ARE YOU DRESSED FOR SUCCESS?

It’s important to dress your best for an interview AND a career fair. But it’s hard to always know what is appropriate to wear and what is not. Here you’ll find some quick-tips to help you look your best and dress for success.

what TO wear

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  1. Women’s Business Attire
  • A dark or gray-colored pant or skirt suit
  • A solid-colored blouse
  • Flats or pumps with a mid or low heel
  • Natural makeup
  • Simple jewelry
  • Grooming: Hair combed and/or pulled back
  1. Women’s Business Casual
  • Dress pants or pencil skirt
  • A solid-colored blouse, top, button-down or cardigan
  • Flats or pumps with a mid or low heel
  • Natural makeup
  • Simple jewelry
  • Grooming: Hair combed and/or pulled back

 

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  1. Men’s Business Attire
  • A dark or gray-colored business suit
  • A solid-colored button-down shirt (light-colored or white), subtle pinstripes
  • A solid or subtle patterned tie
  • Belt and socks (black or brown)
  • Dress shoes (black or brown)
  • Grooming: hair combed, facial hair trimmed/shaved
  1. Men’s Business Casual
  • Dress slacks or khaki pants
  • A solid-colored button-down shirt (light-colored or
  • white), subtle pinstripes
  • A solid or subtle patterned tie
  • Belt and Socks (black or brown)
  • Dress shoes (black or brown)
  • Grooming: hair combed, facial hair trimmed/shaved

 

What NOT to wear

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Women

  • Sleeveless, thin-strapped or strapless dresses and tops
  • Low cut or revealing dresses or tops
  • Skirts or dresses that are too short. Hems that reach the knee or a little above the knee are the best options!
  • T-shirts, shorts, jeans or workout clothing
  • Open-toed shoes, sandals or tennis shoes
  • Heels that are too tall. 2 inches or lower is the ideal heal size.
  • More than 4 pieces of jewlery
  • Grooming: heavy perfume, unbrushed hair

 

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Men

  • Loud patterned shirts or ties
  • T-shirts, short sleeve shirts, shorts and jeans
  • Flip-flops, sandals and tennis shoes
  • Bare feet (always wear dress socks)
  • Rolled-up sleeves
  • Sunglasses
  • Hats or ball caps
  • Grooming: messy hair, untrimmed beard or stubble on your face

Things You Should Know

  • Keep it clean, first impressions are important. Consider taking out your piercings and covering up your tattoos.
  • You should cut the threads (usually is the shape of an “X”) that hold the vents (or flaps) together on new suits, blazers and skirts.
  • Avoid wearing strong perfumes or lotions. Remember some people can be overpowered by smells.
  • You should wear your name tag on your right side so the person shaking your hand will not only hear your name, but also see it.
  • Leave phones, sunglasses, lanyards, backpacks, or anything that could be distracting in your car or at a designated storage space.
  • Dressing for success doesn’t have to cost a fortune—think outside the box! Check out reasonably-priced stores such as Target and Walmart, or even local consignment shops like Goodwill and Salvation Army. And don’t hesitate to borrow from someone!

 

Brought to you by:  Ashley Alcala

Top 10 Skills Employers Want to See on Your Resume

It’s a given that a good grade point average (GPA) is very important to potential employers. According to the annual Job Outlook survey, many employers say they screen by GPA. But what else do they look for?

Employers considering new college graduates for job openings are looking for leaders who can work as part of team, communicate effectively, and solve problems.

Here are the top 10:

  1. Leadership
  2. Ability to work in a team
  3. Written communication skills
  4. Problem-solving skills
  5. Strong work ethic
  6. Analytical/quantitative skills
  7. Technical skills
  8. Verbal communication skills
  9. Initiative
  10. Computer skills

How much influence do these skills have on your chances of getting an interview and landing a job? Here’s how employers ranked those skills and abilities:

top 10 skills

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Personal Branding With Social Media

 

Build your brand online and network with professionals in your field using social media that reflects your career or professional goals. (You may want to create separate personal and professional social media pages.)

Facebook

  • Use a professional-looking picture—you can use the same picture on all of your social media pages.
  • Add the following to the “about” section: internship and other educational experience, a short bio, and links to other professional social media.
  • Follow organizations you’re interested in to discover intern and full-time job opportunities, announcements about the company, and potential contacts in the organization.

Linkedin

  • Drop in your professional photo.
  • Customize your headline with keywords and phrases that are related to your desired industry or profession.
  • Request a connection with professionals you’ve worked with at internships or met through networking channels. Be sure to “personalize” your request by offering some information on why you would like to connect.

Twitter

  • Use a professional profile photo. Your cover photo can indicate your interests.
  • Choose a Twitter handle that will be recognizable as you.
  • Tell your story in your bio: university, class year, major, and keywords describing your career interests.
  • Add a link to your LinkedIn profile, your personal website, blog, and/or online portfolio.

Pinterest

  • Drop your professional-looking picture on your main page.
  • Select a username that is consistent with your other social media platforms.
  • Create a bio that reflects your goals and brand. Who are you? Why are you using Pinterest? What are your professional aspirations?
  • Create boards using images and content to share your interests and experiences in your field.
  • Mark boards “secret,” if they are going to contain content you would prefer to keep private.

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Top 10 Career Strategies for Freshmen and Sophomores

You control your career destiny! Just going to class and picking up your diploma after four years doesn’t cut it. You need to become active on and off campus.

Becoming marketable to employers or graduate schools is a four-year job. Here are the top 10 things you can do during college to make yourself marketable at job-search time. In fact, if you do all 10 of these, you’ll be unstoppable:

  1. Keep your grades up—Employers and graduate schools want candidates with good grades. That will probably never change. Doing well academically not only proves that you have a good knowledge base, but indicates a strong work ethic—a trait that employers value.
  2. Identify your interests, skills, values, and personal characteristics—The first step to clarifying your career goals is to go through a process of self-assessment. Visit your career center and take advantage of the self-assessment instruments it has to offer.
  3. Actively explore career options—You owe it to yourself to find a career that enriches your life, not one that brings you down. Actively exploring careers means talking with professionals in occupations of interest and observing professionals on the job. Your career center probably has alumni and other volunteers who are willing to talk to you about their careers. Also, attend any career expos, career fairs, and career speaker panels that are offered.
  4. Become active in extracurricular activities and clubs—Active involvement in activities and clubs on campus is highly valued by employers and graduate schools. Joining a club is fine, but becoming active within that club is what matters most. Become a leader, hold an office, or coordinate an event. You will develop your skills in leadership and teamwork—skills that recruiters covet!
  5. Get involved in community service—It’s important that you begin to understand and appreciate the importance of giving back to your community, and that you live in a larger community than your college or hometown. Typically, students look at community service as a chore. After they’ve served, however, it’s usually one of the most rewarding experiences they’ve had! Recruiters love to see that you’ve volunteered to help in your community.
  6. Develop your computer skills—Take advantage of the computer courses and workshops your college offers. You can also learn a lot by just experimenting with different software packages on your own. Finally, you should learn how to develop your own web page or web-based portfolio. There are many web-design software tools that make it real easy to develop your own web page! Contact your college’s information technology office to see how to get started.
  7. Develop your writing skills—Over and over, company and graduate school recruiters complain about the lack of writing skills among college graduates. Don’t avoid classes that are writing intensive. Work at developing your writing skills. If there is a writing center on campus, have them take a look at your papers from time to time. Remember, the first impression you give to recruiters is typically your cover letter or personal statement.
  8. Complete at least one internship in your chosen career field—More and more, internships are the springboards to employment and getting into graduate programs. Many recruiters say that when they need to fill entry-level jobs, they will only hire previous interns. In addition to making yourself more marketable, internships also are a great way to explore careers and determine whether or not certain careers are for you. When you work for a company as an intern for three to four months, you get a really good feel for whether the field (and company) is one in which you want to work day in and day out!
  9. Gain an appreciation of diversity through study abroad, foreign languages, and courses—We are now, more than ever, working within a global work force. For you to be successful at work and in your life, you must stretch yourself, and learn about people and cultures different than yours. Take advantage of the wonderful study-abroad opportunities and the courses relating to diversity. This is your time to travel! Most people find it harder to take time to travel as they begin their careers and start families.
  10. Use your career center all four years—Your college career center can help you throughout your entire college career. Here is just a sampling of what your career center can help you do:
  1. Choose your major and career direction,
  2. Explore career options,
  3. Obtain an internship,
  4. Write a resume and cover letter,
  5. Develop your interviewing skills,
  6. Identify your interests and values,
  7. Develop a job-search or graduate school plan,
  8. Connect you with prospective employers (career fairs, on-campus recruiting, and more), and
  9. Connect you with alumni mentors.

 

Remember, you control your career destiny. Don’t wait until your senior year to start realizing your goals. Your career train is on the move. Jump on board now so you can reach your destination!

By Bob Orndorff. Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Are you a Fixer Upper Fanatic?

fixer upper

If you’re like me, you can’t wait until the new season of Fixer Upper begins so you can immerse yourself in shiplap, reclaimed wood, and metal letters.  If this sounds familiar, you might have considered a career in interior design.

Before you start knocking down walls, there are some things you need to know. Interior design is a little different than interior decorating and there is a lot more involved than picking out color samples and wall art. But guess what…Baylor has an amazing interior design program that is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) and will prepare you to take on this journey.

If designing sounds like a good career choice for you, visit the Baylor Interior Design website for more information on degree plans and how to connect with faculty. Here are some other resources that you may find helpful:

Interior Designers

Careers in Interior Design:  What you need to know

FUN FACT:  The famous living room above belongs to someone in our CPD office…do you know who it is?

University-Wide MAJORS Fair – OCTOBER 28th

MajorsFair_blog

We will be hosting the University-Wide Majors Fair on Wednesday, October 28th from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center (SUB). Faculty representatives from each academic department at Baylor will be at the fair to discuss what their programs have to offer.  Are you undecided on a major? Maybe you are just considering changing your major or exploring minors and secondary majors. This event is for YOU!  Free t-shirts will be given to the first 50 student attendees!

Words from our Summer On-Campus Interns – Dominique

 

OCIP selfie - houstonDominique Houston interned with the Provost Office – Commencement and Facilities Planning as a senior, marketing and management major from Southern California. She assisted with the move of Hankamer School of Business to the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.  She enjoys watching basketball and participating in social eating events. Here is a summary of her experience:

“My intern experience was phenomenal! I went into this looking for an opportunity to grow and gain experience into project management and came out with valuable life lessons, friends and business savvy. I enjoyed every part of it, except the days when I found out what professionals do on a daily basis…wake up early. It was tough some days with the early mornings to move, class and then back to move. But it was worth it! Anyone you ask in that building would probably tell you that I had a great time and I truly did.

 I was able to meet a lot of new people and understand the value of networking. Most days, it didn’t feel like networking but rather talking to faculty and helping them in their needs. I realized that is a huge part of it. People like to see what you can do for them and how interested you are. That showed me that gaining someone’s respect with your work will open up more doors for you. Working on this project was also a great lead-in because I am a student in the business school. This fact also made it easier to relate and explain my goals and interests. Finally, my supervisor was great. She knew just about everyone which also exposed me to many different people. It was also a great advantage to pick her brain and see how she handles everything on her plate. There were many teaching lessons about her ability to multitask and keep everything straight. I learned a lot of valuable things from her this summer.”

GoinGlobal: A Premium Job Search Resource for Students

photo-1429966163023-c132bc887fddEver thought about working overseas after college? Are you planning to study abroad during your time at Baylor? Are you at Baylor on a student visa, and interested in working in the United States after graduation? If you answered “yes!” to any of these questions, then GoinGlobal is a great resource for you to learn about career opportunities and apply for jobs.

You can use the Country Career Guides in GoinGlobal to research career related information tailored for your country of interest. Each Country Guide covers the following topics:

  • Job Search Resources
  • Non-Profits and Volunteer Organizations
  • Industry and Employment Trends
  • Top Companies
  • Professional and Social Networking
  • Embassy Listings
  • Financial Considerations
  • Work Permits and Visas
  • Résumé/CV Guidelines
  • Interviewing Advice
  • Cultural Advice

Each Country Guide also has links to job sites where you can search for current job postings available in that country in English or in the native language. There are over 16 million jobs posted on GoinGlobal, which are updated daily.

By: Nick Haynes

FOCUS on a major

FOCUS

Need help focusing on a career path? Through our office, all Baylor students have free access to the FOCUS 2. This is an online assessment that is completely self-guided. You can access all of your results, research career options, and even see which Baylor majors will be a good fit. The FOCUS 2 assesses values, interests, personality and skills, and their relation to possible majors and careers. Feel free to take advantage of this wonderful tool. If you have questions afterwards, you can always schedule an appointment with a career advisor to discuss your results further.

1…2…3…Elevator Pitch

So, what is an elevator pitch? Tossing a baseball in an elevator isn’t exactly the idea, though that could be interesting! An elevator pitch refers to the basic introduction of who you are and your intended purpose. Career fairs, networking events, cover letters, and formal interviews are great places to integrate this exercise. The reason is due to the fact that time is a limiting factor. Recruiters or employers only have so much of their attention to dedicate to you during these hectic events, so condensing information in an effective way helps immensely! Elevator pitches provide background information and shows your enthusiasm in a way that allows the other person to want to continue the professional conversation. It is important to practice your elevator pitch as well. Being confident and showing you’ve done some research on the company will truly make you a competitive applicant. These personal summaries should be about 30 seconds! Let’s break it down:

elevatorWritten by:  Megan Nguyen