College Grad Lessons

A few days ago I got accepted to University of Maryland’s (UMD) Master’s of Information Management (MIM) program. While I’m still deciding if this is definitely the program I want to attend, I’m excited about the program and surprised at the relatively easy admissions process. Compared to applying to college (over a year long process for me) or law school (I only made it about 75% through that process before changing my mind), applying to grad school for a specialized field of study was much easier.

My grad school application timeline went like this:

• Late November/Early December: Started to seriously consider going to grad school for information architecture, interaction design or something similar.
• December: Researched schools, made a short list of programs that might work based on curriculum, location and cost; signed up for the GRE; bought a GRE study book.
• Late December/Early January: Came across UMD’s MIM program, which “meets the growing need organizations have for information professionals who understand the issues of information management; business management; computer science; and information systems.”
• January: Applied to UMD (had a Feb. 1 deadline, but luckily I didn’t have to submit GRE scores); studied for the GRE; took the GRE and did better than I thought I would (around the 80th percentile)
• February: Worked on my list of other programs to apply to; got accepted to UMD’s MIM program on February 10

My entire grad school application process - from deciding to seriously look at programs to getting accepted - was just a little over two months. The process wasn’t stressful and I am confident that this is the right academic path to take for graduate study. When thinking about why this process was so easy compared to the law school application process, I think that the main factor was that the programs I was looking at this time felt right. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever been asked what your weakness is in a job interview? It’s a challenging question and certainly one that should be thought about before heading to an interview. Even with prior thought about the question, however, you still might not be sure what an interview actually wants to hear.

The Wall Street Journal featured a great article this week addressing this interview question. The article explains that “ideally, your reply also should exclude the word ‘weakness’ and cover your corrective steps.” The article also warns that answers to the question should take the company’s culture into consideration. In addition, there are some common responses that actual hurt an interviewee:

“Some people offer replies they mistakenly assume that bosses love, such as “I am a perfectionist.” That response “will be used against you” because you appear incapable of delegating, warns Joshua Ehrlich, dean of a master’s program in executive coaching sponsored by BeamPines Inc., a New York coaching firm and Middlesex University in London.”

Check out the article for examples of good answers to “the weakness question.”

How would you answer the question?

Yes, the idea sounds a bit crazy, but it turns out that paying for an internship is not that unusual. The Wall Street Journal explained:

“Faced with a dismal market for college summer internships, a growing number of anxious parents are pitching in to help — by buying their kids a foot in the door.

Some are paying for-profit companies to place their college students in internships that are mostly unpaid. Others are hiring marketing consultants to create direct-mail campaigns promoting their children’s workplace potential. Still other parents are buying internships outright in online charity auctions.”

Obviously in an ideal world college students would be able to apply and be accepted to well-paid internship that gave then an advantage when entering the job market after college. Top-notch internships are hard to find, especially when the economy isn’t doing well. However, The Wall Street Journal seems to have over-sensationalized the story. Although there are parents paying tons of money to help their children get ahead, internships come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I’m sure there are exceptions to this, but my experience with internships was that the program I did that had a tuition fee was the most valuable.

My personal experiences with internships included the following:

The summer after my first year of college (though technically a rising junior), I participated in a program called The Washington Center. Yes this program had tuition and room fees, but my college had an affliation with the program that basically paid for the tuition. Since my family lives in the DC suburbs, I lived at home. The only cost I actually paid was for the 8 credits I earn and my internship was a paid internship. I accepted a position with the U.S. Department of the Treasury after interviewing for several others and receiving a few offers. So why do people paid for a program like this? Read the rest of this entry »

Like so many others that couldn’t be in DC today for the inauguration, I was glued to CNN.com Live with Facebook Connect. The 2008 election was the first presidential election that I was old enough to vote it, so it was already exciting for me. I would have never guessed that the first presidential election I would participate it would be so historical and inspiring. The amount of people that attended the inauguration speak for themselves. I, like so many others, am excited to watch and be part of the next four years and am proud of my country.

Today President Obama reminded us that we face serious challenges, but that we can and will stand up to them. CNN’s article about Obama’s inauguration speech highlights the key points that he made in his “sobering assessment of where America stands and a hopeful vision of what it can become as he gave his inaugural address as the nation’s 44th president.”

Below are several screenshots taken from CNN’s live coverage of the inaugurations:

The Crowd at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama

Barack Obama about to take the stage at the inauguration.

2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama Being Sworn In

I had a different post planned for today, but around the end of the work day I noticed a bunch of people that I follow on Twitter tweeting and retweeting about Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence. Mashable posted and then updated about Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence. According to the post, Jobs wrote an e-mail to Apple employees explaining that his health issues are more complicated that he thought and that his health has become a distraction for people at Apple. Mashable’s update later added that Apple shares “have re-opened in after hours, trading around $79/share, down from a closing price of $85.33.”

Given that this is important news to Mac lovers, tech geeks and beyond, I’m not surprised that I saw so many tweets about it in such a short amount of time. I was curious who had picked up the story already in the mainstream. Around 4:30 p.m. (EST) I searched Google News to see what I could find. Not much. At 5:45 p.m., however, the story had already exploded. Google News shows that multiple stories are being posted per minute about Steve Jobs taking a leave of absence.

It is truly amazing how fast you can learn about stories that you are interested in just by having the right network of people online. I’m still trying to figure out how to harness this power to share knowledge about life after college, job searches and more. You don’t have to be a tech geek to benefit from things like Twitter. If you are a recent college graduate looking for housing, a job or just a good place to eat in a new town, try creating a Twitter account and searching for your town, career interests, etc. You might be surprised with how much you find.

You can follow me on Twitter @erin_stewart.

Thanks to some people that I follow on Twitter, I was reminded that today was the Macworld Expo in time to follow live updates on Macworld.com and Twitter (#Macworld). Macworld is like Christmas for Mac lovers. With the speed that information can be shared through Twitter and the blogosphere, information from the keynote presentation is provided instantly to anyone that is interested.

Sure it was a bit disappointing that no new iPhones or iMacs were presented today, but while following the live updates I got to thinking about all of the information people are able to share with the world. Logically, tech-savvy crowds are the first to harness online communication technology to share wide ranges of information. However, I hope that over the next few years the average internet user develops an appreciation for the potential to share knowledge and information instantly. Working in higher education web design, I see a lot of fear of the unknown in terms of technology. I see the same fear in my parents, who are primarily concerned about safety and security when using the internet. It is my hope that the future for online communication sees the average person sharing lessons they’ve learned or noteworthy things that they’ve experienced with the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Driving back from my grandparents house (also know as “The Farm”), my boyfriend and I got to talking about all the things that we had done in 2008. It was a busy year for both of us, but 2009 might prove to be even more eventful. It’s exciting to think about what New Year’s Day 2010 might be like for me. I hope to start working on a Master’s Degree in Information Architecture, Interaction Design or something similar. I’ve also been thinking about looking for a job in another state (hopefully in the South) since some of the graduate programs I am applying to can be done entirely online. Ultimately I have no clue what I’ll be doing when 2009 comes to a close, but I’m enjoying the uncertainty.

In light of all of the possible changes I may experience in 2009, one of my resolutions is to make sure any changes I make in 2009 move me closer to my long term goals. Read the rest of this entry »

2008 was a exciting year for me. Like all college graduates, I experienced the nervousness leading up to graduating, the fun of being a second semester senior, a job search (or two), moving in (and out) of my first apartment, the end of a relationship and the beginning of a new one, working full-time and more.

To recap my college graduation year, I thought it would be fun to write down a memory or two from each month of 2008. For those of you that have graduated from college, hopefully this will spark some fond memories of your senior year in college as well. For those of you that are still college students, I hope this senior year time line gives you a sense of all that you have to look forward to during your college graduation year.

In January, I started my last semester of college. I was working on my senior project, thinking about what type of jobs I’d want to apply to and starting to get a little nervous about life after college graduation. At the end of the month, I celebrated 100 days (party marking 100 days until graduation) with my senior class. I also decided to apply to Teach for America. Read the rest of this entry »