Tag Archives: NACE

Teen job tips: Search starts here and on Facebook

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Ah – summer and the summer job. The first ones stay with us forever, whether we work as an admin in Mom’s business, a caddy on the links or at the Farmers Market. Some find first jobs in factories, others in candy shops.

This year, though, summer jobs look scarce for youth. Teen unemployment nationally tops 25 percent in April, and is higher than that in some hard-hit areas of California or Michigan.  So teens need help, lots of it.

That’s why Mity Nice and I are launching an ambitious series of teen job search tips. They’re culled from many sources and experts and from my life experience and expertise. After all, I’m a mom of three as well as a careers and workplace writer, and co-owner of Mity Nice, which hires teens to sell Italian ice and support charities in and around Ann Arbor. We know we can’t hire all the teens that need jobs this summer, or even a small percent of them. So we hope to help them with some advice and encouragement.

The tips will be offered on Mity Nice’s Facebook page, and also collected here. We’ll give one a day, or five each week for at least six weeks.

Here’s a sneak peak at the first three, a long-form version of what’s on Facebook:

1. Know what employers look for.

Some traits are universal:  NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, lists five top qualities: communication skills, analytical skills, teamwork, technical skills and a strong work ethic.   The American Management Association’s four Cs add to that list creativity and innovation.

Many of these are the very skills that make you a good student or the go-to co-captain of your sports team – the “soft skills” that you learn from teachers, parents, teammate. And a few requirements are specific to a job, such as lifeguard’s need for certification or sous chef must know how to chop and saute vegetables.

Either way, build these skills – and these words – into your resume and into your introduction to a future boss.

2. Develop a positive and confident attitude.

“Confidence is about trusting oneself,”" said the Buddhist monk Gayuna Cealo. You may feel very nervous about finding a job – that’s natural. When you go into a business to apply, push all that away. Take a deep breath. And fake it until you make it.

Another way to build confidence: Ask your best friend or a teacher  to list five great attributes you have. Write them down, put the list in your iPhone — and look at them often.

A third confidence booster: Practice. Recruit a friend to rehearse for job interviews. Or practice the introduction you’ll give walking into the store to  land a summer job. Or practice your affirmation – repeat it every time you wash your hands. (Yes, you can say it silently when you’re in the ladies’ room after gym.)

3. Create a resume.

Even if you’ve never held a paying job before, you really really need one. A resume is an important marketing tool – and a valuable way to gather up all the great things you’ve ever done or achieved, at least since you’ graduated from tricycle to two-wheeler. Your resume is an opportunity to tell your future boss that you’re a standout and you put extra effort in – whether it’s for a sport, a hobby, your classes, your volunteer activities or your friends.

If you can’t imagine what you’ll say, pull out your awards and recognitions. Then pull up your computer and send three adults who know you well these two questions: What have I accomplished or done that you think belongs on my resume? What three traits or qualities do I have that an employer will want?  (Yes, you may ask your BFF and your current beau those questions too, though they may not give you the best, resume-ready answers.)

Resumes are so important, Vickie wrote a longer blog post on creating a first resume. Read it soon – and then use it to create yours, or your kids.

I’ll post bonus material on this blog too, such as some advice sent to me from employment and recruitment companies, and anything that needs a little extra space beyond the short tips.

Please share these tips with teens who are searching, and with their parents, who are important career advisors and cheerleaders. And sign onto our MityNice page to see more later this week.

Teen tips are copyright Vickie Elmer, 2010. For permission to republish or use them, please contact the author.

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Get going now to get an internship

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Note: This post appeared originally on WorkingKind on April 1, 2009. The advice is still worthwhile so here it is for this year’s internship seekers:

If you – or your roommate, your daughter or son or nephew – are dragging their feet on going after a summer internship, here’s three good reasons to jump into one:

1. Interns often end up as the first people hired after the cutbacks stop.

2. Students who have had internships before are likely to earn more this summer, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

3. Interns this summer will earn more than last year – a 5 percent increase, according to NACE’s new research.  That means average pay of $15.93 to $18.26 an hour – much better than they’ll get at the  ice cream stand or amusement park.

The NACE research comes from surveys of 318 employers that are its members – they indicate that one-third of their college graduate hires last year were former interns. NACE contacts employers every year to ask about hiring prospects and pay – and its research gives a good benchmark for college hiring.

Yes, there are far fewer internship openings this year than in previous summers - NACE estimates a 21 percent reduction from the 2008 levelels. This reflects the lower workloads and layoffs that have claimed millions of full time jobs.

And yes, it’s late to get started on an internship search. But it’s not impossible. And many of those workplaces that laid people off in January may find by May or June that they’re short handed and need some extra help.

Here’s a Working item I wrote for the Washington Post in May 2007 that gives some smart advice on the last-minute internship:

College classes are winding down and summer internships heating up. Yet for some last minute lookers, it’s not too late to land an internship. Many organizations in and around Washington – - from the Consumer Electronics Association to Marvelous Market to some marketing firms- were advertising for for youthful talent and energy within the last week. And at some large corporations, which typically choose their interns in March or April, some inters will drop out at the last minute, leaving room for latecomers to slide in, said Mark Oldman, Vault.com’s co-founder. Vault publishes information on careers. That’s how Oldman ended up interning at MTV more than a decade ago while studying at Stanford University. “I was burning to work at MTV” with Downtown Julie Brown. Yet the music network didn’t choose him. Still, after classes ended, he called to see if there was any other work possibility, and the hiring manager told him that one intern hadn’t worked out and they wanted him to step in. “I was an internship junkie,” he said, completing six in college. Oldman, who is author of ” Vault’s Guide to Top Internships,” says finding a department head who hires her own interns – instead of relying on human resources managers – may be another door in if you’re running late. And he suggests the “create your own internship” plan. Identify nine or 10 intriguing people who are doing worthwhile or intruing work and write each one a personal letter offering to be their research assistant or intern. The letter must be customized to that person’s specific work and explain “why you’re excited to work with them.” “It shows initiative,” said Oldman, who notes that Vault still has internships to fill in New York.

-Vickie Elmer

So what are you waiting for? There’s still plenty of  time  and more than a few opportunities to find your summer internship.

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Here’s five new resources on landing a great internship this summer:

Note: I hold the copyright to my Washington Post articles and much of my other writing. If you’d like to republish a piece on your website, please contact me for details and rates.

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Engineering a starting salary of $61K – yeah!

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If you think all the salaries being offered to fresh young grads are rice-and-beans low, you haven’t talked to any chemical engineering majors.

Their starting pay for this year is $65,142, second highest in the National Association of Colleges and Employers just released list of majors with the best salaries. The top spot went to petroleum engineers, a scarce lot of barely 500 graduates in recent years. In a year when salary freezes and reductions were common, they will earn $3,000 more on average than last year.

In fact, engineers claim eight of the 10 highest salaries in NACE’s annual survey, and they’ve been near the top for a few years.

The top five this year are:

1.  Petroleum engineering  - $86,220

2. Chemical engineering  - $65,142

3. Mining / mineral engineering – $64,552

4.  Computer science  - $61,205

5. Computer engineering – $60,879

Others in the top 10 include electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering and information sciences; each will start at salaries above $53,000 on average.

“Many of the engineering disciplines benefit from an imbalance in the supply/demand ratio,” NACE executive director Marilyn Mackes said in a report on salaries last summer. That scarcity of candidates leads to higher pay.

B-school graduates salaries start around $45,000 to $49,000 this year, a small drop from last year.

NACE will give more entry level college grad salary details in April. The 2009 grads experienced a 1.2 percent drop in average salary, to $49,353.

This year’s average declined to  $48,351 based on NACE’s preliminary estimate. Many newcomers start their first job out of college at $30,000.  The average figure covers liberal arts majors, b-school and the techies too.

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