Fall Break, Career Services Update, and Wordle Crazy
Can you believe that it is almost the middle of October? It is crazy! Last week the Nicholas School enjoyed Fall Break on Monday and Tuesday (Duke Law School is on a different schedule, so I attended my 8:25 am class on Tuesday instead of sleeping in). In addition to massive amounts of homework and note typing (I will never attempt to type more than 60 pages of notes in one day again...), I went over to the Duke Gardens in search of fresh air and a bit of respite.
Armed with Markets and the Environment (that textbook = relaxation for me), sunglasses, and my camera, I discovered that a very popular football match was also underway: Duke v. Virgina Tech. Obviously I am very out of touch with professional sports because it took me several minutes to figure out that the flags on parked vehicles represented a sports affiliation, not a foreign dignitary's visit. Once in the gardens, I observed five bridal photo shoots, several ducks, and the most gorgeous pond of water lilies. The rest of my break was less than interesting, so let's skip ahead to the subject at hand: career counseling
When I accepted my spot at the Nicholas School, I was really excited about two things: the classes and obtaining my masters degree at the tender age of twenty-three. I really had no idea of the other benefits in store. When I graduated last May, I had no idea how to approach a job search or self-marketing. I am sure that I could have found a full-time job (in fact, I had one plus three part-time jobs this past summer), but the chances of it being my dream job or even a step in that direction were relatively slim. I knew what I wanted to do but I had no idea how to get there.
These skills have been a focus since day one at the Nicholas School thanks to the fantastic team at Career Services. In the past two months, I have written four drafts of my resume and attended several career-oriented workshops. Last Friday, I spent my lunch hour learning how to write a resume targeted for a federal government position. Let's just say that the fifteen-page example was slightly daunting! However, it was pointed out that this document is totally worth it. To have such a detailed account of past positions, experiences, and responsibilities is invaluable! The federal resume can be used not only to apply for jobs, but also to prepare for interviews, write personal statements, and as a log of previous work. It looks like my plans for Thanksgiving Break are set!
The information taught at the workshop was stellar. Even better though was the recommendation to check out Wordle, aka my newest obsession. Basically, Wordle creates a word cloud from uploaded text that shows you specific word frequency, i.e. the more times a word appears in your document, the larger it will be displayed in your Wordle Cloud. Wordle is a great program to upload your resume to in order to see if it meets your goals, e.g. if I want a job in the environmental field, is my resume primarily geared towards that area/filled with environmental experiences? I had to check:
I wanted to really see what Wordle could do, so I uploaded my senior thesis. I could not believe that Wordle accepted all 106 pages! Can you guess the topic?
Basically, I am totally in love with this website, but I also like Career Services! I am so excited that they are totally focused on giving us the skills that we need outside of the classroom to succeed. Speaking of classwork, I should probably get back to writing my Statistics Midterm - later!
