For the next couple days, I am at the ACPA conference in Louisville, KY. ACPA is an amazing organization that supports the work of thousands of higher education student affairs experts and professionals. One of the benefits of many jobs is attending professional conferences and workshops. These are terrific opportunities to not only expand yourRead… Read more »
This is my absolute favorite time of year. NCAA Basketball Tourney Time! So much energy and possibilities; any team can win on any give day. Being a HUGE University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats fan, though, makes it really hard for me to objectively pick winners in the tournament pool I run every year. And thisRead… Read more »
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) recently announced that only 2.3% of 35,000 college students surveyed are interested in pursuing federal employment. Looking beyond myopic political rhetoric, my sense is the main causes for this is the government itself. The competitive hiring process is frustrating, exasperating, and difficult to manage even with recentRead… Read more »
As I watched the Oscars last night, I was reminded of a great quote from a good friend. Last Friday night, the Trachtenberg School honored one of its alumni, Frank DiGiammario, as our 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awardee. Along with being a an innovator, public servant, and all-around great person, Frank understands the great work federalRead… Read more »
I just did a quick search on USAJobs to find out how many positions are currently posted: over 5000! Our natural tendency with that information is often to apply to more positions. Don’t fall into the simple math trap–the more positions I apply to, the better my chances. In my mind, quality trumps quantity 99Read… Read more »
Last week was full of great career-related events, not the least of which was the webinar Camille Roberts and I gave with the help of everyone at GovLoop. At one point, there were over 600 people in attendance. Thank you all for joining us and asking such great questions. There were also a number ofRead… Read more »
I estimate, conservatively, that, over the last 10 years, I have reviewed approximately … um…. 10 zillion resumes. At least it feels that way sometimes. At least 90% of those resumes have one thing in common — lackluster descriptions of prior experience. This lack of quality descriptions of professional experience will be a big partRead… Read more »
In my last post I went all metaphysical by focusing on values as the place to start when thinking about going to grad school. Understanding your top values is a very important first step, but the practical side of me wants to know NOW WHAT? A good think to do is find people who areRead… Read more »
There were a lot of great comments revolving around the grad school question. Thank you to all those who commented. Although not explicitly communicated, many of the comments illustrated the values driving each person. At any given time, we can be GOOD at only one or two (rarely three) of our most important values. ThereforeRead… Read more »
One of my favorite “war” stories is about the first job offer I received after moving to Washington, DC. It went something like this: HR Manager: Paul, we are excited to offer you the program assistant position. The starting salary is $22,000. Me: This is great. Thank you so much. Is the salary negotiable? ForRead… Read more »