Our first Women in the Working World Panel was a great success on Tuesday, but if you couldn’t make it, here are the most important facts!
Expanding your network – All of your panelists encouraged this but Katie Dillon, who works at the Barbara Lee Foundation, had some great advice. She noted that she works in politics and got her current job because of the people she talked to. She encouraged everyone to get cups of coffee with people: “I had tons of cups of coffee with people everyday, to keep up with current contacts and to see if they knew anyone that was hiring and who else they knew that might know someone that was hiring”. Networking can be daunting, but if you practice pitching yourself and have a firm handshake, you have nothing to worry about. Your weak links can become very useful.
Get involved – Another panelist, Maeve Buckley from WGBH, encouraged everyone to be involved and practice public speaking. Maeve was involved in the theater department while at Emmanuel and it allowed her to become more comfortable with herself and to improve her public speaking skills. Now at WGBH she works as a radio producer and in fundraising, a job that involves great personal and speaking skills. Without being comfortable with public speaking, she wouldn’t be able to ask for donations.
Make yourself standout – Getting yourself to standout among other applicants is very difficult, something our graduating seniors can probably attest to. Kerry Coughlin-Wells, who works at Boston Children’s in the clinical trials department, said that when she is hiring she looks for some that has prepped, is articulate and has a good attitude. Going to an interview has to be like a research project. If you go into that presentation cranky and under researched, you’re going to fail because you lack the state of mind and preparation. Instead, Google the company and the person interviewing you. Annie Wang, co-founder of HerCampus.com, noted that when she looks at applications, if you don’t have a cover letter or one that is written specifically for the position, she “won’t even look at it”. Annie says that a big focus in applying should be on your cover letter because that’s where you are showing that you are the best for this position. She also said to prepare thoughtful questions for when you are interviewed, especially if it is a phone interview. The person you talk to on the phone may be the one that makes the decision or they could be passing you onto someone else for an in-person interview. Make sure you impress them with thoughtful questions and prepare for the questions they may ask you.
If you don’t have all the qualifications, you can still apply – WHO KNEW??! Apparently men! Maeve told us that men will apply to jobs that they have only 30% of the qualifications for and women will only apply if they have 90% of the qualifications. When Maeve applied for her associate producer job, she didn’t know how to use most of the software that the job required and she still got the position.
The job search – Don’t be hindered! Be patient and wait it out. Again, network like crazy and do it in many places. You never know who’s hiring where. Meanwhile, try to keep your foot in the door in your current location, if it’s of interest to you, and maintain connections. There might not be any positions now, but there could be in a couple of months.
The last takeaway would be to keep your LinkedIn profile updated and make connections on the site! That girl from your homeroom in high school? Probably not, but that guy you talked to at your internship or his friend that works where you’re looking into applying? Yes! Make sure you have your most current experience listed and consider having a folder or link to your work if you want to become involved in writing.
To those graduating and those looking for an internship, good luck!