How to Land Your Dream Job/Internship for a College Student

Hi y'all!

I hope that you are enjoying your holidays! I have been doing well as I am done with college. Here are just some tips that I have learned through my whole job searching process. There are not in any particular order.

Tip #1 Do Your Research

Find out which companies you might want to work with and what positions. I often find that if you don't know what you want then the job search becomes a lot harder.

Tip #2 Network

Many job opportunities may not be posted online so talk to people! It doesn't always have to be someone you just met. Your family or friends may give you good leads.

Informational interviews with other people in the field that you want can give you ideas in your job search. Recruiters like to see someone who can differentiate themselves from other candidates.

Tip #3 Create Your Own Opportunities

Go to career fairs and workshops. You never know who you're going to meet. I've gone to workshops where I already knew the information but I scored a nice padfolio and a bit more motivation in job searching. I always go by this phrase that "If you never ask, the answer is always 'no'."

Tip #4 Do Not Lose Hope

You're going to be tired. You will get rejections. You will feel like a failure.

Don't let that stop you from going on. Use your rejections as a way for you to continuously improve. You're so close to getting the job you want. You can't give up now.

Have a little confidence in yourself. I read somewhere that confident people radiate this energy that attracts other people around them. Needless to say don't go overboard with the confidence or you just seem dumb.

Tip #5 Survival Job

There's nothing wrong with getting a basic or minimum wage before you get an actual job. Not only do you get a little bit of money, you can also put it on your resume. You don't want to have holes in your resume. This way you will never have to explain to your potential employers of why you there's a period on your resume where you're not doing something. Alternatively, you can choose to volunteer!

Tip #6 Don't Be Boring

Think about it if you're just like the other people applying for the same position why would the employer choose you over somebody else. One of the worst things that can happen after meeting a recruiter is that they don't remember you at all afterwards.

Tip #7 Resume

Employers may look at your resume for a mere 6 seconds. When I do resume reviews for my friends, they either have too much information or not enough.

If you have too much information: don't have long paragraph that make it hard for employers to scan through or else they aren't going to read it. Leave out experiences that do not seem to relevant to the position you are applying for.

If you don't have enough information: evaluate the sections of your resume that you might want to improve on. For example, if you don't have a lot of work experience then try volunteering or join more clubs. I would caution taking on more extracurriculars, if you don't have a good GPA. The number one lie that I have heard is that GPA doesn't matter. It's not always the most important item on your resume but it may rank above your some of your work experiences. A lot of employers have GPA requirements anyway so it's important to keep your grades up!

Have a nice format. There are tons of templates online and on Microsoft Word for you to use as a starting point. The white space should be balanced and having it printed on resume paper is even better. I typically have several different versions of my resume depending on the position that I am applying for.

Have multiple people read it through (like family, friends, career center).

Lastly if it was easy, then everyone could do it.

Believe in yourself. Have some faith and good luck!

XO,
M

Dublin Trip 2017 Part 2

Hello friends!

This is part 2 of my Ireland trip. Last time I left off on 3.14.17 so I will continue to what I did for the rest of that day.

3.14.17

Tuesday (continued)

Then me and my group of friends went to Guinness tour. They building had 6 floors and the tour was ok but a lot tutorial videos and didn't get see in person how Guinness was made.

There was a tasting room and we had the opportunity to taste a shot glass of Guinness. The staff member teaches you how to properly taste the beer. We were really lucky that we didn't have to wait in a long line for the tasting.

This self guided tour ended with a voucher for a pint of Guinness. I couldn't the entire pint so my friend drank half of mine. The top floor of the building had the view of the entire city. There was so many people at the top floor and so we ended up standing. Many of the buildings here are built not very high because of the regulations. I got a small shot glass stein and some Guinness chocolates. the chocolate was extremely delicious and I ate it all very quickly.

We came back to the apartments at 7pm. I met with my friend Kelsey who studying at the University of Dublin. We met at trinity college and went to Wagamamas which is a chain restaurant in the UK. They had different types of ramen and udon. I had a yuki udon which was really good.

We also shared a plate of chicken dumplings. It was good as well. Kelsey was able to get a discount for bogo meal from being a study at University of Dublin. I paid for our meal since I won't be able to buy her souvenirs and I finally was able to give her the two boxes of Mac and cheese. I also was able to get a maroon colored hoodie from the Temple Bar Trading Co. When we were in the store together Kelsey said that Irish people don't eat fudge there only old people do. I wanted to buy more chocolates haha.

3.15.17

Wednesday

This morning we arrived at Eaton House at Dublin. They talked about how they were created to reduce tax rate and utilize direct investment and how much easier it was to acquire Cooper. Three executive meetings at Dublin and 1 in EC. The building there was only half filled. Treasury, tax, accounting, supply chain, legal were the different sectors. The corporate tax 12.5% is here and the U.S. was 39%. Only one officer relocated here.

We went St.Stephens Green. There was a lot of people and and the weather was very nice. While grace went museum and me and my friend went laid in grass and sun bathed. My legs were super sore and the sunlight really helped.

There was tourism presentation later on that day. Most tourists were from GB and spend around 100-200 euros while American tourists spend 800-900 euros. It's hard to get tourist to mainland areas because most people just stay at the border counties and Dublin. There different type: centre of attention and excitement group, cultural curious- seeking to sightsee and good scenery, escaper that is trying to get away from their stressful life. Tourist wants authenticity in their experience. Three target typed: Wild Atlantic wave- coast, east side cultural sights, and mountains and ocean for family quality time. There's around 8.4 million tourists a year and 4 million locals. Most hotels are filled to the maximum capacity due to the busiest holiday of the year.

(so pretty and pink!)

We went and got gelato. I miss the gelato stores all around Dublin. Then we went to do some shopping. Got to go to Penny's and bought pink cardigan and blue zip up. Then went to the Mango store and they had some pretty European clothes but they were expensive. The sales person at that store was actually from Chicago and moved to Dublin 3 years ago. She says that Ireland is more positive and she absolutely loved being there. We went walking around for the most of the time.

3.16.17

Thursday

Today is the day before St.Patty's and you see that there definitely more people on the streets. Some road will be closed for tomorrow's parade.

10am

This morning I went out to breakfast with some girls that I knew on the trip to a cute this bakery/cafe place called Queen of Tarts. The place was filled.

I ordered a smoked salmon breakfast that included eggs and bread. The bread here is so healthy not like the white bread back home. I also got Irish Bailey macaroons which tasted wonderful.

11am

Our class met with Martin at trinity college to walk over to parliament. Parliament was not in succession but Martin knew someone was was able to invite us in for a tour. This place was by one of the museums that I went to yesterday. The building was originally a house built by the Fitzwilliams family. The old parliament was across the street. Inside the building is decorated with many painting and no photography was allowed. The parliament room was originally a lecture hall before it got renovated. The senate room was originally a ballroom. The building is old and will undergo construction very soon. The Republic of Ireland has many political parties but there isn't one that dominates.

During lunch hour I went to a small cafe place and got myself chicken sandwich and a smoothie. The sandwich was good and filling that I couldn't finish it all. The smoothie tasted like orange juice.

2pm

The next stop we went to was the European Commission where we watch a 20 minute video discusses the EU. The EU was formed and Ireland joined later. There is a lot uncertainly of how Brexit with affect Northern Ireland and rest of Ireland. The goal of EU is giving some sovereignty to enable a flow of people and goods.

Then I went back to my hotel and napped before dinner.

6pm

We had dinner at the Church at north side of Dublin. This restaurant was originally a church before it got turned into a restaurant/bar. 

The stairs are very spiral shaped. The architect of the building was beautiful. There was live music going on. The food was ok and the dessert was delicious. This was our last time seeing Martin.

3.17.17

Friday- St.Patrick's day

We went to the parade around 10:30. There was too much people when we were there.

I got some coffee and eventually a scarf from Caroll's. It was cold and raining by the end of the parade. There were also a lot of foreigners near we were standing. The parade was ok and very theatrical. Overall it was well done.

Afterward we went to see the Gaelic games: hurling and football. The hurling game was nice and Cuala won the all Ireland hurling championship. Football was really close and both teams were very close in scores.

3.18.17

Woke up early today take the group taxi from Staycity to the airport. There was long lines for United bag checkin and I was the first for Delta checkin. The lady at the counter was very nice and even printed a boarding pass for me. Going through security was ok but they had to rescan my bag because of my tablet. Ugh next time I'll remember to take out my tablet.

There's a Shake Shack at JFK. I'm so happy!

6pm update: stuck at JFK airport until my flight at 8:40pm. I've been here since 1:20pm-ish

That is it for my week long trip to Ireland! I love this place!

--------

Other things

Cultural differences

Don't really tip there

-According to our Martin the tip goes to the restaurant and that they are compensated fully by wages unlike the U.S.

Split checks are uncommon

-most places won't let you split checks

Catholic/religious schools

-it was uncommon for a private school that is not affiliated

No ubers

-in order to drive people around people need license so there are only taxis

Media is less negative

-according to a sales associate at Mango there's less violence broadcasted on TV and it sort of a relief to not see so much negativity in the media

- I feel like in general Irish people are more chill

Irish people don't really celebrate St. Patrick's day

-you can spot the tourist really easily when they are dec out in green

----------------

I actually didn't get to flow out of JFK until around 10pm due to delays. I got back to my residence hall by midnight-ish. The trip has been amazing and I didn't even spent a lot due to limited time for shopping. I hope to come back in the future!

I want to end this post with an Irish blessing that I saw:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

XOXO

M

Dublin Trip 2017 Part 1 (Book of Kells, Brazen Head, Teelings.....)

(In front of the Christ's Church)

Hello everyone!

I went to Dublin, Ireland on my spring break this year and here's what I did that week. Most of the things I wrote when I was there but I did have to add additional details to some entries. 

3.10.17 

Saturday

At the Detroit airport right now. Super nice there is P.F. Changs, McDonald, Longhorn Steak House, pink berry, pandora, the body shop, sushi place, Mediterranean place, and there is a train inside the airport as well that runs back and forth. The flight to Detroit was short probably only 20 mins. I stayed at the airport for about 4 hours until my layover. Then I flew to from Detroit to Amsterdam.

(my hotel room that I shared with my roommate)

(full kitchen with kitchen utensils and silverware)

(not many filters but found this Dublin filter)

*The airline ended up losing my luggage so I didn't get back my things until a day later. The day that we arrived I went on a walking trip with two girls that I just met. We got lost and had to use one of the girl's phones to navigate back. Later as a group the class went to the oldest pub in Ireland, Brazen Head for dinner.

(appetizer: smoked salmon)

(Dinner: beef stew)

3.16.17

Sunday

(full Irish breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, blood sausage, tomato)

We went Book of Kells in Trinity College. There line was super long but we had fast passes. I ended up buying my dad a hat there and it was pretty inexpensive. Spent most of the day shopping at Carroll's gift shop and Grafton street. Dublin has a lot of gelato shops as well.

(Book of Kells library: spiral staircase)

(Book of Kells Library)

(through the recommendation of the store associate: mango gelato)

(Carroll's)

3.15.17

Monday

We walked to Zero G. The branding company. They talked about tailoring towards locals and being authentic in their brands. We had a lecture in the afternoon on Irish history.

Me and my two friends went to the different gardens and finally went to the canal. We saw Google as we were walking by.

The canal was pretty with shops and eating places. We ended up going to a restaurant place that was kinda empty but quite fancy. The cocktails were 11 euros but really good. I go the berry mojito. The view of the Liffey river was so beautiful at night.

(pretty swans)

(the cafe by the canal: bathroom door decor)

(just some chicken tenders and fries)

(the bridges across the river are so pretty)

(night views)

3.14.17

Tuesday

The place was really far in Northside of Ireland and walked through Griffin Park that had nice river and willows. Started off day early playing Gaelic games. There were three main types: handball, hockey w/ball, and soccer/volleyball game. The first was ok but I'm not good sports and remembered me of racquetball which I don't like. The second was my favorite because I like hitting the ball will the stick. The third game was exhausting and many fouls were done.

(getting our sticks and helmets on)

(aftermath)

We had a super short break and didn't have time to eat anything besides cereal. Then we went Teelings distillery tour to see how their beer and whiskey was made. The room was super hot from all the boiling and they three times for smooth taste. Our tour guide talked about taste and color was added through the the wood. Minimum fermented for 6 years.

(inside the distillery)

(the whiskey is distilled three times!)

(the three different types of whiskey available)

After the tour, was a tasting of the small batch (afternoon whiskey) and lemonade cocktail. The whiskey was ok and the cocktail was really good. Then I went gift shop and bought littler bottles of whiskey for my sister.

(To be continued.....)

XOXO

M