Take Time To Reflect – Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans

By Julia Plevin '09

Believe it or not, we Dartmouth students become a lot wiser over our four years of college. I cannot express how often I hear the phrase, “if only I knew then what I know now…,” when I am talking to my fellow classmates. In an attempt to garner this wisdom and pass it down to younger students, Skip Sturman-Director of Career Services-created a PowerPoint presentation for parents during First Year Family Weekend entitled, “Ten Things Seniors Wish They Had Known As First Years: A Career Services Perspective”.

One slide listed five things that seniors wished they had done differently in regards to their career searches:
1. Plan ahead
2. Take time to reflect
3. Engage a human
4. Imagine the possibilities and not feel limited by major, employers who come to campus, or internships listed on DartBoard
5. Indulge their passions

While all five nuggets of wisdom are things that I have had to learn on my own after being lured by my peers into the corporate recruiting trap and then feeling lost and confused, I think that the one that is most often overlooked is, “take time to reflect.”

There is so much action packed into every hour of every day of a Dartmouth term. Whether studying, volunteering, playing sports, taking part in extracurricular activities or hanging out with friends, Dartmouth students are among the most over-booked people around. Taking time to sleep is hard enough, let alone taking time to reflect. Once the term starts, there is no blinking or breathing until it stops.

Off-terms and breaks are also typically not used to relax, rejuvenate, and reflect. Instead, students take “free time” to travel to Africa, do research, or work in New York City. Taking time to reflect, even just a few moments each day, does not seem to fit in the Dartmouth schedule.

Since my mom is a yoga teacher, “taking time to reflect” is synonymous with “meditating” for me. Whenever I call and tell her that I am feeling scatter-brained or anxious, she tells me to find a quiet corner and repeat a mantra to myself. However, you do not need to sit in lotus pose wearing Lululemon pants chanting “ommm” in order to take time to reflect. You can just slow down, make some lists and diagrams, write in a journal, or take a hike if you want to reflect.

There is so much pressure to know what you are doing next – whether that is for a break, an off-term, or post-graduation. Taking time to reflect means slowing down and enjoying the adventure. It means not worrying if you don’t have epic spring break plans because you can take the time instead to figure out what is really important to you - what you like and what you dislike – and start to plan for future life adventures.

From talking to alums over Green Key weekend and through the Alumni Stories that I write, I have finally accepted the fact that you can have ideas about what you want, but you cannot plan out your life since the most important decisions will be made due to factors that you are still unaware of.

Here are just a few tidbits from conversations with alums over Green Key:
-“Just don’t rush into anything. Take your time.” – An ’08 who spent the year teaching in Paris
-“Finding a career is like the Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors ¬– if you miss one opportunity, another one will come up and it will lead to a completely different life than you could have imagined.” – A ’74 who is a CEO of an advertising agency in Los Angeles
-“The first five years after college should be spent figuring out what you like and what you do not like.” – A ’91 who works in communications at Google in Mountain View
-“I had no plans for post-graduation. I took a job here, a trip there…. It worked out for me and it will work out for you.” – An ’07 who just finished her first year of law school at University of Colorado at Boulder

During my first few years at Dartmouth, I was sophomoric. I thought I was such an independent trailblazer that did not need advice from anyone. Now I have realized that we are all independent trailblazers and all trailblazers can benefit from learning about the experiences of others who have been there before and taking time to reflect. Namaste.

One Day One Blog

By Julia Plevin '09

The capacity to communicate with people on the Internet never ceases to amaze me. After I wrote a blog that mentioned the onedayonejob.com website, I got a comment from the founder of this website. He wanted to talk to me! I was not sure why The Job Search Guru wanted to talk to some lowly job seeker like myself but I seized the opportunity.

The Job Search Guru turned out to be Willy Franzen, CEO and Co-Founder of onedayonejob.com, who graduated from Cornell in 2006. Willy did not know what he wanted to do when he graduated and realized that many recent college graduates, like himself, struggle with the transition into the working world and their own naïveté. His solution: to create a website which lists a job every day along with research tools to help a would-be applicant learn more. Willy finds most of the jobs that he posts on his own.

Willy gave me a few tips for the job search and urged me to use his most recent venture, foundyourcareer.com, as a research tool. Once I get started on this 21-day online job search boot camp, I will blog about my experience. For now, I will disclose some of the advice that he offered me:
1. Become a professional job-seeker.
2. Do not just apply to one job and then sit and wait until you hear back from them. Apply to ten similar jobs.
3. Don’t wait to hear back from the employers at all. Be proactive. When you sit back and wait, you put them in control of your job search.
4. By sending in your resume, you are making it easy for them to reject you. Find someone at the workplace you are interested in and call to learn more about the organization.

Basically, I have started to realize that the “attach your cover letter and resume” line that we always see on websites or job postings is a trap for the naïve job seeker. It is better to call someone and learn more before crafting that perfect cover letter and sending it into Bermuda’s triangle.

With that in mind, check out this website that has tons of interesting job listings that I stumbled across today: Alison Doyle's advice and commentary on jobs, careers, work, and life - You will need to be on twitter to take advantage of these resources. Get connected and get a job!

To the power of the Internet!

The Revival of The Unpaid Internship: I’d Even Wash The Floors

By Julia Plevin '09

In a grand gesture of defiance, I quit an unpaid internship last summer. I was interning at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The idea of this internship was so exciting because I am interested in fashion history, but the reality of it was disappointing. I spent my day in a closet by myself vacuuming fur coats from the 1900s. I wanted to scream, “Do you know who I am? I am talented and capable. I’m a Dartmouth student!” I did not scream, but I did politely say that this internship was not what I expected and shut the door on my way out.

I was so naïve and full of false hope last summer. I expected that I would graduate and get a job that paid real money. Now that reality has sunk in, everything is different. I might even consider another unpaid job….

A satirical blog post on gawker.com says, “don’t despair, media-types: you could still land this magazine editorial job. You’ll never guess how much it pays”. The job, which required 2-3 years of writing experience and 25-30 hours per week was, in fact, unpaid. The scary thing is I saw this ad and was unfazed about the lack of pay. It sounded like a cool opportunity to me, an aspiring media-type.

Here was the job posting:

Freelance Features Editor Position (unpaid)
Job/Internship type: Full-time
Company/Publication Name: Monroe Magazine
Location: New York, NY

Description: Monroe Magazine, a new fashion, music and entertainment based magazine, is seeking a Features editor with at least 2-3 years of writing experience. This person must be able to commit at least 4 days a week - 25-30 hours a week - and must have a reliable computer to work with and a fast response time for all follow ups, e-mails and phone calls.

Responsibilities Include:
-Generate article ideas with editorial interns and staff.
-Oversee and manage all editorial interns, freelance editorial staff and commissioned writers.
-Edit, revising and proofreading articles and stories.
-Researching new and upcoming short story fiction and nonfiction writers.

Posted 4/28/09 Contact: To be considered, please submit a cover letter, resume, 3-4 writing samples and story idea proposals. Also include a list of your top 3 magazines and why you like them, and your preferred topics of writing interest. Email jobs@monroemag.com and put "Features Editor" in the subject line.

The best part of this blog post was the comments. One person replied that this was the new business model that newspapers should use – to let aspiring writers work for free. Another person said, “Soon there will be paying media jobs. You will have to pay to work.” These comments hint at the sad state of the media industry and make me wonder if I will ever get a job that pays. Perhaps I will become the Princess of Perennially Unpaid Internships.

The truth is that unpaid internships are great if they help you get a foot in the door at a company or help you gain much-needed experience for a specific industry. In other words, unpaid internships are fine if they eventually lead to a paid position. I could handle waitressing and working for free for a few months after college. In fact, I would happily wash floors for free at a media company I am interested in if it would help me to eventually get a journalism job. It would be nice to be able to have a real life and have some spending money to enjoy myself but I understand times are tough.

I’m no longer naïve and harboring dreams for an apartment in the city and a disposable income, at least not right away. Now I would settle for a small stipend and bringing a bagged lunch from home.

Google: Jobs

By Julia Plevin '09

While so far I have had no luck in getting a job, I have found some great jobs. I give Dartmouth College credit for helping fine-tune my internet search skills these past four years. Here are some possible ways to search for jobs online.

Note: none of these searches have been successful yet.

1. Internet Jobs – Let’s face it, we don’t know how to find anything anymore if it is not on the Internet. One thing I do when I am looking at a cool website is scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the link to “Jobs” or “Contact Us.” I have done this for websites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Dailycandy. This is especially useful if you know anything about computer science. Normally these sites are looking for people with experience, buts sometimes I stumble across an entry-level job.

2. Cool companies – When I hear about companies that sound interesting, I do what any person under sixty would do and Google the company to find out more about it. For example, when I told a friend I was interested in trends, she told me to look at Iconoculture. Upon looking at the website, I decided I was born to work at this company so I clicked on “Careers” and found my dream job. I wrote a cover letter and submitted my resume into a black hole. The first time I did this, I actually thought someone would get back to me. Now I have such little faith. If anyone has ever been successful getting a job this way, please let me know.

3. “Job” Sites – Everyone knows about idealist.com and hopefully everyone knows how to log into Dartboard and see the jobs that Career Services collects for us. I have found a few other sites that seem promising:
- Best for entry-level jobs of all sorts: One Day One Job
- Best for your younger sibling: My First Paycheck
- Best for general career advice: Career Realism
- Best for the politically-inclined: Hill Zoo
- Best for finding social change start-ups that might need assistance: Echoing Green

4. Dartmouth alum, Dartmouth alum, Dartmouth alum – I have finally begun to realize that the internet is a scary, lonely place and have started to search for Dartmouth alums to help me with the job search. You can find alums by talking to classmates, searching the career advisory database (Dartmouth Career Network), or looking at specialty groups such as The Dartmouth Entrepreneur Network or Dartmouth Alumni in Entertainment and Media .

Let’s just say that if there is a job to be found on the Internet, I will find it. However, as I continue my job search, I am learning that the Internet is useful for finding information, but nothing beats actually knowing people with connections to the job that you are interested in.

The New York Times Is Calling

“Skip, call on line 1, it’s The New York Times. They are doing a story about college seniors.” Predictably, given the time of year, other calls were received in rapid succession from The Economist, Forbes.com, Smart Money.com, and Time, each reporter wanting the inside scoop on where college grads are looking for work (assuming, of course, that my aerie in The Bank of America building in downtown Hanover, provides a bird’s eye view of the entire national employment scene:).

“I hear they are all heading to Washington to work for the federal government,” suggested one reporter. Au contraire, “I hear that they are all taking not-for-profit jobs this year. Isn’t that right?” queried another reporter.


Reporters, you’ve got to love them. At times they act like elementary school soccer players, all bunching together in a frenzied effort to chase the ball and score a goal for their team. Invariably, they keep their well trained eyes on the ball and resist efforts-such as mine- to divert their attention elsewhere.

As fast as I could throw sallies in from the sideline, the reporters kicked them aside. "I can’t say it is a trend but I’m seeing a lot of interest on campus in microfinance this year.” Pass. Or, “it may just be my imagination but students seem to be flocking to programs about international development and humanitarian health careers.” Drifting too far left. Feign interest, work your way back towards the center of the field. “I think climate change jobs are generating a lot of interest as well.” That’s nice, show me the money.

Inevitably, in the end, reporters get what they want and mostly- to their credit- they get it right. Take SmartMoney, for example. By keeping her eye on the prize, the reporter identified: “7 Places Where College Grads Can Find Work” (http://www.smartmoney.com/Personal-Finance/Employment/7-Places-Where-College-Grads-Can-Find-Work/).

And, true to form, The New York Times (“Business Grads Looking Beyond Wall Street”(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/business/economy/18grads.html?_r=1&pagewanted), dug beneath the headlines to find that- for some seniors- “the Wall Street crisis was a blessing in disguise” . Come again? The article even quoted yours truly, semi-accurately, as saying, that the crisis is offering students permission to "start looking at a wider array of brass rings".

To be perfectly honest, neither reporters nor career directors can state definitively where the jobs are this year. As always, they are here, there and everywhere. To be sure, they aren't clustered together like elementary school soccer players but spread out over a much bigger playing field. What we also know is- regardless of where the jobs are or aren't- you can't go wrong if you heed the wisdom of Poet Richard Lovelace's words: "Attempt the end and never stand to doubt. Nothing's so hard but search will find it out."

Conversations With My Dad

By Julia Plevin '09

Like most Dartmouth students, I am internally driven, perhaps to the point of neurotic. My parents never told me to do my homework in high school. Instead, they told me to relax. Now that I am graduating from college, I keep looking to my parents for some guidance and help in the job search. I keep expecting them to put pressure on me and tell me I am wasting my Ivy League education. Instead, they are being completely laissez-fare. My lawyer father tells me that I should not try to go to law school right away. I am shocked at how much my parents believe in me. For every worrisome email that I send to my father, I receive wise words in response. While I never let my dad know how much I appreciate his perspective and encouragement, I thought I would share it on this blog:

4/10/09: I wrote the list of Ten Things I Could See Myself Doing Next Year, but the truth is all of those things seemed impossible because I had already been rejected for so many different jobs, from Teach For America, to Facebook, to Princeton In Asia.

Me: Right now it is hard to imagine myself doing anything because I’m so defeated and all my lofty dreams are being shattered

My dad: Lofty dreams are not applicable to your first job out of college. It's what you work toward once you get into the work world. Some people get there quickly, some more slowly. Some, I admit, never get there at all. Sometimes a person's lofty dream changes as they get older, more experienced, and have changed priorities. BUT NO ONE ACHIEVES HER LOFTY DREAMS RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE (unless you get drafted in the first round of the NBA or NFL drafts). This is a process, and you're just starting out. Careers go on for a long time. I'm in my 28th year, for example. I'm still working toward goals, too.

4/17/09: Today a Dartmouth alum who works for NBC told me about the NBC Broadcast Journalism program at the New York Film Academy. This sounded interesting to me so I forwarded the link to the website to my parents. My dad’s response was as practical as ever:

My dad: Do you have any idea if the graduates of this program have any success finding journalism jobs? It seems like a lot of what they teach is what you would learn if you got a job -- where you get paid, instead of paying -- working at a TV station. There are lots of TV stations in the country.

Me (feeling defeated and being typically melodramatic): Yeah, that is probably true. I think I just need to move somewhere, start waitressing, and then try to get a job. Or maybe I’ll just stay in Peru for a while after our ten-day family vacation.

My dad: If you stay in Peru, you can join the Shining Path guerillas. I hear they're hiring. Also, you can begin practicing your waitressing skills when you get home from Peru, at Mama's Ristorante, 10408 Bridle Lane, the house you have lived in since you were five years old.

4/20/09: I sent my parents the link to the New York Times article that quoted our very own Skip Sturman: "Business Grads Looking Beyond Wall Street". This was my dad’s response:


My dad: I liked this part:
Some students have grown frustrated and suspended their job search. As a result, Patricia Rose, the University of Pennsylvania's director of career services, recently sent out a message saying:
"We are hearing from some students that they are discouraged, and have stopped applying for jobs because so many other candidates are competing with them, some undoubtedly more qualified. Resist this impulse! By not applying, you are rejecting yourself."

She reminded them, "You are attending one of the world's finest universities."

"So hang in there," she concluded. "And, most importantly, believe in yourself."

I know you're working hard, but we believe in you. You will find your pot of gold.

Ten Things I Could See Myself Doing Next Year

By Julia Plevin '09

Yes, I am still jobless, but at least for now I have decided to stop wallowing in my self-pity and take some action steps. The first step to focus my job search was to make a list of ten things I could see myself doing next year:

1. Research for a documentary for film/television - example Production Assistant for 60 Minutes. I am way more interested in in-depth research shows than daily news or sitcoms.

2. Writing for a T.V. show like The Daily Show. Okay, this is basically a daily sitcom but the show is a perfect match for my witty sarcasm.

3. Writing in a foreign country - whether for a foreign newspaper or for an American newspaper or blog. I would also love to write for a travel guide but Harvard seems to have the monopoly on that…. I might want to someday apply for a Fulbright in journalism. My friend just got one and made it seem like anyone can get one. But I hate applications and I hear the process is quite a pain.

4. Something with social entrepreneurship - in the United States or abroad. I’m no idealist these days but I do support the trend towards smaller, local business ventures that are profitable and improve the world.

5. Being paid to spot trends all over the world. I want to be a coolhunter, but this is an exclusive niche and I am pretty sure coolhunters do not come to Ivy League college career fairs.

6. Working at a startup - Internet, production, or something else. I like the startup vibe, especially in San Francisco. Startups are full of young, enthusiastic people who bike to work and keep healthy, yummy snacks in the kitchen. Everyone at a startup does a hundred different jobs and there is none of that corporate ladder nonsense.

7. Getting a grant/fellowship to research alternative health practices in cultures around the world. Applying for grants/fellowships. This is something I wish I had taken more advantage of during my years as an undergraduate.

8. Working at a talent agency – My dad says that I would not like the plasticity of people in Los Angeles but a job where you are paid to schmooze sounds enticing.

9. Starting a business with some of my best friends from college. We have lots of ideas but no one idea that we are set on pursuing right now. According to many entrepreneurs, it is best to start a company when you are

young, energetic, and have fewer responsibilities in this world. Times of change are promising for entrepreneurs.

10. Becoming a certified yoga teacher and waiting tables while trying to figure out how to get a job. Okay, so this is sort of a a cop-out but becoming a yoga teacher is like a rite of passage in my family.