Career Kids

Planning for College? Good News for Southern Californians

If you've got a high schooler beginning the college admissions process and you live in Southern California, you're in luck.

UCLA Extension is offering a FREE college admissions workshop next month. Here's how they describe it:

Find out how to navigate the college admissions process at a FREE workshop sponsored by UCLA Extension. Presented by Dr. Rebecca Joseph, the workshop is designed to give parents the tools and knowledge to help their high school students prepare for the college application and admissions process. The workshop addresses:

• Working effectively with high school counselors
• Extracurricular activities and course choices
• Preparing for standardized tests
• Applying to the right colleges and visiting college campuses
• The college application process itself

The free workshop takes place Monday, April 20, 7-9 p.m., in Dodd Hall Room 147 on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by April 15 to 310-206-7229 or amarkowi@uclaextension.edu. Include your name, email address and daytime phone number, and number of attendees.

Landing That First Job: The Old Rules Still Apply

This morning, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Musbach, the managing editor at Yahoo! Hot Jobs.

Tom graciously allowed me to pick his brain a little about strategies teens and young adults might use to land that first job or summer job.

It's been a long time since I was in that position (you know, back in the Dark Ages, before the World Wide Web made it possible to download a job application from the comfort of your own home). Back then, my search consisted of walking door to door at the local mall and requesting an application to fill out. Most of the time, my encounters with store management ended right there... but occasionally, something about my appearance or personality would trigger an actual interview... and eventually, a hire.

Today, most large retailers and restaurant chains offer job applications online. This is convenient, but it's a lot harder to make a good first impression, especially when you are just starting out in the market and haven't a lot of experience.

"The first thing you have to do is make sure you've got a tight resume," Tom says.

He recognizes that lack of experience is a kind of Catch-22 for young people: How can you get the job experience until you've landed that first job?

In that case, Tom advises young people to "think outside the job experience realm" and translate their extracurricular activities, volunteer work and studies into transferable skills the prospective employer wants (i.e., communication, reliability, responsibility, and leadership).

"You need to highlight your accomplishments in a succinct way," he says.

Getting that resume into the right hands can also be a challenge.

"It's important to network," Tom says. "Speak up. Ask your parents, relatives, family friends - who do you know?"

This sounds like the same advice I was given back when I was first job hunting, 35 years ago. In fact, it's the same strategy seasoned professionals use all the time, because the best jobs are not always advertised and are often discovered through word of mouth.

Tom mentioned some of the popular social networking sites, like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace (the latter two being the most popular among young people). However, he cautions all job hunters to be wary of the digital footprints they may be leaving behind on social networking sites and blogs.

"Recruiters DO use search engines, and if things come up, if they see an off-color remark, it can reflect poorly on the candidate," he says.

Tom reminds job hunters that "any time you apply in person, you have to think about the impression you make."

He says it's even more important when your resume is thin, because the employer has so much less to go on.

• Don't show too much skin.
• Leave ripped or torn garments at home
• Avoid t-shirts with slogans (especially if they are controversial)

"Think professionally, even if you're just there to get an application," he says. "And be aware of your demeanor and attitude. Think about all the factors that go into making a good first impression."

Finally, Tom reminds job hunters to follow up with employers after applying.

"Don't assume they're not interested if you haven't heard from them," he says. "It is within you right to call and check on the status of your application, and it communicates your interest in this job."

This post was written expressly for the Career Kids Blog by Donna Schwartz Mills. Donna is a freelance writer and blogger at SoCal Mom.net.

How Do You Help Your Teen Look for Work?

My middle child, I'll just call him "Son" in blog posts, is unemployed. He needs a job, but at 19 years old, he has his standards as you can imagine. This is not a good year for Son to be so picky. The Sacramento Bee reported that the regional teens are competing with the senior market, a trend happening in other parts of the country as well. The unemployment rate in our local region for ages 65-74 was cut in half during the two year period of 2004-2006, down to 3.1 percent. According to the article, this summer's teen employment rate nationwide will be the lowest since 1948.

Since I have been involved in career education since my oldest was in diapers, my kids have been raised with career awareness drilled into their heads. So have their friends who have also been harassed since they were in elementary school. I have abused our local teachers, who have been tapped into with surveys, emails, reviews and more. When my kids were in preschool, I would have told you that my children would be experts in job search skills when they became young adults.

Fast forward. Son recently returned from his first year of college about 400 miles away from home. He is in his third week home and there are no real job prospects. He his on his way this afternoon to go to a Starbucks Job Fair and he wanted to know what to wear. I guess I'm glad he asked and when I think about it, it really isn't a bad question. Is a tie overkill? Probably, I tell him.

What really disturbs me is that he thinks going to one place a day is real job hunting.

Yesterday, he dropped in on his previous employer to kick a few tires. His ex-boss was nice enough to give him a lead to another job. That was the one place Son applied to yesterday. After filling out and dropping off the application, exhausted Son went out to eat with his buddy (who at least is already employed).

Son is actually a good worker, but he wants to make the fast buck. When he applied last week at a car dealership, he was told it was a 60-hour a week job. Uh, what? "Do people actually work that many hours?" he asked. Selling cars is no longer on his job-radar.

I don't mean for this post to be a complaint session about my son. He's probably only been out to lunch for fast food two times since he's been back because he has little left in his bank account. He's a good kid (really, he is! Just ask his grandma.) But, I do wonder what other parents do to help their children, who may be a little unrealistic, look for work.

This post was written expressly for the Career Kids Blog by Linda Schwartz. Linda is Partner at Career Kids, the web's premier source for educational materials on careers, guidance, life skills, job search and workforce development.