Spring is here...yes?

Well, the last term certainly kicked off with...uh, no bangs, actually. How was the last break at WPI you ask? Unfortunately, rather uneventful. I stuck around Worcester to continue working on my MQP-big surprise, it's not over yet. However, it turned out to be quite a good thing because my job search process is now in full swing. Over break, since the CDC was open, I was able to set up a mock interview and other appointments with counsellors. I wrote a number of cover letters and sent them out to different companies using CareerSearch to look for those companies first. I also found out the CDC website has a multitude of links to different science careers, where they constantly update jobs and events-that was really helpful to look for positions too. If you're interested, follow http://cms-dev.wpi.edu/Admin/CDC/jobresources.html

A mock interview, by the way, is one of the most useful things you could do with your time. I definitely thought I was a confident interviewee and would ace the process. But the whole interview was taped, and when I saw myself, I noticed a large number of mistakes I was making constantly-I realised if I was an employer, I wouldv'e been very unimpressed. It is incredibly helpful to sit down and review what you did, make notes, and improve yourself next time. I would also highly recommend going through the "Interview" handout and Career Guide the CDC has- they have a lot of helpful tips, general questions you'll get asked at most interviews, recommendations and so on. DEFINITELY go through your own resume, and recite to yourself your job descriptions, your classes, your activities and make sure you are able to describe them in a concise manner.I found out that despite having given probably like 50 presentations over my college career, I was still unable to give solid answers that were well put together from the top of my head when asked specific questions- so it certainly helps a lot to rehearse.

Next week the fair is coming up and I am super excited! There's like 20 companies I want to meet, so this weekend is major prep time. Good luck to all of you who are going (you should go, by the way). And let's see how it goes... :)