College of Human Ecology Career Exploration Center

We’re finally at the last week of classes, but before everyone heads off to relax before finals week, come get your last chance to prepare for your summer experiences, polish up your resume and cover letters, or check out the Career Exploration Center’s library–covering information on all career fields–at your service in 162 MVR.

The office will remain open during our regular hours this week, including from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Slope Day on May 4th, so please have your questions asked by then! We will be closed throughout finals week.

Enjoy the emerging warm weather again as you wrap up this semester. See you in the Fall!

-Steven

CEC Blogger/Career Assistant

What is the worst part of any application to get into a school or some program? The application essay is pretty bad, but maybe the letters of recommendation are the toughest. You need to plan ahead for that, whereas you can “easily” finish the essay in one day and submit it by the deadline. Letters are the one thing that you can’t control the time it will take to complete. This is why it is best to ask for letters at least 2-3 weeks before you need to submit them.

This leads to another common problem with letters–it’s hard to tell who is best person to ask. As a general rule, some great people to ask for letters are those whom you have interacted with outside a large classroom. If you have a small seminar course where the professor knows everyone’s name, those are good people to ask. However, most of those classes are taken by seniors, so if you have only large lecture classes, you could try going to office hours every week, so that the professor gets to know you and can assess your progress in the class. This is the hardest way to build a relationship though, which is why it is important to have outside faculty as references, too. Your current employers or research mentors who directly interact with you on a regular basis are great people for letters.

On another note, if you are a graduating senior, collect your recommendations now before people forget you! Even if you don’t know to what or where you are going to apply, it is great to have several supporting references to go along with your Cornell degree because it is difficult to come back to professors 3 years later and attempt to remind them of all the great things you did as a student in their classes.

And as always, thank the person who writes your letter of recommendation with a handwritten “Thank you” card or a gift. It would also be great to share the news with them about your future plans with the school or program you got into, all thanks to their letter.

If you still have more questions, or need more help networking with people who might be able to write a letter of recommendation, feel free to stop by the CEC at 162 MVR to ask, or leave a comment on this blog post!

Good Luck,

Steven

CEC Blogger

Hello Everyone,

April is that special month when people want to stop learning and retire from the semester. But it is also that month when you need to plan to make your next semester much better! And one great way to do that is to participate in research!

You might have heard that a large percentage of undergrads participate in research and that Cornell has a record of excellence in research. This is true, considering nearly all Cornell professors have some sort of research team accessible to undergrads. It is your job to search for the ones that interest you the most. The best part is that April is the time of the semester when professors are almost certain of the number of spots they can offer to new students for the proceeding semester. That’s why if you aren’t already in a research lab, this is the month to start your search.

Start your search here : http://www.human.cornell.edu/research/undergraduate/index.cfm

Many of the available links on the main webpage should help answer most of your questions, such as the logistics of receiving academic credit for research and the etiquette of approaching a professor with whom you want to work.

And don’t be after to look beyond your major or even beyond Human Ecology. Remember, research within Human Ecology, but outside your major, counts towards your 9 required HE credits outside your major. All other research credits count as electives, but it is a much different experience than sitting in a lecture hall. Feel free to browse other departments outside Human Ecology for additional lists of faculty members and their research interests.

Good luck researching research!

-Steven

CEC Blogger

Attention All Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors!,

I hope everyone has had enough time to adapt to the demands of the latter half of this spring semester. The University Registrar has forced all of us non-seniors who will be on campus next fall to choose courses. Gosh, what a headache… especially if you want to take popular courses with limited spots.

But never fear! Pre-enrollment starts at 7:00am so everyone can have a fair chance to grab the good spots. But even it you’re not lucky, you can get the schedule of your liking. Here are some tips to get the classes you want for Fall 2012:

• Even before pre-enrollment, e-mail professors about permission to take the course (if needed) or getting on a waitlist. If you’re expecting heavy traffic a certain course, it is best to be on the top of the waitlist in case you don’t get a pre-enrollment spot.
• Regularly check the courses that you want after the 7:00am bloodbath on the first day (haha, do you get the Hunger Games reference?). Remember that pre-enrollment does not last for just one hour! You have 3 days to shuffle around courses, so if you’re lucky, you can grab a spot the minute after someone drops.
• Go to all the courses you find interesting on the first day. Many professors have waitlist sign ups during the first lecture and give priority to the students who come.

As for choosing your courses, you can see your academic advisor or any of the general advisors in 172 MVR. Make an appointment with them to evaluate your course selection, graduation requirements, etc.

If you are taking course with many students, chances are you have evening prelims. Check the registrar website to make sure your prelims are evenly spaced and don’t conflict. The Fall 2012 final exam schedule will not be posted until after pre-enrollment, but that should also help you decide which courses to keep/drop.

http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Sched/exams.html 

If you want to learn more about a course you have not heard much about, you can also speak with professors to perhaps view a past syllabus, or speak with upperclassmen or alumni. If you need help, the career assistants are the CEC in 162 MVR are always happy to help you make connections to alumni.

And finally, if you haven’t already got the joke, the featured image in this post is a scene from “The Hunger Games,” which was released in theaters on March 23rd. The woman (Effie Trinket) is preparing to randomly select the tributes (12-17 year old children) for the annual Hunger Games, where they must fight to the death. It’s a great novel and spectacular movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend it as a stress reliever!

Good luck with pre-enrollment, and may the odds ever be in your favor!

Best,

Steven

CEC Blogger

Dear Tired Human Ecology Students,

Welcome to the second half of the spring semester. I know most of you could have used a two-week spring break, but I hope we all took some time to restart the school mode and get back up to speed by next week. Meanwhile, how has job/internship searching go? Do you have one? Great. If not, there’s still plenty of chances for a great summer experience, and all the career assistants are still here to help you figure it out.

But what if you have an internship, and maybe it does not seem like it is the right fit, or it might not be what you want to go in life. If you have these concerns, you should check out this article:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679539/how-to-find-meaningful-work?partner=homepage_newsletter

It is a short overview on how to fit you skills to a job you find meaningful. It recommends some job search sites, such as Refwork,  Idealist (for non-profit), and Greenbiz or Green Job  (for jobs that preserve the environment, which is this month’s Book of the Month too, if you didn’t check!)

And here is something else. Are you unsure about unpaid internships versus paid ones and what is worth the experience? There will be a conversation hour to discuss this: Conversation at Keeton, “All Work and No Pay” with Ross Perlin the author of Intern Nation: How to Learn Nothing and Earn Little in the Brace New Economy. The conversation is tomorrow (Thursday March 29th) at 7:30pm at the House Dean’s apartment in Keeton House on West Campus. If you don’t have time to stop by, you can always look at the related NYTimes article written by the guest:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/opinion/03perlin.html?_r=3

These are just some ideas, but hopefully it will give you a better outlook on what you want to do. College is a great time for career exploration, so don’t sweat it if you found something that you aren’t entirely sure you want to do yet.

If you still need more help or more specific information, check out our library at the Career Center in 162 MVR. We are very pleased to see so many more people are stopping by to check it out, and they all have been glad they did!

And on another note, if you think a meaningful job would be working in a team to help students conduct their internship and job search, apply to be a career assistant for next Fall 2012! You may have been the other ads, and you can just stop by at the Career Center in 162 MVR to pick up an application. It is a wonderful way to help others while improving your own organization, communication, and project management skills. Click on the newly installed “Want to Join Us?” tab on this blog for more details.

Good luck with the remaining weeks until the semester’s end!

Best,

Steven

CEC Blogger