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Working
Beyond Expectations!
Welcome to the Career Development Center's electronic newsletter:
Working Beyond Expectations! We hope that you find this newsletter
both informative and useful as you prepare for the next level of your life.
A Note from the Director, Mr. Mark Anthony:
"You came to college to get a good education that leads to a good job or
admission to graduate school. But, there are no guarantees.
The Career Development Center can help you prepare by obtaining the
skills, abilities, opportunities, experiences, and tools to achieve your
goals. This newsletter will keep you informed of how we can help
you."
Quote of the Week "All
our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them."
Editor's Note We hope you enjoy the bi-weekly publication of
Working Beyond Expectations ! Its intent is to inform
readers of the events and services that are available through the Career
Development Center, as well as, to encourage the reader to explore the
multiple opportunities that are available to them through employment,
careers, and academic programs and services at IUP. The newsletter is designed specifically to enhance the educational experience and
to prepare the student for their next level of achievement. Whether
the next level be freshman to sophomore, classroom to internship,
undergraduate studies to graduate studies, or student to full-time employee,
the Career Development Center will assist in making smooth and
prepared transitions.
Career
News
Come
to the
When: Wednesday, September 19th Where: Career Development Center Pratt Hall, Room 305 Time: 11am-2pm Meet the Career Development Staff & learn what we have to offer. Free food with attendance! Career Development Center Education. Experience. Employment. Where are the Top Jobs; Who are the Top Employers, What are the Top Careers, Where are the Top Locations?
Quickly find answers to these
questions by visiting a website that's mission is committed to helping
college students and recent grads in their job search. Visit
CollegeGrad.com to quickly and
easily obtain this
information.
Let us "Link" you to our services: Top 10 Reasons to Volunteer! 1. To learn something about yourself. Maybe you’re like a pied-piper in disguise! Kids may ADORE you, but maybe you’ll only find that out after you spend an afternoon every week mentoring a youngster. 2. To have fun! Volunteer doing something you love, and it will be amazing! 3. Because you’re passionate about a cause. You always loved animals, so naturally you want to work at an animal hospital. Volunteer and be involved in something you really care about! 4. To explore career possibilities. Maybe you’re heading to (or are already in) college or the ‘work world’. By volunteering at your local hospital you can find out if you’re interested in going into the medical field by studying to become a doctor or nurse. Experience is key! 5. It’s time to get off the couch. From the time you get home ‘til the time you go to bed, you park your lazy @*$! in front of the TV. Honestly. You know you’re bored with it. Be productive for a change!! 6. Learn some new skills…and add them to your resume! You can learn a ton from volunteering, and what a great way to add stuff to your resume for future jobs or college applications! 7. Make new friends. You never know who you’re going to meet when you volunteer. 8. Make someone else’s day. Your extra little effort to help someone or some organization out can make a world of a difference to them. 9. Feel good about yourself! Know that, after volunteering, you did something great. Really great. Be proud of yourself. Heck, treat yourself to some ice cream. 10. It’s time to DO SOMETHING! For ways that YOU can volunteer and get involved on and off campus contact the Office of Service Learning at 724.357.3103 or www.iup.edu/servicelearning Click here to view a flyer containing activities-at-a-glance for the office. The Career Development Center Presents an… Open House Reception
Wednesday, September 19th from 11am – 2pm
You won’t want to
miss this opportunity to meet some new faces, We hope to see you there! Accounting Career Day Constitution Day What's In A Resume and Cover
Letter? Disney is Coming to Campus! -
Paid Internship Experience
Meet: Kimberly Hall Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, East Carolina University (2003) Master of Arts in Criminology,
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2006) The year I spent at IUP was a very rewarding year. The professors and students within the Criminology Department were fantastic resources. I thoroughly enjoyed my entire graduate experience at IUP. Did you work while you were a student? Aside from my summer jobs, I interned with a Superior Court Judge and a District Attorney’s Office while I was an undergraduate. These opportunities allowed me to experience different aspects of the legal field and helped me determine if I wanted to continue down that career path. What are you doing now? I am currently an intelligence analyst with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, assigned to the North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAAC). ISAAC, the state’s fusion center, collects, investigates, analyzes and disseminates information pertaining to possible criminal activities in North Carolina relating to homeland security, gangs, and high intensity drug related cases. The center facilitates information exchange among various government agencies and works closely with the community, local law enforcement, and various task forces. How did your experiences (both academic and/or work related) assist you in deciding what to do post graduation? In every step of my academic career, I always tried to get a better understanding of the criminal justice field. I took specific classes to get exposure to all aspects of the field. From there, I decided to double major in Philosophy and focus on internships. These experiences enabled me to pinpoint my interests and career goals. I attended one year of law school and decided that I was more interested in the law enforcement side of the criminal justice field than the legal side. After that, I obtained my Master’s degree at IUP, where I was able to determine what specific characteristics I was looking for in a career, and then tailored my job search accordingly. Where do you see yourself five years from now? Five years from now, I would still like to be working with homeland security, but on a much more focused level. What would be one piece of advice? I believe that
internships are the best way to learn about and experience the criminal
justice field. I suggest starting this process as early as possible.
Internships provide insight into the field, and also provide a
“hands-on” experience. In my opinion, there is no better way to
determine your career path. In fact, the people I interned for became
my mentors; to this day, I stay in contact with those connections. FR/SO/JR/SR Tip Freshman Tip: Read the syllabus. This will give you a great overview of what your professor expects of you throughout the course. Often times, the syllabus will provide an assignment schedule. Match the assignment schedules from each of your courses so that you may appropriately distribute your time. This document also provides your professor’s contact information and will list their office hours. Keep your syllabus in a safe place and refer to it often! Sophomore Tip: Don’t be afraid to drop a class. It is important to be able to know your limits. If a class seems like it will be too overwhelming for you—drop it! If the course is required, consider taking it with a different instructor. Try to use the drop/add option sparingly and only after consulting with your academic advisor. Junior Tip: Take an online course to get ahead. Need a few extra credits? Taking online courses is a great way to earn those extra course credits. The flexibility allows students to take a course while working full time or in the summer months. Though this is a great tool for the busy student, online courses may not be the best fit for everyone. Discuss this in detail with your advisor. Senior Tip: Project your cost of living. Start researching jobs and possible places you would like to plant your roots. Try to figure out your estimated salary and subtract your cost of rent, utilities, car expenses, etc. It is important to set the bar high, but make sure your salary can cover your standard of living! Check out the cost of living calculator at www.monster.com. Let's Hear What Your Colleagues Are Doing!
Undergraduate Student:
Josh Battin How would you describe yourself? Currently, I would describe myself as very busy. With school, two jobs, and extracurricular activities, I find myself having very little free time. Other than that, I work hard and like to have a good time. At what point did you choose your career and why did you choose this career? Criminology is quite a diverse field, in that one could focus on social sciences, policy, the criminal justice side, etc. I, personally, chose criminology to focus on the policy because that is where my interests lie. What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort? I am quite competitive, so I view my grades as such. I believe an A grade is a win and I don’t like to lose. So I try hard to do my very best. Who is your favorite professor and why? Dr. Gilliam was my favorite professor because he made the class feel like a graduate class. I believe that grad classes are suppose to be more interactive with the class speaking as much, if not more, than the professor. Dr. Gilliam programmed his class to be that way, and I enjoyed it very much. What are your standards of success in school? My standards in school are to maintain a 4.0 GPA. If I honestly tried as hard as I possibly could and only received a B grade, I wouldn’t be heartbroken, but still probably upset. My grades are very important to me. What have you done to meet these standards? To meet these standards, I have simply adapted to the graduate lifestyle. There is much more work and reading required in these 600 and 700 classes so you adjust and put in more time. If I didn’t understand something, I would find the help that I needed. In addition to your academic course load, what activities, memberships, jobs, etc. do you maintain? My extracurricular activities involve being a member of the Graduate Student Assembly executive board and serving as the director of Public Relations. I am also a student senator on the University Senate, serving on the Graduate Wide Curriculum Committee. I have two jobs that include working for State Senator Don White at the Indiana district office and I have an assistantship, with Dr. John Lewis as my boss. All of these activities and jobs help me towards my ultimate goal. The University Senate, as well as the GSA has helped me understand the way a university conducts business. The GWCC has taught me a great deal about what exactly goes into curriculum at the graduate level. My assistantship will give me valuable research experience. Working at Senator Don White’s office has made me interested in another career path, outside of academia. What are your plans after graduation? I plan on starting my Ph.D. in Criminology in the Spring of 2008, while still maintain my employment with the PA Senate. After my Ph.D., I plan on either teaching at the college level or running for a state representative position here in Pennsylvania. What advice would you give to an IUP student in order to have a successful experience at IUP? Some advice for new IUP students is to ignore the people that are trying to bring you down in life, and embrace those that want to help you. Work hard at your classes, keeping them as your number one priority, but still allow yourself to let off a little steam once in a while. After all, you work hard putting in all those long hours, you deserve it! P.S. Get involved. College
is what you make of it. Did You Ever Consider a Career In... . . .Criminology? For over four decades, the Criminology department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has focused on the integration of criminal justice administration and policy, criminological theory, and research to prepare graduates for careers in administrative positions within the criminal justice system. Since the mid-1970s, the Master of Arts program has allowed graduates to advance their administrative careers or to continue their education through doctoral or law school studies. The Master of Arts program is offered at the Indiana and Monroeville campus locations. While the Monroeville campus is exclusive to part-time students, students in Indiana are free to choose full or part-time study. The curriculum for the MA program was recently revised and requires students to successfully complete 30 credits. Full-time students typically complete the program requirements in three semesters. At either location, students will find small classes, active classes, and faculty who are truly dedicated to their learning. The Master of Arts program is designed for students who have completed a bachelor’s degree in criminology or a related discipline. For students with backgrounds outside of criminology, a semester of undergraduate coursework might be required to adequately prepare them for graduate studies. In the recent past, students without criminology or related degrees have come from biology, economics, psychology, counseling, business, computer science, and other academic backgrounds. Although much of criminology is a social science, there are no limits to what is applicable to modern criminological studies. After being admitted to the Master of Arts program, students will have the opportunity to select a thesis or non-thesis track. Although each track is very similar, the tracks were created with different student career objectives in mind. The thesis track allows students to conduct their own research project and is designed for those who will pursue doctoral studies or have specific interests in being research professionals. The non-thesis track is designed for students who want to advance their education but are more interested in administrative careers within the criminal justice system. Each curricular track includes the same core course requirements, and a variety of elective courses are offered to the graduate students to enhance their learning. Graduate students in the department of criminology will see a different face to the faculty at IUP. Although the faculty’s commitment to education is evident in the undergraduate and graduate programs, at the graduate level, the students interact with the faculty in different ways. Criminology faculty members expose graduate students to contemporary policy development more directly and frequently have engaged the students in research and evaluation projects. These activities provide learning experiences that help to set apart Criminology Master of Arts graduates in an increasingly competitive field. For further information on the Criminology department and the graduate programs that are offered, please contact the department directly with the information provided below: Department of Criminology
Getting it Write for
the Workforce! In a continuation of my last article where I interviewed Alexis Dobbins entitled What Employers Seek In Today's Employees, I’d like to focus on one of the points that she addressed concerning the key components that students need to be successful in today’s workforce. If you didn’t read the last article, here is a response from Alexis when asked what corporate America was looking for in college graduates: One should know that there are standards that Corporate America requires regardless of the degree or expected field of concentration. Students need to be able to write logically and concisely, communicate effectively and in a constructive manner, and understand the formal meeting process…. Writing is a very important skill
needed in today’s job force. As the baby boom generation slowly exits
the U.S. workplace, a new survey of leaders from a consortium of
business research organizations finds the incoming generation sorely
lacking in much needed workplace skills — both basic academic and more
advanced “applied” skills, according to a report released today. The
findings show an especially big gap in writing skills. Nearly
three-quarters (72 percent) of incoming high school graduates are viewed
as deficient in basic English writing skills, including grammar and
spelling. And, when asked about readiness with regard to applied skills
related to the workplace, the greatest deficiency was reported in
written communications (memos, letters, complex technical reports), and
in professionalism and work ethic. Eighty-one percent of survey
participants say their high school graduate hires were deficient in
written communications. So what are some ways that a student can improve upon their writing skills and be better prepared for the workplace. Here are seven ways that will be a big help to someone interested in perfecting the skill of writing: 1. Read often. Frequently
reading a variety of sources will improve your 2. Practice writing. The more
you write, the more your writing will improve. 3. Write rough drafts. Try to
get all your ideas and thoughts onto paper or 4. Proofread. Always, always,
always proofread. If your essay, news article, or 5. Check for style. Style is
very important when writing. Good style helps your
6. Check for style. Style is
very important when writing. Good style helps your 7. Create an interesting
ending. The ending paragraph should make the If you would like to view the Career Development Center's website for additional information on opportunities as a current student, or post-graduate, please click on the following link: www.iup.edu/career
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