Saying Arrivederci

By Justin Villa


So it's time for me to move onto bigger and better things as they quite often say. And I am proud to say that for once in my life despite not knowing what my future will look like, I'm excited and not scared. Maybe it has to do with me just growing over time, or actually incorporating all the education I obtained during the course of my time at Purdue. But honestly I think it comes most from the fact that I am now more aware of who I am and what I want more than ever before.

While I continue the job search beyond my graduation in a few weeks, the one thing I won't let happen is for me to become sad or feeling hopeless just because I don't have a career right out the gates. I am fine with this and have accepted this in the past few weeks. But one thing that is pushing me and should hopefully be pushing you is utilizing the knowledge not only from a Purdue education, but also your time at Purdue.

Here are some of the things I'll be reflecting on during my job hunt process to keep my spirits up in a difficult time.

Know who you are  

I can't stress how important it is to know who you are not only during academic times, but at all times. Going into situations where you're asked about your qualities or strengths and not being able to respond is a nightmare. It doesn't mean knowing every aspect of your life ever, but instead being able to present and sell yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses, have goals that are obtainable and know where to start to reach them . Besides can you expect others to get to know you and see your worth when you can't?

Resources, use them

Purdue has a gigantic list of resources to use such as professors, workers, faculty, students, and centers. I have already talked to certain professors and bosses and gotten letters of recommendation, and its not too late to even approach some this week or next week. Too often services such as career help and preparation go unused by a majority of students. I say no more. Go talk and mingle and make connections, you never know where they will take you.

Show what you have

No doubt during your time as a student you presented some amazing skills of yours maybe in print form, maybe in 3D form. Now is the time to bring all your great works together into a nice neat compact portfolio. This will help you get the upper hand when job hunting. It allows for others to easily see your work and shows organizational skills too!! I plan on collecting all my files during finals week and seeing which better represent who I am to future employees.

Keep Moving

Finally, I will leave you with this final tidbit of information. Don't give up just because times get hard or it seems like there is little hope left. Life is about making mistakes and failing, just so you can learn and grow as a person from this situations. Your dream job won't be available right away most the time, so go for those lower jobs that allow for upper movement, you'll learn more along the way than you could possibly imagine.

It's strange writing my final blog, even more strange to say this though, Goodbye Purdue.

Be a Critical Thinker

With the final weeks of school beginning, it is more important now than ever to plan for the future if you have not done so already. When planning, remember though to pay attention to skills and knowledge gained over the course of your college days. Most importantly pay attention to your critical thinking skills. USA Today published an article recently that states technical skills are no longer the only skills required.

Too often as Liberal Arts students, we hear others joke that our degrees will never get us to a great job that will make us successful, but this is definitely not the truth. In fact, its the skills we learn as Liberal Arts students that set us apart from other perspective workers.

Take the following names into consideration. astronaut Sally King, Justice Clarence Thomas, and the youngest anchor on MSNBC, Chris Hayes. They all graduated with a degree based in Liberal Arts and are excelling at excellent careers due to skills.

Liberal Arts degrees offer skills necessary to be ready for the world. We are taught to observe and analyze situations. Using these critical skills will allow for the problem-solving nature to come alive. For instance, anthropologists observe societies all over the world and use analysis to help companies provide goods that cater to that societies needs. Employers nowadays look for people with critical skills, who can listen, and be open to other views as this how innovative ideas and products are formed. A Liberal Arts degree offers these skills, so don't fret next time says your degree is useless, instead remember the many useful skills learned that will put you above the rest!

Here's a link to the great article!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/kay/2013/04/06/at-work-analytic-thinking/2054965/

Cultural Awareness

In just under two hours, our LACD team will be meeting the delegation from Cartegena, Colombia and I am so excited to finally meet all of them. This has been a long process, but I know in the end it will be worth the time put in. One thing to realize though is that their different culture has major effect on lifestyle and communication, something our team will have to keep in mind when entertaining the visitors. As a human relations communication major, I have learned a thing or two about communication style with various cultures and here are some tips to pay attention to.

Geert Hofstede is a leading researcher in cultures and has developed tools to help understand different cultures in a better light. Using his dimensions, I will explain how to assess cultures and use this knowledge to  provide tools for effective communication.


Collectivism vs Individualism
Colombia has more of a collectivistic nature, meaning more group identity rather than individual identity. Usually cultures with this nature prefer to work together and also achieve success that is shared. Knowing this quality will help when trying to see members may want to spend time in another country. Engaging in a very personal way may make them uncomfortable, so aim for more group activities and settings.

Power Distance
Power distance refers to the possibility of movement to higher positions and how accessible this movement is to lower ranks. Given Colombia's high power distance, the positions of members are earned and respected in society more than they are in America. When interacting with the members who have earned these positions, formality is key. Use titles whenever and avoid just saying their names unless a prior relationship was formed over time and permission is given.

Masculinity vs Femininity
High success orientation and drive is characteristic of the masculine Colombia. Their mindset is focused on success and achieving goals rather than focused on emotional balance and expression. Being collectivistic means focusing on success of groups they belong to instead of individual success. Sometimes cultures with masculine features will sacrifice leisure time as well as it fits the group dynamic and decision


Understanding different facets of another culture will help with effectively communicating with members of that society. I will definitely be using the knowledge about Colombian culture and society when interacting with the students and faculty while they are here visiting.

Staying Classy

By: Justin Villa

I am currently writing this during what it is perhaps the busiest week I have had at college in 8 semesters. This is due to school, curricular activities, and most importantly our Career Week. It has been a chaotic week, but also the most helpful in terms of career development. All of the speakers have done an excellent job portraying the work world and how to find your place within this. What I am most excited for this week is our Career Expo, where over 35 companies will be attending; giving Liberal Arts students an opportunity to put everything Career Week offers to practice.


One of the events that I am proud to be working with is our Suit Up: The Challenge. It gives students the chance to find out what is and isn't acceptable to wear in the professional world, and we are having someone teach how to tie bowties!! This event is a great way to learn how to look classy in the work world. And here are some tips to further this classy attitude gentlemen:


A Versatile Suit

Whether you suit up for work every day, or only on special occasions, you need a suit that exudes sophistication. A timeless two-button, notch lapel gray, black, or navy suit looks refined and will continue to for years to come. And please, don’t skimp on the tailoring. You can look like you inherited your dad’s suit if it doesn’t fit properly.

Basic Button-Up

Don’t get us wrong, we love dress shirts in bold hues, but a white button-up is a classic that belongs in everyman’s closet. Sure, you probably already have one—but since they don’t look fresh forever, you should have at least a few at your disposal. Your boss can spot the difference.

No White T-shirts under light-colored dress shirts

Let’s assume you’re a sweaty dude who wears undershirts because you worry about sweating through your button-up. Your best bet is a heather gray v-neck shirt. A close runner-up would be a heather gray a-shirt. Why? Both options are closer to your natural skin tone, and won’t show as clearly through a white or light-colored dress shirt… Basically, gray blends better with your skin, whereas white stands out, even underneath.

V-necks are better than the standard crewneck in case you plan on loosening your tie and unbuttoning that top button. You don’t want the ribbed collar of your crewneck poking through; that just screams “sloppy”. Make sure to buy undershirts that are fitted and form to your body so you don’t have excess fabric bunching and billowing when you tuck in your dress shirt.


Cut the Hair

Talk to a professional you trust. Most humans don't have a clear concept of their head shape. Find a stylist with a cut you admire (or ask a friend whose hair you like). They will be able to give you realistic suggestions about length, texture, and product options. When in doubt, ask a female friend with good taste. She has noticed your hair and has ideas about where you should go, I promise you.

 

Presenting You

Nothing is more important in career development, internships, and the workplace than knowing who you are and presenting that image. This includes talking about strengths and weaknesses, experiences, achievements, and yes even connections.  Anyone trying to achieve anything in life needs to have these tricks tucked in your mind ready to be used on the spot. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Talk the Talk - Knowing what words to say for listing strengths and weaknesses is important, but so is knowing how to sell it. Simply saying I am a good leader but I have a tendency to be overbearing is not a good indication of your qualities nor does it reflect knowing who you truly are. Elaborate on strengths with positive reinforcement to show how you excel at that trait and use it to your advantage. Pointing out your weakness and areas of improvement shows that you acknowledge you aren't perfect. But take it a step further and express how you plan to work on transforming your weaknesses into strengths. This shows that you are adaptable and willing to work hard to better yourself.

2. STAR - this acronym is your new best friend during interviews and when dealing with reflection. This helps provide quick answers that are thought out dealing with behavioral questions or an experience. It is also a good tool to reflect on your own qualities and see how you handle situations at work.

• Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation in which you found yourself.
• Task: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.
• Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.
• Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives. What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?

3. Know Yourself - Ever walked into a class where a teacher asks what your goals are in 5 years or plans for the future? Chances are if you are like me then most of the time you came up with a confused look wondering why you need to worry about that right now. But now it is crunch time, time finally answer those questions. Set up goals that are achievable and realistic. Interviewers and employers don't want to hear about unreachable fantasies. Be respectful of their time and know where you want to go. Having clear goals will help your interviewer or boss know how to place you best within the organization. Knowing what you want out of your future will help improve chances to reach these goals.

Time Constraint

I am presented with an ever increasing need to manage my time effectively. Between graduation, one internship, one job, 15 credits, and three extracurricular activities, time is of the essence in my life.  Not to mention the fact that during all of this I also have my future career to worry about. Effective time management is something I will be working on throughout this semester.

Before I started working on any major task or project with my internship, I sat down with my boss to go over goals. Goals concerning what I wanted and goals she wanted to see me achieve.  One of these goals was the elusive time effective time management.  So I will definitely be working on this to not only boost my ability, but to also show my boss that I care about my job and pushing myself to achieve for better than better.

Here are some tips that I will definitely be following to achieve this goal:

1. Organize, Organize, Organize

I cannot stress how important it is to remain organized or start bettering your current organization skills. Mess and chaos will not only throw you off, but it will also take away time of productivity. An easy solution is to use a planner. They are useful when having to plan for multiple things at once and give a visual representation of what things surround you. I will definitely be utilizing my planner more this semester to stay on track with my assignments and projects.

2. Maintain Body Health

Sleeping, eating healthy, and exercising are important ways to keep your body maintenance at a good level. This will end up helping with lowering stress and keeping a good balance of attitude. Feelings that contribute to being overwhelmed will get in the way of staying on track. A healthy lifestyle can improve your focus and concentration, which will help improve your efficiency so that you can complete your work in less time.

3. Breaks are Encouraged

Now it may seem odd to think that better time management comes from incorporating breaks into a hectic schedule, but it is beneficial to have breaks. Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk. Do some quick stretches at your workstation. Take a day of vacation to rest and re-energize. I have set time goals of how long I can work until I can reward myself with a break. This helps me focus on the needed item for that time limit, then allows for the release of stress and provides a clean slate for the next project to be worked on.

4. Learn to Say No

Sometimes when it comes down to the nitty gritty, patience and understanding is what is necessary. Block out time on your calendar for big projects. During that time, close your door and turn off your phone, pager and email. Friends and events may seem like good breaks, but in the end it pays off to focus on the task at hand. Learning to say no to friends will help keep you on task and on schedule.