Two Full Days of Employment Opportunity, Coming Your Way!

It's that time again! The Spring Career, Internship and Service Fair is here!

Attention students! Don't miss this great opportunity to find a job, internship or volunteer experience! This year the spring fair will be taking place across two days, Tuesday February 19th and Wednesday February 20th! To see what employers will be coming and on which day, go to your account on Recruit-A-Duke, select "Career Events" from the top menu bar, then click "JMU Spring Career, Internship & Service Fair 2013". Take a look at the majors and the jobs positions each company has to offer as well!

If you have any questions, go to http://www.jmu.edu/cap/fairs/springfair.htm, or contact Emma Maynard at maynaref@jmu.edu or 540-568-3457.

We look forward to seeing you at the fair!



Make Service Your Career

Still pondering what you are going to do after graduation? Have you ever had an interest in serving the public and people of our country? 

If so, then you will not want to miss the upcoming interactive informational session with Teach for America (@JMUDukesTFA) and the Peace Corps (@PeaceCorps). The session will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM in Festival Conference Room 4. 

The event is co-sponsored by JMU MORTAR Board and Phi Sigma Pi, and will include a panel of experts who work or have worked with TFA or the Peace Corps. Students will be allotted time and are encouraged to ask questions, network and much more!

Both Teach for America and the Peace Corps have a long history of recruiting JMU Dukes to work for them post-graduation. Molly Douglas, a Regional Recruiter for the Corps states, "35 JMU graduates are currently serving around the world as Peace Corps volunteers.  Last year, there were 42 and in 2011, there were 39.  Since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, 441 total JMU graduates have served as Peace Corps volunteers."

If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to message the appropriate person below:

CAP-related: recruitaduke@jmu.edu

MORTAR Board: Keith Zirkle (kwzirkle@gmail.com)

https://www.facebook.com/jmumortarboard

Phi Sigma Pi: Jitan Patel (jiten0116@gmail.com)

https://www.facebook.com/PhiSigmaPiBetaRho

Written by Melissa Peale

Contact: pealeml@dukes.jmu.edu 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Career and Academic Planning is featured in The Breeze

Last Tuesday, January 22nd, JMU's student-run newspaper, The Breeze featured an article entitled "JMU resources key in snagging the job". This article, written by Bridget Condon included tips and testimonies on how to snag internships, the best ways to network, and what resources there are on campus to use with the job search. Featured in the article was Career and Academic Planning's own Emma Maynard, Recruiting Programs Coordinator and JMU alum. Maynard explains in the article how she regrets her lack of resource-use during her time at JMU. Says Maynard in the article, "The most important thing to remember is that the future will come faster than you think. You'll be thankful if you take the time now to properly prepare for when that chapter begins".

According to The Breeze and any of the staff in Career and Academic Planning, the resources available should be put to use by all students hoping to find a job, and they should be used before graduation. These resources include mock interviews, resume writing workshops, individual resume review appointments, company information sessions, career fairs and much, much more.

For more information on these resources, see our website at www.jmu.edu/cap. For the full article from The Breeze, go to http://www.breezejmu.org/life/article_d955e154-6443-11e2-8500-0019bb30f31a.html.



Written by Kelly Gooch
contact: goochke@jmu.edu

Inspiration, Advice for the Future

Need some inspiration? Having a stressful week? Take a break and check out this short video of the late Steve Job's commencement address to Stanford University in 2005.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Retrieved from: http://graduationwisdom.com/speeches/topten.htm

Alum Spotlight: Owen Highfill, Federal Housing Finance Agency

What's the key to occupational success?

Work (and think) outside the box!

 

      Most would never expect an English major to end up working for the federal government, but JMU alum Owen Highfill didn’t limit herself to what was “expected”. A 2006 JMU graduate, Highfill had plans of going for her doctorate in English literature to become a professor, but stumbled upon the opportunity to serve as an employee of the U.S. government.

       During her pursuit of a master’s degree at the University of Georgia, she attended a career services presentation about federal jobs, and was intrigued by what the presenter had to say. According to Highfill, “The presenter said, ‘Anything you want to do in the private or nonprofit sector, you can do in the federal government’, which was something I hadn’t considered in my job search up until that point. My main objective in finding a job after school was to find a career that allowed me to make a difference. During that presentation, I realized that being a civil servant would be a meaningful way to contribute to my country. So I applied to the Presidential Management Fellows program, which is how I began my federal career.”



Owen Highfill, Conservatorship Operations Specialist

           
      Since Highfill began her career with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (a merger of the former  Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Federal Housing Finance Board and the mission office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), she has taken part in tackling several important housing issues facing American citizens. Through this Highfill has been able to make a positive difference in the lives of others, which she had originally hoped to do through teaching.

      Of course, she attributes much of her success to her experiences and education at JMU. Says Highfill, “I continually see evidence that a solid liberal arts background is invaluable. I’ve learned that my ability to communicate effectively is the most important skill I have in the workplace. The ability to think critically, do research, and communicate clearly in writing and verbally are all skills I developed at James Madison University. It doesn’t matter how innovative and original an idea is if you can’t effectively communicate it.” 

      Highfill’s JMU experiences outside of the classroom are also extremely valuable to her. She recalls her first few hours on campus, spending time with her FrOG group, and meeting other students in her building. She says, “In that group, I met my future roommate and began some of the lasting friendships of my JMU family who have been an important part of my adult life.” She also remembers the challenges of college, such as completing her honors thesis. She recalls, “It was a culmination of multiple semesters of hard work, tears, and driving my thesis advisor and readers crazy with questions and rewrites. I was so relieved to have it finished but also so thankful for the experience of working with talented professors and learning about myself along the way.”

      Highfill encourages current students to keep an open mind when approaching the job market. In reflection she says, “If I had not kept an open mind about job opportunities and different career paths, I would have missed out on a unique opportunity to learn something new and work for the betterment of my country.”

If you have questions about working for the federal government, contact Owen Highfill at owen.highfill@fhfa.gov, or visit www.usajobs.gov. 

By Kelly Gooch

contact: goochke@jmu.edu 



Winter Break: Not Just for Hibernation

 With the holiday season rapidly approaching, students are hopeful that the end is in sight via something we all know as winter break. You've worked your butt off all semester, and nothing seems more appealing than sleeping late, playing video games, or hanging out with friends. While winter break should serve as an opportunity to relax and spend time with your family and friends, it is also a great time to think about the future and get a jump start on the job search while you don't have exams and papers to worry about. Career guide website wetfeet.com provides this "Winter Break Checklist" calendar to help you to get in gear:

December 20 Update Your Resume with your most recent experiences and achievements and search online templates for ways to make it pop. "When you are seeking a job, internship or volunteer opportunity, there is nothing more important than having an attractive, well-written resume," says White.

December 22 Build up your online profile. Take your freshly polished resume and post it on career search and networking websites, such as CareerBuilder, Monster, and LinkedIn

December 27 Make five new contacts. Ask family, friends, and professors for help expanding your professional network. "Begin gathering contact information [and] contact them by phone or e-mail," White says. Don't ask for a job, but request some of their time.

January 3 Get some counseling. January is actually a great time to meet with your career center as staff will likely have more time to spend with you, says Dr. Richard White, director of career services at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey. "They can help you to develop a job search or graduate school action plan, provide employer contacts, and inform you of career-related events during the spring semester."

January 5 Attend a career fair. Think one-stop shopping. At a career fair, you can browse a variety of recruiters and employers in the same location. Become a hunter-gather: track down companies of interest, learn more about potential employers, and walk away with even more contacts.

January 7 Complete a career assessment. If you haven't zeroed in on what career path you want to take, an assessment can help with the decision-making process.

January 10 Apply for Internships. Once spring semester is in full swing, you'll probably be too focused on studies to give internship applications the attention they deserve. Start searching and applying now.

January 12 Let someone else do the bragging for you. Talk to your professors, academic advisers, or past employers and see if they're willing to write letters of recommendation or be contacted as a reference.

January 14 Send out applications for full-time jobs. Calling all seniors. Begin sending out resumes, line up a few interviews for spring and you might score a job before graduation day.



 Don't let this free time slip away! Winter break is your longest break before summer- use the free time to your advantage. You won't regret it come spring semester!

Original article from wetfeet.com by Megan Sullivan
*See full article at http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/job-search/winter-break-checklist



Written by: Kelly Gooch
contact: goochke@jmu.edu

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Alum Spotlight: Desirae Stevens, Jolson Creative PR

Ever wonder what big things JMU students go on to do after graduation?

      Desirae Stevens, a May 2012 SMAD graduate from JMU is a prime example of how Dukes can do big things, and in no time at all. This past August, Desirae jump started her career by making a bold transition, and moving to Los Angeles to work for an entertainment public relations firm. Post-grad, Desirae knew she wanted to work in entertainment PR, but originally was considering only New York City as her destination for a career. When the move to NYC seemed like it was going to fall through, Desirae took a chance and applied to a couple of jobs in California. After a bit of email correspondence and phone interviews, she was offered a position as a Publicity Assistant at Jolson Creative PR in LA, and was given only a few days to make a decision. Says Stevens, “I am so happy that I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it because I don’t know if I would have been able to go through with it”.

Photo courtesy of Julie Himmel

      Desirae’s quick choice to move out west ended up being the right one, allowing her to do what she loves on a daily basis. She notes, “My favorite part of my job is certainly producing events and then tracking that coverage. Right now one of our big projects is the newly discovered Leonardo da Vinci “Horse and Rider” sculpture. It premiered in Beverly Hills in August at this gorgeous event at Greystone Mansion. The next day it was front-page news on Yahoo! and it was picked up by CNN and BBC- you just can’t beat that kind of excitement when you see YOUR story on such highly regarded websites. Seeing a celebrity or two in the process doesn’t hurt either!” Desirae’s daily work tasks vary, however she is regularly building contact lists, writing pitches, finding coverage sources, and producing events.

      In hindsight, Desirae is grateful for the education she received at JMU- particularly the skills she gained through the SMAD program. “I think our SMAD program does an excellent job in preparing you for a variety of media fields. I have learned so many skills that I have used every day, which surprised me because I majored in journalism, not PR. I use social media daily to promote clients and various projects and I learned a lot about that in SMAD 470 and 322.”

      For JMU students preparing to enter the real world, Desirae has some valuable advice from her experiences: “Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Whether it’s moving some place new or applying for a job you think you have no chance of landing, you will probably end up surprising yourself, in a good way, and you will be much happier.”

For more information and updates on Desirae's career, follow her on Twitter (@desirae_vivian or @JolsonCreative) or LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/desiraevivian).


By Kelly Gooch
contact goochke@jmu.edu