Friday in the Field: Help Students Apply to College

by Lauren McCabe on July 30, 2010 · 0 comments

Do you remember what it was like applying to colleges?  I do because I applied to twelve schools, thirteen if you count the one that my parents secretly applied to for me after stealthily printing out my college essay from the family computer. Crazy helicopter parents.

But not all parents are helicopter parents; in fact some parents don’t’ see the importance of school or simply don’t know how to help.  And we all know that a without a college degree you will miss out on millions of opportunities.

That’s why we’re calling upon you to help guide high school students through the college application process.  After all, you’re doing the exact same thing with your own job search, and it can be very humbling to remember that no matter how many days, weeks, or months you spend looking for work, you will find a job eventually.  For some of these kids, they might not even make it to college.

You’ll help edit college essays, construct admission packets, and get the kids on track to meet the application deadlines.  Best of all, you’ll be a stellar mentor and make a difference in your community, something that you can put on your own resume.

I’m applying to be a mentor right now in New Orleans through the College Admissions Project (CAP) an initiative run by the New Orleans Young Leadership Council, but there are similar organizations across the nation.  In Minnesota and Wisconsin, Admission Possible runs a program that helps students from low-income communities apply to school.

There are other ways that you can help students get into school by tutoring the SAT or other subjects.  There are many volunteer teaching programs across the nation.

If you have any questions about organizations in your specific location, feel free to leave a comment on the blog or shoot me an email: Lauren@koda.us .

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Job Search Lessons From Dangling Off The Sides of Buildings

by Lauren McCabe on July 28, 2010 · 1 comment

Just so you don't think I am the only person climbing on random stuff...

Some of the stuff I did in college was so weird.

Like when I bought a pair of rock climbing shoes and started climbing up the sides of buildings.  I had just returned from studying abroad in Australia where you could do this on actual cliffs, and New York City didn’t have any cliffs (though later I discovered a really big rock in the middle central park that was good for bouldering).  Campus security never seemed to mind that I was dangling off the sides of columns and repeatedly traversing the wall of the journalism building, though they always yelled at me when I blasted heavy metal rock as I freaked out about the job search.

And naturally, I developed the rock-climbing eye: when I saw a really rugged building (the best were the ones with carvings), I would think, “How can I climb that wall? How high can I go?”

Now you’re wondering how I’m going to relate this to the job search.

When you’re in college, you need to start developing a rock-climbing eye for your career.

I already mentioned that the best way not to freak out about jobs after college is to start asking every single person you know about their career and how it started and how they’ve arrived to where they are now. But you need to take it a step further and start asking questions about yourself: Could I do what that person does? How could I do that?  What does it take?

We usually get daunted (and jealous) when we hear about the person with the dream job.  We say to ourselves, “Uggg.  Lucky them.  Seems impossible to have.”  But instead we need to employ some good ole rock-climbing-career language:

“Could I climb into that career?  How would I get to the top?  Could I traverse the obstacles that would lead me to success? “  These are questions you need to start asking yourself.  You need to place yourself in the career-shoes of every person you meet.

Yes, I related my experience randomly scaling the sides of buildings to your career development.  Boo ya!

Guess what? I’m embedding a video into a blog post for the first time.  Yea!  Climbing up the side of buildings and statues and random stuff has a real term– “Buildering” — and I thought you might enjoy seeing the pros :-)

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Advice From My Mother: What A Good Manager Should Be

by Lauren McCabe on July 27, 2010 · 7 comments

Katie at her mother's retirement party. Not only is Katie celebrating her mother's stellar career, but she's also absorbing the best advice of all: how to be an outstanding manager.

Today’s post is by Katie Del Guercio, KODA’s Director of Marketing.

At an early stage in your career, having the right manager is everything. Remember the growth and success that you felt after taking a class with the best teacher you ever had? You need to seek a manager who pushes you to that same kind of progress, every single day.

In fact, when you’re being interviewed by a company, I think it’s really important that you interview back. You should find out as much as you can about who will be managing you, and what the managerial philosophy there is all about.

So last week when I sat down with Lauren (your favorite KODA chief blogger) to scope out her career goals (something that every good manager should do), I took some time to reflect on what a good manager is, and why I feel a deep responsibility for making Lauren the absolute BEST that she can be.

I quickly realized that my own mother, Lori, is by far the best manager I’ve ever known. She was a top executive at a multi-national corporation where she climbed the corporate ladder over the course of a 30+ year career. She managed and led thousands of people. Her management style is relentlessly principled and optimistic. It sets a gold standard for how people should be treated.

When my mother retired, she shared the following pieces of advice with her entire business before setting sail. I leave them with you so that you can begin to imagine the kind of manager you want to have, and the kind of manager you want to someday be:

Lori’s Top 12

1. Read your e-mails and respond to them….AND return your phone calls…and DO IT with speed,  even if you’d prefer to avoid.  Someone had the courage to reach out.

2. If you’re having a bad day, DON’T take it out on the people who are killing themselves to make you look good…and if you slip, say ‘you’re sorry!  In fact, it’s also a great time to say ‘thank you’ too.

3. Ask questions constructively so people learn and gain value from every interaction with you.  Corollary:  don’t make people feel stupid or guilty.

4. You can develop lasting, real relationships long-distance and electronically — if you WANT to!

5. You’re not always right just because you’re the boss—so listen openly and admit you’re wrong when you are.  If you think you’re perfect, then you’re really boring and I don’t want to party with you!!

6. Truly care and really enjoy what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with—then you will always want to learn more and make things better….and it will be contagious.

7. Have courage to be true to yourself and do the right thing.  Be flexible in your style AND NOT with your values.  Corollary:  don’t say ‘yes’ when the honest answer is ‘no’.   Remember the mirror—you can’t get away from looking at your real self.   Love what you see!

8. Spend loads and loads of time with clients — see the world through their eyes.  They’re not always right…and the only chance you have to convince them otherwise is to be credible, trustworthy, knowledgeable and well-prepared.  Get every client to feel that they are your only client and get them to actually ‘feel’ that you are a strong business person…. and that you care.

9. Be willing to do whatever it takes to raise the bar for yourself and your business….and don’t expect others to do what you’re not willing to do.  When you succeed together, make sure people actually feel that they succeeded, and they’ll feel inspired to do it again and again.

10. Always give your time, mind and heart to try making a difference for people, the industry, and charitable causes….and always tell the people you impacted to ‘pass it on’ to others. Do lots of reaching out, coaching, and mentoring, and celebrate people’s development and growth as if it were your own. Get people to look forward to being around you — they may not know what’s in store, but they’ll trust that the experience will be worthwhile.

11. This is not a popularity contest.  During a career, you can make tough decisions, you can show anger, you can show impatience, you can show concerns, you can show frustration…..just show it all with genuine respect and caring. Always try your best (and lots more) to make your company the very best that it can be.  People will get it, they will feel it, and in turn, you will earn their respect.

12.  Have fun moving your business forward and upward. I will be watching from afar with excitement and pride.

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Friday In the Field: Change the World With Kiva

by Lauren McCabe on July 23, 2010 · 1 comment

Traveling is one of my favorite things in the world, but not traveling to Europe.  I’m saving that trip for when I’m old and can afford the fine wine and villas. I like to go to developing countries because they’re changing at such an astounding rate that they won’t be the same five years from now.

In fact, today we’re putting you in touch with Kiva,  an organization that is making change in the developing world on a massive scale.  And you can be a part of it.

Kiva lends money to people in impoverished nations so they can start their own businesses and lead a better life.  Loans start at 25 dollars, and can fund anything from the purchase of a goat to help a farmer start a milk business to the materials to build a tea stall for a widow to open a business.  A little goes a long way.

So where are these loans coming from?  Me, you, and other organizations.  On Kiva’s website, you can browse a gallery of proposals complete with pictures and stories, and choose which one you would like to support.  Because this is a loan, your money will ultimately be paid back to you by the borrower.

So how do you get involved?  And why is this awesome for your resume?

You can become a Kiva fellow and spend about 3 months in a country meeting with entrepreneurs, evaluating their proposals, and enacting the money exchange. From Wall Street bankers to non-profiteers, the fellows are diverse, and can be from an astounding array of backgrounds.

While fellows have to be self-funded, Sloane Berrent, chief blogger at The Causemopolitan, raised 7,000 dollars via social media in a matter of one month to fund her Kiva fellow in the Philippines.  You can read how she did it here.

And your resume? In Sloane’s words, “Past participants have found the fellowship to be a great first step in a career in microfinance or international development.” This is real world experience that will look outstanding on your resume.

Kiva also offers many other ways to engage from the USA:  You can become a lender, volunteer, or intern.

Still in school? Take action with Kiva from your campus.

About to get married? Bring Kiva to your weeding.

There are so many ways to get involved!


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4 Simple Ways Not To Freak Out About Jobs After College

by Lauren McCabe on July 22, 2010 · 13 comments

In college, I literally lugged around every single thing Shakespeare ever wrote in a giant ten pound Shakespeare anthology. Can we get that stuff digitized, please?

I know what I did in college.  I wandered around my leafy-green campus with Shakespeare in tow.  Jobs were the last thing on my mind.

In fact, whenever jobs entered my brain I went into meltdown.  What was I going to do after college? The era of pink hair and mermaid drawing was going to end.  How was I going to survive?

The good news is I survived, and the better news is that I’ve learned a bunch of things along the way.

The first thing is that you should NOT freak out about life after college at 4 AM while you are listening to heavy-metal with your roommates.  Not productive for you or for campus security.

The second thing is that post-college life is not scary if you prepare yourself while you are still in college. Why do you go into meltdown when you hear the word “Job?”  Because all you can picture are fluorescent-lit cubicles and wooly business suits.  But that’s just one very specific experience of work—today, for example, I’m work

Do you feel an intense desire to listen to heavy metal only when you hear the word "job search?" This dude did, too. But he took it way too far...

ing in yoga pants in a tangerine colored office with two giant sun-filled windows and a family of raccoons living in a tree ten feet outside my door.   Michelle, KODA’s CFO, brings binoculars into work so we can spy on them.  See?  Totally not the prototypical work environment, or what I had envisioned when I went into meltdown on the leafy green campus.

Here are 4 simple things you can do right now, whether you’re a freshman or a senior in college, to make your transition into post college life smooth sailing.

1.)  Get an Internship. You don’t have to get ten, just one or two, and make sure they’re meaningful. Your internship will help you build career skills and meet professionals who will guide you through your career exploration.

2.)  Put Yourself Online. The most effective way to land a job after college is to start reaching out to employers while you are still in college.  Employers like GEICO are scouring the world in search of recent grads that would be a good fit for their company, but you need to find their recruiters and ask them questions, and help them find you.

So create a professional online profile.  Maybe you don’t have a ton of work experience from your days on the leafy-green campus, but you’ve got other things: passion, determination, drive, creativity.  Express these things!  Ultimately, this is what is going to make you hirable, not your college major or your 4.0 GPA.

Added perk of working for KODA: cute raccoons in the backyard.

3.) Ask Questions About Jobs. Ask your mother, her friends, recruiters, the people in the surfing line up.  Ask what they did after graduation and how their career path has twisted and turned to get them where they are today. Soon, you’ll be able to ask these questions to the KODA Community, too.

This will prevent you from going into meltdown when you hear the word “job” because you’ll soon discover that job opportunities are limitless.  When I was asking lots of questions about jobs, I discovered my mom’s best friend studied social work but now has a career as a wine buyer that requires her to travel the world sampling fine wine.   Is that scary? Maybe, if you’re a teetotaler.  In which case, you could then work as a tea-buyer and travel the world sampling fine tea.  I met a guy who did this when I was in India.

4.) Plan to take the summer off. You’ll meet those bedraggled seniors who will finish their 200-page thesis and then immediately hop into a suit to start their first day of work.  Don’t be one of them.  You need time to process your college experiences and prepare yourself for the next stage in your life.  If you land a job before graduation, ask your employer for the summer off. 90% of the time they will say yes.

And what should you do during your final summer of freedom?  Learn to surf.  It will change your life forever.

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5 Wacky Job Titles

by Lauren McCabe on July 20, 2010 · 1 comment

What is a mermaid specialist exactly? A writing, traveling, surf-loving Lauren McCabe. Photo by Daniel Morris

I am such a fan of wacky job titles that I created my own when I as a senior college: “Mermaid Specialist.“ It had backing—I was writing a novel about mermaids, and I was slowly starting to cultivate my writing, traveling, and surf-loving brand in conjunction with the idea of a traveling, writing, surf-loving mermaid.

Guess what? It stuck.  At my first job after college, one of my bosses called me Merm, and to our more creative clients I was introduced as the mermaid who surfs in New York City.

Ah, good times in New York City.

An employer that has the guts and creative spirit to conjure up wacky job titles probably wants to attract a certain type of personality—someone who can get the job done as readily as they can step back and have a little fun.  That’s why I’m a HUGE fan of wacky titles— in my mind, you know that this employer understands that life is a healthy balance of work and fun.

So check out these wacky job titles.  Any seem awesome? Some are open right now, so apply!  And if you still are on the hunt for jobs, check out KODA, we have  lots and lots of jobs.

My oh my, which one of these beers would go best with fish? Or steak? Or Mozarella cheese? After the six pack program at Harpoon, you'll know, and you'll also have a job in sales or marketing!

1.) Harpoon Six-Pack Program — No, it’s not a grueling drinking regiment to prepare for Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, and it’s definitely not a cruel name for Rehab.   The Six-Pack Program is Harpoon’s professional development program that launches your career in the beer industry.

In fact, it’s designed for people who have absolutely no clue about beer, which if you don’t know how to pair a fine micro brew with Gruyere cheese, includes you.

This is the best part: After you finish the fulltime paid Six Pack Program, Harpoon will actually place you in a sales or marketing position tailored to your strengths. Great opportunity for recent grads!

THE SCRUM MASTER. Actually, a scrum master is just a really awesome project manager, but come on, with a title like that, shouldn't you be required to wear a wizard hat?

2. The Scrum Master– I found this job posting by Geocent and I immediately thought: Lord of the Rings.  Then I looked up the the definition of Scrum in Wikipedia and I thought: I need the help of a Scrum Master to explain what Scrum is:

“Scrum is an iterative, incremental framework for project management and agile software development.”

“ Ahhhhh Scrum Master!  What does it all mean?!”

This is when a real scrum master would swoop down and say. “Worry not young Scrum, it’s just a way of managing projects.  I, the Scrum

Master, am really just a project manager.”

Okay, much better.

In fact, this particular job posting by Geocent makes it clear that the crux of The Scrum Master is someone who knows hot to organize and facilitate a team:

The Scrum Master should know:

When to lead and when to follow,
When to be directive and when to encourage collaboration and consensus,
How to use intrinsic and well as extrinsic motivators to keep people engaged,

I feel like The Scrum Master should definitely wear a cape.

You're a ninja? I've got a great technical writing job for you where you wear your ninja suit to work everyday

3. Technical Writer—Admit it, the job title  “technical writer” conjures up images of nerds who spend all their time wasting away into a pile of flabby goo in some musty corner of a library. Yuck.

Not the technical writers at Red Hat.

According to this job description, a technical writer must also:

* Wear a ninja suit to work*

Come again?

As if that needed more explanation, an asterisk next to the description points out that this is *optional. So glad wearing a ninja suit to work is optional, but why opt out?

4. Director of Chaos— This zany job title has become so popular that SimplyHired even has a salary listing for it. Yes, the average Director of Chaos makes about 48K a year.

A Director of Chaos can be anything from someone who plans a big, crazy event, to someone who facilitates interactions within the office.

5.  CCO, Chief Customer Officer–  Here at KODA, we love our users so much that we dance in their honor and tweet out jobs to them personally every Monday because we know the job search can be tough and lonely.

So we also love companies like Hershey’s, Oracle, and Samsung that dig their customers enough to hire a “Chief Customer Officer,” someone who’s entire purpose is to ensure that all their customers are brimming over with joy.

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Friday in the Field: Stoked Mentoring

by Lauren McCabe July 16, 2010

There’s recently been a lot of outrage about how some employers will only hire people who currently have a job and not unemployed job seekers.
Totally unfair, right?
The problem is, the media is blasting the nation with statistics that are so mean and silly that I will only quote one: “On average, the unemployed spend 70 more [...]

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To Tag or Untag: Will Your Mermaid Costume Help or Hurt Your Job Search?

by Lauren McCabe July 14, 2010

During my most recent job search, I was in a serious predicament: I had a webpage full of photos of me dressed up as a mermaid, and I wasn’t sure if that would fly with employers.
After all, this wasn’t a casual mermaid costume you’d throw on at an office Halloween party that would innocently appear [...]

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GEICO: Yes, They’re A Great Employer. Yes, They’re Hiring NOW.

by Lauren McCabe July 12, 2010

When I was in high school, I always wanted to wear the school’s alligator mascot costume at football games.  Alas, I played the French horn in marching band so I never got the chance to don that strangely furry costume, but my high school dreams could all be realized if I got a job at [...]

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Friday In The Field: Help The Gulf With The Pepsi Refresh Project

by Lauren McCabe July 9, 2010

I totally understand that unemployment is an emotional rollercoaster.
When I was unemployed, I was in bliss because I did yoga all day and was able to do crazy backbends that I could never do when I had a desk job.  But then again, I was also freaking out because WHEN WAS I GOING TO FIND [...]

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