#1Day4DU: Support DU Career Services

Career development is of growing importance to DU students and university students nationwide. We know that DU grads who participate in at least one internship earn $10,000 more in their first jobs, but some students can’t afford to take an unpaid internship. Every year Career Services and DU award $20,000 to students to participate in valuable, unpaid internships. As part of DU’s One Day For DU, donate to the Internship, Career & Professional Success fund to support more students, launching them into successful careers.

One Day For DU is Wednesday, May 18, all day long. Make a donation and plan a pin wheel on Carnegie Green.

Graduate Research: Committing to a Thesis or Dissertation

There are a lot of reasons to do a thesis or dissertation, and probably just as many not to. In my graduate program, International and Intercultural Communication, students have the option to complete a thesis or an internship. Here are a few reasons you might consider writing a thesis.

You plan to do a doctorate or another master’s degree and original research will improve your application.
You’d like to work as a researcher or writer in public policy, grants administration, tech or many other industries.
You already work part- to full-time and squeezing in an internship just isn’t feasible.
You are passionate or at least very, very interested in some question, problem or issue and you can see yourself committing a lot of time to studying it.
You are organized, self-motivated and can create structure for yourself.

When I selected to do a thesis, numbers one and three were the driving factors. Over time I realized that I could also work as an editor, writer or researcher in other industries. It’s good to be realistic about how you can use graduate research, particularly a Ph.D. since traditional tenure-track jobs are very competitive. Versatile Ph.D. is a great resource to use if you are exploring careers outside of academia. Through the thesis process, I also developed the ability to structure my time toward a single goal which, at the outset, may seem gargantuan. As for passion and interest, these are essential to both getting started and finishing the thesis.

Once you’re committed, you will be looking at this material from hundreds of angles for at least one to two years – even longer if you continue onto a Ph.D. So, make sure you really care about this topic, that you get excited discussing it and it gives you that “spark”. If you ever find yourself rambling a bit and noticing that others aren’t’ nearly as excited or interested in the topic as you are then 1) you are pretty into it – that’s a good sign and 2) work on your research elevator pitch and be able to explain your project in 30 seconds or less (don’t want to hog that elevator conversation time).

Graduate Research: Thinking

Never-Afraid-Sit-Awhile-Think-Lorraine-Hansberry

Make time to think.

No seriously, make time to think. Schedule this, too. (can you tell I like schedules)?

At the very least, accept that this is part of the writing, or pre-writing process. Great writing doesn’t just happen. Spontaneous brilliant thoughts don’t just happen either. We’ve got to make time to think. Yes, we’re constantly thinking about concerts, meet ups, a great date, vacation or our next Snap. If you have time to think about these things, you have time to think about your research. You may need to find a place that is good, grab a fidget or a comfy chair, go for a walk in the mountains or around Wash Park – but make time to mull over what you’ve been reading and analyzing. We’ve got to give our brains time to make new connections and see relationships between ideas and concepts that are new or at least new to us. This may sound a bit silly – it did to me at first – but it really is helpful. So, give it a try.

Graduate Research: Tools

On Tools
There are lots of tools that can make writing your thesis or other large research project more doable. I’m telling you about these up front so that you can start using them now, because—trust me—they make a huge difference!

Endnote or another citation software
I’m no expert on the differences between citation softwares, but they are worth the investment. I used Endnote because it was what a friend recommended to me (thank you Adrienne G.). Endnote allowed me to connect PDFs of articles to the bibliographic information and to import the citations in a variety of writing styles (e.g. APA) as you write. A bonus, the software will build your bibliography as you go. You’ll need to do some editing, but the software does the heavy lifting. You can even export the citations from academic databases and import directly to Endnote so that you capture the data in a matter of seconds.
Drive, Dropbox, or another cloud based storage solution
This may or may not be a no-brainer, but it needs to be said. Save your data, your drafts and all of your files in one manageable place (stay organized) that is backed up to the cloud or an external drive, or both. I used Dropbox which was convenient for switching between computers, accessing files if I was on someone else’s machine and ensuring that my data was backed up in real-time. I have no scary, I lost my files story, but I do have about 35 saved iterations of my thesis, each one a few pages longer than the last.
Note Taking System (for random notes)
Have you ever had thoughts pop into your head in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning or while just hanging out? You were unconsciously thinking about research! Make sure to have a notepad near your bed, in your purse or backpack or use your phone’s note app to jot down ideas. I regularly scanned through my phone’s note pad to find research notes that popped up out of the ether. Writing doesn’t just appear, but ideas do.
Support Network
We all need support, but the most meaningful support comes from those who know what we are experiencing. Connect with other graduate students, professional colleagues, and friends from outside of the University who’ve completed similar research projects. These people will provide perspective when you’re stuck, laughs when you are grumpy and encouragement to see you through the end. Plus, you’ll have a team of fans waiting to celebrate with you when you are done. Let them know how you’re progressing, share your successes – the right people will want to know.
Formatting Rules
Regardless of your discipline’s formatting standards, the University has additional standards for completing your final thesis. Do yourself a favor, find them before your defense and see if you can’t just incorporate the ProQuest requirements before you send it off to your advisor and committee. This is sure to save you some headache later as you won’t be trying to reformat page margins and tables during finals week.
Awareness
Many graduate students will at some point encounter or experience a bout of what has been termed imposter syndrome. Do yourself a favor now, look it up, read a few articles and know that you are not an imposter. If you’ve come this far, you’re right where you are supposed to be and you are smart enough to complete and take full credit for your awesome research.

Graduate Research: Organizing and Planning

Getting organized is key to your success. The thesis will not magically happen. It will not write itself and you cannot absorb theory through pillow osmosis—though that would be nice. A former boss told me that theses and dissertations require only a modicum of intelligence and a lot of sweat (she had a Ph.D.) I’d say most of us have more than a modicum of intelligence, but without organization and structure you’ll never gain traction and momentum. In my six years working in higher education, I’ve heard, anecdotally, that there are a lot more ABD’s in the world than Ph.D.’s. If you want to earn the second set of letters – keep reading.

Know Yourself
Know your work style, your strengths and weaknesses and accept them. You need to know these to work into your planning. If you’re not sure, contact University Career Services, the Korbel Office of Career and Professional Development, Daniels Career Services or Sturm College of Law’s Office of Career Development & Opportunities to see what assessments you can complete.
Have a SystemI’m naturally deadline driven and work well when I know what my next milestone is. With my advisor I always set up a timeline for the next few weeks or months depending on what phase of the thesis I was in. While I was analyzing data my dates were more spread out so that I had time to read and take notes. When I was writing, we met more frequently to review my progress and get feedback. Your discipline might require a different system or structure, but try to make a plan and stick to it as best as you can. In my experience, having the structure and deadlines also freed me up to say yes to fun activities without feeling guilty about the looming amount of work.How you schedule and work with your advisor will depend on your work style as well as the advisor’s, but know what you need to stay on track and commit to that for your own sake. Advisor doesn’t care if you have a timeline, but you know you’d be better off having one – then create it. Put it on paper or a calendar and set electronic reminders if needed – whatever you need to get it done.
Create a SpaceDo you remember Arianna Huffington’s Sleep Revolution tour? She and other advocates of sleep (that could be another post about research and sleep) talk about the importance of creating a space that is dedicated to sleep and rest—a space that is free of distractions, noises, lights and electronics that disturb deep sleep. Apply this notion to your work space.Create a space that is free of distractions and dedicated to your research. Make sure that you have what you need to accomplish your work so that you never have to go hunting for tools or comfort items that improve your work. My “home office” included 24″ monitor so that I could work off of two screens (my laptop, too) and save time flipping between tabs. I installed a keyboard tray and bought an exercise ball to round out my ergonomic needs, ensuring that I could occasionally sit and work for extended hours. Even if you work 1-3 hours per day like I did, after a week of writing and a full-time job I was at a computer 30-50 hours per week.
Office in a BagSometimes I couldn’t bear to sit at my “home office” any more. I needed to get out, get some fresh air, see some other faces or hear some ambient coffee-house noise or music, depending on your favorite local hangout. Figure out what you need, bare minimum, to accomplish solid work, and put it all in one bag, purse or backpack. Save everything online so that you can access it from anywhere and still reference your articles and other research even if you are Steam Espresso Bar. Need other physical tools? Know what those are and if practicable, have a second set ready to go for those spontaneous research and writing dates you’re planning—you never know who you’ll bump into at a coffee house. But seriously, research doesn’t have to be a lonely endeavor! setting up times to write and work alongside other students can boost morale and encourage us to stay on track.
Other Ideas?I’m sure there are many other great ways to stay and be organized for research. If you’ve got great ideas, send them my way and I will update. There are many students whose work also includes being in a lab and working on teams, so I’d love to hear what other planning and organization issues, struggles or successes you’ve had.

Graduate Research: Writing and Editing

You’ll be writing until there’s no need to write anymore, until you’ve covered your topic sufficiently and the questions are answered. Will it be 60 pages, 90, 150? Just depends. When you get started and throughout, don’t worry about the page count, just write. If you stare at the numbers, they just stare back, so better to ignore if possible.

Inevitably, there are writing struggles. Some days are just easier than others and some days the words flow effortlessly. Here are some quotes that helped me maintain perspective and keep writing even if I had just put my head on my desk and cried from fatigue (yes this really happened).

The first draft of anything is shit. ~Ernest Hemingway
Well, he got that right. It does not have to be perfect and trust me it isn’t. So stop agonizing over the punctuation or the best synonym or the word that you’ve used three times in one paragraph, just keep the words flowing. There is always time for editing, but first you need to have something to edit.

It’s just words on paper. ~Adrienne Gonzales, Ph.D., Associate Director, DU Center for World Languages and Cultures
Sometimes you just need a little perspective. We’re probably not saving the world with our research, but hopefully we are adding something meaningful to society and knowledge. This friendly reminder was the mantra I recited every time I sat down to work. Don’t take yourself too seriously and just get some ideas on paper. Again, there’s always time to edit.
If I waited till I felt like writing, I’d never write at all. ~Ann Tyler
A few days after I defended my thesis, I met a gentleman at a conference who had completed a Ph.D. he told me that every day he scheduled to write from 9-11 p.m. (Same as me!) He said that no matter what, he sat down to write at 9 p.m. and did his best to try to write something, anything. If after 15 or 20 minutes he was coming up short, he stopped for the night and started again at 9 p.m. the next day. I swear this works. I watched my so doing spelling and writing homework and the first six-word sentence was arduous—but it gave way to sentence number two that was longer and eventually to sentence number four that 37 words long! It wasn’t the best sentence (he said recess four times), but he gained some momentum and once he got writing he was beaming from ear to ear.The colleague I met and I both have kiddos, so 9–11 p.m. worked for us, but really this refers back to organizing. Maybe you work best at 5 a.m. and you like four-hour blocs. That’s great, too. The point is schedule your writing time—it’s a date with yourself and your diploma.
The biggest part of it is editing. It takes longer to edit one episode than to shoot it and write it. ~Larry David
Larry David, the producer of and other brain behind Seinfeld, was talking about TV, but the same holds true for any writing. Great prose, narrative, poetry, and journal articles all have one thing in common – editing and lots of it. If your advisor or committee members keep suggesting edits, edits and more edits this is good news. They could be telling you to start over or that you are way off the mark. One day I told my editor, “there was just so much editing, I couldn’t have completed this without you.” Her reply: “You gave me something great to start with.” When she handed me pages covered in ink and handwritten notes, I never felt that my draft had been great – but it’s all perspective. You’ve got to start somewhere, so realize that editing may very well take more time than writing the initial draft.
The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer. ~Zadie Smith
I love this quote, except that you can’t really stop being the writer of your own work. The most valuable gift I received was an advisor who provided lots of edits. At first her notes seemed soul crushing, but eventually I came to value her perspective. The voice in my head—my writer’s voice—can justify a lot of what I’ve written, to my own detriment. If you have an outside editor that is best. If not, set your work aside for days or even a week before trying to edit it. The time provides distance and you’ll be more likely to critique and edit your own work effectively.
People think that writing is writing, but actually writing is editing. Otherwise, you’re just taking notes. ~Chris Abani
You’d never turn your notes in for your term paper. Well, maybe you have, but let’s pretend you didn’t admit that. You’d never turn in notes to your thesis or dissertation committee, right? So, one last perspective, that first draft you wrote—it is shit. Hemingway was right. But those are just your notes. The real writing starts with editing. So get out your red pen, track changes or a crayon if you prefer and have at it. Make those notes bleed and before you know it you’ll have become a writer.

In the end, your thesis or dissertation should be easy to follow, even for a novice in your field. It’s never going to be perfect—I’m not suggesting that anyone fall into the perfectionism trap, but do your best and know that writing that first draft is just the beginning. Embrace editing as a crucial part of the writing process, don’t take any comments personally and keep your eye on the prize—your diploma.

Central Intelligence Agency: Careers and Internship Information Session

Interested in career and internship opportunities with the CIA? All University if Denver students come join representatives from the organization on May 25th for an information session on what they’re looking for, available opportunities, programs, and more!

MAY 25, 2016 * 5:00 -6:30PM

SIE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMPLEX 1ST FLOOR FORUM

3 Low Stress Ways for Pios to Heat Up the Job Search this Summer

At the University of Denver about half of our new graduates have nailed down jobs or grad school admissions by the time they don the cap and gown and collect that diploma. If you’re just graduating, or if you’re an undergrad still seeking a job or internship, here are some suggestions that can help you get started.

Talk Careers

Summer is a great time to network because people are more open and relaxed. Perhaps you see yourself working as an entry-level marketing professional come the fall. If so, start talking to marketing pros now.

Try informational interviewing. It’s really nothing more than picking someone’s brain whether at a great summer event, via the Net, or even at Kaladi’s on Evans Avenue over a latte. DU’s Pioneer Connect has almost 2000 alumni in various fields who have volunteered to do this very thing. They WANT to talk to you! Check it out.

2. Be Active

Summer in the Rockies is not couch potato time. Check out the “Get Hired Now” job readiness boot camp coming in June. It’s free to DU grads! Three days of great workshops culminate in the All-Colorado Alumni Career Fair on June 16th at the Denver Tech Center. Learn more.

3. Leap in

“The idea that companies cut back on hiring in the summer is a myth,” says Patty Coffey, a partner at staffing firm Winter Wyman. “In fact, most employers fill job openings at the same pace, or even an increased pace, during the hottest months of the year.” The response times to applications may be slower due to vacations and time off, but give yourself an edge by jumping into the job-seeking pool while others are snoozing in their hammocks.

Why the Insurance Industry is Perfect for Millennials

College students and alumni are told to take their job hunt seriously. People giving them advice often warn of how the decisions they make at the beginning of their career can have a tremendous effect on where their career ends up years later. That can be both positive and negative. Millennials are a very different generation than those that came before them and the industries their parents look to for a career are frequently very different than the industries where millennials are look. One industry where millennials may be making a mistake by overlooking it is, Insurance.

Yes, insurance is a great industry for millennials to start their career. That is because the workforce in the insurance industry is aging. The average age of an insurance agent is now 59 years of old. In the next 10 years there are going to be thousands of professionals who need to be replaced in the industry. On top of this millennials are now coming to the age where they are buying their own personal insurance and are beginning to start their own businesses. Insurance companies need employees to help them communicate with these potential customers. If you can promote yourself as someone who can effectively market to these new demographics than you can set yourself up for long-term success in the insurance industry.

There are many industries that are here today and gone tomorrow. Insurance is the polar opposite of those industries. Insurance is kind of like death and taxes. People will always have to purchase insurance in some form or fashion. Regardless of whether that coverage is for their personal life (car, home and health insurance) or for their business, there will only be more people purchasing these coverages in the future. On the personal side of the industry, health, car and home insurance are required by law. On the commercial side of the industry, Workers’ Compensation and General Liability Coverage are required by law in nearly every state for nearly all businesses. For this reason, millennials can get into the insurance industry knowing comfortably the industry will still be strong in a decade or two.

Aside from the stability of the industry, the industry provides recent graduates with the ability to develop three important and easily transferable skills. Those three skills are communication, risk management and critical thinking skills. Through working in the insurance industry you will learn how to effectively communicate with people of diverse backgrounds. In a typical day you might have a phone conversation with a small business owner who owns a construction business and the next phone conversation might be with an account or a lawyer. Thinking quickly on your feet to adapt your message to all types of clients will go a long way towards your success or failure in this industry. The skills you learn in the insurance industry will set millennials up for success now and in the future.

Mitchell Sharp is a Marketing Associate for The Insurance Shop LLC. His passion is in using his knowledge of social media and content marketing to benefit the small business community.

Career Advice from DU Alumnus, Andy Taylor

University alumni revisit campus on a regular basis. They interact with current students, chat with old professors, and admire the progress and development of our school since their graduation. From time to time, DU welcomes alumni in a more formal setting. A notable alum and recipient of the University of Denver Evans Award is Andy Taylor. He and his wife Barbara, who is also an alum, have maintained an excellent relationship with the university since their graduation. In 2012, they donated a generous gift, matched by the university, which was used to establish the Taylor Family Undergraduate Career Center for business students, as well as to award two different need-based scholarships to dozens of Daniels students year after year.

When Andy visited campus in early March, Taylor Scholars, alongside Daniels faculty and staff, joined him and Chancellor Chopp for brunch. Even as the Executive Chairman of Enterprise Holdings, Andy was not too busy to share some words of wisdom with current students. He spent the session encouraging students to learn from his experiences in the business world. These were some of the key lessons from this event:

Love your job
Of course, we have heard this time and time again, but you have to take it to heart when someone who has been there says it. Andy talked about how every day he looks forward to going to work, which makes all the difference in the workplace. Having passion behind what you are doing can make all the difference and keep you motivated throughout your career.
Strive towards ethics
Daniels places huge emphasis on the importance of ethics, and Andy has found that pursuing ethical business practices has held great value throughout his career. He encourages students to maintain a strong sense of ethics on their professional and personal journey as well.
Always look forward
The business environment is ever-changing, so we must continue to adapt our businesses and strategies to remain relevant. Andy talked about how Enterprise is always looking forwards – analyzing trends and deciding how they will fit into the equation in the future. As a leader in a big company, he talked about the importance of pushing innovation and creativity in the workplace.
Keep a balance between work and personal life
Surprisingly, these two do not have to be separate in order to be well-balanced. When Andy’s children were still young, he would sometimes bring them into work. He described this sort of event as a “family thing,” where the kids might learn a thing or two on a Saturday morning for example.
Reinvest in your businessAndy attributed a good portion of the growth in his business to the consistent re-investments he made. He talked about how he chose not to take the money for himself and instead used it to push development in his business. While this may sound intuitive for many, the key lies in making sure not to take excess profits to keep for personal use, which may be challenging if your business is doing well.

A couple of good lessons later, brunch wrapped up. Students lined up to meet Andy Taylor and to thank him for his generous gift. For many students, the funds dedicated to the Taylor Scholarships have made all the difference today and his words of advice will shape their future.

Brian Spencer: Core Consultant with Hitachi Consulting

Congratulations to Brian Spencer for landing a job as a Core Consultant with Hitachi Consulting!

Tell us your story about how you landed your job or internship.

“Hitachi Consulting visited Daniels in the Fall Quarter to discuss positions they were hiring for at the time. I applied for the Core Consultant role and received a first-round interview. The first round of interviews took place on campus. Shortly after, I received notice that I was invited to the final round of interviews. The final round of interviews took place in Hitachi’s downtown Denver office. I had prepared myself for the 4-hour interview process with the help of Daniel’s Career Services. I was offered the job and accepted it shortly after receiving this news.”

What primary factor would you contribute your success in landing your job and why?

“Daniels Career Services office played a huge role in helping me land this job. Mock interviews put me in the “head space” of a consultant. My career coach assisted in taking my previous work experiences and framing them so that they were relevant to the job I was applying for. Another factor that contributed to getting the job offer was having an internship with a sister company of Hitachi Consulting called Hitachi Data Systems. My internship with Hitachi Data Systems ensured me and those I interviewed with that I understood the culture of the company and that it was a good fit.”

What advice would you give to other students about the job search process?

“Thoroughly prepare yourself for any interview. Understand what the company does, and what they are looking for in a candidate. Leverage the career center to help in this process. The coaches and counselors want you to succeed and will give constructive feedback on how you can effectively interview. Mock interviews will give you a chance to reflect on how your responses can improve.”

Getting Your Startup to the Starting Line

Getting Your Startup to the Starting Line

For many DU graduates, starting a new business is the preferred path for combining classroom learning with specific industry expertise to create a new product or service that fills a customer need with a better solution. The rewards of entrepreneurship are well-publicized and frequently glamorized – but the reality of transforming an idea into a company can be more challenging and time-consuming than originally envisioned.

Based on lessons from successful startups, steps that can help aspiring DU entrepreneurs include:

Make your idea specific – clearly define the product or service so that a potential customer or investor understands exactly what you’re proposing, (A “new app that will revolutionize retail” isn’t specific).
Define the market – who’s the most likely buyer? (It can’t be everyone).
What specific need are you filling or what problem are you solving? (Make sure you’re looking through the eyes of a customer rather than your own).
What competition exists? (Even if you think your idea is completely new, there’s probably a company already offering a product to your target market, even if it’s not exactly like yours).
What price do you expect a customer to pay – and based on what research? Can you define the value to the customer that supports your proposed price?
What percentage of the market or how many customers are needed to succeed? (If you need 50% of the market, it’s not likely)
What resources, team, technology and marketing will be needed to turn your idea into a company?

While the founders of Facebook and Apple arguably created demand for something that didn’t exist, most startups succeed by identifying a specific market need that isn’t being met, or being able to service an existing need at a lower price.

The building blocks of the DU curriculum prepare graduates for success in a number of fields, but putting all the ingredients together in a recipe that bakes a successful startup can require additional expertise – or access to people who have already been down the same road.

For some entrepreneurs, an “accelerator” provides the dynamic environment that lets them put the pieces together in an intensive short-term program that offers high levels of mentor support, a curriculum specifically tailored to the needs of a startup and access to industry experts who can validate a market need or suggest an effective pivot. Typically, the accelerator’s goal is to help the startup team develop a complete business plan for presentation to potential investors – and hopefully secure funding that will let them bring their product to market.

Traxion, a new business accelerator in Golden, is now soliciting applications from all types of non-manufacturing startups, with a preferred focus on Technology, Environment and Energy.

Participation will require 12 weeks of dedicated immersion in the program starting in late August. A funding stipend to cover short-term development expenses will be provided.

Entrepreneurs with a business idea, team and preliminary market analysis interested in working with Traxion, can learn more now.

About the Author: Bud Rockhill provides hands-on support to mid market companies as an advisor or Board member to improve sustainable profitability and scale through management processes, organizational design or infrastructure. He has been the CEO, President or owner of four companies in three industries over the last 25 years, and three of the companies he has led have been sold to outside investors.

13 Ways Your Life Will Change After College (Huff Post)

Huffington Post*)

For many soon-to-be DU graduates, this is the first time in your life where there is not a structure or schedule for your life. In high school, you worked toward going to college. In college you days and weeks were counted by quarters, winter breaks, spring breaks and summers. As June quickly approaches, it is common to experience excitement, anxiety, fear and an urgent need to get on with your life whether or not you know what you are doing come June 5th. Here are 13 great things you will likely see changing as you charge ahead into Life After DU.

Don’t Forget– If you need assistance with those post-DU plans, you have life-long career services at DU!

Co-authored by Jody Porowski, CEO at Avelist

It’s a good thing, I promise.

1. Life changes after college. And at first it will be hard. You and all of your best friends won’t live in the same building. You might even live in different cities.

2. You’ll find yourself spending way more time alone than you have in the past four years combined. Maybe you’ll finally eat at a restaurant alone (with a book or your computer, of course).

3. And there will be Friday nights that you don’t have anything to do. In fact, you probably won’t want to do anything on a Friday night. Because you’ll be tired.

4. Gone are the days when you were constantly recruited to join social groups or campus organizations. No one’s fighting over you now, that’s for sure.

5. You’ll try to stay in touch with college friends. You’ll look forward to reunions. You’ll make weekend road trips a priority. You’ll spend tons of time on the phone and writing each other emails.

6. You’ll probably try to meet new friends too. And you might cry, because you feel like you won’t ever find any friends as good as the ones you made in college.

7. But slowly you’ll shift gears and the “real world” will start to feel normal.

8. You will find a career path that you’re passionate about. But don’t be discouraged if it takes a few jobs or grad school to get there. That’s normal.

9. You’ll realize that you don’t have to study for tests and write papers.Suddenly you’ll be able to explore interests, hobbies and passions that you didn’t have time for in college.

10. You’ll be “on your own” in a new way. While the heightened responsibilities of life might feel scary at first, eventually you will feel empowered and independent.

11. You’ll see your friends working hard to make the world a better place, investing themselves in all different industries, becoming the people they were created to be. And you’ll be proud of them. You’ll also smile when you think about the days you lived together in the same house.

12. As time moves on, you’ll find a new normal. You’ll keep your old friends but you’ll make new friends too. Through work, your gym, networking events, your young pro kickball team, parties, or a non-profit you volunteer at.

13. And one day, out of the blue, you’ll sit back and realize that if someone gave you the choice, you wouldn’t go back to college. Because you love your life. You’re excited about the future. And you want to keep moving forward.

*This article was originally published in the Huffington Post on October 21, 2015.

Which jobs will be automated in the next 20 years?

The short answer to the above question is ‘lots of them’. But precisely which ones – and, more importantly, the extent to which that might impact on your prospects as you enter the workforce – isn’t nearly as straightforward.

For one thing, the idea of robots (or, less exotically, machines) performing parts of our traditional jobs isn’t new at all. They’ve been doing it since the early 1990s, in fact, when we first developed technologies that led us – and our computerized helpers – into the controversial modern field of machine learning.

Back then, these smart machines were mainly deployed to cover very basic, mundane, repetitive tasks that were generally seen as an irritating time drain in various common careers. By teaching machines to ‘read’ handwritten addresses, for example, we could put them to work sorting mail for delivery at the post office, or churning out initial risk assessment scores based on tick-box applications to insurance firms.

Rise of the machines

At the time, handing off these sorts of tedious admin duties to robotic assistants was widely seen as a great boon for employees, freeing them up to focus on aspects of the job that required more critical thinking or creative problem-solving approaches. The worry a lot of people have today, though, is about how successfully we’ve continued to develop these artificial intellects over the past couple of decades.

Today, we’ve got robots and algorithms that can use much more complex versions of the same basic ‘learning’ process – in essence, developing the ability to make judgment calls, by mapping new information on to vast databases of previous examples – to perform far more exacting tasks. Smart machines can already use this type of artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose a wide range of diseases, play the stock market, and even grade student papers at least as reliably as (and often outperforming) their human counterparts in medical, financial and educational roles.

As humans, the long-term outlook for our ability to rival automated algorithms on these sorts of playing fields is, frankly, not great.

In fact, during a fascinating a TED talk in February last year, Anthony Goldbloom – the CEO and co-founder of data science and machine learning platform Kaggle – declared that humans have literally “no chance” of even competing with today’s machines in the successful completion of repetitive, high-volume tasks. And, as the technology quickly becomes more affordable, this will inevitably lead to significant (and often painful) upheaval across a great many job markets.

Data is the difference

Where machine learning can’t match human performance, though, is when it comes to dealing with what Goldbloom refers to as “novel situations”. Ask a robot or computer to get from A to B with a good enough road map – which is effectively what huge datasets provide – and they’ll beat us to the finish line every time. But, take away that road map, and there’s no telling where they’ll end up.

In other words, even the smartest machines aren’t currently very good at thinking on their feet, or coming up with creative solutions to problems they’ve never tackled before. Crucially, they’re almost completely unable to employ processes of deductive reasoning, meaning they can’t import solutions from one set of experiences and use them to solve problems in an entirely unrelated field.

By way of example, Goldbloom recalled the invention of the microwave oven, which came about after a WWII engineer (Percy Spencer) noticed that the radar unit he was working on had melted a chocolate bar in his pocket. That, according to Kaggle’s CEO, is precisely the sort of intuition that smart machines aren’t even remotely capable of at present; moreover, we’re not even close to understanding how we might develop any sort of AI that can.

While Spencer’s accidental ‘eureka moment’ might seem an extreme example, it’s actually based on a kind of creative deductive reasoning process that – on a smaller scale – we as humans instinctively perform many times every day. In terms of our long-term employment prospects, that’s huge for us, because plenty of roles call for a lot more of that type of behavior than you probably realize:

Directly customer- or client-facing jobs. This is arguably the most obvious area where we’ve still got smart machines licked for a while yet. Any job that requires regular interaction with other humans – be they customers, clients, or even working closely alongside colleagues – are entirely dependent on a complex code of social interactivity that requires emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity and a huge range of reactive flexibility to carry out successfully. Algorithms simply can’t replicate that effectively yet (even the very few who’ve managed to navigate the Turing Test!).
Jobs in which you can increase your own value. Nearly all positions have a set of base level performance indicators, but many offer considerable scope to go beyond the bare minimum and take on extra responsibilities or expand your field of influence. Over time, the remit of the job, therefore, evolves with you, and the niche you end up filling for your employer effectively becomes a bespoke one. Machines can’t really do this: they have a single role with strictly defined parameters, and will never do any more or less than explicitly instructed. Not all bosses would necessarily see that as the definition of a great employee.
Jobs that frequently raise new challenges. If each work day serves you up a fresh set of obstacles to overcome (the sort that can’t necessarily be tackled using a one-size-fits-all approach, even if they share a basic theme), then the chances are an algorithm might struggle to perform well in the role. Machine learning can certainly make a judgment call based on precedent, but it offers very little in the way of flexibility or adaptability.
Creative jobs. Another obvious one, perhaps, but we’re still a long way from seeing the first AI author scoop a major poetry award, move us to tears with a beautifully delivered monologue, or – perhaps more relevant to most of us – even come up with a reasonably compelling three lines of marketing copy. And, despite having developed robotic chefs that can cook incredibly precise meals by following a downloaded recipe, their attempts at creating recipes from scratch have been a bit…well, like this. Delicious, right?

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Organizing Your Job Search

When on the hunt for a job, it’s not uncommon to be applying for multiple opportunities at once. This is especially true for those of us just starting out in our careers. But multiple applications mean different resume versions, various cover letters and many, many different deadlines to keep track of. With so many moving parts at once, it’s easy to become disorganized.

But a disorderly job search process can lead to embarrassing mistakes such as lost phone numbers, confused deadlines, and missed interviews. To help you avoid these downfalls, we’ve put together a few tips to help you keep your job search organized.

Start With Your Career Goals

It’s easy to want to just jump right in and begin filling out job applications. But before you do, it’s best to take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Your career journey should start with a look at the direction you’re headed.

Though it may seem trivial to set aside time to organize your thoughts to clearly think through the career path you’d like to pursue, this is one of the most important steps to take. How are you supposed to start going anywhere if you don’t know where you’re headed?

Reflect on what you’d like to do and why you feel that’s the right path for you. It’s easy to feel a little lost and be unsure about where you’re going. And at this stage in your life, that’s ok. Start by thinking about your long term goals as those don’t need to be overly specific. Where do you want to be 10 years from now?

Then work backwards from there down to 5 years, 1 year, and 6 months from now. Be sure to think through your personal goals in addition to your career and finances. Take your family, education, and anything else you value into consideration.

Create a Schedule

After you’ve spent some time finding your direction and clearly thinking through your goals, it’s time to start building out a schedule. After all, in order to achieve the goals you now have in mind, you’ll need to set aside time to go after them.

The first step in this stage is to identify time you can set aside that’s dedicated to job searching. Find blocks of time within your schedule between classes, work, and any other responsibilities. Job searching is a time-consuming process and requires regular attention. So aim to set aside at least two hours every day to fully focus on it.

Next, start building a schedule to complete certain tasks you know you need to get done. For instance, devote one hour to cleaning up your professional online profiles like LinkedIn. Devote another hour or two to preparing your resume. You should be able to fill up at least the first few days of your schedule, if not your first week, with tasks to complete.

Perhaps even more important than actually setting up this schedule is sticking to it. Let’s be honest here- activities like resume building and email sending are less than thrilling tasks. It can be easy to let these fall by the wayside and choose something a little more exciting to occupy your time. However, this will only put your behind and lead you down a path of disorganized job searching. Make sure you leave the time you set aside for job hunting devoid of any other activities.

Minimize your Job Applications

Looking for a job is more often than not a high-pressure situation, so it’s easy to begin aimlessly applying for any open position you find. But even though applying for more jobs can make it feel like you’re increasing your chances, this is actually just a waste of your time. Not to mention an easy way to become disorganized.

Remember that time you dedicated at the beginning of this process to think through your short term and long term goals? Here’s where that comes in handy. Start off by narrowing your search to only the jobs that align with those goals. Look out for the opportunities that will help you get to where you want to be.

Next, narrow your search down to only the openings that match the level of skill you have. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your qualifications need to match up with those listed on the job description exactly. In fact, this will likely never be the case. Job descriptions should be more of a directional tool for whether or not you’re a potential fit for a role, so look for those where you match around 80% of the qualifications listed out.

Track Each Position You Apply For

Here’s where things can get especially messy. Applying for multiple positions at once leaves you with a lot of different things to manage. It’s very important to make sure you’re keeping track of all of the different details as you go along.

One of the best ways to do this is to create a system for keeping track of each position you apply for. One of the most common ways of doing this is to create a spreadsheet. This is an easy and effective way to help you keep track. Don’t worry about making anything too fancy. Just be sure to include basic information such as:

Company Name: this is the name of the organization you’re applying to
Contact Details: include the name, email, and phone number of your contact at the company. In most cases, this will be a hiring manager
Date Applied: the date you submitted your initial application
Deadlines and Interviews: deadlines for upcoming information the company asks for and scheduled interviews
Date Followed Up: date you followed up after an application submission or interview
Status of Application: whether you’ve been rejected, are waiting to hear back, or have an interview scheduled

Not a fan of excel? No problem. There are tons of different ways to track this information.

JibberJobber is an online job search organization tool that helps you keep track of what you’re working on. If you prefer working off of your phone or tablet, then there are tons of great apps available. Most major online job boards including Indeed, CareerBuilder, and LinkedIn provide step by step instructions for job applications.

Also, keep in mind that setting up a system for tracking alone is not enough. You need to be diligent in updating your system each time you take a new action or receive an update from a potential employer.
There are so many different things to keep track of when job searching. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and confused. But by following these few simple tips, you’ll be ready for a more organized and effective job hunt.

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Start With Your Career Goals

Create a Schedule

Minimize your Job Applications

Track Each Position You Apply For

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