquired for all students to use. After navigating Lynda.com and seeing its numerous features, it was necessary to add it to my top 3. This service provides multiple online video tutorials from topics in software development to photography and audio mixing. What’s best about Lynda.com is that it offers a diverse range of videos in very desireable skill sets. For students who are looking to dabble in say a programming language or digital publishing (these are just random examples), Lynda’s informative and interactive video / practice series allows you to see if something sparks an interest in you thatyou may not necessarily have a chance to see in the classroom. Finally, Lynda is very easy to navigate and the extensive support of the site means that new content will always be added.

 

So there’s my three top resources on the Career Planning page! I hope you readers find some time in your busy schedules to check them out.

Also, don’t forget to apply to the Summer Internship Program (SIP) by 11:59 on Thursday, October 2nd!