Monthly Archives: April 2015

Grit Trumps Smarts…US Millennials’ Skills Under Par…Legwork Leads to Prestigious Summer Internships…Emotional Intelligence Pays at Work

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Grit Trumps Smarts Image ID: 188832419

April_shutterstock_188832419An individual’s grit—the ability to persevere despite adversity, boredom, or distractions—is a greater indicator of success in the workplace than intelligence or talent. New research tracked measurable milestones such as graduating from Westpoint’s summer cadet basic training or winning the National Spelling Bee. The results showed that success was more tied to perseverance than intelligence. In school-related tasks, the research concluded that hard work was a better predictor of GPA than IQ. In the workplace, employees with the ability to stay motivated on long, difficult projects were the highest achievers, the research found. From TLNT.com

US Millennials’ Skills Under Par

Compared to their international counterparts in Europe and Asia, more than half of U.S. millennials lag behind in reading and math skills, according to a report by testing giant ETS. In literacy, US millennials scored an average of 274/500; the average score was 282. However, numeracy skills were far worse. The United States, Spain, and Italy were in a statistical race for last place, according to an article in The Atlantic. Based on the report findings, the authors forecast a greater divide between workers at the high and low ends of the economic scale, which will threaten U.S. competitiveness in the global market. From The Atlantic

Legwork Leads to Prestigious Summer Internships

Wall Street firms traditionally target students from elite campuses for their choice summer internships by sending recruiters to hunt for candidates during the fall. This puts students at campuses not on Wall Street’s list at a disadvantage. However, between sending hundreds of e-mails, fierce and relentless networking, and boning up on investment banking concepts, some go-getters from not-so-tony schools landed the internships. Since these summer jobs tend to lead to lucrative positions post graduation, that’s quite a coup. From The Wall St. Journal

Emotional Intelligence Pays at Work

The ability to read others’ emotions, or “emotional intelligence,” is a skill that reaps dividends, according to a study published in The Journal of Organizational Behavior. The research found that emotionally perceptive workers earned more than those who were less adroit at reading emotional cues. The researchers noted that emotional intelligence in the workplace involves an aptitude for navigating the office playing field rather than having personal attributes such as personal warmth or compassion. From Entrepreneur Magazine

Internships Under the Microscope

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shutterstock_253848799 [Converted]Obtaining internships has become as necessary to college students as the classes they take or the books they read. But these experience builders, especially unpaid ones, have come under the gun as many lawsuits brought by unpaid interns weave through the court system. So how can instructors help students manage the internship quagmire?

First, some facts. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducted research that shows a strong correlation between a student having an internship and receiving a full-time job offer before graduating. Therefore, encouraging students to go for these internships is a given. However, the correlation between internships and job offers does not exist if the internship is unpaid. NACE has not conducted research analyzing whether unpaid internships lead to job offers after graduation, however. Therefore, no actual figures can back up the notion that unpaid internships lead to job offers,

In policy papers, the NACE has stated that both paid and unpaid internships should provide positive learning outcomes such as practical experience, perspective on career options, and obtaining networking contacts. If students can land paid or unpaid internships that offer tangible lessons, they should jump at the chance, NACE suggests. Still, students taking unpaid internships should be aware of the Fair Labor Act standards governing the organizations that offer unpaid internships. They are:

  1. The internship must be similar to training in an educational setting.
  2. The experience must benefit the intern.
  3. An intern must not displace regular employees and must work under close supervision of staff.
  4. The employer offering the internship derives no immediate benefit from the intern’s activities; in fact, the internship may actually impede operations occasionally.
  5. The employer offers no guarantee of a job following the internship.
  6. Both intern and employer understand the intern does not receive payment.

These strict rules and the recent spate of lawsuits surrounding them have put both employers and colleges on guard. Many companies are starting to pay interns to avoid facing lawsuits. But others, such as magazine publisher Condé Nast, have opted to stop their internship programs altogether. Some colleges are paying more attention to protecting their students from unfair labor practices by insisting the company proves the job meets the Fair Labor Act standards. However, not all colleges have taken this step.

The legal scrutiny of internships has affected the number of positions available, making them harder to obtain. Still, they remain an important factor for résumé building and job preparation.

Below are resources for students looking for internships.

  • Glassdoor, the job review site, names its picks for the 25 best companies for interns in 2015. Facebook tops the list, followed by Chevron, Google, QuickenLoans, eBay and Yahoo!
  • Quint Careers offers a free e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Finding and Maximizing Internships.
  • Web resources for students looking for internships:

interninc connects students, employers, and universities in a social networking platform.

internJobs.com  provides access to a national database to search and to post résumés.

internmatch offers a large selection of paid internships.

Résumé Experience Statement Exercise

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Instructors: Remind your students that effective résumé statements are written in a truncated style that eliminates personal pronouns (I, me, myself) and skips most articles (a, an, and the). These concise statements employ strong action verbs and specific nouns to describe employment achievements and skills.

Try a “round robin” approach to see how students edit on the fly! We’ve included printable files at the end of the post for your convenience.

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Résumé Experience Statement Exercise        

Revise the following experience statements for conciseness. Some statements may also be improved by replacing weak verbs.

Example

Poor:            In one of my classes, I researched, compiled, and wrote a 35-page business plan by myself.

Improved:   Researched and wrote 35-page business plan.

  1. I was responsible to make sure that four employees did their daily tasks.
  2. I attended to a variety of client inquiries in a busy office of 16 lawyers.
  3. Decided how to handle tenants’ problems including everything from clogged drains to broken windows.
  4. It was my job to make sure customer bills went out on a set schedule.
  5. Was a coach for an after-school baseball program where I coached a group of 12 boys and girls.
  6. Managed an entire database for two months for one of the sales departments in the company while the manager was away on maternity leave.
  7. As a volunteer, I participated in beach clean up and collected trash that was left over from the holiday weekend.
  8. Promoted after only six months to one of the first managerial positions for a start-up company’s business.
  9. Used various bookkeeping software applications such as QuickBooks and Quicken to help prepare clients’ monthly statements.
  10. Went to Spanish classes to improve my speaking and writing of Spanish.
  11. Part of the group that raised over $2000 for a charity that gave the money raised to help underserved youth.
  12. Wrote drafts of press releases to be posted on the company website for my supervisor.
  13. Designed and created a system that improved the day-to-day operating procedures.
  14. I was awarded outstanding salesperson prize for making more sales than any other salesperson for three months in a row.
  15. Did the planning for a regional meeting and successfully obtained a speaker and was able to find an appropriate venue.

Solutions

  1. Supervised four employees and oversaw daily tasks.
  2. Addressed client inquiries for 16 attorneys.
  3. Resolved tenant complaints.
  4. Distributed customer bills on strict schedule.
  5. Coached 12 children for after-school baseball program.
  6. Managed sales database while manager took two-month leave.
  7. Participated in beach clean-up volunteer day to collect post-holiday trash.
  8. Promoted to managerial position at start-up company within six months.
  9. Performed bookkeeping tasks using QuickBooks and Quicken to prepare monthly client statements.
  10. Attended Spanish classes to improve speaking/writing skills.
  11. Helped raise $2000+ in donations for organization helping underserved youth.
  12. Drafted press releases for posting on company website.
  13. Created system to improve daily operations.
  14. Awarded outstanding salesperson prize for three consecutive months.
  15. Planned regional meeting; secured venue and speaker.

Résumé Exercise_Unedited

Résumé Statement Solutions