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Feature | 02/07/2017

ECO NEWSLETTER 2.7.17

Another Career Fair Approaches! New Job Postings! Economics Career Forum!

Feature | 12/11/2019

PhD Candidates Present at SEAS

In November 2019, Ekaterina Khmelnitskaya and Miguel Mascarua presented their research at the annual conference organized by the Southern Economic Association in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This large three-day conference included presentations by a diverse set of scholars from universities and government research organizations from all across the United States, including the top universities like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, etc. Ekaterina presented her paper “Competition and Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry” that studies how competition between novel drugs that have not yet entered the market affects the rate of innovation in the industry. She also discussed a paper presented by a researcher at the Federal Trade Commission. Both papers were part of the panel on Industrial Organization and Health. Miguel presented two papers during the sessions. The first one was his job market paper “Weak laws, informality, and organized crime: An establishment-level approach” that quantifies the costs of weak institutions on aggregate output. Also, he presented a work-in-progress titled “A whiter shade of wealth: Skin color discrimination and the distribution of wealth.” Both sessions were productive since he received excellent feedback that will improve the quality of his work.  

 

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Feature | 06/05/2018

How to Include Volunteer Experience on Your Resume

When it comes to writing or updating your resume, you know you should include your relevant work history, education, and technical skills.

But what about your volunteer experience? Will hiring managers even care about the time you spent building homes in Central America or organizing that charity walk? 

I’ll make this one easy for you: yes!

You should absolutely include volunteer experience on your resume. It’ll help you 

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Feature | 12/18/2018

The Rise of a Global Media Firm

GROWTH SPOTLIGHT: VICE

Uncubed, a UVA-founded tech/recruitment company in NYC specializing in helping undergraduates find employment in tech firms, hosts webinars on diverse topics. The ECO encourages you to check out Uncubed's website to learn more about the best in class and up-and-coming tech firms that are hiring!  And they host a huge career fair each fall in NYC. Read on...

VICE's rise from Canadian counter-culture rag to multi-billion dollar global media empire is an astounding tale of growth. 

But with that scale comes great complexity. Including the technical challenges of serving up VICE's signature content - from a look at rising cannabis use among senior citizens to the emotional toll of shopping online – in 35 countries and nearly 20 languages. 

Hear how the company handles this and learn about VICE's inner workings from Jessica Brown, Direct of UX, and others. 

Watch Now

(This is the latest video in Uncubed's collaboration with Amazon Web Services, where we talk with the people building the world's most impactful brands.) 

 

https://media.sailthru.com/2oj/1k2/c/h/5c182dbd88b8f.png

 

 

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Feature | 08/28/2019

How to Become a Consultant: 9 Steps to Doing it Right

By: Meg Prater
Source: HubSpot

What is a consultant?

A consultant is a person who's an expert in a particular field who gives professional advice to individuals and businesses in their area of expertise.

Here are some of the most common types of consultants:

  • Business consultant
  • Sales consultant
  • Marketing consultant
  • Accounting consultant
  • Technology consultant
  • Legal consultant
  • Public relations consultant

Do you have an area of expertise to advise on? Here are nine steps to become a consultant. Follow them closely and you'll build a strong foundation for future work, repeat clients, and expanding your reach and reputation.

How to Become a Consultant

  1. Identify your area of expertise.
  2. Set goals.
  3. Make a website.
  4. Get certified.
  5. Choose a target market.
  6. Decide where you'll work.
  7. Network with people.
  8. Set your rates
  9. Know when to say "no."

1. Identify your area of expertise.

Be honest about where your strengths and expertise lie -- and consider strengths outside your nine-to-five focus. Maybe you have a landscaping side hustle with enough client demand to take it full time. Or perhaps you're good at closing difficult deals in the medical sales industry -- so good that your colleagues are always asking for help.

Ask yourself three questions to identify your niche:

  1. "Do I have a unique point of view?"
  2. "Do I have the experience necessary to be authoritative in this field?"
  3. "Is there demand for this service?"

Being a consultant requires you to be organized, self-motivated, and good at boundary setting. Before launching your website and accepting your first client, consider your ability to meet these demands. You might identify the perfect niche, but if you can't meet independent deadlines or manage a billing cycle, you might not be ready to become a consultant.

To find your consulting specialty, consider areas you excel in at work, projects you've gotten high marks on in performance reviews, or hobbies you've mastered outside the office. You should also factor in what you enjoy -- if you're doing this full-time, it needs to be an activity you're passionate about.

2. Set goals.

Setting goals helps you know what you're working towards. Do you want this to stay a nights-and-weekends project? Do you hope to turn it into a full-time business? Do you want to hire employees someday? Answer these questions and plan accordingly.

Once you've identified broad goals for your business, narrow your focus to more immediate needs. To do this, make sure your goals are SMART:

  • Specific: Clearly define what you want to accomplish
  • Measurable: Identify targets and milestones to track progress
  • Attainable: Keep goals realistic and manageable
  • Relevant: Set goals that fit with your business model
  • Time-Based: Identify deadlines for your goals

Here's an example of SMART goals for a consultant who coaches sales teams to be better at cold outreach:

  • Specific: I will coach SMB sales teams on how to make better calls, send higher quality emails, and follow up in an effective manner. The result will be more qualified opportunities for reps resulting in more closed business and higher revenue for the organization.
  • Measurable: Success will be measured by increased client pipeline and percentage of client deals closed as well as referrals for my business.
  • Attainable: I have three clients already and bring in an average of one new referral every month. I know there is demand for my service, and this cadence is manageable for my workload and operating budget right now.
  • Relevant: This business model fits my skill set and allows me to benefit from my success with sales outreach as identified by myself, my coworkers, and my supervisors.
  • Time-Based:
    • November 15: Website goes live
    • December 1: Review previous month's work and ask for at least one referral
    • December 5: Send client bills for the previous month's work
    • December 15: Have all coaching sessions scheduled before this date in anticipation for holiday schedules

As your consultancy grows, so will your plans. Revisit your SMART goals on a monthly or quarterly basis and adjust them as needed.

Maria Marshall, an associate professor at Purdue University, researches small and family-owned businesses. She recommends including visionary goals for your business as well. Marshall outlines four main areas of focus for visionary goals:

  • Service: How can you improve customer satisfaction and retention?
  • Social: How can you give back to the community through philanthropy or volunteering?
  • Profit: How can you increase profits by X percent?
  • Growth: How can you expand your company (i.e., new employees, more clients, office space)?

3. Make a website.

Think you can get by without a website? Think again. A recent Local Search Association report finds that 63% of consumers use websites to find or engage with businesses, and 30% of those consumers won't consider a business without a website.

Also, if you have a site, Google gives your business more authority in local rankings. Creating a Google My Business profile isn't enough. A website that's optimized with backlinks, domain authority, and views will encourage Google to display your website in relevant searches.

Don't think website creation is in your wheelhouse? Services like WordPressand Squarespace make it easy to build a website, and GoDaddy allows you to lock down a domain name.

And if you want a tool that'll help you do everything from tracking incoming leads to booking meetings and will grow with your business, try HubSpot. Your website is the first impression of your business. Invest time here and see the returns for years to come.

4. Get certified.

Are there certifications that will give you an edge? For example, if you're a consultant for medical sales professionals, consider pursuing accreditation in one of HIDA's Medical Sales programs. If your specialty is coaching teams to be better at outreach, consider getting an Inbound Sales Certification from HubSpot.

Whether software-, skills-, or subject matter-specific certifications, find out what's important in your industry and invest in expanding your knowledge base. As a consultant, it's crucial to remain cutting edge and competitive in your niche, and certifications are a concrete way to demonstrate your drive.

5. Choose a target market.

Once you've identified your niche, be clear about who your target audience is. For example, if you help startup sales teams navigate early-stage scaleup, hone in on your target market by answering these five questions:

  1. "Where is my target audience located?" (Will you serve local clients only? Will you accept national or regional clients? Will you exclude international clients?)
  2. "What are their biggest pain points?" (What has driven them to search for your help? What are their daily roadblocks to suggest? What are their scaling challenges?)
  3. "Who is competing for their business?" (Who are your biggest competitors and how do your services measure up? What sets you apart?)
  4. "Am I targeting startups themselves the individual sales managers?" (Will you reach out to businesses or network to individuals through local meetups or LinkedIn outreach?)
  5. "What motivates my target audience?" (What is your audience's end goal by choosing your services? What do they hope to achieve for their team and for themselves?)

Getting specific about who your customer is and what's important to them allows you to provide superior service and reach clients who are the perfect match.

6. Decide where you'll work.

You probably won't need a designated workplace while getting your consultancy off the ground. But if you're becoming a full-time consultant, it might be helpful to have an office. Before you start booking office tours, ask yourself a few questions:

  1. "Can I afford office space, and if so, how much can I afford?"
  2. "Will a workplace enhance my business or help it grow?"
  3. "Why do I need this space?" (i.e., do I meet with clients? Am I hiring some part-time help?)

Once you've decided that office space will truly benefit your business, consider what kind of space is right for your needs. Coworking spaces like We Work andGalvanize are staples of many urban environments.

They give you access to shared or small workspaces, as well as meeting rooms and amenities, at a lower monthly rate than traditional office spaces. They also give you another way to network and benefit from those around you.

7. Network with people.

Speaking of networking … Referrals are a crucial way to grow your business, but they aren't the only way. Unlike at a large company, you probably don't have a marketing team whose whole job it is to promote your business. Instead, selling the value of your consultancy often falls to you and you alone.

Join LinkedIn and Facebook groups your audience frequents, write and share blog posts highlighting your expertise, and attend meetups or conferences in your area. Be everywhere and talk to everyone who's a good fit for your offering. No one's going to sell you as well as you, so brush off that elevator pitch and get ready to sell yourself anything but short.

8. Set your rates.

Deciding how much you'll charge clients can be the hardest part of starting a consultancy. It's tempting to charge less than you're worth because you haven't proven your results yet.

Research what comparative consultants are charging in your area (sites likeGlassdoor.com are great for this). And decide which of these common types of consultant pricing would most fairly compensate you for the work you're doing.

How much should you charge as a consultant?

  1. Double/triple your current hourly wage
  2. Set a daily rate
  3. Set fees by project
  4. Set fees by performance
  5. Set fees using data from previous client work
  6. Set solution-based fees

Once you've decided what to charge, consider how you'll bill clients and accept payment. There are many free and fee-based platforms -- like Invoicely,Freshbooks, and Due -- that allow you to automate billing cycles, track and manage invoices and payments, and run reports on weekly, quarterly, or yearly earnings.

And don't forget to consult with an accountant during tax season. If you're not having taxes taken out of your payments, you'll need to budget for those when taxes are due. An accountant can offer guidance on how to make this less of a headache.

9. Know when to say "no."

In the beginning, it's easy to say "yes" to every client and every request. Now more than ever, you want your work to be high quality, organized, and manageable. coming in at a manageable rate.

If saying yes to a new client means your current client work will suffer, say, "I'd love to serve your needs, but with my current workload, I don't think I can give you the attention you deserve. I should have more availability next quarter. Can I reach out to you then to see if this is still a need?"

Prospective customers will appreciate your honesty, and you'll be able to maintain high-quality work at a cadence that doesn't threaten your sanity or existing client satisfaction.

It's also difficult to turn down clients that aren't a good fit. Be honest when you can't meet a prospective client's needs, and be proactive about introducing them to someone who can. They'll benefit from a better match, and your business won't lose sight of what it does best.

How to Find Consulting Clients

  1. Identify your ideal customer.
  2. Find out where they hang out online.
  3. Learn what motivates them.
  4. Develop an outreach strategy.
  5. Size up the competition.
  6. Decide what sets you apart.
  7. Be clear in communicating your unique value proposition.

So, how do you find clients that are a good fit? Follow these guidelines.

  1. Identify your ideal customer: What industry are they in? What type of services are they looking for?
  2. Find out where they hang out online: Which websites and social media sites are they active on?
  3. Learn what motivates them: What are the major pain points your potential customers face?
  4. Develop an outreach strategy: What are your primary tools for communicating (e.g., email, phone calls, social media)?
  5. Size up the competition: What are competitors offering and what are the price points?
  6. Decide what sets you apart: What additional value does your work add that other consultancies don't?
  7. Be clear in communicating your unique value proposition: How will you share this value proposition to potential clients?

Becoming a consultant is an exciting way to grow your career. Be honest about your readiness and niche, organized in your approach, and clear in defining, meeting, and addressing your goals. These nine steps are the perfect place to start. Good luck!

Feature | 10/07/2022

Do You Have a Career Fair Pitch

 

Article written by Career Fair Plus.

Do you have an elevator pitch ready for your next career fair? An elevator pitch is a quick and memorable summary of your background and career interests. The name is a throwback to a time when prospective employees (or salespeople) waited in building lobbies to jump in an elevator with an executive. If the pitch went well, they chat all the way to the executive suite. If not, they would get off on the next floor, return to the lobby, and try again.

What is your goal?

Career fairs are designed to give you multiple opportunities to meet recruiters from organizations looking for college hires like you. Instead of lurking among lobby foliage hoping for a receptive audience, you'll walk up to a table where recruiters will welcome you. Still, your goal is to sell yourself quickly by making a good first impression in 30 to 60 seconds.

What should you say?

Start with your basic information: name, year in school, and major. Follow this with at least one accomplishment or skill relevant to your job search. This is the perfect time to briefly describe an internship or research applicable to your career field. If you don't have any real-world experience yet, you can talk about a paper or project from one of your classes. Wrap-up your pitch by sharing your career interests and goals, then offer the recruiter a copy of your resume. Carnegie-Mellon University has an excellent guide to preparing your elevator pitch with examples.

Be prepared to succeed

If your introduction goes well, you may spend the next several minutes talking to the recruiter. Keep the conversation moving by preparing a list of questions that you can ask. See our article on 8 Questions to Ask Employers for ideas. Also be ready to describe your strongest skills and abilities. Making a list of your strengths is also a good way to boost your confidence before you go to the career fair. Include details and specific examples.

Customize to each employer

Customizing your introduction to each recruiter gives you the opportunity to show that you are a serious job candidate. Take a few minutes to research employers on Career Fair Plus or the company's website so that you know what job openings the recruiters are trying to fill. It will only take a few minutes to formulate a couple questions for each company, but even that short amount of time will make you stand out from other candidates. Review your question list between each recruiter so that you remember the details accurately.

Follow-up Quickly

Send each recruiter a thank-you email right after you leave the career fair to build on the success of your introductory meeting. Thank the recruiter by name, restate your elevator pitch, and attach your resume. If something went wrong during your first meeting, this is the time to recover. Your elevator pitch is important, but it isn't the end of the world if you stumble on your words or another student interrupts you. Instead, this gives you the opportunity to show that you have the professional skills to pick up and try again.

Conclusion

A good elevator pitch is useful beyond the career fair floor. A succinct pitch sets a professional tone to your LinkedIn and other social media accounts. After practicing, your elevator pitch will become a natural part of the way you meet new people whether you are networking professionally or just meeting friends of friends at a dinner party. Take time to perfect your introduction and keep it update to date as you build your life beyond college. Preparation is the key to successfully navigating a career fair. If this is your first career fair, see some of our other blog articles like 5 Things to Know Before You Attend a Career Fair.

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Feature | 06/07/2018

How to Answer "What Sets You Apart from the Rest"

An extremely common interview question these days is some form of "What sets you apart from the rest of the candidates for this job?" Other incarnations of this question include "Why should we hire you?" and "What makes you so different from all the other people interviewing for this position?" No matter exactly how this question is worded, it's getting at the same thing: what are your greatest strengths and skills, what might make you unique, and how those strengths and skills and uniqueness will translate into success in the position you're interviewing for.

Graph for Mental Health

Feature | 01/13/2017

Three UVA ECON Grads Publish Paper with Prof. Steve Stern (Stony Brook)

Variation in mental illness and provision of public mental health services

Authors: UVA Grads: William C. Johnson, Michael LaForest, Brett Lissenden & Prof. Steven Stern (Stony Brook).

Published recently in Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology, this paper is an expansion of a previous study by Professor Steven Stern which estimated the local prevalence of mental illness in the Charlottesville area. That earlier paper caught the eye of state senator Creigh Deeds, who recognized how useful it would be to have the analysis extended to the entire state of Virginia. Three Economics graduate students then helped Professor Stern estimate the prevalence of mental illness within 30 geographical regions in the state of Virginia. After accounting for insurance status, they were able to compare estimates of demand for public mental health services to supply of public mental health services in each of those 30 geographical regions. Over 66,000 uninsured and Medicaid-insured individuals in Virginia were found to be without public mental health services. The deficit varies locally, with several regions having no deficit and others having 5,000 or more untreated people. Though a large portion of the unserved people with mental illness are uninsured, many would be insured for mental health services through Medicaid if Virginia were to accept the Medicaid expansion associated with the Affordable Care Act. The paper's findings suggest that states can better serve populations relying on mental health care by allocating scarce public mental health dollars to localities reflecting their need. The co-authors' results have been presented to a Virginia Senate joint subcommittee on mental health. The chart below shows the deficit of mental health services across Virginia's Community Services Boards for three values of PSUs (primary sampling units).

 

 

 

 

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Feature | 01/11/2017

Article - 6 Signs that You're Living in an Entrepreneurial Society

In his landmark 1985 book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, famed author and educator Peter Drucker wrote about an entrepreneurial society and its impact on economic development. “Entrepreneurship rests on a theory of economy and society,” he wrote. “The theory sees change as normal and indeed as healthy. And it sees the major task in society — and especially in the economy — as doing something different rather than doing better what is already being done.” What does it mean, then, to live in a society that is becoming more entrepreneurial? I see six major signs: Read more here...

 

https://hbr.org/2016/10/6-signs-youre-living-in-an-entrepreneurial-society?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=harvardbiz

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Feature | 09/16/2021

ECO Article: Career Advice for College Students: 5 Tips to Build a Strong Foundation

by Lucy Manole | September 08, 2021 from Vault

College years are all about that hustle and bustle. From attending classes and parties to tackling exams and social life, there’s little spare time on your hands.

Even so, college years are crucial for career building. It’s the right time to not just think about your career aspirations but also to take action. In this post, we share some actionable advice and experience-backed tips to build a solid base for your career. Let’s dive in.

Find your true passion.

What you’re studying in college may interest you, but is it your true passion? Say, you’re majoring in computer science—do you see yourself building a lifelong career in that field?

Don’t disregard the cliché quote, “If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life” just because you’re tired of hearing it. Picking a career path is a long-term decision, and college years are the perfect time to ponder what profession floats your boat. Whatever you pick as your career, aim to be better than the best in your field. And that’s only possible if you’re truly passionate about what you do, as doing what you love means you’re motivated to give your best each day.

So, strive to find your true passion. Think about the subjects you love in your major and excel at. Think about luminaries you admire. Many college graduates ultimately end up doing something completely different from what they studied, and that’s okay. It’s all about finding and doing what you love, and the money will eventually follow.

Proactively seek opportunities.

College is a time for fun, but also a time to gain some valuable, hands-on experience in your field. One of the most important and effective ways to do that is by getting internships.

Internships allow you to try out different fields you’re interested in. You get to learn new skills and gain real-world exposure without the pressure and commitment that comes with a full-time job. You might even get paid! Professional experience—even if it’s unrelated to the career you ultimately land in—will better prepare you for the real world and narrow down what you love. Besides, getting a foot in the door while you’re still in college will make the eventual job hunt a bit less stressful.

Volunteering is another great way to gain valuable experience and show future employers that you’re serious about the things that matter to you. And to find internship and volunteering opportunities, you need to...

Build your network.

To a large extent, it’s true that “your network is your net worth” (this is the title of a book by Porter Gale). Your college days are ideal to start sowing the seeds of professional relationships that:

  • In the short term, help you land internships and freelance work.
  • In the long run, help you land job offers and business opportunities.

There are plenty of ways to start building your professional network:

  • Start with your professors, peers, and family. Ask them to let you know if they come across any opportunities in your areas of interest.
  • Get (and keep) in touch with your college alumni to learn about internship opportunities at their companies.
  • Use social media platforms, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn, to post your college learning experiences, connect with professionals in your field, join networking groups, and look for opportunities.
  • Attend career fairs and similar events to get in front of potential employers.

Learn financial prudence.

You may not be earning just yet, but the earlier you learn the basics of building wealth, the better.

Whether or not you have a source of income, the first step to financial prudence is making a habit to spend wisely. Of course, the occasional indulgence is fine, but avoid impulse shopping or spending on things you don’t really need. After all, money saved is money earned, and that money can help you better manage your monthly college expenses and debt.

Oh, and if you have spare funds, learn how you can start investing. You can also consider P2P lending or, if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, crypto trading.

Start a creative side hustle.

While tackling college academic work is often a tall order in itself, carving out time for a creative side hustle is almost always possible and potentially very rewarding.

So if you have an entrepreneurial drive to start something of your own—be it a blog, a simple online store, a YouTube channel, etc.—do it. Don’t put it off and binge-watch Netflix instead. Starting your side venture during college gives you an amazing head start, and who knows what good things it might lead you to.

Freelancing in your free time isn’t a bad idea either. Love web design, coding, or writing and are good at it? Why not leverage and hone your skills by taking on real-world projects, while getting paid for your work? Not to mention freelancing will also help in your network- and resume-building efforts, and (at least to some extent) finance your college expenses.

Wrapping up

Like it or not, college time flies fast. Before you know it, you’re reminiscing about your college days—wanting to relive fond memories but being grateful for not having the stress of exams and assignment deadlines—while worrying about some project’s deadline at work.

Make the most of this time. In the long run, your college grades may not matter much, but how you spend your college years matters a lot.

https://www.vault.com/blogs/admit-one-vaults-mba-law-school-and-college-blog/career-advice-for-college-students-5-tips-to-build-a-strong-foundation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=adestra&eid=564591&utm_campaign=09_15_2021_Student

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Feature | 01/06/2022

Barrons Shares Its "Best Job in America"

The ‘Best Job in America’ Pays up to $125,000 a Year—and Has 10,000 Job Openings

This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.

Most people want to find a job that keeps up with inflation, provides some level of flexibility, but they also want to be happy. After all, most Americans spend at least eight hours a day working—and often without paid time off.

It’s the $125,000 question in an increasingly unpredictable labor market: How can you have it all? Is there a job that comes with the prospect of a six-figure income, high job satisfaction and has enough job openings to make it a real possibility?

Workers quit their jobs at record pace in November, suggesting that people are fed up. The number of quits increased by 370,000 to a record 4.5 million in November. The “quits rate” rose to 3% from 2.8% in October. 

At the same time, job openings fell by 529,000 to 10.6 million on the last day of November, the Labor Department said this week. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain to 11.1 million vacancies.

Computer scientists remain in high demand

Companies are always keen to use intel to improve efficiency and learn more about their customers and, so, computer scientists are in high demand. They are also one of the privileged professions to have the opportunity to work remotely.

Java developers are No. 1 on Glassdoor’s “50 Best Jobs in America” for 2021. They typically work at startups focused on the creation of a variety of web applications to go to market and to fill existing customer orders, the careers website said.

They boast a salary range of $69,000 to $125,000 and have a median base annual salary of more than $93,000. They had a 4.2 out of 5.0 job rating, and there are approximately 10,103 job openings for Java developers.

Java developers ideally have a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a professional IT certification, and are required to have expert level Java programming, plus experience in database management and computer architecture.

Data scientists were No. 2 on the list

They were followed by data scientists at No. 2 ($113,736 median annual base salary) and product managers at No. 3 ($121,107), enterprise architects at No. 4 ($131,361) and devops engineers at No. 5 ($110,003).

Data scientists and software developers use programming language such as Python, followed by R, SQL, Hadoop and the more well-known Java. Product managers are responsible for the strategy and blueprint of a product or product line.

An enterprise architect is responsible for a company’s entire IT infrastructure, while a devops engineer is proficient in both engineering and coding, and creates and implements systems software, and improves existing systems.

These computer scientist positions are in high demand across all industries, career consultants say, particularly in Silicon Valley companies such as Meta (ticker: FB), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT), among many others.

Three factors comprise Glassdoor’s score

The “Glassdoor Job Score” is determined by weighing three factors equally: Earning potential (median annual base salary), overall job satisfaction rating and number of job openings. C-suite and intern level jobs were excluded from this report.

For a job title to be considered, it must receive at least 100 salary reports and at least 100 job satisfaction ratings shared by U.S.-based employees in one year. Results represent job titles that rate highly among all of those three categories.

The “Glassdoor Job Score” is determined by weighing three factors equally: Earning potential (median annual base salary), overall job satisfaction rating and—of critical interest—number of job openings.

But computer scientists have competition. A separate report by the U.S. News & World Report on the best jobs of the year lists physician assistant as No. 1 ($112,260 median salary and 39,300 openings). Software developers were No. 2.

Write to editors@barrons.com

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Feature | 08/28/2019

How to Solve Business Problems Using Creativity

By: Lynda Shaw
Source: Forbes

Shutterstock

 

What comes into your mind when you think of creativity? An artist painting beautiful works of art? A designer with imagination and skills for contemporary architecture? An original thinker of the type lauded as a genius? Of course, creativity is all of these, but creative people also think of valuable and practical ways of doing things. They solve problems on a regular basis by employing creative thought.  That is the kind of creativity that is exceedingly helpful in business and an incredible transferable skill for anyone who can master it.

Social psychologist and cofounder of the London School of Economics, Graham Wallas developed a theory of a creative process that I think you may find useful. With observations some years earlier from Poincaré, a French mathematician, Wallas came up with a logical and practical template to harness the seemingly illogical unconscious thinking that can nevertheless be so illuminating and turn into the perfect solution to problems.

There are four steps to this model:

Step 1 – Preparation: Recognize the problem and find out as much about it as you can.  Consciously try to come up with an answer.

Step 2 – Incubation: Do something unrelated to the problem, think of something else and allow your mind to unconsciously work on the problem.

Step 3 – Illumination: It is during the incubation period that an unrelated event could give an answer, a sort of realization, an illumination.

Step 4 – Verification: At this point you check the solution you have come up with to see if it will work.

The "incubation" period is the interesting part and this has stimulated much debate over the years. It could be that the information you consider in the preparation phase has itself already undergone some unconscious processing. Some believe that unconscious thinking is faster than conscious thought, so is therefore more efficient in the incubation phase. Psychologists more recently suggest that unconscious processing is more effective than conscious processing because it has no constraints associated with normal concepts, so frees the mind to come up with novel answers.

As is often the case in psychology, there are researchers (such as Weisberg) who disagree and the incubation period model is under contention. Many believe that problem solving isn’t in the least bit mysterious and is a combination of relevant knowledge, factual information and problem solving strategies. In this context, these strategies can include analogical problem solving whereby we use our experiences of similar situations and apply this previously acquired knowledge to find solutions. Be careful however, as there will be different variables to consider, so stay open minded.

But here’s a thought. A recent study by Saggar and colleagues found a link between creative problem solving and activity in the cerebellum part of the brain, which is normally associated with regulating motor movements such as balance, co-ordination and speech. They found that when people engaged the executive-control center, engaging higher order functions such as planning and organizing, it actually impaired creative problem solving. In this instance, thinking logically didn’t help with the task.

So what strategies for creative problem solving do you favor? Are you in the logical camp or do you prefer the four-step model? Perhaps you have other ways in which you work out those sticky challenges.  Whichever you prefer, perhaps it’s a good idea to shake up old ways of doing things and consciously try something different and measure its success or otherwise. At least that way you will know what best suits you.

Feature | 10/21/2019

Current and Former UVA Econ Students at UEA Conference

Devaki Ghose (job market candidate) and Moogdho Mahzab (5th year student) presented their work at the 2019 Urban Economics Association (UEA) conference in Philadelphia (hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) on October 11-12. Devaki presented her job market paper,  "Trade, Internal Migration and Human Capital: Who gains from India's IT Boom," under the category of “Best Student Paper,” and Moogdho presented his work, "Dishonest Politicians and Public Goods Provision," during the “Public Goods” session. Caitlin Slattery, a recent PhD graduate from UVa, now assistant professor of economics at Columbia Business School, also presented her work at the conference. Graduate students and faculty members working on urban and regional economics around the globe joined the conference. Dave Donaldson (MIT) and Enrico Moretti (Berkeley) gave the keynote presentations. More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.urbaneconomics.org/meetings/uea2019/ .

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/29/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 9.29.16

Students working together
Hello << Test First Name >>,

Here is this week's Updates and Announcements listing from the Economics Career Office. Below you will find Job and Internship Announcements from alumni and employers, Articles from the ECO, and Job Expiration dates from OGI-Handshake. If you have any questions, please feel free to write.

All the best,
Jen

Upcoming Job Expiration Dates

Announcements (Examples: Credit Suisse Info Session, Jobs with the Federal Reserve in St. Louis and Chicago, Research Assistant at Columbia Business School)

Articles
Jobs for Economics Majors (Note, although this article includes a Top Ten List, the ECO does not claim that these are the "Top Ten" jobs for majors. This list is meant to be a resource in your search.

Career Advice for Economics Majors (Written for college students by a corporate economist/university professor.)

Networking for Economics Majors (Written for college students by a corporate economist/university professor.)
s
Economics Alum in the News with Innovative Technology

Tough Interview Questions (Just for fun, many of these questions are typically not for entry-level interviews, but the questions and answers are very informative and can be applied to all job searches!)

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/12/2018

10 Ways to Get the Most out of Your Summer Internship

By CAROLINE CENIZA-LEVINE 

A summer internship can be a great way to build your future in the adult workforce – or it can be a big disappointment. Are you sitting around with your fellow interns, swapping jokes because you have little do? This temporary gig is supposed to be more than a paycheck. The whole point of it is to further your education.

You have more to say about how your internship goes than you think. If you aren’t gaining the skills and connections you need, talk to your boss about how to make your experience better. Or even if you are busy, and realize you don’t like this occupation, there are lessons to be learned. An internship is too valuable to waste.

You haven’t landed an internship yet? The good news is that companies are still hiring (and check out these last-minute suggestions to increase your job leads). If you have locked down an internship, make the most of it by following these 10 tips:

1. Don’t put up with a do-nothing internship. Horror stories abound about interns sidelined into indolent, clock-watching existences. Or relegated to mindless tasks like fetching coffee or cleaning up the stockroom. Sure, you can’t expect to be plotting corporate strategy as a 20-year-old, two-month temp. But you should politely keep after your boss to make the most of you.

Your manager may not know how quickly or effectively you work, so don’t be alarmed if you’re not given much to do at first. Let your manager know you’re available to do more. Ask for suggestions on how you can learn more about the company and industry. Perhaps there are old company reports you can review. Showing initiative to learn and remain productive will endear you to your boss.

2. Convert your internship into a full-time position. This means doing a great job with the responsibilities given to you right now. Get regular feedback from your manager so you know you’re meeting expectations. If there’s a formal evaluation form, get a copy in advance so you can keep track of what your objectives should be. Ask the human resources department for the official process to be considered for extended employment. You don’t want to miss any steps or deadlines.

3. Get a professional reference (or two). Stay close to your manager so you can get a strong professional reference from him or her. Your internship program may not lead to another job there, but a strong reference can set you up for one elsewhere. Also ask for a reference from others you helped. For example, if you interned in marketing, you may have closely supported the salespeople. Toward the end of your internship, collect their personal contact information, in case they leave the firm by the time you need the references.

4. Identify your valuable strengths. Internships also are voyages of self-discovery. Sometimes skills that come naturally are ones you overlook, and it’s helpful to have others pinpoint them for you. If your internship doesn’t have an official evaluation form, ask for this feedback. This provides you with good talking points when you meet future employers.

5. Identify your weaknesses. Sometimes, managers hesitate to give criticism. Soften the request for a candid critique by asking how to improve for your next role. Not knowing your weak points can hinder you: You won’t know what you need to correct, or whether the job is right for you.

Perhaps you love working in a law firm but aren’t attentive to detail. As an attorney, you will need to be meticulous about the small things, so you need to focus on them in the future. Or your brash personality may not be the right fit for a career in a buttoned-down corporate climate, and nothing will change that. Such self-knowledge will benefit you well going forward.

6. Develop new skills. If your internship offers training workshops or mentor pairings or any other skills-building endeavors, make sure you take advantage of these. Find out the calendar in advance, and give your manager plenty of notice, plus a game plan for how you will make up the work if the extra training interferes with your duties.

7. Broaden your network. Gaining skills isn’t the whole story with an internship. Getting to know people who may help you later is a big goal. Even if no organized networking forums exist, being in the workplace each day means you are meeting new folks constantly. Take your lunch breaks with different co-workers over the summer. Ask your manager for introductions. Attend any company-sponsored events open to you.

This goes for full-time employees and fellow interns alike. Your peers are a great resource because you have a shared experience. Introduce your immediate colleagues to your fellow interns, and ask peers to do the same for you. If you got your internship through a larger organization, keep in touch with its interns outside your company, too.

8. Add new accomplishments to your resume. Note what you’re learning and doing on your resume while it’s fresh in your mind. What technical and computer skills are you using? What types of analysis are you doing? What tangible results have you achieved?

9. Strengthen your online profile. In addition to your resume, update your LinkedIn profile. A word of warning: Be careful about sharing your internship experience on social media. Don’t reveal confidential information – like that research you’re doing for an initiative that is not yet public. Do not share business goals or insights. Furthermore, keep your tone professional and positive. Trashing your boss on the Web, where everyone can read it, including the boss, could come back to harm you.

10. Learn from a bad experience. Not all internships are nirvana. If you don’t like yours, figure out why. This gives you a clearer picture about what you don’t want in your adult career. Is it the day-to-day work? Is it the people? The pace? The growth prospects? The industry or subject matter? Bad experiences are instructive. Remember: You take an internship to learn, about what a job is like and what you are like.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/25/2024

Use Spring Break to Your Advantage by Networking and Traveling

Article written by Kara Thompson for Daily Emerald

 

Spring break is quickly approaching, and it can be an exciting time, hinting at the impending summer.  It’s easy to get caught in elaborate plans with friends and before you know it, your flight back to school is a day away and your week of freedom has come to an end.

For those of us on the search for a job, it might be beneficial to exchange music festivals for informational interviews this break. Networking is a crucial part of being a college student because it can present opportunities you may not have otherwise had. The much-needed week off is also the perfect time to consider where you might want to live post-graduation.

Networking has huge benefits and traveling for informational interviews is a perk. Get a sense of what your life would be like if you chose to live and work in a particular city. After all, the most important thing is your happiness and location can play a big role in it.

Here are some ways you can make your spring break productive while still having fun.

  1. Travel to your potential “home”

There are so many beautiful and exciting places where you might think you would want to live, there’s a lot more to consider than just aesthetics. Take climate, available transportation, expenses and distance from loved ones into account. It’s easy to feel like you know exactly what you’re doing when you’re 22 years old, but you want to be sure this destination will bring you happiness in the long run.

If you’re applying for jobs all around the U.S., pick one or two of these locations and spend some time exploring the area. Could you see yourself starting a family there? Is it affordable? What are the people like?

It’s good to branch out of your comfort zone and live somewhere new while you’re young, but make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

  1. Schedule informational interviews

If talking to professionals in your field of potential work doesn’t excite you, then you probably chose the wrong career path. Informational interviews give you the chance to learn more about the career you’re getting into while also allowing you to network with professionals in the industry. This can give you a good feel for what your life will look like.

Schedule as many interviews as you can and make sure you go prepared with plenty of questions. Research the people you are planning on meeting and cater your questions to them specifically. People love to talk about themselves, and they will be flattered if you show up knowledgeable of their work history.

  1. Apartment hunt

Touring apartments might be a productive way to spend some of your time. Many apartments that are listed online have photos that don’t accurately depict what the space looks like. For this reason, it’s a good idea to check out the property in person. The environment you live in is an important part of your decision making when it comes to looking for a job. In order to make sure this is the right place for you, it’s helpful to check out what type of housing you’ll have to choose from.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/02/2017

ARTICLE - 43 RESUME TIPS THAT WILL HELP GET YOU HIRED

"When you haven’t updated your resume in a while, it can be hard to know where to start. What experiences and accomplishments should you include for the jobs you’ve got your eye on? What new resume rules and trends should you be following? And seriously, one page or two?" - Erin Greenawald

 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/11/2021

Virtual Career Fairs: Best Practices! How to Plan and Attend

Vault:

by Victorio Duran III | August 05, 2021

It isn’t easy to stand out at in-person job fairs, and leaving a lasting impression with employers at virtual job fairs can be just as challenging. However, if you follow the eight tips below, you’ll have no difficulty making meaningful professional connections and differentiating yourself from other candidates.

1. Update your profile and resume

Your resume and professional profiles, especially your LinkedIn profile, need to be up to date. Ensure that your resume is as comprehensive as possible. Don’t skimp on information—and certainly make sure to include key words and quantifiable achievements. Also, make sure your polished, error-free resume is available in both PDF and Word files, and available on your desktop so you can access it and upload it easily. All of this is important during fairs because employers use the information on your resume and profile to see if you match their requirements.

2. Do your research

For employers you’re interested in, go the extra mile while researching them. Find out about the opportunities they offer and their cultures. This allows you to better determine if they might be good fits for you, and to customize your resume and profile to their requirements. In addition, doing your research shows recruiters at the career fair that you did your homework and are interested in working for them. The more you know about a company’s products, employee culture, social media presence, standing in the market, etc., the more topics you’ll have to talk about—and the more likely you are to make a lasting impression.

3. Prepare to ask questions       

Answering questions is so passé. To stand out from the competition, you need to ask questions—and you have every right to do so. Show off the research you’ve done and prepare a list of questions for recruiters. You might ask about company culture, retention rate, growth plans, how a company is managing in these difficult times, and how a company’s work environment has changed in the wake of Covid-19. Also, with everyone working from home, you might have legitimate concerns about starting a job remotely. So, ask about the communication tools the company uses to facilitate work from home, and whether they prefer Glip, Discord, or another collaboration software app.

4. Plan your day

You don’t want your lack of planning and organization getting in the way of making strong connections at virtual fairs. So, if you have trouble getting organized, there are many online productivity tools that can help. It also helps if you proceed step by step through each virtual fair. So, decide ahead of time which virtual stands you’d like to stop at and decide the questions you’ll be asking at each stop. In addition, familiarize yourself with the platform hosting the fair so you know how to go about it.

It’s extremely important to spend your time efficiently. You want to attend the career clinics and webinars but also make time for meeting with recruiters on a one-to-one basis. You don’t want to have all the information and knowledge on how to land a job but not get enough time to talk to the people actually offering one.

5. Draft an elevator pitch

It’s important to prepare an elevator pitch you can give to recruiters you meet at fairs. Time is of the essence, as there are typically hundreds of other candidates vying for recruiters’ attention. Making an impression with few words isn’t something most people can do on the spot and off the top of their heads. So, ahead of each fair, draft an elevator pitch thoughtfully, considering how you’ll approach each employer and what would you’d like to say.

It’s probable that instead of talking, you’ll have to text your pitch, so have your pitch ready to be copied and pasted. A little knowledge of the principles of copywriting wouldn’t go amiss to make an immediate impression and be able to sell yourself. And think short and sharp—briefly outline your academic and work background, and mention why you’d like to be part of an employer’s team.

6. Be professional

Even when you’re attending a virtual fair, you should dress to impress. Recruiters will be able to see you. Be as sharply dressed as you would for an in-person interview. This shows seriousness and will create a great first impression. Avoid clothing with patterns, and keep your background plain, simple, and clutter-free.  

Of course, don’t be late for the fair. Show up on time so you have a better chance of doing everything you want to do during the fair. If you’ve set prior appointments for personal meetings with recruiters, be there before they are. Doing so will make you come off as eager, well prepared, and someone who respects others’ busy schedules.

In addition, be professional in all your communication. A joke or two can be acceptable during conversations to lighten the mood, but too many jokes can make you seem not very serious and create the wrong impression. While it’s good to have things to talk about, limit your conversation to the company, the job, and the matter at hand.

7. Be real

To come off as your authentic self, especially on a virtual platform, isn’t easy. However, the best advice is to be yourself. Let your personality shine through, and don’t let your nerves get in the way. There’s no need to be nervous or worried that one single job fair will make or break your career—there will be many other fairs. Also, remember that genuine candidates stand out—they’re the ones recruiters will remember.

So, if you’re authentic as possible while also acting confidently and professionally, you’ll create a great first impression. Give honest answers to questions, relating answers to your personal life and struggles to give employers a quick idea of who you are. Of course, be cool-headed at all times, especially in response to tricky interview questions you didn’t anticipate. 

8. Close thoughtfully

If you want to make a truly lasting impression, you need to connect with employers after career fairs. So, make sure you ask for their contact information during the fair, and send them a formal email immediately afterward. You could also send them a LinkedIn request with a personalized message, thanking them for their time and summarizing the conversation you had. Mention the position you’re interested in, and remind them again why you’re a good fit. Keep it short, and ask to be informed of the next steps in the hiring process.

Victorio Duran III US is the Associate SEO Director at RingCentral, a global leader in cloud-based communications and internet phone service provider. He has over 13 years of extensive involvement in web and digital operations, with diverse experience as a web engineer, product manager, and digital marketing strategist.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/17/2018

The 30 Best Tips to Prepare for an Interview

 

  1. Spend a few hours learning everything you can about the company—from as many sources as you can. Talk to friends and contacts, read current news releases, and, yes, spend some time on Google. Often, candidates just look at the information a company is pushing out via the website and social media, but fail to look more in depth at what others are saying. By doing so, you’ll get the larger picture about the company (along with any negative press).

     

  2. Get a sense of “who” the company is and how to embody a similar personality during your interview. Start by reading the company’s blog and Facebook page—the tone of the company’s content on these sites will speak volumes. Or, try reading individual employees’ blogs to figure out what type of people work (and excel) there...Click here for more: https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-ultimate-interview-guide-30-prep-tips...

Hamilton Angevine

Feature | 12/11/2018

Ben Hamilton Finds Conference Presentations Good Preparation for Job Market

On October 6, at the 74th Midwest International Trade Conference at Vanderbilt University,  I presented my job market paper, “Learning, Externalities, and Export Dynamics,” in a 25-minute talk to an audience of economists studying international trade. In November, I presented my job market paper twice at different venues in Washington D.C.  First, at the 88th Southern Economic Association annual meeting, where I received constructive feedback on a condensed 15-minute version of my talk from students and professors of varied concentrations. Next, at the second Mid-Atlantic International Trade Workshop, hosted by the Federal Reserve Board, I gave a longer, 40-minute version of my talk and benefited from helpful comments and discussion with other trade economists.  Having the opportunity to present my talk in a variety of formats, receive questions from audiences unfamiliar with me and my work, and network with many people in my field was a valuable experience, particularly as I prepare to go on the job market during the next few months.  

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/20/2017

ARTICLE- ARE YOU, LIKE, SAYING SOMETHING WITHOUT, LIKE, KNOWING THAT IT'S, LIKE, HURTING YOUR CAREER

"My bet is anyone born during the 1970s likely does it at least 10 times a day. Anyone born during the 1980s likely does it at least 20 times a day. And anyone born after 1990 probably has no clue that they do it close to 100 times a day. What I'm referring to is using the word "like," and using it incorrectly at that. And, like, it is not such a good thing. In fact, it is likely, like, hurting you in, like, interviews, meetings, and, like, pretty much any other work-related setting where you have to speak. Here's why: When you use the word "like" as a filler word or improperly, you typically come across as unengaged in what you're speaking about, unintelligent, nervous, indecisive, and as someone who's lacking a mastery of the English language."-Derek Loosvelt

Click here to read the rest of the article

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/20/2021

ECO Blog: Preparing for Interviews

ECO Blog: Interviewing

I enjoy interviews! Sounds crazy, right? You may be thinking that I'm referring to being on the giving side of the interview. True! But, I also enjoy being interviewed. Each conversation is an opportunity to speak about my experiences and make the case for why I am a good fit for a job, volunteer opportunity, or leadership opportunity. It's also a great opportunity to learn if the interviewer's organization is a good fit for me. I always learn something. And along the way, I usually meet some interesting people and hear their stories. Did I like interviewing when I was a student at UVA and looking for a job? After the first couple of times - somewhat - I came to understand and appreciate the process. Was I anxious during my first case interview? You bet, but I got through it and so will you. And today, I really enjoy the process. What has led to this general increase in enjoyment? In one word...Practice! 

Most of our majors will enter the labor market as full-time employees at some point in the next 3 years, some as soon as January 2022. Many of you have interviewed for part-time jobs, internships, and even full-time jobs already. Many more will follow suit this fall. For those headed to graduate school, the job interview may be postponed a couple of years, but likely by the quarter-century mark, most of you will have participated in several job interviews. My guess is that each person who has interviewed for more than one job is more confident and comfortable the second time than the first, and even more so after the tenth or twentieth. The biggest takeaway from today's blog posting is to practice for your interviews.

There are many categories of interviews and interview formats and here's a link here for you to review those. Most important for our purposes are the Screening Interview/HireVue formatBehavioral Interview, and the Case Interview. The Screening Interview may be resume-based or behavioral. And all of these interview types likely are virtual these days. The screening interview may be a recorded interview, and this recorded interview often replaces an initial call with a recruiter. Following the interviews or between interviews, candidates may be asked to take assessments for technical abilities and a personality assessment. Some personality assessments are built in-house by employers and others are sourced from third-party firms like Pymetrics.

Below is a list of tips to help you succeed in your interviews, followed by some of my favorite interviewing articles. Will you ever enjoy interviewing the way I do? Maybe, maybe not. But either way, you can be successful in the process through research, preparation, and practice. You've got this econ majors!

  • Research and practice. Find the interview style/format for your market and job function and prepare. You can find the info from recruiters, alumni, people in the jobs currently, employer websites, and websites like glassdoor.com. 
  • Prepare the answers to the essential interview questions before every interview. 
  • Be on time.
  • Look the part - dress professionally and if this is a virtual meeting - have good lighting and be sure the area in your camera's perimeter is neat and clean. 
  • If possible, research your interviewer before the interview. This will allow you to consider the perspective from which they are approaching the interview. For example, if they manage budgets, they may be looking at the employers' fiscal health. Asking budget-related questions would make sense, whereas questions about the firm's HR policies may not be as applicable.
  • Refer to your interviewers by their names in the interview. Using someone's name is memorable.
  • Craft your story and share it genuinely. Think about what led you to apply for the job and weave your narrative to arrive at that point.
  • You are interviewing the employer also. Assure the employer is a good fit for you by asking questions that allow you to determine if the employer fits your needs (your values, work style, compensation, career mobility, cultural fit etc.).
  • Relax and keep things in perspective.
    • You will receive job offers and you will get hired.
    • The interviewer wants you to do well. They want to hire you!

Articles:

The Muse Interviews
Are you like, saying something without, like knowing, that it's like hurting your career? (I'm not a fan of the photo, but the topic is relevant for students of any gender.)
How to Master Effective Storytelling in Interviews

Resources

Behavioral Interview Question Bank from the ECO 
Interview Prep from the UVA Career Center
Consulting Case Interview Prep Materials in Collab
Sample Financial Analyst Interview Questions
Deloitte Federal Case Interview Practice Tips
ECO Prep Sign up Sheet for Case Interviews - Fall 2021

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/07/2018

How to Answer "Why Do You Want to Work for Us?"

One of the more common interview questions these days, especially for entry-level positions, is some form of "Why do you want to work for us?" Other forms of this question include "What attracts you to our firm?" and "What about our firm excites you?" Whatever the exact phrasing you receive, there are a few things you want to get across as clearly and concisely as possible when answering.

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Feature | 08/24/2017

ECON Grads at the 6th Lindau meeting on Economic Sciences

Graduate student Devaki Ghose was selected among young economists through a combination of written application and interviews to be a panelist alongside Eric Maskin (Nobel Laureate, Economics) and Howard Yana Shapiro (Chief Agricultural Scientist, Mars Incorporated) to discuss economic inequality in a globalized world on August 24th.

 

The panelists first discussed their views on economic inequality, solutions and then the forum was open to questions from the audience. The following articles cover the event-

http://www.lindau-nobel.org/blog-the-puzzle-of-global-inequality/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fighting-economic-inequality-through-food-supply-chain-shapiro

http://blog.worldagroforestry.org/index.php/2017/08/28/fighting-economic-inequality-through-the-food-supply-chain/

 

ECONGrads Cailin Slattery and Ia Vardishvilli also participated in the conference.

Ia presenting her work to laureates (you can see Pissardes in the picture).

Cailin with the other NSF sponsored students at a lunch with two laureates (standing next to Prescott).

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/26/2017

ECO Newsletter 5.2.17

One week Business Lab in D.C. for Majors!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/20/2016

ARTICLE - ALUM’S APP ASPIRES TO BECOME ‘THE AMAZON OF HEALTH CARE’ IN ASIA

"University of Virginia graduate Dato' Chevy Beh envisions his startup, BookDoc, transforming health care in Asia just as tech behemoth Amazon has transformed retail around the world.

BookDoc, which Beh founded in Malaysia in 2015, offers a free mobile app and online platform to help patients quickly identify, and get an appointment with, nearby health care providers. The concept was inspired by a good friend who called Beh for help after contracting dengue fever in Malaysia and struggling to find a doctor who could treat him quickly" -Caroline Newman

 

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Feature | 12/01/2021

Yutong Chen Presents at 2021 SEA Conference

Yutong Chen, a fourth-year graduate student, presented her paper at the Southern Economic Association’s 2021 Meeting in Houston, TX. The paper, “Does the Gig Economy Discriminate? Evidence from Physicians in China,” finds that patients discriminate against female physicians, which leads to gender gaps on an online healthcare platform. Additionally, the platform’s ranking algorithm exacerbates gender gaps via the feedback loop.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/19/2022

Summer Intern Candidates Facing Bidding Wars

In-demand college students seeking summer internships are reneging on offers as companies swoop in to offer better deals. Host J.R. Whalen is joined by Georgia Tech senior Najaah Chambliss, who walked away from an internship, and WSJ reporter Lindsay Ellis, who discusses the trend and how companies are responding.

If you are considering reneging on an internship or job offer, please connect with Jen Jones at jlh7b@virginia.edu.

Listen to the recording here with a WSJ subscription.

This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated.

J.R. Whalen: Here's Your Money Briefing for Friday, March 4th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. We've told you how the pandemic helped create a job seekers market with millions of workers leaving their jobs for better pay and companies struggling to fill open slots. But that's also happening among students who are trying to land summer internships. Competition for interns has gotten so fierce that some who've gotten and accepted offers are reneging on them to take a better deal elsewhere.

Lindsay Ellis: Just like a lot of job seekers, there is demand for people to come in the door. Companies look at their summer internship programs and they're not just thinking about that summer. They're thinking, "Who can we identify among this cohort of interns that a year from now we're going to want to bring back or we want to hire full-time after the program."

J.R. Whalen: On today's show, we'll discuss the growing leverage students have in the competitive world of summer internships with our reporter, Lindsay Ellis. Plus we'll hear from one student who reneged at an intern ship offer and see how it turned out. That's after the break. For college students, an offer for a summer internship can mean getting their foot in the door and launching a career track. But amid the tight labor market, more students are walking away from offers they've already accepted to take an even better one. In a moment, we'll hear from WSJ reporter Lindsay Ellis about this growing trend and the competition for entry level talent. But first let's bring in one of those in-demand interns for a firsthand account. I'm joined now by (Naja Shambliss). She's 21 and a senior at Georgia Tech University majoring in computer science. Last fall, she began applying for internships for this coming summer. Hey Naja, thanks for being here.

Naja Shambliss: I'm glad to be here.

J.R. Whalen: So Naja, back in October you landed a summer internship. Tell us about how that went.

Naja Shambliss: Yeah, so I was applying for internships and I had found this opportunity on, I believe LinkedIn. It was either LinkedIn or Handshake I believe. And so, yeah, I went ahead and applied and I figured I had a pretty good chance of getting this internship because I had previously interned with a defense company and so I thought getting this internship from this other defense company would be not too bad. And I also wanted to intern somewhere else other than this previous company, which is why I was applying for other companies. And so, yeah, I applied and it took a little while to get back to me, but I ended up interviewing with them once and then I heard back from them about a month later, I believe, saying that I received an offer.

J.R. Whalen: All right. But then earlier of this year, your plans changed. What happened there?

Naja Shambliss: Yeah. So at the end of November, my recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn also asking me to apply for a Microsoft internship and I had already accepted the defense internship, but I was like, it's Microsoft, I've applied for them before. I haven't been accepted previously, so this would just be an extra step for practice for when I apply again for the next recruiting season. So I filled out the application she sent me and then I went through the first round of interviews, which wasn't too bad, thank God. And then I got pushed to the final round and I received an offer after that.

J.R. Whalen: Oh, so what did Microsoft offer you?

Naja Shambliss: I'm not able to disclose the numbers, but let's say it was definitely double what the defense industry was offering me. And then they were also giving me a relocation, stipend and a stipend to help with my moving expenses and stuff like that. So it was a pretty great deal.

J.R. Whalen: So you eventually had to go tell the defense company that you had accepted a new opportunity. How'd that conversation go?

Naja Shambliss: So it's actually pretty funny. I sent out an email to, I believe she was my onboarding HR person and stating that I do apologize for having to do this to you guys so late in the game, but unfortunately I have to renege my offer, and I actually did not get a response for them. I had sent them an email and I never received an email back, but I did look at my portal and it had said that I was no longer being considered for the position. So I don't think they received that information in the best way, but yes, that's what happened.

J.R. Whalen: So when you first got the word from the recruiter that there was a Microsoft internship out there to try to go after, how did you feel about that process at that stage? I imagine you had firmed up the defense company internship and had signed some papers, right?

Naja Shambliss: Yeah. I thought this opportunity was different maybe because I had never had a recruiter directly from a company DM me, or specifically for Microsoft, I have never had a Microsoft recruiter DM me on LinkedIn asking me to apply for position. So I kind of had a good feeling about this process and that's kind of what made me be like, "Okay, even though I've already accepted this offer, this might turn out differently, so let's try it."

J.R. Whalen: All right. That's Naja Shambliss, a senior at Georgia Tech University with us. Naja, thank you so much for taking the time to chat.

Naja Shambliss: Thank you for having me. This is my first podcast experience, so I'm very grateful. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

J.R. Whalen: Oh, we really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Naja Shambliss: No problem.

J.R. Whalen: So what's driving this cutthroat competition for interns and what are companies doing to keep potential interns interested? For more on that, I'm joined by WSJ reporter, Lindsay Ellis. She's been looking into it. Lindsay, thanks so much for being here.

Lindsay Ellis: Thank you so much for having me.

J.R. Whalen: So Lindsay, these bidding wars for interns like we just heard with Naja, is that something new?

Lindsay Ellis: So interns, especially in demand fields like computer science, engineering and the like, they've always had some competitive offers, but the level of competition that I heard from interns seemed just really striking. Campuses and companies are saying that they're seeing competition over interns in a way that feels different than prior years, especially the last two years, the first with the pandemic really sinking in and last year with everything in a much different hiring market than we are right now.

J.R. Whalen: So why do interns suddenly have this kind of leverage in the job market?

Lindsay Ellis: Just like a lot of job seekers, there is demand for people to come in the door. And I think that for interns emerges in a couple of ways, the first is, companies really want applicants and they want qualified applicants. And that inherently gives the people who are applying, who have strong resumes, who have the skills that they're looking for an edge. I think the other reason is companies look at their summer internship programs and they're not just thinking about that summer. They're thinking, "Who can we identify among this cohort of interns that a year from now we're going to want to bring back or we want to hire full time after the program." And so this is sort of a key pool for companies to look at their entry level workforce. And so there is more demand in hiring the right people when this could be my pipeline six months from now, a year from now.

J.R. Whalen: Is there ever any kind of a penalty if a student backs out of an internship that they've already accepted?

Lindsay Ellis: It can vary from campus to campus, but yes. Cornell's business school, if you're an MBA student and you accept an offer for the summer and then you go out and interview and accept a different one and back out of that first one, they say that they reserve the right to fine you up to $2,500.

J.R. Whalen: Wow. I mean, for a college student, that's a lot of money.

Lindsay Ellis: It is, yes. And for those two, those were specifically for business school students, so perhaps a little later in their career. But these are people that don't necessarily have income coming in every month and yet still might be on the hook. There are other penalties that are also significant. At the University of California Berkeley's business school, one of the possible sanctions is a 16 hour service project. So that can be a significant amount of money certainly and time if you're caught backing out from this.

J.R. Whalen: But a student might consider switching to a different internship that could better jumpstart their career, right? But is there a danger of them burning their bridges behind them?

Lindsay Ellis: Colleges say that there is. I mean, they are quick to remind students that it's a small world and a small job market in a lot of ways. Recruiters move from company to company. Someone who you interact with when you're 22, you might encounter in a totally different field a few years down the line. They also sort of put in place their own regulations that could hamper a student's trajectory as they continue through their education. Some schools at the undergraduate level will restrict the use of a platform called Handshake where a lot of jobs are listed for students who are caught backing out. I think students who I talked to who have considered this or who have done this look at the name on the resume, they look at the salary that they could be bringing in and importantly, they look at the experience that they think that they're going to get at these preferred internship programs. And in a lot of cases, that's a very strong counterweight to a more nebulous idea of possible ramifications. There's another side to that coin as well, which is the relationship between the college and the company, and many campus career offices are really cognizant of that relationship and don't want to do anything to stress it or damage it. Their fear is that if a number of students back out from opportunities that they've already accepted, might that influence whether a company wants to come back next semester or next year and knock on their door and recruit future classes. And so one aspect of could this be hurtful, is thinking about what is the next student who comes around, what's going to be their experience, and colleges really have that front of mind.

J.R. Whalen: Now, there's usually several months between the time somebody lands an internship and when they actually start. So what are companies doing to prevent people from backing out?

Lindsay Ellis: There usually are several months between these dates and one thing that really surprised me in reporting this is that in some cases there are many more months than I had anticipated. People were telling me that they were interviewing for these summer internships while they were doing a different summer internship. So companies need to keep students warm is what they say, make sure that they're front of mind for these candidates that they've worked hard to recruit. Liberty Mutual told me about their keep in touch campaign, including interns in get togethers that are held virtually, some coffee chats and the like to keep them engaged with what's going on. One logistics company that I talked to mentioned sending holiday e-cards to the students who had accepted. So there are different tactics, some with video engagement and when possible in-person engagement, but others just really leaning into the messaging.

J.R. Whalen: And so how are the companies responding to this trend of interns backing out of offers and how are they thinking about their internship programs more broadly to keep people interested?

Lindsay Ellis: So some of them are looking at pay benchmarks and making sure that this very basic aspect of it, this critical aspect of it is competitive of with other organizations and external benchmarks. Some of them begrudge the trend and you kind of throw your hands up in the air and it's a little bit of a "kids these days" reaction. But the thing that I think most stood out to me on this was a real focus on what can we do as an organization to prepare for the summer, just kind of accepting that this might take place. So a few companies, including General Mills told me and have mentioned that they plan to overhire, basically extending a few more offers than they typical would and hoping that a few more candidates than they want to accept accept, expecting that a few of them are maybe going to back out between now and the summer. And I think they're also thinking about how they recruit and how they build relationships with students. One common refrain I heard from recruiters was, "In this virtual environment maybe students feel less of a strong connection with us as a company and with the recruiters and the team overall. How can we build that up and keep them feeling close?" And so that sort of speaks to some of the strategies, the keeping in touch efforts and the like.

J.R. Whalen: All right. That's Wall Street Journal reporter, Lindsay Ellis with us. Lindsay, thanks so much for being with us.

Lindsay Ellis: Thank you for having me.

J.R. Whalen: And that's Your Money Briefing. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal.

Feature | 05/23/2022

MJ Nilayamgode and Tyler Wake present at MMC

Graduate students Tyler Wake and Mrithyunjayan (MJ) Nilayamgode attended the Midwest Macro Conference at Utah State University in Logan, Utah on May 20 and 21, 2022. They presented original research co-authored with their advisor Ana Fostel, “Collateral Expansion: Pricing Spillovers from Financial Innovation,” and attended a variety of talks, including two keynote speeches from Ayşegül Şahin and Tom Sargent. Other UVA Economics PhD graduates in attendance included Joaquin Saldain (Bank of Canada) and Ia Vardishvili (Auburn University).The Midwest Macroeconomics Conference began meeting in 1994 and is one of the longest- running dedicated macroeconomics conferences in the United States. Its next meeting will be in Fall 2022 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Feature | 09/20/2019

2019 Orientation of New Students

We are delighted to welcome the 2019 cohort to the graduate program. Their rigorous orientation included the ritual Econ Grad Soccer Match and Welcome Party, pictured below. The soccer match, where current and new students go head to head, had a particularly fine turn-out iboth in the number of players and the number of women who participated (yes!). Even Admissions Director, Professor Cosar (and new father), jumped in. 

Savelle

Feature | 09/24/2018

Dan Savelle Presents at EARIE'S Rising Stars Session

Dan Savelle presented his paper, “Discrete Choices with (and without) Ordered Search,” at the 45th Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE) in a Rising Stars Session in Athens, Greece. The Conference consisted of contributed and invited sessions across various IO topics including Search, Platform Economics, Advertising, Auctions, Mechanism Design, Trade and IO, and Financial Markets, with keynote talks by Jakub Kastl, Peter Neary and Xavier Vives. Dan's paper relates two literatures in the field of Industrial Organization, ordered search and classic discrete choice. In IO, the selection choices of a consumer, such as a family looking to buy a house, are often represented by the classic discrete-choice model of decision making, which posits a consumer who receives a match value for each option and selects the option with the highest match value. However, in many markets, consumers may not know their values without first incurring a cost. For example, the family searching for a home incurs costs in terms of time and effort. In this context, the consumer starts with information that can be updated through some costly process like ordered search, a discrete choice model where a consumer selects from a set of products after paying a search cost to learn each product's actual value. Dan proves that in situations where consumers correctly anticipate the choices of firms (e.g prices), ordered search and classic discrete-choice are equivalent models for describing the selections of consumers.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/02/2021

Perks and Benefits 101: Explanations and Questions to Ask Before You Take the Job

by Erica Sweeney at The Muse

Once you’ve found a job and company that you’re really excited about, salary might top your list of priorities. But while salary is important, it’s only part of the overall offer. To get the full scope of what you’ll really earn at a job, you need to factor in the perks and benefits that a company offers, too.

“Look at it as more of a package than just a job with a paycheck,” says Leslie Slay, senior vice president of employee benefits services at Woodruff Sawyer, an insurance brokerage and consulting firm.

Compensation traditionally includes non-salary benefits like health insurance and retirement plans. And many companies also offer perks—including flexible schedules, educational opportunities, and wellness programs—to support employees in other ways. “More and more, perks and benefits are becoming integrated together” to support employees in a more holistic way, says Bobbi Kloss, director of human capital management services at Benefit Advisors Network.

On average, a benefits package makes up about 30% of an employee’s total compensation in the U.S. So it’s definitely worth paying attention to the perks and benefits a company offers as you’re looking for a job in addition to the salary.

Employee benefits and perks can be confusing, though. In fact, about a third of all workers and 54% of millennials said they don’t understand the employee benefits they signed up for, according to a 2020 survey by Voya Financial. So as a job seeker it’s often up to you to ask a prospective employer plenty of questions to make sure the benefits they’re offering meet your needs.

Better understanding the benefits and perks you’re offered will help you make the best choice about which job offer to accept. To help guide you, here’s an overview of 15 common employee perks and benefits you might come across as you look for your next job:

1. Health Insurance

Health insurance pays (or helps pay) for your medical expenses as they come up in exchange for a premium, or money paid—by you and/or your employer—to the insurance provider each month. Health insurance plans typically cover doctor visits, prescription drugs, emergency care, and certain medical procedures.

Health insurance plans vary from company to company and you’ll likely have a few to choose from. Some companies pay the full premium on their employee’s behalf, but usually you have to contribute to the cost with a certain amount that comes out of your paycheck before taxes. You may have some other out-of-pocket expenses, too, such as copays when you visit your doctor. Many insurance plans also have a deductible, which is an amount of money you’re responsible for paying before your health coverage kicks in. Make sure you’re aware of these costs before you choose a plan to enroll in.

And to ensure a company plan meets your needs, Kloss suggests checking that it covers treatments for any medical conditions you have or prescription medications you take, and that your preferred doctors are in the plan’s network.

If you have dependents (most commonly children or a partner you support financially) or plan to soon, you should also check that the plan will cover everyone and how much it will cost you. For example, a company may pay 100% of your health insurance premium but you may be stuck paying the full premium for everyone else in your family (which can add up fast). Read more about what all those health insurance terms mean here.

Find jobs at companies that offer health insurance

2. Dental and Vision Insurance

Dental and vision insurance cover your dental and eye-care needs. Dental insurance typically covers routine exams, cleanings, x-rays, and some portion of procedures like root canals and fillings. Vision insurance generally covers eye exams and prescription lenses.

Many employers offer dental and vision insurance, either as part of health insurance or as separate benefits. But whereas some employers cover a portion or all of the costs of health insurance, most companies require you to pay in full for dental and vision insurance, Slay says.

Just as you would with health insurance, check if the plans will let you keep your dentist and eye doctor (if you’d rather not switch) and cover any pre-existing conditions or treatments that you need.

Find jobs at companies that offer dental insurancevision insurance, or both

3. Flexible Spending Account

A flexible spending account (FSA) allows you to put pre-tax money aside to pay for the year’s out-of-pocket healthcare costs, like over-the-counter medications, copays for doctor visits, medical devices like crutches or blood sugar tests, or vision and dental care needs like glasses or contacts. Your employer may also contribute up to $500 to your FSA without you contributing anything (they can match you dollar for dollar on top of the $500), so be sure to check if a company will pay into your account before determining your own contributions. Total FSA contributions are capped at a certain amount each year (for example, they were capped at $2,750 for 2021).

Find jobs at companies that offer FSA accounts

4. Life Insurance

Life insurance is an insurance policy that pays a set amount of money to your chosen beneficiary (or beneficiaries) when you die. If you’re just starting your career and don’t have any children or others who depend on you financially, life insurance may not seem necessary. But it’s still something you should consider, Slay says—especially if your company covers your full premium.

You decide who you want to leave the money to, such as your parents or another family member, to help cover funeral costs, for example. You could even name your favorite charity as the beneficiary.

Find jobs at companies that offer life insurance

5. Disability Insurance

Disability insurance offers compensation or income replacement when you’re unable to work because of an injury or illness that’s not job-related. “I can’t tell you how critical disability insurance is; it protects your paycheck,” Slay says. Disability insurance is usually optional, but worth looking into, she says—just find out what your employer offers and what it will cost you. Some policies are fully paid by an employer and others require you to pay some of the costs in the form of a paycheck deduction, Slay says.

There are two types of disability insurance: short term and long term. Short-term disability insurance varies according to your plan, but typically covers you if you’re out of work for less than six months and on average pays about 60% of your regular salary, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most long-term disability insurance lasts for 10 years or less (but some policies last until you reach retirement age) and covers about 60% of your annual earnings.

Find jobs at companies that offer short-term disability insurancelong-term disability insurance, or both

6. 401(k)s

401(k) is a retirement-savings plan that’s commonly sponsored by your employer. Plans can vary, but generally you contribute to the fund as a pre-tax paycheck deduction and pay taxes on the money when you withdraw it during retirement. Many companies match employees’ 401(k) contributions, either dollar for dollar, where they put in what you put in, or with a partial match—for example, adding 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, up to a certain percentage of your salary. Yearly employee 401(k) contributions are capped (the limit is $19,500 for 2021), but the employer match doesn’t count toward the limit.

Retirement may seem like a long time away. But Slay urges early career employees to contribute as much as they can to their 401(k), especially if there’s an employer match. The match can help you grow your savings faster and if you’re not taking advantage of it, you’re essentially leaving money on the table that your employer is offering to give you. Plus, in an emergency you may be able to pull money out of your 401(k) before retirement (and without paying a tax penalty) for certain expenses, like buying a home or paying medical bills.

Some companies have taken a new approach to employee retirement benefits recently to meet their workers’ current needs, Slay says. For example, some help employees pay down student loan debt by making direct payments to their lender, while others make a larger 401(k) contribution to employees currently paying off student debt.

Find jobs at companies that offer 401(k)s or 401(k)s with company match

7. Paid Time Off

Paid time off (PTO) can include paid holidays, sick leave, federal and state holidays, personal days, and vacation days.

Typically, the amount of PTO offered by your company is based on how long you’ve worked for them, and you accrue more PTO over time (for example, if you get 15 days of PTO per year, that means you accrue about 0.058 hours of PTO for every hour you work, or roughly 10.5 hours of PTO per month). If, say, you’re looking to start a new job right before a holiday or planned trip, you might want to ask the company if it has a policy about using PTO before you’ve technically accrued it.

How a company offers PTO varies, too. For example, some designate a separate number of personal, sick, or vacation days, which is sometimes required by state law. But, Slay says, more employers are lumping all PTO in together to make taking off easier for employees. Some companies even offer unlimited PTO.

Time off is an important factor in your overall compensation, so make sure to ask about how many PTO days you get. Often, you can negotiate your PTO, Slay says, particularly since the pandemic has shown more companies the benefits of giving their workers more time off. “PTO is one of those areas where you can ask for things that are a little different and you might get them.” Also, be sure to check if you can carry over unused PTO into a new year and whether you’ll be paid for any unused days when you leave the company.

Find jobs at companies that offer paid holidayspaid vacationpersonal and sick days, or unlimited vacation

8. Family and Medical Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a U.S. law that enables employees to take unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. Employees can take up to 12 weeks off for the birth or adoption of a child, a family member with a medical condition who needs care, their own health condition that prevents them from performing job functions, and other reasons.

Under this law, your job is protected and your health insurance continues during this leave. Companies with more than 50 employees are required to comply with the law and you’re eligible if you’ve worked for the company for at least 12 months and meet other requirements. If you’re considering going to work for a smaller company, be sure to find out their policies for family and medical leave.

Find jobs at companies with more than 50 employees

9. Parental Leave

Parental leave enables employees to take off following the birth of a child, an adoption, or the arrival of a newly placed foster child, or for a child otherwise needing parental care, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Though the FMLA requires some employers to offer unpaid leave in these instances, there’s no broad guarantee of parental leave in the U.S.—which means it comes down to the employer.

More than half of U.S. employers offer paid new child leave to women, and 45% offer paid new child leave to men, according to a 2020 study by the Society for Human Resource Management and Oxford Economics. However, specific policies vary for the companies that do offer parental leave, so find out about a prospective employer’s rules if you plan to start a family soon, Slay says. Ask whether the leave is paid or unpaid, whether your job will be there waiting for you when you return, and how much time off you’re allowed.

Find jobs at companies that offer maternity leavepaternity leave, or both

10. Remote Work Options

Remote work gives employees the freedom to work from home or anywhere else outside of a traditional office setting, either full time or part time in a hybrid schedule. The COVID-19 pandemic made remote work a necessity, and it was such a hit with workers that many have said they’ll quit their jobs rather than go back to the office. Employers realize that remote work has benefits for them, too, such as opening up a much broader, more diverse talent pool to hire from, so many organizations plan to allow remote work in some fashion post-pandemic.

While more employers will be offering fully or partially remote positions after the pandemic off the bat, the ability to work from home is something you can likely negotiate, Kloss says. “I think employers are recognizing after COVID that they can be more flexible in those areas than they ever thought possible.” So find out whether you’ll be able to work remotely some or all of the time and what the company’s policies are for remote work schedules, virtual meetings, and communication. Also ask whether they provide equipment or stipends for internet, phone, or other expenses for remote workers.

Find jobs at companies that offer remote work opportunities

11. Flexible Schedules

A flexible schedule is when your employer allows you to work hours and days outside of the traditional nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday schedule. For instance, you might work 10 hours a day, four days a week or set core hours when you’re available, such as 9 AM to 1 PM, and have flexibility the rest of the day to complete your work whenever you’d like. Like with remote work, the pandemic led more companies to offer flexible schedules to accommodate different work styles and time zones as well as employees who have children or other caretaking responsibilities. 

Flexible schedules are another perk that you can likely negotiate—just make sure you and your employer both come away with a clear idea of which days and times you’ll work.

Find jobs at companies that offer flexible work hours

12. Wellness Programs

Workplace wellness programs aim to improve an employee’s mental and physical health and offer more resources beyond health insurance. Wellness programs have traditionally included health screenings and tools to help people lose weight or stop smoking, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

But organizations have taken a broader, more holistic approach to their wellness programs in recent years by offering individualized supports that take into account an employee’s emotional, social, physical, and financial needs, Kloss says. Wellness-based perks—such as fitness subsidies, meals, and access to mental wellness apps and counseling—are becoming more common.

Even more so than with other perks and benefits, wellness program offerings vary widely, so find out the specifics of what a company offers and consider how it meets your needs.

Find jobs at companies that offer wellness programsfitness subsidieson-site gymand meals

13. Education Benefits

Most companies offer some type of education benefit, including access to online courses, on-the-job training, tuition reimbursement for continuing education, and learning and development stipends to cover educational expenses.

If you’re just starting your career, these programs can help you succeed long term by keeping your skills fresh, which could increase your chances for promotions or raises, Slay says. Education benefits and perks also signal that a company values and invests in its employees and their growth. So be sure to ask what a company you’re planning to work for offers if education is important to you.

Find jobs at companies that offer access to online coursestuition reimbursement, or learning and development stipends

14. Mentor Programs

Mentor programs pair you with someone at your company who’s more experienced and can answer questions and offer guidance to help you advance in your career. “Mentorship is huge,” Slay says. Mentors can serve as advocates to help you navigate the technical and political parts of a job as well as you build and expand your network.

Mentorship programs help employees feel valued, create a culture of learning and increase job satisfaction and productivity, Slay says. So find out whether a company provides formal or informal mentoring and what their programs entail.

Find jobs at companies that offer mentor programs

15. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives encourage the representation and participation of different and often underrepresented groups, such as women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community. The programs may include mentorship opportunities, targeted recruitment efforts, and employee resource groups (ERGs).

As with many employee benefits and perks, some DEI programs are more robust than others. So it’s a good idea to find out the specifics of what a company offers and how it aligns with your values and needs, rather than just noting that they’ve ticked the box in offering a DEI program.

Find jobs at companies that offer diversity and inclusion programs

Before you accept a job offer, make sure you have a good grasp of the company’s benefits and perks and how they fit into your overall compensation structure. Ask plenty of questions to get all the details of how each benefit and perk aligns with your needs and negotiate to get what you want. Keep in mind, too, that when you’re searching for open jobs on The Muse, you can set filters so you’ll only see open positions at companies that offer the benefits and perks that matter most to you.

 

https://www.themuse.com/advice/common-employee-benefits-work-perks-explained?sc_src=email_1611396&sc_lid=136590251&sc_uid=0VrW5nDlME&sc_llid=142764&sc_eh=b3364f87ca0559331&utm_source=emarsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20210929_NoSpon_90Day_1611396&utm_content=sponsored&utm_term=_&uid=885319293

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/04/2024

How to Manage the Emotional Roller Coaster of a Job Search

Article written by Rebecca Zucker for Harvard Business Review

Most of us, at some point in our career, will conduct a job search — if not several of them. While it can be a time of excitement and hope about new opportunities to come, it can also be a time of great uncertainty and anxiety. Not only will you likely feel the full range of possible emotions during the course of your overall job search, but you may also experience these highs and lows in the span of a single day or week. You might be elated one moment to learn that you are a top candidate for a desired position only to be disappointed to find out that the job went to someone else — or perhaps you were unhappy with your performance in a job interview, but were later relieved to learn you’ve still made it to the next round of interviews.

The job-search process is fraught with ups and downs, not to mention the angst that comes with the uncertainty about the future of your career and livelihood. Here are a few strategies to manage the emotional rollercoaster of the job search:

Know what’s coming. The job search is a process that can be as short as several weeks, or more likely, several months. As with any other process, there are peaks and valleys. One week you have networking meetings and interviews scheduled, people are responding to your emails and you feel encouraged and hopeful — then radio silence — making you feel confused, frustrated or even helpless. Knowing from the start that you will experience these swings in activity and emotion can help prepare you to better anticipate and handle them when they do occur. In particular, when you do encounter the downward part of the cycle, you can say to yourself, “I knew there would be days where nothing is happening, and I would feel frustrated, and today is just one of those days.” When you know it’s coming, you will be less surprised or shaken by it, as well as less likely to personalize it, allowing you to rebound and move forward in your search more easily.

Process your emotions. Engaging in activities like mindful meditation or journaling can help you process negative emotions as they arise. In contrast to avoiding, suppressing or ruminating over your emotions — which are shown to be correlated to anxiety and depression — processing your emotions through mindful meditation or journaling involves actually feeling these emotions more fully. It is this ability to experience our emotions, without judging them or trying to change them, that allows us to move through them more quickly and effectively. In a classic study, unemployed engineers journaled about their thoughts and feelings related to being unemployed for just 20 minutes a day for five days. Eight months later, 52% had found new jobs compared to only 18.6% for the combined control groups. In addition, brief mindful meditation creates improved emotional processing and reduced emotional reactivity and has been shown to enhance our emotional processing, even when we’re not meditating.

Get support. Having someone to talk to throughout your job search, such as a career coach, therapist or a job-search work group can provide much-needed emotional support, beyond that of friends and family. An experienced career coach who is an expert in the job-search process can also help normalize what you are experiencing and feeling at any given phase of your search and can be a good sounding board to help guide you when you are feeling unsure of yourself or what to do next. As with a coach, a job-search work group can also help you feel a sense of partnership to help mitigate feelings of loneliness that can often arise in a job search, creating a sense of community as well as providing tangible help to advance your search.

Engage in energizing activities. Make sure your days include activities that energize you, such as exercise, listening to your favorite music or some other activity that revitalizes you. Your mood and overall energy level will show in your interactions with others, whether it’s a coffee meeting with a former colleague, a networking event or a job interview. Exercise, in particular, not only has a positive impact on mood, but also increases self-esteem, sociability, motivation and cognition and can help you be at your best. David, a client of mine, started exercising daily during his job search. He not only lost 15 pounds and three inches from his waist, but also felt mentally and physically stronger, had a greater sense of agency and was more confident going into interviews.

Put things into perspective. It’s easy to feel powerless or discouraged when things don’t progress in the job search the way we would like. Perhaps a contact hasn’t made an important introduction for you yet like she said she would, or a recruiter hasn’t gotten back to you in the timeframe he initially indicated. While you can send a friendly reminder, take a step back to think about their other possible existing priorities. Chances are, your job search isn’t in their top five priorities on any given day. Seeing this perspective can help de-personalize the situation and mitigate the negative emotions surrounding it.

Roberta, another client of mine, was deeply depressed when her job search hit the one-year mark after she lost her Finance job in the last recession. Her depression, while understandable, created an unproductive cycle of negative thoughts and feelings which kept her paralyzed in her search. I asked her what “Roberta 20 years in the future” would say about her year of unemployment. Without hesitation, she said, “Oh, it’s a blip.” This “it’s a blip” perspective allowed Roberta to emerge from her depressed feelings to not only envision a more successful future, but she also was able to move forward much more productively, and ultimately landed another job as a partner at top-performing investment management firm. Feelings are temporary, as are many of the situations that create them (such as a job search). Seeing these challenges as impermanent is a key part of being optimistic, which is associated with higher levels of motivation, achievement, well-being and lower levels of depressive symptoms.

Using the strategies above can help make the inevitable shifts between the highs and lows of the job search more manageable as well as help you to stay motivated and productive for the duration of the ride.

Feature | 04/22/2020

Haruka Takayama Hasegawa Wins an All-University Graduate Teaching Award

Haruka Takayama Hasegawa, winner of an All-University Graduate Teaching Award for her dedication to undergraduate teaching and outstanding achievement in that area, is recognized in UVA Today's article, "There's Something That Makes These Graduate Instructor's Special."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/24/2022

How to Prepare for a Virtual Interview

Great Advice from Capital One for Virtual Interview Preparation (This advice applies to more than Cap One interviews.)

7 Tips to Nail Your Virtual Interview

You did it. You scoured job boards, got your resume together, successfully applied for a job at Capital One and got the call to do your final round of interviews. Interviews, at the best of times, can be nerve-wracking but on top of those normal butterflies, you’ve now been told that your interview will be virtual instead of in person. While there are some obvious advantages (no travel time and interviewing in a familiar, comfortable space), you may need some reassurance on the virtual interview experience. Never fear! We are here to help make this experience as smooth and as comfortable as we would at our interview suites. Here are our top tips to help you stay calm and land your dream job at Capital One.

1. Read all the emails from your recruiter carefully

Your recruiter knows that a virtual interview might be a brand new thing for you. On top of sending your interview schedule, they’ll be sending instructions on how to sign into your virtual interview. Be sure to review all of the instructions prior to your interview day so you can get your questions answered and make sure you fully understand the process. You’ll also receive instructions on how to use our video meeting platform, Zoom. You’ll definitely want to test it before the start of your first interview! [If your recruiter at other firms does not do this, ask for this information.]

2. Check your computer and internet speeds

As simple as this may seem, make sure your computer and internet are in good working order. Your computer should be running on the most recent updates and you’ll need a reliable internet connection. Consider running a test using a video chat app, like Zoom, on your computer with a friend before your interview day to confirm that everything is working properly. Do this a couple of days in advance so you aren’t struggling the morning of and adding to your stress before the actual interview! Additionally, have your computer plugged in or be sure the battery holds enough charge for the entirety of the interview.

3. Consider your surroundings

Remember when we suggested running a video test with a friend? While doing that, check out what is behind you and how visible you are on the screen. You want the interviewer to concentrate on you, not be distracted by a TV playing in the background, your posters hanging on the wall or the fact that they can't see your face very well. If you'd like, you're welcome to use one of our Zoom backgrounds for your interview. Lighting is a huge factor you might not consider—like all interviews, you want to put your best presentation forward so make sure your face is visible. Try sitting next to a window or close to a bright lamp so your face is illuminated. It's important that the light is coming from an angle that illuminates your face, so don't sit with a window or light behind you either. Also, try putting the dog and cat in another room or consider having a friend watch them for the day if they tend to get noisy.

Basically, don’t let your surroundings detract from the great things you are saying… you want to come across as you are—smart, capable and ready to take on the serious and innovative work we do here at Capital One.

4. Dress like you’re going to an in-person interview

As a general rule, if you wouldn’t wear it to an in-person interview, don’t wear it to your virtual interview. Like all interviews, this is your opportunity to make a great first impression so you should look put together and professional, even from the comfort of your home. And again, like an in-person interview, choose something that you feel confident in. Your confidence will come across the screen much like it would if you were meeting your interviewers in person.

5. Come prepared to answer and ask questions

Would you wing any interview? Probably not! Just because you aren’t coming to the office in person, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared to answer questions or to ask questions of your own. Do your research and be prepared for each type of interview. And if you’re doing a case, read up on how to ace it! Your recruiter will be sending instructions on how to conduct your case interview over Zoom, so read those carefully so you understand everything. [If your employer does not send these instructions, please ask for them.]

In fact, because you aren’t visiting the office in person, it might be a good idea to ask even more questions, including ones about team dynamics and the workspace. What is the team’s work from home policy? If they routinely work from home, how do they stay connected? You can also explore the resources here on the blog, including checking out our offices in McLeanRichmondPlano and New York, as well as finding out more about our on-campus food services.

6. Hit a technical snag? Don’t panic!

If, despite all your tests, your call drops or video is buffering, try to stay calm. As frustrating as it might be, sometimes a quick reboot can solve the problem. Try to convey the problem as best you can and what steps you're going to take to try to remedy it. Hopefully, you can get it sorted and continue with the Zoom interview. If it’s not possible to continue the interview in Zoom for whatever reason, try a phone call. That doesn’t work? Make sure to send an email to your interviewer and recruiter so they can help you with next steps.

7. Relax and be yourself

As tough as it may be in any interview, try to relax and let your personality and skills shine. Since you may not be able to convey enthusiasm as much on video as in person, make sure to explain why you think you’re a great fit for the role and why you’re enthusiastic about joining Capital One. Remember—it took a lot to get to this point. You have the skills, now let the interviewers get to know you. You’ve got this.

While you may not be as familiar with virtual interviews as you are with in person interviews, they don’t have to be scary. Following these virtual interview tips can help you relax, be clear about your skills and land your dream job at Capital One. Good luck and happy interviewing!

Copyright ©2022 Capital One. Opinions are those of the individual author. Statements are deemed accurate at the time of posting. Unless otherwise noted, Capital One is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any company mentioned. All trademarks and intellectual property used or displayed are the property of their respective owners.

 

https://www.capitalonecareers.com/7-tips-to-nail-your-virtual-interview-...

Feature | 04/22/2020

Hundanol Kebede Presents Research at MWIEDC

Hundanol presents his paper, “The gains from market integration: The welfare effects of new rural roads in Ethiopia,” at the Midwest International Conference on Development Economics (MWIEDC), held at Purdue University. In his paper, he estimates the welfare gains from a massive rural road expansion project that doubled the total road length in the country between 2011 and 2015.  He uses tools from international trade theory and details household level data to quantify household-level welfare gains from the road expansion and how much of that is attributed to trade mechanisms. He shows that the road expansion increased market integration and village specialization in comparative advantage crops. One of the paper’s novel contributions is that it shows how increased road connectivity would cause household production decisions to be dictated by market prices rather than consumption preferences – commonly known as separability. That is, road connectivity decreases the correlation between household land allocation across different crops and budget allocation across crops. This leads to significant efficiency gains because land will be reallocated to crops that have higher market value.   

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/29/2016

Top 10 Jobs for Economics Majors

Read about 10 jobs that match up with many of the skills Economics majors are equipped with: https://www.thebalance.com/top-jobs-for-economics-majors-2059650

Note, although this article includes a Top Ten List, the ECO does not claim that these are the "Top Ten" jobs for majors. This list is meant to be one resource in your search and provide food for thought.

Feature | 01/09/2023

AEA Distinguished Economic Education Award presented to Charles Holt

The AEA Distinguished Education Award acknowledges excellence in economic education at a national level. Recipients are able to demonstrate a sustained and impactful contribution to several areas of economic education. These areas include teaching, the development of curriculum and pedagogy, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) of economics, mentoring of students and young faculty, and service at the institution, regional, and state level.

 

Charlie is one of the outstanding teachers of the University of Virginia Economics Department.  His undergraduate class in Experimental Economics is always oversubscribed by a factor of two.  His experimental lab in the basement of Monroe Hall involves additional students in the production of economic knowledge and has become an academic hangout for our most talented students, both graduate and undergraduate.  Charlie treats his students like colleagues, involving many in his research.

 

Beyond the grounds of the University of Virginia, in the broader sphere of experimental economists, Charlie is a star – in part because of the way his research has been applied in the classroom.  Charlie’s publications influence not only the field but also the teaching of experimental economics – not to mention the real world of auction design. Charlie’s book, Markets, Games, and Strategic Behavior (Princeton Press) is a model of teaching state of the art material in a way that reflects crystal clear pedagogy.

Devaki Ghose

Feature | 09/12/2018

Devaki Ghose, Invited to International Econ Program at Dartmouth

In 2017, the Department of Economics at Dartmouth College began a Visiting Ph.D. Program in International Economics.  According to the program website “The program will provide funding to current Ph.D. students with high potential who have completed their coursework to visit Dartmouth College. There are no teaching or RA obligations associated with the position: visiting students are simply expected to be active members of the vibrant Dartmouth international economics community. “ Students from universities around the world apply and, each academic term, one is admitted to the program. Devaki was selected during the 2018 winter term and describe it as “one of the most rewarding experiences I had in recent years. My supervisor at Dartmouth, Treb Allen, not only provided invaluable academic input, but also encouraged me to dream bigger and push my ideas further. The vibrant academic community there, comprised of established professors and enterprising post-doctoral students, provided me with constructive criticism and fresh ideas that infused my project with new energy. I think what makes Dartmouth a very special place is that it is a top school with no graduate program in economics. Being the only graduate student for the term, all the professors had lots of time to talk about my research and interact with me. I will recommend every student in international economics to consider applying for this program in future.”

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/26/2020

Week of March 26th Newsletter

7 Essential Tips for Working from Home during the Coronavirus Pandemic
ECO Appointments are Available - Pre-Req Workshop is Waived

The world has been turned upside down, and the ECO is open for business, ready to serve you. During these uncertain times thinking about your next steps can be daunting, but I encourage you to reach out to me at the ECO when you’re ready. You may make an appointment Tuesdays-Thursdays on Handshake. Appointment topics can cover general career research, skill-building, resume and cover letter writing, networking, writing a LinkedIn Profile, and salary negotiation, just to name a few topics. And remember to spend time on your mental and physical well-being in the coming weeks. You may want to take this time to teach yourself something new through free online classes sponsored by UVA and LinkedIn Learning. These new skills/new knowledge may be useful as you consider your next steps, or simply be therapeutic and satisfy your curiosity. Regarding employers, several info sessions and events have switched over to virtual platforms, so make sure to check Handshake for changes. Attending these virtual info sessions is a great way to get information, if you’re simply curious about an organization or concertedly committed.

2nd years and 3rd years: Scroll to bottom of this newsletter for information on banking internships and consulting opportunities coming up soon.

4th years: Check out the jobs curated by the ECO.

Worried about securing a job or landing an internship? Wonder how those Econ upper-level students secured all those full-time offers? Meet the Econ department's career advisor and find your path now.

Two Big Programs

Intro to Consulting

Intro to Consulting Night for 2nd and 3rd years. If you are considering consulting for an internship or full-time position, come to this workshop to learn about the consulting industry, day-to-day work, the recruitment process, and what it is like to work with clients. Employers Participating: EY LLP, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, Accenture, Mastercard, & IBM. Sign up for the virtual event here.

How to Get a Job in Management Consulting

If you are interested in consulting as a career after graduation, please join our upcoming talk with Grant Tobben, a current 4th year studying Economics heading to Bain & Company as an Associate Consultant after graduation. Grant interned at Bain this past summer and will be presenting a talk on how to get a job in consulting and tips for excelling in a consulting job function. Sign up for the virtual event here.

Jobs & Internships for Econ Majors

Jobs on Handshake

4/3: Marketing Associate, Vital Strategies (NYC)
4/3: Development Associate at University go Chicago (Chicago, IL)
4/3: Economic Policy Research Intern, Hudson Institute (Washington, DC)
4/5: Finance Intern, Worldbank (Washington, DC)
4/30: Student Intern, Chief Financial Office, Department of Homeland Security (Arlington, VA)
4/30: Finance & Donation Associate for International Non-Profit (Washington, DC)
6/2: Finance Internship, MPOWER Financing (Washington, DC) 
7/15: Junior Pricing Analyst, Circle Logistics (Orlando, FL)

Jobs Selected from External Boards

4/1: Summer Analyst (Internship), Goldman Sachs (multiple locations)
4/10: Revenue Operations Analyst, LiveIntent, Inc. (NYC)

Opportunities found on WayUpLinkedIn, and company sites.

Upcoming Events

Rock Your Digital Interview - #iamPru Webinar Series
Thu, Mar 26 5:00 pm EDT - 6:00 pm EDT
Sign Up Here

VIRTUAL: How to Get a Job in Consulting Presented by 4th Year Econ Major Grant Tobben (Sponsored by the ECO)
Fri, Mar 27 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT
Sign Up Here

Virtual State Farm Career Fair March 31st
Tue, Mar 31 7:00 am CDT - 2:00 pm CDT
Sign Up Here

Helpful ECO Links:

Resumes, Cover Letters, Interview Help
Career Industry and Employer Overviews
Career Advising Appointment
Econ Alumni Contacts
The Three Parts of an Interview (and How to Nail Each)
and More!

Attention 2nd Years

Banking internships will be recruiting heavily now and into the summer for internships for the following summer. Banks will hold these info sessions to network with current second years to recruit for internships during their third years. These events will be good opportunities for you to practice your pitch and networking skills, which you can always brush up on here.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/01/2019

10 Great Skills You Can Teach Yourself

10 Great Skills You Can Teach Yourself

by Stephan Maldonado | March 22, 2019

In a competitive job market, employers typically encounter many highly qualified candidates with impressive resumes and interesting backgrounds—particularly among MBA candidates. When making the tough decision between one excellent candidate and another, a hiring manager will often look for something that sets you apart—fluency in another language, for instance, or a special skill.

Many of the skills that stand out to hiring managers are taught in class or learned throughout your career, but taking the initiative to teach yourself new skills is a great way to bolster your resume. You can find anything on the internet these days. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, or edX offer a bevy of free or low-cost courses that you can take at your own pace, and there are many other websites and products dedicated to teaching specific skillsets.

If you're looking for ways to bolster your resume and stand out from the crowd, here are ten great skills you can teach yourself.

1). Coding

Even if you didn't pursue your MBA with the intent to pivot to a career in web development, basic coding is still an excellent skill to have—especially if you work in the digital or tech spaces. Codeacademy and The Odin Project are two great, free platforms (although Codeacademy does have a paid option) that can teach you HTML, Javascript, CSS, and a variety of other coding languages.

2.) Graphic Design

Employers love to see experience in a wide variety of programs, and if even basic Photoshop skills are something you can add to your repertoire, you'll be able to demonstrate versatility and creativity. Format Magazine (a publication of Format, the portfolio-building platform) compiled a great list of 11 free online graphic design courses, which even includes a course from MIT OpenCourseWare.

3.) Content Management Systems (CMS)

A content management system is a platform that manages the creation of digital content for a website. While many companies use their own in-house, proprietary CMS to host their website content, many others use services like SquareSpace or WordPress. Because every CMS is different, learning how to use one is specific to each. However, platforms like WordPress offer free or low-cost tutorials to teach you how to use them (check out WP 101 as an example). Being familiar with the features of at least one CMS puts you at an advantage when it's time to learn a new one.

4.) Microsoft Excel

This seems either obvious or cliché (and it probably shouldn't go on your resume), but there is no overstating the importance of knowing at least a few handy Excel formulas. With enough formulas to fill an entire spreadsheet (there's a reason Udemy's course contains 16 hours of videos), there's virtually no limit to what you can do with Excel. Knowing your way around a workbook will make your job much easier.

5.) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is an essential component of any company's online success. SEO is essentially a multidisciplinary strategy for optimizing a website in order to appear on the first page of Google when somebody searches for a term relevant to your business. It's a booming and rapidly changing industry, and employers are always on the lookout for people who keep up with it. Moz, a leading SEO platform, has a free Beginner's Guide to SEO and a truly insightful blog that offers plenty of resources.

6.) Marketing Analytics

Understanding how to analyze a company's performance with respect to its marketing efforts, and gleaning insights from trends, data, and user behavior is a highly impressive skill. Google Analytics, which is one of the most popular tools for measuring marketing performance, has a free online class called Analytics Academy that can teach you the basics or help you refine your advanced skills. The Moz blog also has an extensive analytics section.

7.) Social Media Marketing

A brand's reputation and growth on social media depend on so much more than posting content. Successful social media marketing is an entire strategy that depends on following trends, analyzing data, and maintaining a relationship with your followers. Again, Moz has an extensive section on their blog devoted to this topic, and DIY Genius has a great list of 10 free online courses for social media marketing

8.) Copywriting

Being able to write professionally is absolutely essential; copywriting, however, isn't a skill that everyone has. The ability to write persuasively and with purpose, particularly for the web, is definitely a skill that might come in handy when you least expect it. Copy Hackers has an entire suite of copywriting tutorials, articles, and other resources.

9.) Stock Trading

Whether you're in investment banking or stock trading, knowing how the stock market works is an invaluable tool, both personally and professionally. InvestopediaStockTrader.com, and Morningstar, Inc. all offer great information to help get you started. Your bank may also provide resources and advice.

 10.) Blockchain

Blockchain is the ridiculously complicated technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which is arguably one of today's buzziest industries. The FinTech industry, especially, is looking for people who keep up with this emerging technology. Coursera has a Blockchain Basics course, and Medium also points to some good resources.

Read more here.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/05/2018

ARTICLE - TIPS FOR NETWORKING AS AN INTROVERT

"So… being an introvert does NOT mean you don’t have social skills. As career development folks, we all know this, right? Right. However, it does mean that for many of us, being around lots of people at one time can be draining. I am what you might consider an “expressive” introvert, so I am often mistaken as an extrovert." -Tiffany I. Waddell

 

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/20/2017

ARTICLE - DARING TO DECLINE: KNOWING WHEN TO SAY NO TO A JOB OFFER

by Samantha McGurgan

Congratulations—you got the offer! This is cause for a celebration! Except…why are you experiencing the sinking feeling of dread? You may feel obligated to accept the offer because you already invested so much time and effort in getting to this point, and starting over takes So. Much. Work. You might be thinking:

Is it ok if I say no?
Who says no in this economy?
How do I even determine if it’s not right for me?

As someone who has said no to few offers over the years, I understand how uncomfortable and scary it is to say no to a perfectly good offer on paper. And I can also attest to the fact that I have never regretted saying no to job that didn’t feel right, and only have regretted saying yes. Here are a few questions to ponder through this decision-making process:

1.) How does your body feel? Stop analyzing, over-thinking, second-guessing, and Googling for the answer. Check in with your body: what is your gut telling you? Listen to it. Unapologetically. It’s never wrong. It’s normal to have a bit of nerves when facing a new challenge or embarking on new territory. But there’s a difference between distress (unhealthy) and eustress (healthy). Get to know how your body reacts to negative and positive stress by reflecting on the last time you experienced something of each type—how did it feel? How do those two experiences compare?

For me, I feel depleted, tired, and unconsciously withdraw when experiencing distress. I clench my teeth. Deep down I know it’s not right, but I run over it repeatedly in my mind trying to find a way to make it work. My husband says: You just got an offer—why aren’t we celebrating?

Conversely, I feel charged up, energetic, and motivated when faced with the possibility of a new and exciting challenge (aka a job I actually want). I feel inspired. I literally jump for joy after getting the call that I’ve been selected as the top candidate. I feel like everything was worth it after all.

Bottom line: If the offer doesn’t make you feel good, this is a warning sign. It’s worth it to wait for the job that won’t make you want to quit after three months.

2.) Are you running toward the finish line or being chased by wolves? Both of these instances involve quick, forward momentum. The difference lies within the motivation. My first question is always: Do you want the job or are you afraid that it’s your only option?

There are currently more job openings in the United States than people who are unemployed. The culture of scarcity that has been drilled into us since the Great Recession doesn’t reflect the reality of the job market. Given that you are qualified for the role you are seeking, wait for the job that will provide a sustainable opportunity for career growth, rather than accept the first one that comes along (if it’s not truly what you want).

Many of my graduating seniors who are in the midst of their first job plan on accepting a position as a safety net with the intent to keep looking for a better option. I ask them to think deeply about what is lacking in the opportunity, decline the offer, and seek one that is a better fit.

This doesn’t mean don’t accept an entry-level position. This means don’t settle for something okay when you could have something even better if you’d only waited another month or two. Or six. And don’t accept an offer with the intention to bail when something better comes up.

Bottom line: You’re going to find a job. Trust in that. And aim high. Do you really want to go through the interview process any time soon anyway? If you’re already planning to quit before a year or two, decline the offer.

3.) What do you want your life to look like?

If you’re like me, you’ve found yourself lying awake at night asking the Internet for a glimmer of hope or a strategy to make a non-ideal offer work with my life.

Ok Google: Is there a way to spend a two-hour commute that won’t make me angry and hateful?

I’m exaggerating, but the answer is no. For me. Because I have a family, and I know the excitement of a new role would quickly wear off after spending 12 hours each day away from home. Other people I’ve spoken to don’t mind their commute at all because they love their job so much. The question to ponder is, how will this job affect the rest of my life and therefore my happiness? How does this position relate to my ultimate goal? There are going to be sacrifices. Let’s make the sacrifices worthwhile.

Bottom line: The more you know yourself and your goals, the better you can discern if the position is right within the context of your life as a whole.

Samantha McGurgan is a career counselor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and college success adjunct at Cuesta College. Her greatest moments of joy involve expanding the career horizons of first generation students and supporting military-connected students in their transition to civilian careers. She holds an M.A. in education, with a specialization in counseling and guidance in student affairs from Cal Poly SLO, and a B.S. in human ecology from The Ohio State University.

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2016

ARTICLE - Choosing a Career Path: A Collegiate Perspective

This is a guest piece by Elizabeth Santoro, a senior at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, who will begin her career at a technology company upon graduation.

In my experience, college leaves you with more questions than answers. Entering college you may or may not know what career you want or what direction to take. Either way, college seems to be anything but linear, — it’s more a series of switchbacks and loops.

I thought I would work for some Condé Nast beauty magazine among New York City’s skyscrapers or, on the flip side, dig deep as an investigative reporter. Graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, I’m on a different spectrum entirely and accepted an offer to work in product marketing for a tech startup.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Source: By April 20, 2017Talent

 

Feature | 05/12/2020

Class of 2020: Homegrown Squash Player Shines in Growing Program

Melissa Moore

Feature | 06/20/2018

Melissa Moore Elected VP of Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Council

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Council (GSASC) represents the interests of graduate students at University of Virginia. As GSASC’s Vice President of Administration, 4th year Economics PhD student Melissa Moore helps run the council and organize events for GSASC. Melissa was elected to the Vice President position this May, after serving for a year as the Initiatives Committee Co-Chair. In that position, Melissa led a review of funding issues affecting graduate students at UVA and helped kick-start a GSASC Research Grant program. In Spring 2018, the GSASC Research Grant provided grants of up to $1,000 for ten students in the graduate school, including Economics student Emily Cook. Graduate students will continue to have the opportunity to apply for the grants every semester.  When asked why she, as a busy graduate student, would seek out this additional responsibility, Melissa explains that “serving on GSASC has helped me become connected to the university community. I’ve been able to meet graduate students from other departments and learn more about the administration of a research institution. I think it’s important for graduate students to have a voice at the university and I’m happy to contribute my time towards furthering that goal.”

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/25/2018

The Secret to Standing out in Interviews Is Almost Too Obvious

Impressing a stranger, standing out from the competition, earning an offer—these are all challenges, even for an experienced professional who should be a perfect fit.

Why?

Because the higher up you climb on the ladder, the more you’re competing against candidates with similar impressive experiences and qualifications.

As a CEO and interviewer for many years, I’ve met so many great people I ended up passing on.

So, your next question is probably, “Well, then how do I stand out?”

Here’s the big secret that has nothing to do with your resume bullet points: Your strongest selling point, your best competitive edge, is yourself. Truly—no one can copy that.

How do you show who you are over the course of a job interview? Try the following approaches:

 

1. Knock “Tell Me About Yourself” Out of the Park

I ask this question at the beginning of every interview (and so do many, many other people in charge of hiring). Luckily for you, the typical response is generic and long—meaning you have the opportunity here to make yourself memorable.

Consider and practice your response before entering the room. Think of it like a book’s back-cover synopsis: You’re trying to excite and encourage the interviewer. You want her to want to learn more about you—aim to make him or her curious. (Bonus: Include something that isn’t on your resume because the element of surprise can spark additional curiosity.)

If you’re not specifically asked “Tell me about yourself” during the interview, be proactive and find a way to share your answer during the conversation.

 

Continue here: https://www.themuse.com/advice/this-secret-to-standing-out-in-interviews...

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/02/2017

ARTICLE - HOW TO MASTER EFFECTIVE STORYTELLING IN INTERVIEWS

"You feel nervous about your career stories, and the fact that you have to tell stories in interviews drives you bananas. You're not sure whether your stories are even any good. You don't know if what you did was even that special." -Natalie Fisher 

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Feature | 08/12/2016

From the ECO: Networking Tips

How to plan your networking strategy.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/01/2023

ECO Comments on Six-Second Resume Test

The following comments are responses to The Wall Street Journal article "Does Your Resume Pass the Six-second Test?"
Comments from Jennifer Jones, Edwin T. Burton Economics Career Office

Yes, this is about right. I take about 30 seconds for a first pass at a resume, before screening the finer details. If I'm familiar with an employer and job description, my thorough review (before comments to the student) will be about 2 minutes and if I'm unfamiliar with the employer/job description my review may take 3-4 minutes as I toggle between the job posting and the employer. I use the analogy of selling a house and staging a home.  The exterior of the house and the property is curb appeal and most recruiters are seeking curb appeal before they get deeper. So, the top 1/3 of the resume needs to draw attention for super competitive industries/employers. The curb appeal definitely consists of key words from the job posting, relevant experience/skills, industry/job function buzzwords, demonstrating excellence. (For students that includes GPA, test scores, honors awards, and leadership.). Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) make this process trickier because we don't know the algorithms that are used, but keywords remain a best practice.

 

Forget the Professional Statement

Yes, especially for students. It's unnecessary and squanders the most valuable real estate. I discourage using a profile or objective statement entirely, even in cases when a student is pivoting away from their major in their job search. The college resume is already structured to highlight relevant experience that diverges from one's major using Relevant Coursework as a category for example, and others. I could be persuaded against this, but likely this would be only for a non-traditional student, i.e. for someone who had military service or worked for several years before pursuing their undergraduate degree.

 

As for replacing the professional statement with a list of skills - not for everyone. For our students, Education should be listed first to be clear that they are seeking entry-level employment. If a student has worked full-time before attending college or has military service experience, this will come in their experience section, or in a skills section immediately after their education. This is where I've seen and encouraged the most significant formatting changes in recent years - including the Skills section before Experience. When a student has very strong, unusual, or relevant technical skills it may be worthwhile including those in the top 1/3 of the resume rather than lower.

 

Don't Be a Jack of All Trades

I agree on principle, but for students applying for their first internship or micro-internship, a thematic resume may be more difficult to create. Recruiters understand this. But, often, we can find a thread of interest to convey on the resume. By fourth-year students should be more successful in customizing their resumes for a couple of different job functions or industries/conveying their experience with a clear theme that is relevant to the job at hand. If not, that's an important conversation to have with a career advisor.

 

Use Numbers

Yes, Yes, Yes! I spend a good deal of time quantifying students' accomplishments with them. They often think of responsibilities rather than achievements. With finance-related roles or summer internships that led to easily recognizable quantifiable outcomes, this is easy. But this is more challenging for third-years, especially, who may be coming from less professional roles. Simply changing their ice cream shop experience from "served customers ice cream" to "served 75 customers an hour and upsold toppings to ~50%" reveals a lot of info about the pace, volume, understanding of profit, etc. and likely can lead to a great conversation about customer service, running a business, etc.

 

Make Your LinkedIn Profile the Priority

I disagree with this, but only for students. For more experienced job-seekers this makes sense, and for recently graduated students. However, if students are applying for their jobs through LinkedIn, then their profiles ought to be rock-solid and descriptive. I also do not like the "Open to Work" tag because I'm not sure that the signal is perceived the same by everyone. We have a wonderful AI tool in Handshake called Aspire, which helps students to build a great LinkedIn profile. 

do recommend that every job-seeking/graduate school-seeking student build a LinkedIn account to conduct research and network. 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/04/2019

These Interview Questions are Worth Preparing

If you're planning to interview with one of the Big 4 professional firms—DeloitteEYKPMGPwC—you likely know that you'll have to answer questions about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as field a number of so-called behavioral questions.

These behavioral questions typically begin with the phrase "Tell me about a time ..." and most often cover your ability to lead, deal with conflict, work on teams, work within tight time constraints, and deal with failure. And so, to nail any Big 4 interview, you'll most certainly need airtight answers to these questions.

In addition, you'll now need airtight answers to a host of other "Tell me about a time ..." questions.

Recently, we surveyed several thousand Big 4 professionals, asking them about life at their firms. One question we asked had to do with interview questions. And below are 11 new behavioral questions that Big 4 professionals told us their firms are now asking their interviewees.

1. Tell me about a time you set a goal in one of your previous positions and the steps you took to achieve it.

2. Tell me about a time when you had to manage conflicting priorities and still exceed someone's expectations.

3. Tell me about a time you used technology to effectively complete a task or analysis.

4. Tell me about a time you had to be a problem solver and the methods you used to solve the issue.

5. Tell me about a time you were proactive in soliciting performance feedback from a mentor or client.

6. Tell me about a time you enthusiastically led a work team through a major change initiative.

7. Tell me about a time you had to analyze data and present it to a group. How did you get the data, analyze it, and what was the outcome?

8. Tell me about a time you had to adapt to real change in your life.

9. Tell me about a time you had to influence others' opinions on a project or work situation.

10. Tell me about a time you went out of your way to learn.

11. Tell me about a time when you had to think on your feet. What was the outcome?

Of course, chances are slim that you'll receive all of these questions in one Big 4 interview. Still, it's going to be a good idea, if you are interviewing with a Big 4 firm, to make sure you prepare answers for each of these questions.

Here's how to go about dointg that: First, take a few minutes to think about a real time that you experienced each situation (never make up your answer; always base it on fact). Second, take a few minutes to collect your thoughts about what you honestly did in each circumstance (visualize yourself in that situation and try to recall all the details involved, what happened, what you did, the outcome, etc.). Third, take a few minutes to practice your response to each question (you can do this aloud or in your head).

Finally, remember that it's always better to over-prepare than under-prepare. And that this is especially true when it comes to interviewing.

Read More

Feature | 12/03/2021

Daniel Harper Presents 2 Papers at 2021 SEA Conference

Daniel Harper, a fifth-year graduate student, presented two of his papers at the Southern Economics Association conference. The first, “Behavioral Influences on Investment and Production in Asset Markets: An Experimental Study,” co-authored with Charles Holt, investigates individual’s future price expectations and behavioral biases towards holding cash effect investment decisions. The second, “In-Person versus Online Instruction: Evidence from Principles of Economics,” co-authored with Kenneth Elzinga, uses the switch to online learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct a natural experiment to measure student performance in entirely online and entirely in-person courses.  It finds no statistically significant difference in performance between the two teaching methods.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/03/2023

Advice From A CEO: How To Create A Career You Love

Article written by Caroline Castrillon from Forbes.

Chances are you’ve come across books or articles describing the process of “finding” yourself. But a more accurate description is that we as humans “create” ourselves—including our careers. A career you love isn’t waiting to be discovered under a rock or deep in a wooded forest. The process is much more intentional. It requires courage, self-knowledge, and a willingness to disassociate yourself from the outcome. These are just a few insights that emerged following my conversation with Sharon Price John, President and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop and author of Stories & Heart.

One thing is certain; John doesn't run from adversity. She embraces it. But that’s not all that makes her an exceptional leader. In Stories & Heart, John uses her gift of storytelling to share personal experiences that provide a roadmap for anyone who wants to create a life and career they love. Here are just a few of the biggest takeaways.

Clarify your goals

Life is a journey; to create a career you love, you need to know where you’re going. That means identifying your goals. Once you’ve pinpointed them, John suggests writing them down and visualizing them as if they are already a part of your life. There is something powerful about writing down your goals, and there is research to back it up. Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University in California, conducted a study on goal setting and found that participants were 42% more likely to achieve their goals just by writing them down. Finally, you must have the "gumption" to stick with your goals. Gumption, according to John, "is a mix of drive, passion, and creativity—not just sheer will.”

Define your values

Ultimately, people are happier when their value system aligns with their job or career. So to create a career you love, think about what is most important to you. These values could range from flexibility to a corporate environment that embraces teamwork and transparency. John adds, “by clarifying who you are deep down and the type of person you aspire to become, you will more easily recognize what really matters to you—so future decisions can be made more quickly with greater clarity, less stress, more conviction, and little regret.”

Take action

In the book, John explains why people don't take action. They either don't really believe achieving their goal is possible, or they are afraid of failure. One approach is to ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Another tactic is to relabel the fear as something more positive, like excitement. Relabeling the feeling makes it much easier to manage. At that point, you can work on breaking your bigger goal down into smaller, more manageable steps.

Embrace planned serendipity

While learning to set and achieve goals is part of creating a career you love, it’s not usually a straight path. In fact, a few unexpected turns may be just what you need to reach your destination—a concept called planned serendipity. Planned serendipity is the idea of putting yourself in unfamiliar situations to be exposed to previously unknown people and experiences. It could be as simple as breaking your routine by taking a new route to work or sitting at a different table in the cafeteria. By altering your surroundings, you are opening yourself up to new ways of thinking. John points out, “I have found in my life that if I opened my mind to possibilities and then put myself in unfamiliar environments, it is a mechanism for awakening yourself to ideas.”

Redefine failure

Failure isn't a deterrent to success; it is part of being successful. It is much more empowering to think of failure as a stepping stone rather than an undesirable event. By labeling it as a learning experience, you turn failure into something positive. “The key to overcoming failure is to entirely redefine the concept, writes John. “When you can do this, you can also redefine your life.”

Trust your instincts

Albert Einstein once said, “the intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” When creating a career you love, you’ll want to gather as much data as possible and then balance that data with intuition. Just remember that intuition doesn’t usually present itself as a sudden “aha” moment in the form of a thunderbolt. As John points out, “instincts often do not yell and scream. They whisper. If your world, your mind, your life is too loud, they will be drowned out. You have to learn to be quiet and listen to them first.”

In the end, John reminds us that the whole point of creating a career you love is to find fulfillment. “Humans are meant to do something with their lives, she says. “That something is meant to create value, and that value is meant to help fulfill you. That's the great circle of it all."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/08/2017

ARTICLE - 5 BEST APPS FOR TIME MANAGEMENT

"These days, we do lots of things online. While this saves us a lot of time, it also demands more focus and concentration on our part. With all the distractions the internet offers, you may want to use some effective time management tools to eliminate them." -Jack Milgram

 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Feature | 01/30/2024

UVA Grad School Panel

Want to learn about graduate programs you may choose to pursue with your economics degree? Consider attending in the fall, in the future, and full or part-time. You’ll hear from admissions staff and current students, and will have the opportunity to speak with the panelists of your choice. Learn about admissions requirements, the programs’ course curricula, and about various paths graduates tend to pursue.

This year's Graduate Programs represented included:

UVA MS in Commerce: https://www.commerce.virginia.edu/ms-commerce - UVA MS in Data Science: https://datascience.virginia.edu/academics - UVA Frank Batten MPP and Accelerated MPP Program: https://batten.virginia.edu/academics/graduate-programs/master-public-po... UVA Law School JD Program: https://www.law.virginia.edu/academics/jd-curriculum UVA Darden MBA and Future Year Scholars Program: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/future-year-scholars-program - Econ PhD at UVA: https://economics.virginia.edu/phd-program-overview UVA MS in Public Health: https://med.virginia.edu/phs/education-programs-in-public-health-science...

*Panel is open to all majors in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Click here to register.

Machine Learning

Feature | 01/18/2019

December Workshop on Introduction to Machine Learning Taught by Visiting Faculty from BITS India

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/09/2017

US News: Ways to Improve Your Rhetoric for Interviews

Tips on how to more persuasively communicate your skills and accomplishments to impress interviewers: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2016-11-16/4-ways-to-improve-your-interviewing-success

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/01/2021

Article: Top Private Equity Firms Hiring College Grads!

A KKR talent exec says the private-equity firm’s college recruiting is expanding beyond core target schools

After years of relying on lateral hiring, private-equity firms are now battling with investment banks to recruit talent directly from college campuses to fill entry-level, often six-figure roles. 

But thanks to virtual recruitment, the group of schools that the private-equity giant KKR targets for entry-level talent has broadened. 

KKR launched its first formal analyst program in 2020, which it filled with college graduates, many of whom had interned at the firm. It hired 12 full-time analysts this way out of 762 collegiate applicants in 2020, and in 2021 it hired 19 out of 1,678, amounting to an acceptance rate of less than 2% in both years, Grace Koo, KKR’s head of talent acquisition, told Insider.

Before, the firm had hired junior investment professionals only after they landed jobs at other financial institutions, most often investment banks. While a majority of KKR’s junior hires still come to the firm laterally, Koo said campuses are now becoming an equally important pipeline.

The pandemic and switch to remote work helped KKR rethink how it approached on-campus recruiting, Koo said. 

KKR has been able to access more students through webinars and virtual tools this year. Koo said that the age-old practice of recruiting within a group of core "target" schools is now "almost an obsolete concept," as the firm no longer feels it must be physically present on a campus in order to connect with prospective hires.

"It’s no longer: Here are my four schools or here are the 12 schools I care about. Technology has completely leveled the playing field," Koo said. 

KKR received applications from students from close to 150 schools this year.

"There’s no way we ever would have been able to physically appear at these campuses," she said. "But with virtual tools, I think we can tell our story to so many more students and reach that diverse and rich pool of talent."

A spokesperson for KKR said they were unable to provide specific data on the diversity of the company’s candidate pool this year.

Before 2020, first-year investment-banking analysts would apply to KKR for "on-cycle" private-equity associate positions, committing two years in advance to starting those jobs. On-cycle recruiting for the class of 2020 associates was delayed throughout the industry as firms including KKR sought to give these investment-banking analysts more time to gain work experience before interviewing.

Koo said that firms expect to start recruiting on-cycle associates again this fall. She said KKR sees the late start to recruiting as a positive for first-year investment-banking analysts, who will have the chance to gain hands-on experience before making an informed choice about their post-banking career path.

Anita Ramaswamy July 17, 2021 at 05:45PM

View this article on the original webpage here.

Feature | 05/23/2022

Yooseon Hwang presents at European UEA Conference

In April 2022, fifth-year student Yooseon Hwang presented her paper,"The Welfare Effects of Congestion Pricing," at the European Urban Economics Association Conference in London. The paper estimates the effects of congestion pricing on welfare by developing a quantitative spatial model with endogenous commuting costs.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/20/2019

2019 Economics Undergraduate Career Forum Schedule

What can you do with an economics major? Almost anything! Join the economics department for a series of career talks and office hours, as well as two career panels moderated by our faculty. You’ll hear from guests with diverse backgrounds and have a chance to ask questions and network with our guests. What do they have in common – an economics major! This program will be of interest to all students who are considering work in the fields of our guests.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/31/2018

Alumni Spotlight: Emily Steinhilber

University of Virginia, Department of Economics

Alumni Spotlight: Emily Steinhilber, Research Associate Professor at Old Dominion University

 

Life at UVA and since graduating:

Emily graduated from the University of Virginia in 2007 with degrees in Economics and History. After UVA, Emily received her doctorate in Law and Masters in Environmental Law and Policy at the Vermont Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude. She has worked in legal clinics and in environmental policy for over a decade.

 

She now works at Old Dominion University as a Research Assistant Professor. She coordinates the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resilience and works with faculty members to ensure their work is useful for policy makers and the public. She works with entrepreneurs and innovators to support new ideas for adapting to flooding.

 

In your own words, what is sustainability?

Effectively using resources to ensure a better result.

 

Emily’s advice for students:

  • Read up on as much literature as you can on the topics that interest you professionally and personally
  • Don’t write anything important on your phone–take pride in your written work
  • Do your research effectively and thoroughly–click on references in papers
  • Ask people to have coffee!
 
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/16/2023

A College Student's Guide to Connecting with Someone on LinkedIn

This article was written by Rikin Shah for LinkedIn
(Note from the ECO: The ECO endorses the content of this article, but found typos and grammatical errors in the original piece. We have attempted to correct many of them in our copy below.)

Let's say you've found your dream company and identified someone you think you would like to connect with; now for the approach. How can you be heard when you reach out to someone at your dream company? The goal here is not to directly ask for an internship but rather to build a genuine and useful relationship with the company.

I have fallen prey to this many times. I have the business card or email address of someone, but somehow never knew what to say. I wanted to find a formula that was bulletproof, something that would lead to an internship instead of in their unread box. I hated the idea of reaching out to someone without really having much to give. But if you are a young professional or student, what you can give someone with an established career is the opportunity to give back to someone younger. If you are looking to land an internship, you're better off framing the email as an opportunity for them to give you advice rather than asking for a job. Every single email you send and conversation you have with a potential advocate, you need to reframe the context so it's about them. It’s not about you, it’s about the other person.

Cold Approaches

Let’s face it, emails are essential to connecting with anyone today. But we all know that it’s hard to send an email that stands out.

The key to sending an email that elicits a response is to make a reasonable and personable ask. Imagine a stranger walking up to you on the street and asking you for a job. You would be reluctant. But let’s say they asked you for advice on getting a job, you’d be much more willing to provide the latter.

Consider two cold emails you can send to someone:

Hi! My name is Rikin and I am a sophomore marketing student at the University of Texas at Austin. I am interested in working in the outdoor gear industry. I am planning on being a product designer and building camping gear. Are you looking for any interns? If so, I would love to work with the team. It’s always been my dream to work for an outdoor gear company. I think my experience being an honor roll student and being involved in my business fraternity would qualify me to be on your team.

Versus:

Hey Bartos,

I saw that you are involved in the outdoor gear industry in Austin. I think it’s incredible that you made the switch from working in banking to living the dream of designing camping gear.

As an adventurer at heart, I have been interested in ending up in the outdoor industry after I graduate from UT Austin. I was wondering if you might be willing to take 20 minutes to hop on a call and maybe advise someone who’s in the same shoes you were in 5 years ago?

The differences are subtle, but together they make a difference.

Asking for Advice:

People love to give advice. Instead of asking questions ask for advice. People love to give advice, just ask your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner. The goal is to turn this relationship from a unilateral connection where you are asking for help to a more bilateral mentorship relationship. Get them invested in you.

Be sure to have pointed questions to ask. Don’t ask for general advice, ask for advice on something specific such as finding your first internship, etc.

Be Humble:

College students often hide behind their qualifications. They use their GPA, school, or leadership experience to build credibility. Unless your credentials include singlehandedly saving the world’s whale population, your credentials don’t entitle you to someone else’s time. All that matters is your ability to work hard and offer value, everything else is a proxy. If the first paragraph does not talk about why your email relates to your recipient, you’ve already lost the game.

Vulnerabilities:

Throughout your school career, you’ve been taught to hide your vulnerabilities. But if you step back, your dream company is going to be fine without you, but the company you work for will have much more impact on you. It’s okay to be vulnerable and admit it. It’s okay to ask if this career is going to be the right fit for you.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/18/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 10.18.16

Job Postings from Alumni, Events, and this week an Alumna Profile, just for economics majors.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/03/2023

How to Write a Script for a Job Interview That Feels Authentic

Written by Judith Humphrey for Fast Company

So, you have a job interview at a company you really like. It’s your dream job. Your interviews are scheduled, and you ready to start to preparing. But how?

Most candidates research the company, the interviewer, and the job, then jot down notes on what they’ll say and write out questions to ask. But how many job seekers actually write out a script for themselves? Not many! They may fear sounding wooden or robotic in the interview. Or they suspect they’ll panic if they forget their lines.

Don’t believe it. Without a script, you’re rudderless. You’ll deliver whatever comes into your head at the moment. And you won’t necessarily get across a clear, consistent message about your readiness for the job.

As a former speechwriter, I can tell you, good scripts don’t come “in the moment.” There’s a slight chance you’ll get it right. But more likely you’ll deliver mixed messages that don’t add up to a clear and compelling picture of yourself. You have to think a lot about how you’re going to tell your story. After all, it must inspire that particular interviewer, and that company.

Follow these four steps, and you’ll be able to do just that.

STEP 1: CREATE YOUR SCRIPT

The first step is to decide how you want to tell your story in the interview.

Ask yourself, “How will I open?” You’ll want something that builds rapport with the interviewer. Perhaps, “I’ve heard so much about you and your leadership—great to meet you.” Or, “everyone I’ve met speaks so highly of you. I’ve been looking forward to our conversation.”

Next comes your message. What is the one big idea about yourself that you want the interviewer to hear? Every job seeker needs a message. It’s the distillation of what you believe about yourself as a candidate for that role. You’ll want to bring it forward early in the interview, and repeat it in various ways throughout the interview. It allows the interviewer to “get you.”

Following the message come three or four proof points that support your message. If these can be presented with quantifiable results, do so.  For example, if you had a strong sales record, prove it with numbers.

End your script with next steps. Do you want the job? Then ask for it. You likely won’t say, “Do I have the job?” but it would be good to say, “I’m excited about this role. I believe I’d be an excellent fit, and I look forward to hearing about next steps.”

Write out your script in full sentences or bullet points and prepare answers to any questions you might be asked. You may decide to add a “demo” or just keep it as an outline of what you want to say. And for every interview—especially if you’re applying for different jobs, or in different companies–customize your script.

STEP 2: BURN IT IN YOUR MIND

For the script to be useful, make it your own. Go over it silently, making sure you have it down solid. In the days leading up to the interview, be obsessive about mastering it. Whether you’re having coffee, commuting to the office, or relaxing on a walk, repeat it to yourself over and over again.

Make sure it sounds like you. For example, if you’ve written “I have a deep background in the field of marketing,” you may decide it sounds too stiff. So, change it to “I’m a marketing whiz. Marketing is in my blood!” Customize the script so you sound like you’re speaking not from a script, but from your gut.

As you master your script, you’ll have something carefully thought out to say. You won’t ramble, over answer, or go blank in the interview. You’ll have ideas that you “own” and want to deliver. This will make you more purposeful.

STEP 3: RALLY OTHERS TO REHEARSE WITH YOU

Call upon friends or family members to listen to you deliver your script and answer questions. If the interview is going to be over Zoom, rehearse it that way. If it’s going to be in person, rehearse it that way. If it’s a video interview, create a video.

Have the person interviewing you ask you questions, and as she probes, find opportunities to interleaf your script. This will result in a back-and-forth dialogue that mirrors the interactive conversation you’ll be having. And it will save you from sounding wooden or programmed.

Don’t worry if you don’t use exactly the same words every time you rehearse. In fact, that’s a good thing. You’ll be shaping what you say to the tone and style of the mock interview.

STEP 4: YOU’RE READY FOR THE INTERVIEW

Once you’ve rehearsed successfully, you’re ready for the interview.

Leave the script behind when you go to the interview. It’s no longer needed, because that script has become your way of thinking. And whatever comes your way during the interview, you’ll know what your message is, what points you want to make to support that message, and how to begin and end. And you’ll likewise have answers to anticipated questions. So primed, you’ll sound confident, clear, and leader-like.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/07/2023

Response to Wall Street Journal's "Does Your Resume Pass the Six-Second Test?"

These are the ECO's comments written by Jen Jones, Director, Edwin T. Burton Economics Career Office

Yes, this is about right. I take about 30 seconds for a first pass at a resume, before screening the finer details. If I'm familiar with an employer and job description, my thorough review (before comments to the student) will be about 2 minutes, and if I'm unfamiliar with the employer/job description my review may take 3-4 minutes as I toggle between the job posting and the employer. I use the analogy of selling a house and staging a home.  The exterior of the house and the property is curb appeal and most recruiters are seeking curb appeal before they get deeper. So, the top 1/3 of the resume needs to draw attention for super competitive industries/employers. The curb appeal definitely consists of key words from the job posting, relevant experience/skills, industry/job function industry language, and demonstrating excellence. (For students the latter includes GPA, test scores, honors awards, and leadership.) Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) make this process trickier because we don't know the algorithms that are used, but keywords remain a best practice.

Forget the Professional Statement

Yes, especially for students. It's unnecessary and squanders the most valuable real estate. I discourage using a profile or objective statement entirely, even in cases when a student is pivoting away from their major in their job search. The college resume is already structured to highlight relevant experience that diverges from one's major using Relevant Coursework as a category for example, and others. I could be persuaded against this, but likely this would be only for a non-traditional student, i.e. for someone who had military service or worked for several years before pursuing their undergraduate degree.

As for replacing the professional statement with a list of skills - not for everyone. For our students, Education should be listed first to be clear that they are seeking entry-level employment. If a student has worked full-time before attending college or has military service experience, this will come in their experience section, or in a skills section immediately after their education. This is where I've seen and encouraged the most significant formatting changes in recent years - including the Skills section before Experience. When a student has very strong, unusual, or relevant technical skills it may be worthwhile including those in the top 1/3 of the resume rather than lower.

Don't Be a Jack of All Trades

I agree on principle, but for students applying for their first internship or micro-internship, a thematic resume may be more difficult to create. Recruiters understand this. But, often, we can find a thread of interest to convey on the resume. By fourth-year students should be more successful in customizing their resumes for a couple of different job functions or industries/conveying their experience with a clear theme that is relevant to the job at hand. If not, that's an important conversation to have with a career advisor.

Use Numbers

Yes, Yes, Yes! I spend a good deal of time quantifying students' accomplishments with them. Think beyond responsibilities and include results and achievements. With finance-related roles or summer internships that led to easily recognizable quantifiable outcomes, this is easy. But this is more challenging for second and third-years especially, who are coming from less professional roles. Simply changing their ice cream shop experience from "served customers ice cream" to "served 75 customers an hour and upsold toppings by ~50% increasing nightly revenue by 30%" reveals a lot of info about the pace, volume, understanding of profit and the market, and likely can lead to great conversation about profitability and running a business.

Make Your LinkedIn Profile the Priority

I disagree with this, but only for students. For more experienced job-seekers this makes sense, and for recently-graduated students. If students are applying for their jobs through LinkedIn, then their profile ought to be solid and descriptive. I also do not like the "Open to Work" tag because I'm not sure that the signal is perceived the same by everyone. We have a wonderful AI tool in Handshake called Aspire, which helps students build a great LinkedIn profile. 

do recommend that every job-seeking/graduate school-seeking student should have a LinkedIn account to conduct research and network. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Is Working Abroad for you

Test Your IQ (International Quotient) to See If Working Abroad Is for You

Thinking about working overseas? Take this quiz to see if it working abroad is for you. (You may need to log into Handshake to access this article). 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/05/2022

Employers Ranking High in Diversity Recruiting, Forbes

Meet America’s Best Employers For Diversity 2022

Jared Council

Forbes Staff

I cover stories at the intersection of business and race

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Apr 26, 2022,09:45am EDT

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Over the past two years, the focus on racial disparities has put a spotlight on several industries. The impact of Covid-19 on the lives and livelihoods of Black families has raised questions about healthcare equity. The economic fallout for Black workers and Black-owned businesses has once again illustrated the need for financial inclusion and access to capital. Meanwhile, remote learning has turned attention to the disparities in resources and academic outcomes for students in underserved communities.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that those sectors have been laggards in embracing the importance of racial diversity in serving the underserved. However, the devastating impact of Covid-19, combined with heightened attention to racial inequities following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, appears to be having some impact. Although far from sufficient, those sectors made the greatest gains in addressing one of the key factors in advancing representation in Forbes’ 2022 list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity.

This year’s list features a higher proportion of companies in banking and financial services, the healthcare and social sector, and education. Each sector increased its presence on the 500-company list, with each making up 8% of the list versus 6% last year.

“The impact of Covid-19 took the world by storm and revealed the magnitude of inequalities that exist in communities of color, especially Black- and minority-owned businesses,” John Patton, head of U.S. diversity and inclusion at TD Bank, told Forbes in an email. “To stay on track and continue on our path to diversify talent across the organization, we’ve enhanced our focus on diversity and inclusion and we report on our progress annually as part of our Environment, Social and Governance Reporting suite.”

This commitment helped earn TD Bank No. 9 on our fifth annual list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity. Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 60,000 Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees and pinpoint the companies they identified as most dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Respondents were asked to rate their organizations on criteria such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation equality, as well as that of general diversity. More than 10,000 companies were reviewed and roughly 2,000 were given a diversity score, which takes into account surveys of a firm’s diverse employees and its publicly disclosed information about representation.

Statista found that some of the best-performing companies on the list have tangible action plans and initiatives aimed at providing support and representation for diverse employees. That includes initiatives such as leadership programs that target underrepresented groups and women. According to Statista, 16% of researched companies had women CEOs, and 31% had executive leadership and board positions filled by women. More than 55% had an executive leadership position with the explicit task of promoting diversity and inclusion.

Despite the progress companies have reported in increasing diversity, much work remains. A case in point is ChristianaCare in Newark, Delaware, which set a goal in July 2020 to grow the number of people of color in leadership roles there by 15% in three years.

Caregivers from ChristianaCare's Pride Employee Resource Group and Inclusion & Diversity department celebrated Pride Month with a special flag-raising ceremony on ChristianaCare campuses.

Caregivers from ChristianaCare's Pride Employee Resource Group and Inclusion & Diversity department celebrated Pride Month with a special flag-raising ceremony on ChristianaCare campuses to symbolize the organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Ranked at No. 40 on the list, the company is on track, growing to 46 from 41 since July 2020, a 12% increase. However, the percentage of non-white employees ranked at or above director level actually got smaller, from 15.9% that summer to 14.7% today. In other words, the growth rate for managers of color was slower than that of the overall pool.

“I saw this 12% increase, and I got excited. And then I saw that the overall percentage went down, and I stopped being excited,” says Pamela Ridgeway, the chief diversity officer and vice president of talent at the 13,000-employee healthcare system. She says she’s encouraged, though, and that experience taught her to celebrate wins and set new targets.

The healthcare industry is under pressure to improve DEI-related outcomes given some of its glaring racial disparities in health outcomes, such as higher death rates for Black women in maternal care. The mandate for many DEI healthcare leaders has included lowering racial disparities within employee and patient populations, and the belief is that the former can help with the latter.

“We are bad to Black patients, and we’re bad to Latino patients,” says José Rodríguez, associate vice president for health equity, diversity and inclusion at the University of Utah Health system, referring generally to outcomes in the healthcare industry. The Rocky Mountain-based healthcare system ranked No. 41. “However, there’s emerging data that shows when you have more Black providers, the health outcomes for your Black patients go up. And the same is true for your Latino population. So we’re working to end disparities.”

Progressive Insurance and technology company VMware ranked first and second, respectively, on the list this year, up last year from No. 20 for Progressive and No. 11 for VMware. Progressive’s DEI related efforts include a “Dare to Disagree” diversity workshop, while VMware has won acclaim for its efforts around disability inclusion.

Adobe, which ranked No. 6, has a number of efforts underway, including partnerships with historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving Institutions, and the Equity and Advancement Initiative. The latter initiative involves collaborating with 11 nonprofit organizations and is designed in part to foster discussions around issues of importance to diverse populations, such as voter rights.

“We really want to make sure we create an ecosystem outside of Adobe that enables us to see around corners,” says Brian Miller, chief talent, diversity and inclusion officer at Adobe. “So where companies can get very reactive … we wanted to start creating organizations that allow us to get in front of that conversation and then tie them to our employee networks.”

For the full list of America’s Best Employers For Diversity, click here.

Methodology

To determine the list, Statista surveyed 60,000 Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. All the surveys were anonymous, allowing participants to openly share their opinions. Respondents were first asked to rate their organizations on criteria such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation equality, as well as that of general diversity. These responses were reviewed for potential diversity gaps. Statista then asked respondents belonging to underrepresented groups to nominate organizations other than their own. The final list ranks the 500 employers that not only received the most recommendations but also boast the most diverse boards and executive ranks and the most proactive diversity and inclusion initiatives. The survey period ran from September to October 2021.

Feature | 12/01/2021

Daniel Harper Presents at 2021 ESA Conference

Daniel Harper, a fifth year graduate student, presented two of his papers at the Economics Science Association's 2021 North American Meeting in Tucson, AZ.  The first paper, “The efficient market hypothesis in experimental asset markets: Private information, public information, and bubbles,” co-authored with Charles Holt and Margaret Isaacson (UVA Econ BA 2021), finds that markets do not fully disseminate private information over the returns to durable goods. However, increasing the proportion of traders with private information over these returns reduces overpricing. Daniel also presented early results from a working paper, co-authored with Charles Holt., titled “Behavioral influences on investment and production in asset markets: An experimental study,” which develops an experimental asset market where traders endogenously produce and trade durable assets and investigates how liquid cash, market prices, and beliefs over future prices affect decisions to produce assets. Vernon Smith (Economics Nobel Laureate 2002) attended this presentation. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

A Must-Read for Job Seekers from the NACE

A Must-Read for Job Seekers from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/30/2018

Identify Your Network: Who do you Know?

Identify your Network: Whom do you Know?

Miriam Salpeter

A common complaint job seekers make is, “I don’t have a network!” It’s very frustrating to realize job search networking is the best way to land an opportunity but to believe that avenue isn’t open to you. Luckily, you do have a network! In fact, anyone who knows one person has a network, and it’s likely your acquaintances, friends, and family members number many more than one. In other words, it’s just a matter of learning how to identify people most interested in your expertise.

Identify Your Network

Social Media

Do you use Facebook? Are you connected to anyone on that social network? Your “friends” there, whether you really like them or not, are part of your professional network. (Even if you’ve never exchanged a word you’d consider “professional” with any of them.)

Do you use other networks, such as Instagram, Pinterest, or SnapChat? Believe it or not, people whose photos you comment on or whose pins you share are also part of your network.

You don’t need to have 500+ LinkedIn contacts to call yourself networked. However, you do need to learn how to tap into these networks of people to access professionally useful information. Ideally, you’ll want to identify any of the people in these networks who may also leverage any of the more typically accessed professional networks, such as LinkedIn, and then connect with them there.

People You Know

Maybe you don’t use social media (although it’s nearly a job-search necessity these days). “Ah ha,” you’re thinking, “I really don't have a network.” Perhaps, if you’ve never taken a class, had a job or internship, or left your house, you may make an argument that you don't have a network. However, most readers won’t accurately fit into those parameters. You have the potential to grow your network every time you leave your home. Do you grocery shop? Attend sporting events? Go to family dinners? Belong to a walking group in your neighborhood? All of these places provide great opportunities to expand your professional network.

Do you see a pattern here? Your professional network doesn’t come with special stickers or labels that say “job networking.” Your network encompasses everyone you know, and everyone those people know, too. If you really want to be fancy, it technically includes at least one more degree of separation, which would capture everyone who is a friend or acquaintance of those friends.

Start thinking about the strength of your professional network using this list:

  • Your family members and friends. (They don’t need to have jobs to join your network.)
  • Everyone you’ve ever worked with, including volunteer jobs.
  • People who attended school with you. Teachers count, too. This includes elementary school through college and grad school. Don’t forget to include people you met at professional development classes or fitness and exercise classes.
  • People you know from religious groups. If you go to religious services, everyone you meet there can be part of your network.
  • People you meet in your community or neighborhood, including at the dog park, kids’ soccer games, or the local street festival.
  • Anyone you know via your children’s activities.
  • People you meet while practicing your hobby, whether it is gardening, golfing, or skydiving. Anyone you meet can be part of your network.
  • Military contacts.
  • Your hairdresser or barber, the bartender at the local watering hole, and your dry cleaner are all in your network. Professionals who interact with a lot of people on a daily basis make great networking contacts. In addition, any one in a profession involving dealing with other professionals, such as accountants, lawyers, and business coaches make good contacts. They know a lot of people, and probably have someone in their network to connect with you.

If you don’t believe your extended network can help you get a job, these stories may change your mind.

Bettina Smalley recalled how she landed her first job out of college: “Divine intervention got me my first job at Scientific-Atlanta many moons ago. The pastor of my little Lutheran church was friends with a recruiter who needed to fill a sales position ‘at some big company’ with someone who spoke German. My pastor called me at 10 p.m. one night to tell me about it. By the end of the week, I had the job. If you're referred by a man of God, I guess they assume your references are good!”

This is a perfect example of the “you never know” factor when it comes to a job search. Bettina’s pastor knew something personal about her that also related to her professional potential: she speaks German. Are people in your network clued into your special skills and goals? One way to make sure they are in the loop about your plans and skills is to share information related to your professional life on more personal networks, such as Facebook. Do your grade school or high school friends and contacts know you’ve returned to school to study human resources, or that you just obtained certification as a massage therapist? If not, it’s a good idea to make sure they do. Either spread the word in person or via online networks to ensure you tap your network efficiently.

Andrea Clement, a PR and media professional in the medical recruiting industry,

found her current job after running into a former boss at Nordstrom on Christmas Eve. She explained, “We both scrambled to do last-minute holiday shopping. At the time I was happily employed and he had just started his own firm. He asked if I was interested and I said that I really loved my job so I wasn't sure, which was true. After the holidays, my then boss resigned, and she was my favorite aspect of that job. That February, I became the first employee of the start-up firm working for the former boss I'd seen in Nordstrom! That was 2007. I'm still here and now we have 80+ associates!”

While not every networking success story begins with a random meeting, if you ask people you know, you may be surprised to find out how many found their jobs, not just via networking, but through very random networking circumstances. The lesson in this case is that you never know when you’ll run into someone who can be influential to your career. Keep this in mind if you’re in full-on networking mode. For example, be sure you go out dressed to meet professional contacts. This doesn’t mean donning a three-piece suit to go to the bank, but consider your networking goals when you’re out and about and tweak your appearance to ensure you are comfortable introducing yourself to people no matter the circumstances.

Levels of Networks

Your network has multiple levels. Your immediate network includes the people you know directly, either in person or via social networks. You also can access the people they know as part of your extended network. In other words, your brother’s boss, your neighbor’s professor, or your college friend’s accountant, are all in your network. Don’t forget: each network links you to another network of potentially untapped contacts.

You never know when “someone will know someone.” Corey-Jan Albert, a writer and marketing consultant, shared a great networking connection story about her son, Cameron, a recent college graduate seeking a journalism position: “About a week ago, he mentioned a position he applied for. I asked him if he knew who he'd be working for there, and he said he did. I told him to check the guy's LinkedIn and see what he could find. He called me back and said, ‘YOU know someone who knows him! I can't see who that is since I'm two degrees of contact removed, but you can.’ It turns out the common connection was Cameron's 5th grade soccer coach—now living in NY, working at Reuters. Cameron reached out to him. The former soccer coach was thrilled to hear from him, and not only gave him some Intel on the situation at hand; he also offered to link him up with the editor at Reuters in charge of freelance assignments. Double win!”

This story proves a few important lessons about networking. You may find the best networking contacts are people who would never have considered members of your official network. (Most college graduates don’t think their 5th-grade soccer coach will be a key player in their job search efforts. It’s also a good reminder to tap into family member networks.) Especially if you believe your network is small, connect with relatives on LinkedIn. It’s perfectly acceptable (and expected) to “link in” with your parents, grandparents, and their friends. If Cameron hadn’t been linked to his mom, he would not have realized this terrific contact. Unexpected results may happen from networking. In this case, Cameron accessed a freelance contact, even though he is seeking a traditional, full-time job. You never know what surprises await when you explore your networking potential.

Miriam Salpeter is owner and founder of Keppie Careers (http://www.keppiecareers.com/), a coaching and consulting firm helping job seekers and entrepreneurs leverage social media and other tools to achieve their goals. She has appeared on CNN, and  major media outlets, including The Wall Street JournalThe New York TimesForbes and others have quoted her advice. In addition to her own blog, Miriam writes for U.S. News & World Report and for AolJobs.com. She is the author of the books, Social Networking for Career SuccessSocial Networking for Business Success: How to Turn Your Interests into Income, and  100 Conversations for Career Success. Named to CNN’s list of “top 10 job tweeters you should be following” and a “top 5” influencer on Twitter for job seekers by Mashable.com. Miriam also had her blog selected as a top career resource by Forbes. A vice president for a Wall Street firm prior to earning a master’s degree from Columbia University, Miriam ran the Career Action Center at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University before launching her own business.

 

Feature | 10/12/2023

CAN VOICE TRAINING SOLVE CLIMATE CHALLENGES? UVA RESEARCHERS ARE WILLING TO TRY

Feature | 05/01/2020

Diego Legal-Canisa Presents JMP at Conferences in the UK and Mexico

Between August and November 2019, Diego Legal-Cañisá travelled widely to present  his JMP, titled "Unemployment Insurance with Consumer Bankruptcy," at conferences in the UK (at the Econometric Society European Summer Meeting at the University of Manchester and the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Money, Macro & Finance Research Group at the London School of Economics) and in Mexico (at the Latin American Meeting of the Econometric Society at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla). In his paper, Diego quantitatively evaluates how unemployment insurance (UI) affects unsecured credit markets and how the welfare implications of UI depend on consumer bankruptcy. Theoretically, higher UI benefits can reduce default risk since they imply higher income during a situation of low-income. However, they can also reduce precautionary savings, encourage borrowing and unemployment, and require more taxes, which would increase default risk. He starts by comparing bankruptcy rates for bordering counties and exploits policy discontinuities at state borders to identify that bankruptcy rates fall with the maximum amount of UI available. He then constructs a general equilibrium model of unsecured consumer credit and unemployment. The model accounts for the cross-state negative relationship, and he uses it to study changes in the UI replacement rate. For low levels of replacement rate, the model predicts that the first effect dominates, and more UI benefits reduce default risk and increase ex ante welfare. As UI increases, default risk increases, and welfare falls. Bankruptcy is a barrier for the UI to increase welfare. Increasing the replacement rate above the current 50% to 55% would increase welfare by 0.5% if bankruptcy is not available (welfare increases even beyond 60%), but with a bankruptcy option, it reduces welfare by 1.7%.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/24/2021

Gen Zers and Working from Home vs Office

To Gen Zers Working From Home, the Office Is a Remote Concept

Many who started careers during the pandemic have never worked in the same space as colleagues. But there are ways bosses can ensure they don’t miss out on mentoring.

PHOTO: ILLUSTRATION BY LISA DILILLO/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By 

Krithika Varagur

More than a year into the great remote-work experiment, a new breed of young professionals has emerged: those who have never worked in an office.

Workers like 20-year-old Matt Franchi are joining their ranks every day as the Delta variant delays many office-reopening plans. Mr. Franchi secured a software-engineering job in July after graduating from Clemson University and was all set to move to Washington, where his new employer has an office. But with Covid-19 cases climbing again, the company told him a few weeks ago that his position would be remote for the foreseeable future.

“I was looking forward to the move, because D.C. seems more diverse and there’s a lot more going on,” says Mr. Franchi, who started work this month—from his childhood bedroom in Summerville, S.C. “Now, I’m not sure if I’ll ever make it to D.C.”


Some young workers are disappointed they have yet to experience working side-by-side with colleagues and the spontaneous collaboration and coaching that can come from being in the same space. Others say they have gotten accustomed to the virtual world and don’t feel they are missing much. Regardless, some workplace and management experts say that missing out on an office experience so early in a career may hurt mentorship prospects and the development of interpersonal office skills, and that managers should make an extra effort to offset those risks.

“Young workers need those close relationships, people to vent to, and mentor figures more than older ones,” says Eddy Ng, a management professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, who conducted a survey last summer of 424 people working remotely after the pandemic’s outbreak. Of those over 40, 45% said they preferred to continue working remotely after the pandemic, compared with 30% of those under 40. Among the younger set, he says, “there’s an element of FOMO,” or fear of missing out.

For many young people in the classes of 2020 and 2021, months of virtual college prepared them for remote work from the get-go. Abbey Phaneuf, a marketing associate at alarm-clock startup Loftie, had fully remote coursework at Brown University from March 2020 until her graduation this May. Last summer, she joined Loftie as a remote intern. She came back for a full-time role, also remote, last month.

“I think remote school definitely helped with remote work, and they also kind of fed off each other,” the 22-year-old says. She learned how to be comfortable talking to people over Zoom during her internship, transferred that skill to her senior-year classes, and says she has hit the ground running as a full-time marketing employee while living with her parents in Boston.

Abbey Phaneuf is remote in her first post-grad job, but hopes to move to New York soon so she can meet more colleagues.

PHOTO: ANNA ROSENFELD

Yet she senses that in-person interactions would make her job even better. Though Loftie has made coming into its New York office voluntary for now, she wants to move there as soon as this winter so she has the option to see colleagues in person more often. She has met them only once so far, on a trip last month to New York.

“I’m in a weird limbo stage right now, and am ready to begin the next phase of my life,” she says.

Young workers who don’t find their way to an office may miss out on important workplace milestones, says Adam Galinsky, a professor of organizational behavior at Columbia Business School.

“The thing that most concerns me is mentoring,” he says. “A lot of lessons are absorbed casually in an office, but you can’t take any of that for granted in a virtual workplace.” He also thinks workers who start a new job remotely may miss the “burst of socialization and organizational energy” that happens during traditional, in-person orientations.

Felix Malamud, 21, who started his first full-time job this month as an analyst at Scotia Capital in New York, has enjoyed doing the job remotely so far. But, having worked as an in-office intern at several firms before the pandemic, he says going back to the office once his company calls people back in will help him feel more grounded.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

What is your plan for returning to work in an office, and how do you feel about it? Join the conversation below.

“The communication and networking opportunities, meeting people face-to-face, and seeing how different divisions fit together: I think that’s all essential to professional development,” he says.

For those who are managing young remote workers, Dr. Galinsky recommends going the extra mile to create mentorship and teaching opportunities.

For instance, he says, he used to allow doctoral students to sit next to him while he edited papers, so they could see how he worked. “Today, you can still share your screen while you’re doing a task and have people essentially look over your Zoom shoulder,” he says.

Another tactic he recommends is to build in 10-to-15 minute debriefing sessions after conference calls to chat with younger workers and explain dynamics they may have missed. Occasional off-site meetings can also be extremely valuable to cultivate social ties in offices, he says.

Hannah Packman, 22, says that her manager at her fully-remote internship this summer at The Spruce Eats, a food and drink website, has done a great job making herself available for 1-on-1 chats and explaining the editorial process. Ms. Packman graduated from Colby College earlier this year.

Hannah Packman says her manager at her remote internship went out of her way to have one-on-one chats with her.

PHOTO: RACHEL WEST

“Sometimes she’ll stick around after a meeting, or will Slack me privately, and I’ve always felt like I could ask her questions about anything,” she says. She says her whole team of seven people has gone out of their way to help her understand how to write, research and edit content.

Today, she is searching for a full-time role and thinks it may still be a while before she gets to return to the office. “Job postings are still more remote and hybrid than I was hoping for at this point,” she says. But she appreciates having control over her schedule as a remote worker for now, and says most of her college friends are in the same boat.

“You sort of just have to adapt and be flexible,” she says.

Feature | 02/16/2024

UVA’s first Undergraduate Women in Econ Event!

Congratulations to the Co-Founders - Rachel Choi, Elizabeth Berman, Natasha Swindle and Ravza Aykan - for a terrific event and thank you for your leadership!

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/09/2021

ECO Blog: What Do Econ Majors Do after Graduation?

Hello Econ Majors,

As you consider your internship, externship, or job search, it can be helpful to know graduates, who have passed through Monroe Hall before you, are doing now and what they did immediately after graduating. 

The ECO recommends the following resources to help you review where recent graduates work and attend graduate school. Additionally, I've shared below resources, which more broadly, convey industry opportunities that Econ majors often pursue. With any questions, please feel free to schedule an appointment with me.

ECO First Destination Reports: Data gathered from graduate surveys and scraping data from the web.
UVA Career Outcomes Reports: Data gathered from graduate surveys and scraping data from the web (all majors).
ECO Alumni and Friends List: This list includes more than 500 economics majors, sorted by employer, who have offered to provide career advice to majors.
LinkedIn Group for Economics Majors: All majors are welcome to join this group.
LinkedIn Results of Economics Majors Query: These are the results of filtering our UVA alumni by reported major on LinkedIn. The results will populate in order of number of employees. More than 15,000 UVA LinkedIn members are affiliated with an economics major. Filter by recent graduation dates and internship information will be more accessible. Consider these employers for your own internships.
What Can I Do with an Economics Major: Lists employers by sector, industry, and job function. Includes dozens of majors to review.

Then, consider using these tools above to help you network with people in industries/job functions that interest you. Complement this research with your PathwayU results to even further refine your search. PathwayU is an online interest assessment endorsed by UVA career offices, which matches your reported interests with industries and job functions. The assessment takes about 30-45 minutes to complete and you may review the results independently or with a career advisor. 

Wishing you a fantastic week!

Jen Jones

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/02/2017

ARTICLE-UNDERSTANDING THE FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE AND ITS IMPACT ON YOUR SEARCH

""For students who may be thinking about federal jobs and wondering how the hiring freeze impacts them, we want to highlight a few key points. The hiring freeze remains in place, with a longer-term plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce due from the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget by the end of April."-Dreama Johnson 

Click here to read the rest of the article 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/10/2023

Fall Internship Panel is Here!

Panelist Bios will be listed below the flyer on Wednesday, 10/11/23.

Click the flyer to register.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/14/2021

ECO Blog: Winter Break Career Planning

We hope your finals have gone well and that you are enjoying the beginning of a rejuvenating winter break. This will be the last edition of the weekly ECO Newsletter until January 4, 2022. When you're ready to turn your attention to career planning, the ECO will be here. We will have open advising hours on January 7, 13, and 14 before the semester begins. Sign up through Handshake to get a headstart on the spring recruiting season/attend the ECO Orientation in January. More info on the January Orientation is forthcoming. Check out our upcoming list of events in the newsletter, which span industry, job function, and sector.

Our advice for the next two weeks? Celebrate your successes from the last few months; you've worked hard. Make a list!  Then take inventory in how you want to spend your break. If you decide to focus on career planning, here are some suggestions below:

Career Planning from A-Z: Check out the ECO's Career Planning Timeline. Use the timeline in conjunction with the Hoos Career Guide. Then visit our Industry Overviews and Professional Development pages. Use Handshake for your list of employers to start and supplement with the Vault Guides in Collab and CareerShift in Handshake. For resume writing and designing your LinkedIn profile, use the AI tool, VMOCK. Please note that the ECO recommends creating your resume in MSWord and then uploading it to VMOCK. Please do not create your resume in VMOCK. (The templates are difficult to modify later.)

Winter Break Project/Micro-Internship/Part-Time Work/Case Competition/Upskilling Experience: Gain work experience and build skills over winter break. Alumni in our very own UVA network have posted projects for our students in the Virginia Alumni Mentor Network's list of projects! Also, check out MicroInternships through ParkerDewey. Take a free online course through Coursera or LInkedIn Learning and upskill during your break! Courses are free using your UVA computing id as your login. Click the links to review courses/scroll down to see some courses the ECO and UVA Career Center have highlighted for their relevance to the labor market.

Prizes and Surveys! Thanks to everyone who filled out evaluations from our ECO programs this semester. We had nine winners! Two more names will be chosen from our ECO appointment evaluations and end-of-semester check-in survey, which will go out this week. On that note...

Keep a lookout for the ECO's end-of-semester survey. By telling us where you are in your graduate school, internship, or job search, you will be entered into a drawing to win gift cards to shops on The Corner, Econ face masks with our Econ logo, and Econ Department stickers! Many students will be selected to receive prizes!

Have a wonderful winter break!

_____________________________

Selected Coursera Courses - Click here for more details.

Business Courses 

  • Foundations of Business Strategy
  • Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management
  • Design Thinking for Innovation
  • Agile Meets Design Thinking
  • Digital Transformation
  • Cybersecurity Roles, Processes, & Operating Systems
  • IT Security
  • Operations Management: Analysis and Improvement Methods
  • Operations Management: Strategy and Quality Management for the Digital Age

Specializations: 

  • Excel Skills for Business (4 Course Specialization)
  • Project Management & Other Tools for Career Development (5 Course Specialization)
  • Data Visualization with Tableau (5 Course Specialization)
  • Excel to My SQL: Analytics Techniques for Business (5 Course Specialization)
  • Cybersecurity (5 Course Specialization)
  • Agile Development (5 Course Specialization)

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Business Coursera courses.  


Technology Courses 

  • UX Design Fundamentals
  • Blockchain Basics
  • Exploring and Preparing Your Data with BigQuery
  • Google Cloud Platform Big Data and Machine Learning
  • Google Cloud Fundamentals
  • Business Transformation with Google Cloud
  • Al for Everyone

Specializations: 

  • Python for Everybody (5 Course Specialization)
  • Data Science (10 Course Specialization)
  • Deep Learning (5 Course Specialization)
  • Agile Development (5 Course Specialization)

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Technology Coursera courses.  


Science & Sustainability

  • Introduction to Sustainability
  • Global Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility: Be Sustainable
  • Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)
  • Introduction to Data Science in Python
  • First Steps in Making the Business Case for Sustainability
  • Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia
  • Our Earth's Future
  • Google Cloud Platform Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure
  • Strategy and Sustainability
  • Global Health Security, Solidarity, and Sustainability through the International Health Regulations
  • The Science of Success: What Researchers Know that You Should Know

Specializations: 

  • GIS, Mapping, and Spatial Analysis (4 Course Specialization)

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Science & Sustainability Coursera courses.  


Education, Counseling, & Youth Development

  • Leading for Equity Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education
  • TESOL Certificate Part 1: Teach English Now!
  • TESOL Certificate Part 2: Teach English Now!
  • ADHD: Everyday Strategies for Elementary Students
  • The Science of Training Young Athletes
  • Resilience in Children Exposed to Trauma, Disaster, and War: Global Perspectives
  • Voices of Social Change
  • Disability Inclusion in Education: Building Systems of Support
  • Blended Learning: Personalizing Education for Students
  • ICT in Primary Education: Transforming Children's Learning Across the Curriculum
  • Health, Housing, and Educational Services
  • Critical Issues in Urban Education
  • Introduction to Multilingual and Multicultural Education

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Education, Counseling, & Youth Development Coursera courses.  


Public Service & Government

  • Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector
  • Global Diplomacy: the United Nations in the World
  • Local Economic Development
  • Intro to Nonprofit Sector, Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Leadership and Governance
  • Planning for Climate Change in African Cities
  • Market Research and Consumer Behavior
  • Healthcare Delivery Providers
  • Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice
  • Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century
  • Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Private Businesses, Part I
  • International Organizations Management
  • Cybersecurity Roles, Processes & Operating System Security
  • Project Management
  • Data Analysis with Python
  • Politics and Economics of International Energy

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Public Service & Government Coursera courses.  


Creative Arts, Media, & Design

  • Fundamentals of Graphic Design
  • Journalism, the future, and you!
  • Getting Your Film off the Ground
  • Project: Use Canva to Create Social Media Marketing Designs
  • Guitar for Beginners
  • Script Writing: Write a Pilot Episode for a TV or Web Series

Specializations: 

  • Graphic Design (5 Course Specialization)
  • UI/UX Design (4 Course Specialization)
  • Creative Writing (5 Course Specialization)
  • Music Production (4 Course Specialization)

Students: Please login into Handshake for more information about Creative Arts, Media, & Design Coursera courses.  


We also offer a Career-Ready Collection (all taught by Darden faculty).  

Career-Ready Collection

Google Collection 

Feature | 07/24/2019

Emily Cook Presents at IIOC, SOLE

In April 2019, Emily Cook presented “College Choice and Intended Major in the U.S.” at the International Industrial Organization Conference in Boston, MA. This paper studies how differentiation among universities in the number and type of undergraduate majors offered affects college choice.

In May 2019, Emily presented “Missed Exams and Lost Opportunities: Who Could Gain from Expanded College Admission Testing?” at the Society of Labor Economists conference in Arlington, VA. This paper is co-authored with Sarah Turner, University Professor of Economics and Education, Souder Family Professor, at the University of Virginia. The paper considers the potential outcomes of counterfactual college admission testing policies in Virginia.

Both conferences provided valuable presentation experience and feedback, and a chance to interact with researchers in many different areas of Labor Economics and Industrial Organization.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/29/2019

Alumni Spotlight: Rachel MacKay

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/26/2017

3 TIPS FOR STUDENTS FROM D.J. D-SOL

"In a recent Exchanges at Goldman Sachs podcast, Goldman president and co-COO David Solomon offers some rather helpful advice for college students. Solomon, who in addition to his Goldman duties spins music in Miami and the Bahamas under the stage name D.J. D-Sol, went to Hamilton College, a small liberal arts college in Clinton, N.Y., about a four-hour drive from New York City. D-Sol culled much of the following advice from his fond four years at Hamilton, as well as from his three decades in investment banking (and perhaps a bit from his late nights on the decks)." -Derek Loosvelt 

 

Click here to read the rest of the article

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/04/2022

Job Hunters Take A Stand: We’re Not Writing Cover Letters

As employers struggle to fill millions of openings, applicants are using their leverage to forgo what, until recently, was a must for landing a decent job

By Lindsay Ellis
March 26, 2022 12:00 am ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-i-have-to-write-a-cover-letter-many-job-seekers-just-say-no-11648267222

To Whom It May Concern: Job applicants are putting a hard stop to those dreaded cover letters.

Many hiring managers say a sharp cover letter remains one of the best ways to make the case for why you are the right person for the job. Yet many job seekers say the self-promoting exercise is too torturous and time-consuming to be worth the effort for a less-than-dream role. It’s also just plain insulting, they argue, since it’s often an algorithm, not a human, that screens and sorts the applications.

Now, as employers struggle to fill millions of openings, job seekers are using their leverage to say no to what, until recently, was a must for landing a decent position.

“People are fundamentally fed up with having to do so much to get a job,” said Gianni LaTange, a 27-year-old in New York who works in tech. Ms. LaTange calls cover letters an antiquated hiring practice and no longer applies to jobs that require them.

To get her current role, she instead contacted employees at companies she wanted to work at over LinkedIn. One employee, after a brief conversation, connected her with a recruiter, and she ultimately got an offer without writing a letter, she said.

Some job seekers say writing cover letters is a job itself, and one that yields little reward for the effort. Before Devin Miller’s most recent job, he wrote about 10 cover letters to companies he wanted to work for. Each was different, and he wanted to signal that he knew what the work would entail, he said. He heard back from none. To get his current role, he responded to a recruiter who had reached out to him and asked just for a résumé, the 33-year-old Mr. Miller said.

Mr. Miller briefly looked for a new information-technology job in November because he was moving to Boston. This time, though, he said he applied only for openings that didn’t require a cover letter—and got several interviews and an offer.

“It just doesn’t align with my or my peers’ current interests in how they want to proceed with their career,” said Mr. Miller, who, in the end, opted to stay with his existing team and work remotely.

Behind all of the cover-letter hate lurks a major disconnect between job seekers and the employers trying to hire them. A recent ResumeLab survey of 200 hiring managers and recruiters found 83% said cover letters were important to deciding whom to hire, especially when it came to understanding why the applicant wanted the job or explaining a career switch or break. Nearly three-quarters said they expected a cover letter even if it wasn’t explicitly asked for.

“If you don’t take the time to explain yourself, they’re not going to consider you,” said Jill Tipograph, co-founder of Early Stage Careers, a career-coaching company for college students and 20-somethings. Early-career applicants especially need cover letters to differentiate themselves, she said. It’s about “laying out the facts and the foundation of what you’re bringing to the table,” she said.

Yet only 38% of candidates attach cover letters to their applications even when it is requested, according to ResumeLab, which provides advice and online templates for building résumés and cover letters.

Kevin Grossman, president of the Talent Board, a nonprofit hiring and recruiting research group, said that many of the employers his organization works with no longer look at cover letters, in part because of automated application-screening tools. The exception, he said, is when hiring volume is smaller and recruiters have the time.

Another reason cover letters often fail to impress: “Most of them are extremely generic,” said Keith Wolf, managing director of recruiting firm Murray Resources, who advises job seekers to tailor them to the specific job opening.

Spending even a few minutes dashing off an enthusiastic message can reveal a person’s strengths and motivation in ways a résumé often can’t, said Sherrod DeGrippo, a vice president at a security-software company whose division hires about 10 employees each quarter.

“Don’t agonize over it—it’s not a make-or-break,” she said. “It’s a help, it’s a bonus.”

Hadassah Williams, 30, who works in administration, has used a similar strategy. She started writing more casual notes instead of formal letters when a job listing indicates cover letters—which she hates writing—are optional. They take about 40 minutes to write and can be customized to the role she is applying for, she said.

She said she has sometimes included these blurbs in the cover-letter field of applications or sent them directly to recruiters on LinkedIn.

Julie Fugett’s views on cover letters have evolved over her career. As a chief information security officer in higher education, she used them to evaluate candidates’ attention to detail and communication skills.

But when she recently applied for a vice president role at a cybersecurity firm, Ms. Fugett decided not to submit one. She had seen tech-industry pushback to the practice on social media, and she didn’t want to appear out of touch.

She got the job—and was delighted she could skip the cover letter. She has since wondered whether cover letters can invite bias against talented candidates who, say, speak English as a second language.

“I have yet to meet a single person, including myself, that enjoys writing a cover letter,” Ms. Fugett said. “I’ve still written plenty of them, but it’s always a little painful.”

Feature | 01/31/2022

ECO Blog: Virtual Spring Job and Internship Fair Preparation

Hello Econ Majors,

The 2022 Virtual Spring Job and Internship Fair will be held this Thursday all day. There are 50 more employers participating this year than in the spring 2021 virtual fair. Of course as economists you know that means there is likely a stronger labor market, at least in certain industries and for entry-level employees and interns.

Please take some time between now and Thursday to visit the list of employers in Hanshake. You may filter by:

  • Major (although I encourage you to broaden your keyword search to include majors such as business and politics because employers may not be aware that economics is housed within the College.
  • OPT/CPT and visa sponsorship
  • Industry
  • Location
  • Remote work

Check out the ECO's First Destination Report from past years to find employers who have definitively hired our students and cross-reference with the registration list. 

Then check out these video links to help you prepare for the fair. Here is a template to write your pitch to help you prepare for info sessions or 1:1 chats at the fair. Sign up for both! And if your employers-of-choice are booked for 1:1 slots, choose your second-tier. You may be surprised at what you find and who you meet.

Best wishes!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/17/2023

How to Write a Cover Letter

Article written by Amy Gallo for Harvard Business Review

No one likes job hunting. Scouring through online job listings, spiffing up your résuméprepping for grueling interviews — none of it is fun. For many, the most challenging part of the process is writing an effective cover letter. There’s so much conflicting advice out there, it’s hard to know where to start. Do you even need one, especially if you’re applying through an online system?

What the Experts Say

The answer is almost always yes. Sure, there will be times when you’re submitting an application online and you may not be able to include one, but whenever possible, send one, says Jodi Glickman, a communications expert and author of Great on the Job. “It’s your best chance of getting the attention of the HR person or hiring manager and an important opportunity to distinguish yourself from everyone else.” And in a tight job market, setting yourself apart is critical, says John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of Knockout CV. Still, as anyone who’s ever written a cover letter knows, it’s not easy to do well. Here are some tips to help.

Do your research first.

Before you start writing, find out more about the company and the specific job you want. Of course, you should carefully read the job description, but also peruse the company’s website, its executives’ Twitter feeds, and employee profiles on LinkedIn. This research will help you customize your cover letter, since you shouldn’t send a generic one. It’ll also help you decide on the right tone. “Think about the culture of the organization you’re applying to,” advises Glickman. “If it’s a creative agency, like a design shop, you might take more risks, but if it’s a more conservative organization, like a bank, you may hold back.”

If at all possible, reach out to the hiring manager or someone else you know at the company before writing your cover letter, advises Lees. You can send an email or a LinkedIn message “asking a smart question about the job.” That way you can start your letter by referencing the interaction. You might say, “Thanks for the helpful conversation last week” or “I recently spoke to so-and-so at your company.” Of course, it’s not always possible to contact someone — or you may not get a response. That’s OK. It’s still worth a try.

Focus it on the future.

While your résumé is meant to be a look back at your experience and where you’ve been, the cover letter should focus on the future and what you want to do, says Glickman. “It can be helpful to think of it as the bridge between the past and the future that explains what you hope to do next and why.” Because of the pandemic there is less of an expectation that you’ll be applying for a job that you’ve done before. “There are millions of people who are making career changes — voluntarily or involuntarily — and need to pivot and rethink how their skill set relates to a different role or industry,” says Glickman. You can use your cover letter to explain the shift you’re making, perhaps from hospitality to marketing, for example. Think of it as an opportunity to sell your transferrable skills.

Open strong.

“People typically write themselves into the letter with ‘I’m applying for X job that I saw in Y place.’ That’s a waste,” says Lees. Instead, lead with a strong opening sentence. “Start with the punch line — why this job is exciting to you and what you bring to the table,” says Glickman. For example, you might write, “I’m an environmental fundraising professional with more than 15 years of experience looking for an opportunity to apply my skills in new ways, and I’d love to bring my expertise and enthusiasm to your growing development team.” Then you can include a sentence or two about your background and your relevant experience, but don’t rehash your résumé.

Chances are the hiring manager or recruiter is reading a stack of these, so you want to catch their attention. But don’t try to be funny. “Humor can often fall flat or sound self-regarding,” says Lees. Stay away from common platitudes, too. “Say something direct and dynamic, such as ‘Let me draw your attention to two reasons why I’d be a great addition to your team.'”

If you have a personal connection with the company or someone who works there, also mention it in the first sentence or two. And always address your letter to someone directly. “With social media, it’s often possible to find the name of a hiring manager,” says Glickman.

Emphasize your personal value.

Hiring managers are looking for people who can help them solve problems. Drawing on the research you did earlier, show that you know what the company does and some of the challenges it faces. These don’t need to be specific but you might mention how the industry has been affected by the pandemic. For example, you might write, “A lot of health care companies are overwhelmed with the need to provide high-quality care while protecting the health and safety of their staff.” Then talk about how your experience has equipped you to meet those needs; perhaps explain how you solved a similar problem in the past or share a relevant accomplishment. You want to provide evidence of the things that set you apart.

Lees points out that there are two skills that are relevant to almost any job right now: adaptability and the ability to learn quickly. If you have brief examples that demonstrate these skills, include those. For example, if you supported your team in the shift to remote work, describe how you did that and what capabilities you drew on.

Convey enthusiasm.

 “When you don’t get hired, it’s usually not because of a lack of skills,” says Glickman. “It’s because people didn’t believe your story, that you wanted the job, or that you knew what you were getting into.” Hiring managers are going to go with the candidate who has made it seem like this is their dream job. So make it clear why you want the position. “Enthusiasm conveys personality,” Lees adds. He suggests writing something like “I’d love to work for your company. Who wouldn’t? You’re the industry leader, setting standards that others only follow.” Don’t bother applying if you’re not excited about some aspect of the company or role.

Watch the tone.

At the same time, don’t go overboard with the flattery or say anything you don’t mean. Authenticity is crucial. “Even if you’ve been out of work for months, and would take any job at this point, you want to avoid sounding desperate,” says Lees. You don’t want your tone to undermine your message, so be professional and mature. A good rule of thumb is to put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager and think about “the kind of language that the hiring manager would use with one of the company’s customers.” Of course, it can be hard to discern your own tone in writing, so you may need to ask someone to review a draft (which is always a good idea anyway — see advice below). Lees says that he often cuts outs “anything that sounds like desperation” when he’s reviewing letters for clients.

Keep it short.

Much of the advice out there says to keep it under a page. But both Glickman and Lees say even shorter is better. “Most cover letters I see are too long,” says Lees. “It should be brief enough that someone can read it at a glance.” You do have to cover a lot of ground — but you should do it succinctly. This is where asking a friend, former colleague, or mentor to review your letter can be helpful. Ask them to read through it and point out places where you can cut.

Get feedback.

In fact, it’s a great idea to share your cover letter with a few people, says Lees. Rather than sending it off and asking, “What do you think?” be specific about the kind of feedback you want. In particular, request two things. First, ask your friend if it’s clear what your main point is. What’s the story you’re telling? Are they able to summarize it? Second, ask them what’s wrong with the letter. “Other people are more attuned to desperation, overselling, over-modesty, and underselling,” says Lees, and they should be able to point out places where the tone is off.

When you can’t submit a cover letter.

Many companies now use online application systems that don’t allow for a cover letter. You may be able to figure out how to include one in the same document as your résumé, but that’s not a guarantee, especially because some systems only allow for data to be entered into specific boxes. In these cases, use the format you’re given to demonstrate your ability to do the job and your enthusiasm for the role. If possible, you may try to find someone to whom you can send a brief follow-up email highlighting a few key points about your application.

Principles to Remember

Do:

  • Have a strong opening statement that makes clear why you want the job and what you bring to the table.
  • Be succinct — a hiring manager should be able to read your letter at a glance.
  • Share an accomplishment that shows you can address the challenges the employer is facing.

Don’t:

  • Try to be funny — too often it falls flat.
  • Send a generic cover letter — customize each one for the specific job.
  • Go overboard with flattery — be professional and mature.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/01/2017

ARTICLE - HOW TO TURN YOUR INTERNSHIP INTO A FULL-TIME JOB

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Feature | 11/27/2023

Argentina Is a Textbook Case of ‘Fiscal Dominance’

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/23/2021

12 Questions You Should Be Ready to Answer in a Financial Analyst Interview (Plus Examples!)

by Kate Ashford at The Muse

Are you applying for a position as a financial analyst? Interviewing for a job can be stressful, but being prepared for the experience can go a long way toward making you feel confident and on top of your game. That means being ready to answer common interview questions and those that are likely to come up specifically for a financial analyst role.

Financial analysts evaluate their company’s and other organizations’ past and present financial data and might give guidance to people and companies as they make decisions about stocks, bonds, and other kinds of investments. Typical job responsibilities might include assessing financial data, preparing written reports and giving presentations, studying business trends, appraising a business’s financial statements, and potentially meeting with company management to determine how the firm is doing and to evaluate their leadership team. A financial analyst might work at a bank, an insurance company, a pension fund, or another type of business in any industry.

What Are Recruiters Looking for in Financial Analysts?

Recruiters are typically looking for candidates with business acumen, planning skills, and the ability to deal with financial models and handle the complex numbers involved. Here are some of the qualities interviewers will be searching for:

  • Analytical skills: A candidate must be able to think logically and critically about a variety of financial information, from a company’s financial statements to industry news.
  • Communication skills: It will be essential that you’re able to communicate effectively with top brass at the company and with your coworkers, both to collaborate on projects and to explain your analyses upon request.
  • Problem-solving skills: In this role, you may have to help close a gap, solve a debt issue, or make a part of the company more profitable. So you need to be able to approach your analysis with a larger goal in mind. Plus, interviewers will want to see that you can be resourceful and try to solve problems on your own before turning to your boss every time you get stuck (but also that you know when to ask for help or escalate a problem).
  • Attention to detail: Financial analysis is extremely precise, so attention to detail is a crucial attribute for any financial analyst candidate. In fact, some job descriptions for this role describe it as “microscopic attention to detail.”
  • Technical skills: There are a variety of tools—from software to programming languages—you may need to use to accomplish day-to-day tasks, such as Microsoft Excel, SQL, QuickBooks, and SAP. You may also have to learn new software in the course of your job—so interviewers aren’t just looking to hear about what you already know, they want to see that you can pick up new tools if needed.

Beyond the skills necessary for the position, firms will also be looking for a candidate who’ll be a good addition to their organization and culture. “There’s a person/job fit and a person/organization fit, some of which has nothing to do with the skills and abilities of the person,” says Cabot Jaffee, president and CEO of hiring and recruiting systems firm AlignMark, who’s helped many companies hire for financial analyst roles. “Do their work history and work ethic match up with what we expect as a company? There are different interview questions that would get at that.”

Although the questions in finance analyst interviews may vary, these 11 questions are a representative sample of the kinds of questions you might get:

  1. Why Do You Want to Be a Financial Analyst?
  2. Why Do You Want to Work for Our Company?
  3. Have You Considered or Are You Already Pursuing Licenses, Credentials, and Certifications? How Do They Help You in a Professional Context?
  4. Do You Prefer to Work Alone or in a Team Environment?
  5. Tell Me About a Time When You Had to Present Financial Data.
  6. Give Me an Example of an Analysis Gone Wrong. What Could You Have Done Differently to Avoid the Problem, and What Did You Learn?
  7. What Processes Do You Use to Create Financial Analysis Reports?
  8. If You Could Only Pick One Financial Statement to Make a Decision on a Company, What Would You Pick?
  9. What Do You Think Is the Single Best Evaluation Metric for Analyzing a Company's Stock?
  10. Which Profitability Model Would You Use to Determine if a Project Will Be Profitable?
  11. What is EBITDA?
  12. How Are the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement Related?

1. Why Do You Want to Be a Financial Analyst?

Expect to get this question for any entry-level financial analyst role. The interviewer wants to know what your passions are from a professional standpoint, why you’re interested in the role, what led you to finance, what you’re hoping to gain from the experience, and where you see your financial career going.

How to Answer

Talk about what led you to finance as a major, minor, or interest as well as what you’re interested in doing in your first job and what career path you’re hoping to follow in the long term. “I’d encourage anyone at any level to talk about how their background and experience and strengths align with the requirements of the role,” says Steve Saah, executive director for Robert Half Finance & Accounting. What about your background and experience led you to consider a financial path? What things have you done and what skills do you have that lead you to believe that financial analysis will be a good place for you—and that you will be a good analyst?

One answer to this question might be:

“I decided to major in finance because I have long had an interest in understanding how businesses are structured—how they make money and how they’re profitable. Even in high school, I was always reading biographies and memoirs of entrepreneurs and business leaders to glean how their businesses started and continued making money and how they navigated moments of crisis or transformation. I’ve enjoyed the analysis I’ve been able to do in my classes and internships—I love digging into the numbers and details—and I’d like to continue that work and further my experience with this position.”

2. Why Do You Want to Work for Our Company?

The company wants to know why you want to work for them specifically—in this industry, for this type of organization, and at this particular company. There’s a broad range of roles for financial analysts, who hold positions at banks, pension funds, mutual funds, security firms, insurance companies, nonprofits with large endowments, and corporations, and your interviewer wants to know why you’re excited about this opportunity over all the other options.

How to Answer

You should be able to make the case for why you want to be a financial analyst in the industry and type of company you’re pursuing as well as why you’re excited about this particular organization. Why do you want to work for a nonprofit versus a bank? What drew you to a tech startup versus working within the financial industry? And why this particular nonprofit or tech startup? Research the organization and make sure you can talk about what makes it unique and why those qualities appeal to you. That said, don’t be tempted to criticize other companies or your current employer—it’s not a good look.

One answer to this question might be:

“When I think of a bank, I think of an institution that provides capital to entrepreneurs or large institutions, which basically fuels economic growth. I like the idea of being a part of the national and global economy and being able to contribute in that kind of way. I’m also very interested in working with entertainment and media companies, and I know this firm has a strong practice in media and telecom.”

3. Have You Considered or Are You Already Pursuing Licenses, Credentials, and Certifications? How Do They Help You in a Professional Context?

As a financial analyst, there are a variety of certifications and designations you can earn, including Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Fund Specialist (CFS), and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC).

While a recruiter can look at your resume or LinkedIn profile to see what certifications you have, this kind of question is meant to help them understand what compelled you to get additional training and how you’re utilizing it on a day-to-day basis. Organizations are trying to see how dedicated you are to furthering your education and skills, what you’ve gotten from your education, and how you apply it. Getting your CFA, for instance, shows a company that you have the discipline to go through the rigorous work required to understand the business, says Charles Sachs, a CFA and Certified Financial Planner with Kaufman Rossman Wealth in Miami.

If you’re an entry-level candidate, don’t panic if you don’t already have these. In this case, the interviewer probably wants to hear that you’ve given this career path long-term consideration. So if you’re planning to pursue a certification or have already begun to take steps toward one, talk about why you decided to do so and how you plan to achieve this goal 

How to Answer

Don’t just list your certifications. Give context around your thought process in getting each certification, how much time and effort you’ve put into studying for your exams (if you’re still in progress), how you’ve utilized the credential, and how it’s made you a better analyst.

An answer to this question might look like this:

“I’m currently pursuing my Chartered Financial Analyst certification from the CFA Institute in order to further my knowledge of financial analysis beyond what I learned in school. It’s a deep dive into financial instruments, valuations, regulatory concepts and accounting, which I think will be valuable to me in my next position.”

4. Do You Prefer to Work Alone or in a Team Environment?

There are many financial analyst positions in which collaboration is integral to the job. For instance, you might be building sales models for a company, while another employee builds vendor models, and the two of you regularly must combine data to create an overall business model for the chief financial officer of the company.

So this is a question that speaks to fit, both with the company and with the position. If the company is super collaborative and you prefer to be a lone wolf, you may not be the best candidate for the position—and vice versa. “They could be the best financial analyst in the world, and it’ll still be a bad hire,” Jaffee says.

How to Answer

Answer the initial question and give some examples of times in which you’ve worked alone or with a partner or team. But don’t try to second guess what the interviewer is looking for to get a job. “There are no right or wrong answers—some companies value independence and some value working in teams,” Jaffee says. The key is to find the one that matches with your own preferences.

An answer to this question might look like this:

“I prefer working in teams. In my previous job, I worked closely with a colleague to put together a business model for a client. They asked us to build a predictive financial model to outline where their business could be three years down the road. I got to do half of it, and my partner got to do half of it based on our expertise, and we were able to put it together and make a presentation to the client. I really enjoyed working with someone else to create the financial model and present it as a team and also learned so much from my partner that I was able to take with me to other analyses I did independently and with other colleagues down the line.”

5. Tell Me About a Time When You Had to Present Financial Data.

This question helps an interviewer assess whether you have experience and skills making presentations. Some financial analysts are regularly tasked with presenting data to company leadership or other parties, so hearing how you’ve done in the past will help them predict how you’d do in the role you’re applying for. Your answer will offer a glimpse into how you prepare for a presentation, the kind of data you’ve presented (including whether you were presenting your own data or someone else’s), and how comfortable you are speaking in front of people at different seniority levels.

They might also want to know whether you considered the presentation to be successful, what you learned from it, and what you would have done differently if you had a chance to do it over again.

How to Answer

This is a great opportunity to use the STAR method to tackle your answer: Situation, Task, Action, Result. This involves setting the scene, describing what your responsibility was in that specific situation, explaining what steps you took, and talking about the outcome or results of those steps.

Think about your answer before launching into it, and tell as detailed a story of your past experience as possible. “Don’t leave out any facts,” Jaffee says. “Include enough information that will allow the interviewer to get a good understanding of everything that was involved.” And be prepared to answer follow-up questions about the story you’ve told.

An answer to this question might look like this:

“As a company, we were considering acquiring another competitor and needed to identify what the combined financials of the companies would look like. I had to identify synergies related to head count, technology, payroll, redundant internal services, and ultimately forecast the financials to show the combined companies. I started by making sure I knew exactly what numbers the decision-makers in my company were focused on and why and then dived into the modeling component, sharing with colleagues for verification and input along the way. Once the bulk of that work was done I put together a slide deck that included a model output and highlighted the most important conclusions I’d come to. I presented my findings with specific recommendations to my team as well as a group of executives. They had several follow-up questions, as was expected, many of which I was able to answer on the spot but a few required me to go back to the model and incorporate some of their feedback. In the end, the majority of my recommendations were adopted but I learned the most from the few that had to be altered. The next time I had to put together a similar presentation, I tried to anticipate these kinds of questions and my recommendations were sharper for it (and got adopted with barely a tweak).”

6. Give Me an Example of an Analysis Gone Wrong. What Could You Have Done Differently to Avoid the Problem, and What Did You Learn?

Did you build a model that initially missed three assumptions and this wasn’t discovered until you presented it to someone? Or did you create a model that simply didn’t work the way it was meant to and six months down the road it didn’t produce the expected results?

Everyone gets things wrong sometimes and companies like to hear that you’re able to learn from your mistakes. Your time on the job isn’t as valuable if you haven’t learned and grown from your experiences. “Development is not just a function of time,” Jaffee says. “Development is a function of self-awareness.” (This is also why companies might ask about your greatest weakness.)

How to Answer

There are a few types of stories you should always have on hand in an interview, and one of them should be about a time you made a mistake or something didn’t go as you expected it to. Describe the mistake as directly and openly as you can—that’s part of what the interviewer will be looking for—and then move on and talk about how you’ve learned from it and what you’ve done since to ensure you don’t repeat the same mistake.

An example of an answer to this question might look like this:

“My team was tasked with building a model for how many salespeople we should hire, looking at the cost of hiring and training versus potential revenue. Six months later, we realized the model didn’t work as planned—we predicted three new salespeople would translate to new revenues of $1 million, but we only had revenues of $500,000. In order to understand what went wrong, I reviewed every step of the analysis and spoke to all the stakeholders individually about what, from their perspective, had caused the mismatch between our projection and reality. I learned in that process that we had made some flawed assumptions about ramp-up time and how many customers freshly onboarded salespeople could close per sales cycle. In future models, we made sure to loop in those stakeholders earlier and to dig into even more granular detail to test our assumptions from every direction and make sure we weren’t missing anything.”

7. What Processes Do You Use to Create Financial Analysis Reports?

Reporting is generally a big part of a financial analyst’s job, and the reporting required will depend on the role. If you’re interviewing for a sales organization, for instance, you might be creating monthly, quarterly, or annual sales reports. In your answer, they’ll be looking for technical skills as well as collaboration skills, communication, organization, follow-through, and time management.

How to Answer

Answering this question is about giving examples of what you’ve done in your current or former positions, including not only the specific software and methodologies you use, but how you engage with people at the organization to really understand the requirements they’re seeking. Articulate the thought process you would go through to understand those requirements and then explain how you would execute the task and follow through on your responsibilities. For best results, take a deep dive on one example and go into as much detail as possible—interviewers might follow up for more examples, but your first example should take them through the entire process.

8. If You Could Only Pick One Financial Statement to Make a Decision on a Company, What Would You Pick?

A recruiter might want to see that you have an understanding of the major financial statements a company has. They might ask you to walk them through an income statement, a balance sheet, a statement of shareholders’ equity, and/or a cash flow statement. Or they may ask you a question like this so you can show that you not only know the statements but understand when and how to use them.

How to Answer

The best response here is not just to choose the financial statement you prefer, but also to discuss why you think it’s the most useful source of information for a certain kind of situation and address why the other financial statements might not be appropriate choices.

An answer to this question might look like this:

“I prefer to use the cash flow statement to make a decision on a company, especially if I’m trying to glean how a company is doing in a moment of trouble or crisis. It’s going to show you actual liquidity, how the company is using cash, and how it’s generating cash. A balance sheet will only show you the assets and debt of the company at a point in time, and shareholder’s equity just shows you what’s been paid into the company and what exists net of assets and liabilities. The income statement has a lot of information—revenue, cost of goods and services, and other expenses—but I find the cash flow statement most useful for evaluating a company’s overall health in the short term.”

9. What Do You Think Is the Single Best Evaluation Metric for Analyzing a Company's Stock?

The recruiter is looking for your thought process as you compare and contrast different valuation methods. This helps an interviewer see that you’re familiar with multiple financial concepts when it comes to stock valuation and that you understand the pros and cons of different types of methodologies.

This question is more likely to come up if you’re interviewing to work for an investment bank or research firm. But you should be prepared to walk interviewers through how you come to an answer on any type of process question you receive.

How to Answer

Walk the recruiter through your thought process in choosing the metric you prefer and talk about what it can tell you about the stock and how that would help you evaluate a company. You can also mention other metrics in your answer to help you explain why the one you chose is better or what secondary metrics you’d pick if you could add others to support your primary choice.

An answer to this question might look like this:

“Of the three most commonly used valuation methodologies, discounted cash flow, comparable company analysis, and precedent transactions, I think that comparable company analysis is the most beneficial across all different types of companies and industries. Specifically, I like to look at the P/E ratio [price-earnings ratio] since it provides a yardstick for determining whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued as compared to its comp set. A low P/E ratio—when compared to similar companies and stocks—might be a sign that the price of that current stock is inexpensive relative to the company’s earnings, while a high P/E ratio might indicate that the stock’s valuation has become too high especially if it’s higher than others in its comp set. It’s important to note that one methodology or ratio generally does not tell a complete story by itself and others should be utilized for a more holistic approach, but I think P/E ratio comp analysis provides the least room for variability.

10. Which Profitability Model Would You Use to Determine if a Project Will Be Profitable?

This is another question in which a recruiter wants to understand how you do things. They’ll be looking for the steps you take to get from point A to point B, such as looking at revenue streams and looking at the costs associated to come up with that profitability model. They want to see if you understand how to calculate a net present value and discount cash flows.

How to Answer

You may have to do some math, particularly if a company gives you a specific problem to solve. Be prepared to walk the interviewer through your thought process. “I had a question like this when I was interviewing,” says Nathan Atkins, an investment banking analyst at M&T Bank. “They asked, ‘We want to invest in a higher quality leather for our seats in a car; it’s going to cost X amount of dollars to do it, and we need it to return Y, so is this a good investment?’”

For instance, an answer might look like this:

“Net present value is a good model for forecasting, since it finds the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time. If a company was investing in a project, you’d want the required return, the number of periods, and the cash flow coming in over that time. You’d take cash flow, divide it by one plus your hurdle rate to the power of the time period, subtract your initial investment and that would give you your net present value. What this should tell you is the value today of this future stream of payments. As long as it’s positive, that means the project is worth doing.”

11. What is EBITDA?

There’s technical knowledge associated with a job as a financial analyst, and you’ll be expected to know and understand it. Luckily, this isn’t the part of the interview that most financial analyst candidates find stressful. “The assumption is that most people applying for a financial analyst job would understand the basics of finances, so those are questions that most candidates are going to get right,” Jaffee says.

In short, be prepared to prove that you understand the financial concepts that make up your job. You might be asked to analyze a spreadsheet, read a financial statement, discuss how you’d solve a problem in Microsoft Excel, or explain a financial term (like positive cash flow), among other things.

How to Answer

In this case, you should explain the concept of EBITDA—starting by spelling out what the acronym refers to—and make sure you also say why it’s an important metric in evaluating a company’s financial health.

For instance, your answer might be:

“EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, and fundamentally, it’s a measure of net income with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization added back to the total. It’s a useful metric for analyzing and comparing financial health across firms since it removes financing and accounting decisions from the equation. But I’d also add that there are drawbacks and EBITDA can be misleading on its own, as it doesn’t take factors such as capital investments into account.”

12. How Are the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement Related?

This is another question that gets at technical knowledge that interviewers assume you have walking into an interview for a financial analyst position. They ask it to make sure that you have a baseline financial knowledge, but it’s also a good barometer for how seriously you’re taking the interview process and how prepared you are by how easily, accurately, and clearly you respond.

How to Answer

Make sure you practice your responses to this and other technical knowledge questions out loud and in front of the mirror prior to your interview so that you have a fairly concise and accurate answer at your fingertips (without sounding too rehearsed!).

For instance, your answer might be:

"The first line of the income statement is the revenue line or “top line,” and after subtracting various expenses you arrive at net income or “bottom line” for the company. Net income comes into the cash flow statement as the first line, which is then adjusted for all non-cash expenses to get to a change in cash over a specific period. This change in cash will correspond directly to the cash line item in the balance sheet, providing a more detailed look at why that specific balance changes. The balance sheet is unique in that it is a snapshot of the balances of accounts at a specific time vs. a period of time (i.e. the previous quarter). Net income also connects to the balance sheet as a change in retained earnings."

https://www.themuse.com/advice/financial-analyst-interview-questions-answers-examples?sc_src=email_1575321&sc_lid=132281553&sc_uid=0VrW5nDlME&sc_llid=128656&sc_eh=b3364f87ca0559331&utm_source=emarsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20210915_NoSpon_90Day_1575321&utm_content=sponsored&utm_term=_&uid=885319293#22b71212-80bf-4d0e-a917-2302d2192fea

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/26/2017

ECO Newsletter 1.26.17

Return from Winter Break Edition

 


 

 

Feature | 01/14/2021

UVA Grad Students Present at SEA

Haruka Takayama presented her  job market paper, "Greenfield or Brownfield? Firm FDI Choice and Intangible Capital," in the "Understanding Foreign Investment" session.  Melissa Spencer presented two papers. The first paper, "Safer Sex? The Effect of AIDS Risk on Birth Rates," was selected by UVA to represent the department in the meeting's graduate student sessions. The second paper, "The Effect of Tasers on Fatal Police Encounters," was selected for a session on policing sponsored by the Committee for the Status of Women in the Economics Profession. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

A Healthier Work Day to Improve Productivity

Read about how one company in Japan is encouraging it's employees to make healthy changes to improve their productivity. (you may need to log into Handshake to access this article). 

Feature | 05/08/2019

Macro Grad Students Successfully Complete the ERC

In the Econ Department's 2019 Economic Research Conference (ERC), from April 30th to May 2nd, our third year graduate students presented and defended their dissertation proposals. The picture shows our macro graduate students and faculty at the successful completion of the research conference.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/12/2018

A One Stop Shop For All Things Diversity Recruiting - The Most Exhaustive List On WSO

Diversity Investment Bank Programs

The opportunities are separated into two buckets: introductory programs and internship opportunities.

Introductory programs are 1-3 day programs where candidates are invited to the firm (transportation and lodging expenses covered by the firm) for presentations, workshops, and networking events.Introductory programs are designed to get you in front of professionals and human resources, and, if done properly, they will get you in the pipeline for internship opportunities the following year (in my experience, accelerated interviews have been the result of this). The key here is to dress sharp and make a concerted effort to leave a good impression. Ask questions when the opportunity arises, brush up on the firm / recent news for speaking points, ask for business cards of the people you speak with, and FOLLOW UP (cannot emphasis this part enough). These programs are an opportunity for you to make connections with people that will resources during the recruiting process, so it is imperative that send thank you emails after the events and keep in touch with these people from time-to-time.

The second bucket is internship opportunities. These opportunities are in the format of either:

  • An introduction with a superday attached (e.g. JP Morgan Launching Leaders)
  • a diversity-specific internship application drop and process

Keep in mind, with these programs you can also submit a general summer application as well, so I highly encourage you to double down and submit a diversity program application and a general application where applicable (e.g. Goldman Sachs Insights Day + Goldman Sachs general internship application for sophomores, Credit Suisse America CEO Awards Program + Credit Suisse general application for juniors).

IBank Diversity Scholarship Opportunities

Additionally, some firms offer scholarships as a component of their diversity recruiting efforts, not all scholarships include an interview for internships as part of the process (e.g. Morgan Stanley Richard B. Fisher, Goldman Sachs Scholarship for Excellence), so make sure to submit an internship application in addition to the scholarship application to cover your bases.

Boutique Banks Diversity Programs

Most of these programs are hosted by BB firms, but boutiques are starting to organize similar events. Perella Weinberg has hosted a program for a few recruiting cycles. 2016 is the inaugural year for Lazard's and Evercore's sophomore women's programs. I aim to update this as I come across more programs.

Diversity Recruiting Talent Organizations

Lastly, I included two partner organizations: Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). These are two organizations that firms partner with to secure diverse candidates. SEO gets a lot of crap on these forums, but, as with all recruiting, you get very strong candidates and some not so strong ones--you should aim to be a strong one. With SEO you can go through their process and interview with firms, or you can independently secure your own offer and join their program to receive access to their comprehensive training materials / program.

Introductory (Fly-In) Programs:

The Blackstone Group - BX Diverse Leaders Program

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM, Sophomore/Junior
  • Deadline: February 15, 2016 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: March 10-11, 2016

The Blackstone Group - Future Women Leaders Program

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: Sophomore Women
  • Deadline: March 1, 2016 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: April 14-15, 2016

BAML - Elevate Diversity Forum

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM, Freshmen/Sophomores
  • Deadline: Sunday, March 27th, 2016 at 11:59pm (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: Week of May 9, 2016

BAML - Emerging Women's Program

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: Freshman/Sophomore Women (Every Spring)
  • Deadline: Sunday, March 27th, 2016 at 11:59pm
  • Program Dates: Week of May 9, 2016

BAML - Ignite With STEM

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: Freshman/Sophomore STEM majors
  • Deadline: Sunday, March 27th, 2016 at 11:59pm (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: Week of May 9, 2016

Barclays - Freshman Foundation

  • Description: 1-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM/Female/LGBT/Veteran/Disability
  • Deadline: Spring 2017 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: March 4, 2016

Barclays - Sophomore Springboard

  • Description: 1-day program in NYC (includes mentorship program for junior year recruiting)
  • Eligibility: URM/Female
  • Deadline: March 6, 2016 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: April 15, 2016 (females), April 16, 2016 (ethnically diverse)

Credit Suisse - BA Explorer Program

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM, Freshmen/Sophomores
  • Deadline: April 15, 2016 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: May 19-20, 2016

Credit Suisse - Top Talent Women's Mentor Programs

  • Description: Multi-day programs in NYC, specific programs for IBD, S&T, AM, and Technology
  • Eligibility: Female, Sophomores
  • Deadline: March 1, 2016 (Every Spring)

Evercore - Women's Sophomore Symposium

  • Description: 1 day program
  • Eligibility: Sophomore Women
  • Deadline: March 13 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: April 8 (Every Spring)

Goldman Sachs - Undergraduate Camp

  • Description: Multi-day programs in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM, Female, freshman
  • Deadline: Every Spring
  • Program Dates: Every Spring

Goldman Sachs - Pride Summit

  • Description: 2 day program in NYC
  • Eligibility: LGBTQ, freshman/sophomore/junior
  • Deadline: October 25 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: November 23-24 (Early Fall)

JP Morgan - BA Early Advantage Program

  • Description: 2-day programs in NYC, Dallas, Chicago
  • Eligibility: URM/Female/LGBT/Veteran/Disability, Freshmen/Sophomores
  • Deadline: March 6, 2016 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: Varies by location; NYC is late May 2016

Lazard - Sophomore Women's Event

  • Description: 1 day program
  • Eligibility: Sophomore Women
  • Deadline: March 27 (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: April 8 (Every Spring)

Morgan Stanley - Early Insights Program

  • Description: Various 1-day firm-wide programs in NYC
  • Eligibility: URM/Female/LGBT/Veteran, Freshmen/Sophomores/Juniors (varies by program)
  • Deadline: Varies by program (Winter/Spring)
  • Program Dates: Varies by program

Perella Weinburg Partners - Women's Advisory Prep Program

  • Description: 2-day program in NYC (pipeline for accelerated junior SA position)
  • Eligibility: Sophomore Women
  • Deadline: March 13, 2016 at 11:50pm (Every Spring)
  • Program Dates: April 7-8, 2016

Wells Fargo - (Various Programs)

  • Description: Multi-day programs in NYC/Charlotte
  • Eligibility: URM/Female/LGBT/Veteran/Disability, Freshmen/Sophomores/Juniors
  • Deadline: Varies

Summer Internships - High School Senior

J.P Morgan - 2015 CIB Summer High School Program

  • Description: 3-week summer rotational internship program in NYC
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading and Investment Banking rotations
  • Eligibility: URM, must attend a New York Metro area high school or have a permanent residence in New York Metro area
  • Deadline: spring 2015

J.P Morgan - Smart Starts Scholarship Program

  • Description: 4 year full-tuition scholarship and 4 years of internships (full-time during summers; part-time during school year)
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading, Investment Banking
  • Eligibility: URM, must attend a New York Metro area high school student, attend a participating college
  • Deadline: Every Winter

Summer Internships - Freshman

Morgan Stanley - Freshman Enhancement Program

  • Description: 10-week freshman summer analyst program in NYC
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading, Investment Banking, Global Capital Markets
  • Eligibility: URM
  • Deadline: varies (fall / winter / early spring)

Summer Internships - Sophomore

BAML - GBAM Sophomore Summer Program

  • Description: sophomore summer analyst program
  • Divisions: Investment Banking and Global Capital Markets
  • Eligibility: URM, Women
  • Deadline: Every Fall

BAML - GBAM Sophomore Summer Rotational Program

  • Description: sophomore summer analyst program
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading
  • Eligibility: URM, Women
  • Deadline: Every Fall

BAML - Global Banking & Markets Scholarship Of Distinction

  • Description: scholarship of $5,000 for sophomores
  • Divisions: GBAM
  • Eligibility: URM/Women/LGBTQ/Veterans sophomores/juniors
  • Deadline: Every Fall

Barclays - Sophomore Skills

  • Description: 2 day program with interviews for sophomore summer analyst program in NYC
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading, Investment Banking
  • Eligibility: URM, Women, LGBTQ
  • Deadline: November 22, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Date: January 7-8, 2016

Citigroup Diversity - Sophomore Leadership Program

  • Description: sophomore summer analyst rotational program
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading, Investment Banking
  • Eligibility: URM
  • Deadline: Every Fall

Credit Suisse - Steps To Success / Doug Paul Program

  • Description: sophomore summer analyst program in NYC, scholarship of $5,000
  • Divisions: Investment Banking, Sales and Trading, Asset Management, Equity Research
  • Eligibility: URM, Sophomores
  • Deadline: November 2015 (Every Fall)

Deutsche Bank - DB Achieve Program

  • Description: sophomore summer analyst program in NYC (SF as well for IB)
  • Divisions: Investment Banking, Markets, Asset & Wealth Management
  • Eligibility: URM, Women, Sophomores
  • Deadline: November 2015 (Every Fall)

Goldman Sachs - Insights Day, Securities Insight Day, Diverse Abilities Insight Day, LGBTQ Insight Day

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for sophomore/junior SA programs
  • Divisions: IBD, IMD, S&T
  • Eligibility: URM/LBBTQ/Women/Diverse Abilities, sophomore/juniors
  • Deadline: August/September
  • Program Dates: Varies, Early Fall

Goldman Sachs - Summer Analyst Program

  • Description: general summer analyst program
  • Divisions: IBD, S&T
  • Eligibility: URM, women, sophomores
  • Deadline: Every Fall

J.P. Morgan - CIB Launching Leaders Program

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for 10-week sophomore summer analyst program in NYC; $5,00 scholarship (additional $7,500 if you return for junior year, $2,500 if you return full-time)
  • Divisions: IBD, Investor Services, Public Finance, Research, S&T, Treasury Services, Risk
  • Eligibility: URM, sophomore/juniors
  • Deadline: September 30, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: October 29-30, 2015 (Every Fall)

J.P. Morgan - Asset Management BA Launching Leaders

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for 10-week sophomore summer analyst program in NYC, $5,00 scholarship (additional $7,500 if you return for junior year, $2,500 if you return full-time)
  • Divisions: Global Wealth Management, Global Investment Management
  • Eligibility: URM, sophomore/juniors
  • Deadline: October 11, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: November 13, 2015 (Every Fall)

Morgan Stanley - Sophomore Summer Analyst Programs

  • Description: 10-week sophomore summer analyst programs in NYC
  • Divisions: Sales and Trading, Investment Banking, Global Capital Markets, Investment Mgmt.
  • Eligibility: URM, sophomores
  • Deadline: varies (Every Fall)

Morgan Stanley - Richard B. Fisher Scholarship Program

  • Description: Scholarship of up to $15,000; to be considered candidates must fill out summer analyst application in addition to RBF scholarship application)
  • Eligibility: URM
  • Deadline: varies (Every Fall)

UBS - Sophomore Women's Program (CCS)

  • Description: 8-week sophomore summer analyst programs in NYC
  • Divisions: Coverage and Advisory (IBD) and Capital Markets Solution
  • Eligibility: Sophomore Women
  • Deadline: January 3, 2016

Wells Fargo - Sophomore Conferences (Various)

  • Description: conferences in NR that include interviews for summer programs
  • Divisions: various
  • Eligibility: URM, Women, LGBTQ
  • Deadline: Every Fall
  • Program Every Spring

Summer Internships - Junior

BAML - Global Banking & Markets Scholarship Of Distinction

  • Description: scholarship of $10,000 for juniors, must complete formal internship application in addition to scholarship application
  • Divisions: GBAM
  • Eligibility: URM/Women/LGBTQ/Veterans, sophomores/juniors
  • Deadline: Every Fall

Barclays - Junior Success Program

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for summer analyst program; opportunity to be considered for $10,000 Inspiring Excellence Scholarship
  • Divisions: Investment Banking, Research, Markets
  • Eligibility: URM/Female/LGBTQ
  • Deadline: Early Fall 2016
  • Program Dates: November 5-6 (Banking), November 3-4 (Markets and Research)

Credit Suisse - Americas CEO Awards Scholarship

  • Description: Summer analyst program, scholarship of up to $10,000
  • Divisions: Asset Management, Equities, Fixed Income, Investment Banking
  • Eligibility: URM, Juniors
  • Deadline: Fall 2016

Goldman Sachs - Insights Day, Securities Insight Day, Diverse Abilities Insight Day, LGBTQ Insight Day

  • Description: Summer analyst program, scholarship of up to $10,000
  • Divisions: Asset Management, Equities, Fixed Income, Investment Banking
  • Eligibility: URM, Juniors
  • Deadline: Fall 2016

J.P. Morgan - CIB Launching Leaders Program

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for 10-week sophomore summer analyst program in NYC; $15,000 scholarship
  • Divisions: IBD, Investor Services, Public Finance, Research, S&T, Treasury Services, Risk
  • Eligibility: URM, sophomore/juniors
  • Deadline: September 30, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: October 29-30, 2015 (Every Fall)

J.P. Morgan - Asset Management BA Launching Leaders

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for 10-week sophomore summer analyst program in NYC, $15,000
  • Divisions: Global Wealth Management, Global Investment Management
  • Eligibility: URM, sophomore/juniors
  • Deadline: October 11, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: November 13, 2015 (Every Fall)

J.P. Morgan - Winning Women Scholarship Program

  • Description: 2 day program with interview for 10-week sophomore summer analyst program in NYCand SF, $15,000
  • Divisions: ALL
  • Eligibility: Junior Women
  • Deadline: September 20, 2015 (Every Fall)
  • Program Dates: November 13, 2015 - SF, November 5-6, 2015 - NYC IBD / Treasury Services, November 19-20, 2015 - NYC Risk / Research / S&T / Public Finance / Investor Services (Every Fall)

Morgan Stanley - Richard B. Fisher Scholarship Program

  • Description: scholarship of up to $15,000, must complete a formal summer analyst application in addition to RBF application
  • Eligibility: URM/LGBT, Sophomores/Juniors
  • Deadline: Fall 2016

Partner Organizations

Sponsors For Educational Opportunity (SEO)

SEO is the premier organization firms partner with in order to order to get diverse candidates into their summer analyst programs. In addition to getting students in front of BB partners, the program providing students with mentorship, technical training, and interview prep. Great resource for students interested in front office roles, but attend a school not heavily represented on the Street. The earlier you join the SEO the more value you gain (e.g. freshman have opportunity to secure sophomore internships through SEO pipeline).

Learn more about SEO on their website.

Management Leadership For Tomorrow (MLT)

MLT is another great organization for underrepresented minorities. Unlike SEO, MLT is Corporate America focused and includes opportunities beyond financial services. I would also recommend joining MLT as early as possible.

Learn more about MLT and apply on their website.

Check Out This Other Relevant List of Diversity Recruiting Programs:
Teller's Comprehensive Guide to Diversity Recruiting

 

Read More  

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/31/2021

Blog: Consulting Blog #3

This message was shared by the UVA Career Center for those students interested in management consulting. This is message #3 of 3. For additional information, see Collab/ECO Resources/Vault Guides/Consulting Careers and the ECO website’s Industry Overviews in the “Management Consulting” section.

This email focuses on interview preparation and strategy. You will likely experience both a behavioral and case interview during your recruitment process at most firms. It is critical that you practice both of these in advance, so you present the best version of yourself in interviews.

The Career Center offers many options for support with both, if at any time you have questions on how to practice, come and see a career counselor by visiting Handshake. Mark your calendars for the events highlighted below to get practice directly from employers on both behavioral and case interviews!

If you are concerned about virtual interviews, this blog post provides advice on how to make a good impression in a virtual space.

Behavioral Interviewing: 

Your interviewer is using this as an opportunity to assess your fit within their firm. They want to see if they could spend hours working with you at a client site or traveling with you week to week, and if they'd be comfortable putting you in front of a client. 

  • Practice telling your story but using the VMock Elevator Pitch tool. For more information on this resource, check out the resources page on the Career Center website. 

  • When responding to questions, be articulate and concise -- Use the STAR method to structure your answers. This stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result and provides a framework for answering behavioral interview questions. [The ECO adds an extra “R” for Reflection. This final piece, allows candidates to discuss what they’ve learned/what they may do differently now. 

  • To help prepare, practice answering questions aloud -- check out page 64 of the HoosGuide for a list of sample behavioral interview questions. 

  • Street of Walls also provides a comprehensive guide on consulting interview questions and answers that will give you a better idea of what to expect. 

  • Lastly, the Career Center offers Mock Interviews as appointment types so you can practice with a counselor. Schedule an appointment today to get practicing. 

Case Interviewing: 

This is a way for the employer to assess your thinking and analytical skills in a real-time environment. The focus does not need to be on answering the problem correctly but more on how you think and structure the response. For more information on case interviews click here.  

Learning the Case: 

Running the Case: 

  • Throughout the case interview, do not be afraid to ask questions if you need clarification. 

  • Take thorough notes; be sure to compose your thoughts before moving forward. 

  • Be confident in your analysis but pay close attention to how the interviewer is guiding you and change direction if you need to. 

Practice Makes Perfect: 

It takes time to feel comfortable with both the behavioral and the case portions of the interview. To perform well on case interviews, it is crucial that you understand how to approach them, and practice is key to that success. 

  • Create a Case Interview Preparation Plan 

  • Utilize case guides found on Handshake. (Handshake > Career Center > Resources > Business Community) 

  • Check out the "Help Topics" in Virginia Alumni Mentoring, one of those areas are Mock Case Interviews for practice with alumni 

  • Our Career Peer Educators created this helpful session on case interviews that is a fantastic resource 

  • Practice, practice, practice! Find classmates who are also pursuing consulting and set up a time to practice case interviewing together.

Mental Math Tips: 

Sometimes cases are more quantitative than qualitative. This likely will depend on the organization you are interviewing with and the type of role you are interviewing for. Try to gain as much insight as possible before, so you know more of what to expect. If it is math heavy, here are some tips: 

  • Use round numbers where you can. 

  • Do “ballpark” calculations – there is some margin of error allowed. 

  • Memorize key numbers: World Population (7b), US Population (320m), Life expectancy (US: 80y, World: 70y). Check out these key statistics to know. 

  • Practice mental math; download this app to fine tune this important skill. 

  • If you are looking for even more practice, RocketBlocks provides comprehensive drills to help with the entire case framework. [The Department of Economics subscribes to RocketBlocks for our majors. You may claim your account by logging in with your UVA email (example jlh7b@virginia.edu) and using the password “monroe.”

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/12/2023

15 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer

Article written by Deppak Malhotra for Harvard Business Review.

Job-offer negotiations are rarely easy. Consider three typical scenarios:

You’re in a third-round interview for a job at a company you like, but a firm you admire even more just invited you in. Suddenly the first hiring manager cuts to the chase: “As you know, we’re considering many candidates. We like you, and we hope the feeling is mutual. If we make you a competitive offer, will you accept it?”

You’ve received an offer for a job you’ll enjoy, but the salary is lower than you think you deserve. You ask your potential boss whether she has any flexibility. “We typically don’t hire people with your background, and we have a different culture here,” she responds. “This job isn’t just about the money. Are you saying you won’t take it unless we increase the pay?”

You’ve been working happily at your company for three years, but a recruiter has been calling, insisting that you could earn much more elsewhere. You don’t want to quit, but you expect to be compensated fairly, so you’d like to ask for a raise. Unfortunately, budgets are tight, and your boss doesn’t react well when people try to leverage outside offers. What do you do?

Each of these situations is difficult in its own way—and emblematic of how complex job negotiations can be. At many companies, compensation increasingly comes in the form of stock, options, and bonuses linked to both personal and group performance. In MBA recruitment, more companies are using “exploding” offers or sliding-scale signing bonuses based on when a candidate accepts the job, complicating attempts to compare offers. With executive mobility on the rise, people vying for similar positions often have vastly different backgrounds, strengths, and salary histories, making it hard for employers to set benchmarks or create standard packages.

In some industries a weak labor market has also left candidates with fewer options and less leverage, and employers better positioned to dictate terms. Those who are unemployed, or whose current job seems shaky, have seen their bargaining power further reduced.

But job market complexity creates opportunities for people who can skillfully negotiate the terms and conditions of employment. After all, negotiation matters most when there is a broad range of possible outcomes.

As a professor who studies and teaches the subject, I frequently advise current and former students on navigating this terrain. For several years I have been offering a presentation on the topic to current students. (To see a video of this talk, go to www.NegotiateYourOffer.com.) Every situation is unique, but some strategies, tactics, and principles can help you address many of the issues people face in negotiating with employers. Here are 15 rules to guide you in these discussions.

[  1  ]

Don’t underestimate the importance of likability.

This sounds basic, but it’s crucial: People are going to fight for you only if they like you. Anything you do in a negotiation that makes you less likable reduces the chances that the other side will work to get you a better offer. This is about more than being polite; it’s about managing some inevitable tensions in negotiation, such as asking for what you deserve without seeming greedy, pointing out deficiencies in the offer without seeming petty, and being persistent without being a nuisance. Negotiators can typically avoid these pitfalls by evaluating (for example, in practice interviews with friends) how others are likely to perceive their approach.  [From the ECO: This should not discourage you from negotiating; but rather, suggests you consider that how you negotiate is important.]

[  2  ]

Help them understand why you deserve what you’re requesting.

It’s not enough for them to like you. They also have to believe you’re worth the offer you want. Never let your proposal speak for itself—always tell the story that goes with it. Don’t just state your desire (a 15% higher salary, say, or permission to work from home one day a week); explain precisely why it’s justified (the reasons you deserve more money than others they may have hired, or that your children come home from school early on Fridays). If you have no justification for a demand, it may be unwise to make it. Again, keep in mind the inherent tension between being likable and explaining why you deserve more: Suggesting that you’re especially valuable can make you sound arrogant if you haven’t thought through how best to communicate the message. [ECO and UVA Outcomes Reports can provide you with salary data to help in your negotiations. Also, seek other resources like glassdoor.com.]

[  3  ]

Make it clear they can get you.

People won’t want to expend political or social capital to get approval for a strong or improved offer if they suspect that at the end of the day, you’re still going to say, “No, thanks.” Who wants to be the stalking horse for another company? If you intend to negotiate for a better package, make it clear that you’re serious about working for this employer. Sometimes you get people to want you by explaining that everybody wants you. But the more strongly you play that hand, the more they may think that they’re not going to get you anyway, so why bother jumping through hoops? If you’re planning to mention all the options you have as leverage, you should balance that by saying why—or under what conditions—you would be happy to forgo those options and accept an offer.

[  4  ]

Understand the person across the table.

Companies don’t negotiate; people do. And before you can influence the person sitting opposite you, you have to understand her. What are her interests and individual concerns? For example, negotiating with a prospective boss is very different from negotiating with an HR representative. You can perhaps afford to pepper the latter with questions regarding details of the offer, but you don’t want to annoy someone who may become your manager with seemingly petty demands. On the flip side, HR may be responsible for hiring 10 people and therefore reluctant to break precedent, whereas the boss, who will benefit more directly from your joining the company, may go to bat for you with a special request.

[  5  ]

Understand their constraints.

They may like you. They may think you deserve everything you want. But they still may not give it to you. Why? Because they may have certain ironclad constraints, such as salary caps, that no amount of negotiation can loosen. Your job is to figure out where they’re flexible and where they’re not. If, for example, you’re talking to a large company that’s hiring 20 similar people at the same time, it probably can’t give you a higher salary than everyone else. But it may be flexible on start dates, vacation time, and signing bonuses. On the other hand, if you’re negotiating with a smaller company that has never hired someone in your role, there may be room to adjust the initial salary offer or job title but not other things. The better you understand the constraints, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to propose options that solve both sides’ problems.

[  6  ]

Be prepared for tough questions.

Many job candidates have been hit with difficult questions they were hoping not to face: Do you have any other offers? If we make you an offer tomorrow, will you say yes? Are we your top choice? If you’re unprepared, you might say something inelegantly evasive or, worse, untrue. My advice is to never lie in a negotiation. It frequently comes back to harm you, but even if it doesn’t, it’s unethical. The other risk is that, faced with a tough question, you may try too hard to please and end up losing leverage. The point is this: You need to prepare for questions and issues that would put you on the defensive, make you feel uncomfortable, or expose your weaknesses. Your goal is to answer honestly without looking like an unattractive candidate—and without giving up too much bargaining power. If you have thought in advance about how to answer difficult questions, you probably won’t forfeit one of those objectives. [The ECO can help you prepare for these various scenarios, and questions about salary that may pop up in early interview stages.]

[  7  ]

Focus on the questioner’s intent, not on the question.

If, despite your preparation, someone comes at you from an angle you didn’t expect, remember this simple rule: It’s not the question that matters but the questioner’s intent. Often the question is challenging but the questioner’s intent is benign. An employer who asks whether you would immediately accept an offer tomorrow may simply be interested in knowing if you are genuinely excited about the job, not trying to box you into a corner. A question about whether you have other offers may be designed not to expose your weak alternatives but simply to learn what type of job search you’re conducting and whether this company has a chance of getting you. If you don’t like the question, don’t assume the worst. Rather, answer in a way that addresses what you think is the intent, or ask for a clarification of the problem the interviewer is trying to solve. If you engage in a genuine conversation about what he’s after, and show a willingness to help him resolve whatever issue he has, both of you will be better off.

[  8  ]

Consider the whole deal.

Sadly, too many people, “negotiating a job offer” and “negotiating a salary” are synonymous. But much of your satisfaction from the job will come from other factors you can negotiate—perhaps even more easily than salary. Don’t get fixated on money. Focus on the value of the entire deal: responsibilities, location, travel, flexibility in work hours, opportunities for growth and promotion, perks, support for continued education, and so forth. Think not just about how you’re willing to be rewarded but also when. You may decide to chart a course that pays less handsomely now but will put you in a stronger position later.

[  9  ]

Negotiate multiple issues simultaneously, not serially.

If someone makes you an offer and you’re legitimately concerned about parts of it, you’re usually better off proposing all your changes at once. Don’t say, “The salary is a bit low. Could you do something about it?” and then, once she’s worked on it, come back with “Thanks. Now here are two other things I’d like…” If you ask for only one thing initially, she may assume that getting it will make you ready to accept the offer (or at least to make a decision). If you keep saying “and one more thing…,” she is unlikely to remain in a generous or understanding mood. Furthermore, if you have more than one request, don’t simply mention all the things you want—A, B, C, and D; also signal the relative importance of each to you. Otherwise, she may pick the two things you value least, because they’re pretty easy to give you, and feel she’s met you halfway. Then you’ll have an offer that’s not much better and a negotiating partner who thinks her job is done.

[  10  ]

Don’t negotiate just to negotiate.

Resist the temptation to prove that you are a great negotiator. MBA students who have just taken a class on negotiation are plagued by this problem: They go bargaining berserk the first chance they get, which is with a prospective employer. My advice: If something is important to you, absolutely negotiate. But don’t haggle over every little thing. Fighting to get just a bit more can rub people the wrong way—and can limit your ability to negotiate with the company later in your career, when it may matter more.

[  11  ]

Think through the timing of offers.

At the beginning of a job hunt, you often want to get at least one offer in order to feel secure. This is especially true for people finishing a degree program, when everyone is interviewing and some are celebrating early victories. Ironically, getting an early offer can be problematic: Once a company has made an offer, it will expect an answer reasonably soon. If you want to consider multiple jobs, it’s useful to have all your offers arrive close together. So don’t be afraid to slow down the process with one potential employer or to speed it up with another, in order to have all your options laid out at one time. This, too, is a balancing act: If you pull back too much—or push too hard—a company may lose interest and hire someone else. But there are subtle ways to solve such problems. For example, if you want to delay an offer, you might ask for a later second- or third-round interview.

[  12  ]

Avoid, ignore, or downplay ultimatums of any kind.

People don’t like being told “Do this or else.” So avoid giving ultimatums. Sometimes we do so inadvertently—we’re just trying to show strength, or we’re frustrated, and it comes off the wrong way. Your counterpart may do the same. My personal approach when at the receiving end of an ultimatum is to simply ignore it, because at some point the person who gave it might realize that it could scuttle the deal and will want to take it back. He can do that much more easily without losing face if it’s never been discussed. If someone tells you, “We’ll never do this,” don’t dwell on it or make her repeat it. Instead you might say, “I can see how that might be difficult, given where we are today. Perhaps we can talk about X, Y, and Z.” Pretend the ultimatum was never given and keep her from becoming wedded to it. If it’s real, she’ll make that clear over time.

[  13  ]

Remember, they’re not out to get you.

Tough salary negotiations or long delays in the confirmation of a formal offer can make it seem that potential employers have it in for you. But if you’re far enough along in the process, these people like you and want to continue liking you. Unwillingness to move on a particular issue may simply reflect constraints that you don’t fully appreciate. A delay in getting an offer letter may just mean that you’re not the only concern the hiring manager has in life. Stay in touch, but be patient. And if you can’t be patient, don’t call up in frustration or anger; better to start by asking for a clarification on timing and whether there’s anything you can do to help move things along.

[  14  ]

Stay at the table.

Remember: What’s not negotiable today may be negotiable tomorrow. Over time, interests and constraints change. When someone says no, what he’s saying is “No—given how I see the world today.” A month later that same person may be able to do something he couldn’t do before, whether it’s extending an offer deadline or increasing your salary. Suppose a potential boss denies your request to work from home on Fridays. Maybe that’s because he has no flexibility on the issue. But it’s also possible that you haven’t yet built up the trust required to make him feel comfortable with that arrangement. Six months in, you’ll probably be in a better position to persuade him that you’ll work conscientiously away from the office. Be willing to continue the conversation and to encourage others to revisit issues that were left unaddressed or unresolved.

[  15  ]

Maintain a sense of perspective.

This is the final and most important point. You can negotiate like a pro and still lose out if the negotiation you’re in is the wrong one. Ultimately, your satisfaction hinges less on getting the negotiation right and more on getting the job right. Experience and research demonstrate that the industry and function in which you choose to work, your career trajectory, and the day-to-day influences on you (such as bosses and coworkers) can be vastly more important to satisfaction than the particulars of an offer. These guidelines should help you negotiate effectively and get the offer you deserve, but they should come into play only after a thoughtful, holistic job hunt designed to ensure that the path you’re choosing will lead you where you want to go.

Feature | 01/15/2021

Brett Fischer presents at NTA Annual Conference

PhD candidate Brett Fischer presented his paper, "No Spending without Representation: School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance," at the National Tax Association's 2020 Annual Conference, as part of a panel on education finance.

Feature | 10/17/2023

Women in Economics Across the Nation

UVA's Department of Economics has joined a consortium of universities across the country and the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank to host a virtual networking program with more than 30 women working in industry, government, think tanks, academia, and attending graduate school. We want you to use this opportunity to learn about diverse career fields and take advantage of this network that extends beyond UVA. The program will include two 20-minute breakout rooms with alumni from participating universities. Below is the flyer with the list of participants. Register here: https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1403781

There will be two, 20-minute breakout sessions with alumni who will share what they do, how they got there, and advice for undergraduate students. Current speakers work at Cornerstone Research, Deloitte, Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, International Monetary Fund, Mars, Micronomics, and more!  Scroll past the flyer for the complete list of guests.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/18/2019

Newsletter Week of December 16

As finals draw to a close, we here at the ECO are thinking about what information would be most helpful to share for your use over winter break. So, we’ve compiled a list of odds and ends, some of which are job postings and others that are resources related to the job search, like this article about practicing your virtual interviewing skills. We are sharing these resources with you as one long Holiday List at the bottom of the newsletter - our holiday gift to you. It’s your last chance to sign up for our Economic Policy Trek to D.C. (Jan 9th-10th) when we will visit think tanks/research centers such as Brookings, AEI, and the Center for Global Development. Scholarships are available based on need. Click here for more information. Registration closes Wednesday, 12/18 at 12:00pm. Finally, the winner of the $25 Starbucks gift card for responding to our surveys is Francesca LeFrancois.

Jobs & Internships for Econ Majors

Jobs on Handshake

12/27: Research Associate at Economists Incorporated (San Francisco, Washington DC)
12/31: Consultant, Center for Healthcare Economics and Policy (Washington DC)
1/31: Finance Analyst, E*TRADE (Arlington, VA)
1/31: Finance Summer Intern, E*TRADE Financial (Arlington, VA)
1/31: Treasury Analyst, Nodal Exchange (Washington DC)

Jobs Selected from External Boards

1/17: Royster Lawton Fellowship for Entrepreneurship and Social Impact
1/20: Strategy and Innovation Summer Associate, The Capital Group Companies Inc (L.A., CA)
1/31: 2020 Summer Leadership Academy, Accounting and Consulting Group LLC (Atlanta, GA)

Summer Internships and Jobs found at WayUp, such as Deutsche Bank 2020 Summer Analyst in Corporate Finance. See below.

Deutsche Bank 2020 Summer Internship Corporate Finance

Responsibilities

Deutsche Bank is Germany's leading bank with strong market positions in Europe and significant presence in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. We’re driving growth through our strong client franchise, investing heavily in digital technologies, prioritising long term success over short-term gains, and serving society with ambition and integrity. We serve our clients’ real economic needs in commercial and investment banking, retail banking and transaction banking, and provide ground-breaking products and services in asset and wealth management. That means a career packed with opportunities to grow and the chance to shape the future of our clients.

About your Internship

An internship at Deutsche Bank is your stepping stone to success and your first look into what life is like on our Graduate Programme. You’ll become part of a collaborative and inclusive workplace as you build on your technical and interpersonal skills, take on real responsibilities, hear from senior leadership through our speaker series, work on live projects, grow your network and learn first-hand how we deliver for our clients. If you want the opportunity to shape your own career as well as the future of the financial industry, then we will give you the platform and foundation to do so. Successful interns will be invited to join the Deutsche Bank Graduate Programme.

About Corporate Finance

Our Corporate Finance business provides the full range of advisory and financing products and services of a leading global investment bank. Our clients include large-cap and mid-cap corporates, financial institutions, governments, government agencies and financial sponsors. We recognise that selecting the right investment banking partner can be the key to a company’s success. Our relationships are enhanced by industry sector, country and regional expertise, closely aligned to high-quality client solutions. We offer both buyside and sellside advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, restructuring advisory, debt and equity capital raising services and structured equity transactions. We are able to advise on innovative cross-border and regional transactions in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The Role

Our interns are given the opportunity to learn about our business from different viewpoints, giving you a career advantage. Working on our day-to-day business as well as on special projects, you will contribute to the innovation of new ideas to help our customers achieve their financial goals. You will gain experience in different areas of our business and discover our market-leading solutions first hand. Tasks may include evaluating companies, developing models for M&A transactions, preparing industry analyses for pitches, or getting involved in the execution of live deals.

The internship is an ideal way of finding out whether a career in Corporate Finance meets your needs and aspirations.

Intern Experience at Deutsche Bank

Qualifications

We are looking for bright minds with excellent academic records and some practical work experience to create a positive impact for our customers. We hire for attitude and skillset and are open to applications from a variety of backgrounds and degrees.

  • Are you passionate about finance and have an affinity for numbers?
  • Do you have an interest in business, economics, financial mathematics or engineering, either as part of your degree or extra-curricular activities?
  • Do you have strong communication skills and are you fluent in English?
  • Can you work well in a team and inspire others with your ideas?
  • Would you describe yourself as a conscientious, dedicated individual with excellent analytical skills?

Then we look forward to meeting you!

Our values define the working environment we strive to create – diverse, supportive and welcoming of different views. We embrace a culture reflecting a variety of perspectives, insights and backgrounds to drive innovation. We build talented and diverse teams to drive business results and encourage our people to develop to their full potential. Talk to us about flexible work arrangements and other initiatives we offer.

We promote good working relationships and encourage high standards of conduct and work performance. We welcome applications from talented people from all cultures, countries, races, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, beliefs and generations and are committed to providing a working environment free from harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

Apply

ECO Holiday List

-Articles/Resources about Networking
-Articles/Resources about Resume Writing
-Articles/Resources about Cover Letters
-Articles/Resources about Interviewing
-Articles/Resources about Using LinkedIn and Twitter for your Job Search

Awesome Resources in Handshake you may not be aware of:

-CareerInsider by Vault – Includes descriptions and detailed career guides by industry.
                     For example: Read all about Marketing in the Careers in Marketing guide. Includes a job board. 
-CareerShift – Find employers and contacts (including emails) by industry, location, company size, and more. Also includes links to organizations’ jobs boards!
-GloinGlobal – For Your International internship or job search
-Assessing Your Interests (ECO webpage)
-What Can You Do with an Economics Major (UTennessee’s page)
-Econ Alumni Contacts

Helpful ECO Links:

Resumes, Cover Letters, Interview Help
Career Industry and Employer Overviews
Career Advising Appointment
Econ Alumni Contacts
The Three Parts of an Interview (and How to Nail Each)
and More!

Joy Fan, Econ '17, Media Relations and Marketing Associate at AEI
Paid Undergraduate Teaching Fellowships in the Econ Dept
The Do's and Don't's of the Virtual Interview by EY

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/24/2023

Easy Networking Tips for the Networking Haters

Article written by Amantha Imber for Harvard Business Review.

“I love networking and making small talk with strangers,” said no one ever. I, myself, avoid business events and conferences like the plague. (In fact, the only time you’ll see me at an event is if I happen to be speaking at it.)

I hate the feeling of walking into a large conference hall and seeing a sea of strangers. Everyone seems to be having an amazing time, connecting with long-lost friends, whereas I feel like a social pariah. I’m always at a loss as to how I will infiltrate the crowd and find even one single person who might want to talk to me. If I do manage to find that person, I struggle with what to say. How do I keep the conversation going?

I’ve interviewed many experts for my podcast, “How I Work,” and they’ve suggested some very interesting (and practical) ways to get your way around networking. So if, like me and many others out there, you feel awkward about networking, here’s some advice on how to get better at it.

Look for islands.

Marissa King, professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management and author of Social Chemistry, hates networking, yet somewhat ironically, has dedicated more than 15 years to researching social networks. Like me, King despises walking into what can feel like an ocean of strangers. But luckily, some of her research can help us out.

“What we know from research is that people don’t form walls or oceans. They actually tend to clump together in small groups,” King told me. “So really, it’s not an ocean of people, it’s only little islands. Then the question is ‘Now that I know they’re islands and things feel a bit more manageable, what am I going to do next?’ What researchers have found is that people almost always interact in groups of two or dyads. It’s really the most fundamental unit of human interaction.”

Using her research, King has developed a tactic. When she looks at the islands of people before her at a networking event, she tries to spot a group of odd numbers. “It might be three, five, seven — it doesn’t really matter. If there’s an odd number of people, there there’s someone who really isn’t a part of the conversation, and they are likely looking for a conversational partner. And so that’s a very basic strategy that has become critical for me to start to navigate a lot of the social anxiety I feel in these types of situations because it gives me direction.”

Networking doesn’t have to involve meeting new people.

Now that networking often happens virtually, thanks to Covid, King says there is extraordinary power in our existing networks. And arguably, the most impactful thing that most people can do to improve their network is to reinvigorate dormant ties. Dormant ties are people who you might not have seen in two or three years.

Research led by Daniel Levin from Rutgers Business School examined the benefits of reaching out to dormant ties. The researchers asked people to make a list of 10 current connections and 10 people that they haven’t reached out to in two or three years. Participants were then asked to reach out to those people for advice or help with a project. Levin and his colleagues found that dormant ties were extraordinarily powerful in that they provided their connections with more creative ideas, and more surprisingly, the trust within those relationships had endured.

King applied this research to design a ritual that she now does every Friday. “I write down the names of two or three dormant ties. And I reach out to them just to say, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about you.’ Sometimes, I will have an ask or something I’m hoping to get out of it, like feedback or a question. But mostly, it’s just reconnecting. That, for me, has been both a source of great joy but it’s also been extraordinarily helpful.”

Before starting this ritual, King was hesitant. “I thought ‘Oh my God, isn’t this going to be awkward?’” Turns out, it wasn’t.

“The more you do it, the more you realize that this is actually great. It’s also helpful for me to imagine myself being in the other person’s shoes. So if I imagine I received this email, would I be happy to get it? And the answer is almost always ‘yes.’”

Turn it into a game.

Back in 2019, I attended my second TED conference. If you have never been to “TED proper,” as it is often referred to, imagine a group of 2,000 of the world’s highest-achieving people. And you’ve never met any of them. Intimidating much?

One of the people I connected with and then interviewed was Jerry Dischler, vice president of product management at Google. Being on the introverted side, he was looking for strategies to make meeting 2,000 strangers less intimidating.

Dischler ended up meeting someone at the conference who gave him a great idea. “This person was a self-declared introvert who did not seem introverted at all. I asked him ‘How do you do this?’ And he said, ‘I approach it like a video game, actually.’ So he pretends to be an extraverted character in a video game and he scores points by talking to new people.”

Turning something from being scary into being fun is an effective way to change behavior. Humans are motivated by feeling a sense of progress, and scoring points for meeting strangers is a clear way of achieving this progress.

In addition, the opportunity to score points distracts us from the fear, and at worst, paralysis, that can come with the idea of having to introduce ourselves to people who we have never spoken to before — and in the context of TED who are ridiculously overachieving and very intimidating.

Don’t stress yourself with preparing for small talk.

From the outside, you’d think Kevin Rose is supremely confident. He was an angel investor in Facebook, Twitter, and Square. He founded the social news site Digg and hosts one of the top-ranking podcasts in America, “The Kevin Rose Show.” Yet Rose describes himself as socially awkward. He also hates small talk and has come up with some strategies around how to avoid it.

“I try to find something that is not small talk but is also a mutual kind of interest,” Rose told me. “There’s a bunch of wacky things that I’m into and so when people say, ‘What have you been up to lately?’ or ‘What’s new?’ I could respond with something like how I am trying to inoculate tree trunks to help grow Lion’s Mane mushrooms. And typically, someone responds with, ‘Wow, tell me more.’ Or they will share one of their wacky interests with me. It’s something that is fun to talk about versus just being like, ‘Oh, the weather sucks.’”

Prior to events, Rose will spend time consciously thinking about the various activities he has been engaging in and which might be of interest to the type of people he will be meeting.

Rose also reflects on the types of people he wants to meet, which are typically people who, like himself, are lifelong learners, always exploring new things. He deliberately thinks about questions that will bring this out in someone, such as, “What are you into these days?” and “What are you trying that’s new and exciting?”

Finally, Rose has found that people typically have a book to recommend, which can be another great way to avoid small talk. “I always like to say to people that I’m looking for a new book to read. So I ask them, ‘What’s a book that you’ve read in the last six months that you’re really excited about or you could share with me?’ People typically have something they’re pretty stoked on.” This is also a great way to start a conversation on LinkedIn, for example, and when people respond to your post, you can use it to continue the conversation via messages or even take it offline.

Whether you are attending events in the real world or confined to the virtual realm, networking doesn’t have to be scary or hard. Making just a few small changes can help you overcome your fears and get back out there in no time.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/16/2021

ECO Blog: Thanksgiving Edition

Hello Majors,

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving as you take a break from classes. It has been a pleasure serving our majors back on the grounds this semester, and I've been grateful for the opportunity to be here in-person with all of you.

Take some time after your Tgiving meal to think about how you'd like to spend your Winter Break. Just a little research now will pay dividends later. Here is a timeline of activities for our majors and some resources you may want to look at before your finals begin.

Planning for Winter Break. It will take no more than 10 minutes of your time to review the links below. In addition to JTerm classes, you may gain knowledge and experience through micro-internships and skill-building courses. Think about winter break as an opportunity to build your skills and experience through projects, work, online courses, or case competitions. Check out Coursera for short classes on dozens of business subjects and technical skills. Pick a short-term project posted by our awesome alumni through the Virginia Alumni Mentor network here. Real short-term projects have included:

  1. Research, analyze, and create reports of high net worth donors for equity programs
  2. Literature review for a gamification project
  3. Waste and Social Equity Mapping Project for a NYC group
  4. Design and Create Marketing Materials for a UVA Scholarship

Try out a micro-internship through ParkerDewey, (often paid) which is a hub for short-term experiences. Case competitions offer experience, contacts, and often a monetary reward. Check them out in Handshake and through MindSumo for an ever-changing array of opportunities.

Another route for winter break experience is to apply for seasonal/holiday work with an employer to get your foot in the door. Then, apply for full-time work once you are in the system and have a track record of solid performance. The ECO subscribes to flexjobs.com for our majors, which offers a wide array of flexible, remote, and part-time jobs across industries. Let me know if you'd like to use the subscription. And here are more! (Not all jobs relate to our majors' interests or skills.)

The ECO will be closed 11/18-11/28 for Thanksgiving. Appointments resume 12/1. You may sign up on Handshake now.

Best wishes!

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2021

ECO Article: How A Rising Generation Views Remote Work (WSJ 8.24.21)

I subscribe to The Wall Street Journal. You can read it for free through the UVA library. Here's a recent piece I thought our students would enjoy this week. The link to the full article is at the bottom of the page.
-Jen Jones

Editor’s note: This Future View discusses whether the absence of an option to work remotely would be a deal breaker for potential employees. Students should click here to submit opinions of fewer than 250 words before Sept. 7. The best responses will be published that night.

Don’t Go Fully Remote

I enjoy the flexibility and convenience of working remotely as much as the next guy, but I don’t believe it can fully replace in-person work. I see the option to work remotely a day or two a week as a plus, but its absence wouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Face-to-face interaction is important for building employee morale and work culture. When I entered the workforce four years ago, being surrounded by my peers in an office energized me and built a sense of solidarity as we worked together. The opportunity to bump into colleagues from other teams or grab coffee with senior management added variety to the day. I think these encounters are especially important for teaching fresh graduates how to behave in a professional environment and stimulating their ambitions.

 

Working in Shanghai last year, when the city recovered from the pandemic around April, I saw that Chinese companies didn’t give employees any illusions that they would work from home forever. Workplaces shifted very quickly from split-shifts to back-to-office in the span of a few weeks. My co-workers’ initial reluctance quickly dissipated and everyone got back into the groove very quickly. They became thankful for more-productive face-to-face meetings and a dedicated space to work without distractions.

—Celeste Chia, Harvard University, M.B.A.

New Opportunities

Five days a week in an office is a thing of the past. Remote work, in some capacity, is bound to become the norm. It’s unlikely anyone will want to give up the flexibility. For many parents, work-life balance has become just that—more balanced. For me and other members of Gen Z, access to remote work means career opportunities aren’t constrained by geographical proximity. A whole generation of rising professionals can begin to establish careers without having to live in unaffordable cities.

—Melina Khan, Quinnipiac University, journalism

The Young and the Restless Need the Office

Remote work is ideal for parents, and it adds flexibility to the workweek that many adults appreciate. But it shouldn’t be a requirement for young people. Working remotely is less intense—which is great if you have a family or other competing responsibilities. But for workers around my age, it offers less opportunity to showcase work ethic and capabilities. I want to work my way up, and that will be harder without face-to-face interaction with superiors. I love the flexibility of a hybrid model, because it makes my workweek easier and I have more time for friends, family and hobbies. But lack of remote work shouldn’t be a deal breaker. If you’re young and looking to grow professionally, put in the time now and reap the reward of flexibility later.

—Joseph Penhallow, University of Rhode Island, economics and business administration

No Flexibility

The goal is to get the work done. How that happens shouldn’t matter as long as it is finished in a timely and professional manner. Some people work better remotely, some in-person and some hybrid. I wouldn’t take a job that doesn’t offer flexibility in work arrangement.

Not allowing for any remote work speaks volumes about the values of a company. It tells me that the company isn’t keeping up with the changing technology. Remote work is the new normal, just as keyboards are the new typewriters and smartphones are the new pagers. We embrace these new innovations because they are more efficient.

Forbidding remote work also tells me that the company cares little about the well-being of its employees—that it gives priority to profit over people, which is counterproductive anyway. Working from home saves time and expense on commuting, traveling and the rest, giving employees more time to work on their assignments. It also expands the talent pool as prospective employees are no longer limited by location. A competent company would give workers the option.

—Shawn Tran, University of California, Berkeley, public health

Firsthand Experience

Job opportunities lacking the option to work remotely seem few and far between nowadays. But in pursuing a career in civil engineering, I think the value of collaboration and site work trumps the desire to stay home. In an engineering field, one of the most important aspects of growth is firsthand experience of the real-world problems you encounter, not a PowerPoint presentation of the issue from the comfort of your own home.

—Christopher Flannery, Quinnipiac University, civil engineering

Teams Are Formed in Person

As a senior deep in the job search, I consistently see postings advertising “remote work available,” “telework options” and “hybrid working schedule.” In recent interviews these options have been floated as enticements. The problem is that I don’t want to work remotely.

I would rather take a job that requires office work without exception. The convenience of remote work, with the ability to set your own schedule, live elsewhere or travel while working, is all great. But what about the lack of office camaraderie, communication and learning? While interning remotely, I found that I never truly connected to teammates, understood office dynamics or learned where to take questions and problems when they arose. Compared with my internship this past summer, which was all in-office, the difference was night and day. I felt a part of a team, understood the office dynamics, and had a truly positive working experience.

—Benjamin Harris, Auburn University, finance

Click here to submit a response to the next Future View.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gen-z-remote-work-hybrid-in-person-office-z...

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/19/2022

Seven Tips for Preparing for the New Semester

Taken from PwC on August 19th, 2022.

After “no rules” vacations it’s always hard to get back to school, schedules and assignments. We have put together seven tips we think can help you to get back on track.

1. Clean everything

Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Clean your computer desktop and downloads folder, delete all those temporary PDF’s, organise everything in folders and be ready for the new semester with everything in place. Think about changing your screen image, with something calm, maybe related to the season … nature is always a good idea!

Now let’s move to your backpack and your desk. Put everything in place, throw away anything that isn’t useful anymore. After this, you’re almost ready to start.

2. Set a schedule

After holidays or exam time, we know it’s hard to get back into the routine. Setting up a schedule will help you get back to it: write down your study time and sleeping hours, and don’t forget to leave some free slots, or fill them with “me” time … everyone needs it.

3. Create your own “reimagine the possible” list

Here you’ll write down not only your new year’s resolution but also small things and topics/ideas you feel you need to work on over time.

You can put down getting back to the gym or finally taking that dry-cleaning to the laundry, as well as what you wish to achieve in one year, for example. This won’t be just one more bucket list, it will include what you want to work on as a person.

4. Back to a good sleep schedule

There’s nothing better than those days without classes or exams coming, where you can watch Netflix or play Minecraft all night long. We know this sounds like heaven, but with the new semester starting, you should start thinking about getting ready for an early alarm.

Use technology in your favour, set a bedtime on your phone and all your notifications will be silent, and this will be one distraction less. Start setting an earlier alarm each morning, so when the class time comes again, you will be ready!

5. Order your books (if they are digital, download them)

Do you know what’s better than realising the semester is starting? It’s being prepared for it! So, let’s have a look at the books you need for the classes, if they are digital, download them and create folders for the signatures.

If you have no information about the material you need for one of the classes, what about talking to that friend of yours who has done the class already?

6. Put together some playlists / podcasts

If you have to travel to get to your school, the right playlist, or an interesting podcast can make commuting much easier. If you have some extra time now, spend some of it putting together playlists full of summer hits and old favourites that will cheer you up, or with relaxing sounds to help you concentrate or relax..

Don’t forget to check some podcasts on topics that interest you, the latest news or just comedy. Laughing is always good exercise, isn’t it?

7. Put yourself first

University tasks, part-time job/internship, parties … it can be overwhelming sometimes, and exhausting. Don’t forget to always put yourself first, stop when you need to, close the book or the computer for a break – even if that means you’ll be away for a whole weekend. Practice meditation, boxing, mindfulness, jogging or any other activity that allows you to think about absolutely NOTHING! This will help you concentrate on what’s important, and you’ll be much more productive.

Do you feel ready to start your semester after our tips? You don’t need to adopt all the tips, we know that what works for some students might not work for others. What’s important, in the end, is that you find your way, and if you have other tips and tricks feel free to let us know.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/22/2022

ECO Article: The Value of an MBA Degree from the WSJ

A Graduate Degree That Pays Off: The M.B.A.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of federal student loan data found 98% of programs leave students with manageable debt loads

The Columbia University campus in New York.

PHOTO: DESIREE RIOS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Patrick Thomas Follow  and Andrea Fuller Follow

Oct. 27, 2021 5:30 am ET

Borrowing money to go back to graduate school can be a surefire way to get mired in student debt. But one master’s degree appears to pay off for many people who finance their education: the M.B.A.

At about 98% of universities that offer master’s of business administration programs, graduates typically made more money two years out of school than they had borrowed, a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal student loan data for nearly 600 programs found. That stands in contrast to law schools, where roughly 6% of programs had graduates with higher median earnings than debt in the same time frame.

Jenny Le and her husband, Quan Nguyen

PHOTO: JENNY LE

Jenny Le, 29, enrolled in 2018 at Columbia Business School, where total tuition and fees surpass $160,000 for the two-year M.B.A. She tapped savings and scholarships and borrowed $38,000 to attend, assuming she would take several years to pay down the debt after graduating. Thanks in part to a signing bonus she got with her new role as an associate in corporate strategy and development for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America in New York, she cleared the debt in six months.

“I thought it would be worth it in the long run, but wasn’t sure about the short-term,” Ms. Le said of her degree. “I’ve seen so many others my age struggle with debt payment. It was a better investment than I was expecting.”

Many people who pursue their M.B.A. do it for the promise of a bigger payday, the ability to pivot to a new industry or launch themselves onto an executive path. The high sticker price for some programs, which can range from $100,000 to $250,000 or more once living expenses are factored in on top of tuition and fees, can turn off prospective students, as can the two-year career break required to go back to campus.

DEBT-TO-INCOME RATIO

The federal government allows graduate students to take out a fixed amount of relatively low-interest loans. After that, students must turn to higher-interest Grad Plus loans, which have no cap. Thousands of M.B.A. students take out six-figure loans every year to help finance tuition, fees and living expenses. A small number of M.B.A. candidates at some elite schools rely more on private loans with lower interest rates. The debt figures the Journal examined don’t include private loans, and the salary data reflects only students who take out federal loans.

Many M.B.A. candidates have experience in the professional workforce, so the degree often boosts their existing career trajectory. Traditionally, some students have come from more affluent backgrounds and people who already work in finance or other high-paying sectors have tended to gravitate to the degree, which has made the pool of M.B.A. candidates a financially healthy group, though business schools say they have been trying to expand their pool of applicants.

Juliet Lawrence

PHOTO: JULIET LAWRENCE

When Juliet Lawrence, 37, graduated from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business with her M.B.A. in 2013, she decided not to immediately pay off her more than $108,000 in loans. She opted to put her higher salary and bonuses at Dow Inc. DOW -0.07% into her 401(k) and the stock market while making loan payments. Ms. Lawrence, now a senior finance manager at Dow, paid off the last of her debt in 2020.

“From a net worth perspective, you get more return from that than just straight paying off loans. There was no real rush,” Ms. Lawrence said of investing instead of wiping out loans quickly. “Your M.B.A. pays off, but where are you going to get more growth?”

Not everybody who attends a well-known school catapults into a new income bracket. Bradley Hoefer, 31, borrowed about $110,000 to get his M.B.A. from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business in 2020; he already had about $85,000 in loans for his undergraduate degree. He estimates it could take him 20 years to pay down the debt.

Mr. Hoefer had hoped his M.B.A. would help him leave banking, the sector where he worked for five years, and enter the videogame industry. After a year of job hunting and working part-time to make ends meet, he recently took a full-time job at Citigroup Inc. C -0.44% in Buffalo, N.Y., with a remote start from Ormond Beach, Fla., where he currently resides. His salary of $60,000 a year is a modest increase over the salary he drew before graduate school.

“It was worth it for the experience,” Mr. Hoefer said. “I think there is a little false advertising with respect to some M.B.A.s. People expect to increase their salaries from $60,000 to $120,000.”

Paulo Goes, dean of Tulane’s business school, said the class of 2020 has had a particularly tough time because many companies stopped recruiting M.B.A. job seekers during the pandemic, which is reflected in graduates’ placement and salary.

Debt-to-income ratio

A ratio above one means a typical student would graduate with more debt than income two years after graduation. A ratio below one means the typical graduate has income greater than debt.

SCHOOL MEDIAN DEBT MEDIAN EARNINGS DEBT-INCOME RATIO
Adelphi University $32,547 $70,296 0.46
Alabama A & M University $46,348 $43,798 1.06
Albany State University $34,750 $38,289 0.91
Albertus Magnus College $41,000 $57,318 0.72
Alvernia University $37,027 $60,878 0.61
Alverno College $30,691 $63,005 0.49
American InterContinental University $35,281 $45,244 0.78
American International College $33,000 $52,107 0.63
American Public University System $33,178 $66,728 0.5
American University $78,230 $99,458 0.79
Anderson University $30,425 $61,020 0.5
Anderson University $37,885 $65,238 0.58
Antioch University-Midwest $41,000 $62,012 0.66
Appalachian State University $26,005 $49,084 0.53
Arizona State University-Tempe $50,795 $98,650 0.52
Arkansas State University-Main Campus $30,749 $57,318 0.54
Ashford University $41,000 $51,179 0.8
Ashland University $22,700 $73,035 0.31
Assumption College $20,701 $64,572 0.32
Auburn University $41,000 $114,892 0.36
Augsburg University $35,500 $72,602 0.49
Augusta University $37,967 $66,821 0.57
Aurora University $33,828 $65,238 0.52
Averett University $38,500 $63,898 0.6
Avila University $39,782 $59,969 0.66
Azusa Pacific University $39,000 $59,425 0.66
Babson College $51,316 $103,078 0.5
Baker College $37,490 $61,144 0.61
Baker University $37,931 $67,473 0.56
Baldwin Wallace University $38,205 $86,129 0.44
Barry University $51,250 $51,482 1
Bay Path University $29,176 $63,005 0.46
Baylor University $43,366 $96,457 0.45
Belhaven University $41,000 $46,673 0.88
Bellevue University $38,224 $71,495 0.54
Benedictine University $34,608 $71,661 0.48
Bentley University $35,096 $89,968 0.39
Bethel University $34,500 $80,858 0.43
Binghamton University $26,359 $68,443 0.39
Bluffton University $26,660 $57,995 0.46
Boise State University $30,750 $74,786 0.41
Boston College $47,630 $115,060 0.41
Boston University $46,446 $106,688 0.44
Bowling Green State University-Main Campus $31,788 $79,688 0.4
Brandeis University $40,647 $72,214 0.56
Brandman University $46,309 $78,029 0.59
Brenau University $56,878 $60,173 0.95
Brigham Young University-Provo $41,000 $119,642 0.34
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College $40,956 $101,518 0.4
CUNY Brooklyn College $18,899 $52,107 0.36
CUNY Graduate School and University Center $20,000 $80,964 0.25
CUNY Lehman College $17,000 $56,157 0.3
California Baptist University $22,098 $73,075 0.3
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona $37,948 $85,357 0.45
California State University-Bakersfield $27,333 $71,015 0.39
California State University-Channel Islands $30,750 $64,990 0.47
California State University-Chico $27,133 $50,856 0.53
California State University-Dominguez Hills $29,584 $69,338 0.43
California State University-East Bay $33,635 $79,838 0.42
California State University-Fresno $35,795 $90,049 0.4
California State University-Fullerton $27,750 $80,779 0.34
California State University-Long Beach $41,000 $67,660 0.61
California State University-Monterey Bay $41,000 $79,389 0.52
California State University-Northridge $31,963 $88,907 0.36
California State University-Sacramento $35,381 $73,739 0.48
California State University-San Bernardino $41,000 $72,214 0.57
California State University-San Marcos $34,954 $74,576 0.47
California State University-Stanislaus $30,200 $73,949 0.41
California University of Pennsylvania $26,004 $48,139 0.54
Campbell University $30,000 $54,810 0.55
Canisius College $35,245 $65,387 0.54
Capella University $43,094 $61,281 0.7
Capital University $25,009 $83,177 0.3
Cardinal Stritch University $41,000 $66,461 0.62
Carlow University $32,419 $60,623 0.54
Carnegie Mellon University $82,000 $133,383 0.62
Case Western Reserve University $70,520 $85,860 0.82
Centenary University $34,167 $79,755 0.43
Central Michigan University $31,976 $65,180 0.49
Chadron State College $20,988 $73,949 0.28
Chaminade University of Honolulu $26,595 $56,415 0.47
Champlain College $40,922 $73,635 0.56
Chapman University $70,158 $80,459 0.87
Charleston Southern University $33,500 $59,425 0.56
Chatham University $39,601 $58,221 0.68
Christian Brothers University $32,438 $76,460 0.42
Citadel Military College of South Carolina $35,805 $82,123 0.44
City University of Seattle $46,125 $74,200 0.62
Claremont Graduate University $80,616 $61,020 1.32
Clarion University of Pennsylvania $25,625 $72,796 0.35
Clark University $41,000 $64,328 0.64
Clarkson University $35,637 $71,575 0.5
Clayton State University $41,000 $53,894 0.76
Cleary University $35,455 $59,045 0.6
Clemson University $36,101 $74,262 0.49
Cleveland State University $37,309 $65,610 0.57
Coastal Carolina University $25,500 $48,198 0.53
Colorado Christian University $47,009 $66,541 0.71
Colorado State University-Fort Collins $38,934 $80,301 0.49
Colorado State University-Global Campus $39,541 $82,440 0.48
Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs $41,000 $47,957 0.86
Columbia Southern University $32,433 $58,990 0.55
Columbia University in the City of New York $61,349 $170,426 0.36
Columbus State University $19,714 $51,106 0.39
Concordia University Texas $40,224 $65,131 0.62
Concordia University-Chicago $31,352 $59,576 0.53
Concordia University-Irvine $36,000 $62,012 0.58
Concordia University-Portland $52,759 $59,576 0.89
Concordia University-Saint Paul $34,771 $75,795 0.46
Concordia University-Wisconsin $35,160 $72,462 0.49
Cornell University $100,370 $145,332 0.69
Cornerstone University $29,943 $64,493 0.46
Curry College $41,000 $82,882 0.5
Dallas Baptist University $45,073 $67,324 0.67
Dartmouth College $41,000 $167,295 0.25
Davenport University $34,601 $63,318 0.55
DePaul University $47,997 $100,096 0.48
DeSales University $29,726 $79,284 0.38
DeVry University-Illinois $46,125 $64,686 0.71
Delaware Valley University $30,167 $66,104 0.46
Dominican University $67,373 $55,840 1.21
Duke University $81,299 $148,189 0.55
Duquesne University $40,974 $65,486 0.63
East Carolina University $30,750 $64,493 0.48
East Tennessee State University $26,953 $43,798 0.62
Eastern Illinois University $20,500 $54,386 0.38
Eastern Michigan University $51,250 $66,077 0.78
Eastern Nazarene College $24,000 $57,318 0.42
Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus $29,772 $62,409 0.48
Eastern University $40,845 $58,402 0.7
Eastern Washington University $26,379 $53,358 0.49
Elmhurst College $27,475 $84,653 0.33
Elon University $38,730 $71,854 0.54
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach $39,906 $75,047 0.53
Emmanuel College $25,504 $83,546 0.31
Emory University $61,500 $134,287 0.46
Evangel University $33,185 $47,650 0.7
Everglades University $32,236 $65,797 0.49
Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus $30,750 $74,953 0.41
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University $39,238 $52,107 0.75
Florida Atlantic University $41,000 $59,688 0.69
Florida Gulf Coast University $30,765 $66,821 0.46
Florida Institute of Technology $41,000 $75,787 0.54
Florida International University $57,732 $67,685 0.85
Florida Southern College $35,750 $61,020 0.59
Fontbonne University $50,299 $54,035 0.93
Fordham University $56,586 $113,850 0.5
Fort Hays State University $31,765 $55,286 0.58
Franklin University $37,584 $61,580 0.61
Friends University $35,504 $57,995 0.61
Frostburg State University $23,875 $78,719 0.3
Full Sail University $41,000 $42,905 0.96
Gannon University $30,750 $54,154 0.57
Gardner-Webb University $30,865 $54,748 0.56
George Fox University $41,000 $75,518 0.54
George Mason University $41,000 $105,585 0.39
George Washington University $62,739 $114,046 0.55
Georgetown University $102,713 $127,040 0.81
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus $76,863 $127,034 0.61
Georgia Southern University $20,500 $65,486 0.31
Golden Gate University-San Francisco $46,000 $88,861 0.52
Goldey-Beacom College $20,500 $55,286 0.37
Gonzaga University $47,631 $82,685 0.58
Governors State University $32,015 $73,635 0.44
Grand Canyon University $34,435 $64,265 0.54
Granite State College $23,717 $53,775 0.44
Grantham University $34,239 $60,523 0.57
Gwynedd Mercy University $39,961 $58,402 0.68
Hamline University $42,940 $65,238 0.66
Hampton University $25,316 $63,749 0.4
Harding University $35,491 $67,101 0.53
Herzing University-Madison $41,000 $44,389 0.92
Hodges University $31,750 $56,415 0.56
Hofstra University $64,931 $108,092 0.6
Houston Baptist University $40,384 $80,022 0.51
Howard University $75,985 $76,460 0.99
Hult International Business School $78,837 $67,420 1.17
Husson University $20,500 $58,943 0.35
Idaho State University $20,300 $61,516 0.33
Indiana State University $26,040 $63,005 0.41
Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus $29,841 $59,726 0.5
Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion $49,187 $66,326 0.74
Iona College $45,443 $70,456 0.65
Iowa State University $28,955 $70,680 0.41
Jackson State University $20,500 $46,087 0.45
James Madison University $32,719 $91,744 0.36
John Brown University $24,772 $74,105 0.33
John Carroll University $26,679 $58,402 0.46
Johns Hopkins University $34,166 $106,421 0.32
Johnson & Wales University-Providence $24,245 $50,677 0.48
Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale $46,196 $39,653 1.17
Kennesaw State University $41,000 $91,949 0.45
Kent State University at Kent $41,000 $73,635 0.56
Kettering University $32,190 $103,746 0.31
Keuka College $39,853 $58,673 0.68
King University $40,721 $53,810 0.76
LIM College $34,816 $43,575 0.8
La Salle University $31,300 $84,100 0.37
Lake Erie College $23,922 $52,733 0.45
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management $39,936 $113,168 0.35
Lakeland University $41,000 $60,689 0.68
Lawrence Technological University $70,000 $89,968 0.78
Le Moyne College $20,500 $56,776 0.36
LeTourneau University $38,750 $67,660 0.57
Lewis University $41,000 $60,071 0.68
Liberty University $34,818 $57,714 0.6
Limestone College $33,212 $55,286 0.6
Lindenwood University $29,256 $52,107 0.56
Lipscomb University $35,680 $63,005 0.57
Long Island University $55,138 $60,623 0.91
Lourdes University $45,136 $55,964 0.81
Loyola University Chicago $66,007 $87,470 0.76
Loyola University Maryland $47,410 $92,188 0.51
Lynn University $30,750 $46,790 0.66
Malone University $28,749 $61,814 0.47
Marist College $28,505 $88,506 0.32
Marquette University $37,829 $98,506 0.38
Marymount University $40,789 $74,157 0.55
McKendree University $28,452 $59,942 0.48
Mercy College $35,875 $64,196 0.56
Meredith College $41,984 $73,949 0.57
Methodist University $17,800 $52,464 0.34
Metropolitan College of New York $39,006 $54,622 0.71
Metropolitan State University $30,750 $65,131 0.47
Michigan State University $51,250 $98,481 0.52
Mid-America Christian University $41,000 $43,519 0.94
MidAmerica Nazarene University $30,412 $61,218 0.5
Middle Tennessee State University $34,155 $67,101 0.51
Midland University $28,700 $63,005 0.46
Millsaps College $30,000 $61,516 0.49
Misericordia University $20,500 $47,650 0.43
Mississippi State University $20,000 $88,527 0.23
Mississippi Valley State University $38,296 $33,993 1.13
Missouri Baptist University $35,283 $53,358 0.66
Missouri State University-Springfield $16,982 $58,402 0.29
Molloy College $38,403 $68,499 0.56
Monmouth University $33,128 $62,211 0.53
Monroe College $30,450 $52,357 0.58
Montclair State University $41,000 $88,971 0.46
Montreat College $41,000 $49,214 0.83
Morgan State University $41,000 $51,750 0.79
Mount Mary University $46,333 $69,338 0.67
Mount Mercy University $34,439 $68,666 0.5
Mount Saint Mary College $31,770 $52,941 0.6
Mount Saint Mary's University $41,000 $67,660 0.61
Mount St. Mary's University $28,516 $68,331 0.42
Mount Vernon Nazarene University $39,904 $61,516 0.65
National American University-Rapid City $39,207 $51,722 0.76
National Louis University $41,000 $63,600 0.65
National University $40,192 $65,238 0.62
National University College $13,900 $32,032 0.43
New England College of Business and Finance $22,111 $69,338 0.32
New Jersey City University $38,503 $63,749 0.6
New Jersey Institute of Technology $35,250 $85,918 0.41
New Mexico Highlands University $17,860 $54,192 0.33
New York University $81,350 $145,543 0.56
Newman University $24,881 $57,318 0.43
Nicholls State University $13,300 $56,641 0.24
Nichols College $24,200 $65,387 0.37
North Carolina Central University $57,746 $44,384 1.3
North Carolina State University at Raleigh $37,014 $74,200 0.5
North Central College $30,750 $62,260 0.49
North Park University $27,900 $58,303 0.48
Northcentral University $35,016 $49,990 0.7
Northeastern State University $24,659 $67,660 0.36
Northeastern University $30,750 $61,516 0.5
Northern Arizona University $30,125 $65,042 0.46
Northern Illinois University $30,750 $91,587 0.34
Northwest Missouri State University $18,667 $51,197 0.37
Northwest Nazarene University $32,740 $64,493 0.51
Northwest University $34,167 $77,715 0.44
Northwestern University $149,545 $189,565 0.79
Northwood University $41,000 $57,995 0.71
Norwich University $31,250 $79,912 0.39
Notre Dame de Namur University $51,250 $78,074 0.66
Nova Southeastern University $50,395 $58,605 0.86
Nyack College $30,750 $61,516 0.5
Oakland University $28,381 $89,412 0.32
Ohio Christian University $30,750 $51,482 0.6
Ohio Dominican University $37,356 $62,260 0.6
Ohio State University-Main Campus $49,189 $108,577 0.45
Ohio University-Main Campus $37,666 $90,283 0.42
Oklahoma City University $21,600 $76,083 0.28
Oklahoma Wesleyan University $37,469 $66,077 0.57
Olivet Nazarene University $29,160 $48,432 0.6
Oral Roberts University $37,562 $53,608 0.7
Oregon State University $34,166 $63,997 0.53
Our Lady of the Lake University $39,955 $55,625 0.72
Palm Beach Atlantic University $20,500 $60,689 0.34
Park University $28,885 $52,265 0.55
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus $40,999 $94,864 0.43
Pepperdine University $82,310 $92,733 0.89
Pfeiffer University $35,013 $57,318 0.61
Piedmont College $20,969 $41,342 0.51
Pittsburg State University $18,194 $48,432 0.38
Plymouth State University $46,000 $60,771 0.76
Point Loma Nazarene University $37,576 $69,338 0.54
Point Park University $35,087 $57,735 0.61
Portland State University $41,000 $86,867 0.47
Prairie View A & M University $36,119 $54,109 0.67
Presidio Graduate School $59,662 $42,682 1.4
Providence College $20,500 $65,198 0.31
Purdue University-Main Campus $42,475 $88,342 0.48
Queens University of Charlotte $41,000 $86,867 0.47
Quinnipiac University $32,454 $70,044 0.46
Ramapo College of New Jersey $41,000 $97,604 0.42
Regent University $41,000 $45,500 0.9
Regis University $40,646 $66,897 0.61
Rice University $41,000 $127,993 0.32
Rider University $37,724 $79,473 0.48
Robert Morris University $37,583 $61,516 0.61
Robert Morris University Illinois $28,000 $57,770 0.49
Rochester Institute of Technology $41,000 $67,101 0.61
Rockhurst University $30,750 $70,176 0.44
Rollins College $49,888 $62,806 0.79
Roosevelt University $42,905 $61,350 0.7
Roseman University of Health Sciences $171,883 $94,408 1.82
Rosemont College $26,000 $58,221 0.45
Rowan University $26,387 $65,486 0.4
Russell Sage College $29,459 $59,124 0.5
Rutgers University-New Brunswick $53,313 $109,327 0.49
SUNY College at Oswego $26,128 $56,716 0.46
SUNY Empire State College $51,250 $69,897 0.73
SUNY Maritime College $41,000 $76,460 0.54
SUNY at Albany $38,391 $74,576 0.52
Sacred Heart University $35,000 $73,949 0.47
Saginaw Valley State University $31,399 $57,318 0.55
Saint Ambrose University $38,768 $78,657 0.49
Saint Cloud State University $21,750 $75,204 0.29
Saint Edward's University $45,802 $65,486 0.7
Saint John Fisher College $28,437 $54,686 0.52
Saint Leo University $46,125 $56,918 0.81
Saint Louis University $41,000 $88,904 0.46
Saint Martin's University $42,644 $58,221 0.73
Saint Mary's College of California $45,825 $108,331 0.42
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota $34,166 $72,469 0.47
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College $18,500 $52,107 0.36
Saint Xavier University $46,784 $71,957 0.65
Salem University $28,200 $41,342 0.68
Salisbury University $20,500 $53,537 0.38
Salve Regina University $17,420 $61,888 0.28
Sam Houston State University $34,937 $68,858 0.51
San Diego State University $40,998 $68,499 0.6
San Francisco State University $29,677 $80,124 0.37
San Jose State University $35,250 $87,973 0.4
Santa Clara University $54,666 $128,588 0.43
Seattle University $41,000 $86,424 0.47
Seton Hill University $24,836 $51,169 0.49
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania $20,500 $65,066 0.32
Shorter University $26,630 $45,249 0.59
Siena Heights University $30,466 $60,771 0.5
Simmons University $54,920 $71,778 0.77
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania $20,500 $59,124 0.35
Sonoma State University $38,979 $83,768 0.47
South University-Savannah $41,000 $42,799 0.96
Southeastern Louisiana University $19,867 $51,106 0.39
Southern Arkansas University Main Campus $24,825 $58,402 0.43
Southern Connecticut State University $36,366 $64,706 0.56
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale $30,750 $54,809 0.56
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville $24,412 $56,931 0.43
Southern Methodist University $111,000 $120,363 0.92
Southern Nazarene University $39,100 $58,092 0.67
Southern New Hampshire University $39,292 $69,218 0.57
Southern University and A & M College $47,436 $49,344 0.96
Southern Wesleyan University $29,050 $42,682 0.68
Southwest Minnesota State University $21,763 $55,964 0.39
Southwestern College $26,979 $60,523 0.45
St Bonaventure University $22,500 $54,401 0.41
St Catherine University $53,143 $66,915 0.79
St John's University-New York $47,825 $63,430 0.75
St. Joseph's College-New York $34,600 $81,997 0.42
St. Thomas University $36,500 $53,358 0.68
Stanford University $41,000 $163,337 0.25
State University of New York at New Paltz $20,500 $51,607 0.4
Stetson University $30,661 $62,260 0.49
Stevens Institute of Technology $38,500 $125,611 0.31
Stevens-Henager College $15,736 $49,136 0.32
Stockton University $27,250 $57,318 0.48
Stony Brook University $30,949 $50,563 0.61
Strayer University-District of Columbia $74,380 $56,911 1.31
Suffolk University $41,000 $83,388 0.49
Sullivan University $44,885 $50,742 0.89
Syracuse University $71,750 $77,966 0.92
Tarleton State University $23,003 $60,013 0.38
Temple University $45,523 $102,409 0.45
Tennessee State University $40,438 $54,463 0.74
Tennessee Technological University $19,727 $62,579 0.32
Texas A & M International University $21,995 $45,696 0.48
Texas A & M University-College Station $39,749 $115,761 0.34
Texas A & M University-Commerce $31,680 $68,688 0.46
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi $24,888 $57,318 0.43
Texas A & M University-Kingsville $28,247 $57,526 0.49
Texas A&M University-Texarkana $11,989 $62,012 0.19
Texas Christian University $41,000 $97,663 0.42
Texas Southern University $45,040 $52,941 0.85
Texas State University $31,750 $68,965 0.46
Texas Tech University $41,000 $75,706 0.54
Texas Woman's University $28,748 $65,131 0.44
The College of Saint Rose $34,952 $58,673 0.6
The College of Saint Scholastica $32,383 $75,383 0.43
The New School $65,598 $59,788 1.1
The University of Alabama $39,932 $80,004 0.5
The University of Findlay $26,013 $61,814 0.42
The University of Montana $21,129 $58,673 0.36
The University of Tampa $31,055 $59,253 0.52
The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga $27,350 $76,041 0.36
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville $39,250 $99,251 0.4
The University of Texas at Arlington $37,188 $76,460 0.49
The University of Texas at Austin $67,500 $131,707 0.51
The University of Texas at Dallas $41,530 $94,674 0.44
The University of Texas at El Paso $33,963 $52,420 0.65
The University of Texas at San Antonio $35,572 $74,786 0.48
The University of Texas at Tyler $31,530 $68,858 0.46
The University of West Florida $30,637 $49,854 0.62
Thomas College $20,500 $49,883 0.41
Thomas Edison State University $27,462 $71,015 0.39
Thomas Jefferson University $43,242 $57,619 0.75
Thomas More University $38,979 $70,456 0.55
Trevecca Nazarene University $30,750 $59,967 0.51
Trident University International $21,995 $64,990 0.34
Trine University $19,329 $52,941 0.37
Trinity Washington University $45,334 $61,303 0.74
Troy University $35,735 $58,549 0.61
Tulane University of Louisiana $72,378 $87,973 0.82
Tusculum University $20,750 $68,219 0.3
Union Institute & University $30,750 $72,899 0.42
Union University $31,637 $70,456 0.45
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Carolina Campus $15,310 $33,993 0.45
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Cupey Campus $24,370 $32,678 0.75
Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Gurabo Campus $20,514 $37,208 0.55
Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico $29,600 $53,358 0.56
University at Buffalo $36,648 $68,499 0.54
University of Akron Main Campus $29,000 $81,111 0.36
University of Alabama at Birmingham $36,500 $70,176 0.52
University of Arizona $41,000 $92,743 0.44
University of Arkansas $27,800 $106,421 0.26
University of Arkansas at Little Rock $34,343 $54,739 0.63
University of Baltimore $41,000 $75,204 0.55
University of Bridgeport $38,750 $60,161 0.64
University of California-Berkeley $57,297 $171,936 0.33
University of California-Davis $61,589 $116,258 0.53
University of California-Irvine $78,253 $90,983 0.86
University of California-Los Angeles $77,000 $143,744 0.54
University of California-San Diego $90,670 $101,406 0.89
University of Central Missouri $22,700 $55,286 0.41
University of Central Oklahoma $18,250 $67,324 0.27
University of Chicago $68,376 $159,442 0.43
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus $28,606 $79,284 0.36
University of Colorado Boulder $40,500 $80,503 0.5
University of Colorado Colorado Springs $39,009 $71,015 0.55
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus $41,500 $89,184 0.47
University of Connecticut $37,490 $106,249 0.35
University of Dallas $50,000 $77,966 0.64
University of Dayton $20,039 $63,005 0.32
University of Delaware $41,000 $86,424 0.47
University of Denver $40,544 $54,661 0.74
University of Detroit Mercy $61,500 $81,111 0.76
University of Dubuque $15,784 $57,589 0.27
University of Evansville $25,250 $45,221 0.56
University of Florida $36,520 $88,546 0.41
University of Georgia $49,576 $111,283 0.45
University of Hartford $24,223 $90,348 0.27
University of Hawaii at Manoa $45,106 $78,719 0.57
University of Houston $41,000 $92,563 0.44
University of Houston-Clear Lake $25,394 $78,343 0.32
University of Houston-Downtown $20,500 $64,990 0.32
University of Houston-Victoria $31,178 $67,324 0.46
University of Illinois at Chicago $43,535 $80,189 0.54
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign $56,209 $95,930 0.59
University of Indianapolis $30,263 $62,260 0.49
University of Iowa $42,795 $96,991 0.44
University of Kansas $29,960 $73,299 0.41
University of La Verne $43,500 $69,657 0.62
University of Louisiana at Lafayette $24,209 $46,869 0.52
University of Mary $23,309 $60,230 0.39
University of Maryland Global Campus $50,831 $72,006 0.71
University of Maryland-College Park $71,000 $106,102 0.67
University of Massachusetts-Amherst $30,750 $99,741 0.31
University of Massachusetts-Boston $29,697 $74,200 0.4
University of Massachusetts-Lowell $30,750 $71,854 0.43
University of Memphis $29,022 $73,446 0.4
University of Miami $83,312 $83,022 1
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor $47,258 $140,166 0.34
University of Michigan-Dearborn $33,937 $90,856 0.37
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities $45,000 $112,319 0.4
University of Mount Olive $22,042 $45,947 0.48
University of Nebraska at Omaha $31,940 $87,068 0.37
University of Nebraska-Lincoln $22,247 $91,017 0.24
University of Nevada-Las Vegas $40,703 $90,856 0.45
University of Nevada-Reno $20,500 $82,440 0.25
University of New Mexico-Main Campus $31,721 $59,688 0.53
University of New Orleans $35,500 $63,692 0.56
University of North Alabama $40,593 $66,461 0.61
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $68,719 $127,836 0.54
University of North Carolina at Charlotte $36,725 $84,653 0.43
University of North Carolina at Greensboro $32,829 $64,121 0.51
University of North Florida $24,863 $65,557 0.38
University of North Texas $22,587 $77,401 0.29
University of Northwestern Ohio $40,284 $48,432 0.83
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus $33,750 $95,473 0.35
University of Oregon $41,000 $86,621 0.47
University of Pennsylvania $47,275 $175,674 0.27
University of Phoenix-Arizona $34,354 $56,498 0.61
University of Pikeville $19,005 $37,424 0.51
University of Portland $34,810 $72,510 0.48
University of Redlands $41,000 $79,037 0.52
University of Rochester $49,734 $89,524 0.56
University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne $25,681 $64,706 0.4
University of Saint Mary $31,793 $69,338 0.46
University of San Diego $49,653 $89,672 0.55
University of San Francisco $51,048 $96,866 0.53
University of Scranton $40,457 $82,440 0.49
University of South Carolina-Columbia $40,222 $95,102 0.42
University of South Dakota $21,934 $68,778 0.32
University of South Florida-Main Campus $30,250 $66,566 0.45
University of Southern California $82,279 $131,090 0.63
University of St Francis $35,653 $69,338 0.51
University of St Thomas $44,614 $101,300 0.44
University of Toledo $27,250 $71,575 0.38
University of Utah $42,250 $98,213 0.43
University of Virginia-Main Campus $89,889 $155,263 0.58
University of Washington-Seattle Campus $46,712 $127,652 0.37
University of West Georgia $27,437 $62,343 0.44
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire $26,396 $85,206 0.31
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee $27,837 $65,267 0.43
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh $23,467 $80,292 0.29
University of Wisconsin-Platteville $30,000 $77,087 0.39
University of Wisconsin-River Falls $30,500 $73,949 0.41
University of the Cumberlands $11,340 $49,787 0.23
University of the Incarnate Word $37,583 $59,253 0.63
Upper Iowa University $39,092 $63,005 0.62
Utah State University $21,882 $71,015 0.31
Valdosta State University $28,278 $55,964 0.51
Vanderbilt University $83,273 $127,087 0.66
Villanova University $41,000 $109,095 0.38
Virginia Commonwealth University $41,000 $93,467 0.44
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University $39,888 $113,246 0.35
Viterbo University $30,626 $61,218 0.5
Wagner College $49,385 $58,557 0.84
Wake Forest University $51,549 $76,836 0.67
Walden University $41,000 $58,943 0.7
Walsh College $37,255 $73,486 0.51
Walsh University $29,719 $65,089 0.46
Warner Pacific University $41,000 $50,856 0.81
Warner University $43,050 $41,349 1.04
Washington State University $39,505 $100,915 0.39
Washington University in St Louis $82,799 $112,270 0.74
Wayland Baptist University $35,968 $53,984 0.67
Wayne State University $33,187 $90,079 0.37
Waynesburg University $20,494 $67,660 0.3
Weber State University $28,916 $76,878 0.38
Webster University $47,198 $64,473 0.73
Wesleyan College $41,000 $63,005 0.65
Western Carolina University $28,340 $55,286 0.51
Western Governors University $13,990 $70,169 0.2
Western Kentucky University $20,746 $61,144 0.34
Western Michigan University $39,601 $73,801 0.54
Western New England University $27,513 $71,015 0.39
Western Washington University $21,874 $63,005 0.35
Westminster College $47,129 $80,521 0.59
Wichita State University $22,253 $57,318 0.39
Wilkes University $33,000 $52,733 0.63
Willamette University $66,763 $73,530 0.91
William & Mary $43,126 $68,499 0.63
William Paterson University of New Jersey $33,309 $65,238 0.51
William Woods University $16,600 $50,856 0.33
Wilmington University $35,843 $54,697 0.66
Winthrop University $24,103 $54,724 0.44
Woodbury University $30,750 $63,997 0.48
Worcester Polytechnic Institute $40,500 $119,061 0.34
Wright State University-Main Campus $35,769 $69,338 0.52
Xavier University $41,000 $84,284 0.49
Yale University $69,938 $147,858 0.47
Youngstown State University $26,203 $64,706 0.41

SHOW MORE

Note: Shows median debt for graduates in roughly 2015 and 2016, compared to median income two years later. Data isn't available for programs with few graduates. Figures are only for graduates who borrowed federal loans. Program names are standardized across schools and may include multiple degrees. Different colleges sometimes report graduates of similar programs across degree levels or program names due to inconsistent coding. (For instance, Harvard Business School's M.B.A. is listed as a professional degree, not a master's degree.)

Source: Education Department

For-profit business schools had fewer students who repaid their loans after two years. At Strayer University in Washington, D.C., 2% of graduates fully repaid their loans within two years, while about a third asked to temporarily suspend payments. Strayer students borrowed a median $74,000, yet half earned less than $57,000 two years after graduation. Strayer didn’t respond to requests for comment.

About a dozen other business schools showed median debt loads outstripping graduates’ median earnings, the Journal’s analysis found. Several of those schools said their debt numbers are inflated because the federal debt data reflect students in pricey dual-degree programs. Roseman University of Health Sciences had the highest debt compared to earnings of any school, with students borrowing a median $172,000. That figure includes students in the school’s dual dentistry and M.B.A. program, a school spokesman said.


 

 At several elite M.B.A. programs, including Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, the median starting salary after graduation allowed more than half of alumni to fully pay off their federal student loans within two years, according to the data the Journal examined.

Some of the most expensive M.B.A. programs had some of the lowest debt loads, federal data show. At Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and some other top schools, graduates borrowed a median $41,000 in federal loans, which is the maximum amount that students can borrow at the most favorable interest rates, without resorting to higher-interest Grad Plus loans.

At Harvard Business School, students had $41,000 in debt and median earnings of about $172,000, according to the federal data. About 56% of the 2020 class of M.B.A.s graduated with some debt, averaging $79,000 in federal and private loans combined, said Chad Losee, Harvard’s managing director of M.B.A. admissions.

 Daniel Huizinga, 29, landed a job at consulting company Accenture PLC after getting his undergraduate business degree from Baylor University in 2015, but he decided to pursue an M.B.A. in the hopes of moving up at Accenture or landing a job at one of the top consultancies—McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co. or Boston Consulting Group. He calculated that going back to school, and providing for his young family for those two years, would cost him about $300,000. He landed a $90,000 scholarship from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and had $100,000 saved from five years of working. He borrowed $100,000 to enroll last fall and will graduate in the spring of 2022.

At one of the big consulting firms, Mr. Huizinga expects to make roughly $200,000 a year upon graduation, which will allow him to pay off the debt in two to three years.

“I wanted to go to a top school with a good brand name. It opens doors I didn’t have after undergrad,” he said. “For me, it was a no-brainer.”

For interactive content, visit the article on line. You may need a subscription to the WSJ for access.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elite-mba-harvard-stanford-wharton-11635270641

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/09/2023

Still Seeking a Summer Internship? Here Are Some Ideas

https://www.themuse.com/advice/no-internship-what-to-do-instead
From the Muse: 

1. 

Find Part-Time, Full-Time, or Freelance Work at a Company

There are plenty of organizations that don’t have official internship programs but likely could use some extra assistance. Focus first on these questions: What’s your desired industry? What role do you hope to get? If you don’t know exactly, what position would you like to try, even just to determine whether it’s a good fit? If you like coding and think you might like working for a small tech startup, for example, isolate companies that fit that description and see whether they work with freelancers, temps, and/or part-time employees—if so, they might be interested in working with you, too.

Once you’ve narrowed your interests and done some research, make a list of companies you’re reaching out to, and start connecting directly. Sometimes there’s an HR contact on the website or you might find someone who’s in a managerial role on LinkedIn. Try to find a specific person’s email, and politely reach out.

Tim Birmingham, a career coach for both private clients and students at St. Michael’s College, lays out a basic email structure:

  • Write a brief introduction and reason for interest in the company. This should be specific and target each company.
  • Highlight relevant experience, skills, education, and qualifications for what you think they might need. This doesn’t need to be a complete summary; keep it short and strategic.
  • End with a good call to action, including availability to talk by phone and contact information. For example, you might write: “I’d like to explore the value I could offer XYZ this summer and am available to talk by phone this week at your convenience.”

This format can work any time you want to reach out for a potential opportunity, so long as you tailor it to the person and context.

2. 

Complete a Microinternship (or Several!)

As remote work and gig work have increased in the workforce, microinternships have increased in popularity. Microinternships are small, project-based internships that encompass about five to 40 hours of work but can often offer payment. “This gives students something project-based to get actual experience, develop skills, and have something to show for it at the end,” Slusher says. In practice, you might be writing a 1,200-1,400 word article for a company’s marketing blog, identifying 25 qualified candidates for a role a company’s hoping to fill, or studying competitors’ social media accounts and writing reports identifying what they’re doing successfully.

These microinternships can usually be done remotely and if you don’t like the work, it doesn’t usually last long. You can do several of them over the summer—which can help you explore roles, companies, and industries you’re considering—and it’s great for building your professional network with hiring managers. 

You can find microinternship opportunities on sites including Parker Dewey and MindSumo.

3. 

Get a Local Summer Job

Seasonal industries and other local businesses might need short-term workers. Never underestimate the value of working at an ice cream shop, a nearby museum that draws tourists, a venue that needs caterers for events, a local clothing shop looking for retail associates, or even a babysitting gig for a neighbor’s kids.

This might not sound as exciting as a prestigious internship but it will add to your skill set and show that you’ve developed a work ethic. In case you’re skeptical that this kind of summer job will be resume-worthy even if it’s not connected to your major, Baska emphasizes that the key is to bring the right attitude to the work, and that “skills from those sorts of experiences can be translated to a future internship or full-time job (think communication, teamwork, professionalism, etc.).” Slusher says he works with students who have this type of experience all the time: “It’s all about thinking about the skills you’ve used there. Let’s communicate that in a way employers will value.”

To land a local job, you can either try to find a contact form if there’s a website, walk in with a resume, or call the person who would hire you if you’re able to find their phone number. And once you’re in the door, you could potentially ask to do something more specific to what you’d actually like to learn, from updating a website to developing a sales plan.

4. 

Assist a Researcher or Another Professional

You could help a professor or researcher at your school (perhaps you like their work or have taken one of their classes) or assist a professional outside your institution whose work you admire. If that individual writes papers and books, for example, you could ask if they need help with background research, proofreading, fact-checking, transcribing, or completing other tasks for their latest project. Or if they’re a web developer with their own freelance or consulting business, perhaps you could help route client inquiries, do some coding or other site setup tasks, conduct research, or write up a few case studies or testimonials to feature on their site.

You’ll need to do some proactive outreach. Use a modified version of the template Birmingham lays out above, demonstrating interest and expertise in the specific subject matter and your ability and willingness to help. See if you can figure out where their need is greatest and try to fill in the blanks—help them see the value you can provide, and make it easy for them to have you jump right in.

You may have to reach out to more than one prospect here, since some academics and other professionals may receive multiple requests like these, some may be too overwhelmed to respond, and some may just not see how to direct you appropriately.

5. 

Work on an Independent Project

This requires perhaps the most work on your part but could also be highly fulfilling. Think of this as akin to a senior year thesis or independent study. Could you develop an idea in an area you find fascinating? Or can you build on a topic you’ve touched upon in class but haven’t been able to pursue in depth? If you took a course on digital privacy and are eager to learn more, for example, a summer project might delve into the long-term impacts of recent data breaches based on available news sources. Your goal could be writing a paper, putting together a presentation, building a diagram, or testing a hypothesis and recording the results. 

It might be helpful to consult with a faculty member to make sure your time isn’t wasted and determine what your research question should be—and you can even ask if they’ll advise you throughout the process—but it will be entirely on you to see the project through.

The key here is to set up a schedule and stick to it even if the hours need to change over time. “[Students should] pretend like they’re going to work every day. [They should] have set start/end times and have a quiet space where they can get work done,” Baska says. “They can talk with a friend or family member about goals they hope to achieve and give them updates—that will help them stay accountable.”

6. 

Do Online Coursework

It may be too late to sign up for a summer course at your college or university, but you can always turn to massive open online classes (MOOCs), some of which can be taken anytime or have open enrollment. “Many likely require a subscription, but students should check with their institution because it’s possible the school has a subscription so that students can access these classes for free or at a reduced cost,” Baska says. (EdX is one such platform that provides memberships for participating universities.)

There are also platforms where students can learn all sorts of specific skills: programming languages, web design, social media, and even drawing and painting. Employers love to see skill development. “The vast majority of employers hiring for the vast majority of entry-level positions are looking more at the skills you have than they are at your major or even GPA,” Slusher says. “It’s all about skill development and how you articulate the skills that you have and how you’ve used them.”

Read More: 14 Best Sites for Taking Online Classes That’ll Boost Your Skills and Get You Ahead

7. 

Volunteer

Nonprofits don’t necessarily have the funds to pay an entry-level worker or summer intern, but they often need volunteers. You could work for organizations such as your local pet shelter, a food bank, a tutoring service for kids who need it, an organization that supports civics in the classroom, or a group that dresses women who need business-appropriate clothing. The work itself can range from talking to potential donors and encouraging them to give money to working on marketing campaigns to spreading awareness about a particular initiative. You could work directly with the animals or people who need your help or volunteer virtually to help an organization outside of your immediate area. When there’s a cause you care about, this can be quite fulfilling work.

If you have a nearby nonprofit in mind, check their website, give them a call, or stop by to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Your university’s community service office can also help since, much like your career center, it may be open during the summer and willing to talk to you about available opportunities. 

Read More: This Is Exactly How to List Volunteer Work on Your Resume

8. 

Conduct Informational Interviews

This is an even lower level of commitment than asking someone for a job or microinternship: Simply reach out to someone who’s doing work you want to do and ask for 30 minutes or an hour of their time to tell you about what they do every day and what advice they’d share with someone who wants to follow a similar path. You might be surprised how happy people are to share, especially if they like their work.

“Tapping into a school’s alumni network is an excellent way to start with this,” Baska says. Plus, you can turn to connections you might have through friends and family members (friends of your parents, parents of your friends, etc.), supervisors and colleagues you met at previous internships, and even people you don’t know at all but whose work intrigues you. You may need to reach out to a few people before you land on someone who has the time and bandwidth to chat. You can also do multiple informational interviews over the course of a summer to gather in-depth insight into your chosen career or to explore a multitude of potential career paths.

Even though this might not sound as impactful as summer work, you’re still showing a commitment to learn from others, ruling out jobs you don’t like, and honing your focus. You can also set up informational interviews in conjunction with a summer job, independent project, or other options on this list. 

Read More: 3 Steps to a Perfect Informational Interview

9. 

Job Shadow

Interested in a certain kind of job theoretically but unclear what it would actually mean to do it in practice? You might benefit from seeing for yourself. “Some schools do formal job shadowing days, or you could explore doing it on an informal basis,” Slusher says. For example, if you really hit it off with someone at an informational interview—and it’s safe to do so—ask if you can join them in their workplace for the day. 

This isn’t just about seeing what a job is like day-to-day: You’re also building your professional network. You can count anyone you’ve shadowed as a connection, so make sure you ask to shadow politely, be gracious if they say no, and thank them effusively if they do give you the opportunity.

“Most jobs are not found through job boards—we need to leverage the people in our networks as part of our search,” Slusher says. “[The summer] is a great time to be building connections in a professional capacity. You don’t need an immediate return—plant the seed, then when you’re ready to job search those job connections could be critical.”

10. 

Pursue Personal Creative Work

If you’ve been eager to explore your creative side and haven’t had the chance to do it during the semester—or if you’re in a creative field and you’d like to have a portfolio of work to show potential employers—there are a ton of ways to scratch that itch. You could start a blog or a vlog, create a podcast either alone or with a friend, do some creative writing for yourself or to submit to a writing competition, make a series of paintings or multimedia collages on a theme, or do some other form of creative work. The sky’s the limit, but treat it in the same way you would an independent project: Set up a specific goal, give yourself time limits, hold yourself accountable, and aim to have an end product.

Know that by taking on a creative project, you’re also working on your grit and resilience—especially if it turns out to be tougher than you expected. “Through the process you can develop a mindset of: I’m learning from this process, here’s why I’m doing it, here’s where my inspiration comes from, here’s what happens when I hit a wall,” Slusher says. “Even if...at the end it’s not what you thought it would be, what did you learn?”

 

A Few More Tips To Make the Most of Your Time

So you’ve settled on one or a few internship alternatives and you have the beginnings of a plan. What now? The experts we spoke to had a few more tips to balance productivity and self-care.

  • Develop and refine your LinkedIn profile. Take the time to ask yourself questions like: What really interests me? What skills are really motivating to me when I get to use them? What roles, companies, and industries do I think I might want to target next time I’m searching for an internship or job? This is the perfect time to build or update your LinkedIn profile with the answers to those questions in mind and add all the connections you’re meeting this summer. (Not sure where to start? Check out our best LinkedIn tips!)
  • Start small and build on your work. It could look and sound like this: “If I spend one hour a day working on my resume, then LinkedIn, by the end of two weeks I should see some serious progress,” Slusher says. “We really underestimate breaking things down into much smaller, manageable steps. And summer provides the opportunity to build in some fun reward systems.” Do you want to have a game night with your friends? Take a day trip to the beach? Set up clear and concrete “prizes” for when you’ve completed your work.
  • Get help from your school’s career center. Most university career centers are still open during the summer, and Baska says they’re always invested in helping students. This could involve mock interviews, a resume review, a skills analysis, or help crafting a future job search strategy. They can even help students find “people at organizations and/or alumni who may be able to help them as they are exploring projects” or while they’re working on them.
  • Practice self-care. Build rest into your process and be gracious with yourself as you work, Slusher says. No matter what you end up doing, it’s normal for you to not meet your goals sometimes. Treat yourself as a friend: How would you love and support someone if they fell short? Learn from the failure and take important lessons from it.
  • Stay positive. “It’s competitive out there,” Birmingham says. “Be proactive and look forward. Didn’t land an internship this summer? Start focusing on finding one this fall.”

Katherine J. Igoe

Katherine J. Igoe is a full-time Boston-based freelance writer and part-time contributing editor at Marie Claire. Previous to freelancing, she worked in education and higher ed, and loves helping students make important academic decisions. Igoe: “I go to the store,” not “Her huge ego.” You can follow her, ask questions, and suggest story ideas on Instagram or Twitter.

MORE FROM KATHERINE J. IGOE

Feature | 03/14/2019

Joaquin Saldain Wins Tipton Snavely Award for Outstanding Summer Research

Third year PhD student Joaquin Saldain won the Economic Department's Tipton Snavely Award for Best Summer Paper (an honor he shares with Ga Young Ko). Joaquin describes the key issues and findings in his paper, High-cost Consumer Lending: Evidence and Theory​, as follows: "High-cost consumer lending, e.g. payday loans in the U.S., typically charge an APR of 322% for small, short-term loans. It is often discussed whether they cause more harm than good but the current literature has not provided a clear answer. In this paper, I make two contributions that will be key in addressing the welfare effect of payday lending. Firstly, I document facts on households that take out payday loans. These households have low wealth and liquidity levels, relatively low income, high demand for credit and are more likely to have higher than expected expenditures or unemployment spells. In the second place, I develop a model of banking and payday lending that delivers, in equilibrium, an interest rate and loan size spread between these lenders as observed in the data."  

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/25/2022

How to Make a Good Impression In an Interview or Networking

The Best Way to Brag About Your Accomplishments: Don’t Take All the Credit

If you want your accomplishments to really sing, give someone else’s hard work a shout-out, a study finds

Want to make the best possible impression on someone to boost your career prospects? Share the credit for your accomplishments.

That’s the conclusion a team of professors reached in research they wrote up for a paper currently under review for publication. It turns out that when it’s important to impress someone—say, in an interview for a new job or a promotion—simply bragging about your successes isn’t as effective as talking about both yourself and your team, the professors say.

“We don’t want people to shy away from an opportunity to highlight their accomplishments, but bragging can seem so off-putting and cringy,” says one of the researchers, Eric VanEpps, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. “You can instead brag about your strengths and accomplishments while also saying something positive about the skills and talents of other people involved, too. Playing nice and sharing credit works quite well.”

When trying to decide whether to give credit to somebody, people often feel they have a trade-off between making themselves seem competent and coming across as likable. Researchers have referred to the trade-off as the “self-promotion dilemma.”

But Dr. VanEpps and his colleagues—Einav Hart of the George Mason University School of Business and Maurice Schweitzer of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania—wanted to see if the solution is what they call dual promotion. In one study they conducted, they asked a group of hiring professionals to evaluate two hypothetical co-workers who had completed a joint project and then written self evaluations that would be used to consider them for a role. One of the self evaluations described only the work of the individual; the other took some credit while also acknowledging the contribution of the colleague.

“The wording was something like: ‘This project was successful because of our teamwork. I took care of all the financial analysis, and back-end design. Alex really impressed me with how he handled our client communications,’ ” says Dr. VanEpps. The hiring managers gave the dual promoter nearly 1.5 more points on a scale of 1 to 7 when it came to warmth, and ranked the dual promoter more than a point higher on overall impression.

“By self-promoting, you look cold, not ideal to work with,” Dr. VanEpps says, adding that earlier research by many others has consistently shown this to be true.

Another study looked at dual promotion versus self promotion in a political context. Nearly 200 participants, roughly half registered Republicans and half registered Democrats, read about two hypothetical members of Congress on a transportation and infrastructure committee. They were then shown two statements about the committee’s recent work, based on material drawn from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, with the wording manipulated to make each statement clearly self promoting or dual promoting. The study participants were asked how likely they would be to vote for each politician.

“People were far more likely to vote for the dual promoter, who seemed more warm and more competent to participants,” says Dr. VanEpps. “By giving credit to others, you come across as self-assured, which means you must really know what you’re doing.” He points to two earlier studies by his team that showed that laypeople typically use self promotion, while politicians often use dual promotion, “because they are trained to think about how they are perceived out there by others,” he says.

Ms. Mitchell is a writer in Chicago. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Taken from The Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2022

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/10/2018

Alumni Spotlight: Eden Green

Alumni Spotlight: EDEN GREEN, Allison Partners

 

Life before UVA:

Eden is from a military family. She is one of severn children and grew up primarily in Northern Virginia. She was homeschooled until high school.

 

Life at UVA and since graduating:

Eden graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016 with a degree in Economics and Psychology. As an undergraduate, she served as a research assistant for the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the Darden School of Business, where she studied corporate social responsibility, and with UVA’s Department of Psychology, where she examined the relationships between happiness, social interaction, and technology.

 

She now works as an organizational development consultant at Allison Partners and spends her days exploring what makes people and organizations work effectively. She incorporates her interests in curriculum development, academic research, and behavioral economics into her work supporting client projects, creating training materials, conducting analysis, and managing proposals.

 

In your own words, what is Organizational Development Consulting? 

We help with the messy, wonderful, complicated people stuff that happens when more than one person is in a room.

 

Advice to job seekers from Eden:

  • Build relationships with faculty by getting involved in undergraduate research
  • Always follow up on contacts that faculty / other supervisors may give to you
  • Conduct informational interviews with people who work in fields that interest you and fields that don’t
  • Learn to talk about yourself and your interests; know your story
  • Read! Lean about and be able to discuss current research in your fields of interest
  • Do more than match your interests with jobs—think about the kind of daily routine you really want

 

Eden’s Recommended Reading for Interviews

  • Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career by Katherine Hansen

Eden’s Recommended Reading for Organizational Development Consulting

  • The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
  • Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/07/2018

How to Answer "The Difficult Team Member" Question

One of the more common behavioral interview questions is “Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a coworker and how you dealt with it.” A similar question is “Tell me about a time you were on a team and team member wasn’t pulling his or her weight and how you addressed the situation.” While these questions are slightly different, they’re both looking for the same thing: how you work in teams and how you deal with conflict. 

MFM

Feature | 11/01/2018

Diego Legal-Cañisá at the Becker-Friedman Institute's Macro Financial Modeling Summer Session

The Macro Financial Modeling (MFM) Summer Session, organized by the University of Chicago's Becker-Friedman Institute, is designed for early-career professionals and doctoral students in economics and related fields who are interested in developing enhanced macroeconomic models with linkages to the financial sector. Diego Legal-Cañisá, who participated in the 2018 Session,  reports that it was "an excellent opportunity to receive feedback on my research from a wide range of top scholars with similar research interests. I did a poster presentation which allowed me to practice explaining my research and preliminary results and answering questions clearly and concisely. I received insightful comments and recommendations, such as suggestions of additional exercises I could perform and connections I could make to other related areas. In addition, the MFM was a great opportunity to learn more about frontier research in macro-finance from top scholars and to listen to inspiring keynote talks by Lars Hansen, Christopher Sims, Andrew W. Lo, and Harald Uhlig, to name a few. Last but not least, it was a great opportunity to exchange experiences about academic life with colleagues and gather resources pertaining to conferences and internship opportunities, job market tips, and other useful resources that will help me develop as a researcher."

Feature | 08/06/2019

Diego Legal-Cañisá Presents at 9th European Search & Matching Network Conference

In May 2019, Diego Legal-Cañisá presented his JMP on "Unemployment Insurance and Consumer Bankruptcy" at the 9th European Search & Matching Network Conference in Oslo, Norway, attended by prominent researchers  such as Espen Moen, Guido Menzio, and Rasmus Lentz. Diego says the data shows that Chapter 7 bankruptcy rates across counties and Unemployment Insurance (UI) generosity are negatively correlated. This fact suggests that Chapter 7 bankruptcy and UI are substitute programs and raises the question about the implications of consumer bankruptcy for optimal UI. Diego constructed a model matching main statistics regarding the U.S. unsecured credit and labor markets, including the main features of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and UI. The model successfully accounts for the negative relationship between bankruptcy rate and UI generosity observed in the data. In the model, for low levels of UI, a more generous UI reduces bankruptcy and allows more debt. As UI keeps increasing, employment falls and lenders react by contracting credit supply. From an ex-ante welfare perspective, an increase in the replacement rate from 50% to 60% is welfare reducing when bankruptcy is allowed but would be welfare increasing without bankruptcy.

 

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/28/2023

New Grads Have No Idea How to Behave in the Office - Help is on the Way!

From The Wall Street Journal, 6/16/23

Recent graduates might be great at accounting or coding, but they need a little help when it comes to dinner parties and dress codes. 

Many members of the class of 2023 were freshmen in college in the spring of 2020, when campuses shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They spent the rest of their college years partially in virtual mode with hybrid internships and virtual classes. Students didn’t learn some of the so-called soft skills they might have in the past by osmosis on the job, from mentors and by practicing on campus. 

To address deficiencies in everything from elevator chitchat to presentation skills, companies, universities and recruiters are coming up with ways to train new hires and give them clear advice. They are eating it up.

Recent graduate Joslynn Odom had her first hybrid internship after her junior year and found working in person to be draining thanks to wearing professional attire and staying energetic consistently. It made her realize that she needed to sharpen her communication and networking skills. 

Programming arranged by her college, Miami University in Ohio, has since helped. Just before graduation she attended an etiquette dinner where she learned to follow the lead of more senior leaders over dinner: Eat at their pace, discuss neutral topics and avoid personal questions. When buttering bread, it is best to put a slab on one’s own bread plate before applying it to a roll, and when cutting food, holding the fork hump-side up is best, she said. 

“Knowing that, I feel more confident,” she said.

William Lopez-Gudiel, 23 years old, interned last year for Warner Bros. Discovery and found a presentation on office dynamics especially helpful. It covered dress codes, navigating interpersonal relationships and what working in person is like, he said.

The company said it has offered similar guidance in the past. Some of it felt like common sense to Lopez-Gudiel, who graduated in December from George Mason University and is a self-described extrovert. 

But Lopez-Gudiel ultimately appreciated the information, realizing that the pandemic may have limited what soft skills he might have learned at past work experiences. He will be working at the company full time as a software developer.

Many soon-to-be graduates are itching to get rid of Zoom and work face-to-face with co-workers where their interpersonal skills will be quickly tested. In an April survey of about 700 Class of 2023 graduates from the virtual student-health company TimelyCare, 53% said they wanted a fully in-person work environment, while 21% said they wanted to be fully remote. 

New KPMG hires at the company’s training facility in Orlando, Fla., where KPMG teaches presentation skills, the art of talking in person and how to resolve conflict in teams. PHOTO: KPMG

Graduates’ disrupted college experience might mean they struggle with the basics reading colleagues’ cues or navigating a meeting, said Heidi Brooks, a senior lecturer in organizational behavior at Yale University’s School of Management. In class, when students didn’t have cameras on, that was harder to determine.

New hires will need to learn “those nuances of, how do you actually create enough connection, visibility, ability to maneuver,” she said. 

The missing piece for young professionals who have graduated since 2020, in fact, has been no real proximity to mentorship and leadership, recruiters say. 

“This is so much more important today,” said Sandy Torchia, vice chair of talent and culture at KPMG, whose full-time hires this summer and fall will go to the firm’s training facility in Florida where they’ll get new presentation training. 

They’ll practice scenarios involving conflict within teams, plus the basics of talking in person—as simple as how to introduce yourself to a client or colleague. Key tips include maintaining eye contact, taking pauses and avoiding jargon. It is also best to listen carefully to others, and to adjust your introduction to highlight pieces of your background that will be most interesting to them. 

The company has found that some young professionals are stiff, talk too fast, or rely too much on filler words like “um,” as they presented. Some of the employees said they wanted to feel more comfortable, too. 

Allan Rubio, 21 years old was a freshman at Dartmouth College in the spring of 2020. Online classes continued all through his sophomore year, which Rubio completed from his family’s home in Bangkok. Course sessions stretched to 11 p.m. or sometimes 2 a.m. local time, he said. 

Professors were far more flexible on deadlines during the pandemic, amenable to extensions if students asked, he said. When Rubio had an in-person internship last summer, he realized his manager, team or client depended on him meeting deadlines. 

 

KPMG trainings with early-career workers at the firm’s training facility in Orlando, Fla. PHOTO: KPMG

Presentation skills are also something Rubio needs to learn better, he said. He had presented virtually in academic classes, and often kept a few thoughts and scripted language in a Notes file on screen—or on a separate device nearby. Once on a video call, he said, he blamed an internet delay while he stopped talking midsentence and collected his thoughts. 

None of those aids could help him through presenting in-person on stage at a hackathon on campus. It was more difficult than he expected, he said. 

Since then Rubio, who graduated this month, has rehearsed extensively before live presentations. He lays out key points and slims a longer script into bullet points before memorizing key areas. 

Though new hires are digital natives, today’s graduates’ professional email skills need improvement, said Jialan Wang, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Many won’t acknowledge important messages but will expect a response from professors immediately, even over holidays, she said.

Michigan State University’s business-school career center has urged companies to be explicit about what students should expect at work, to over-communicate details about how a first day will play out, what to wear and what people typically do for lunch.

Marla McGraw is the director of career management at Michigan State University’s business school, which requires students to take classes on soft skills.  

The school last year began requiring many business students to take classes on soft skills in the workplace, after observing that students are more awkward and unsure when they network than they used to be, said Marla McGraw, director of career management.

The program goes step by step through an in-person networking conversation. In one handout, the center instructs students to introduce themselves by their first and last name. “STOP! Let them tell you their name,” it reads. 

Later it urges the students to share that they are interested in hearing about opportunities at the company and share that they follow the company closely, are familiar with its products or services or know someone who interned there, among other options. 

“STOP! Pause for only a few seconds to see if they offer any questions or input on your above comments. They may ask you for your resume.”  

Students should keep an eye out for signs that a person is trying to end a conversation, McGraw added. Someone might begin to gather their things, or look around the room, signaling they need to talk to another person. Often, one can facilitate a smooth exit by saying, “Well, thanks so much. It’s been a pleasure.” 

Scott Redfearn, executive vice president of global human resources at Protiviti, urges new graduates to introduce themselves around the office, stick out their hands and smile. PHOTO: PROTIVITI

Professional-services firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Protiviti have had to tell some young workers what types of clothes are appropriate, including for client-site visits.

Many people are dressing less formally, said Scott Redfearn, Protiviti’s executive vice president of global human resources. 

Now the company defines what it means by business casual—including slacks, tailored denim, sport jackets, dresses, skirts, collared shirts, blouses, sweaters and professional footwear—and explains why it’s important to maintain a serious professional image. The company also relays that when it is appropriate to wear bluejeans, darker hues without rips are best, he said.

The company has tried to be proactive when it shares broad guidance about attire, but when a worker shows up in athleisure or flip-flops, that is best handled with a one-on-one conversation.

“Working hybrid brings a lot more decisions to the individual employee,” Redfearn said. 

During the pandemic, the firm extended its onboarding process to a series of small-group virtual meetings that took place over a full year. One topic includes making conversation as a social skill, he said. It includes an improv-based public-speaking workshop, where in one prompt, participants need to describe themselves in three words quickly, going with their first impulse. The company said the sessions help workers to find their authentic communication styles. 

Protiviti hosts social gatherings around in-person meetings so that workers can practice. 

Redfearn said he gives a pep talk to new graduates, urging them to introduce themselves around the office, stick their hand out and smile. Another tip: Have a prepared question ready to ask if needed. 

Ray A. Smith contributed to this article.

Write to Lindsay Ellis at lindsay.ellis@wsj.com

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/18/2021

ECO Blog: Virtual Career Fairs

Commerce Career Day Is for All Majors! (Really it is!)

Hello Everyone,

I hope your week is off to a great start! This week I want to speak with you about virtual career fairs. These are great opportunities to meet with employers online. UVA hosts several a year and this fair draws fairly large, established employers. The name here indicates that this fair is sponsored by and hosted by the Commerce School. It is their expectation that all undergraduate students will attend this fair. 

When you click the link above, you will find employers such as American Express, Altria, Bessmer Trust, Capital One, Carmax, Deloitte, Inveture, Genworth, Yext, and ZS Associates. Most of these employers have established training programs and know what their hiring needs are well in advance of next spring/summer.

Employers will hold info sessions with groups, and 1:1 meetings with individual students. Later this week, I'll send a note through collab with the ECO's employer picks for this year's fair, which will be held this Friday, 9/10. Schedule at least an hour in your day to attend if you are internship or job-seeking. And if you're curious, but not ready to job search, the info sessions provide a great opportunity to hang back and listen. Please check out the three links below about approaching the fair. If you are in a full-on job search, I recommend choosing 3-5 employers that are your "must-sees" and schedule around those sessions.

  • Make sure your lighting is good and your mic works in case you choose to speak.
  • If possible, appear in a neat room, or use a virtual background.
  • Dress neatly.
  • Prepare your pitch using VMOCK (AI platform that records your pitch and scores you) and this ECO template and these tips.
  • Have your resume handy to borrow talking points and possibly share with employers.
  • Research the employers that are the most interesting to you and come with questions. You'll find some at the links belowl
  • Be yourself (really!).
  • Send a thank you after the info session of 1:1 session.

All the best,

Jen

 

Vault's Recommendations for Attending a Virtual Career Fair

Participating in a Virtual Fair - from Handshake 

Handshake's Guide to Virtual Fair Attendance

Good Questions to Ask Employers

Better Questions to Ask Employers

 

Feature | 03/27/2019

1st year student Mrithyunjayan Nilayamgode presents at NEUDC and SEA conferences

In fall of 2018, 1st year student Mrithyunjayan Nilayamgode presented a paper at the Northeast Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC) conference on development economics at Cornell University and at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association (SEA) in Washington, DC. He met and received valuable feedback on his paper from development economists and crime economists from across the world. The NEUDC conference typically accepts around a quarter of the 600-odd submissions it receives, and is one of the premier conferences in development economics in the US. The SEA is one of the oldest economics associations in the US, and was founded by economists affiliated with universities in the southern US, including UVA. Its annual meetings usually involve thousands of papers and participants from dozens of countries across the world.

In his paper titled "Alcohol Ban and Crime: The ABC’s of the Bihar Prohibition", Mrithyunjayan and his co-authors find that alcohol regulation in the Indian state of Bihar has reduced the incidence of violent crimes, but not non-violent crime. These results are concentrated in areas where the ban may have had a larger impact, suggesting that the availability of alcohol had a large role to play. This is in line with the prevalent understanding in economics and psychology that intoxication may impair perception, thereby reducing the barriers of entry into crime. The results are also robust to a number of alternate specifications, including the use of a synthetic control group.

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Feature | 04/21/2019

Making the Most of Your Summer Internship

Making the Most of Your Internship (from Goodcall https://www.goodcall.com/career/internship-tips/)

So – you landed an internship! Congratulations. But the work doesn’t end here. In fact, the real work is just beginning.

Internships are short – most last just a few months. That’s not very long to make an impact on the people around you – not to mention navigate a new industry, develop your skills and build a whole new base of knowledge. That’s why we’ve rounded up our top tips for making the most of your internship in a short period of time.

Be great, not just good

To make the largest impact on a company (and increase your chances of getting a job offer down the line, if that’s your ultimate goal), you need to go above and beyond just average performance. Krehmeyer shares some specific tips for figuring out what separates good from great: “Good interns understand the job. Great intern understand the company. Good interns are always on time. Great interns are the first in and last out. Good interns do exactly what is asked. Great interns anticipate the next step and ask for more. Good interns have strong technical skills. Great interns exhibit strong technial and soft skills. Good interns network well with leadership. Great interns are fully engaged with both peers and managers.”

Be active, not passive

It’s going to take more than just sitting back, keeping your head down and completing your assignments to really make the most of your internship. Take an active role when it comes to communicating with your manager and peers, asking for assignments and stepping outside the box. Palmer advises students, “From your interview to your exit, actively listen and summarize what you hear, be inquisitive and ask questions for clarification, keep your supervisor informed about your progress and activities, seek feedback and receive it in a gracious, professional manner.” He adds, “Don’t wait for assignments during a lull. See what needs attention and offer to help.”

Dowd agrees, suggesting that students take this opportunity as a chance to go outside their comfort zone. “Once you accept an internship,” he says, “it is time to focus on making the experience meaningful.  The more you go outside of your comfort zone on your internship, the more you will get out of it.”

Ask questions

One way to go outside your comfort zone? Talk to people at all levels of the company. Ask people in different departments, at different levels of seniority, to grab coffee or lunch or just to chat for a few minutes. Your new coworkers are the best resources you have to learn about the company and the industry, so just ask. Milliken says, “An internship is a wonderful opportunity for students to ask questions or request informational interviews with those in leadership positions at a company, because most professionals are eager and willing to share insight and advice with current students.”

Marzluff concurs, adding, “Ask someone in a role that you’re interested in to be your mentor. Maybe even suggest weekly or monthly meetings to check in, ask questions, and shadow.”

Reflect on your experience – both during and after

To really make the most of your internship, you need to think about the effect it’s having on your professional development – both after the fact and while you’re there. Palmer tells students, “Take the time to think about what you’re learning – not just about the organization, industry, or projects, but about yourself.”

Another great way to reflect on your progress is to ask for feedback often, from your manager and from others you work closely with. And don’t just take in the good. Marzluff encourages students, “Be open to receiving both negative and positive feedback. This is your time to fail fast.”

Stay in touch

The final thing you can do to make the most of your internship? Make sure you make a good impression right up until you leave, and then stay in touch with your contacts there. That means thanking your employer for the opportunity, saying goodbye to your manager and teammates and giving them the opportunity to connect with you in the future.

Palmer says that reaching out with thanks before you leave may make your employer more likely to write you a generous letter of recommendation down the line: “Appreciate the opportunities and support that you receive throughout your internship and always send a farewell message to your colleagues, not just your supervisor, extending your gratitude for the experience. In turn, your supervisor may show thanks to you by offering a letter of recommendation for you to share with future employers. Burrows suggests doing the same, as well as asking coworkers to connect on LinkedIn for future networking. “As they leave the internship,” she recommends, “students should thank anyone they have worked with and ask to connect on LinkedIn. Then, use the connection to stay in touch for future opportunities.”

Read more here!

UVA Econ BJ Vargas and Students

Feature | 01/10/2017

Article - How to Improve Your Networking Skills in 2017

"You've heard it before: The best way to land a new job is through networking and making connections. But many people are stumped as to what that means and how it plays out in reality, unless you're lucky enough to have been offered positions throughout your career. What exactly does making those connections look like, and how should you approach it?

There are many ways to do it – in person, through social media, phone or by email. All are valid and can be useful in different ways. Nothing can replace interactions in person, but it will require follow up. Some of the ways to develop new connections are to join groups with similar interests (hobbies or social), reach out to alumni from your school or find shared connections on LinkedIn. Once you begin the process of connecting, make sure you're making them count." - Marcelle Yeager

Learn more here: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2017-01-06/how-to-network-better-in-2017

Academic research award: problem solvers for the planet

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Feature | 09/23/2016

Job Search for Economics Majors- Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of two articles on starting the career search as an Economics major, written by Professor Bill Conerly.

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Feature | 02/04/2024

Finance and Investment Banking Resource Guide

Updated Industry Timeline

Recruitment for some positions within the financial services industry, primarily at large bulge bracket investment banks, are on an accelerated recruitment timeline. This means employers will begin coming to grounds early spring of 2nd year to start the process of recruiting students for their 3rd year summer internship. It is important to play close attention to programs and events surrounding this so you don’t miss out on a valuable opportunity to learn more about this industry and network with employers.

General Timeline:

  • Early Spring: Large bulge bracket investment banks looking to recruit 2nd and 3rd years for summer internships
  • Late Summer/Early Fall: Other financial service firms, including some small investment banks recruiting 3rd and 4th years for internships and full-time positions

NOTE: recruiting varies greatly by firm and can vary from year to year.

Stay Up To Date!

Subscribe to the Business Community Newsletter

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Handshake Quick Search Links 

Click on the link below for relevant jobs or internships in Handshake. These search filters are a great starting point. Make an appointment with a career counselor or come to drop-ins and we can help you narrow the search. 

 

General Resources:

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Suggested Reading:

On-Grounds Opportunities & CIOs:

Off-Grounds Resources:

 Job Boards:

 Professional Associations:

PDF Resources:

Feature | 11/12/2023

Tips for Investment Banking Recruitment from Fourth-Years!

Event Date: November 14th, 2023

Event Time: 5:30pm-6:30pm

Location: Monroe Hall, Room TBD

Register for the event here

The Investment Banking Recruitment Workshop led by Ryan Eagan will provide a holistic overview of job recruiting. The workshop will introduce investment banking broadly and then cover types of banks, networking, technical and behavioral question prep, interviewing, timelines, etc. The topics covered can be applicable to multiple other finance sectors. The workshop will conclude with a short Q&A session with other incoming analysts from UVA. Ryan Eagan is a fourth-year student, double majoring in Economics and Sustainability and the current ECO Event Coordinator. Ryan interned at Lazard in NYC this past summer and will be returning full time as an investment banking analyst after graduation. As an undergraduate student, Ryan has held multiple internships within the finance industry and is well experienced with recruiting both on- and off-cycle.

linkedin.com/in/ryan-eagan-9a48071a9

Feature | 11/20/2022

'Tis the Season to Advance Your Career: Networking Over the Holidays

’Tis the Season to Advance Your Career: Networking Over the Holidays

Article from Career Attraction

Networking is the single most important thing you can do to support your job search, and the holidays were made for networking. Take advantage of the holiday season to expand your network and to reconnect with contacts.

Below are a few tips for how you can mix a bit of business into the season’s festivities.

MAKE NETWORKING A PRIORITY

Many managers have a bit of breathing room around the holidays if their job doesn’t require significant year-end activity. Their phones ring less often, they receive fewer emails and they’re in fewer meetings since many colleagues and customers take time off.

Take advantage of this opportunity to significantly ramp up your networking. Identify contacts in your target employers. Reach out to them and ask to meet over a cup of coffee. They’re more likely to take the meeting when things are quiet. This is an outstanding opportunity to make more connections in a short period of time. Use the opportunity to make key connections at the companies you’re most interested in.

Set networking goals for yourself each week, and hold yourself accountable. Find alumni or LinkedIn connections at your target companies and schedule yourself a series of networking discussions over the holiday months.

CONSIDER LOW-HANGING FRUIT

Not everyone enjoys networking, but it’s critical to career success. Take advantage of the many social events during the holidays to network in a friendly and safe environment.

The holidays bring low-hanging fruit: family gatherings, celebrations with friends, social events with professional associations and even the office holiday party. With little effort, you can meet a large number of interesting people over the holidays. Be very clear with family and friends about what you’re looking for and what companies you’re most interested in; they may have valuable connections they can introduce you to. Simply ask new contacts what they do, and it will often spark an interesting conversation. You can always ask to follow up for more details.

PREPARE FOR OPPORTUNITIES

The key advantage of all this year-end networking is that employers often have new positions approved with the start of the new year. Perhaps the person you met with will have a need and will remember the positive impression you made. Maybe the position is in another part of the organization, but your contact can forward your resume with a note of recommendation. Or there’s a chance you’ll even be given a heads-up about a position that will be opening soon.

While the formal hiring process may slow down a bit with key players on vacation, it’s a critical time to move your search forward with some strategic networking.

So, what are some do’s and don’ts for networking during the holiday season?

HOLIDAY NETWORKING DOS

  • Be focused and strategic. Target the companies you’re most interested in and seek contacts in those organizations, particularly people in positions you can learn from.
  • Set goals. Identify a target and monitor your progress for a set number of networking meetings each week or month.
  • Be well-prepared. Research the company and the individual in advance. Have questions prepared.
  • Keep the conversation going. Ask open-ended questions to gather more information.
  • Be an active, engaged listener. Listen carefully to the advice and information the person is sharing, and take notes as appropriate.
  • Prepare to share. Think about your personal elevator pitch.
  • Follow-up is key. Ask who else they think you should speak to and if they would refer you, as well as if they have any professional associations they’d recommend.
  • Add value for the other person. Find a way to assist them with information or a connection to keep the relationship mutual.
  • Always send a thank you note. It can make a lasting impression.
  • Stay in touch periodically. A holiday card with a personal note or even a New Year’s card would be a nice touch.

HOLIDAY NETWORKING DON’TS

  • Don’t ask for a job. This is about building a relationship, not asking a favor.
  • Don’t do all the talking. Do more listening than speaking; you want to learn about the company and the functional area of interest.
  • Don’t be arrogant or disrespectful. This should go without saying!
  • Don’t stalk the person. If they don’t respond after three attempts, take them off your list.
  • Don’t monopolize their time. Steer clear of taking more time than specified without asking if they can spare a few more minutes.
  • Don’t waste their time. If it’s something you could have learned on their website, don’t ask.
  • Don’t over-imbibe at events. Stay focused on the networking. Eat prior to attending the event so you won’t be starving. Don’t try to balance both food and drink; always have your right hand available to shake hands. Never indulge in more than one drink. Keep your wits about you and put your best foot forward.

Let’s say you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone and made some great connections over the holidays. Now, how can you capitalize on these new relationships and keep them going once the holidays are over? Here are a few final tips for keeping your momentum with the job search as you enter the new year:

  •  When you see a position of interest at a target company after the first of the year, reach out to your contact.
  • Use your contacts to gather insider information about the position and the team.
  • Ask your contact to share your resume with the hiring manager — get in the short pile the manager will review instead of the mountain of online resumes.
  • Follow up with relevant information or a new contact for your connection to continue to add value.
  • Keep your contact posted on your progress.

With a little common sense and a bit of perseverance, you can make this holiday season a memorable one when it comes to advancing your career. Network the right way, and you just may set yourself up for success come January 1st!

Feature | 01/14/2021

Daniel Harper Coauthors Paper Published in JEBO

Daniel Harper, a 4th year doctoral student, coauthored "Capital constraints and asset bubbles: An experimental study," with Professors Lee Coppock and Charles Holt.  The paper was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, January 2021.

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Feature | 08/12/2016

Corporate Economists Are Hot Again

Corporate Economists are Hot Again

From The Wall Street Journal
By Bob Tita
Updated Feb. 27, 2014 6:01 p.m. ET

The number of private-sector economists has surged 57% as U.S. firms look for help digesting data.

(Photo disabled)

Pictured, economist Ryan Reed has revamped forecasting at Parker Hannifin. Photo by Michael F. McElroy for The Wall Street Journal

CLEVELAND—Flooded with data, Parker Hannifin Corp. PH +0.46% hired a young economist in 2008 to figure out what the information meant to the industrial conglomerate's far-flung operations.
What Ryan Reed told executives in one of his first presentations didn't go over well. Looking at capacity utilization rates—the percentage of available production capacity that is actually in use—Mr. Reed told executives that sales in the company's automation business would be substantially lower in October. "The guys said: 'That can't be right. October is normally a really good month for us.' "
But Mr. Reed's forecast was indeed correct. October wasn't a good month for automation, or for any of the Cleveland company's business units. The U.S. economy was on the verge of what would become the worst economic convulsion since the Great Depression. "We've lurched from crisis to crisis since then," said Mr. Reed, now 32 years old.

With more data available than ever before and markets increasingly unpredictable, U.S. companies—from manufacturers to banks and pharmaceutical companies—are expanding their corporate economist staffs. The number of private-sector economists surged 57% to 8,680 in 2012 from 5,510 in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2012, Wells Fargo WFC +0.77% & Co. had one economist in its corporate economics department. Now, it has six.
Sheryl Kirtley tests a hose at the Parker Hannifin manufacturing plant in Ravenna, Ohio. Michael F. McElroy for The Wall Street Journal
"A lot of companies have programmers who are able to process big data," said Tom Beers, executive director of the National Association for Business Economics in Washington, a professional organization with about 2,400 members. "But to find a causality between two things and draw a conclusion really takes somebody with an economics background."

Many companies had corporate economists on staff in the volatile 1970s and '80s, but dropped them when the U.S. economy was steady and strong. Information from government agencies, such as industrial output from the Federal Reserve, was plentiful, along with research from private consultants, including Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis and IHS Global Insight of Englewood, Colo.
"The reaction in the corporate world was: 'I can get my average GDP forecasts from anybody. Why do I need an economist in my shop?' " said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, chief economist for Ford Motor Co.
The key to the revival of in-house economists, companies and economists say, is the need to digest huge amounts of data—from production volumes in overseas markets to laptop usage in urban areas—to
determine opportunities and risks for companies' business units, not just in the U.S. but around the world.

Paul Thomas, chief economist for chip maker Intel Corp. INTC -0.49% , said he and his staff look at how and where consumers are using personal computers, laptops and hand-held devices to pinpoint what geographic markets are underserved and which ones are saturated. "It's something we're learning to do that's going to be useful," he said.
The glut of available data is forcing economists to serve as gatekeepers to ensure that disparate units within companies are using the same data sets and information inputs in their forecasting.
Richard DeKaser, a vice president and corporate economist at Wells Fargo, leads a team of eight people, including six economists, who standardize the models and data used to measure risk in different business units, such as mortgage lending and credit cards.
Previously, one unit might base unemployment figures on payroll data, while another would use household surveys. Doing so undermined the accuracy of tests to measure risks for losses and contributed to mistakes in business planning.
"The great recession laid bare a lot of fundamental mistakes that an economist can be useful in preventing," said Mr. DeKaser, who was previously chief economist for National City Bank.

Some corporate economists are also taking higher public profiles to communicate their companies' messages and forecasts. Mark Finley, general manager of global energy markets and U.S. economics for energy company BP BP -0.94% PLC, spends about 30% of his time on the road talking with customers, business groups, trade associations and reporters to build consensus for its outlooks on energy demand and pricing. "The economists are supposed to be out there presenting their views," he said.
James Meil, chief economist at diversified manufacturer Eaton Corp. ETN +0.68% , and his staff of four, made 78 formal presentations last year, including one to the Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution. Distributors and suppliers, especially smaller ones, often rely on economists from their bigger customers to help decide whether they should add production capacity.
"There's not readily available market data or trends data available for the hose markets," said Joseph Thompson, executive vice president of the association, which represents manufacturers and distributors of industrial hoses, fittings and fluid-transferring equipment.
Veteran economists like Mr. Meil, who has been with Eaton for 29 years, are consulted on big acquisitions. When Eaton bought Cooper Industries PLC in 2012 for about $11.8 billion, he provided market research for key business segments and forecasts for the combined company's end markets.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. uses its economist to devise hedges in a more volatile global economic climate. The Pennsylvania-based supplier of industrial gases enters into 10- to 20-year contracts with drug companies, steelmakers and refineries and needs price-escalator clauses to reflect higher production costs, such as energy.
"We set up formulas to where we're just trying to capture the inflationary pressure on the underlying contract," said economist Joseph Cardinale, who recently left Air Products for an economist's job at Illinois-basedpharmaceutical maker Abbott Laboratories.
Like all forecasters, corporate economists can miss the mark. In 2012 many company economists expected about 6.5% growth in manufacturing output in Asia. But it ended up being 3.5% due to a sluggish economy in China. "Forecasts by definition are going to be wrong," said Mr. Cardinale.

Retired economist Frank Schott, 87 years old, said new veins of data don't guarantee accuracy in forecasts. "The data are just as recalcitrant as ever to give you answers and the multiplicity of it invites further confusion," he said. "Everybody, including corporate bosses, thinks they're their own best economist."

Before Parker hired Mr. Reed, group presidents provided forecasts. "They weren't very accurate," said Jeff Cullman, president of Parker's hydraulic business. He said Mr. Reed has been able to forecast when hydraulic demand was about to fall, allowing the company to get a head start on scaling back production. "The market turns relatively quickly, but it takes us about three months to get on the brakes,' he said.
Forecasting can be tougher in developing countries where market demand can be difficult to quantify and data is spotty. Mr. Reed recently constructed a model for Parker's new president of Latin America to
indicate where the company should focus sales efforts. "His gut was telling him we're doing pretty well in Brazil; maybe we should look more at Argentina," he said.
By parceling out Parker's sales in specific industrial markets in Argentina and Brazil and comparing them with the two countries' total output in those markets, Mr. Reed demonstrated that Parker's sales potential in Brazil was far greater than in Argentina and to remain focused there. "Hopefully we avoided putting a lot of resources into Argentina where there's just not much to capture," he said.
Write to Bob Tita at robert.tita@wsj.com

Feature | 01/10/2024

Professor Leeper's recent Senate testimony

Discover archived documents from the recent Senate Budget Committee hearing, where Professor Leeper discussed federal fiscal policy and its link to climate change's impact on the municipal bond market, offering insights beyond the hearing's immediate scope and providing valuable perspectives on this vital intersection of fiscal policy, climate change, and financial markets.

Hearing Invitation       Verbal Statement       Written Testimony

Feature | 01/08/2024

By Putting His Own Twist on the News, This UVA Alumnus Is Fulfilling a Dream

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Feature | 08/12/2016

Tech Careers for Liberal Arts Students

Is it possible to have a Tech career with a Liberal arts degree? Yes it is!

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Feature | 03/28/2018

ARTICLE - MIDDLE MARKET INVESTMENT BANKS

"The deal is the toast of the season globally. But do you know who advised Facebook? The logical answers would be Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and DeutscheBank, etc. Surprisingly, it’s a firm called Allen & Company." -Avadhut Nigudkar

Click here to read the rest of the article

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Feature | 11/20/2018

Alumni Spotlight: Joy Fan

Alumni Spotlight: JOY FAN, Media Relations & Marketing Associate at the American Enterprise Institute 

 

Life at UVA and since graduating: 

Joy graduated from the University of Virginia in 2017 with degrees in Economics and Art History. While at UVA, Joy was the president of the Rhapsody Ballet Ensemble while she pursued her personal interests in business and art. Some of her favorite economics courses were Money and Banking and Environmental Economics, although she enjoyed several public policy-focused economics courses.

 

She currently works at the American Enterprise Institute. She serves as the liaison between the press and over 30 AEI scholars in economic, financial services, tech, and healthcare policy.

 

What are your job’s responsibilities?

  • 35% is pitching to reporters–sending research to print and broadcast reporters
  • 35% fielding media requests (connecting scholars to media)
  • 30% staffing media crews and events, updating media contact database, tracking press interactions for analysis later

 

Joy’s tips for students:

  • Reach out to alumni–they always have good insights to share if not more help
  • Don’t forget your resume and cover letter serve as writing samples 
  • Get as much writing experience as possible. Almost every job requires good writing skills, whether it be in the form of a report or memo, or even just as communication between colleagues.
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Feature | 08/23/2017

ARTICLE - 7 THINGS TO NEVER SAY IN A JOB INTERVIEW

"It’s terrifying to know that the person you’re speaking to is weighing your every word—and could hold the power to change your future. This is why interviews can be so stressful, and why sometimes it can be hard not to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. No matter how long you prep for the interview, it’s actual practice that gets one better at interviewing. And while there are many things you should say in a job interview, it can be harder to focus on the things not to say. We’ve got the seven things to steer clear of mentioning if you really want that job." -Kristina Rudic

 

Click here to read the rest of the article 

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Feature | 08/07/2017

ARTICLE - WHAT IS 'GRIT' AND WHY DO EMPLOYERS WANT YOU TO HAVE IT?

"Every year, Vault surveys thousands of investment banking professionals, asking them to tell us about life at their firms. We ask about culture, compensation, hours, training, and many more areas, including the hiring process. With respect to the hiring process, we ask professionals which traits an ideal job candidate needs to have to get hired. In the past, and again this year, banking professionals told us that the following traits are highly important (and, in some cases, required): a strong work ethic, team-playing ability, strong communication skills, strong technical skills, superior intellect, excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to adapt to different situations." -Derek Loosvelt 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

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Feature | 05/01/2023

End of Semester Message from the ECO Director

Dear Economics Majors,

As we close out the semester and you enter into the exam period, the ECO sends you our best wishes. Here is an article to help you navigate this time, which may be stressful for many of you. For those who are graduating, hearty congratulations on reaching this milestone. We are excited to follow you through your next steps.

We will be here during exams and most of the summer to meet with students, evaluate our career services from this past year, and plan career programming for the next academic year. Appointment times are listed on Handshake through the end of July. All majors, including the Class of 2023, may make appointments this summer. We will send one newsletter each in June and July, and then two in August, resuming our weekly cadence in September.

We are attempting to surpass last year’s response rate to two surveys – First Destination for our graduating students and Summer Plans Survey for all other majors. Please do help us! Respondents are entered into a drawing for econ merchandise.

Join our LinkedIn group or connect with me directly for access to job postings from our alumni that come in this summer.

Best wishes on your exams!

Jen Jones

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Feature | 08/24/2021

ECO Articles: What Oracle's Hiring Can Teach You

How Oracle plans to recruit for its East Bank campus, the No. 1 trait that makes someone an attractive hire

Bright colors contrast with sleek industrial design inside the Oracle office in East Austin.

VIEW SLIDESHOW
27 photos

By   –  Senior Reporter, Nashville Business Journal

Aug 19, 2021, 1:53pm EDT

Steve Miranda wants to hire smart people to work with him at Oracle Corp.

Obvious, right? But Miranda's explanation of what he means by that is one of several insights into how Oracle will aim to staff its $1.2 billion waterfront tech campus coming to Nashville, which could have 8,500 jobs or more within a decade.

Miranda, speaking downtown at the annual meeting of the Greater Nashville Technology Council, opened a window into Oracle's recruiting strategy while revealing that software coding skills aren't necessarily his most-desired characteristic of a successful hire or employee.

"There's this perception of, 'We need to learn about databases and learn about Java and things that Oracle traditionally uses.' Not from my perspective, actually. I just want smart people, because at the rate of change that we see in technology … a given skill set, in our world, doesn’t last very long," said Miranda, executive vice president of Oracle Applications product development and a direct report to co-founder Larry Ellison.

"You can teach them something right now, some programming language, and in three years or four years — in a short period of time — it's probably going to be obsolete," Miranda said. "We’re looking for more people who are quick to adapt … willing to learn new things and willing to adapt and willing to change quickly."

Steve Miranda (right), executive vice president of Oracle Applications product development, addresses the 2021 Greater Nashville Technology Council annual meeting alongside Brian Moyer (left), the organization's president and CEO.

 

ADAM SICHKO

When asked about his advice for people looking to make a career change and get into technology, Miranda replied: "I wouldn't feel that intimidated. You've got to know that for everybody in the industry, most of the things we're working on are kind of new — so you're not that far off."

Recruiting, early and often

The area's college campuses will be fertile ground for Oracle's recruiters. Miranda said the company already is pursuing partnerships with Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University, among others.

RECOMMENDED

Oracle won't wait until students are upperclassmen. Oracle prefers to offer summer internships following a student's freshman year or their sophomore year. At the end of that first summer, Oracle likes to offer for an internship in the following summer on the spot.

"As they come into their senior year, if they like us and we like them, we're issuing full-time job offers for the subsequent year, before they graduate," Miranda said. "The reason we're doing that is, again, there's this battle for talent. It's a good way for us to find talent early."

The jobs available at Oracle's Nashville campus will represent the spread of opportunities within the company, Miranda said, from software developers and sales to human resources and finance. Internally, employees are able to shift from consulting to development to sales.

The pandemic-induced shift to remote work likely will enhance the variety of jobs available in Nashville.

"Now, there are no limits to what job can be done in what area, and I think the last 18 months have shown us all that," Miranda said. "The opportunities are broad. … Oracle's a big place."

Oracle also will be importing people to Nashville to take some of its jobs, whether they're new recruits or existing employees wanting to transfer. Miranda said he's seen entire teams decide to move to Oracle's Austin campus, now designated as its corporate headquarters, for work-life balance or because it puts them closer to family.

"We've already gotten demand from existing staff: 'When is the [Nashville] building going to open and when can we move?' " he said.

 https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/08/19/oracle-recruiting-...

 

Feature | 09/12/2022

Network, Network, Network!

Network, Network, Network!

By: Rebecca King-Newman

This article was taken from Firsthand

You know the old saying it’s not what you know, it’s who you know? One of the many things your law school does for you is set up networking events to allow students to interact with active lawyers. So, why should you network when you have already been in class all day and you have three papers to write? You should go because you want those attorneys to know you.

School Yourself

Your school sets up formal or informal events to connect the community and alumni with current students. They know that these events help create opportunity for both the attorney and the student. You may think it’s just another stuffy event to make the school look good, but it’s the perfect way to make in-person connections you wouldn’t otherwise make.

These events are also great practice for those on-campus interviews. Since they are usually informal, even if a suit and tie are required, they are not rigorous interviews that you need days to prepare for. Rather, they are a chance to meet people already practicing. Maybe there will be someone attending that is in the specialized field you think you want to target. Maybe there is someone present that works for that firm you covet a position with. No matter what, there will be someone at the event that will make attending worthwhile.

Another simple way to network is to join a student organization or two in law school. Most organizations will have a faculty advisor you can get to know outside of the classroom. Your fellow classmates can also surprise you. You will meet a diverse group of people, likely from all different parts of the country and world, who you may not normally socialize with. Those classmates can open doors to other interests and people that you might not have thought about. And that professor you feared and/or dreaded being in class with? He may be really funny or down to earth outside the classroom, and you can connect in a different way.

Speaking of professors and faculty, don’t overlook getting to know them, too! Many schools have professors with a wide swath of knowledge outside their current position. Most law school professors did not jump right into teaching. They had careers in the law before coming to teach, which means they have friends and associates from that practice life that can be beneficial to your future career. Hit up their office hours or invite them to lunch. Professors got into teaching because they want to help students, and this is your opportunity to reach out on a one-on-one level and get their help. You may find that one professor is more helpful than another, but give it a try and see who you connect with and who provides you with guidance.

Don’t forget to look at more fun, informal events. Many law schools will host casual meetups at local bars and restaurants, or golf outings with alumni and friends. Even though you have not graduated yet, these events are another opportunity to mingle with those already in the workforce. You may realize a person you admired is very approachable when they are in a restaurant as opposed to the corporate office. Seeing people you may be working for and with outside of the office is a good way to read how you interact with them—and how they interact with you and other students.

Don’t stop at events only put on by the law school. There are other non-traditional events and outside school events that can benefit your future career. Most law schools are attached to an undergrad university or college. Go to Homecoming events and start talking! You’ll be amazed who you meet and what industry they are in. And if a person is loyal enough to the school to come back for Homecoming—they’re loyal to fellow students and alumni. That can bode well for future career connections.

Go Off Campus

Many local and state bar associations also welcome law students to come to their meetings and events. This is especially useful when you want to practice in the same location as your law school. Attorneys love to promote themselves and their work, so start up a conversation with someone at a bar event, and you will likely come away knowing a lot about that person, the practice and the firm.

Think about attending continuing legal education (CLE) events. You don’t need to start racking up CLE credit yet, but many events will allow law students to attend for little or no cost. CLE sessions will teach you more about the real practice of law in the area you may have an interest in. Let’s face it, law school teaches you the mechanics of law, but at a CLE, you are learning about real life issues that come out of the actual practice. Usually they include case law updates, which are invaluable in your practice area. These events also address common issues in the area of law and how local attorneys are addressing them. Again, there is always someone to meet and learn about by attending.

Get Social

Social media is also an important way to network. Many schools have alumni pages and groups on Facebook where events are posted, and questions are asked. Twitter and Facebook often are informal and are a good way to learn about people and their careers. LinkedIn is also a way to connect in a more professional setting. LinkedIn also is a valuable tool to read company profiles, find out who works at a firm from your school, and see the job opportunities that are available. Make sure your social media presence is fit for the job, too. Check your settings on who can view your profiles, and clean up any older, less flattering posts. Many firms have people who will look at your online social media presence to make sure there are no red flags. Law school is a transitional phase of your life, where you are trying to form your future legal career. Remember the old lawyer joke that you should post like someone will read it later in court!

Making connections doesn’t have to be restricted to law-related events and organizations. If you like a certain charity or organization, volunteer and get involved. If politics is your thing, join the local party organization and attend their events and lunches. Recreational groups are also an excellent way to get out and meet people. Running clubs, biking groups, and cooking classes are all ways to meet people in the community and enlarge your circle. While it may not be traditional networking, from a law student perspective, you may be surprised at how adept you become at meeting new people and striking up conversations naturally, which will pay off for that more formal networking event or interview.

Know Before You Go

So now that you have decided to check out some of these events, despite your busy school schedule, what things do you need to do to prepare? First of all, know the audience. Is this an event put on by the school? If so, see if you can find out who may be in attendance. Do some homework on those attorneys and organizations before you go, but not with the aim of turning this into a full-fledged interview. Rather, you want to at least know a little about the person and firm before striking up a conversation.

Another thing to find out is if the event is formal or informal. Is a suit going to be required, or is business casual more appropriate? If it is an informal event, make sure you wear something appropriate and not your favorite sweatpants. Will there be food and drink provided? If so, make sure to curtail your drinking so you are presenting yourself in a responsible manner.

Don’t forget to brush up and practice your elevator speech. It may seem silly to practice out loud, but reciting the speech in your voice—and even to yourself into a mirror—helps you hone the message and make sure you come off as genuine. Make the speech how you normally would speak, and not like you were writing it out for submission. This is your chance to make an impression on someone who will be back to school for that on-campus interview, or someone who makes important hiring decisions at a firm.

Keep an open mind when you attend these events. You may go into it thinking you really want to meet a certain partner because she works at the firm where you want to work. After meeting this partner, you may realize she is not a fit with what you initially thought about the firm. Then you may turn around and meet someone else at the event you did not think you would want to meet, and find out that firm or that person does exactly what you want to do. Law school is as much about finding out what you like as what you do not like. If you go into the event with an open mind, you may surprise yourself on what you discover. Don’t forget to ask for a business card or contact information.

Networking can be fun and the most interesting part of law school. It can teach you a lot about people, firms, and yourself. If you make it a priority to network almost as much as you study, the rewards will be tenfold. It will help you be prepared for that on-campus interview. It will open your world to people and places you want to work, and maybe some that you want to avoid. Networking will round out that law school experience and get you outside the classroom. So, get that elevator speech ready, wear your best attire for the event, and have fun!

 

Hamilton Angevine

Feature | 12/11/2018

Ben Hamilton Finds Conference Presentations Excellent Preparation for the Job Market

On October 6, at the 74th Midwest International Trade Conference at Vanderbilt University,  I presented my job market paper, “Learning, Externalities, and Export Dynamics,” in a 25-minute talk to an audience of economists studying international trade. In November, I presented my job market paper twice at different venues in Washington D.C.  First, at the 88th Southern Economic Association annual meeting, where I received constructive feedback on a condensed 15-minute version of my talk from students and professors of varied concentrations. Next, at the second Mid-Atlantic International Trade Workshop, hosted by the Federal Reserve Board, I presented a longer, 40-minute version of my talk and benefited from helpful comments and discussion with other trade economists.  Having the opportunity to present my talk in a variety of formats, receive questions from audiences unfamiliar with me and my work, and network with many people in my field was a valuable experience, particularly as I prepare to go on the job market during the next few months.  

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/22/2016

ARTICLE-THINGS YOU SHOULD REMOVE FROM YOUR RESUME IMMEDIATELY

"Hiring managers rarely have the time or resources to look at each résumé closely, and they typically spend about six seconds on their initial fit/no fit decision. If you want to pass that test, you need to have some solid qualifications — and the perfect resume to highlight them."-Tayyiba Iram

Click here to read the rest of the article

Feature | 08/20/2019

Perfect Pitch: How to Nail Your Elevator Speech

by: Laura Katen for The Muse
You ride the subway, grab a coffee, and get to the office. It’s your typical Monday morning—until, bam! You step in the elevator and find yourself face-to-face with the CEO of your dream company or the client you’ve been dying to land.

She smiles and says, “Hi. What do you do?”

Scary? Absolutely. But it could happen to you—tomorrow—and you’ll want to be prepared.

The aptly named “elevator speech” or “elevator pitch” is a concise, compelling introduction that can be communicated in the amount of time it takes someone to ride the elevator to her floor. Even if you’re never caught heading up to the 39th with someone important, this is a good skill to master when you’re introducing yourself during an interview, a sales pitch, or a networking event. People are busy, and being able to communicate who you are and what you do quickly and effectively will ensure that you get your most important points across, no matter how short the conversation. Not quite ready for the elevator ride of your life? Check out our step-by-step guide to crafting—and perfecting—your pitch.

1. Start With a Blank Canvas

Take a blank piece of paper and number it from one to 10. Then, fill in the most important bits of information that you want to convey about yourself, your service or product, or your company. What, exactly, do you do? What have you achieved, and what are your goals? Who does your company serve and why? Focus on the most interesting or memorable facts—the ones that really make you stand out from others.

2. Red Pen It

Using a different color pen, edit what you’ve drafted with a critical eye. Eliminate any redundancies, unnecessary or unclear information, and broad business jargon. More importantly, hone and enhance the good stuff. “I’m great at sales” isn’t likely to pique anyone’s interest, but “I’ve exceeded my sales goals every quarter for the last two years” sure might.

3. Pick a Card

Grab five index cards, and label them “Who I Am,” “What I Do,” “How I Do It,” “Why I Do It,” and “Who I Do It For.” Add each item on the list you’ve created to the card where it fits best. Ideally, you’ll have two compelling sentences underneath each heading, so fill in any gaps if you need to.

4. Get in Order

Organize the cards in a logical order, making sure the most important information is first. Remember, you often only have a few seconds to communicate with someone. If you get cut off, what would you want her to walk away remembering?

5. Add an Attention-Getter

Add an interesting fact or stat to use at the beginning of your speech. Your goal is to immediately engage someone so that he or she is intrigued and wants to learn more.

6. Practice!

Recite your pitch to someone close who can be objective, and ask for constructive feedback (although we love our friends and families, sometimes they think we can do no wrong!). What may seem clear in your mind might come across as convoluted, long-winded, or fragmented to an outside observer.

7. Record Your Pitch

Once you’ve gotten feedback and honed your pitch even further, record yourself saying it. Listen to your tone—make sure it’s friendly, non-threatening, and that you’re not talking a mile a minute (knowing you only have a few moments to speak may subconsciously increase your pace). Really listen to what you’re saying—make sure you’re not repeating words and that you’re sending the message you really want to convey.

8. Ride the Elevator

The next time you ride an elevator (alone), practice your speech. First, give yourself some time by going to the highest floor. Then, try giving your pitch from a middle floor and from the first to the third floor, too. Having to make just a few brief moments count will help you to hone the words you need and scrap the ones you don’t! This week, set aside some time to craft your elevator pitch (or dust off the one you’ve used before). You just never know who you might face tomorrow morning.

Source: https://www.themuse.com/advice/perfect-pitch-how-to-nail-your-elevator-speech

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/13/2024

The Race Is On to Hire Interns for 2025. Really.

Article written by Lindsay Ellis for The Wall Street Journal.

The starter pistol has sounded for college internship applications—for the summer of 2025.

Companies in finance and accounting are now recruiting for interns nearly 18 months before college students would be expected to start. The investment bank Guggenheim Securities and the Royal Bank of Canada, in addition to accounting stalwarts Grant Thornton and PricewaterhouseCoopers among others, started advertising for 2025 summer internships this fall. Many summer 2024 internship slots are already filled, several companies say.

The advanced timeline means that college students who may have taken just one business class are trying to prove their mettle in competitive application processes that can launch careers after graduation. To prepare students, colleges are hosting recruiting events and prepping their students earlier. Many applicants for 2025 are sophomores striving for a coveted internship after their junior year. The stints often lead to a full-time job offer before their senior year, career coaches say. 

“To find out I had to apply so early was really, really crazy for me,” said Brayden Dam, a sophomore studying accounting at the University of Florida. Dam, 19 years old, learned of the early timeline from a college adviser when he was a freshman. 

This fall, Dam applied to a few 2025 internships with accounting firms in Tampa, Fla. He was told that those offices were full and that he should try Orlando or Miami.

“I thought I was getting in early,” he said. “But apparently I was even later than some people that had already filled up the slots.” 

Talent advantage

PwC and other companies say that the early deadlines help them scoop up talent that could go to competitors. PwC posted its summer 2025 internships for areas including tax and consulting in September, the earliest the firm has ever advertised internship positions, said Rod Adams, who leads hiring for the U.S. and Mexico. One key reason: PwC is trying to compete for top talent amid a dwindling number of accounting majors

In some cases, the companies hoarding intern talent more than a year in advance have cut full-time jobs, or have made job offers to students, only to defer start dates for those new graduates. Major consulting firms don’t have enough work for their existing staff and are facing slowing revenue growth, and Ernst & Young last week began laying off partners. This year, PwC delayed about 600 full-time consulting hires’ start dates from August 2023 to January 2024. 

It’s hard to plan for workforce needs so far in advance, Adams said.

“Would it be easier if we did real-time hiring? It would be easier to manage the manpower planning, but to get the top talent, we’ve got to be out in the market early,” he said.

Financial firms are the most likely to recruit sophomores early, according to college career offices and people familiar with corporate recruiting. At the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California, employers will host events and start to recruit undergraduate students in the first months of 2024 for summer 2025 internships, according to those schools. 

Earlier this fall, Guggenheim posted internships in cities including Houston, Boston and New York. Evercore in October hosted an information session for freshmen and sophomores at Northwestern University’s campus. 

Tech companies and consulting firms followed banks in recruiting sophomores earlier, said Roger Woolsey, the executive director of Union College’s career center. He said that only since the pandemic have fall-semester sophomores started to apply for summer internships after their junior year. 

Twenty Union students are in New York City this week visiting alumni at firms with summer internships, including Goldman Sachs, to network. It’s the second year Union, located in Schenectady, N.Y., has held the tours; the program was created after college leaders worried that students weren’t prepared for earlier recruiting, Woolsey said. 

Students also learned about financial modeling and practiced case studies as part of their internship application prep. That lets them communicate more confidently with alumni or recruiters, he said.

‘Be the best’

Rice University in Houston hosted an investment-banking night in November for sophomores and freshmen. As recently as 2022, the school’s informational sessions about the sector were held in mid-March, said Michelle Passo, a director in the campus’s center for career development. But recently, staff realized that was too late for employers’ timelines.

“Once one company does it, then it kind of sets the precedent for everybody else,” Passo said. “Students start preparing then—they’re contenders. They want to be the best candidates. They know how competitive these spots are.” 

The Royal Bank of Canada is conducting behavioral interviews for the younger students, looking to evaluate skills including communication and leadership, instead of focusing on technical questions, like explaining a company’s valuation. 

“It allows the candidate to share who they are, but they can’t prepare and necessarily study super-technical questions and regurgitate it back,” said Dawn John, RBC’s global head of campus recruiting.

Royce Kim, 18, is studying business at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. He is aiming for an investment-banking internship during the summer of 2025, and has applied to several dozen companies.

To bolster his résumé, Kim will start an eight-month program this winter at RBC alongside his classes. Taking the position requires a two-and-a-half-hour, round-trip commute three days a week, but Kim said it’s worth it to compete against U.S. students from more prestigious universities.

“You have to get an internship now, or for the summer, in order to be applying for these 2025 jobs,” he said. “Most people are still in disbelief that it’s that early, and they end up being too late.” 

 

Feature | 09/26/2019

New Graduate Economics Club Committee Members

Please welcome the 2019 Graduate Economics Club Committee members, from left to right: Danielle Parks (1st year), Suchi Akmanchi (2nd year), Dan Harper (3rd year), Joe Anderson (1st year), Fiorella Pizzolon (President, 4th year), and Pooja Khosla (4th year).

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/10/2021

ECO Article: 4 Ways to Handle Interview Questions You Don't Know How to Answer

by Lily Zhang at The Muse

Preparing for interviews is serious business. But even if you practice, and practice, and practice, you could still get a question you just don’t know how to answer. Whether it’s a technical question on something you’ve never heard of before or just something completely unexpected, a question that stumps you can really throw off the pacing of the conversation and leave you a bit shaken up.

So, what should you do when you get interview questions that you have no idea how to respond to? Try one of these pain-free approaches.

1. Take Your Time

First things first: Acknowledge that the question was asked and that you’re thinking about it. Something as simple as, “Hmm…that’s a great question. Let me think about that,” will suffice as you take some time to work through your first thoughts on how to approach the question.

This is important to remember, especially since it’s so natural to fill up any empty airspace with words to avoid awkward silences. Take a bit of time to gather your thoughts and make sure you don’t blurt out anything that gives away that you’re—well, completely stumped.

2. Think Aloud

Remember that half the time, hiring managers are asking tricky questions not to hear you spurt out the right answer immediately, but to get a better sense of how you think through problems. So, after you’ve taken a minute to gather your thoughts, try explaining succinctly where your thoughts have been and go forward from there.

For example, if you get asked something like, “Tell me about your copyediting process for long form articles,” and you don’t actually have a process (yet), a good approach would be to imagine that you’re editing that article and share the steps out loud. Add transitional adverbs like “first,” “then,” and “lastly” to give your answer some structure. You can also finish off with a qualifying statement that “the process varies depending on the situation,” which shows that you’re flexible even if your answer isn’t what the hiring manager would do.

3. Redirect

If you’re asked a question that you really can’t work through, own up and try redirecting to an area you are familiar with. You may not be able to speak to a certain skill directly, but if you’re able to connect it to similar skills, you’re much better off than just saying you don’t have the skill they’re looking for.

For example, say you applied for a position that requires social media marketing experience and are asked about your experience in this type of marketing. If you simply don’t have it, try redirecting the answer to something you do have experience with.

In this instance, you could move toward your experience in social media community management or print marketing and say, “That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about this position. I have extensive experience in social media community management from blogging in my previous position, as well as experience with print marketing for my professional organization. I think I’m very well equipped to combine these two skills into the necessary social media marketing for your product, especially since your company has been focusing its efforts in building up a community.”

4. Have a Fail-Safe

Of course, you might get a question that no amount of stalling, thinking aloud, or redirecting can help with. Questions that call for definitions or understanding of concepts that you don’t know can’t just be worked through on the spot. For these questions, lean on the research you’ve done about the company and industry the position is in.

Say you’re applying for a mergers and acquisitions position in finance and are asked, “What is working capital?”—and you really just have no idea. Be prepared with a fail-safe answer that focuses on your enthusiasm for the position and knowledge of the industry. Something like, “That’s not a concept I’m really familiar with yet, but finance is something I’m really excited about, and I’ve been actively trying to learn more. I’ve been keeping up with deals and have read about a few that your company has been involved in. I’ve also learned a lot about the industries that you advise. I think the consolidation that’s going on in the auto industry is going to create a lot of interesting opportunities going forward, and it’ll be an opportunity to learn a great deal about the M&A business.”

Above all, learn from all your interview experiences. And remember that regardless of what question you get, consider what the hiring manager is really trying to learn from the question. You may not be able to answer the actual question asked, but if you’re able to figure out what the hiring manager is really trying to learn with the question and assuage whatever concern he or she might have—you’ve already done well.

https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-ways-to-handle-interview-questions-you-...

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/13/2023

ECO's Thanksgiving Message

ECO Thanksgiving Message

Hello Economics Majors!
I hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a great start.

This week, our theme is gratitude. We have an enthusiastic network of alumni to be thankful for. Each year dozens of economics alumni meet directly with our majors through ECO programming and 800 more have listed themselves on our Alumni and Friends coaching sheet in Collab. In the last 12 weeks, more than 25 alumni and 30 upper level majors participated in ECO programs through our Fall Career Series. You can see the full list of this semester’s alumni participants here by using your UVA email address to access the spreadsheet. All guests are accepting outreach from our majors. Let us know who you’d like to connect with!

While you decompress from the semester and enjoy time with friends and family, think about dedicating some time over break to networking activities, which can be a part of any internship, job, or graduate school search. Use our resource list below as a jumping off point for a networking plan:

1.    Brainstorm other contacts with friends and family, who may be good resources for you. See this article for ideas.

2.    Read How to Network in a Virtual World The first 8 paragraphs are relevant for our majors. The remainder of the article offers food for thought as you begin growing your network and fortifying those professional relationships you've already begun to build.

3.    How to Make the Most of Your Alumni Network Paragraph 6 through the end of the article seem most relevant for our students, post-Covid.

4.    Online networking tips from the Wall Street Journal are shared here.

5.    Not sure what to say in your email? Check out these great networking email templates!

6.    Then prepare for your calls/meetings with these sample informational interview questions.

7.     In addition to ECO tools, use the Virginia Alumni Mentor network to find alumni whose interests are similar to yours or work for employers in which you’re interested.

8.    For more networking resources, check out UVA's LInkedIn page, UVA's Alumni, Friends, and Parents LinkedIn page, and UVA"s Economics Alumni page. Our students are welcome to join each and connect with alumni. You may connect with me here on LinkedIn, which will give you access to job posts once you’ve graduated.

9.    Visit the ECO website for other professional development resources. And if you're wondering what econ majors do after graduation, look here for industry overviews and here for recent graduates' next steps.

Best wishes and safe travels,

Jen

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Jennifer Jones
Edwin T. Burton Economics Career Office 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/17/2023

Best Companies to Work for for Professional Development

Article from The Muse.

One way to guarantee career growth: Never stop learning. In fact, a recent study shows that a whopping 96% of respondents said it’s important or very important for them to continuously develop their work-related skills, with the top driver being personal growth. But it’s one thing to educate yourself, and quite another to have the full support of your company behind you. (In the same survey, 58% of workers said they are likely to leave their company if they don’t have access to professional development opportunities.) Thanks to perks like tuition reimbursement and free trainings, the companies below have made learning a celebrated part of their culture.

Professional development is just one of the seven perk and benefits categories we highlight in the 2022 VIBE Awards. “VIBE” stands for “voted in by employees.” As the name suggests, our methodology combined our own data as well as votes from employees, who ranked the strength of their company’s perks and benefits. Each category includes winners and honorable mentions for small (up to 250 employees), medium (251 to 5,000), and large (more than 5,000) companies.

Employees at Good Apple, a winner among the small companies, celebrate the company’s dedication to internal mobility and opportunities to attend conferences and receive training from professional coaches. “I’ve been at Good Apple for six months and have already done more in my team here than I did in the last two years at my previous agency,” says one employee. “I’m grateful to the company for helping me continue to grow in my career.”

A medium-sized company winner, Brilliant Earth, offers a variety of ways for team members to learn and grow. “I’ve taken countless courses on LinkedIn Learning and Coursera, many focused on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as excel, data analysis, and talent acquisition,” says an employee. “I’ve also participated in a few cohorts with LifeLabs Learning, which have allowed me to improve my leadership, time management, organizational, and collaboration skills tremendously.”

And at Boston Consulting Group, which earned one of the top spots for large companies, new hires feel supported the minute they join the company. “From day one, BCG connected me with mentors and resources to make sure that I’m always learning and advancing in the exact direction I want my career to go,” says one respondent.

Read on for the full list of winners in the professional development category.

Small Companies

Good Apple

Who they are: This independent ad agency that works with clients in a range of industries, from fashion to healthcare.

What employees are saying: “Good Apple encourages us to attend industry conferences in person and virtually. They also provide coaching and pay for us to get certifications in all necessary platforms and study on company time.”

Read more about Good Apple’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Intradiem

Who they are: Intradiem develops AI-powered technology that allows back-end offices and contact centers handling customer service issues to work more efficiently.

What employees are saying: “Leadership is always asking what I want in my own career progression and what they can do to ensure I have the tools needed. They aren’t just empty words since I know many people, including myself, have been internally promoted or made lateral moves into another department to pursue a different path.”

Read more about Intradiem’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Momnt

Who they are: This fintech company offers a platform that businesses and consumers can use to streamline digital lending and payments.

What employees are saying: “Opportunity at Momnt is here for the taking. My career has grown exponentially since joining the company.”

Read more about Momnt’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: GameChanger

Read more about GameChanger’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: Promenade Group

Read more about Promenade Group’s award-winning perks and benefits.
 

Medium Companies

Brilliant Earth

Who they are: Brilliant Earth sells jewelry made with ethically sourced diamonds and other gemstones.

What employees are saying: “I have utilized our tuition reimbursement program to take a negotiation course as well as earn my diversity leadership certification, which helped me found and lead our Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council. Our internal training teams have created a vast amount of content related to leadership development, general business skills, and interesting industry-specific topics.”

Read more about Brilliant Earth’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Flatiron Health

Who they are: The healthtech company is focused on accelerating cancer research and improving patient care.

What employees are saying: “I have used the generous external learning allowance to attend conferences and purchase materials that are relevant to my work and professional development. ‘Learn, Teach, Grow’ days provide dedicated time to devote to professional development activities.”

Read more about Flatiron Health’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Kinaxis

Who they are: This software company provides supply chain planning solutions to industries ranging from aerospace to consumer products.

What employees are saying: “We have a generous professional development budget that I’ve used to take courses and attend conferences. We also have a company-wide LinkedIn Learning subscription that I use when I need to quickly brush up on topics for my daily work. Both options help me stay current in my industry and grow as a people manager.”

Read more about Kinaxis’ award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: Dolby

Read more about Dolby’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: DTCC

Read more about DTCC’s award-winning perks and benefits.
 

Large Companies

Boston Consulting Group

Who they are: This global consulting firm works alongside other businesses to help solve real-world problems.

What employees are saying: “BCG has learning and development coaches available at any time. Whether it’s a personal question, a one-time professional issue, or longer-term career development planning, there is a wealth of expertise and resources to lean on. Additionally, we have one of the most comprehensive online learning platforms as well as regular trainings, mentorship programs, and consistent feedback and evaluation so that you are able to grow quickly in your career.”

Read more about Boston Consulting Group’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Chick-fil-A

Who they are: Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast-food chains and is known for its chicken sandwiches.

What employees are saying: “There are so many development opportunities available with Chick-fil-A, it could nearly be a part-time job. In-house offerings are available to employees, and there’s a stipend to gain additional development so we can meet personal professional goals. In addition, there is a true open-door policy when it comes to connecting with others across the organization, including executives and those in the C-suite.”

Read more about Chick-fil-A’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Palo Alto Networks

Who they are: This cybersecurity company provides cutting-edge defense against cyber attacks.

What employees are saying: “We have so many options for development. In the past year, I’ve been able to hear from leaders in everything from leadership to mental health, attended a Marketing Learning Day, and was funded to attend an industry conference. All of these have reinvigorated my passion for the job, given me new tools, and made me feel valued.”

Read more about Palo Alto Networks’ award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: Signify

Read more about Signify’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Honorable Mention: Visa

Read more about Visa’s award-winning perks and benefits.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/12/2023

New Grad? 12 Pieces Of Advice That Could Help Launch Your Career

Article from Forbes 

Every year, new graduates enter the workforce—each entering a different job market than the one before them. Navigating such a large change successfully can be difficult on one’s own, which is why it helps to consider the advice of those who have walked the same path before and who are achieving their goals.

Here, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council consider their own journeys and offer up their best advice to new grads entering the workforce and looking to launch their own successful careers.

1. Know That Passion Will Take You Far

Your degree does not define your limits, nor does it dictate your success. The biggest thing I've learned in business ownership is that you can be successful in any area where you have passion. With the growing interconnectivity of the world, if you have a unique idea backed by passion, it is relatively easy to find highly skilled people to build your business. Ideas are the new currency. - Alexis Austin, Right Law Group

2. Prioritize Building Your Network

New grads should prioritize building a strong professional network through industry events, alumni connections and professional associations. A strong network can offer valuable mentorship, job leads and collaboration opportunities, helping launch their careers by providing new experiences and connections. - Nic DeAngelo, Saint Investment - Real Estate Funds

3. Define What Success Means For You

Define what success means for you and the lifestyle that you seek. This can help you set personalized goals and priorities, ensuring that your career trajectory aligns with your values, passions and aspirations. By defining your version of success, you can better evaluate job offers, career moves and networking opportunities, leading to a more fulfilling and purpose-driven professional life. - Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME

4. Learn How To Solve Problems

Learn how to provide value in any situation by offering solutions instead of discussing problems. Anyone can learn this skill by practicing mental models such as the Eisenhower Matrix and Occam’s razor. For example, you can list problems you see in a work setting, break down what’s urgent and then solve accordingly and quickly. Be the first to identify and solve. - Libby Rothschild, Dietitian Boss

5. Always Wake Up Feeling Excited And Grateful

I would tell new grads: I was in your shoes 16 years ago as I graduated pharmacy school and started my residency. I would love to remind you all to wake up every day feeling excited and grateful for what you have. As you are launching your career, make decisions based on where you want to be instead of making decisions based on where you currently are. What do you want your life to look like in 2028? - Dr. Christine Manukyan, STORRIE Institute™

6. Stay Eager To Learn

College gave you a baseline for learning; the workforce will give you actual practice. One of the perks for companies hiring recent graduates is that you're malleable. They can offer you training opportunities, try to steer you clear of forming "bad habits" and set you up for career growth as long as you put in the work. Keep a good attitude and stay open—your leadership notices. - Greg Ashton, GROW

7. Reflect On Your Perfect Job And Go Find It

Take a moment alone to sit with a pen and paper and write out the perfect job for yourself. Be as detailed as you please. Don't hold yourself to your sense of what is realistic because, as a new grad, you don't know every option the world holds. Describe your day, your compensation, the impact of your work, the type of people you work with and everything that matters to you. Then, go find it! - Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts

8. Take Initiative

Don't wait for opportunities to come to you; seek them out and create them for yourself. Whether it's taking on additional responsibilities, seeking out mentors or networking with professionals in your field, be willing to put in the work and take calculated risks to achieve your goals. Be open to learning from your mistakes and adjusting your course as needed. - Kelly Kercher, K3 Technology

9. Embrace The Unknown

Embrace the unknown! As new grads enter the workforce, being open to new experiences, challenges and opportunities will help them learn, grow and adapt in a dynamic work environment. It's a mindset that fosters resilience, innovation and continuous learning, setting them up for a successful career launch. - Sujay Pawar, CartFlows

10. Trust Your Instincts

Trust your instincts about job offerings that seem to have red flags. While you sometimes have to settle for positions that are less than satisfactory, sometimes companies are taking advantage of your lack of experience to underpay or violate expectations of candidacy. Never hesitate to ask for help from trusted mentors in your life to review any contracts or terms. - Duran Inci, Optimum7

11. Prioritize Self-Care

One piece of advice I would give new grads entering the workforce is to prioritize self-care. Launching a career can be stressful and overwhelming, and it's important to take time for yourself to recharge and avoid burnout. This can mean different things for different people, whether it's taking breaks throughout the day, practicing mindfulness or finding a physical activity you enjoy. - Pratik Chaskar, Spectra

12. Be Open To All Opportunities

Be open to opportunities that may not seem like your ideal fit. You are not likely to land your dream job on day one. Being receptive to different roles that you come across is going to help you find the right position. You never really know what life is going to throw at you, but the more receptive you are to opportunities, the further you will go. - Jennifer A Barnes, Optima Office, Inc.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/01/2021

Article: Careers & Leadership: Hybrid Work's Uneven Playing Field

The Hybrid Playing Field

Illustration: James Steinberg

Uneven odds: Working from home these many months has come with a lot of ups and downs. But for many remote professionals, one thing held constant: Nearly all of their colleagues were also remote, and few had a choice. If you're someone who thrives under remote conditions, you didn't have to make excuses for it.

Now that playing field is getting shaken up all over again. Some colleagues are returning to the office five days a week. Others are testing a hybrid schedule, or opting not to go back at all.

If you’re the one leaning into flexibility, how do you make sure you’re not unintentionally leaning out of your career? And what happens if certain subsets of the workforce, like mothers, are less likely to return to the office?

Some employers say they are watching closely as to whether hybrid work creates two classes of employees—those who are there for lots of office facetime with bosses and others plugging away, often unnoticed, at home. Surveys show many bosses assume off-site employees are doing less.

Some working parents of both genders say they're aware of the career risks of staying remote. “I know the remote part isn’t going to help me, but I’m willing to sacrifice it right now,” says Jessamyn Edwards, a product designer who moved from the Bay Area to a house in rural Spring Grove, Va., and is still breastfeeding her youngest daughter.

Employers, too, face risks with how they approach remote work. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks have taken a hard-line approach with office-reopenings, beefing up in-person staff five days a week in New York even though it might mean losing talent. Rivals including Citigroup see an opening,  betting a more flexible approach will help them recruit top traders and deal makers.

As one remote-work consultant advising the banks says: “The great experiment starts…when some go back to the office full time and some don’t.”

— Vanessa Fuhrmans, deputy careers bureau chief, WSJ

Reach me at vanessa.fuhrmans@wsj.com or on Twitter @vjfuhrmans.

Career Starters

From childhood puzzles to Roblox: Who hasn't fantasized about parlaying a playtime activity from youth into a livelihood as a grownup? Andrea Fletcher, a full-stack software engineer at online game platform Roblox who has also worked at Google and Apple, says her career really began with a childhood love of logic puzzles that involved math and patterns. She walked us through how she turned that into a dream career.

'Financially hobbled for life': Elite universities in recent years have awarded thousands of master’s degrees that don’t provide graduates enough early career earnings to begin paying down their federal student loans, according to a WSJ analysis. One example: Recent Columbia film program graduates who took out loans had a median debt of $181,000, yet half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/10/2023

57 Smart Questions to Ask in a Job Interview in 2023

Article from The Muse 

You’re sitting under the fluorescent lights of an unfamiliar conference room across from the person who may decide the fate of your job search, trying desperately to remember that perfect story you prepared and wondering if the AC is always set to ‘arctic blast.’ Or maybe you’re at home in front of the most professional wall in your apartment, looking at your interviewer on a computer screen and hoping your camera won’t shift and reveal the stack of empty La Croix cans you forgot to move before the Zoom call started. 

Then, the hiring manager asks the interview question you know is a signal that things are about to wrap up: “Do you have any questions for me?”

You probably already know that whether you’re stressed or relaxed, whether you think you’ve fumbled the conversation badly or you’ve got this job in the bag, the worst thing you could say is, “Nope, I’m good.”

An interview isn’t just a chance for the hiring manager to grill you—it’s your opportunity to sniff out whether a position would be as great for you as you would be for the position. So it’s vital to ask some questions of your own. What do you want to know about the role? The company? The department? The team? The person interviewing you who may be your future boss, coworker, or mid-afternoon coffee buddy?

To get you thinking, we’ve put together a list of key questions to ask in an interview. We definitely don’t suggest asking all of them rapid-fire—some of this stuff will be covered during the course of your discussion, and you can always ask questions throughout the conversation. Plus, you will sound like you’re reading the questions off some sort of internet list and not truly listening to their answers. You should also customize these questions to the specific opportunity or ask tailored questions that show you’re invested in the position and you’ve been paying attention throughout the interview process.

So this list isn’t the be-all and end-all—it’s your jumping off point.

Best questions to ask about the job

Make sure you have a handle on exactly what the day-to-day responsibilities of the job will be—both now and in the future. This will help you make an informed decision if and when that job offer comes and avoid Shift Shock.

  • What does a typical day or week look like in this role? (Or one of these alternatives.)
  • What are the most immediate projects that need to be addressed?
  • Can you show me examples of projects I’d be working on?
  • What are the skills and experiences you’re looking for in an ideal candidate?
  • What attributes does someone need to have in order to be really successful in this position?
  • What types of skills is the team missing that you’re looking to fill with a new hire?
  • What are the biggest challenges that someone in this position would face?
  • What sort of budget would I be working with?
  • Is this a new role or will I be taking over for an employee who’s leaving?
  • How does this position contribute to the company overall?
  • Do you expect the main responsibilities for this position to change in the next six months to a year?

Top questions to ask about training and professional development

Think of each new opportunity not just as a job, but as the next step on your path to career success. Will this position help you get there?

  • What does your onboarding process look like?

  • What learning and professional development opportunities are available to your employees?
  • Will there be opportunities for stretch assignments where I can learn and use new skills?
  • Are there opportunities for advancement within the company?
  • Would I be able to represent the company at industry conferences?
  • Where have successful employees previously in this position progressed to?

Common questions to ask about how your success will be evaluated

Understanding how your potential new manager will measure your success is key to understanding their managerial style as well as company or team priorities.

  • What are the most important things you’d like to see someone accomplish in the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job?

  • What are the performance expectations of this position over the first 12 months?
  • What is the performance review process like here? How often would I be formally reviewed?
  • What metrics or goals will my performance be evaluated against?

Smart questions to ask about the interviewer

Asking these questions shows that you’re interested in your interviewer as a person—and that’s a great way to build rapport with a future colleague.

  • How long have you been with the company?

  • Has your role changed since you’ve been here?
  • What did you do before this?
  • Why did you come to this company?
  • What’s your favorite part about working here?
  • What’s one challenge you occasionally or regularly face in your job?
  • What part of your job are you most excited about over the next few months?
  • Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’re especially interested in?

Best questions to ask about the company

Why not learn a little bit about where you might work? A job isn’t just about your day-to-day to-do list. You’ll likely be happier with an employer that shares similar values to yours and is headed in a direction you’re on board with.

  • I’ve read about the company’s founding, but can you tell me more about [another significant company development] ?

  • What direction do you see this company heading in over the next few years?
  • What can you tell me about your new products or plans for growth?
  • What are the current goals that the company is focused on, and how does this team work to support hitting those goals?
  • What gets you most excited about the company’s future?
  • What are the company’s most important values? (Note: Make sure this isn’t easily Google-able!)
  • How does the company ensure it’s upholding its values?

Smart questions to ask about the team

The people you work with day in and day out can really make or break your work life. Ask some questions to uncover whether it’s the right team for you.

  • Can you tell me about the team I’ll be working with?
  • Who will I work with most closely?
  • Who will I report to directly?
  • Can you tell me about my direct reports?
  • What are the team’s biggest strengths and challenges?
  • Do you expect to hire more people in this department in the next six months?
  • Which other departments work most closely with this one and how?

Creative questions to ask about the culture

You don’t want to end up at a workplace where all socialization happens at happy hour if you don’t drink or you need to get home to your kids, or where everyone is focused solely on their own work if you thrive in a collaborative environment, for example. So make sure you ask about what’s important to you when it comes to company culture.

  • How would you describe the work environment here—is the work typically more collaborative or more independent?

  • How does the team form and maintain strong bonds?
  • Can you tell me about the last company event you did together?
  • What’s your favorite office tradition?
  • What do you and the team usually do for lunch?
  • Does anyone at the company or on this team hang out outside the office?
  • Do you ever do joint events with other companies or departments?
  • What’s different about working here than anywhere else you’ve worked?
  • How has the company changed since you joined?
  • How has the organization overcome challenges with remote work?
  • How does the company make sure that remote and hybrid employees are given the same opportunities and standards as in-office employees?

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Negotiating Your Salary

Factors to consider when negotiating your salary.

Phipps

Feature | 07/13/2017

Aaron Phipps presents at the APPAM on July 13, 2017

"The Role of Production Uncertainty in Teacher Performance Pay: Theory and Experimental Evidence", presented at the International Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) on July 13

Teacher performance incentives have not had consistently positive effects in the U.S. A necessary theoretical and empirical problem is how to design an incentive to induce the optimal allocation of effort among multiple tasks, which is usually modeled by assuming agents know the production function. Unlike some production processes in which output relies solely on worker skill and effort, teaching is distinguished by its complexity and its dependence on the reciprocal effort of students. The result is a context in which individual teachers are uncertain about the net marginal productivity of inputs. The innovation of this paper is to develop a model in which uncertainty about the production process in student learning (“production uncertainty”) is incorporated explicitly in the model of behavior and to assess agent responses to different incentive schemes in a laboratory experiment.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/08/2019

3 reasons you’re experiencing college burnout (& how to deal)

The stress. The anxiety. The worry. All of us have those moments where we’re completely overwhelmed by the amount of work college demands. While we try our best to finish everything as quickly (and as accurately) as possible, we sometimes digress into a state of despair and self-doubt when our hard work isn’t giving us the results we want. At some point, we begin feeling so helpless and depressed that we retreat into our shell, away from our peers and the people who care about us the most. We’re frustrated, confused, lonely, and don’t really know what to do. Eventually, with everything piling on top of us one after the other, we snap.

College can be a tough time for a lot of  students. Whether you’re trying to fit in or trying to survive classes, I think we can all agree that college life isn’t perfect. However, there comes a time when things just don’t feel good and you’re not feeling the same way towards things as you used to. Sure, everything seems fine but you’re just not happy with where you’re at right now. You’re exhausted and unmotivated; you just want the semester to end now. Feeling stressed out is one thing, but feeling burnout is a whole other issue.

Pressure and Expectations

Entering college, I think a lot of us unintentionally place a large amount of pressure on ourselves. We worked unbelievably hard in high school to get where we are today, and so as soon as we enter college we expect ourselves to start off strong. At first, things seem like they’re going fine (and they are), but once we get deeper into the semester we’re not feeling as confident as we did going into the semester.

I think one of the worst things to feel in college is disappointment. Imagine this: You’re in a class working hard. You stay up late to work on assignments and study for exams. As you’re going through the semester, you notice your grades aren’t as good as you want them. You then work and study as hard as you can. Nothing improves. Getting this feeling is absolutely frustrating and disappointing and can certainly upset many people, including myself.

Look, I may not know much about each and every student’s college experience, but from what I know, hard work does eventually pay off. You’re probably going to feel immense pressure to do well in all of your classes, especially if you excelled in all of your classes in high school. But this isn’t high school. There are people around you who have worked just as hard to get where they are today and deserve to be there. It sucks when people are showing off their 4.0 GPA’s or bragging about how well they did on that last test. However, the truth is, none of that matters because you are who YOU are. Do the best that YOU can and that’s what counts.

Isolation

Finding the right group of people is hard, especially for introverts like myself. You think, “Oh there’s thousands of other freshman who don’t know many people, I’m bound to be friends with one of them.” This is a good thought, but maybe not realistic.

I know many other people disagree, but I think that finding friends in college can be extremely difficult. There are probably going to be a lot of people you meet within the first few weeks of classes as everyone begins the new semester. However, once those first few weeks are over it seems as if everyone has their own little group and sometimes you get left out of those groups of people.

Now before you accuse me of lacking faith in the friendliness of other people, I’m not saying that people intentionally form their own group of friends to single people out. Rather, I think it’s difficult for some people to maintain contact with others because of their lack of connection. Basically what I’m trying to say is that it’s hard to keep up with people when their schedules are so different. You meet so many people within the first few weeks of class, but let’s face it: how many of them are you going to remember or talk with by the end of the semester?

Nevertheless, finding people you feel the most comfortable with is important in college. Whether you like hanging around people or not, try pushing yourself to go out and meet new people. The best way to make friends is through your classes, because you’ll be seeing them on a weekly (if not daily) basis. If you’re still having trouble making friends, definitely utilize some of the student services your school offers. While they can’t help you make friends, they can definitely help guide you to resources and organizations that cultivate lifelong friendships.

Fitting In

Are you that awkward duck in the middle of the pond? Yup, that’s me alright. I think one of the most difficult parts about being in college is feeling at ease. With homework assignments and exams galore, there isn’t always a lot of time to think about where you’re at in terms of fitting in. However, it can sometimes take a toll on people as it did for me. I felt like I was sort of fitting in with the general population of students, but somehow I felt a personal disconnect from everyone. I talked with people from time to time, but it just didn’t feel the same as high school.

If you’re a college student still transitioning from high school to college, there are plenty of other people who are still having trouble fitting in. I have to admit, even though my school has a smaller student body than some other schools, I sometimes feel like I’m just there. I go to school, do homework, and take tests. That’s it. I know this is probably hard to hear, but things take time. You’re still transitioning, and this feeling is absolutely normal. As you go through the semester, you’ll likely find your way through things and be able to finally enjoy your college experience.

The College Burnout

College can be a rewarding experience for many people interested in learning and growing in a different environment. Compared to high school, the possibilities seem endless. However, college life can be difficult for some people as well, particularly those who are still transitioning from high school to college. While college can bring exciting new opportunities to students, it can also provide additional stress and anxiety with the amount of work and energy demanded.

If you’re feeling college burnout at any time, take some time to relax. Yes, I realize that you have things to work on and study for, but let’s be honest: are you really going to be productive when you’re feeling that bad? Don’t push yourself over the edge; it’s just not worth it.

On another note, try not to give yourself a hard time when it comes to grades. Although academics is central to the college experience, don’t allow yourself to become involved only in academics. You’re going to make mistakes. It’s going to suck. But yet, we’re all human. No one’s perfect. You can continue to beat yourself down over your grades, but what good is that going to do? There’s so much more to life than just grades. Your happiness comes first. You might argue that good grades equal greater job opportunities and more money. Look at the expectations you’ve created. They’re nothing unreasonable or anything, but realize what you’re doing to yourself. You’re tired. You’re unhappy. You feel like giving up. Is this the way to live?

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t pay attention to your academic performance in college, but make sure that you give yourself some credit once in a while. You’re in college. You have an opportunity that others can only dream of. Be proud of yourself for all you’ve achieved. You’ve made it this far. Give yourself a pat on the back and feel proud of everything you’ve done thus far. You deserve it.

College burnout isn’t enjoyable and can almost always affect your college life. That being said, there are other things that can also hinder you from succeeding and being happy in college. To be honest, I’m really struggling in college right now, not just academically. There are days that I feel like I’m at the top of the world and then there are others when I’m in the gutter of despair. You’ve probably heard of this a million times, but college is what you make of it. Be happy, be sad, be angry – that’s your choice. However, know that you deserve to be there, and don’t ever doubt that. Sure, you might have doubts about why you’re there but think about this: you’re there already. Shouldn’t you make the most of what you have now?

Read more

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Water Scarcity and Growth Prospects

Julia Devlin, a former lecturer in the Economics department at UVA and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, looks at the relationship between water scarcity and economic growth in the Middle East and Africa. Her article can be found at the Brookings Institute.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/01/2018

MarketWatch: Why Oil Prices are Plunging...

Why oil prices are plunging despite U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy sector

The oil market has had nearly six months to assess the possible effect of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Surprisingly, the prospect of significantly tighter global supplies has resulted in lower prices.

President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that he would end the participation of the United States in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 pact aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear activities, signed by Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and the European Union.

Read more...https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-prices-are-plunging-despite-us...\

 

Read more 

 
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/10/2017

ECO NEWSLETTER 1.10.17

Data Can Be Romantic! Volunteering: Good for your Heart!

Feature | 11/13/2023

Nobel Winner Claudia Goldin Predicted Flexible Work Could Ease The Pay Gap. New Data Supports Her Theory

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/24/2018

ARTICLE - HOW TO WRITE A RESUME TO BEAT AN AUTOMATED TRACKING SYSTEM

"The majority of applications for many jobs never get seen by a human. If you've ever submitted an application through a company's website, there's a strong chance that your resume was screened—and likely rejected—by an automated system. Here are some tips to help make sure that your resume makes it through in future, so that it can at least get its six seconds with a real live human." - Phil Stott

 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/13/2023

The $2 Billion Question of Who You Are at Work

Employers are finding personality tests — measuring how employees think and feel — more useful than ever while navigating hybrid work. But the tests are not always up-to-date.

Article written by Emma Goldberg for The New York Times on March 5, 2023.

“Hello there, Protagonist!” read the email that landed in my inbox on a recent night. “Have you ever had the sense that you were different from others? That your drive to right unjust wrongs and seek improvement runs just a little bit deeper than most?”

I was intrigued. These questions were deeper than the improvement I happened to be seeking at that moment, related to the consistency of a chickpea stew I was cooking with my roommate, so I gladly opened the email, which contained the results of my assessment from 16personalities.com.

I had spent that day taking every personality test I could find on the internet — an alternately therapeutic and mind-numbing journey of the self. This was prompted, in fact, not by personal crisis, but rather by professional curiosity about the role of personality testing in today’s tangled-up world of work. Could describing people on paper, in the form of colors and animals and good old Myers-Briggs, be relevant to discussions about returning to the office?

Personality testing is roughly a $2 billion industry, according to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a psychology professor and author of “I, Human,” who estimated the value of the largest personality testing companies. Their appeal is both magnetic and obvious: ego. But the tests have also come to be applied in practical ways in the office, helping to shape professional relationships. Some managers find them particularly useful for remote teams, because personality tests can prompt much-needed conversations about who workers are as humans, and how they like to interact.

“Covid has opened our eyes to the fact that there are different ways in which we can work,” said David Noel, senior vice president of global human resources at Scotiabank, a Toronto-based bank that uses a personality test called Plum. “Personality testing can be a part of that.”

After taking my own personality tests, I discovered that I was an E.N.F.J. (extroverted and emotional); a Blue (motivated by intimacy, a “sainted pit bull” who doesn’t easily let go of people or projects); dominated, among the four temperaments, by sanguine (creative, sociable); and, according to my 24-page CliftonStrengths report, keen on collecting information and input from people (conveniently known as reporting). Digging through these results felt like the type of fun that’s both earnest and indulgent. Like an iPhone burst of selfies fused with the self-help section of an airport bookstore.

For employers, the stakes of personality testing are higher. Managers often use them to make decisions about career development and sometimes even about hiring. Each year, some 100 million workers worldwide take psychometric tests, meaning tests designed to study personality and aptitude. The industry exploded in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the tests were computerized, Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic said.

Now, psychologists are exploring what changes need to be made to workplace personality tests — both to grapple with longstanding questions about their validity and to address the changing norms of hybrid work. It’s a moment when, managers say, the tests are more useful than ever but not always up-to-date.

At Scotiabank, which has 90,000 workers, executives decided in late 2020 to stop looking at résumés for applicants coming out of school. The campus hiring program is now focused partly on Plum results, and the new approach is bringing in more diverse candidates, the bank said, because hiring managers are looking beyond familiar credentials. The share of Scotiabank’s new employees who are Black rose to 6 percent from 1 percent, and over half its hires are women.

Acolytes of personality testing are cautious, though, about how results should be used for workplace decision-making. They should be one factor among many, advocates say, with the understanding that there’s a gap between the way people present themselves on a test and how they’ll act on any given Tuesday, or in a fight on Slack.

Critics are quick to point out that some of the tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which churns out four-letter distillations of personality, are about as reliable at predicting success in a professional endeavor as sorting candidates by astrological signs or Magic 8 Balls. Investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have uncovered bias at play in some hiring processes that overly relied on personality tests without scholarly psychological backing.

But personality testing has also gotten more rigorous in recent years. Organizational psychologists have developed assessments that are more fair and grounded in research. Some of these tests use the “Big Five” personality traits, which psychologists have found to be consistent across populations: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

“Human behavior is complex, people are complex, situations are complex,” said Ben Dattner, an organizational psychologist and executive coach, noting that studying personalities in all their complexity is still helpful for career development. “Psychometrics can help identify what are some potential areas where a person might need coaching or feedback, or where a person might have blind spots.”

And plenty of companies hail their benefits. Nearly one-third of the respondents to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2017 survey of its members said they used personality tests to fill executive roles. At McKinsey & Company, some consultants do “due diligence” when staffing projects, which often means looking at the balance of introverts and extroverts on a team. There’s a running joke that the company is full of people who got E.N.T.J. on Myers-Briggs (the extroverted and organized type of person most likely to run for student council president). College fund-raising offices love the Color Code, which among other things tells you who can best work the phones (yellows).

Often, the tests aren’t a diagnosis but are more of an opening for people to talk about the softer parts of office life: their relationships. Identifying as a Blue, through the Color Code, might not feel all that relevant to quarterly sales quotas — but at least, among teammates, it can be a conversation starter.

“The biggest thing that hit me over the head was that I really care about people’s perceptions,” said Robyn Ross, the head of people and talent at Burgundy Asset Management, describing her experience taking the PrinciplesYou assessment, which revealed that she is an “inspirer.” “My natural inclination is to take care of people.”

To Ms. Ross, that result explained why it had been so hard for her to call Burgundy’s 150 employees back to the office. “Asking people to do things they don’t naturally want to do was quite tough for me,” she said. “It has been such a godsend to see it through this test.”

Caitlin MacGregor, who co-founded Plum, a research-backed testing company, attributes her initial zest for personality testing to an experiment she conducted for a previous employer. She winnowed a pool of 80 job applicants down to two: one who stood out on a résumé and one who stood out in a psychometric assessment. She hired both; her boss had said the cost of picking the wrong person was $300,000. The applicant who outperformed on the psychometric test rose to the company’s top ranks within a year and a half.

Ms. MacGregor argues that an element of equity can be built into testing, when it’s done right, because it can identify “diamonds in the rough” who have natural abilities instead of fancy degrees. This can be even more essential when interviewers aren’t meeting candidates in person.

“For a long time, people were comfortable making decisions around talent based on face-to-face interactions,” she said. “More and more companies have a distributed work force. It’s harder than ever to get to know your people.”

In a territory as fraught as personality — how people are and could be — it’s no surprise that disagreements have sprung up as the tests have spread. Psychologists argue over the validity and fairness of different assessments and, recently, whether the tests have kept pace with the changing workplace and work force. After all, a test developed a century ago might be tough to use for gauging whether an employee will feel fulfilled if she never meets her boss except on Zoom.

In remote workplaces, “it’s a different style of working, which means different characteristics will matter,” said Matt Spencer, who in 2019 started a personality testing company called Suited. “Initiative, self-direction, ability to manage one’s time, the way somebody collaborates.”

Personality testing was largely an outgrowth of World War I. The American military wanted to screen for soldiers who had “weak constitutions” and might be more susceptible to what was then called shell shock, so it created a test, the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, with questions like: “Did you ever think you had lost your manhood?” Not long after, a Carl Jung-obsessed homemaker, Katharine Cook Briggs, and her daughter, Isabel Myers, developed their own personality inventory, despite having no psychological training, which they started distributing in 1943. Each year, more than two million people now determine their Myers-Briggs type.

Those early assessments were trying to pin down answers to an existential question: Who are you? Wallflower or life of the party? Flighty or reliable? Alternative tests have since emerged, especially ones aiming to assess what sorts of personal projects people like to do instead of the traits they possess (or think they possess). Today there are more than 2,000 kinds of personality assessments — though very few have a research base behind them, according to Brian Little, a personality testing expert and the author of “Me, Myself, and Us.”

New research-backed assessments continue to flood the market. PrinciplesYou, which Dr. Little helped create, maps people according to personality dimensions (givers, fighters, enthusiasts), which its website illustrates as archipelagos separated by waters labeled with traits like “tough” and “humble.” The test is free, and the workshops offered in workplaces cost slightly more than a thousand dollars, according to Principles, which makes PrinciplesYou.

There’s also Suited, which is designed for law firms and banks to base hiring decisions on character and not just education. It can cost from high five figures to low six figures, depending on the client’s size and needs, according to the company, adding that this cost covers recruiting services beyond just testing.

“Résumés are a better predictor of past privilege than future potential,” Mr. Spencer, chief executive of Suited, explained.

Recently, Mr. Spencer watched a law firm use a Suited assessment to upend the results of a hiring process. Two of the four employees who interviewed a job candidate didn’t want to hire her for a summer program, but she sparkled on Suited, so the firm took a chance on her. That personality test offered an unorthodox perspective on the applicant — something besides G.P.A., or whether she cracked a joke to her interviewers.

Today, there’s mounting pressure on companies to gather those perspectives on their workers, as executives wrestle with costly decisions about whether to require in-person office work or even keep office space. At the very least, personality testing can give companies the vocabulary to talk about how their workers like to socialize: whether they crave water cooler banter, or dread the holiday party.

That’s what Zack Wieder, chief executive of Principles, has witnessed as he leads personality workshops for remote companies. Many of the people he is coaching have never met their teammates in person. They’re looking to a PrinciplesYou assessment as a catalyst for intimate conversations like: Does this manager who comes across as extremely buttoned-up consider himself a sociable guy? Or why does this one employee loathe the idea of going back to the office?

The product development team at Canadian Tire used PrinciplesYou testing last year to have deeper conversations about people’s career paths.

“I shared my profile with the whole team very openly,” said Anthony Wolf, a Canadian Tire vice president. “One of the first things we had to make sure people understood is that there’s no perfect profile.”

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/20/2023

4 Ways to Finish the Semester Strong

Article written by Joel Minden for Psychology Today.

Overwhelmed by a stressful semester and too much work? Wondering how you’re going to make it through the last few weeks before finals? Here are four ways to finish the semester strong:

1) Give yourself a good reason. I’m not going to suggest to you that it’s time to get pumped up about all the work you have ahead of you. Let’s be real. But if you’re an expert at telling yourself why you shouldn’t do your work, maybe now’s a good time to change the script. Start by paying attention to what goes through your mind when you consider doing schoolwork. Some examples:

  • I’d rather do something else.
  • It’s so boring.
  • I don’t know where to start.
  • I don’t understand the material.

Some ideas for more useful self-talk messages:

  • If I get some studying done now, I won’t worry about it when I do something fun later.
  • Boring work isn’t going to get more interesting later, so I should get started and take short breaks when it’s hard to focus.
  • If I open the textbook, look through my notes, and read the assignment guidelines, at least it’s a step in the right direction. Once I get going, it’ll get easier.
  • I’ll understand the material better if I search for main ideas first and focus on the details later.

Catch the negative thoughts when they occur and replace them with new beliefs. With practice, you'll have more useful beliefs without having to implement them intentionally.

2) Show anxiety who’s boss. If you’re avoiding schoolwork, worrying about it, and feeling tense because of it, staying calm and productive will be tough. Instead of doing things that escalate anxiety, do the opposite.

  • To address avoidance, do at least a little bit of work consistently. Schedule 30 minutes if you think that’s all you can handle. You might surprise yourself and do much more. Or, if you choose to stop and do another 30 minutes later, you’re less likely to criticize yourself for doing less.
  • Being productive early and often beats last-minute cramming for worrying less. If worrying continues, write down your concerns and the steps you need to take to address them. This will give your mind a break so you can focus on your work instead of the ideas that make you anxious. You can always go back to your notes later to review your worries and their solutions.
  • If you’re struggling with physical tension, take a break for deep breathing, yoga, cardio, meditation, a massage, or a warm bath.

3) Get a study buddy. Corny word choice aside, working with a classmate or a friend has many benefits. Scheduling time to study with another person works because

  • You’re less likely to skip out on work if it means breaking a commitment to a friend.
  • Discussing course concepts with someone else can enhance your retention of the material.
  • Having someone to chat with during breaks makes the work seem less tedious.
  • Working with a partner is a good opportunity to get out of the house and away from distractions that might pull you away from studying.
  • Even if you’re working on different things, having company might boost your intrinsic motivation to get things done.

4) Use problem-focused coping strategies. When things get stressful, activities that give you a short-term break might seem like the answer. Emotion-focused coping strategies can make you feel better for a few hours, which is why it’s so easy to turn to things like exercise, napping, watching TV, creative work, visiting friends, eating junk food, or drinking beer (of course, some of these are better choices than others). But when you have papers and projects to complete and final exams looming, the work needs to get done at some point. Don't forget to use problem-focused coping strategies to stay on track:

  • Look at your syllabus.
  • Figure out what needs to get done and how long it will take.
  • Schedule time to work and put it in your smartphone or other electronic calendar. Set email or pop-up reminders.
  • Do you have important or challenging things to do that you're likely to avoid? Can you work on those things first?
  • Identify obstacles. What might get in the way of achieving your goals? What can you do about it?
  • Reach out to your instructors. Let them know you’d like to finish strong and that you’d appreciate their advice. Take advantage of office hours to get their help.
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2018

Fox News: Is America's economy crushing it?

Q: What’s So Special about This Article?
A: There are several potential employers included, which were sources of information for the piece. How many can you find?

A sustainable economic recovery is getting harder to dispute. Read the full story here.

Full story

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/18/2019

Any Questions? What to Ask in an Interview

Any Questions? What to Ask in an Interview
Taken from The Muse: https://www.themuse.com/advice/any-questions-what-to-ask-in-an-interview

A good interview is more than just artful answers to any question a prospective employer throws your way. Remember, you’ll need to be just as prepared once the tables turn.

When an interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions?” she’s not just being polite. She’s trying to gauge whether you’re informed, interested, and engaged. Explains recruiter Angela Smith, “if an applicant doesn't have any questions for me, that's a red flag. I'm thinking that they either don't care or can't be bothered to do research about my company.”

This question is also an important opportunity to help you decide if the job and company is the right fit for you. Here’s our guide on what to ask (and avoid!) when you’re interviewing the interviewer.

Step 1: Clarify Your Uncertainties

Your first step should be to ask anything about the position that hasn’t been covered in the interview (though not questions you’d know the answers to by looking at the job description or company website). “You want the questions to be well thought-out and meaningful to the position and industry,” says Smith. Sample questions could include:

  • What does a typical day look like?
  • What are the biggest challenges that someone in this position would face?
  • How will I be trained? How will my performance be reviewed?
  • What are the performance expectations of this position over the first 12 months?
  • What are the most immediate projects that need to be addressed?

Step 2: Remove Their Doubts

Next, ask questions that will allow you to talk about any strengths or accomplishments you didn’t cover in the interview, or to make sure that you are sharing with the interviewer the same types of qualities they are looking for. “I ask what kind of person they see ideally fitting the job,” says Brittany Mazin, a young professional. “It’s good to be clear on exactly what they are looking for and whether you are a good match for the job.” Once they answer, you can clarify or reiterate why you’ll be a good match. Some ways to phrase this:

  • What are the skills and experiences you’re looking for in an ideal candidate?
  • What attributes does someone need to have in order to be really successful in this position?
  • What types of skills is the team missing that you're looking to fill with a new hire?
  • Is there anything that concerns you about my background being a fit for this role?

Step 3: Uncover Red Flags

This can be tricky to do tactfully, but asking questions about turnover, culture, and growth opportunities during the interview process can prevent unpleasant surprises down the road. Questions you could ask include:

  • What is the company culture like?
  • Can you tell me about the team I’ll be working with?
  • Where is the last person who held this job moving on to?
  • Where have successful employees previously in this position progressed to?
  • What are the career paths in this department/company?

Step 4: Get a View of the Future

Asking questions about the growth of the company and its employees is a good idea for two reasons. “I always ask what a company's goals are for the next five to ten years. It gives a good perspective on what their values are and how I may or may not fit with a company,” says Diane Kulseth, another young professional. Plus, asking about the future of the company and opportunities for your own growth shows that you’re committed and eager to learn. You can ask:

  • Where do you see this company in the next few years?
  • What can you tell me about your new product or plans for growth?
  • What training programs are available to your employees?
  • Are there opportunities for advancement or professional development?

Step 5: Build a Relationship

When in doubt, ask the interviewer about himself or herself. “I ask interviewers about their journey in their career, such as what field they were in before and how it led to where they are now,” says Sasha Rice, a recent graduate. “People love talking about themselves…Plus, if you have similarities, it creates a bond between you and them.” But “be careful,” suggests Smith “to not get too personal, and pay attention to how the interviewer reacts.” Try questions like:

  • How long have you been with the company?
  • What did you do before?
  • Why did you come to this company?
  • What’s your favorite part about working here?

Step 6: Wrap Up

At the end of the interview, don’t forget to ask about next steps. First, reiterate that you’re interested in the position (assuming you still are, of course!), and ask the following non-presumptuous questions about what’s next in the hiring process:

  • What are the next steps in the interview process?
  • Is there anything else I can provide you with that would be helpful?

Questions to Avoid

Sure, there are a million more questions you’d like to ask (um, where’s the best place around here for happy hour?), but there are some key topics to avoid, too. Most importantly: “never ask any question you should already know the answer to. You must do your homework and research before going to the interview,” says Amy Stake-Michalenko, Career Services Manager at Fresh Start Women’s Foundation.

Salary is another taboo. “Never ask about benefits, pay, what they will do for you—particularly in a first or even second round interview.  This will be negotiated once they make you an offer and prior to you accepting,” Stake-Michalenko adds.

Finally, don’t bombard the interviewer with a laundry list of questions. If she seems engaged in the conversation and encourages you to keep asking, great, but if you see her looking at her watch, time to wrap it up! It’s best to pick a handful of questions that are most important to you and leave on a positive note.

 

 

Feature | 09/19/2022

Career Advice from Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling Can Make You Laugh, But She Also Has Career Advice for You

By: Stav Ziv article from The Muse

Never have I ever admitted, until now, how eager I am to binge the new season of a teen dramedy (I am…not a teen). But Never Have I Ever—brainchild of Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher—is too good and refreshingly weird not to be excited about, no matter how old you are. (Weird because, for example, notoriously confrontational tennis pro John McEnroe narrates the high school trials and tribulations of an Indian American teenager in California, what of it?) It’s one of the best teen shows I can remember watching—where most of the characters, minus Paxton, actually look like teens—and I’m not surprised Kaling had something to do with it.

An alum of Dartmouth who got her foot in the door on The Office, Kaling has spent her career painstakingly carving a path for herself in a very white, very male industry where she was, as she often talks about, a “diversity hire” who came up through NBC’s diversity program. “For a long time I was really embarrassed about that,” she told The Guardian. “It took me a while to realize that I was just getting the access other people had because of who they knew.”

She’s had to work just as hard to get onscreen as more than a forgettable sidekick as she has to get in the writers’ room. “My career has only become what it has out of sheer need, not because I wanted it that way. I knew if I wanted to perform I was going to have to write it myself,” she told Entertainment Weekly for a 2013 cover story. In a 2017 cover story of her own, Reese Witherspoon recounted a conversation she’d had with Kaling. “Don’t you ever get exhausted by always having to create your own roles?” Witherspoon had asked. Kaling replied: “Reese, I’ve never had anything that I didn’t create for myself.”

Well, create she did. After The Office—where she played Kelly Kapoor and wrote more episodes than anyone else—Kaling created and starred in six seasons of The Mindy Project. More recently, she wrote, produced, and played a leading role in the 2019 movie Late Night, loosely based on her own story as the lone woman and sole person of color in a writers’ room.

Never Have I Ever, which draws on Kaling’s formative experiences as the daughter of immigrants, takes representation to the next level. Not only did Kaling create roles for a diverse cast—and hire a previously unknown Tamil Canadian actress, the excellent Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, to take the helm as Devi through an open call—but she also filled the writers’ room with young Indian women. Together they shaped characters and storylines for a show that’s have inspired some mixed feelings, but also been hailed as a “win” and a “watershed moment.”

If you, too, want to know more about Kaling as you watch this new season, here’s a collection of inspiring quotes and real talk on diversity, hard work, success, mentorship, motherhood, and more—all in one place.

  • On the “right” order: “Don’t be scared if you don’t do things in the right order, or if you don’t do some things at all… If you have a checklist, good for you. Structured ambition can sometimes be motivating. But also, feel free to let it go. Yes, my culminating advice from my speech is a song from the Disney animated movie, Frozen.” —Dartmouth University commencement speech 2018
  • On dreaming of success: “I don’t remember lying up at night thinking, the dream I have is something where no one who looks like me has ever succeeded. I just thought that I would somehow find a way to succeed.” —The New York Times Magazine
  • On possible paths forward: “Don’t trust any one story of how to become successful.” —Dartmouth University commencement speech 2018
  • On writing your own part: “Write your own part. It is the only way I’ve gotten anywhere. It is much harder work, but sometimes you have to take destiny into your own hands. It forces you to think about what your strengths really are, and once you find them, you can showcase them, and no one can stop you.” ―Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
  • On not letting people stop you: “People get scared when you try to do something, especially when it looks like you’re succeeding. People do not get scared when you’re failing. It calms them. But when you’re winning, it makes them feel like they’re losing or, worse yet, that maybe they should've tried to do something too, but now it’s too late. And since they didn’t, they want to stop you. You can’t let them.” —Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
  • On the stigma of being a “diversity hire”: “It used to really embarrass me because I thought I had the scarlet letter on me. ‘Diversity hire’ inherently meant, ‘less talented but fulfilling that quota.’... [I used to think that] if you’re funny, it’s funny and you’ll get noticed. But that isn’t true. If you don’t know the right people to get into the rooms, you will just never be seen. I love talking about it in the movie because it’s really real, and the stigma’s really real, and it truly is a helpful thing. It helped me personally… I really admire NBC for doing that program. I think if more people like me who are successful after coming through something like that talk about how the experience helped them, then there will be less of a stigma to it.” —Deadline
  • On the fear of being replaced: “It terrified me that they were interviewing another person of color or another woman because I’d be like, ‘Okay I’m going to get fired’ because you only needed one. I had a lot of growing up to do in terms of not operating from a fear of getting replaced.” —Time Magazine
  • On hard work: “Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled. Listen to no one except the two smartest and kindest adults you know, and that doesn’t always mean your parents. If you do that, you will be fine.” —Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
  • On confidence: “People talk about confidence without ever bringing up hard work. That’s a mistake. I know I sound like some dour older spinster on Downton Abbey who has never felt a man’s touch and whose heart has turned to stone, but I don’t understand how you could have self-confidence if you don’t do the work… Because confidence is like respect; you have to earn it.” —Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
  • On imposter syndrome: “I don’t feel imposter syndrome and the reason I don’t is that I work so hard. I feel imposter syndrome happens when people feel unqualified for their jobs. Before I got my own show, I put in eight years at The Office. I wrote 24 episodes of TV. I was an executive producer at the end of it and I’d been a staff writer at the beginning. Then I did my show for six years, did 117 episodes. I feel like I’m a real A-student. I feel like I really prepare for my work. Again, it’s not all successes. A lot of times I failed, but I do feel qualified when I move up the ranks, like, ‘OK, I put in my time. I put in my, whatever it is, 10,000 hours. I feel qualified to do this next thing.’” —E!
  • On the myth of being “bad with names”: “I don’t think it should be socially acceptable for people to say they are ’bad with names.’ No one is bad with names. That is not a real thing. Not knowing people’s names isn’t a neurological condition; it’s a choice. You choose not to make learning people’s names a priority. It’s like saying, ‘Hey, a disclaimer about me: I’m rude.’” ―Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
  • On not hiding the effort: “It’s really refreshing to work with women who don’t have to conceal how hard they work. I think the process, the work, used to be seen as something you hide, because everyone puts a premium on being so effortless… I think that’s one of the nicest changes in the last five years: Women don’t have to be these alluring, mysterious cats who get things done and you don’t know how hard they work, how hard they work out, what they’re eating. We now celebrate the fact that women can say, ‘Yeah, I sacrificed this, I have to do this….’ It isn’t effortless.” —Glamour
  • On losing your temper: “It took me a long time to realize that when you’re 24 and are losing your temper, it’s sort of adorable because you have to give up. You don’t have any power. But if you’re the boss and lose your temper, you’re just a tyrant. I still can have a short fuse, but I deal with it in a different way.” —The New York Times Magazine
  • On being kind: “The best advice I ever got is probably from [The Office creator] Greg Daniels. One piece of advice he gave me, which seems very simple but is very hard to follow all the time, is ‘Be kind.’ If you’re in a room with, a bunch of sardonic, East Coast-educated impatient writers, it’s very hard to show kindness. And I think that especially graduating from comedy writer to running a show where, like, I’m a manager, I can be sued for, like, human resources issues—that’s not something that I came into this doing—so like being kind to people, and listening to people tell you about their families, and their lives.” —AOL talk
  • On her evolution: “I think in my twenties I was only focused on, OK, I don’t want to get fired. I want to be successful, and I was only thinking about myself. In no way was I thinking about things that are the most important to me now, which is my health, holding the door open behind me for other people.” —Marie Claire
  • On being successful: “Part of being successful is that you start to spend your career with people who are way more successful than you. It’s a blessing, because I get to learn from them.” —Glamour
  • On mentorship: “When you’re a woman and a woman of color who is also an employer, you can’t just be someone who employs people. You also have to be a mentor. It’s sort of your responsibility because there are so few of us.” —The New York Times Magazine
  • On opening doors for others: “Especially during these new shows, I realized that the only way that people will have these kinds of opportunities—there’s literally been so little change for women of color—is if people like me make a difference. So it’s just the fact of the matter. We have to be the ones to open the doors for other people.” —Deadline
  • On deciding to become a mother: “I think that it’s hard when you have a career that you really love to find the exact right time to have a baby. I think if you wanna be a mother, that’s a great decision. If you don’t, that’s also a great decision. For me, it was a wonderful thing to have done before I turn 40. I recommend it to people who also love their careers.” —The View
  • On reprioritizing: “Having a daughter made me realize that, as much as I love my career and I really value and take pride in my work ethic and I’m constantly talking about it, I had to reprioritize the way that I worked and honestly start sacrificing things professionally so that I could be a good mom, which is something I was not used to at all.” —E!
  • On self-care: “It’s funny, that’s a term that maybe three to five years ago—I don’t know if this is because I’m Asian or because I’ve worked since I was 15-years-old—used to have pejorative connotations for me. Like, ‘who has time for self-care? I’m trying to build an empire and be a single mom.’ I think it was during the pandemic, when I was working from home and my children were at home, I decided that was an outdated way of thinking.” —Forbes
  • On running: “I’m always so self-conscious talking about how much I love running because I don’t look like someone who’s athletic or anything. But it has really helped me...It just focuses me and makes me a better writer. I think I’m a friendlier person, a more patient mom.” —Marie Claire
  • On hubris: “I think luxuriating and thinking that you feel successful feels like a little bit of hubris. And in comedy, the minute a character starts thinking they’re celebrated is the minute when something terrible happens to them.” —Deadline
  • On what she wants her legacy to be: “I’ve always felt that I represent the underdog. At this time and this place, as an Indian woman and a single mom, I’ve felt like the kind of person who often does not get to be the lead of a story. I want the stories that I tell, the characters I play and create, to resonate with people who do not see themselves onscreen. When I’m gone and people look at my body of work, they can see it in the context of where I came from and where my family came from and say, ‘Wow, that was the beginning of a ripple effect.’ That people are inspired because they felt that I, in some way, helped move the door open a couple more inches. That would be really incredible to me.” —Glamour
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

What College Can Teach the Aspiring Entrepreneur

How do you use college to learn how to be an entrepreneur? For the student looking to launch a company after graduation, the answers to the typical questions—where do you go to school, http://online.wsj.com/articles/what-college-can-teach-the-aspiring-entrepreneur-1414965300

Feature | 03/01/2024

How I Got This Job Data Analytics

On February 20th, the ECO hosted How I Got This Job: Data Analytics with Nigel Brooks, Business Intelligence Analyst from Major League Soccer! A big thank you to Nigel for making this happen!

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Cherry

Feature | 10/10/2016

ECON Alum: Diane Cherry, Class of '89

At the time of the production of this profile, Ms. Cherry worked as the Environments Policy Manager at the Institute of Emerging Issues. Learn more about Ms. Cherry's current position here: http://www.energync.org/page/bio_diane_C/Diane-Cherry.htm

Why study economics?

Economics is one of the most important topics that explain everyday life.  It tells us why consumers and firms behave the way they do and how they relate to each other and to institutions such as the government. As two examples -- economics explains how firms react to different types of regulation and how the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies impact the interest rates consumers face when they go to finance the purchase of their house. Economics can be applied to all kinds of sectors such as healthcare, the environment and education. In nearly every issue or discussion people want to know who is impacted and how much something costs.  All of that requires an understanding of economics. More broadly, economics teaches analytical and problem solving skills that employers continually search for in their employees.

2. What course/professor was influential and why?

Dr. Ed Olsen was the most influential professor I had when I was at UVA.  I was part of the economics distinguished majors program and spent my fourth year doing a research paper on how announcements of money supply affect interest rates and exchange rates.  I really enjoyed the research aspect of the work and wanted to continue as a research assistant in some capacity after I graduated.  Dr. Olsen provided me the names and contacts of several organizations in Washington, D.C. that hire research assistants out of college and I was fortunate enough to work for one organization for two and a half years before I went to graduate school.

3. What made the economics department attractive to you/what made it special?  

The economics department was special for a number of reasons.  First, I really enjoyed the distinguished majors program and the small number of students that were part of that group.  We socialized together and studied together and many of us had similar career interests.  Second, I really had a chance to get to know my professors – Dr. Charlie Holt and Dr. Ed Olsen were two of them-- and I have even stayed in touch with them fifteen years later. Third, the department offered a variety of classes in everything from labor economics to public finance and all of these topics explored economics in a different way. There really was something available for anyone and now the department offers even more classes than when I attended UVA.

4. Your job title is Environments Policy Manager. In your own words, what is it that you do and how is your job related to your major?

I am the Environments Policy Manager at the Institute for Emerging Issues, a public policy organization housed at NC State University and founded by former Governor Jim Hunt.  In my job, I work collaboratively with individuals from all sectors and areas of North Carolina to build collective action in energy, infrastructure, transportation and the natural environment. I also teach U.S. Environmental Policy, Written Communication for Public Policy and other courses in the MPA program at NC State University.  Previously, I worked as a senior policy advisor for North Carolina’s environmental director and as a Presidential Management Fellow for the EPA.

The environmental and energy field is very divisive.  Economics plays an important part of the discussion of what the state of North Carolina should do to encourage everything from the development of renewable energy to the deployment of broadband in rural areas of the state.  The other factor that permeates most of the discussions I am part of is the role of the private and the public sector in solving energy and environmental issues. Depending on one’s viewpoint, there should either be a strong role for the government or the outcome should be left to market.  The conversations are interesting and economics inevitably has a big piece of the discussion.

5. What is an interesting project you’ve worked on?

One of the most interesting projects I worked on recently was developing a workshop for about one hundred stakeholders across North Carolina on the implications of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) on North Carolina’s future energy footprint.  The CPP’s carbon dioxide standards reflect “the best system of emission reductions” and each state is obliged to develop an individual program for compliance.  This set of regulations serves as a national signal for the end of coal as the backbone of our nation’s energy needs. Meanwhile, the Plan also opens up enormous market opportunities for manufacturers of energy-efficient products and components of renewable energy systems. North Carolina’s manufacturers excel in both of these product sectors.

6. What advice do you have for students about their time in the department in relation to preparing for next steps?

When I was in my third and fourth year I knew I wanted to work for a while before going to graduate school but I didn’t know where or in what field.  I found the professors an amazing resource to talk with about the opportunities available to economics majors.  Dr. Olsen in particular was really helpful and provided me the names of over a dozen organizations that hired research assistants for two or three years.  I interviewed with several before deciding upon Resources for the Future and that job has influenced my entire career trajectory. 

7. What do you know now you wish you had known while you were majoring in economics at U.Va.?  

I wished I had talked with more students who took different career paths following graduation. Economics is a major that leads to a number of careers. I never really considered consulting or law school but that was in part because I never had exposure to students who worked in those fields.  I believe that the best way to find your path going forward is to get exposure to as many people who have different careers.  Each time you learn something you don’t want to do it is a clearer path to finding what you do want to do.

8. Who (or what) has been influential in your career and why?

My graduate degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University was very instrumental toward my career path.  I had an interest in policy issues back in the early 1990s when I left UVA and worked in Washington, D.C. but graduate programs in public policy then were not nearly as prevalent as they are now.  I kind of backed into a public policy career after eliminating a Ph.D. in economics as one of my career options.  My boss at Resources for the Future where I worked as a research assistant had contacts at the Kennedy School of Government and suggested that I apply there for graduate school.

9. What is on the horizon for you/other career goals you have in mind?  

I have really enjoyed teaching public policy courses at NC State University and hope to continue teaching in the indefinite future.  Since I’ve been working about twenty years in public policy it is fun to teach public policy tools to the next generation of professionals.

10. Tell us a fun fact about you.

I really enjoy running and have already completed five half marathons throughout North Carolina.  I don’t think I’ll ever train for a full marathon but running is a great way to relieve stress and ruminate about things that require a lot of thinking.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/08/2018

Does Your Resume Have a Perfect Sales Pitch?

Does Your Resume Have a Perfect Sales Pitch?

No matter your field, there's plenty of selling in the job search, with prospective employers as buyers for the products, which are the applicants themselves. As a result, sales skills matter, and they get a lot of attention. But they're mostly thought of as the skills you need to bring to the interview, a place where your performance is akin to a sales pitch. That perspective is far too limited, however, because knowing how to sell is critical to many other parts of the search. Nowhere is that more true than in the way you handle your resume.

That seemingly cut-and-dried piece of paper can actually be a powerful sales tool if you give it half a chance. To do that, though, you have to understand something that the best salespeople, the true pros, know, and you have to be willing to apply that knowledge to your resume. With that, your resume can really do its job. In Martin Scorsese's 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street," Leonardo DiCaprio, as stock-promoter Jordan Belfort, issues a similar challenge to his would-be associates in boiler-room shenanigans: "Sell me this pen!"

Editor's note: You can find the clip here. We'd embed it, but it, like much of the rest of the movie, is NSFW. 

The point of the exercise is to show them, despite the high opinions they hold of their own sales skills, that they don't really know how to sell. They make all the rookie mistakes. They talk about how wonderful the pen is. They extol its beauty. They focus on its features. 

We don't need to detail all the ways they get it wrong. We don't even need to elaborate on what it means to get it right, because getting it right comes down to one very simple principle: Start with the customer, not the pen. 

In other words, a good salesman needs to know who's buying what he wants to sell. Features are nice, but they may be completely irrelevant to a given customer. Benefits, as the word itself suggests, are things worth getting, but we don't all seek the same benefits. Before selling benefits, you need to know your prospect and the benefits that actually matter. 

That's the method – call it the "buyer-first approach" – and it's often pressed into service as a good way to manage the job interview for sales and non-sales jobs alike. In that context, it works, and it does so because it's invariably helpful to know your interviewer. 

Without that knowledge, you're liable to rattle off accomplishments and experiences that don't really matter. With it, you can target the things that do, the ones the interviewer sees as important. What is she looking for from an applicant? What is this job about? What qualities suit that job, and, it follows, what qualities should you emphasize? Which of your accomplishments translate well to this new position? Which won't matter at all? What does she want to see, and how can you make her see it in you? 

The buyer-first approach is really just a matter of learning to see things through the other party's eyes, and the interview is the most obvious use case for its implementation. After all, it's the one place you might be called on to sell an actual pen to that actual person on the other side of the desk. It happens in real life, not just in the movies. 

However, if the interview is the obvious place for the buyer-first approach, it's not the only place. In fact, the approach can be profitably applied throughout the job search. 

Take resumes, for example. You may have put a lot of effort into crafting a resume that looks great. It conveys loads of positive information in a beautifully organized and highly readable form, and that's quite an accomplishment. It's as close to perfect as can be, and it should make a wonderful impression on anyone who receives it. The world trembles in anticipation. 

Before you unleash this creature on that trembling world, take a step back. There's every chance that the document you've created, beautiful though it may be, is a document that, first and foremost, looks good to you. That's to be expected, but now it's time to apply the buyer-first approach. It's time to look at it through the eyes of the people who'll be on the receiving end.

First of all, those people are not all the same. Even in the same industry, or in the same field within that industry, different companies and different jobs call for different qualities. Sometimes, those qualities are spelled out in a job posting, and the applicant needs to simply hit the marks explicitly laid out. At other times, you have to dig deeper to find what's on a hiring manager's mind. You have to interpret what the "buyer" wants, using any clues you can find. Again, you need to see things through his eyes.

To complicate matters, it may be that no human eyes are involved at all. Then, it's not a hiring manager you need to impress. Instead, it's an algorithm, an automated system that scans your resume for the right keywords. Without those keywords, no hiring manager will ever know how good you could have been. You can still use the buyer-first approach here by looking through the system's eyes and giving it the keywords it wants to find. 

There's a catch, of course, to adopting the buyer-first approach, but it's a catch worth tolerating if you want your resume to have maximum impact. 

Simply put, the catch is that there's more work to do. You have to tailor your resume to the needs of a particular employer. You have to highlight the achievements that really seem to matter to this company. You have to spell out the skills that matter in this specific job. You may have to emphasize experience or education in slightly different ways. In essence, you sell the pen differently to different buyers, and that means revising the resume you worked so hard to perfect. 

In the end, though, it's worth it. When you're in the job market, you're the pen, and putting extra effort into your sales pitch will seem like a small price to have paid if it helped you make this one very big sale.

Paul Freiberger is President of Shimmering Resumes and author of When Can You Start? Ace the Job Interview and Get Hired. For career help and resume writing and LinkedIn profiles, contact him at Paul@ShimmeringResumes.com.

 
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/13/2019

Tips for Making the Most of Your Summer Internship

Tips for Making the Most of Your Summer Internship/Job

Compiled by Sabrina Grandhi (Econ 2019, Consultant Cornerstone Research

  • Ask to Meet with your Supervisor-First Team Meetings:

    • Meet with your boss/manager to go over your projects.

      • Want to outline expectations and understand what deliverables & deadlines you might have

      • Make sure to communicate about your strengths and weaknesses

      • Help your manager understand the best ways you learn and how they can help you learn

      • Be clear about when you might need/ask for help

      • Understand what checkpoints you will have and what is expected of you at each check-in

  • Finding the right fit:

    • Be true to your interests and what gets you excited about work—problem solving, combing through data, presenting to your team, etc.

    • Try new things but don’t be afraid to be honest about what you like and don’t like, there are so many jobs out there.

    • Be humble throughout the entire process—recruiting, working, every part

    • Try new things!!

Read this: How to Make the Most of Your Summer Internship (Recommended by the Economics Career Office)

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/24/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 10.24.16

How to Navigate a Career Fair PowerPoint, Events, M.S. in Commerce Info Session, and this week's ECO alumni guest, Jeff Hansen!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/25/2018

Make a Powerful Interview Impact! (First Impressions Count!)

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/02/2021

ECO Article: Explosive Tech Firm Growth in NYC - Younger Firms Driving Office Leasing

Younger firms are driving office leasing in the city

NATALIE SACHMECHI 

Taken from Crain's New York, October 11, 2021

The ECO recommends this article to get a sense of the NYC economy, what's going on in commercial real estate, and because the info signals the possibility of jobs and internships for our majors. For more Crain's New York info, click here.

 

The share of young firms leasing office space in the city has skyrocketed, driving down the average age of businesses that are signing deals to 27 years old, down from 29 years in 2019, according to data from Newmark.

Demand for space from tenants that have been in business for less than 10 years grew by 514% during the pandemic, compared with 226% in 2019, with some of them leasing 10 times more space than they occupied in 2019, the report said.

“I kept coming across companies I’ve never heard of going from 20,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet,” said David Falk, president of Newmark’s New York tristate region. “It wasn’t just the Googles and Facebooks of the world.” 

 

Those deals were driven by tech companies such as Alloy, Freshly and DailyPay,  which have all grown by more than 1,000%, and Remarkable Foods, Fubo TV, Affirm and Cashapp, which quadrupled their offices. Noom signed a sublease for 113,000 square feet at Brookfield’s 5 Manhattan West in the fall of 2020.

The expansions are thanks to rapid growth and hiring among these businesses, which have resisted much of the pandemic’s damage to the city’s economy. 

“Their business has done quite well over the last year,” Falk said. “They started at an opportune time to look at real estate and move to a better building or get better terms or flexibility.”

They’re responsible for pushing the office market out of 15 months of negative absorption, when more space was given up than was leased. In Midtown South, where most of these companies are, that figure turned positive during the third quarter, with net absorption of nearly 433,000 square feet.

The overall number of tenants in the technology, advertising, marketing and information space looking for new offices grew from 107 in 2019 to 132 as of last month. 

Companies including Remarkable Foods, Cashapp, Splice and Twitch have grown out of coworking space and expanded into their own offices. TikTok was previously operating out of a WeWork at 1460 Broadway but relocated to a 232,000-square-foot, seven-floor office at the Durst Organization’s 151 W. 42nd St. during the spring.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than 31% of emerging tenants’ leases, however, were subleases, compared with 24% of deals signed by emerging tech firms. They were able to scoop up office space in newer Class A buildings for a discounted price.

“These tenants can now get better buildings at reasonable prices with flexible terms,” Falk said. “Aesthetics are becoming more important to them.”

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/commercial-real-estate/younger-firms-are-d...

 

 

 

Economics

Feature | 09/11/2018

Welcome to Our New Graduate Students

The UVA Department of Economics is delighted to welcome its incoming class of graduate students. The cohort of 20 students is equally divided with regards to gender. Fifteen of the 22 are international students, 9 of whom earned degrees at other universities in the U.S. Each student in the cohort has at least one previous degree in economics, if not two, and several had a second undergraduate major in math or statistics. They bring with them a wide range of real world experience: one student is completing a position as a Fulbright Scholar at the Free Market Foundation of South Africa; several have completed internships with places such as the Korea Economic Research Institute,  the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Yale School of Management; and others have held professional positions--as economists, research assistants, or analysts--at organizations such as the Bank of Korea, the University of Wisconsin Hospital Emergency Medicine Research Group, the DC Federal Reserve Board, and the NERA Economic Consulting firm.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

What Percent of Interns Receive Full-Time Offers?

Vault recently released its Top Internship Rankings for 2016. These included a prestige ranking, an overall best internship ranking, a best internship for quality of life ranking, and several rankings by industy. The rankings were created from the results from our annual internship survey, which asked nearly 6,000 current and former interns to rate their internships, as well as their dream internship employers, in various categories.

In addition, the survey asked interns to tell us if they received or expected to receive a full-time offer at the end of their internship from their internship employer and, if so, if they were going to accept that offer (note: the survey was administered at the end of this past summer, when some interns were still interning).

(You may need to login into HandShake to access this article).

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Common Resume Mistakes

It's easy to rely on Spellcheck, but you might be surprised by how many grammatical and spelling mistakes it can miss.

Feature | 11/05/2023

Investment Banking - How to Win Deals

Investment Banking - How to Win Deals 

Event: Investment Banking - How to Win Deals

Date: Thursday, November 9th

Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Location: Commonwealth Room at Newcomb Hall

Register for the event using this link.

“Since 2022 was one of the most dynamic and volatile years in the history of M&A globally, Deloitte is extremely proud to have closed more deals than any other M&A advisor in the world,” says Phil Colaco, Deloitte Global Corporate Finance leader and CEO of Deloitte Corporate Finance LLC. “Our results are a testament to the perseverance, resilience and quality of Deloitte’s clients, professionals and industry ecosystem members.”

Phil recently retired from the role of CEO of Deloitte Corporate Finance LLC (DCF) in the U.S and served as the Global Leader of Deloitte Corporate Finance. Here he managed the IB business, which in 2022 completed more transactions than any other firm in this space. Prior to joining DCF, he served as a Managing Director and co-founding Partner at McColl Partners, a middle market IB fIrm. Phil is a proud Wahoo and serves on a Regional Board of Trustees for the College of Arts and Sciences and has held leadership positions on the board of Make-a-Wish foundation. Phil holds a BA in Economics from UVA and an MBA focused on Finance and Accounting from University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Meet Phil; learn about his career in finance; and receive tips about building your career!

https://spinellaconsultingacquisitions.com/news/deloittes-head-of-investment-banking-reads-the-private-equity-tea-leaves/

https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/press-room/deloitte-recognized-by-Mergermarket.html

Feature | 03/20/2020

Hundanol Kebede presents at PACDEV

Hundanol Kebede presented his paper, titled “The gains from market integration: The welfare effects of new rural roads in Ethiopia,” at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics (PacDev), held at UC-Berkeley. In the paper, he estimates the welfare gains from a massive rural road expansion project that doubled the total road length in the country between 2011 and 2015.  He uses tools from international trade theory and detailed household level data to quantify household-level welfare gains from the road expansion and how much of those gains can be attributed to trade mechanisms. He shows that the road expansion increased market integration and village specialization in comparative advantage crops. One of the paper’s novel contributions is that it shows how increased road connectivity would cause household production decisions to be dictated by market prices rather than consumption preferences – commonly known as separability. That is, road connectivity decreases the correlation between household land allocation across different crops and budget allocation across crops. This leads to significant efficiency gains because land will be reallocated to crops that have higher market value. 

Feature | 01/11/2021

ARMED WITH HUMOR, STUDENT NAMED AMONG NATION’S TOP FOUR ARMY ROTC CADETS

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/25/2022

ECO Video Article: How to Maximize Handshake's Internship and Job Fairs

If you’re looking for the chance to connect with recruiters and stand out in your job or internship hunt, Handshake’s new virtual career fairs are meant for you!

UVA's next virtual career fair is Thursday, 2/3! Watch the video below to learn all about why virtual fairs are your ticket to getting hired this year, including:

  • No more long lines
  • Early session sign-ups
  • Chances to stand out to recruiters

Then, get prepared for your first fair with our holistic guide. Don’t forget to prep an elevator pitch!

Then visit this link for more tips: https://economics.virginia.edu/news/eco-blog-approaching-virtual-career-...

Feature | 12/11/2019

Ramiro Burga Presents Paper on Bilingual Education at APPAM Conference

In November, Ramiro Burga presented his paper “Fixing an Instructional Mismatch: The Case of Bilingual Education among Indigenous Students in Peru” at the 2019 Fall Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management in Denver, Colorado. In this paper, he studies the effects of a bilingual education reform that targets indigenous populations and intends to correct the mismatch that exists between the language of instruction (status-quo language) and the students' mother tongue. The results of his research suggests that students progress faster towards upper grades as a result of the policy. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/24/2018

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Feature | 09/09/2018

Register for Princeton Fintech and Quant Conference

We are pleased to invite you to the 2018 IIT Stuart - Princeton Fintech and Quant Conference at IIT Stuart School of Business in Downtown Chicago, IL. The conference will feature speakers and panelists from leading trading firms, banks, and hedge funds from around the country, as well as from financial technology firms and startups. Our speakers will provide real fintech and quant insights from the trenches. There will be opportunities to network with leading professionals and fellow top students and gain an insider's view of this fast-paced and exciting sector of finance and technology as well as learn about internship and employment opportunities.

The biggest trend right now in the Fintech space is blockchain technology. While Database and Networking technologies have evolved separately over the years, blockchain is at the intersection of these technologies and it enables systems that maintain a single version of data across a network using consensus algorithms. These consensus algorithms are based on cryptography concepts. This year's conference will feature speakers from this space as well as educational talks and workshops.
 

Over the past seven years, we’ve brought together more than 120 high-level industry professionals and 2,500 students in Princeton and in Chicago to discuss the leading trends in quantitative trading. This year’s spring conference will take place on Saturday, October 20th, at the IIT Stuart School of Business in Downtown Chicago, IL. Below are just a few of the companies that have been represented and recruited at previous conferences:

  • Deutsche Bank
  • JP Morgan
  • Two Sigma
  • Princeton Alpha
  • Ripple
  • AQR
  • Quantopian
  • Domeyard LLP
  • Portfolio Effect
  • Byte Academy
  • Cindicator
  • Numerix
  • And many more!

    Students and Young Alumni who purchase tickets by Sunday, September 9th will receive 15% off the Early Tickets registration price by including the promotional code ALPHA15. To qualify, students must use their .edu email for registration.

To register, please visit our conference site: 

http://www.princetonfintechquant.org/

or our Eventbrite page: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/princeton-fintech-quant-conference-fall-2018-chicago-tickets-46348508637

We look forward to having you join us.

Feature | 11/13/2023

Nobel Winner Claudia Goldin Predicted Flexible Work Could Ease The Pay Gap. New Data Supports Her Theory

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/30/2023

Does Your Resume Pass the Six Second Test?

Article written by Kailyn Rhone for The Wall Street Journal

And, click here to read the ECO's response to this article. 

No pressure, but your résumé has six seconds to make an impression before it is sent to the don’t-even-bother pile.

That is how long a recruiter typically skims a résumé to decide whether to pass it on to a hiring manager, said J.T. O’Donnell, chief executive of career-coaching site Work It Daily. Recruiters often have hundreds of online applications to wade through, even with algorithms helping filter many of them out. They will likely give yours little more than a glance to judge whether you make it onto the shortlist of candidates.

In other words, your résumé has to be highly “skimmable,” Ms. O’Donnell said at The Wall Street Journal’s recent Jobs Summit. “The human eye works in a Z-pattern, and I’m going down, looking for four to five things that I was told you need to have or you cannot be considered.” 

The CV won’t clinch a job offer, but it gets you to the next step, she and other career coaches say. A résumé that’s hard to skim or fails to mention key skills needed for the job could keep you from ever getting the chance to make your case in an interview. 

Some ways to make your résumé stand out, and some job-search killers to avoid, according to the experts at the summit:  

1) Forget the professional statement.

Job seekers have long been advised to include a short paragraph atop of their résumé summing up their skills, experience, achievements and goals. No more.

“Recruiters don’t have time for that,” Ms. O’Donnell said. Instead, open with a one-line “headline” stating your occupational specialty—ideally with words matching the role you’re applying for, like “digital marketing specialist” or “technical writer,” she said. 

Follow the headline with two short columns of bullets with concrete skills. If you coordinated a team to pull off a big assignment and the job posting mentions project-management experience, use that same language, since that’s what recruiters and their applicant-tracking-systems will screen for, said Jane Oates, president of WorkingNation, a nonprofit focused on workforce development. 

“Every job you apply for, you should customize your résumé just a little bit by putting in some of the words that are in that job description,” Ms. Oates said.

2) Don’t be a jack of all trades.

It is tempting to pack your résumé with the entirety of your work experience, especially for those who have a lot of it. Resist the urge, and focus on your relevant professional work history. “You don’t need to have any more that you scooped ice cream at the Margate Dairy Bar,” Ms. Oates said.

Recruiters are looking for a match to that particular job opening, Ms. O’Donnell said. They aren’t interested in the twists and turns of your career, which could suggest you’re overqualified for the role. 

“A lot of companies don’t want to overpay, and that’s exactly the message you’re sending when you put everything on your résumé,” she said. 

It is OK for a résumé to be two pages, if necessary, she adds. But make sure it is formatted with enough white space to be easily skimmed. Start each line about your experience with the bolded job title, so that they are easy to scan down the left side. 

3) Use numbers.

Avoid subjective, ambiguous language, such as “passionate self-starter” or a “dedicated hard worker.” The hiring manager or recruiter will assess your soft skills when they interview you, Ms. O’Donnell said. A résumé is about your hard skills, which are best told through numbers.  

Her tip: Circle all of the nouns on your CV, because they can usually be quantified.

If you are describing your experience as a receptionist, for instance, don’t just say “Answer phones.” More effective is something like: “Work for a 300-person company, answering more than 100 calls a day, on a 12-line phone system,” she said.

4) Make your LinkedIn profile the priority.

“Your LinkedIn is really your best résumé,” said Brian Liou, founder and CEO of Rora, which advises tech-industry professionals in negotiating with employers. Recruiters trawl LinkedIn to find candidates for a given job opening. A few hacks can improve your chances of coming up in their searches.

First, set a reminder to switch up some of the keywords in your profile every two weeks. Changing the content helps prompt the site’s algorithm to re-scan your profile, keeping it toward the top of recruiter searches. 

And take advantage of Creator Mode, which Ms. O’Donnell calls one of LinkedIn’s best-kept secrets. The setting alters the presentation of profiles to emphasize topics that users discuss most on the platform and lets them choose hashtags aligned with their skills, showing LinkedIn you are an active user. “This is going to help get your content showcased,” she said.

One LinkedIn feature she does discourage using is the “Open to Work” banner. Though more hiring managers say they don’t frown upon career breaks, discrimination against people between jobs persists, she said. Instead, tweak your privacy settings to signal more indirectly to recruiters that you’re open to invitations, she suggested. 

5) Resist using ChatGPT.

The artificial-intelligence chatbot from OpenAI has quickly become a popular tool for creating and tweaking résumés. The trouble is, recruiters can spot a ChatGPT-built résumé “a mile away,” Ms. O’Donnell said, “and you get points off for that sort of thing.”

The chat assistant can be helpful if you’re building a résumé from scratch, but use it only as a starting point, she cautions.

One tool she does suggest is a free word-cloud app. (Wordart.com and wordclouds.com are two popular ones.) Paste the text of the job posting to see which words show up as the biggest—the ones repeated most often in the ad.

 “That’s how you’re going to find your top five or six things” to describe your skills and experience, she said.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/08/2022

ECO Article: Employer Hiring Updates for the Class of 2022

From the National Association of Colleges and Employers, NACE Job Outlook 2022

ABOUT THE SURVEY The Job Outlook survey is a forecast of hiring intentions of employers as they relate to new college graduates. Each year, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) surveys its employer members about their hiring plans and other employment-related issues to project the market for new college graduates for the current class and to assess a variety of conditions that may influence that market. Data for the Job Outlook 2022 survey were collected from August 18, 2021, through October 1, 2021. Of the 157 total respondents, 116 were NACE employer members, representing 15.7% of eligible member respondents. The Job Outlook 2022 survey was also distributed to nonmember companies from which an additional 41 responses were received. Of the total that responded, 5.7% are from New England, 9.6% are from the Southwest, 16.6% are from the Southeast, 15.9% are from the Rocky Mountain/Far West, 8.3% are from the Plains, 14% are from the Mideast, and 29.9% are from the Great Lakes. For additional information about the respondents, see the Appendix. Data are calculated based on the number of respondents to each specific question. Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding.  Be sure to check out the last few bullets regarding internships!

KEY INSIGHTS

  • Employers plan to hire 26.6% more new graduates from the Class of 2022 than they did from the Class of 2021. The data NACE collected in its Job Outlook 2022 survey appear to be in line with job opening trends in general. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report identifies more than 10 million job openings in the United States for August 2021. This is a 62% increase over the numbers for August 2020 (6.5 million) and a 42% increase over August 2019 (7.3 million), the last prepandemic year

  • Almost 60% of respondents have plans to increase hires this year and approximately 37% expect to maintain their number of new college graduate hires. Only the remaining 3.5% of respondents plan to decrease their number of college hires. In last year’s Job Outlook 2021 survey, only 16.5% of respondents planned to increase hires, 52.5% planned to maintain hiring numbers, and 31% had plans to decrease their number of hires.
  • There has been a shift in how employers rate the overall job market. The largest group of respondents (48.6%) rate the overall job market for 2021-22 graduates as “very good.” Last year, the largest group (51.7%) rated the overall job market for 2020-21 graduates as “fair.” In addition, 14.1% of respondents rate the overall job market for 2021-22 graduates as “excellent,” which is up from just 0.5% that gave the same rating to last year’s job market.
  • Employers continue to conduct most of their college recruiting in the fall for both full-time and intern hires. They report conducting their recruiting at a 66% fall/34% spring split for full-time hires and a 67% fall/33% spring split for intern hires.
  • Hiring by industry shows increases across the board. Of the industries with at least five respondents, the information sector is reporting the largest increase of 83%. All other sectors report fairly large double-digit increases, with construction employers reporting the smallest increase in hiring (6.8%).
  • In terms of individual respondents, 76.9% of employers from the information sector will increase hires and the remaining 23.1% will maintain hires. No respondents from this sector will decrease hires.
  • The only three industries with respondents reporting plans to decrease hires are utilities (16.7%), construction (12.5%), and miscellaneous professional services (11.1%).
  • Job market ratings by industry are all “good” or better. On a five-point scale ranging from “poor” to ”excellent,” the lowest rating comes from utilities, but falls between “good” and “very good.” The highest rating comes from the finance, insurance, and real estate industry.
  • Employers located in the Southwest region are more than doubling their new graduate hires, reporting an overall increase of 111.5%. The smallest increase in college graduate hiring is in the Plains region, where respondents are only hiring 3.5% more new graduates in 2021-22 than they did in 2020-21.
  • The Plains region also has the biggest group of respondents (8.3%) that will decrease hires for the 2021-22 academic year.
  • Almost 41% of respondents have plans to hire two-year, associate degree graduates. This is the highest percentage in terms of respondents hiring these graduates over the past seven years. The lowest level was reported for the Class of 2017, when just 12.3% of respondents planned to hire two-year, associate degree graduates.
  • Almost three-quarters of responding employers have plans to increase starting salaries for bachelor’s degree graduates. This percentage represents the highest level across the past eight years. The lowest level was last year, when just 42.3% of respondents reported that they would increase starting salaries for Class of 2021 graduates who earned bachelor’s degrees.
  • Slightly more than half of respondents will offer signing bonuses to Class of 2022 graduates. In addition, just half of these same respondents actually offered signing bonuses to Class of 2021 graduates. 
  • The overall average signing bonus for bachelor’s degree graduates is $5,881. By major, computer engineering graduates will be offered the largest signing bonuses at an average of $7,800.
  • Just 46.3% of respondents indicate they will screen candidates from the Class of 2022 by GPA. This continues a downward trend for the practice and represents the lowest percentage of use by employers yet.
  • Employers in the utilities industry (100%), Southwest region (64.3%), and size category of 10,001 to 20,000 employees (68.2%) will be the most likely to screen candidates by GPA. All three of these groups will use a median GPA cutoff of 3.0.
  • Responding employers indicate that critical thinking and communication are the most important career readiness competencies.
  • In terms of proficiency in the career readiness competencies, employers rate recent graduates as “very proficient” in only one area: technology.
  • When comparing employer importance ratings to their proficiency ratings of recent college graduates, the largest gaps are seen in the two competencies that employers deem most important: critical thinking and communication.
  • The top attributes that employers are seeking on candidate resumes are problem-solving skills (85.5% of respondents), analytical/quantitative skills (78.6%), and the ability to work in a team (76.3 %).
  • When choosing between two otherwise equally qualified candidates, having an internship with the particular employer’s organization or internship experience in the same industry are the most influential factors for employers. 

 

Feature | 11/02/2020

Sabrina Peng, Winner of the Annual International Atlantic Economic Society Undergraduate Paper Competition

Feature | 05/12/2020

Moogdho Mahzab Selected for 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences

PhD candidate Moogdho Mahzab was one of 373 young economists from around the world invited to attend the 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences. The event, which will be postponed until August 2021, due to Covid-19, honors the memory of Alfred Nobel by bringing together young economists and Laureates of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. The invitation is quite an honor. Congratulations, Moogdho!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/21/2017

ARTICLE- END YOUR INTERVIEW ON A HIGH NOTE WITH THIS QUESTION

"One of your top priorities as a job candidate should be to end your interview with a power punch – something that’ll make you stand out and show your enthusiasm. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s hard to do, especially when so many interviews end with you blandly telling your interviewer that you’ve got no more questions left for him to answer.

So, here’s a question you can ask to conclude your interview on a high-note and show that you’re still as hungry as ever for the job: “Would you mind showing me around the office before I head out? I would love the chance to see the place I might be working at soon.”

Here’s why it works!" -Peter Yang 

 

Click here to read the rest of the article

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/15/2019

Alumni Spotlight: Mike Shebat

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/31/2021

Blog: Consulting Blog #1

This message was shared with the ECO from the UVA Career Center for students interested in management consulting careers. This is message 1 of 3. For additional information, see Collab/ECO Resources/Vault Guides/Consulting Careers and the ECO website’s Industry Overviews in the “Management Consulting” section.

Step 1: Define Consulting 

We strongly suggest learning more about the role of a consultant before deciding to pursue internships and full-time positions. Here are a few resources to help get started with learning more: 

In addition to traditional management consulting, there are several areas of specialized consulting that may be of interest depending on your background. Look at the links below to see where your background may be best served or what is of most interest to you to work towards. 

If you are curious to learn more about which firms sit within each practice area, the Career Insider by Vault has a breakdown chart. From the top Data Analytics Consulting practices to Healthcare Consulting, this list serves as a valuable tool.

Last summer, we had the opportunity to hear from alumni from a variety of backgrounds talk about their path in consulting. Hear more about their story and advice in the videos and blog posts listed below:

Making the decision to pursue any career path is a big decision and it is important to make it an informed choice. In addition to the resources above, the Career Center offers an extensive library of resources are major and career exploration. 

  • PathwayU is a platform with assessments to help you identify education and career pathways that fit you and make the most sense for your unique interests and values.  

  • Candid Career is the premier provider of thousands of informational video interviews featuring industry professionals through an easy to use website. Their site provides the inside scoop on careers as well as advice that will give you an edge in your job search. Here are some links to videos with consultants to learn more about their day to day: 

  • Management Consultant, Boston Consulting Group 

  • Founder and Consultant, CompArchive LLC  

Step 2: Identify Target Firms 

Once you have decided consulting is an area you would like to explore further; we advise that you identify which firms you want to learn more about. Below are tips for accomplishing this: 

  • Regularly check the Events tab on Handshake to identify information sessions, coffee chats and networking events to attend. RSVP and add to your calendar! 

  • Visit each firm’s website, LinkedIn page, and social media accounts to learn more. You want to learn as much as you can about, the types of projects the firm typically works on and the overall environment to help assess fit.

For now, ask yourself some of these questions about the firm to assess fit:  

  • What does the organizational structure look like? 

  • What are the responsibilities of entry level consultants? 

  • What is the pattern for growth? Where do people go after their first role within the organization?

As you are identifying your firms to research, some will have specific portions of their websites dedicated to recruiting at UVA, check out these examples below: 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/19/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 9.19.16

This week's newsletter is loaded with opportunities for economics majors, curated specifically for you!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/24/2022

Coffee Chat Advice for Networking (Investment Banking Focused)

Investment Banking Coffee Chat Questions

Taken from: Peak Frameworks: https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/investment-banking-coffee-chat-quest... written by Matt Ting

Even if you have the perfect resume, you’ll probably still want to invest a good amount of time into diligent coffee chats, because networking is what turns a perfect resume into a perfect candidate.

For better or for worse, investment banking and finance as a whole rely a ton on word of mouth. Although there are formal gatekeepers for the most coveted jobs, there is so much attrition and new firms pop up so frequently that you can often grease your way to a great investment banking offer with pure will.

The thing to note is that networking can be a double-edged sword. People are willing to take a chance on a misunderstood kid with potential, but they won’t hesitate to blacklist annoying kids who get their name wrong.

 

coffee cup

 

The Goals of a Coffee Chat

So when you’re networking and doing coffee chats, you should have the following goals in mind:

  1. Impress the person you’re speaking to by being charming, and respectful, knowing their work experience (if you know ahead of time who you're meeting), and asking thoughtful questions.

  2. Learn about any potential opportunities, the status of recruiting processes, or any advice to succeed in the interview.

  3. Be introduced to other helpful contacts (HR manager, person running point on recruiting, person with a similar background to you).

But you shouldn’t even bother thinking about #2 and #3 unless you feel like you’ve nailed #1.

I’ve done my share of informational interviews and I can tell you – the difference between a good informational interview and an OK one is extremely noticeable. The difference between an OK call and a bad call is even more noticeable. Super smart kids will get on the phone and then be so obviously unpolished or disrespectful that it makes me wish they never even reached out.

The most important thing is that you need to have very thoughtful questions. By thoughtful, I mean questions that won’t just be simply “yes” or “no”, but instead show that you’ve done some element of research. Thoughtful questions mean you’ve researched the nuances of a person’s job and doesn’t make the call feel like a waste.

How to Ask Thoughtful Questions

Asking thoughtful questions means:

  • Trying not to answer yes or no questions without giving more room to elaborate.

  • Not asking anything that you can Google.

  • Asking things that are specific to that person’s career or job (i.e. things they are uniquely positioned to answer).

  • Not asking anything too intrusive or antagonistic unless you feel like the call is going really well (e.g. why did you decide to go to Western instead of Harvard)?

In an effort to really help you out, here’s the list of networking questions I used when networking with people for investment banking jobs.

If the chat was over the phone, I would have this document open in front of me. If it was a sit -down, in-person chat, I would memorize a couple of key questions and try to structure the conversation flow around them.

List of Coffee Chat Questions

 

Their Experience and Perspective:

  1. Could you help me understand your specific responsibilities on a typical day?

  2. What tasks or responsibilities of your job do you consider to be your favorite?

  3. What would you say is the biggest surprise on the job from when you joined the firm?

  4. Has your experience matched your expectations in terms of responsibility, learning opportunity and pace?

  5. What were the main reasons you selected this firm vs. other opportunities? (this becomes perfect ammunition for your “Why this firm?” question)

  6. Could you tell me about an interesting deal or project you’ve had the chance to work on?

  7. What particular aspects drew you to your specific [industry group or function]?

  8. It may be a little early, but have you thought about the next steps in your career? Are there any career paths that appeal to you?

Their Firm and the Firm’s Business Model:

  1. What stands out to you about your firm relative to its competitors?

  2. I’ve seen that your firm has grown a lot in [this geography or function]. What have been some of the key drivers behind that growth?

  3. What is the organizational structure of the firm? How big is the team you work with?

  4. What is the level of interactivity between different groups / offices at your firm? Does there tend to be a lot of shared resources?

  5. I’ve heard from friends and read online that your firm specializes in [this function]. Would you say this is true? How does your firm differentiate itself in this aspect?

  6. How would you guys describe your approach to win deals and new clients?

  7. I’ve noticed that your group has announced a number of [buy-side / sell-side] transactions. What do you think enables you guys to win deals like that?

  8. I noticed that your firm hired [this senior banker]. How has that impacted your role and what do you think it does for the firm’s strategic direction?

Lifestyle (only if call is progressing well):

  1. How would you contrast your lifestyle vs. your previous roles?

  2. Can you give me a picture of what a typical work week is like?

  3. What level of autonomy have you generally seen at your firm?

  4. How would you describe the overall culture of the firm and your group?

  5. What activities do you do outside of the firm together?

Recruiting (only if call is progressing well):

  1. What is the current recruiting process or system at your firm?

  2. What sort of preparation would you recommend for someone interested in your position?

  3. Are there any specific materials you would recommend?

  4. Who are the key people involved in the process / would you recommend me to speak with anyone else?

  5. How would you recommend to best position myself to pursue an interview with your firm?

Closing:

  1. Knowing what you know about me and my situation, do you have any general advice for navigating the recruiting process?

  2. [Regurgitate 1 or 2 things they said and comment on how it’s a very interesting insight]

  3. “I just wanted to thank you very much for the chance to speak with you. I've been looking forward to talking to you for quite some time and appreciate you taking the time for me. Would it be alright with you if I sent any follow ups if they arise?”

Pick and choose your favorite 10-15 questions from the first few categories and organize them into your own document to prepare for the call.

Don’t expect to get through all your questions (some people in finance talk for hours), but it’s always better to be over-prepared with questions as opposed to the call ending awkwardly. And make sure that at the 30 minute mark, you do a check for time.

Remember, your goal is to make a positive impression and to get high-quality information. You do that by being polite and asking high-quality questions.

Feature | 03/06/2020

Amzad Hossain Presents Paper on Effects of Gender Matches in Higher Education

Amzad Hossain, 4th year PhD student, presented his paper on "The Match Between `She' and `Her': Performance Gains from Gender Match in Higher Education" at the Eastern Economic Conference in February 2019. Using a novel and confidential administrative dataset from a highly reputed economics program in a developing country, he assessed the benefit of the match between female students and female teachers and found that female students gained in terms of both grade performance and better long-term outcomes, such as cumulative GPA and degree completion time.  Comparing the test scores of the blind and non-blind exams for the same course, he showed that the gain from gender-matching is not driven by gender bias in teachers' assessments. He also presented several novel results: First, the interaction effect  (the gender-match gain) is much higher when students are matched with more experienced female teachers. Second, the female teacher-student interaction effect monotonically increases over successive semesters. Finally, the interaction effect is much higher when the female teacher has a Ph.D. degree than when she does not. 

Feature | 03/25/2020

Moogdho Mahzab Presents at PacDev Conference

Moogdho Mahzab, a fifth year PhD student of Economics, presented his paper "Dishonest Politicians and Public Goods Provision" at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics (PacDev) 2020, hosted by University of California, Berkeley, on March 14. The conference was organized virtually with around 300 people joining it. A good number of papers on development economics were presented by researchers from around the globe. Moogdho presented his work at the "Taxes and Public Goods" session. PacDev is one of the  most engaging and academically rewarding conferences for development economists, and it has been doing a great service in past years of bringing development economists together on one common platform. More information about the conference could be found in the following link: PacDev2020.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/01/2021

10 Easy Ways to Organize Your Job Search

BY ALISON DOYLE

Updated on November 09, 2021

In today's job market, it's not uncommon to submit applications for many positions. That involves lots of time, and it's a lot to keep track of. You don't want to squander those precious hours by missing important application deadlines, garbling companies and positions, confusing interview times, or forgetting to follow up.  

Accordingly, properly organizing and managing your job search is just as important as identifying job opportunities and submitting your application.

Here are ten ways to get organized, keep track of your job applications, and stay on top of the job search process.

Create a Job Application Spreadsheet

If you're familiar with Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or a similar program, creating a spreadsheet is a simple and effective way to keep track of your job applications.

You can use a spreadsheet to keep track of which companies you applied to, when you submitted your application, what materials you submitted, and other important factors in the application process.

It doesn't have to be fancy, and it's up to you how detailed you want to get. But, here are the key columns to include:

  • Company Name - The name of the organization you're applying to.
  • Contact - Your point of contact at the company; probably who you addressed your cover letter to, such as a Director of Human Resources or Office Manager.
  • Email - The email of your point of contact, or, if preferred, a phone number.
  • Date Applied - When you submitted your application.
  • Application Summary - What you submitted: a cover letter, resume, and any additional materials, like a portfolio or reference list.
  • Interview - When your interview is scheduled.
  • Follow-Up - Did you send a thank you email or letter? If so, indicate here.
  • Status - If you were rejected, offered the job, asked in for a second interview, etc.

Create a Job Application Table in Word

If Excel isn't quite your cup of tea, don't fret. You can create a simple table in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or a similar word processor.

Use your word processing program to create a table to keep track of important information, dates, and deadlines relevant to your job search.

Just insert a table and choose the number of columns based on how many categories you want to keep track of  (company name, contact information, date applied, and so on) and the number of rows relative to how many positions you're applying for.

In addition to the basic categories listed above, if you're feeling especially ambitious, here are some other points you might want to include:

  • Application deadline
  • Potential start date
  • Where you found the job listing
  • Company information, like its location, number of employees, size, recent developments, etc.
  • Names and contact information of any network connections at the company
  • Estimated likelihood of getting the job
  • Your relative preference for the position compared to other jobs

Use Google Drive and Calendar

If you like to stay organized online, Google is a great way to go. If you have a Gmail account, you can use Google Drive, through which you can create, save, and export spreadsheets, in addition to written documents, like your cover letter and resume. You can also link up with Google calendar to make sure you stay on top of important dates. 

Set Up Job Alerts

Most job sites have job alert systems that notify you when there are new job openings that match your interests. Once you sign up, the system will send you job listings via email so you can check for job openings in your field without having to mine through every job search engine.

When you decide to apply for one of the job listings you receive, you’ll be able to use the information in the message as a starting point for keeping track of your application.

Use a Job Search Organizer Website

There are a variety of websites that offer free or reasonably priced job search management tools that are specifically designed for job hunters who need assistance in managing their applications.

For example, JibberJobber is perhaps the most well-known option​ and is an excellent resource for staying organized.

While Huntr provides a centralized place to organize your job search. It helps you keep track of opportunities, tasks, notes, events, and contacts relevant to your search. The chrome extension makes it easy to save jobs from any job search site in one click, and the mobile application allows you to track your search on the go.

Use Your Favorite Job Search Site

Do some digging in your favorite job search site - you'll probably find a built-in way to keep track of potential job interests and your submitted applications.

Many job search sites like Monster, CareerBuilder, and LinkedIn offer built-in tools to keep track of your applications. Although the downfall to using a site-specific method is that you may have to keep track of various lists on different sites, if you have a favorite job search site you're sticking to, it's not a bad option.

Use an App

If you spend more time on your phone or tablet than you do on your computer, consider using a mobile app to organize your job search. Download a mobile app (or two) to organize your job search on your smart phone or tablet.

Here's a list of some of the best job search management apps available for smartphones and tablets.

Use Your Smartphone

For a do-it-yourself method of organization, consider using your smartphone" as is" - for example, use your notes or download a spreadsheet app and keep track of your information there. You can also use alarms, alerts, and your calendar to stay on top of impending deadlines, interviews, and other important dates and times.

Use a Notebook

If you're a pen-in-hand type who likes to keep it old school, buy a notebook and dedicate it to your job search. Keeping track the old-fashioned way, still works well for many people.

Sometimes, technology can be cumbersome, so if you want a more tangible method of organizing your job search, use a notebook. In addition to keeping track of your applications, you can also use it to jot down a cover letter draft, take notes during interviews, and record anything else that comes up while you're looking for jobs, networking, and interviewing.

Simplify Your Search

Clearly, there are plenty of ways to keep track of your job search, but there are also ways to cut down on the mental overhead to begin with. Making an effort to simplify your job search will pay off.

Focus on quality, not quantity: only apply to legitimate positions that you're qualified for, and make each application count, personalizing each cover letter and updating and proofreading your resume.​

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/organize-your-job-search-2060710

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/12/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 9.12.17

Updates from the ECO with Jobs, Events, and Workshops!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/17/2016

From Vault: Prestigious Internships

"Today, Vault released its annual ranking of the 50 Most Prestigious Internships. This year, the ranking was based on a survey of more than 11,000 interns and former interns at more than 100 firms. Our survey asked interns to rate the prestige of other employers in order to determine which internships are the most desirable." (Derek Loosvelt)

Feature | 03/15/2024

How to Write a Cover Letter

Article written by Amy Gallo for Harvard Business Review

No one likes job hunting. Scouring through online job listings, spiffing up your résuméprepping for grueling interviews — none of it is fun. For many, the most challenging part of the process is writing an effective cover letter. There’s so much conflicting advice out there, it’s hard to know where to start. Do you even need one, especially if you’re applying through an online system?

What the Experts Say

The answer is almost always yes. Sure, there will be times when you’re submitting an application online and you may not be able to include one, but whenever possible, send one, says Jodi Glickman, a communications expert and author of Great on the Job. “It’s your best chance of getting the attention of the HR person or hiring manager and an important opportunity to distinguish yourself from everyone else.” And in a tight job market, setting yourself apart is critical, says John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of Knockout CV. Still, as anyone who’s ever written a cover letter knows, it’s not easy to do well. Here are some tips to help.

Do your research first.

Before you start writing, find out more about the company and the specific job you want. Of course, you should carefully read the job description, but also peruse the company’s website, its executives’ Twitter feeds, and employee profiles on LinkedIn. This research will help you customize your cover letter, since you shouldn’t send a generic one. It’ll also help you decide on the right tone. “Think about the culture of the organization you’re applying to,” advises Glickman. “If it’s a creative agency, like a design shop, you might take more risks, but if it’s a more conservative organization, like a bank, you may hold back.”

If at all possible, reach out to the hiring manager or someone else you know at the company before writing your cover letter, advises Lees. You can send an email or a LinkedIn message “asking a smart question about the job.” That way you can start your letter by referencing the interaction. You might say, “Thanks for the helpful conversation last week” or “I recently spoke to so-and-so at your company.” Of course, it’s not always possible to contact someone — or you may not get a response. That’s OK. It’s still worth a try.

Focus it on the future.

While your résumé is meant to be a look back at your experience and where you’ve been, the cover letter should focus on the future and what you want to do, says Glickman. “It can be helpful to think of it as the bridge between the past and the future that explains what you hope to do next and why.” Because of the pandemic there is less of an expectation that you’ll be applying for a job that you’ve done before. “There are millions of people who are making career changes — voluntarily or involuntarily — and need to pivot and rethink how their skill set relates to a different role or industry,” says Glickman. You can use your cover letter to explain the shift you’re making, perhaps from hospitality to marketing, for example. Think of it as an opportunity to sell your transferable skills.

Open strong.

“People typically write themselves into the letter with ‘I’m applying for X job that I saw in Y place.’ That’s a waste,” says Lees. Instead, lead with a strong opening sentence. “Start with the punch line — why this job is exciting to you and what you bring to the table,” says Glickman. For example, you might write, “I’m an environmental fundraising professional with more than 15 years of experience looking for an opportunity to apply my skills in new ways, and I’d love to bring my expertise and enthusiasm to your growing development team.” Then you can include a sentence or two about your background and your relevant experience, but don’t rehash your résumé.

Chances are the hiring manager or recruiter is reading a stack of these, so you want to catch their attention. But don’t try to be funny. “Humor can often fall flat or sound self-regarding,” says Lees. Stay away from common platitudes, too. “Say something direct and dynamic, such as ‘Let me draw your attention to two reasons why I’d be a great addition to your team.'”

If you have a personal connection with the company or someone who works there, also mention it in the first sentence or two. And always address your letter to someone directly. “With social media, it’s often possible to find the name of a hiring manager,” says Glickman.

Emphasize your personal value.

Hiring managers are looking for people who can help them solve problems. Drawing on the research you did earlier, show that you know what the company does and some of the challenges it faces. These don’t need to be specific but you might mention how the industry has been affected by the pandemic. For example, you might write, “A lot of health care companies are overwhelmed with the need to provide high-quality care while protecting the health and safety of their staff.” Then talk about how your experience has equipped you to meet those needs; perhaps explain how you solved a similar problem in the past or share a relevant accomplishment. You want to provide evidence of the things that set you apart.

Lees points out that there are two skills that are relevant to almost any job right now: adaptability and the ability to learn quickly. If you have brief examples that demonstrate these skills, include those. For example, if you supported your team in the shift to remote work, describe how you did that and what capabilities you drew on.

Convey enthusiasm.

“When you don’t get hired, it’s usually not because of a lack of skills,” says Glickman. “It’s because people didn’t believe your story, that you wanted the job, or that you knew what you were getting into.” Hiring managers are going to go with the candidate who has made it seem like this is their dream job. So make it clear why you want the position. “Enthusiasm conveys personality,” Lees adds. He suggests writing something like “I’d love to work for your company. Who wouldn’t? You’re the industry leader, setting standards that others only follow.” Don’t bother applying if you’re not excited about some aspect of the company or role.

Watch the tone.

At the same time, don’t go overboard with the flattery or say anything you don’t mean. Authenticity is crucial. “Even if you’ve been out of work for months, and would take any job at this point, you want to avoid sounding desperate,” says Lees. You don’t want your tone to undermine your message, so be professional and mature. A good rule of thumb is to put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager and think about “the kind of language that the hiring manager would use with one of the company’s customers.” Of course, it can be hard to discern your own tone in writing, so you may need to ask someone to review a draft (which is always a good idea anyway — see advice below). Lees says that he often cuts outs “anything that sounds like desperation” when he’s reviewing letters for clients.

Keep it short. 

Much of the advice out there says to keep it under a page. But both Glickman and Lees say even shorter is better. “Most cover letters I see are too long,” says Lees. “It should be brief enough that someone can read it at a glance.” You do have to cover a lot of ground — but you should do it succinctly. This is where asking a friend, former colleague, or mentor to review your letter can be helpful. Ask them to read through it and point out places where you can cut.

Get feedback.

In fact, it’s a great idea to share your cover letter with a few people, says Lees. Rather than sending it off and asking, “What do you think?” be specific about the kind of feedback you want. In particular, request two things. First, ask your friend if it’s clear what your main point is. What’s the story you’re telling? Are they able to summarize it? Second, ask them what’s wrong with the letter. “Other people are more attuned to desperation, overselling, over-modesty, and underselling,” says Lees, and they should be able to point out places where the tone is off.

When you can’t submit a cover letter. 

Many companies now use online application systems that don’t allow for a cover letter. You may be able to figure out how to include one in the same document as your résumé, but that’s not a guarantee, especially because some systems only allow for data to be entered into specific boxes. In these cases, use the format you’re given to demonstrate your ability to do the job and your enthusiasm for the role. If possible, you may try to find someone to whom you can send a brief follow-up email highlighting a few key points about your application.

Principles to Remember

Do:

  • Have a strong opening statement that makes clear why you want the job and what you bring to the table.
  • Be succinct — a hiring manager should be able to read your letter at a glance.
  • Share an accomplishment that shows you can address the challenges the employer is facing.

Don’t:

  • Try to be funny — too often it falls flat.
  • Send a generic cover letter — customize each one for the specific job.
  • Go overboard with flattery — be professional and mature.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/07/2018

ARTICLE: NETWORKING IS JUST CHATTING

"Networking. Just seeing the word is enough to make your palms sweaty and your mouth dry. When someone brings up the idea, you begin looking for a way to escape. But networking is essential to advancing in your career." - Karyn Mullins

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Miller

Feature | 11/27/2018

Megan Miller Presents at 111th Annual National Tax Association Conference in New Orleans

Megan Miller presented her paper “Labor supply responses to in-kind transfers: The case of Medicaid” at the 111th  Annual National Tax Association Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Research presented at the conference covered topics including tax and expenditure policies, public finance, and government budgeting.  Hilary Hoynes and Michael Devereux were the keynote speakers at the conference.  Megan presented her work during the “Social Safety Net Programs and Labor Markets” session.  Her work studies the extent to which people reduce their earnings to qualify for Medicaid coverage, and she then uses that information to estimate the cash-equivalent value of Medicaid to beneficiaries.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/27/2016

ARTICLE- HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE "TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF" INTERVIEW QUESTION

"We all know the question is coming: So tell me a little about yourself.

Here’s the funny thing: even though we’re expecting it, most of us don’t feel fully prepared to respond. How can this question seem like a no-brainer, but then end up being so tricky? Well, for one, it’s easy to get mired down by all the possibilities of just how to answer it. The key is to approach the question strategically, making sure it has a clear story and distinct purpose. Here are 4 ways to help you prepare to ace the prompt: “Tell me about yourself.'"-Caroline Grey

 

Click here to read the rest of the article

Feature | 11/05/2023

Women in Economics Panel and Luncheon 11.10.23

Women in Economics Career Talk [Sponsored by the ECO and the Econ Club] Bios Follow this Description

When: Friday, November 10, 11am-12pm

Where: Monroe Hall, Room 130

Register Here: https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1348507

Join us for a unique conversation with UVA alumnae and students who have studied economics. Guests' experiences span industries and job functions and panelists will discuss how they got to be where they are professionally. Take advantage of this informal setting to hear about our guests' career paths and their perspectives on opportunities and challenges for women in the labor market. Expect to be well-informed by candid comments and advice from our guests. All students in the College are invited with priority registration for economics majors until 11/7/23, when registration opens to all students in the College.

Women in Economics Luncheon [Sponsored by the ECO and the Econ Club]

When: Friday, November 10, 12pm-1pm

Where: Monroe Hall Courtyard/Monroe 120

Register Here: https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/events/1384796/share_preview

Join us for conversations with UVA economics alumnae working across industries and job functions.

All students in the College are invited with priority registration for economics majors until 11/7/23, when registration opens to all students in the College.

 

The luncheon will follow the Women in Economics Career Panel.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/12/2018

6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Summer Internship

Vincent Tsui for HBR

Around 75% of college students, at some point, work in an internship. These experiences can be tremendously valuable, providing young workers the opportunity to build skills for their resumes and meet people who are working in their preferred industry. Increasingly, they are the likeliest route to full-time employment and are even offered year-round rather than only during summer months. But they can also be difficult adjustments for young people who have little to no experience in professional offices. It can be hard for someone to stand out and make the right impression during a three-month stint spent adapting to such a new environment.

How can interns learn what they need to know, impress those they work for, and secure a job recommendation or full-time offer in such a brief period of time? I consulted 20 professionals who have worked with or supervised interns in higher education, business, law, and nonprofits, and compiled the most valuable advice for interns from their stories, my own observations, and management literature. This advice won’t cover everything, but it does offer a starting point for interns.

Start with relentless punctuality. Show up on time (or early) in the morning, arrive for meetings before they begin, and complete tasks by their deadlines. When I asked professional contacts for their advice to interns, they consistently listed punctuality as a critical success factor. Ryan, an executive in a municipal government, says, “Always be on time. Summer internships are for a short, defined period of time, so give it 100%. Be willing to get to the office early and stay late.” As an intern, you are both a guest in a new environment and a colleague on whom others must rely — make sure that you respect those colleagues by being on time.

Complete each task with excellence. Whether an assignment is mundane or exotic, pursue it with relentless drive and a determination to exceed. If you’re asked to make coffee, make the best coffee your colleagues have ever had. If you’re asked to make an Excel model, over-invest your time and effort in assuring it’s right, aesthetically appealing, and thorough. Amy, a food and beverage executive puts it this way, “Finish the assignment or project with excellence — anything else you do is bonus, but please start with the assignment given.” Even if the project seems small or unimportant, do not give in to the temptation to complete it with anything less than your best, and don’t decline a project just because it doesn’t interest you. Katie, a tech industry executive cautions to “[never] say no to small opportunities because [they don’t] fit your idea of work.” Repeated, enthusiastic, and excellent delivery of assigned tasks is the building block upon which everything else in your internship will rest.

Take on more work — without being asked. Use excess time to take on new and important work, assignments others don’t want, or projects that are needed but not yet clearly defined. A nonprofit healthcare executive counsels, “When you see something you can do, do it.” I still remember the names of interns I’ve worked with who never let themselves sit idle and took on new projects with little or no guidance. Gary, a finance executive, told me, “Sitting at the desk checking your most recent Twitter feed while you wait for someone to give you something to do is one of the best ways to not get an invite back.” Deliver what no one is expecting — or what no one else is willing to do — and you’ll not only be appreciated, but remembered.

Be resourceful. Research a topic thoroughly before asking a full-time colleague or manager for help, and take the time to reflect and come up with your own insight or solution before consulting others when you uncover a problem. Amy, the food and beverage executive above, recommends, “Look for the resources you need on the internal websites or ask other interns before [asking] your coach.” She notes that it’s a mistake to “ask too many questions that show you didn’t even try to look for the answer yourself.” It’s critical that your colleagues view you as someone who is resourceful and independent enough to bring something new to the table instead of just stopping every time there is a bump in the road.

Ask questions — good ones. The hallmark of an intellectually curious, diligent colleague is the quality of his or her questions. Renowned management thinker Clay Christensen recommends spending time formulating the right questions. Ben, a management consultant, agrees: “Think — in advance — of questions to ask. If you are meeting with a peer or superior, think of thoughtful questions you can ask to demonstrate you’ve prepared for the meeting and respect her time.” If you’re in a meeting with senior colleagues, think less about your answers to their questions and more about what you see missing — the questions no one else is asking. When you hear someone ask a great, conversation-altering question, write it down and reflect on what made it so special. And, as a rule of thumb, make sure you ask one or more authentic questions in every meeting you attend. Following this advice will hone your ability to ask questions that lead to real insight and will ingrain in you the essential habit of intellectual curiosity.

Build professional relationships. Internships usually last only a few months, and in that context, it’s easy to either focus solely on your work or to make connections only with the other interns working around you. But forming broad, deep relationships within your team and throughout the organization can help you manage your current responsibilities while also boosting personal development. You’ll also make yourself more memorable to those around you and create a network of contacts to reach out to when you’re ready to find your next job. Invite colleagues to lunch. Ask them questions in informational interviews. Offer to help where you can. Observe the great relationship-builders in your firm and learn from them.

Internships are hard work. And doing only what’s expected of you isn’t enough to be noticed. You need to go above and beyond, from arriving on time to doing exemplary work, and make the most of your time in the organization.

Feature | 10/04/2019

Alex Gross Presents at 46th Annual EARIE Conference

Alex Gross presented his job market paper, "Private Labels and Bargaining in the Supply Chain: The Case of Wine," at the  46th Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE) in Barcelona, Spain, in August 2019. In this paper, he shows that offering private label products can significantly increase a retailer's profits on national brand products. The conference offered a great opportunity to receive feedback on his work and meet prominent researchers in his field.   

Feature | 10/04/2019

White Rock Falls Hike

Graduate students from every cohort stepped away from their work to hike White Oak Canyon trails, one of the most popular trails in Central Virginia. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Delivering the Best First Impression in 30 seconds

Useful tips for making the best first impression in the business world.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/21/2021

Giving Thanks

Hello Econ Majors!
I hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a great start.

This week, our theme is thanks. We have a wonderful network of alumni to be thankful for. Each year dozens of economics alumni meet directly with our majors through ECO programming. In the last 12 weeks, more than 15 alumni sat on career panels and held office hours with our students through the How I Got This Job career program, the International Development and Humanitarian Aid Career Panel, and the Virtual Think Tank Trek . I encourage you to get in touch or stay in touch with these alumni! Below are some articles and tips to get you started, or help you continue connecting with our awesome alumni.

How to Network in a Virtual World The first 8 paragraphs are relevant for our majors. The remainder of the article offers food for thought as you begin growing your network and fortifying those professional relationships you've already begun to build.

How to Make the Most of Your Alumni Network Paragraph 6 through the end of the article seem most relevant for our students. The Virginia Alumni Mentor network, through the UVA Career Center, includes micro-internship projects, which our awesome alumni have posted. Additionally, the ECO has a list of more than 500 economics alumni, who have offered to speak with our majors about their work and yours. That list is in the ECO Collab folder, which all majors have access to at the link above. For more networking resources, check out UVA's LInkedIn page, UVA's Alumni, Friends, and Parents LinkedIn page, and UVA"s Economics Alumni page. Our students are welcome to join each and connect with alumni. Check out these other networking and professional development resources. And if you're wondering what econ majors do after graduation, look here for industry overviews and here for recent graduates' next steps.

Best wishes,

Jennifer Jones
Economics Career Office 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/26/2021

ECO Blog: Virtual Job Fair Preparation

Greetings Majors!

There are two virtual job fairs this week, which I recommend for our majors:

Marketing, Advertising, and PR Job Fair, Tuesday, 10/26
Fall Job and Internship Fair, Thursday, 10/28

Employers will hold info sessions with groups, and 1:1 meetings with individual students. Schedule at least an hour in your day to attend if you are internship or job-seeking. And if you're curious, but not ready to job search, the info sessions provide a great opportunity to hang back and listen. Please check out the links below about approaching the fair. If you are in a full-on job search, I recommend choosing 3-5 employers that are your "must-sees" and schedule around those sessions. 

  • Make sure your lighting is good and your mic works in case you choose to speak.
  • If possible, appear in a neat room, or use a virtual background.
  • Dress neatly. This does not mean you need to be in professional business attire or even business casual. Neat and tidy are important.
  • Prepare your pitch using VMOCK (AI platform that records your pitch and scores you) and/or this ECO template and these tips.
  • Have your resume handy to borrow talking points and possibly share with employers.
  • Research the employers that are the most interesting to you and come with questions. You'll find some at the links belowl You may always ask about next steps if you're interested in applying for opportunities.
  • Be yourself (really!).
  • Send a thank you after the info session or 1:1 session.

Vault's Recommendations for Attending a Virtual Career Fair

Participating in a Virtual Fair - from Handshake 

Handshake's Guide to Virtual Fair Attendance

Good Questions to Ask Employers

Better Questions to Ask Employers

Feature | 05/07/2021

Brett Fischer Wins UEA's Best Student Paper prize

Brett Fischer presented his paper, "No Spending without Representation: School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance," at the Urban Economics Association's European meeting. His work, which describes the benefits of minority school board representation for minority students, won the UEA's Best Student Paper prize. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/31/2022

ECO Article: The Ten Best Jobs for Introverts

Below the ECO is sharing the 10 Best Jobs for Introverts as written by The Muse. Our majors may be particularly interested in numbers 1, 5, 9, and 10. But they are all worth a glance!

 

Not every job is the right fit for every person—so it makes sense that you’d be looking to find a job and career path that feels well-suited to your personality.

While some folks might thrive in a role where they’re interacting with people all day, for others—particularly introverts—that might be completely draining.

So if you’re an introvert, you might wonder how to find a job that plays to your strengths, feels true to who you are, and leaves you feeling energized and excited at the end of the day. Rest assured, there are plenty of options.

 

What, Exactly, Is an Introvert?

Before we jump into the perfect jobs for introverts, let’s take a minute to define what an introvert actually is.

An introvert “gets their energy from solitude,” says Stephanie Thoma, leadership coach and author of Confident Introvert, a professional networking book for introverts. So while an introverted person can definitely hold their own in social situations, the experience can feel exhausting—and after extended periods of social interaction, they typically need alone time to rest and recharge.

One major misconception about introverts is that they’re shy. But that’s not necessarily true. While introverts can be shy (just like anyone can be shy!), introversion is not the same thing as shyness. “Deriving your energy from solitude doesn’t exclude you from feeling confident and comfortable in the presence of others,” Thoma says. “It just means you may need to take more care to preserve and conserve your energy when socializing.”

What Makes Certain Jobs Better for Introverts—and What Should Introverts Look for in a Role?

Because introverts get their energy from solitude, jobs that allow for independent working time are typically a better fit for introverts.

For example, “An introvert may thrive as a CPA, crunching numbers with precision and in-flow, formulaic repetition; a market research analyst who gets to pore over detailed qualitative or quantitative data; or a professor who has gotten to create materials about a specific subject matter to then share with purpose and passion with pupils,” Thoma says. The best jobs for introverts, she says, “have structure and clear expectations with an opportunity for creativity, and allow for focus.”

So introverts should look for jobs where some amount of solo work is built in—allowing them regular opportunities to focus on their own work—rather than roles that require constant engagement with coworkers, clients, or customers.

But pretty much every job requires at least some level of interaction, collaboration, and socializing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even if you consider yourself a more introverted person. Again, introverts can still enjoy working with other people and be successful doing it. It does mean, though, that you should also look for a company that prioritizes work-life balance and self-care—and allows you the opportunity to recharge when you need it.

“Self-care is an emerging priority for many companies who know that when employees are able to take walking breaks or lunch away from their computers,” Thoma says, or take care of themselves however they see fit, they “are more likely to thrive—and provide quality work to match. Since introverts may need more downtime outside of meeting rooms, this is an important consideration.”

Are you a proud introvert—and ready to find a job that plays to your strengths? Here are 10 roles to consider, plus salary information from the compensation resource PayScale (just keep in mind that PayScale’s database is updated nightly; the figures below reflect the latest information as of March 2021):

1. 

Software Engineer

Average salary: $86,803

Software engineers are responsible for engineering or developing different types of software (which is why they’re also called software developers). They are problem solvers at heart; they need to identify what problem the user is having—and then design, test, and develop software that solves that problem.

A career as a software engineer could be a great fit for an introvert because a large chunk of the job is writing code, testing, and fixing bugs—all of which involve independent work—though they should also be prepared to collaborate with their teams.

While some companies require a specific degree, many rely on technical interviews to assess candidate coding skills—so if you’ve got the coding chops, you can get your foot in the door as a software engineer.

Find software engineer and software developer jobs on The Muse

2. 

Content Marketing Manager

Average salary: $68,395

Content marketing managers are responsible for the development and execution of a marketing team’s content strategies. Depending on the company, a content marketing manager may oversee one or multiple content verticals, including print, digital, video, social media, and audio.

Content marketing managers may work with a variety of other people, including content strategists, writers, and creators; marketing colleagues; and folks on sales and other teams. Ultimately, their goal is to understand their target audience and drive awareness and engagement with their brands, products, and services. Depending on the size of the company, content marketing managers may also manage other people. But this role could still be a great fit for an introvert because it’s usually pretty evenly split between independent and collaborative work—giving introverts plenty of time to recharge.

While some companies require their content marketing managers to have a degree, many are more interested in candidates with a background in content development and promotion—so if you’re well-versed in all things content, you should be able to get your foot in the door.

Find content marketing manager and other content marketing jobs on The Muse

3. 

Editor

Average salary: $53,313

Editors are responsible for taking a piece of writing from the “just an idea” phase to the “working draft” phase to the “ready for publication” phase. This includes making suggestions to writers on ways the writing could be improved (for example, pointing out sections that are unclear or helping the writer define their voice and tone) as well as correcting any spelling or grammatical errors. While editors may work for newspapers, magazines, digital media companies, or book publishers, they may also be employed by businesses to support their content efforts—editing blog posts, ebooks, website copy, and more.

Editors do partner with writers (and often have to walk them through their edits) and other content or editorial team members to brainstorm and strategize—but the bulk of the actual editing process is a solitary activity, making it an ideal fit for introverts.

In order to succeed as an editor, you need to know the ins and outs of writing, including grammar, structure, style, and narrative. As such, many editors are writers themselves—and most have a degree in journalism, English, communications, or a related field. Editors who work for newspapers, magazines, and digital publications also need a solid grasp of reporting and fact-checking.

Find editor jobs on The Muse

4. 

Graphic Designer

Average salary: $46,010

Graphic designers are responsible for developing visual assets for a company. Depending on the company’s needs, this may include branding assets (like logos), marketing materials, product packaging, and digital assets. Many graphic designers are well-versed in a variety of design styles and techniques, though some specialize in certain areas (like logo design, packaging design, or infographic design). Graphic designers may work directly for a company, for an agency or design studio that works with clients to deliver on any design needs, or as freelancers or independent contractors.

While graphic designers will need to collaborate with supervisors, clients, or other stakeholders to get clear direction and feedback on their design assignments, during the designing phase, they’re free to work on their own—making this a great role for introverts.

In order to succeed as a graphic designer, you’ll need creativity and working knowledge of a variety of design programs—which many get through degree programs (though there are plenty of online learning platforms that can help you get up to speed if pursuing a degree isn’t the right fit).

Find graphic designer jobs on The Muse

5. 

Accountant

Average salary: $51,639

Accountants handle financial tasks, which can include budgets, forecasts, financial reports, payroll, taxes, and audits. They may work for a company in house or for an accounting firm that provides accounting services to external clients.

A huge part of accounting is crunching numbers—a task that’s mostly done solo—making accounting a great field for introverts.

In order to land an accounting role, candidates will need to have a degree in accounting or a related field—and public accounting firms will typically only hire Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) or recent accounting graduates with plans to take their CPA exam.

Find accountant jobs on The Muse

6. 

Mechanical Engineer

Average salary: $71,538

Mechanical engineers are responsible for designing (or engineering), developing, building, and testing machines and other products. Mechanical engineering is, at the core, a problem-solving role; mechanical engineers need to not only be able to identify problems and build solutions, but also identify and solve mechanical issues as they build and iterate.

Mechanical engineers are highly technical critical thinkers and although they typically work in teams and need to be comfortable collaborating and managing projects, they also spend a lot of their time working independently—a great setup for an introvert.

To get hired as a mechanical engineer, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering—although many companies want their mechanical engineers to pursue advanced degrees.

Find mechanical engineer jobs on The Muse

7. 

IT Specialist

Average salary: $57,872

Information technology specialists (a.k.a., IT Specialists) are responsible for maintaining and managing a company’s internal IT processes and products. This can include managing IT requests, troubleshooting IT issues, installing and upgrading company hardware and software, and ensuring that all IT operations are running smoothly.

As an IT specialist, you’ll have to work with leadership and employees to field requests, identify IT issues, and answer IT-related questions—but the job also requires plenty of independent work time to manage IT systems and fix problems, so introverts will get the time they need to recharge.

While some companies require their IT specialists to have a degree in information technology or a related field, many will hire based on skill alone—so if you have an in-depth knowledge of IT systems, you should be able to get your foot in the door without a degree.

Find IT specialist and other information technology jobs on The Muse

8. 

Data Scientist

Average salary: $96,420

Data scientists are responsible for creating the frameworks that help their companies leverage data to make better business decisions. This can include everything from running data tests and experiments, implementing statistical models and algorithms, developing data products, and continually tweaking and optimizing their frameworks for more effective data analysis (and better business outcomes as a result).

While there is a certain level of collaboration necessary to succeed as a data scientist (for example, with data analysts or key business stakeholders as well as other data scientists or machine learning engineers), a good portion of a data scientist’s work is in framework development—a solo job great for an introvert.

A bachelor’s degree in computer science, math, statistics, engineering, or a related field is generally a must to pursue a career in data science—and some companies want their data scientists to hold advanced degrees.

Find data scientist and other data science jobs on The Muse

9. 

SEO Manager

Average salary: $70,244

SEO (which stands for search engine optimization) managers are responsible for making sure that when someone searches a relevant term, their company ranks at the top (or as close to the top as possible) of the results pages. The goal is to help increase the company’s visibility and drive new users or customers to their website. SEO managers develop and implement the SEO strategy, determining which technical and content-based search engine optimization strategies are going to drive the best results—and then continually adjust that strategy to improve their rankings.

SEO managers do collaborate with colleagues on other teams—including content and engineering. But they also spend a good deal of their time analyzing data, developing suggestions, and implementing optimizations—making this an ideal role for an introvert.

There’s no specific degree required to get into SEO, but in order to land an SEO manager position, you need to know the ins and outs of search engine optimization—and be able to stay on top of SEO practices, which are always changing and evolving.

Find SEO manager and other SEO jobs on The Muse

10. 

Actuary

Average salary: $96,032

Actuaries typically work in the insurance industry and are responsible for evaluating risk factors and determining whether the insurance company should issue a policy to a specific person or business and, if so, what the premium for that policy should be.

This role is almost entirely focused on digging deep into math, data, and statistics, which is an inherently independent task—and a great fit for introverts (at least, for introverts who geek out on all things numbers).

Actuaries need to have a deep working knowledge of data and statistics—and a degree in actuarial science or a related field (like statistics or math) is often a requirement to get your foot in the door. You’ll also need to complete a series of exams given by the Society of Actuaries or Casualty Actuarial Society to earn your certification.

Find actuary jobs on The Muse

Deanna deBara

Deanna deBara is a freelance writer living in Portland, OR. When she's not busy building her business or typing away at her keyboard, she enjoys spending time hiking in the Pacific Northwest, traveling with her soon-to-be husband, or doting on her dog, Bennett. You can follow her on Twitter (she's a newbie!) at @Deanna_deBara.

 

Feature | 01/18/2022

“Phillip Jefferson, UVa PhD (1990), nominated to serve on the Federal Reserve Board

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/22/2016

Maintaining Connections through Your Internship

See tips on how to maintain the professional connections you make through your internship.

Feature | 07/11/2018

Amzad Hossain Wins Global Infectious Disease Fellowship

Amzad Hossain was one of 4 graduate students recently awarded a GIDI iGrant by UVA's Global Infectious Diseases Institute, which supports faculty and graduate student research aimed at reducing the impact of infectious diseases around the globe. He will use the fellowship to further his research on mother and child mortality in Bangladesh. More specifically, Amzad says that he will collaborate with Moogdho Mahzab (a 4th year Economics PhD student) "to examine the effects of community-based health clinics on child health outcomes such as take-up of vaccines to prevent infectious diseases and neo-natal mortality. The government of Bangladesh in 1998 introduced a policy to establish 13,500 community clinics spread all over the country. Each community clinic (CC) was to provide various services including maternal & neonatal health care services for around 6,000 people. We will exploit the variation in the policy with regard to community clinics--its introduction, withdrawal and subsequent reintegration--to identify the effects of community clinics on health outcomes. As the search for effective ways to improve health outcome continues, our findings can be of great relevance for stakeholders and policy makers."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/16/2017

ECO NEWSLETTER 2.16.17

Meet Alumni Next Week!

Feature | 12/14/2021

ECO Article: Hiring Projections Up for Class of 2022

From the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), November 2021, by Kevin Gray

Employers plan to hire 26.6% more new graduates from the Class of 2022 than they did from the Class of 2021, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2022 report.

The data NACE collected in its Job Outlook 2022 survey appear to be in line with job opening trends in general. With job openings exceeding 10 million and the unemployment rate now below 5%, employers are obviously viewing a very competitive labor market.

This is also evident in the Job Outlook 2022 results that show that almost 60% of responding employers have plans to increase hires this year, compared to just 16.5% last year. Furthermore, the largest group of respondents (48.6%) rate the overall job market for Class of 2022 graduates as “very good” and 14.1% rate it as “excellent.” This is compared to last year, when just 3.9% of respondents rated the overall job market for Class of 2021 graduates as “very good” and 0.5% deemed it “excellent.”

The Job Outlook survey is a forecast of hiring intentions of employers as they relate to new college graduates. Data for the Job Outlook 2022 survey were collected from August 18, 2021, through October 1, 2021. Of the 157 total respondents, 116 were NACE employer members, representing 15.7 percent of eligible member respondents. The Job Outlook 2022 survey was also distributed to nonmember companies from which an additional 41 responses were received. The Job Outlook 2022 report is available in MyNACE.

Figure 1: Job Outlook Hiring Projections, 2011 – 2022*

YEAR FALL SPRING UPDATE
2022 26.6% NA
2021 -0.1% 7.2%
2020 5.8% 6.3%
2019 16.6% 10.7%
2018 4.0% -1.3%

Source: Job Outlook 2022, National Association of Colleges and Employers. *Projections are for U.S. locations only.

Feature | 04/15/2019

Alex Gross Presents at IIO Conference

Alex Gross presented his paper, "Private Labels and Bargaining in the Supply Chain: The Case of Wine," at the International Industrial Organization Conference in Boston, MA, in April 2019. His findings: private label products can increase a retailer's profits on national brand products by about 11% on average. The conference offered a great opportunity to receive feedback on his work and meet prominent researchers in his field. 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/30/2017

ARTICLE - TOP 10 JOBS FOR ECONOMICS MAJORS

"If you're the analytical type, fascinated by the world around you, then an economics major might be a good choice for you. A degree in economics can be used in many areas, including public policy and finance. You can use an economics degree to study industry trends, labor markets, the prospects for individual companies, and the forces that drive the economy.

Economics majors learn to gather, organize, and interpret data, using mathematical formulas and statistics to make calculations. They also create models to predict the impact of investments, policy decisions, industry trends, demographics, climate change and much more."-Mike Profita

 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

 

 

 

The Southern Economic Association® Honors Twenty-Eight Distinguished Fellows As the Inaugural Cohort

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/10/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 10.10.16

Resources Galore! Upcoming Events!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/18/2017

5 WAYS TO MAKE A BETTER FIRST IMPRESSION

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/07/2018

Alumni Spotlight: David Neuman

Alumni Spotlight: DAVID NEUMAN, Principal at Trammel Crow Company

Why econ? Economics is a great way to learn the driving forces behind business and the economy. It teaches you the fundamental building blocks for markets and the financial system and a logical way to analyze problems and situations. I graduated from UVA with my economics degree in 1999.

 I now work as the Principal at the Trammell Crow Company. My job is to create value developing commercial real estate projects in the MidAtlantic region for my company’s stakeholders- those are the employees, tenants, residents, municipalities and communities in which we develop projects. I spend much of my time analyzing the relationship of risk and reward for specific development projects and, therefore, spend significant time quantifying and qualifying inherent risks of a project. 

Which economics course was influential and why?
They were all influential! Perhaps the most interesting and memorable, which may be surprising to some, was American Economic History because it gave real examples of the causes of economics forces at motion and what happened in America when those forces dominated the economy (e.g., the Depression, inflation). Economic cycles are inevitable and learning from the past is the best way to prepare for future cycles.

Some advice for current students?  

  • Don’t stress about formulas, small facts or trying to memorize things- focus on understanding the concepts. If you focus on the concepts and remember those concepts, that is how you change your way of thinking and become a smarter person. 
  • When nearing graduation, it’s easy for students to fall into a trap of what they feel they “should do”, such as traditional fields like consulting or banking, however, if that student doesn’t enjoy that field, then how can one have a long, fruitful career doing it? Further, perhaps a student’s core strengths don’t favor that field. Therefore, finding a career path that’s enjoyable and values that student’s strengths is essential.
  • I got C’s in both ECON 201 & 202! So, keep at it and keep positive!  
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/13/2023

How to Network When You Can't Meet up with People

How to Network When You Can't Meet up with People

Wall Street Journal 6/14/2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-network-when-you-cant-meet-up-with-p...

It is hard to be an effective networker when you can’t shake hands, go to a conference or meet at a restaurant. But we rely on connections to generate business, fuel our professional growth—and, as we are all now reminded, to sustain our own personal well-being.

The good news is that developing and deepening relationships at this moment is still possible. You just need to rethink the way you go about it.

I know because I’ve done it already. Even though I was once a voracious face-to-face networker, both geography and family circumstances have meant that my past decade of networking has taken place almost entirely online. And the relationships I’ve developed this way have been at least as meaningful and valuable as the connections I once made at in-person gatherings.

Here are some of the strategies that have worked for me over the years—and might work for you, too.

Prioritize quality over quantity

Let’s explode one myth: that networking online is about casting a wide net. Resist the illusion that you can make a ton of new contacts with all the time you’re spending online. Think in terms of quality, not quantity.

By “quality” I don’t mean looking at metrics like how many followers an influencer has. I pay attention to people whose work interests or inspires me, whose posts resonate, or whose life and professional experience gives me a fresh perspective. Conversely, I take note of people who follow me online or share my articles; a quick scan through their bio or social-media feed usually gives me a feel for whether we’ll have interests in common, in which case I make a point of following them back, or if I’m going to be in their city, suggest a meeting. (These days, I’d suggest a phone or video call instead.)

When I’m spending time on social networks, I use lists or “see first” features to focus my attention on the small number of people I find most interesting or valuable, so that I can engage with them regularly; it’s easier to form new connections by interacting with 10 people on a regular basis, rather than 100 people very occasionally. I aggressively unsubscribe from email lists so that the emails I get from colleagues and friends don’t get lost. I comment and reply to posts from the same people, over and over, so it feels like we’re actually in one long conversation.

Many of these relationships ultimately pay professional dividends. I’ve found clients, speaking opportunities, new writing outlets and valued employees just through the relationships I sustained entirely out of affection, with no endgame in mind.

Network in a way that feels true to who you are

Are people wowed by your intellect? Think about how to share digestible nuggets of that brilliance in online posts or updates. If your brain power typically comes to light in the discussion after a meaty talk or lecture, look for virtual events focused around a thought leader, where there is plenty of opportunity for peer-to-peer conversation or Q&A.

Do you win people with warmth and charm? Focus on making individual, personal connections before you scale up to large-group interactions. If you’re at your best when you’re one on one, skip online events and groups, and reach out directly to the people you want to meet, asking for a video or phone date so that you can connect on a topic of mutual interest.

Or are you someone who wows with a glamorous, oversize presence? Then you’re among the handful who can’t afford to embrace this new lifestyle of sweatshirts and chaotic kitchen backdrops; Instead, you’ll need to dial up the star power so that it comes through even on your one-to-one video calls.

This principle extends to how you build relationships once you’ve nailed the intro. If you’re the kind of person who usually works your way through a cocktail party or networking lunch by introducing various sets of people, you can pursue that same strategy in the online world. (Just make sure you ask both parties before making that email introduction.)

If you’re famous for being a great listener, remember that you can listen to people without being in the same room: Reach out to people with phone calls, just to find out how they’re doing, or “listen” online by resharing other people’s posts and updates, annotated with your own thoughtful comments so it’s clear that you’re really engaging with what they have to say.

And if you prefer to build relationships through recurring gatherings, like monthly networking lunches, you can look for standing social-media chats that take place at a regularly scheduled date and time, and make a point of participating on a continuing basis. You might begin with the online groups/channels/hashtags that connect with your favorite offline networking groups; that way you’re building on top of existing relationships.

Amplify other people

It is easy for online networking to feel like a bunch of people shouting for attention—which is why you will stand out if you’re amplifying other people’s voices instead of just competing to be heard. Share what other people have said, maybe adding a comment of your own, and make that at least half of what you share. It will make you more appealing to engage with, too.

This approach is also a good way to engage with a famous or influential leader or colleague. One of the things that’s really amazing about social media is that you may actually get to know the people who inspire you. Try resharing an article by a business leader you admire, with some reflections on what their work has meant to you, and why you admire them. Just keep that kind of thing to an occasional indulgence: There is nothing more off-putting than a social-media feed that makes it look like you’re just tagging industry star after industry star.

As you start to follow and engage with people who have a big professional presence, you’ll probably notice that generosity fuels generosity. People who share their knowledge and insights generously tend to build and engage bigger followings. So, along with amplifying others, be prepared to share your own ideas in updates, blog posts, videos and conversations.

Look for ways you can be of service

At a time when so many people are struggling financially, professionally or emotionally, cold calls or sales-y emails may come off as insensitive. You may fare better by reaching out around a community-service project.

That is what I discovered when I started a small Covid support site. I reached out to a collegial email list I’ve belonged to for years, and got several offers of volunteer support. I found a couple of new collaborators in people I’d previously known only as social-media friends. And the software company that generously assigned several staff members to the project saw benefits, too, like getting its software in front of a whole new group of users. None of these efforts were intended as networking plays, but the simple effort of trying to do some good brought us all together and provided tangible professional benefits.

Indeed, that desire to be of service should guide as much of your online networking as possible. Face to face, you can get away with some pretty direct requests for favors, if they’re delivered with tact and charm; online, it’s easy for incoming requests to feel like a siege by inbox.

Rather than thinking in terms of putting favors in the bank, think about how you can be the most helpful; the kind of person others feel grateful to know and eager to connect with. That means looking at your skills, knowledge and relationships, and thinking about where they can be uniquely valuable.

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If you’re a fluent techie, maybe you can put your skills to use for a person or organization who is struggling to move their work online; if you’re known for your contagious calm, perhaps you can lend yourself to a high-stress team and help defuse their anxiety. Even if you normally evaluate your time by the billable hour, this is a time to allocate some pro bono hours to people, causes and organizations you care about—or to offer that help to people and organizations you would like to get to know.

Let go of the line between ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ relationships

Many of us were taught to keep things crisp and professional in the workplace, but online, all that professionalism just comes off as cold and calculating. Instead, let yourself be warmly, casually human; you’ll be a lot more appealing if you seem like an actual person. And letting go of the line between “business contact” and “friend” means you’ll form stronger, more durable relationships.

We are in an exceptionally emotional and connected moment, and that means that people are unusually open to expressions of affection and sincerity. Yes, you can send a note to the colleague you haven’t spoken to in years, letting him know that he’s on your mind as someone you’re sorry you lost touch with; yes, you can write a fan letter to the star of your favorite TED Talk, telling her how she’s influenced your approach to this crisis. If you can let yourself be informal and vulnerable, rather than businesslike or transactional, you’re much more likely to form a human connection—one that will turn into a sincere, continuing relationship.

I’ve forgotten the business origins of some of my social contacts in a sea of exchanges over our parenting challenges, favorite TV shows or tech gripes. It is this mix of professional and personal interaction that makes contacts and colleagues into friends, and creates a sense of true camaraderie and affection. You might think that all my Facebook posts about child struggles or moments of personal anxiety would count against me in a professional context, but instead, it seems to have made a lot of people feel like they care for me.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/20/2019

Annual Economics Undergraduate Career Forum

What can you do with an economics major? Almost anything! Join the economics department for a series of career talks and office hours, as well as two career panels moderated by our faculty. You’ll hear from guests with diverse backgrounds and have a chance to ask questions and network with our guests. What do they have in common – an economics major! This program will be of interest to all students who are considering work in the fields of our guests.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/08/2021

ECO Article: How to Write a Spot-on Networking Email That Gets Results!

Taken from Hubspot; To read the full article, click here: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/relationship-building-email-template

The way we network is changing rapidly. As many professionals embrace a hybrid remote work environment and the future of in-person events remains in flux, the ability to network remotely is an essential skill.

However, that does not mean you should take the liberty to invite yourself into someone's inbox or DM's and demand advice. In fact, that's a quick way to get ignored.

Email is still the top communication channel for many professionals, and In a hybrid work environment, sending an effective introductory email is a critical skill for career growth.

Relationship-Building Email: What Not to Do

Need an introduction

Hi John,

My name is Jane Smith, and I run Acme Organic Pet Food, a new company that produces and distributes right here in Cleveland. I see on LinkedIn you’re connected to several “big players” in the local pet product business community — in particular, Jim White over at Acme Pet SuperStore

Would you be willing to introduce me to Jim over email? I’d really appreciate it

Thanks in advance,

Jane

The email is polite, sure. But it has flaws.

Problem 1: Jane assumes John and Jim are friendly.

What if John and Jim don’t know each other very well? And now Jane has asked for a favor that’s either awkward for John to complete or not possible.

Problem 2: Jane gives John a homework assignment.

John’s first encounter with Jane is an unpleasant one — he now has to find time to help a stranger and expend his own relationship capital in the process. What a hassle.

So what's the solution to Jane’s misguided email approach?

“Important” people like John and other business execs will often stop in their tracks and respond to an email if the subject line contains a powerful three-word phrase, "I need your advice."

The “ask for advice” strategy is non-threatening and a breath of fresh air. You don’t want people to do work on your behalf; you prefer to absorb their wisdom. We spend our lives amassing knowledge but rarely have an open invitation to share it with someone else. What a luxury to be asked!

When you sit quietly, listen to the person's advice, and come back with smart follow-up questions, you also build a relationship. Each new conversation strengthens your network, which in turn helps your business.

The Ultimate Networking Email Template

Here’s the outline of the email Jane should have written to John:

[Greeting of choice],

[Statement that provides the context in which you met or what you’re asking for.]

[Request to meet with the person to listen and learn.]

[Closing of choice]

Here's what the email template looks like in practice:

Local pet food distributor who needs your advice

Hi John,

My name is Jane Smith, and I run Acme Organic Pet Food, a new company that produces and distributes right here in Cleveland. I am relatively new to the pet product business and still learning my way as I grow Acme Organic

I know you have a lot of experience in the space, and it would be great to sit with you and learn about the industry as well as the “do’s” and “don’ts” as I get started

Please let me know if you’re free over the next couple of weeks for coffee. I’d appreciate the chance to ask questions

Thanks again,

Jane

Success 1: Jane asks for advice

Note how Jane asks for advice to build trust with John and, over time, make him part of her network. As she grows her pet food business, she will need mentors and allies. Most people want to help each other. Jane knows that and is using it to create a genuine connection with John.

Advice is also an easier close than asking for a connection. Make your initial request one that's easy and even flattering for the recipient to respond to.

Success 2: Jane builds trust

And it’s possible that, after the coffee chat, John will agree to connect her to Jim White — the owner of Acme Pet SuperStore that she so wants to meet. But that’s because she’s created a level of trust and built a relationship the right way.

It would be tough for most of us to introduce a connection to someone we've never met. By building trust first, Jane increases her chances of success and gives a better first impression.

Networking Email Subject Lines

Here are more subject lines for this type of email that you can use or adapt for your unique situation:

General networking subject lines

  • "Friend of [mutual acquaintance] who needs your advice"
  • "Fellow [your industry] professional who needs your advice"
  • "Could you help?"
  • "I'm a little lost"
  • "[Mutual acquaintance] recommended we speak"

College alumni subject lines

  • "Fellow [your college] grad who needs your advice"
  • "[Mascot name] in need of advice"
  • "Time for a fellow [college name] grad?"
  • "Did you see last weekend's [school name] game?"
  • "Fellow [alumni name] out in the wilderness."

Industry leader subject lines

  • "Big fan of your work who needs your advice"
  • "Inspired fan needs your advice"
  • "Advice for a hustler like you?"
  • "5 minutes of your time could make my career."
  • "Buy you a coffee?"

Interoffice subject lines

  • "New employee who needs your advice"
  • "I'm new here ... and a little lost"
  • "Question from the new hire"
  • "[Name] recommended I connect with you"
  • "Nice to meet you"

How to Write a Networking Email

  1. Tell them something about their work you admire.
  2. Call out your similarities.
  3. Tell them how you can help.
  4. Ask them for help or advice.
  5. Always start with an easy ask.

How to Write a Networking Email to a Stranger

If you're writing a networking email to a stranger, try to work at least a few of the following five points into your message:

1. Tell them something about their work you admire.

Whether you liked a recent article they wrote or admired a comment they left on a hot-button LinkedIn post, pointing out something you love about their work will get you far. Just make sure it's genuine, well-researched, and professional.

Your good intentions will be worth nothing if you lead with a generic, "I saw your article last week in the Atlantic." Instead, get specific about what you liked. A better approach would be, "I read your Atlantic article about the rise of homemade dog food last week. I especially liked your point about how homemade meals can sometimes be lacking in the vitamins and minerals pets need in their food."

2. Call out your similarities.

The classic example of this is, "Hey, I see you went to X College. So did I! Don't you miss sunny afternoons on Library Lawn?" But you're not limited to college talk. If they have similar professional interests, tweet about a hobby you share, or are members of similar LinkedIn groups, use that as a jumping-off point in your email.

3. Tell them how you can help.

If you're writing a networking email to a stranger, they have no real reason to help you. Consider how you might be able to assist them in return. Can you write a blog post for their website? Is there someone you could connect them with in return? Make this a mutually beneficial exchange.

4. Ask them for help or advice.

As we've done in the examples above, ask your recipient for help. A recent Harvard Business Review article says, "The key to a successful request for help is to shift the focus to these benefits. You want people to feel that they would be helping because they want to, not because they must, and that they're in control of the decision.

The article continues to explain that means avoiding language like, "May I ask you a favor," which tends to make people feel trapped into helping. It also advises avoiding apologizing with phrases like, "I feel terrible for asking this." Instead, work language like, "Can we work together to figure this out?" which is scientifically proven to promote the exchange of information.

5. Always start with an easy ask.

Never ask for the connection, favor, or meeting first. This can come across as too pushy or forward. Test the waters with a request for advice, information, or other knowledge sharing. This builds trust and relationships, and it increases your chances of success when you do ask them to introduce you to that connection you've been eyeing.

Here's an easy template you can use putting these tips into practice:

Your valued expertise

Hi Sage,

My name is Quincy Davis, and I manage partnerships at Mix Furniture Co. I read your feature in the LA Times last week and appreciated your valuable insight on future design trends.

I'm building our partnerships list for the upcoming year and would love to discuss paid opportunities for you to share your expertise with our audience.

Would you have time to hop on a call in the coming weeks and talk about your upcoming plans and future collaborations?

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you,

Quincy

How to Write a Networking Email to Someone You Know

If you're writing a networking email to someone you already know, the hardest part is done. Instead, shift your tone and content to making sure they feel appreciated and collaborated instead of used and discarded. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Ask about them ...

... and mean it. Don't just start your email with a generic, "How have you been?" Dig deep and ask about their kids by name or how that obscure hobby they're interested in is going. These kinds of questions are also more enticing for your reader to answer. "How are you doing?" is easy to ignore and lazy.

And if you've just met at a conference or networking event, it's always good to remind them who you are and ask how the rest of their conference or event was.

2. Provide a personal update.

Make your email even more personable by offering a sentence on how you're doing. Something like, "I'm doing well. Just got back into the office after a family trip to Disneyland, so I'm getting caught up and enjoying not having to stand in line for 45 minutes to use the copy machine!" This is personal, conversational, and a little funny. It's the perfect way to put your reader at ease as if they're talking to a friend — even if you've only met once or twice.

3. Respectfully present your ask.

Once you've politely opened your message, get to the point. There's less reason to sugarcoat your ask since you have a relationship with this person already. A simple, "The reason I'm reaching out today is ..." will do the trick.

Here's what these elements look like in an email:

Checking in after INBOUND

Hi Sam,

My name is Nova, and we met briefly at INBOUND last week. I was really impressed with your session, and I hope you enjoyed the rest of the event.

In my role at XYZ Studios, I'm looking to bring in experts who can lead upcoming sessions for our employee development group. I immediately thought of your presentation at INBOUND and wanted to gauge your interest in participating in this paid opportunity.

Do you have time to hop on a call this week and discuss more details?

Thank you,

Nova

Good luck with your next outreach email and remember: The best way to build a relationship is to listen, learn, and ask questions.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read the full article, click here: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/relationship-building-email-template

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/11/2022

New Year Career Planning and ECO's Response to the Fall Check-in Survey

Hello Majors,
I hope you've had a chance to relax over the winter break. It's a new year with opportunities and possibilities ahead of you. Below I've curated some resources to help you launch your semester's activities, many of which were requested by our majors through our end-of-semester check-in survey. To that end, the winners of the survey drawing will be contacted this week! Thank you for sharing your experiences and ideas.

WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT:
Research and Self Assessment Tools (What May I Like to Do?)
What Can I Do with this Major?
PathwayU (Specific job titles are given along with your personality assessment, work culture preferences, and values)
ECO Self-Assessment  and More (Scroll to Self-Discovery)
Candid Career Videos (Short Videos with Alum Interviews)
ECO YouTube Channel (Career Videos of Alumni Panels)
ECO Alum Spotlights
What Do Econ Majors Do after Graduation? (Outcomes)
Virginia Alumni Mentor Network Database for Informational Interviewing

Job Search Guides:
Hoos Career Guide
Picture Your Career 
How to Use Handshake Effectively 
How to Maximize Your Use of Handshake( (There's a lot in there!)
     Tip: Update Your Handshake Profile at the Start of Each Semester and Update Your Resume
CareerShift (Inside Handshake "Resources)
Vault Career Guides (For Exploration, inside Econ Career Office Collab)
Job Boards for Econ Majors
ECO's Job Board 

Undergraduate Research Resources

Part-Time Work 
UVA Part-time Jobs Fair
Handshake - search by part-time filter and on campus
QuadJobs
Charlottesville part-time listings
Center for Non Profit Excellence in Charlottesville

Gaining Experience/Internships/Micro-Internships 
Catalyst (New from the College of A&S! 
The Catalyst program will help you apply the power of your UVA education to your job, your life, and your community. It will teach you how to utilize and describe the capabilities you’ve developed at UVA – including clear analysis, astute synthesis, effective communication, ethical judgment, complex problem-solving and more. You’ll also develop your capacities for leadership and collaboration, as well as in-demand skills tailored to your particular career interests.
Handshake
Internship Placement Program
Parker Dewey (Micro-Internships)
Case Competitions with MindSumo (Win money and build a network.)
Coursera
iLab at UVA (Entrepreneur skills-training and experience)
LinkedIn Learning (A LInkedIn account is required for access.)
Forge - Career Accelerator with Skills-Based Learning and Embedded Internships
Propel - Project-Based Learning at UVA
Volunteering
Virginia Alumni Mentor Bridges Projects (Micro-Internships)

Pre-doctoral Preparation Resources
ECO Collab Pre-Doc Programs
Applying for Pre-Doc Programs
Applying for Research Assistant Programs
Pursuing a Grad Degree in Economics

Other Grad Programs for Econ Majors (Scroll to Graduate School)

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/20/2017

ARTICLE - 12 CRUCIAL TIPS TO DESIGNING SMARTPHONE QUALITATIVE THAT GETS GREAT INSIGHT

"Over the Shoulder has been helping put smartphone-based qualitative into the toolkit of qualitative researchers and insight seekers for almost nine years now. We’re often asked by clients to list the biggest tips and “watch-outs” that smartphone qual practitioners should bear in mind to make their jobs easier and their deliverables to clients more valuable." - Ross McLean

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Feature | 08/01/2022

Daniel Harper presents at the Economics Science Association Word Meeting

Daniel Harper, a fifth-year student, presented his paper “Borrowing in A Crisis: An Experimental Study of Asset-Backed Borrowing in a Financial Downturn,” at the Economic Science Association Word Meetings in Boston/Cambridge, MA.  The paper investigates the effects of asset-backed borrowing and investor panic on asset prices and market efficiency in an economic downturn.

Feature | 04/15/2018

4TH YEAR DEVAKI GHOSE, PRESENTS AT CEP IN GENEVA

In April 2018, 4th year student Devaki Ghose, presented a paper at a workshop--cohosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMG), the World Bank (WB), and the Center for Economic Policy (CEP)--held at the WTO’s Geneva headquarters, titled Trade Policy, Inclusiveness and the Rise of the Service Economy. The workshop’s goal: to dig deeper into the question of how and to what extent services trade can benefit from removing barriers to trade and how these benefits can translate into positive societal outcomes. From a field of established presenters and authors, including many professors from prestigious universities, such as the London School of Economics and the University of Nottingham, as well as policy practitioners from international organizations such as the WTO, IMF, WB and the OECD, Devaki was one of 10 selected to offer a full 45-minute presentation. In her paper, “Did the Rise of Service Off-shoring and IT-Boom Change India’s Economic Landscape?”, she quantifies how the rise in the India’s IT industry, fueled by off-shoring demand from abroad, changed India’s growth story by looking at changes in educational outcomes, employment and wages; she also studies how this IT boom was fostered by the growth of engineering education in India. Devaki, who has previously presented at conferences and seminars at Dartmouth college, University of Nottingham, the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting and the Eastern Economic Association Conference, described the workshop as “a unique opportunity to present my work to both academicians and policy makers. I believe feedback from this audience will enrich my research and help me develop future collaborations with co-authors in my field.”

Feature | 09/23/2019

Alumna Turns Negative Wall Street Experience Into Booming Business

Snow

Feature | 10/11/2016

ECON Alum: Emily Snow, Class of '16

1. Why did you choose to study economics? 

A month into my first semester, Professor Elzinga gave a lecture in ECON 201 that changed the course of my college trajectory. The topic—rational consumer behavior—was neither inspiring nor profound, but the lesson stuck. I found myself measuring the costs of a good in terms of its next best alternative, ignoring sunk costs when I made a decision, and seeing applications of economics everywhere. Drawn to this “economic way of thinking” during my first months of school, I attended my professors’ office hours, participated in behavioral experiments in the VEcon Lab, and even went water-skiing with Professor Elzinga. As I pursued economics further in subsequent semesters, I was struck by its systematic explanations for the world around me—everything from business strategies to Congressional voting procedures to income inequality. I was fascinated by these questions and the way that economics answered them, and there was no turning back! 

2. What courses/ professors have been particularly influential and why? 

This question is a tough one, because there have been so many! I'm grateful to Mr. Elzinga for his wise counsel, steadfast mentorship, and the way that he constantly challenges me. His ECON 201 class first drew me to the subject, and since then I've had the pleasure of learning from him in his Antitrust seminar and through an independent study on the intersection of economic thought and Christian theology. I'm grateful to Mr. Coppock for his encouragement and natural gift for relating to students. His Public Choice seminar was incredibly interesting and stimulating, and it remains by favorite class to date. I'm grateful to Mr. Holt for his patience, kindness, and willingness to invest in my academic potential. Learning from his expertise in experimental economics has been a true privilege. And the list goes on! I'm grateful to Mr. Olsen for guiding me through my first research project, to Mr. Burton for connecting me wonderful people and opportunities in the Department, to Ms. Turner for her amazing dedication to her students' flourishing, and to many others who have invested in me. 

3. What makes the economics department special? 

As my previous answer demonstrates, the faculty in the economics department have made all the difference to me. They create an atmosphere in which freedom of inquiry flourishes and opportunities abound. During my time in the department, I've particularly enjoyed the opportunity to conduct research. Last year, I completed an independent study in which I used Stata to estimate the efficiency gains of housing vouchers as opposed to public housing. Additionally, I work as a Research Assistant in the VEcon Lab, exploring ways that human behavior either aligns with or deviates from economic theory. In addition to these pursuits, I've also gained immense value from the opportunity to serve as a Teaching Assistant in introductory economics courses. Teaching is a great responsibility and privilege, and helping my students grasp the discipline’s most fundamental principles reminds me of why I fell in love with economics in the first place.

4. How did you spend your summer between third and fourth year? (This language has been changed. Former question asked “How did you spend last summer?” Or, we may mention in the heading that these responses were collected while you were a student and now you are an Associate with BCG.)

I had a fantastic summer interning for BCG in their DC office. My role as a Summer Associate involved collaborating with my case team to strategically simplify the organizational structure of a large tech firm. Day to day, I spent good deal of my time building models on Excel, creating Powerpoint decks for client presentations, and performing data analysis with my team. At the most basic level, my task was to solve problems, and both the content of the work and the atmosphere of the office made my job both stimulating and sustainable. I have no doubt that the experiences the Economics Department has provided me differentiated me as a job candidate, and Jen Jones and the ECO office were enormously valuable to me as I navigated the job recruitment process. Furthermore, once I began my internship, it became abundantly clear that the critical thinking that I learn through my economics coursework would help me succeed in the Associate role. I am looking forward to returning to BCG as a full-time Associate next year. 

5. What is the most interesting thing you've done in the Department?

Serving as one of the first undergraduate Teaching Assistant for introductory economics courses has been and continues to be an incredible privilege and learning opportunity. Standing in front of a classroom twice each week, I’ve learned to present economics concepts in creative ways. I’ve learned to establish credibility by coming prepared for class and by speaking with confidence. I’ve learned to establish approachability by adding lighthearted elements to my lessons and being transparent about any mistakes I make. Working one-on-one with my students, I’ve learned the joys of helping others succeed. I’ve learned to help my students work out practice problems themselves, rather than just listen to me explain them. I’ve learned to exhibit patience and encouragement in the face of my students’ frustration and disappointment, particularly after midterms. 

As a returning TA this year, my goal is been to use these lessons to both improve upon my teaching and to be a leader among new undergraduate TAs. I seek to be a role model by putting my students’ needs above my own. Whether it means putting extra effort into planning interactive lessons, sacrificing time to meet outside of my office hours, or simply demonstrating to my students how much I care about their success, my role as a Teaching Assistant continues to be my most meaningful University involvement. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/02/2021

ECO Blog: Leadership and Rotational Programs - What They Are and Why You Should Consider Them

For our students who have a general interest in business, but are less focused on the industry or a particular job function, these programs may be for you. They are typically private sector programs, span industry and sometimes even extend into the think tank space or public sector, such as the Council on Foreign Relations' Young Professional Program or the US Government's Pathways Program. Most though, exist in the private sector and are used to recruit young, talented recent graduates into a firm's management pipeline. Employees typically spend a short period of time (3-6 months) in a division of the firm, such as marketing, operations, finance, or talent management, and rotate through several. Often employees are assigned a mentor and attend cohort-training with other peers in the program. Toward the end of the full rotation period, employees along with their managers, select a permanent placement. 

Below, I've included a few links to pique your interest. I've also included a link to a full list of programs. For some links, you may need to do a little more digging to find the correct link because websites continue to evolve throughout each academic year. For example, Mastercard's link has expired, but I was able to search their website for jobs that are considered part of their leadership program. Some firms also host summer rotation programs, such as the NFL.

Another tip, in any job search engine/job board, search by the keywords "management rotation" or "leadership rotation" to source these programs. Check out my search results on indeed by plugging in "junior rotational analyst." (If you're reading this blog in May, rather than in November, likely the yield will not be as high.) Of course this strategy is not the Holy Grail of the job search, but one more tool for your toolkit. The ECO recommends a full complement of resources including TWP (Talking with People - networking) to learn more about any job you find interesting and to broaden your search if you are getting stuck.

Below are selected Leadership Rotation Programs recruiting now:

Check out more programs here: https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/leadership-development-rotational-programs

Although the list of employers at the link above are categorized by industry, jobs across function exist with each firm. This means that you could work for a tech firm, but hold a finance position; or, you could work for a finance firm and hold a tech position. Please make an appointment with me to discuss your internship or job search in more detail.

 

 

 

Feature | 05/05/2022

Econ Grad Club Hike

Econ Grads enjoyed a study break with fresh air, open vistas, exercise, and comradery on a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains organized by the Graduate Economics Club

Feature | 01/31/2022

Sngidha Das presents at SEA

Snigdha Das presented her paper, "Corruption and the Golden Goose Effect in the Context of an Ink Bomb Task Experiment," which studies corrupt behavior across a dynamic setting. Snigdha presented the experimental design of the theoretical model along with some preliminary data observations gathered from pilot sessions in Professor Charles Holt's undergraduate class.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/07/2019

5 Ways to Look Confident in an Interview (Even When You're Freaking Out)

Taken from The Muse: https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-ways-to-look-confident-in-an-interview-even-when-youre-freaking-out
After the long, exhausting journey of searching for and applying to new jobs, you’ve just been rewarded with a golden ticket—an interview.

But after a brief moment of celebration, the panic sets in: Your heart is already pounding, your palms are beginning to sweat, and you’re wondering: Are hiring managers like sharks—can they smell fear?

If the thought of sitting across from a hiring manager makes your stomach turn, you’re not alone. But don’t let your nerves get the best of you! Try one these strategies that will help you feel calm, cool, and collected—or at least make you appear that way.

1. Just Breathe

While waiting to be greeted by your interviewer, take a few moments to do some breathing. (Yes, like a pregnant woman in labor!) By doing this, you can redirect the troublesome emotion you’re experiencing (e.g., nervousness or fear) and be able to focus on something else (in this case, the amazing job that you’re hoping to land). Holistic health expert Andrew Weil, MD praises breathing exercises, saying, “Since breathing is something we can control and regulate, it is a useful tool for achieving a relaxed and clear state of mind.”

To do this most effectively, take a deep breath through your nose (really feel your stomach expand) and then slowly blow it out through your mouth. Repeat this three times, while concentrating on centering your thoughts. The best thing about this technique is that you can do it anywhere (and quite unnoticeably), so if you feel your nerves start to swell during the interview, simply take another breath.

2. Don’t Fidget

Nervous fidgeting is one of the most telltale signs that you’re nervous, so this is an incredibly important skill to master. My go-to trick is to keep my hands clasped together on the table or in my lap to avoid any subconscious table tapping, hair twirling, or otherwise noticeable squirming. I’m also a leg-shaker—but keeping my hands in my lap and applying a bit of pressure to my legs helps remind me to keep the shaking to a minimum.

If you think you don’t have any fidgety habits, you might want to think again—most people aren’t aware of their own nervous tendencies because they’re such an ingrained part of their natural behavior. To double check, try doing a few mock interviews with a friend who can call you out on any fidgeting. Once you know exactly what to avoid, you can practice controlling it.

3. Make Eye Contact

One of the best ways to fool a hiring manager into thinking you’re more confident than you feel is to keep steady, natural eye contact throughout the interview. Mary Griffin, a Human Resources Director for a national healthcare company says, “A key giveaway of a nervous Nellie is a lack of direct eye contact—looking down, looking away, and not looking the interviewer directly in the eyes. A more confident interviewee appears to be engaged with the interviewer.”

One way to remind yourself to make regular eye contact is to focus on a spot between the interviewer’s eyes. You can even imagine a colorful bulls-eye there—whatever it takes to keep your eyes from wandering too much.

On the flip side, you don’t want to stay so intensely focused on making eye contact that you end up sending out a creepy vibe! So remember to take natural breaks, like looking down at your resume every once in a while. It’s a balancing act, so just keep practicing until it feels comfortable.

4. Press Pause

Some of us (myself included!) tend to ramble when we’re nervous. This can be dangerous because once we start talking, it’s incredibly easy to veer off topic and say more than what’s needed—or worse, more than what’s appropriate.

To preempt any rambling, I try to answer each question with only one thought or idea at a time. For example, if you’re asked to describe a trait you disliked about a previous supervisor, you could say, “I found that her tendency to micromanage conflicted with my productivity.” Then stop. This will save you from unnecessary add-ons like “She was a total control freak whose inability to let me make my own decisions made me want to run down the hall screaming obscenities”—even if that may be the most honest answer.

The key to mastering this technique is to keep your tone sincere, so that even if your responses are brief, they don’t come off as curt or dismissive. It’s more about sticking to one main topic per question instead of going off a nervous tangent. And don’t worry—if the interviewer wants you to elaborate on a certain topic, she’ll ask.

5. Think Positively

Finally, calm your nerves by reminding yourself that you deserve to be there. Hey, you wouldn’t have been invited to interview if you weren’t being seriously considered as a candidate! Use this knowledge to your advantage to mentally pump yourself up before the interview. It can take the edge off enough to allow you to approach the situation with a burst of self-assurance and poise.

Most importantly, remember that while you certainly need to be calm, collected, and confident in order to score the job, an interview is not a life-or-death situation. Hiring managers are humans, too—and they’ll understand and forgive a few minor nervous blips.

So with that in mind, relax, gather your strength, and walk into that interview with a newfound confidence (at least on the outside!).

 

Read More

Academic research award: problem solvers for the planet

Feature | 11/01/2018

CAILIN SLATTERY PRESENTS JMP AT UEA MEETING

Cailin Slattery presented her job market paper "Bidding for Firms: Subsidy Competition in the U.S." at the Urban Economics Association Meeting at Columbia University in New York City. She received valuable feedback on her paper and discussed her research with Urban Economists from all over the world. She also had the opportunity to attend talks by Ed Glaeser, Raj Chetty, and recent Nobel Laureate Paul Romer.

In her job market paper, Cailin studies how U.S. states use discretionary tax breaks and subsidies to compete for individual firms to locate and create jobs in their jurisdictions. This policy has been well publicized with the recent competition for Amazon's second headquarters, but it is not an Amazon-specific phenomenon --- states spend billions of dollars each year on discretionary subsidies to attract a handful of large firms. However, it is still debated whether subsidy competition is a zero-sum game which only serves to transfer rent from states to firms at no national welfare gain, or if subsidies actually cause firms to locate where they create more value for a state. 

In order to address this debate empirically, Cailin hand-collected a new data set on state level incentive spending and firm-level subsidy deals. She then uses the data to estimate a model of subsidy competition, where states bid for individual firms in an oral ascending auction. This allows her to answer two open questions about subsidy competition: how do states value a given firm, and how important are subsidies to a firms' location decision?  Her estimates provide the first empirical evidence that states use subsidies to help large firms internalize the positive externalities they have in a state. Specifically, she find that states value not only the direct jobs the firm promises to create when determining their subsidy offer, but also the indirect jobs they are expected to create through agglomeration.

Next, she uses the model to estimate the effects of a counterfactual subsidy ban, and evaluate the welfare implications of subsidy competition.  Her counterfactual results confirm that subsidy competition is not a zero-sum game. In fact, competition increases total welfare (the joint payoffs of states and firms) by 20% over the subsidy ban. However, the entirety of this welfare gain is captured by the firms. Although individual states are better off, the aggregate welfare of states decreases relative to the subsidy ban. In short, the states, as a whole, are worse off with competition, because they have competed away much of the value a firm creates in their location.

Feature | 03/19/2020

School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance

Brett Fischer presented a paper, "No Spending Without Representation: School Boards and the Racial Gap in Education Finance," at the AEFP's 45th Annual Conference Program . To address the question of whether a lack of minority representation on school boards hurts minority students, he used detailed school-level data from a large capital investment program to evaluate whether minority school board members increase spending on minority students. His instrumental variables estimates, which leverage exogenous variation on school board election ballots to deliver causal effects, show that minority school board officials allocate the marginal dollar to schools with high levels of poverty and nonwhite enrollment, and those investments raise student achievement in the medium-term. His analysis suggests that improving minority representation on school boards could help combat persistent racial gaps in education finance and achievement. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/09/2021

International Student Job Search- 2021 Report

By: Derek Loosvelt at Firsthand

Published: Nov 07, 2021

Due to the pandemic and difficulties of obtaining student visas, international enrollment in U.S. universities saw a slight decline during the 2019-2020 academic year. That’s the bad news. The good news is international student enrollment at U.S. schools seems to be on the rise again, which means many international students will be looking for employment in 2022 and beyond. And to better understand the job-search landscape for international students, Firsthand spoke with international student career expert Marcelo Barros. Below is an excerpt of that conversation.

Firsthand: Covid is still very much a reality and continues to impact our lives in a variety of ways. What do you see happening now and next year from a hiring perspective that international students need to know about?

Barros: There’s a big difference between large firms and smaller firms. On the one hand, many large employers have actually benefited from Covid. So, we continue to see aggressive hiring of international students from established, larger firms (like the Amazons of the world) in a variety of different industries. These firms are well positioned to continue to hire new employees to fuel their growth, and in many cases, they depend on international students to fill critically important roles.

Meanwhile, also due to Covid, smaller and mid-size firms continue to find it more difficult to tap into new business opportunities. As a result, from my perspective, these firms have become increasingly reluctant to hire international students who might need H-1B visas. Part of what my company, The International Advantage, does is connect with firms that might be open to hiring international students. We have a goal to speak with a minimum of 20 new firms per week in the small/mid-size space, to gauge their hiring needs and position international students who are potential solutions for them. Lately, it’s been harder than ever for us to convince these firms to consider hiring international students.

So, should students be only targeting larger, established companies?

I’ve been recommending that international students spend 80 percent of their time targeting larger, more established firms in their field, and spend the remaining 20 percent of their time targeting smaller, up-and-coming firms where the possibility of sponsorship may exist. Due this new set of conditions we’ve been observing, we’ve adjusted our guidance to international students in terms of which firms to target, which may provide the best chance of sponsorship. By carefully adjusting the type and size of firms to target, as well as methodically building competitive profiles as job seekers who seek sponsorship, international students have a chance to explore wonderful career opportunities in the U.S. In general, it’s a job seeker’s job market out there right now, even for candidates who need sponsorship and may not possess much work experience (as is often the case with our recent college grads) but have in-demand skills that set them apart.

International students should also be asking themselves: ‘Is the field that I’m trying to break into in high demand or not?’ Students who might be targeting fields that are in high demand will likely have a better chance to obtain sponsorship from an up-and-coming, niche, smaller firm that’s poised to grow and secure lucrative contracts. For example, health care is a very high demand area that puts job seekers in the driver’s seat with a real shot of sponsorship. Job opportunities for health care professionals will continue to grow over the rest of the decade—and at a much faster clip than other occupations.

So, if you’re an international student who’s in the health care space, in theory you do have more choices in terms of which types of firms to add to your target list, compared to a student who might be targeting, say, traditional retail, which is a low growth area in terms of job opportunities and sponsorship opportunities.

How are universities currently supporting international students' job-search goals?

In general, compared to last year, we’ve seen a strong uptick in terms of international student career development support. In fact, many universities are levering International Education Week happening this month to offer additional job-search support for their international students. For example, New York University and the University at Buffalo are partnering with The International Advantage to offer a special job-search webinar for their international students during the week. No matter where you go to school, it’s important for international students to investigate what’s available in terms of job-search programming for them during International Education Week.

What do you recommend to international students who are about to graduate and don't have many, if any, job prospects?

One strategy which is highly effective is to look for an internship post-graduation—ideally paid but unpaid should be considered as well. From the employer’s perspective, hiring someone as an intern is a low risk investment, and one that doesn’t typically require any complicated immigration paper work if the international student can secure an Employment Authorization Card. From an international student perspective, it’s a solid way to get your foot in the door and show your value. This is a tried-and-tested formula that can lead to a full-time paid opportunity as long you play your cards right, the company sees the value you bring to the table, and they’re open to sponsorship, of course.

It’s also important to note that international students have a limited amount of time to stay in the U.S. after graduation without employment, so they need to be careful not to violate their immigration status. It’s critical that they stay closely in touch with their university international student office as graduation approaches.

Any final job-search tips for international students? What else can international students do to improve their chances of securing great jobs in the U.S. in their fields of study after graduation?

As F-1 visa holders, international students are often eligible to work on campus. The International Advantage is currently working with a few universities around a campaign called “get an on-campus job international student.” Essentially, we’d like international students to get excited about leveraging this great benefit of their F-1 visa status. On-campus jobs are great ways for international students to gain U.S. work experience during their studies and start acquiring the soft skills U.S. employers look for. Unlike off-campus jobs, on-campus jobs don’t need to be in one’s field of study. In general, international students can work on-campus up to 20 hours a week during the academic year, and jobs for graduate students often pay $20+ an hour. My message is simple: Apply for on-campus jobs, particularly if your ultimate goal is to stay and work in the U.S. after graduation.

How do students find out about these opportunities?

International students should visit their university international student services office to learn more about their eligibility for on-campus employment. If all our international students do is to go class (sadly that’s the case in many instances), then they’re greatly minimizing the quality of their experience in the U.S.—and perhaps also reducing their chances of securing full-time employment in the U.S., with sponsorship, after graduation.

The benefits of campus employment are obvious, ranging from being able to beef up your resume with American work experience to being able to improve your communication skills by working side by side with Americans. In my opinion, the U.S. government is very generous in terms of allowing F-1 international students to work on campus. This benefit must be fully leveraged as a way to create a path towards full-time employment in the U.S after graduation. Campus involvement is a critical aspect of the U.S. college experience. It’s something that U.S. hiring managers and recruiters tend to value when making hiring decisions.

Finally, another training program available to some international students who hold F-1 visas is the ability to work in their field of study off-campus by levering Curricular Practical Training (CPT). This program is available at some colleges and universities to currently enrolled students from certain majors. Not every university or degree program offers it, but if an international student has access to CPT, they should leverage this perk as well.

Marcelo Barros is the founder of The International Advantage, a firm specializing in providing job search training for international students who seek U.S. jobs. Barros partners with over 50 U.S. universities to help their international students get noticed and hired. Barros encourages International students who seek U.S. jobs or internships to enroll in The International Advantage Get Hired Video Course, designed to help foreign students beat visa odds and secure U.S. employment, including internships.

https://firsthand.co/blogs/international-students/job-search-advice-for-international-students-in-2022

Feature | 05/23/2022

Gayoung Ko Presents at the International IO Conference

Gayoung Ko, a sixth-year student, presented her paper, "Gender Discrimination in the Gig Economy: Evidence from Online Auctions for Freelancing," at the International Industrial Organization Conference. This paper proposes an empirical framework to study gender discrimination in an auction-based online platform for freelance jobs.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/02/2023

Tech Tools That Could Help You Land Your Dream Job

Article written by Beth DeCarbo for The Wall Street Journal.

With help from a growing suite of tech tools, employees can both discover their dream job and map a path toward getting it.

Many companies are deploying internal “talent marketplaces” to give their employees the power to take their careers to the next level. These career-mapping portals include job postings, of course, but they also connect employees with educational, training and mentoring resources to facilitate their advancement. Especially attractive are opportunities to work on short-term projects outside of their current role or physical location, thus broadening their work experience. 

Providing employees with such tech tools “democratizes career development,” says Tim McGonigle, vice president at nonprofit Human Resources Research Organization, or HumRRO. The built-in transparency gives everyone a shot at job opportunities, even those that their mentor or manager may not suggest. Companies benefit as well, McGonigle adds, since “providing information about how employees can flourish is key to growth and retention.”

Few opportunities

There’s no doubt that employees are hungry for such assistance. In 2022, over 72 million employees left their jobs, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. And of those, 70% quit voluntarily. In a separate survey last year by the Society for Human Resource Management, 61% of HR professionals cited the lack of career development and advancement as one of the main drivers of employee turnover.

Nestlé USA deployed an online talent marketplace in 2020, and it now has nearly 5,000 registered users, according to a spokeswoman. From the platform, employees can apply for companywide job postings, and managers can discover potential job candidates in unexpected places, she says. That functionality is key considering the number and variety of Nestlé brands, which include DiGiorno pizza, S.Pellegrino water and Purina pet food. So far, Nestlé employees have used the platform to form nearly 300 networking relationships with colleagues across different teams and businesses, the spokeswoman says.

The system Nestlé uses was created by Gloat, a New York-based software company. Noelle Bloomfield, Gloat’s director of product marketing, explains how its career mapping works. Employees register and create a profile that details their current skills, as well as their long-term goals. Using artificial intelligence, the Gloat platform generates different “maps” for employees to consider. One is a “popular path” based on how co-workers with similar job experience and skills have advanced, such as an entry-level software engineer to a senior-level developer.

The tool also creates career paths for employees interested in jobs outside of their current field, as well as paths that lead to people-management positions. Each step on these paths details the skills and work experience required to move to the next level. Available learning and mentoring resources—including opportunities to work on short-term projects—also are highlighted. 

Planning ahead

Ideally, career planning starts long before the career does, says Kurt Kraiger, chair of the management department at the University of Memphis’s college of business. Key to that plan is choosing a college major that is aligned with the student’s interests. 

“When I’m in a job that fits my interests, that predicts both longevity and performance” in that field, says Kraiger, an organizational psychologist. But challenges arise when college students with scant work experience must choose a major—a decision that might affect their career trajectory for decades to come.

To that end, Kraiger co-founded PathwayU, [all UVA students have a free account!] a career-planning platform with assessment tests that probe users’ interests and values, which are the qualities that make work meaningful to them. Using predictive analytics, the tool then identifies viable college majors that are aligned with the student’s profile. Each option includes an economic outlook outlining workforce demand and earnings potential for that specific field. Currently, 165 postsecondary schools are using the platform, a PathwayU spokesman says, including Florida International University in Miami.

“We use it for career discovery and career searches,” says John P. Nykolaiszyn, director of the Office of Business Career Management at FIU. The platform is integrated into a 15-week career class required of undergraduate students in the College of Business, which has about 9,000 students.

Students use PathwayU’s assessment tools to learn about career options that best match their interests and values, he says. They also can see, and apply for, current job postings that would be a good fit for them.

The platform doesn’t replace one-on-one career planning, Nykolaiszyn says, but it does help the business school’s 10 career counselors have strategic conversations with students about things like résumé preparation, job interviews and, most important, their job search. “No tool is ever going to replace counseling or coaching sessions,” he says.

Free tools

To be sure, it is possible to create an individual career map without a fancy tech platform. Jobs website Indeed, for example, offers a downloadable template that boils career-mapping down to its basics: a starting point and a final goal, with connection points related to the education, skills and work experience required to get from Point A to Point B. But McGonigle, who is also an industrial-organizational psychologist, says tech tools can make the process easier.

He points to a suite of free career-mapping tools developed by the Labor Department. One is O*Net, a database with information on over 1,000 occupations, each with descriptions of the knowledge and skill requirements and its economic outlook. A second site, called CareerOneStop, offers users a variety of self-assessment tests to identify which occupations would be suitable for them. Resource links include searchable databases of topics including available scholarships, apprenticeship opportunities and certification programs. 

Tech tools like these make career-mapping easier in two ways, McGonigle says. First, a platform “offers resources on how to proceed down a path that you choose.” Second and perhaps more important, “it can help identify paths you might not be thinking of,” he says. “Given the volume of data that these systems rely on, they could provide a broader perspective.”

Feature | 10/17/2023

Editorial: Claudia Goldin’s Nobel is a win for women and men

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Editorial: Claudia Goldin’s Nobel is a win for women and men

  • THE EDITORS, BLOOMBERG OPINION
  • Lauren Owens Lambert/AFP

Women have immense potential to make the entire world more prosperous — yet despite decades of progress, that potential is yet to be fully realized. Harvard Professor Claudia Goldin has spent her career illuminating not only the obstacles that women face but also how to overcome them. For these efforts, she is the richly deserving winner of the 2023 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Goldin is a trailblazer on multiple levels. Of the 93 economic laureates since the prize’s inception in 1969, she’s only the third woman (and the first to be recognized solo, without co-recipients). She was the first tenured female professor in the Harvard economics department. And at a time when leading academics focused on building elegant but often deeply flawed mathematical models of the economy, she stuck to the painstaking work of collecting and analyzing empirical data to establish the truth.

After studying the mechanisms of slavery and the cost of the American Civil War, she turned to the topic that would define her career: women and work. By parsing data going as far back as the late 18th century, she discovered (among other things) that female labor-force participation doesn’t necessarily increase with economic growth, and that education alone won’t eliminate the gender pay gap. Thus, other policies are needed to help women and the economy reach their full potential. Depending on a country’s situation, these might involve women’s expectations, access to contraception, parenting roles or the flexibility of work arrangements.

Goldin’s insights have helped guide policymakers’ efforts to promote gender equality — which, if achieved, could add more than 50% to the economic output of some countries by expanding the labor force and better allocating human capital, according to one estimate. It could also boost incomes for both women and men. Yet adoption of even plainly beneficial measures, such as child-care subsidies, remains uneven — notably in the U.S., which last month allowed emergency pandemic-era child-care funding to expire, potentially leaving millions in the lurch.

Aside from her research, Goldin has sought to address a stark disparity in her own field: Women comprise the majority of undergraduate students, but only one in four economics majors. True to form, Goldin’s initiative — which entails, for example, targeted information sessions and mentoring — is structured as a controlled experiment, to establish what actually works. Although the results have so far been mixed, it has boosted women’s enrollment in economics in some colleges and provided others with valuable information on how best to proceed.

While Goldin often emphasizes how far women have come, her research also quantifies the struggles that remain. Women still earn less than men for the same work — particularly in high-paying professions such as law and finance, which require long hours and a lot of face time. By responsibly measuring the problem, she helps make further progress possible.

It will take more time for women to achieve true equity in the workplace. But when that happens, they and all who benefit from their contributions will to a crucial extent have Claudia Goldin to thank.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/10/2021

ECO Blog: 2 Career Fairs This Week! Virtual Career Fair Tips

Hello Economics Majors,

I hope your fall break was relaxing and you are returning to the Grounds refreshed and renewed! This week I want to speak with you about virtual career fairs. These are great opportunities to meet with employers online. UVA hosts several a year and this week we are hosting two major events - each includes Fortune 500 and medium-sized employers. Work locations include Washington, D.C.-Northern Virginia, NYC, Austin, Dallas, and more!

Fall Data Analytics Night
Fall Job and Internship Career Fair - focus on Health and Science (Next week's fair includes less specialized industries.)

When you click the links above, you will find at the Fall Job and Internship Fair employers such as Bon Secours Health System, consulting firms Maximus and CGI, research consulting firm GLG, the NIH, and advertising health firm McCann Health.

At Fall Data Analytics Night, you'll find employers such as Booz Allen Hamilton, BRG, Charles River Associates, Gunnison Consulting, JPMorgan Chase Consumer and Community Banking, MasterCard, MTX, Procter & Gamble, and West Creek Bank. Some of the tech firms, like MTX, are hiring product managers, and the ECO has invited alum guests working as product managers, to speak with our majors the hour before Data Analytics night begins at the How I Got This Job: Product Management program.

Employers will hold info sessions with groups, and 1:1 meetings with individual students. Schedule at least an hour in your day to attend if you are internship or job-seeking. And if you're curious, but not ready to job search, the info sessions provide a great opportunity to hang back and listen. Please check out the five links below about approaching the fair. If you are in a full-on job search, I recommend choosing 3-5 employers that are your "must-sees" and schedule around those sessions.

  • Make sure your lighting is good and your mic works in case you choose to speak.
  • If possible, appear in a neat room, or use a virtual background.
  • Dress neatly.
  • Prepare your pitch using VMOCK (AI platform that records your pitch and scores you) and this ECO template and these tips.
  • Have your resume handy to borrow talking points and possibly share with employers.
  • Research the employers that are the most interesting to you and come with questions. You'll find some at the links belowl
  • Be yourself (really!).
  • Send a thank you after the info session of 1:1 session.

All the best,

Jen

 

Vault's Recommendations for Attending a Virtual Career Fair

Participating in a Virtual Fair - from Handshake 

Handshake's Guide to Virtual Fair Attendance

Good Questions to Ask Employers

Better Questions to Ask Employers

Feature | 12/04/2023

New Research from Diego Briones: Learning from the PSLF Waiver

Diego Briones, a PhD candidate, published a brief on the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) as part of Third Way's ACADEMIX Upshot series. In it, Briones highlights lessons learned from the Department of Education's year-long waiver that allowed borrowers to receive credit for past student loan repayments that normally would not qualify for PSLF, and provides a number of policy recommendations. This work drew on Briones' previous research with fellow graduate student Sasha Ruby and Professor Sarah Turner. The full report can be found on Third Way's website.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/13/2023

ECO Fall Career Series

Fall 2023 Career Programs from the Economics Career Office (ECO)

 

8/21, 9/15

ECO Orientation for All Economics Majors, Forage, and RocketBlocks Demo

8/28

Job Search Workshop with Dean Overdkyk (Econ 2014), Amazon

9/1

MAJOR TO MAJOR (M2M) Career Coaching Fair (for all A&S Students)*

9/13

Economic and Litigation Consulting Night, Moderated by Professor Ken Elzinga

9/14

Freddie Mac Workshop & Info Session for Fall Recruiting with Alumnus Ryan Hughes

9/22

Behavioral Mock Interview

9/26

Altria Resume Marathon and Alumni in Residence with Garrick Sin (Altria)

9/26

Alumni in Residence with Peter Lyons, What Do Business Lawyers Actually Do?

10/11

“Global Debt” Talk w Alumnus Mark Connors (Head of Research, 3Qi) Sponsored by the Econ Club

10/13

Internship Panel (Banking, Consulting, Data Analytics, Finance, Government, Policy, Tech) 

10/16

How I Got This Job: Government (GAO) Sponsored by the ECO

10/25

Strategies for Navigating Careers in Finance from Emmy Sobieski, Bestselling Author of $100M Careers (Sponsored by SWS, Econ Club, Women’s Business Forum at McIntire)

10/30

Opportunities for Women in Economics Across the Nation (Virtual)

11/7

Navigating Careers in Finance with Emmy Sobieski

11/9

Investment Banking - How to Win Deals/Alumnus Phil Colaco (former CEO Deloitte Corporate Finance & IB)

11/10

Women in Economics (Sponsored by the ECO and Econ Club) Panel and Lunch   

January 2024

How I Got Into Grad School: Econ Alumni in MBA, Law, and Ph.D Programs

March 2024

Economics Undergraduate Career Forum with Alumni Leaders across Industries and Job Functions

 

 

* This program matches current majors with upper-level students and the list of represented employers is in Handshake.

ECO programs will be open to all majors after priority registration for economics majors closes five days before each event (unless stated otherwise in each event’s listing).

 

Big Programs All Majors Should Know About

The events below are sponsored by the University and other career offices and are open to all students. The ECO encourages economics majors to become familiar with these events, attend those that are relevant for you, and to prepare for them with ECO and UVA Career Center programs and resources. Regularly check Handshake for any changes and updates.

8/25

Consulting and Strategy Conference

8/26

Case Mock Interview Day (Virtual)

9/6

Tech Night Takeover  

9/7

Fall Resume Marathon (Virtual)

9/7

Fall Mock Interview Day (Virtual)

9/8

Behavioral Interview Night (Virtual)

9/9

Commerce Career Day (Virtual and Open to All Majors)

9/8

Engineering Career Fair (Virtual and Open to All Majors)

9/20

On-Grounds Interviews Begin

9/23

Intelligence and Security Networking Day (in-person)

9/27

Professional and Grad School Fair (Virtual)

10/4

Fall Data Analytics Night

10/11-18

Public Service Week

10/11

Fall Job & Internship Fair 2023: Biotech, Science and Healthcare Careers (Virtual)

10/18

Fall Job & Internship Fair 2023: Non-Profit, Government, Public Service and Education Careers (Virtual)

10/25

Fall Job & Internship Fair 2023: All Career Industries

11/9

BioLink/DataLink Interviewing Day (Virtual)

 

 

 

Feature | 01/03/2022

Meet the Trio of UVA Alumni on the 2022 Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ Lists

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/05/2022

The Best Outfits for Job Interviews

Articles from The Balance Careers, written by Alison Doyle updated on February 13, 2020 and November 11, 2021.

 

What's the best outfit to wear to a job interview? The answer will vary depending on the type of job and company you're interviewing with. You always want to dress to make the best impression, but the outfit you choose depends on whether you're interviewing at a company with a formal dress code, at a casual startup, or for an informal summer job or internship.

If you wear a suit to an interview for a camp counselor, or a T-shirt to an interview at a bank, it'll send the message that you don't truly understand what's involved in the role. 

Find out what to wear (and what not to wear) for interviews at every type of company

Professional / Business Interview Attire

Generally, a job interview calls for you to wear professional, or business, attire.

For men, this might mean a suit jacket and slacks with a shirt and tie or a sweater and button-down. For women, a blouse and dress pants or a statement dress is appropriate. For gender neutral attire, click here. 

You can also incorporate some modern style trends into your outfit. All interviewees should consider color when selecting an interview outfit and avoid wearing anything too bright or flashy that will distract the hiring manager.

Interview Outfits for Women

The more important thing to consider when you're dressing for a job interview is that you should look professional and polished regardless of the type of position you're seeking.

Even though your interview attire depends on the role you're applying for, no matter what the position, you should go to the interview looking neat, tidy, and well-dressed. Here's how to make the best impression at every interview you go on.

Interview Outfits for Men

It can be challenging to put a professional interview outfit together. Here are some basic tips for men on how to dress for an interview, including what colors to wear, whether to wear a tie (and what kind), and more.

Gender Neutral Attire

If your day-to-day attire doesn’t conform to a traditional gender norm, your interview clothing doesn’t have to either.  

Non-Professional / Business Casual Interview Attire

If you have a job interview in a more informal work environment, you might wear a business casual outfit. Business casual outfits are less formal than a suit, but they are also more professional and polished than, say, a T-shirt and shorts or a sundress and sandals.

Of course, make sure you know the dress code before you assume that business casual is acceptable. If you aren’t sure, call the office and ask the administrative coordinator, or contact the person who scheduled the interview and ask them for advice.

Always dress a bit more professionally than the average employee at the company. If everyone is wearing shorts and T-shirts, for example, you might wear khakis and a Polo shirt or button-down.

Casual Interview Attire

If you have an interview at a startup company, nix the head-to-toe formal business attire. You want to look appropriate and professional, but not too formal.

Rather than showing up in a black suit and dress shoes, opt for something that is relaxed but still presentable: relaxed-fit khakis, dark-wash jeans, and a nice top, for example.

College Job Interview Attire

Make sure to dress professionally when interviewing for a professional job or internship as a college student. It'll show that you'll know how to behave in a professional manner if you're hired. 

Less formal attire is acceptable when interviewing for campus jobs and more informal workplace jobs. However, you still want to dress professionally for most positions, even if they are entry-level. Review these tips for college women and college men on what to wear to an interview, as well as what to wear for an interview for an internship. Gender-neutral attire tips may be found here.

Internship Interview Attire

Internships are an important part of career development, and as with any job, acing your interview is one part of getting the position you want. Making a great first impression–coming across as polished, professional, and attentive–is important when it comes to your internship search.

Here's what to wear for an internship interview based on whether the company environment is formal, casual, or somewhere in between.

Summer Job Interview Attire

Are you interviewing for a summer job? Typically, these jobs are more casual and do not require professional attire. You can skip the suit. However, you still want to look polished and professional.

Here are tips on what to wear to make the best impression, including interview attire for male and female applicants, what to bring with you, and how to dress for a casual interview.

Warm Weather Interview Attire

Do you have an interview in the hot summer months? There are a few things you can do to look professional but still feel cool in a job interview.

Review tips on what to wear for a warm-weather interview depending on the work environment and type of job.

How to Choose Interview Accessories

When wearing accessories to an interview, less is more. Choose accessories that will enhance your interview attire, not overwhelm it. 

Best Job Interview Hairstyles

There are lots of ways to style your hair for a job interview. While some options are trendy and others are more traditional, remember that your hairstyle should not distract the employer. You will want your hair to be professional and polished, like your entire outfit.

Here are the best job interview hairstyles for short, medium-length, and long hair. 

How to Do Your Makeup for a Job Interview

Like your hair, your makeup should not distract the interviewer. This is not the time for bold lipstick or a glittery eye shadow. Instead, keep makeup subtle and unobtrusive. 

Check out these interview makeup do's and don'ts before you get ready to interview.

What Not to Wear on an Interview

An unprofessional outfit can distract an interviewer from seeing your great qualities.

Here's what not to wear when you are interviewing for a new job.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/01/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 11.1.16

Opportunities off the Beaten Path

Recruiting Timeline

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/28/2023

Career Advice for Economics Majors

Article written for Forbes by Bill Conerly

As an economist who is well known in my town, I get calls from economics majors (or their parents) asking for help finding jobs. Here’s a summary of my advice for soon-to-graduate or recently graduated econ majors, on the off chance that your parents don’t know me, or you’re too shy to pick up the phone and call. If you are thinking of graduate school, scroll down to my final note on graduate school in economics.

What kind of jobs are there for economics majors?

Most of the jobs that economics majors get do not have “economist” in the job title. Here are a couple of actual jobs that I see people doing which would fit an econ major perfectly.

At the corporate headquarters of a fast food company, an analyst tracks sales, costs and profits at their stores. If sales have increased, she drills down to determine whether more people are eating at their stores, or if the average sale is higher, or some combination of the two. That will impact marketing decisions. She’ll track costs. If food costs are up, is the price of food going up, or is spoilage increasing? She does this regionally, as well as compares her chain’s numbers with national economic data.

At a young Internet company, a guy estimates the value of a user. Some percentage of free users upgrade to the paid premium service, and there’s an average “life” of a premium customer. This generates a present value of a user. He compares the value of a user to the cost of acquiring users, through refer-a-friend promotions and advertising. He continually drills down. Do new users acquired through Google ads convert to premium users as often as people who come from Facebook ads? The explorations are endless.

Jobs like this are hard to find because they usually are not tagged “economics.” They may actually be filled by business majors, accountants, or former receptionists who proved their chops on the job. The trick is to find these jobs.

Many hiring managers think that “economics” is about forecasting GDP and recommending monetary policy to the Federal Reserve. For that reason, the label economist isn’t helpful to the average BA. The economics major must go out and identify the jobs.

(However, there are some jobs open to B.A.s as economists, economic analysts, or economic research assistants at economics consulting firms, the government, and some corporations, especially utilities.)

Skills and tasks to emphasize

The economics major has a strength in finding work: everyone knows that you have to be smart to be an economics major. (If you’re an econ major, you know this isn’t true. But don’t tell anyone, because most of the world finds economics mysterious and figures that we are really smart. It’s a useful myth.)

Here are the actual skills that will prove useful in getting a job, and succeeding in it. Look for jobs that require these skills:

  • Manipulating data, statistics, drilling down, finding relationships. It’s amazing to me how many people are mystified by the “drill down.” That example from fast food, of whether sales are up because of more customers or higher sales per customer, is a drill down. It comes naturally to economics majors, but its magic to many people.
  • Understand relationships. This is the theory part of the first bullet. An econ major knows what factors could lead to higher sales or higher costs. Many people have trouble thinking conceptually rather than in specifics. The econ major is better at thinking about relationships to explore.
  • Learning about new products, industries, regions, business models. Many people experienced in business know their own area, but they are not good at shifting to other areas. A good econ major can learn about new fields. Look for a job where this ability is important, such as a fast-growing industry or one subject to major change.
  • Communicating. If you can explain complicated things clearly, both orally and in writing, then you are going places. If not, then this should be your first remedial education project. It’s not an inborn skill, but it can be learned, and it can improve with practice.

Industries for economics majors

People with economics major work in all industries, but there are opportunities in a couple of industries right now (2015). The Internet sector is using lots of analytics, and the companies are used to paying people well. Health care is a large and growing industry with miserable understanding of their costs, and thus a huge need for analysts.

Before talking to someone in a particular industry, read a little about it, and especially about its use of analytics. For Internet businesses, The Lean Startup has a good chapter on assessing a company’s user data.

In all areas of job search, I find that people overemphasize the big name companies. Here in Portland, people think Nike and Intel right away, along with major banks and utilities. However, mid-sized companies actually employ more people than do large companies. (Small business employs even more, but most small companies are not hiring any econ graduates. The exceptions include many consulting firms.)

How to search for a job

Networking is the single best method of finding a job. That said, every other method can work. I’ve gotten a job by just walking in and applying; by responding to a job ad; through a headhunter; and through networking. So everything works. But networking works best of all. It’s the scariest approach, which may be why it works best: your competition would rather sit at a computer responding to job postings than actually calling people.

Networking is especially easy for college students and recent grads. You call and ask for information, and people are happy to help.

Here’s a true story. When my nephew graduated with a degree in finance, he didn’t know what type of finance job he wanted. I offered to give him names of my contacts in various parts of finance (corporate planning, investment management, banking, etc.). I told him to call each contact and say that he is Bill Conerly’s nephew, a recent finance graduate,  and he would like to learn more about the kind of work that the person does. Everyone he called was happy to talk to my nephew and set up an appointment. After a half dozen calls, my nephew was so in the rhythm of asking for advice that he forgot to mention he was my nephew. He landed a meeting with the most prominent person in a particular field, who asked, “How did you come to call me?” It turns out that the person was willing to meet with any earnest young person, whether my nephew or not.

Once you have a meeting with a knowledgeable executive, ask questions. You can talk about yourself when asked, but keep the focus on learning about the kind of work that the person does. Here are some questions that will get the conversation flowing:

  • How did you get into this job?
  • What kind of people succeed in it?
  • Have you hired people who didn’t work out, and why not?
  • Is the work mostly social or solitary?
  • Is it detail-oriented or big-picture?
  • Is it deadline-focused or steady?
  • How much do people learn on the job?
  • What are career paths after entry-level work?

These questions serve two purposes: they help you learn, and they show the executive that you’re a smart person. People are judged more by the questions they ask than by the answers they give.

(Read that last sentence again.)

Finish the interview by asking for suggestions about who else you should talk to. If you’re interested in the kind of work the person describes, ask about other people, such as competitors, who might have further insights. If the work sounds like it’s not for you, ask about other people in other fields who might be worth talking to.

Bring a resume, but don’t pitch yourself. You called to ask for advice; stick to asking for advice. The person knows you’re looking for work and will talk about any openings that would be right for you. (The exception is if you are interested in sales; in that case, don’t hesitate to ask for a job.)

Back home, write a thank-you note. (Hand written, sent by snail mail.)

Each meeting will lead to more meetings, in an exponential fashion. You’ll find a job before the number of meetings reaches infinity, trust me.

Update: I've written a follow up article explaining how to get started: Networking For Economics Majors: Getting Contacts For Job Search.

Grad school for economics majors

There’s only one good reason for going to grad school: if you have such a hunger to learn more economics that if you don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. For everyone else, the opportunity cost is too high. There are lots of good jobs available without a graduate degree, so taking years away from productive work doesn’t make sense. Especially don’t go to graduate school if your primary reason is that you don’t know what else to do.

Feature | 10/05/2018

4th Year Moogdho Mahzab leads Impact Evaluation Training in Bangladesh

This short course provided training on impact evaluation on quasi-experimental research. Participants learnt about important econometric techniques used in policy research design. Those techniques included but were not limited to matching, instrumental variables, propensity score weighting, regression discontinuity and panel data methods.  A separate session introduced participants to the features of randomized controlled trials.  The two days of training focused on using programming languages like STATA in hands-on empirical exercises, understanding and comparing the identification strategies associated with different econometric methods, assessing the robustness of results and learning efficient ways to report them. It was organized by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). The approximately 25 participants--including young researchers from different research organizations, young faculty members from private and public universities, and central bank officials—offered very positive feedback on the program. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/20/2018

Employment Possibilities Abound in This Article: Study: Netflix users are so addicted to bingeing there’s not much time left for family

By Andy Meeks

Imagine, for a moment, how much time a day you spend uninterrupted with family members. Got it? Now go ahead and double it. That, friends, is roughly how much time every single day the average Netflix user spends bingeing content.

It’s an estimate that comes via Streaming Observer, which found that the average Netflix user now spends a little more than an hour a day streaming content on the service. Which adds up to some 434 hours, the equivalent of 18 days, over the course of a year.

 

Here’s how the site arrived at those numbers. “At the end of last year, the company announced that its users streamed 140 million hours of content per day. At the time, there were 117.58 million subscribers. Simple math shows that dividing 140 million hours of content watched daily by 117.58 million subscribers results in the average user spending 1 hour and 11 minutes each day watching content on Netflix.”

One hour and 11 minutes doesn’t sound so bad, until you put it up against the roughly 36 minutes of quality, distraction-free time that other studies have found people spend with family members each day.

 

Here’s a closer look at what Streaming Observer has found:

“Recent studies have found that families only spend anywhere from 34 to 37 minutes of quality, undistracted time (e.g. time where they “feel they actually bond”) together on a typical day,” Streaming Observer notes. “Let’s average that out to 35.5. That means the typical subscriber spends about half as much quality time with their family as they do with Netflix.”

But there’s more. Again, these are all rough estimates, but according to the most recent annual edition of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, the Streaming Observer data also shows that Netflix users generally spend a lot more time bingeing than they do exercising, reading and hanging out with friends. Combined!

The crazy thing is that even with numbers like this, and with Netflix binges eating up so much of users’ time already, the company’s CEO Reed Hastings thinks the company still doesn’t own enough of its users’ day. “We’re still a small fraction of every society’s overall viewing,” he said on a call with investors earlier this summer. “So I think there’s still room to go there.”

 

Indeed, the company is still working to grow as much and as fast as it can. During the most recent quarter, Netflix reported 130 million global subscribers, up 25 percent from 104 million in the year-ago quarter.

Per Zacks Equity Research, Netflix is hoping to add 650,000 subscribers in the U.S. and a little more than 4 million internationally in the third quarter.

 

Read more

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/22/2021

J-Term Class in Management Consulting - for Credit

Looking for a J-Term elective that combines career skills development, career exploration, and academic credit? You are invited to register for LPPS 3440: Introduction to Management Consulting and Strategic Decision Making. This course is a collaborative effort between the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the UVA Career Center

Register for LPPS 3440 here

Course Dates & Times:

01/03/2022 - 01/14/2022

Mon, Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri.

10:00am - 3:00pm

Focusing on skills development and career exploration aimed at making you an efficient problem-solver, this class is designed to set you up for success during the recruiting process and throughout your summer internship. The course is well-suited for those interested in the management consulting field and beyond. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to enroll as the skills gained will translate to a wide variety of careers (business, public policy, not-for-profit, law, healthcare, and more).

Course Objectives:

  • Introduce students to the field of management consulting.
  • Build core skills ranging from case and behavioral interview prep to excel and power point.
  • Develop a structured problem-solving toolkit to aid in internship-readiness.
  • Provide the unique opportunity to earn academic credit while working on a real-world consulting project for an actual client. (An amazing resume-building opportunity!)
  • Offer opportunities for formal networking, coaching, and mentoring from UVA Alumni at major consulting firms.
  • Continued case interview preparation support even after the course is over.

 

Each student team will be assigned an alumni mentor/coach from a major consulting firm. The “capstone” event will be case competition judged by UVA Alumni from notable consulting firms.

 

A few reflections from students who took the J-term course last year:

 

I would recommend LPPS 3440 to anyone looking to learn more about and get a jumpstart on management consulting recruiting, but also to those generally interested in learning a new and challenging way of problem-solving. Before taking Introduction to Management Consulting and Strategic Decision Making, I was unsure of what management consultants actually do, let alone if it was a career path for me. Professor Boler and the entire teaching team not only gave me the core practical and people skills to succeed in this field, but also helped me set goals and envision my niche in the consulting world. One of the best aspects of LPPS 3440 is that it offers career development, combined with academic credit. In particular, the instructional opportunities on how to succeed in behavioral and case interviews were key to recruitment for me. The coaching, mentoring, and networking opportunities are unparalleled. Professor Boler continues to offer case interview preparation long after the course, and is really available as a mentor and career coach for the class. This format of extended support keeps your problem-solving toolkit learned in-class honed and ready for interviews and internships. Furthermore, LPPS 3440 is a brilliant resume builder because it gives you an early, real-life consulting experience, but with the support of an academic background. It also provides an easy and exciting talking point for interviews, that shows employers you are ready for the challenges of an internship. Students interested in any field would benefit from.

-Anna Thompson, UVA 23 (Interning at McKinsey & Co this upcoming summer)

  

I cannot recommend LPPS 3440 enough if you are thinking of recruiting for consulting, business, technology, or any similar roles! More and more employers are requiring cases in their interview process (not just consulting firms) and this class will give you a head start in the case preparation process. Professor Boler will run through the basics of casing in class sessions and even after the course ends, he will continue to reach out for 1-on-1 mock case/behavioral interviews. In addition to case practice, this class will provide you with invaluable teamwork experiences and the opportunity to work on a consulting project for a real client. You will also have the chance to improve your Excel and PowerPoint skills, as well as network with alumni who will mentor you on your project. This class will provide you with a comprehensive introduction into the business world and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to develop their career skills!

-Osama Elsayed-Ali, UVA ’23 (Interning at Capital One this upcoming summer)

LPPS 3440: Introduction to Management Consulting and Strategic Decision Making with Professor Boler was integral to my success with the recruitment process for consulting. I took it during J-Term of my second year which allowed me to develop valuable technical skills, get a leg up with networking, and gain real-world experience ahead of the early internship recruitment cycle. Professor Boler is very engaging and truly dedicated to helping his students succeed throughout this course and beyond. From introducing me to alumni in firms such as Bain and Accenture, to running through mock case interviews, to learning how to effectively talk about my resume, Boler’s course allowed me to familiarize myself with the world of consulting. It was unlike any other course I have taken at UVA and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Andrea Madrigal, UVA ‘23 (Interning at McKinsey & Co. this upcoming summer)

Get more information, learn about the teaching team, and read more reflections from former LPPS 3440 students here

We hope you will consider this J-Term opportunity to earn academic credit while building your resume, expanding your skills, and creating a network of peers and professionals.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/05/2020

Week of February 3rd Newsletter

Interested in public service or non-profits? Sign up to attend the PSG Non-profit and Government Career Fair in DC to network with other like-minded peers and professionals in public service. While you're up there, attend the Capital Hill Talks on Friday afternoon. The UVA Career Center even has transportation to get you there! Use the ECO's Face2Face Elevator Pitch Template and slide deck of Navigating a Career Fair to practice and strategize before you get there and/or attend the DC Day prep program on Wednsday, 2/5. These resources will help you put your best foot forward.

PSG Day in DC

The annual Government, Non-profit & Education Career Fair brings top employers to recruit for undergraduate and graduate students for internships and full-time jobs in a wide range of fields in local, state and federal government, non-profit and education sectors including public, private and charter schools.
Sign Up Here

Upcoming Events

Building Your LinkedIn Profile - Webinar
Mon, Feb 3 5:00 pm EST - 6:00 pm EST
Hosted by Carnival
Sign Up Here

2020 Data Analytics Night (Spring)
Tue, Feb 4 5:00 pm EST - 6:30 pm EST
Sign Up Here

2020 PSG Day in DC: Prep Program
Wed, Feb 5 5:00 pm EST - 6:00 pm EST
Garrett Hall, Great Hall Room, Charlottesville, VA 
Sign Up Here

Deloitte Consulting Case Competition
Wed, Feb 5 6:00 pm EST - Fri, Feb 7 3:00 pm EST
Various Locations on Grounds
Sign Up Here

2020 Capitol Hill Conversations - PSG Day in DC
Fri, Feb 7 2:00 pm EST - 4:00 pm EST
Sign Up Here

2020 Georgetown Government, Non-profit & Education Career Fair - PSG Day in DC
Fri, Feb 7 10:00 am EST - 3:00 pm EST
Sign Up Here

2020 BUS TRANSPORTATION (8 AM BUS) to DC IMPACTLink/Georgetown Government, Non-profit & Education Career Fair - PSG Day in DC
Fri, Feb 7
Sign Up Here

Education Policy Networking Lunch & Events in Washington DC
Fri, Feb 7 12:00 pm EST - 1:00 pm EST
3000 K Street Northwest, Washington, DC
Sign Up Here

 

Feature | 10/23/2023

Veconlab Table at the Economic Science Association Meeting in Charlotte, NC

Current and former Veconlab RAs presented papers on teaching and research using laboratory experiments.  From left to right: Charles Holt, Brian Buck, Juliette Sellgren, Madeleine Green from UVA, and Erica Sprott (CLAS 2022, now a predoctoral research fellow with Opportunity Insights at Harvard). Student travel was funded by the Marshall Jevons Fund.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/21/2021

5 Networking Mistakes Even the Smartest Students Make

October 24, 2018

by Raquel Serrano at WayUp

Going to school isn’t just about gaining an education; it’s also about forming professional relationships that’ll help you carve the path to your dream career. From your first year in college to your last, part of your time as a student should revolve around preparing for your career and making sure to use all of the resources at your disposal. Networking is an essential and integral part of your professional development and definitely shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Even the best students make these gaffes, so let’s go ahead, and get your professional network in tip-top shape by discussing the top 5 mistakes students tend to make.

1. Thinking It’s Way Too Early to Start

A common mistake students make is believing that they need to be juniors or seniors before starting to build their professional networks, but like any relationship in life, the more time you invest into it, the stronger it becomes. As early as your freshman year (if not earlier), you should begin forming a career plan and be on the look-out for opportunities to connect with companies and professionals in your industry.

A great way to get started is by joining a professional organization at your school! Industry-minded organizations such as the ACS (American Chemical Society) and the SEA (Student Education Association) have chapters located in colleges all throughout the country. They host networking events of their own all the time, focusing on providing students of all years with valuable knowledge and connections in their fields. Some may require membership dues (as low as $10/year), but the leverage gained really pays for itself.

It is never too early to go out and gain exposure in the professional world. Show up to events, talk to everyone, be honest about where you currently are, express your interest and stay in touch. A conversation you had your freshman year might score you a job upon graduation.

2. Connecting Only With Students in the Same Major

Some of the greatest collaborations and partnerships known throughout the world began between college friends. It’s a commonly overlooked fact, but you might have a potential business partner sitting in your classroom right now. Start talking to some of your peers, and you might find that your career goals align.

Don’t just focus on connecting with students only in your major, though. Strive for compatibilities, not just similarities, so that you create a wider and more diverse network. If you’re a graphic designer with hopes of creating your own magazine and your roommate is an English major and aspiring editor, keep in touch! These are the times to form those relationships that will help carry your career forwards, so hold them close.

3. Speaking to Professors Only About Grades

Your greatest source of support and connections will sometimes come from the very individuals teaching your classes. Your professors are people who have years of experience and are more than willing to share all of that with you (otherwise they wouldn’t be teaching!).

If you have questions or would like recommendations for graduate programs or professional options, send your professors an email or talk to them after class. Set up a time during their office hours to discuss your career path; they can shed a light on any doubts or concerns you might have.

4. Keeping Circles Local

As a student, it may be tempting to keep your contacts within a few miles outside of your own home or college town, but this isn’t a wise move in the professional world. There are plenty of opportunities available to you beyond your town and state, so don’t be shy about branching out. In this age of social media and the internet, it’s easier than ever; companies located miles away are now only an email or tweet away!

Even if you aren’t contemplating relocating after college, keeping your network wide and open will lessen the risk of you missing out on a great opportunity not only within, but also beyond your own backyard.

5. Failing to Stay in Touch

Once you’ve made a connection with someone, it is essential to keep in contact with them over time, or else that connection will fade. Sending people a quick “hello” or tagging them in a relevant article with a note like “This reminds me of your work” keeps the conversation going even years after you’ve last seen each other. You don’t have to maintain in constant communication with them, but do be present and accessible.

Feel free to reach out for advice or an opinion concerning something relevant; just be sure not to ask for too much or make the conversations all about what they can do for you. Don’t worry if they don’t respond right away; recognize that they may be pretty busy, so remember to be patient. If it’s been some time since you’ve met, begin first by reminding them how you know each other, and always be sure to exercise proper social media and email etiquette in order to keep your communication professional.

So, which of these mistakes are you guilty of? The good news is, it’s never too late to fix any of them. Make the most of your life as a student and set yourself up for even greater success with strong connections and contacts. So, be bold and get that network growing!

https://www.wayup.com/guide/community/contributor-5-student-networking-mistakes-raquel-serrano/?bsft_aaid=16aef095-c60e-478d-bd63-710fbcbf3e89&bsft_eid=cab4f55b-933b-8adf-23cc-82f41c233b59&utm_campaign=11-19-21_newsletter_cs&utm_source=blognewsletter&utm_medium=email&refer=newscs-11-19-21&bsft_clkid=5cb789a1-6afb-4b8c-99a5-90e09041b88e&bsft_uid=6efd3913-fb14-4826-8640-69152160ecda&bsft_mid=79e086d9-ae16-4d3c-a1cb-a965661cad6e&bsft_mime_type=html&bsft_ek=2021-11-19T14%3A00%3A47Z&bsft_lx=9&bsft_tv=9

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/14/2017

ARTICLE - HOW TO TELL IF A JOB WILL BE A GOOD FIT

"Have you ever felt like a fish out of water at a job? 

You don't fit in, you don't feel the vibe, and you know that these aren't your people. Whatever you do, you don't feel welcome, and you can't do anything right. Your co-workers don't understand you. You don't enjoy most of the work itself, and you struggle to figure out how to do things (or who to ask for help). You feel like you're just biding your time until you can get out, and you spend a lot of time planning your escape." -Natalie Fisher

Feature | 01/14/2021

Yen Ling Tan Coauthors Paper Presented at ASSA

UVA PhD student Yen Ling Tan's joint work with University of Auckland economist Simona Fabrizi, “Consumer (and Driver) Decision-Making under Uncertainty on Digital Platforms,“ was presented at the platform design session during the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) 2021 Annual Meeting.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/24/2022

What is an Information Session and Why Should I Attend?

Thanks to our friends at UCBerkeley, below is some solid information about employer information sessions and why the ECO encourages you to attend these programs. Read on or see the original article here.

Information Sessions

Each fall, employers come to campus to host info sessions. Given all the info available on the web, do you really need to attend?

Only if you want a job! -- especially a job with an employer whose organizational culture and management style are compatible with your own values and interests. So how will attending a company info session help? These sessions offer an unmatched opportunity to:

  • Get a feel for the organization, its people and culture.
  • Have the opportunity to determine if you would be a good fit.
  • Learn about the positions available.
  • Learn how your position fits into the larger organization.

All of this adds to the information available on the website and will help you explain in an interview the congruence between your goals and values and their culture -- in essence the nature of the critical "fit" employers are looking for.

In addition, info sessions constitute a rare opportunity to make a personal connection within the organization while at the same time demonstrating your sincere interest in it as a potential employer. It's always helpful to say you went to the information session during your interview or to mention in your cover letter that you met specific representatives and can therefore credibly describe why you are interested in the job and company. All these actions make you seem informed, well-prepared, and thoughtful in your career plan.

What to expect

Many companies hold information sessions on campus during the recruiting season in order to explain the job opportunities they have available and offer more information about the company and its organizational culture.

Most info sessions range from 1-2 hours and consist of a company presentation where current employees explain the values and mission of the company followed by an opportunity for students to talk to company representatives about the company and ask any pertinent questions. Employer reps are often recent grads able to describe what you might expect during your first couple of years should you join the organization.

How to prepare

  • Research what the company does, specializes in, and the job opportunities they offer, especially at Cal.
  • Be knowledgeable of competitors in the industry and how this company views itself in comparison.
  • Learn about the industry so you understand exactly what the companies do and the expectations for entry-level professionals.

Think about what's important to you and what you want to get out of the information session. This is your chance to interact with company employees and hear about work experiences. If you don't have a clear idea about the company or the job description, it would really help to do your research beforehand so you can ask deeper questions you really want answers to.

Oftentimes, people don't find information sessions helpful because they go there unprepared and don't feel like they can ask questions or talk to the representatives because they don't know anything about the company.

It's always a good idea to bring a resume in case they accept resume drops. With your resume, they may also record your attendance at the information session - helpful when you apply to interview with the company.

How to make the most of it

To maximize the value of an information session, pay attention to what is said during the company presentation. Typically you learn a tremendous amount about the firm, its mission, its services or products, and what type of culture and environment exists at the firm. Also, the information you can draw from these sessions can be used to craft more effective cover letters or can be used to come up with additional questions about the company to be asked during the interview.

In order to optimize the experience at an information session:

  • Think of questions to ask representatives that build on the information presented.
  • Talk to a few representatives of the company in order to get a better feel for the company.
  • Make sure your voice is heard, but not at the expense of a peer - you want to demonstrate respect to reinforce that you are a team player.
  • Ask well-thought-out questions based on your research.
  • Think on your feet and ask relevant questions based on the flow of conversation.
  • Only when there is a noticeable break should you change the subject.
  • The answers to your questions help build your sense of the job and company and determine if it is something of interest to you.
  • Wait to formally say goodbye to a representative before you leave the information session or walk away.

It is valuable to ask for a business card or contact information in case you have any further questions, and also so you can remember names if you interview with the company in the future. These conversations with company representatives help build your network. Networking with numerous companies and representatives gives tremendous insight in multiple careers, industries, job opportunities, and illustrates your genuine interest come interview time.

What you gain

  • Expanded Network - This is an opportunity to create targeted contacts that could be helpful in the future.
  • Understand employers' corporate culture - Speaking with representatives helps you determine whether or not you are a good fit for the company.

Visualize an information session as a way of interviewing the firm and finding out if they are a good employer to consider working for. You'll be more knowledgeable about the company, job, and industry, and have greater confidence in interviews. Also, during information sessions you get a chance to meet and talk to peers who may be interested in similar jobs, companies, or industries.

Info sessions also make you a better applicant. In addition to demonstrating your interest, they are a great opportunity to learn more about what they look for in a candidate. Think about how you can use what you've learned to highlight the aspects of your background and experiences (e.g., leadership or teamwork) that fit their conception of what a strong candidate looks like. Now that you know what they're looking for, you can demonstrate these qualities in your resume, cover letter, and interview.

How to find them

Login to Handshake, select the Events tab and then search for Info Sessions. Check back periodically for new sessions. Space is often limited, and you are encouraged to "Join Event" if you plan to attend.

 

 

 

Feature | 12/04/2023

Kenneth G. Elzinga and Charles A. Holt receives the Southern Economic Association' Distinguished Fellow Award

The Southern Economic Association® Honors Twenty-Eight Distinguished Fellows As the Inaugural Cohort

 

The Southern Economic Association® (SEA) presented and honored its inaugural cohort of Distinguished Fellows on November 19, 2023 during its 93rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The inaugural cohort consists of all living past Presidents of the Association, who are at least two years removed from office.

 

The SEA Board unanimously approved a resolution creating a Distinguished Fellows Program at its 92nd Annual Meeting. Distinguished Fellows have a substantial record of exceptional scholarly achievement and long-term involvement and service to the Association. Following this initial cohort, no more than two Distinguished Fellows will be recognized in any one year. 

 

A list of the 2023 Distinguished Fellows inaugural cohort, with the years of service as SEA Presidents in parenthesis, follow:

 

  1. Thomas R. Saving, Texas A&M University                                                                      (1980-1981)
  2. Kerry Smith, Arizona State University                                                                               (1988-1989)
  3. Charles R. Plott, California Institute of Technology                                                       (1989-1990)
  4. Kenneth G. Elzinga, University of Virginia                                                                      (1990-1991)
  5. Karen I. Vaughn, George Mason University                                                                     (1994-1995)
  6. John J. Siegfried, Vanderbilt University                                                                            (1996-1997)
  7. William A. Darity, Jr., Duke University                                                                            (1997-1998)
  8. Dwight R. Lee, University of Georgia                                                                               (1998-1999)
  9. Kathy J. Hayes, Southern Methodist University                                                               (1999-2000)
  10. Marjorie B. McElroy, Duke University                                                                              (2000-2001)
  11. Charles A. Holt, University of Virginia                                                                             (2001-2002)
  12. Richard B. McKenzie, University of California, Irvine                                                  (2002-2003)
  13. Eugenia F. Toma, University of Kentucky                                                                        (2003-2004)
  14. William R. Johnson, University of Virginia                                                                      (2004-2005)
  15. Catherine C. Eckel, Texas A&M University                                                                     (2005-2006)
  16. James D. Gwartney, Florida State University                                                                   (2007-2008)
  17. Jonathan H. Hamilton, University of Florida                                                                    (2008-2009)
  18. William F. Shughart II, Utah State University                                                                  (2009-2010)
  19. James C. Cox, Georgia State University                                                                            (2010-2011)
  20. Bruce J. Caldwell, Duke University                                                                                    (2011-2012)
  21. Paul H. Rubin, Emory University                                                                                        (2012-2013)
  22. Joseph Hotz, Duke University                                                                                              (2013-2014)
  23. Doug Davis, Virginia Commonwealth University                                                           (2014-2015)
  24. James Alm, Tulane University                                                                                             (2015-2016)
  25. Peter J. Boettke, George Mason University                                                                       (2016-2017)
  26. Christopher J. Ruhm, University of Virginia                                                                    (2017-2018)
  27. Donna B. Gilleskie, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill                         (2018-2019)
  28. W. Kip Viscusi, Vanderbilt University                                                                              (2019-2020)

 

This group of Distinguished Fellows are not only all exceptional scholars but have also played an important role in the growing the size and prestige of the Association. The Southern Economic Association congratulates all of them on this important recognition.

 

 

 

For further information contact:

 

Benjamin Powell, Secretary/Treasurer

Southern Economic Association®

(806) 742-7138

admin@southerneconomic.org

http://www.southerneconomic.org/

Feature | 03/17/2024

The Economics Undergraduate Career Forum is This Week!

The ECO is excited to host ten of our amazing alumni this Thursday and Friday for the annual Economics Undergraduate Career Forum! Check out the events happening below (students, register!). We are so excited for our students to connect with these alum!

2024 Economics Undergraduate Career Forum Information:

Day 1: Thursday, March 21, 2024

- Success in the Workplace Keynote Address 5:00-6:00pm https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493527

- Dinner with Alumni at the Ridley 6:30-8:00pm https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493518

Day 2: Friday, March 22, 2024

- Panel 1: Finance from 9:30-10:45 am https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493512

- Office Hours Session 1 (Consulting) 9:30-10:40 am https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493485

- Panel 2: Consulting, Research, Entrepreneurship 11 am-12:15 pm https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493498

- Office Hours Session 2 (Finance) 11-12:10 pm https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493507

- Networking Luncheon from 12:30-2:00 pm https://virginia.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1493532

 

Feature | 05/01/2020

Devaki Ghose Wins Graduate Student Award at EIIT Conference

In October 2019, Devaki Ghose won the Graduate Student Award at the 2019 Empirical Investigations in International Trade Conference for her paper "Trade, Internal Migration, and Human Capital: Who Gains from India's IT Boom?" A link to past student prize winners can be found here, https://www.freit.org/EIIT/2019/GradComp.php .

Feature | 01/08/2024

By Putting His Own Twist on the News, This UVA Alumnus Is Fulfilling a Dream

Feature | 10/06/2020

Winners of Snavely Outstanding Summer Paper Award

The UVA Economics Department is delighted to announce the winners of the Snavely Awards for Outstanding Summer Paper: Moonju Cho, for “Multi-homing Consumers and Bundling of Contents”; Yutong (Harriet) Chen, for “Gender Gaps and Discrimination in the Gig Economy”; and Ben Chenault, for “Land Conservation and the Opportunity Cost of Agricultural Production: Evidence from the Renewable Fuel Standard.”  Each winner receives a cash award and certificate in recognition of their achievement. The pool of submissions this year was outstanding. Congratulations and keep up the excellent work!

 

 

Feature | 01/19/2024

Eric Yde Presents at ASSA Annual Meeting

Eric Yde, a fourth-year PhD candidate, presented his paper "Regulating Vertical Relationships in Prescription Drug Markets: Evidence from Medicaid" in a Health Economics Research Organization (HERO) session at the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) annual meeting.

Eric's paper examines the role that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in determining the price of drugs in Medicaid, the public insurance program for low-income households. He finds that Medicaid drug prices declined by 17% in states that required insurers and PBMs to switch from fixed-fee to cost-plus contracts, which he attributes to the price transparency created by the regulations.

The paper is available on SSRN.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/18/2021

RESEARCH: COLD NETWORKING KEY TO FINDING INTERNSHIPS AND JOBS

Taken from the National Association of Colleges and Employers 

NACE Journal, August 2020

There are only faint predictions as to what the post COVID-19 job market is going to be like. The economy has some of the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression coupled with huge decreases in GDP. It is a sure bet that workplaces will be more distributed and virtual, at least for the foreseeable future. College campuses will likely be predominantly virtual as well, closed to in-person classes, with nearly all coursework online, and an increased number of both high school graduates and college students taking a gap-year to figure out their educational plans. Career centers, often already feeling understaffed, will likely be faced with resource cutbacks at a time when seniors especially (but the majority of students) will be even more desperate to find jobs. Traditional recruiting strategies with employers, such as on-campus career fairs and information sessions, will be essentially nonexistent.

The results from our survey conducted early this year—January through February 2020, prior to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States—offer some possible pivot points, some of which have probably already been implemented by foresighted career center professionals. For the record, here are some highlights of what we found in our nationwide online survey of 541 college seniors and recent graduates. (Note: Fifty-nine percent of respondents were men, and 22 percent were first-generation college students. Thirteen percent were attending or had attended a community college.) In this study, we focused on how students actually obtained internships. Our findings have clear implications for career center professionals moving forward.

INTERNSHIPS HAVE MANY BENEFITS

Internships make college students more competitive in the job market because they give students a chance to gain knowledge, skills, and experience valued by potential employers. From a career development perspective, even more importantly, they provide an opportunity for students to see if the particular career field is the right one for them. Getting their feet wet, so to speak, affords them perspective about whether they could see themselves working full time (or even the rest of their lives) in this field. Even in the worst case, when students realize this is not the work they would want to do, they can still come away from the internships with their eyes opened to issues of organizational culture, politics, and leadership, and with lessons learned about the ropes to know and the hoops to jump through. Mentors may often be found during internships, providing invaluable advice in the job-search process, both internal to the internship employer and external. Finally, there are the real financial benefits associated with internships beyond summer employment. NACE surveys show that students who had internships were 20 percent more likely to receive full-time job offers than those without an internship. Having an internship also resulted in receiving significantly higher starting salaries.1

These facts are evident in these common refrains from corporate recruiters: “As a recruiter, I value students who have gotten great internship experiences over those [who] have not.” “A student who has an internship upon graduation will be more highly desired by employers than someone who did not venture into the ‘work world’ at all during college.” “Internships are imperative.”2

Nearly all of the employers responding to NACE’s 2019 Recruiting Benchmark Survey Report indicated that internships provide them with an important opportunity to identify talent early.3

NETWORKING IS KEY

Cold networking involves contacting someone without having any established or preexisting relationship versus warm networking, which involves making use of one’s network, e.g., family, friends, neighbors, teachers, and so forth, to make a connection between the applicant and the potential employer. While traditional wisdom has asserted that “who you know matters” and would seem to favor warm networking, our survey found just the opposite.

Somewhat initially surprising was the finding that students who engaged in cold networking were twice as likely to earn an internship as students who only engaged in warm networking. Moreover, those who found their internship through warm networking were less likely to report that the internship turned into a job offer. For those who reported that their internship resulted in a job offer, 70 percent found the internship through cold networking, while only 40 percent found the internship through warm networking. This finding suggests a possible intangible benefit of cold networking is that the internship may be perceived as earned on one’s merits rather than on riding the coattails of some personal relationship.

These trends continued to be evident for first-generation college students. First-generation student who engaged in cold networking were 38 percent more likely to earn an internship than first-generation students who did not similarly reach out. Moreover, first-generation students who did cold networking were four times more likely to have their internships turn into jobs than first-generation students who did not report doing cold networking.

Most students struggle with doubts about the significance of their accomplishments and have some sense of being exposed as a “fraud” or “imposter” related to reaching out and networking with business professionals.4 For first-generation students, imposter syndrome and insecurities are even more prevalent.5 Most students think to themselves, “No professional will want to meet with me” or “I might do something wrong and jeopardize future opportunities—it’s not worth it,” or “I’m not a good enough student to be worthy of a professional’s time,” and the like.

Networking makes a difference. In our study, more than nine out of 10 students who had an internship during college engaged in networking with business professionals via informational interviews. Students with two or more internships were eight times more likely to have conducted an informational interview. As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reflected on her own career: “Sometimes people are put off by the whole business of networking as something tainted by flattery and the pursuit of selfish advantage. But virtue in obscurity is awarded only in heaven. To succeed in the world, you have to be known by people.”6

An additional benefit from networking, as students reported in our survey, is that it increased their self-confidence. In support of the notion that “practice makes perfect,” we found that the more informational interviews students reported conducting, the higher the levels of confidence they reported in themselves, as reflected not only in obtaining an internship, but in their feelings of career readiness and skillfulness in networking. Low confidence levels in their networking skills were reported by 42 percent of those students who did not have an internship during college.

TEACH INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWING

A constricted job market due to COVID-19 issues has many profound implications for students as well as college career professionals and corporate recruiters. While our survey was conducted before “the world/economy turned upside down,” the lessons are still applicable to helping students earn internships and jobs upon graduation/completion. Their chances increase when they can a) conduct informational interviews and b) use cold networking avenues. The imperative lesson is that, if students want to obtain internships and jobs, they need to conduct informational interviews, and the key to obtaining them is achieved through cold networking.

Career professionals need to engage with students to help them understand that “who you know” does not matter so much until “you know someone”! Moreover, the payoff from an internship appears to be greater (in terms of leading to a job offer) if it is obtained through cold networking rather than warm networking. This entails shifting from working with students to develop relationships with employers per se to teaching students how to network and conduct informational interviews, in the same sense as the proverb: “Give people a fish and you feed them for a day, but teach people how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”

Historically, four out of five jobs are not advertised7 and this hidden job market is likely to be even greater these days. Career professionals can make a concerted effort to teach students how to access those opportunities through cold networking. Doing so will improve the chances of students of not only gaining internships, but of securing full-time employment.

We can help students improve their confidence and ability to cold network by teaching strategies on how to most effectively conduct informational interviews. For example, in our study, we found that students who conducted informational interviews were considerably more likely to land an internship than those who relied on online job boards, career fairs, or information sessions. The massive switch to online classes has boosted students’ experience with digital connecting at the same time that employers have pivoted to virtual workplaces; this means that both parties should be increasingly confident in this medium for informational interviews.

Teaching students how to network creates a virtuous cycle. Each connection increases the likelihood of securing an internship (and finding employment). Most career centers were never meant to be in the job placement business and, during these very turbulent times both on and off campus, we must empower students to be proactive and even more accountable for their careers. The students generally have the will, and we need to make certain we are providing them with the skills and techniques to find their way.

ENDNOTES

1 National Association of Colleges and Employers (March 2016). “Paid interns/co-ops see greater offer rates and salary offers than their unpaid classmates.” www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/paid-interns-co-ops-see-greater-offer-rates-and-salary-offers-than-their-unpaid-classmates/

2 Ibid.

3 National Association of Colleges and Employers (December 2019). 2019 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report.

4 Kolligan, J., & Sternberg, R. J. (1991). “Perceived fraudulence in young adults: Is there an ‘imposter syndrome’? Journal of Personality Assessment, 55(1), 308-326.

5 Canning, E. A., LaCrosse, J., & Kroeper, K. M. (2019). “Feeling like an imposter: The effect of perceived classroom competition on the daily psychological experiences of first-generation college students.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(5), 647-657.

6 Sotomayor, S. (2014). My beloved world. New York: Vintage Books.

7 Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2018). Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life. New York: Borzoi Book.

Sean O'Keefe

Sean O’Keefe is an award-winning professor at Santa Clara University where he teaches in the Leavey School of Business and in campuswide programming for first-generation students. In 2018, he launched a social enterprise (www.launchyourcareer.academy) that helps colleges scale the skillset of launching a job or internship search with encouragement and financial support from his university. His book Launch Your Career will be published spring 2021. He can be reached at sokeefe@scu.edu.

Barry Z. Posner

Barry Z. Posner holds the Michael J. Accolti, S.J. Chair in Leadership at Santa Clara University (SCU), where he is professor of leadership in the Leavey School of Business. While at SCU, he has received numerous teaching awards and has served as associate dean for graduate education, associate dean for executive education, and dean. He is the co-author of The Leadership Challenge and more than 100 academic and practitioner-oriented publications. He can be reached at bposner@scu.edu.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/07/2023

Tips to Attract More Recruiters on LinkedIn

Article "I'm a designer at LinkedIn. Here are 4 tips to attract more recruiters" written by Katie Jacquez for UX Collective

 

Understand how recruiters source candidates on LinkedIn and how to optimize your profile to improve your chances of being found

Last month nearly 60,000 employees in tech were let go (Visual Capitalist). Economic headwinds, a change in leadership (hello Twitter and Elon Musk), and pandemic-fueled hiring sprees are cited as a few of the varied drivers (Q.ai. November 2022. Waves Of Tech Layoffs — Which Tech Companies Are Cutting Their Workforce And Why? Forbes).

If you are one of the many people impacted, you’re likely looking for your next play. The good news is that companies are still hiring, it’s just a matter of identifying and landing the right position (Estrada, Sheryl. December 2022. These 10 employers are still hiring tech and finance talent like crazy. Forbes).

Your job search should include a push and pull strategy, where you actively reach out to people at companies you’re interested in, and one where recruiters and hiring managers come to you. This article will help your pull strategy; I’m going to show you how to optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters and hiring managers.

Background

Before we dive into actionable tips, it’s important to understand how LinkedIn works.

Your LinkedIn profile is a searchable page

Your LinkedIn profile is a page, like any other page on the internet, with keywords that can be searched. When a recruiter is looking to hire a candidate, they use a tool called “Recruiter”. Recruiter basically is a search engine that combs through LinkedIn profiles. To give you an example of how it works, let’s say a recruiter is looking to hire a UX designer in New York or remote and is looking for someone with systems thinking, wireframing, and usability testing skills. Each one of these is a keyword they type into Recruiter. LinkedIn profiles with these terms will be more likely to appear at the top of the results page.

Recruiter surfaces candidates more likely to be interested in a role

It’s important to understand how recruiters matching algorithm works so you can make the most of it. Think of it as seeing the rubric for a class before starting the semester; you will then know what to do to succeed.

LinkedIn Recruiter “require[s] not just that a candidate shown must be relevant to the recruiter’s query, but also that the candidate contacted by the recruiter must show interest in the job opportunity.” (Sahin Cem Geyik, Qi Guo, Bo Hu, Cagri Ozcaglar, et al. 2018. Talent Search and Recommendation Systems at LinkedIn: Practical Challenges and Lessons Learned).

Recruiters matching algorithm uses a variety of signals to determine how likely a candidate is to be interested in switching jobs, such as turning on the ‘open to work’ feature, response rate to recruiters messages, and overall engagement on the platform.

How to optimize your LinkedIn profile

Before joining LinkedIn, I thought the experience section was the only way to attract recruiters. I’m going to walk you through small steps you can take to optimize your LinkedIn profile for visibility with recruiters with your work experience and beyond.

Name and headline

This is an underutilized portion of your profile. Rather than just stating your name and current role, you can use your headline to provide more context about you. For example, Harrison Wheeler, is a design manager at LinkedIn and the host of the Technically Speaking podcast.

People actively looking for a job can use this real estate to indicate what types of roles they’re going after. For example, Emma indicates that she’s “looking for 2023 internship”.

Use a headline that is consistent with your industry; recruiters typically are not looking for a “Design ninja”. Furthermore, be specific. “Design @ LinkedIn” could mean a variety of positions with different levels of experience, from associate, to mid-career, to management. “Senior Product Designer @ LinkedIn” is specific and will attract recruiters with open roles appropriate for your career goals.

About section

Next is the about section. This is especially useful for career switchers who likely do not have work experience in their desired field. When I was going from marketing to UX design, I was still getting messages from recruiters for marketing roles.

The about section is where you can weave your prior work history to the new role you’re going after, highlight your strengths, and tell your story. For example, Kristine Yuen is a design manager at LinkedIn and previously worked as a consultant for Deloitte. She uses the about section to explain why her consultancy work makes her a better designer.

As a career shifter, your prior work history gives you a unique perspective. In fact, teams with diverse experiences, thinking and background perform better than homogenous teams (Beilock, Sian. 2019. How Diverse Teams Produce Better Outcomes. Forbes).

To illustrate how your non-design work can be a strength and not a hindrance, I previously worked as a marketer and strategist. Today I’m a designer at LinkedIn building products for the people and teams I used to work with. This experience helps me empathize with customers to build better advertising products.

Experience

Daniel Dinay, a hiring manager at Marqeta, says his recruiting team leans heavily on the experience filters in LinkedIn Recruiter. If a profile comes up in the search results, he may have less than a minute to look at a profile, so keep the experience section pithy and scannable. For each role, show the core responsibilities, any results or value you brought to the team, and awards or top accomplishments. If you’re a career shifter, you can tailor your prior work experience to highlight any relevant experience to the new role you’re going after. Staying at a company for several years shows loyalty and success within an organization so add any promotions to show career growth and progress. This will show up as a timeline in each role.

Christine Liao, ex-manager on the Recruiter team at LinkedIn, encourages users to add contextual skills to specific roles in the experience section; it helps a recruiter understand the recency of a skill.

Skills

In addition to adding skills in the experience section, there is a dedicated section in the profile. Skills directly surface in LinkedIn Recruiter so list any skills that align with the type of role you are seeking. If you’re not sure what to include, cross reference profiles of people with the job you want. UX designers may want to use terms such as:

  • UX design
  • UI design
  • Product design
  • Interaction design
  • Systems thinking
  • Wire framing
  • Prototyping
  • Usability testing

Reorder your skills so the top three skills shown on your profile align with your job search. These skills will be most likely to be endorsed by colleagues which help with credibility. You can do this by hitting ‘show all skills’ and the ‘reorder’ button in the overflow drop down.

If you’re shifting careers, remove skills that are no longer relevant. For example, I removed most skills related to marketing and replaced them with UX design skills. After making this change I received more messages from recruiters for UX roles than marketing roles.

Finally, you can have up to 50 skills. Max them out — it only increases your chances of appearing in recruiters search results.

Next steps

Once a recruiter has reached out, it’s time to start networking. If you’re interested, keep the lead warm; respond promptly and set up a discovery call. Even if you’re not ready to apply, you can use the opportunity to build a relationship, learn more about the role, and the company culture. At the end of the call you can ask for a referral to a designer at the company to get an insider’s point of view and see if the company and the role is the right fit.

Conclusion

Looking for a new role during industry wide layoffs can be discouraging. But have hope; when one door closes it creates space for another to open. Companies are always hiring and there are tools at your disposal to attract recruiters and hiring managers. Optimizing your headline, about, experience, and skills for the role you want will help you appear higher in recruiters search results, ultimately helping you find your next play.

*This article was inspired by conversations with job hunters and a deck created by and co-presented with Kristine Yuen. It was reviewed and vetted by design managers on the Recruiter (Christine Liao) and Profile team (Lisa Chen) at LinkedIn.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2016

ECO Newsletter 8.30.16

Economics Internship and Job Search Basics Workshops - Now open!

Feature | 05/23/2022

Tyler Wake and MJ Nilayamgode present at MMC

Graduate students Tyler Wake and Mrithyunjayan (MJ) Nilayamgode attended the Midwest Macro Conference at Utah State University in Logan, Utah on May 20 and 21, 2022. They presented original research co-authored with their advisor Ana Fostel, “Collateral Expansion: Pricing Spillovers from Financial Innovation,” and attended a variety of talks, including two keynote speeches from Ayşegül Şahin and Tom Sargent. Other UVA Economics PhD graduates in attendance included Joaquin Saldain (Bank of Canada) and Ia Vardishvili (Auburn University).

The Midwest Macroeconomics Conference began meeting in 1994 and is one of the longest- running dedicated macroeconomics conferences in the United States. Its next meeting will be in Fall 2022 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

MacroDigest

Check out MacroDigest.com, a new tool created by students from the London School of Economics to follow systemically important conversations and events. Students felt overwhelmed when trying to access the topics, debates, and current events in the global economy due to the thousands of voices in the blogosphere and news continuously posting and updating. Thus, the creation of MacroDigest. Macrodigest clusters information and analysis on everything moving the global economy.  Students will get a lot out of the home page because it provides a simple yet comprehensive look on both breaking and trending systemically important news while showcasing more nuanced debates happening within the economics world.
 
See "Job Search Resources for Economics Majors" for a more complete list of helpful sources, institutes, and databases.
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/21/2016

ECO Newsletter 8.21.16

 Job and Internship Search Basics Pre-reqisite Workshop Sign-up is Open!

Feature | 08/06/2021

Blog: 8.9.2021 The Power of Weak Ties

Hello Majors!

Networking, building relationships! This blog is about this daunting, exciting, intimidating, and rewarding process of building connections.

I recently connected with 1990 econ alum Brian Ramsay, President of private equity firm, Littlejohn & Co. I met Brian through Professor Elzinga. Brian had written to Professor Elzinga because he had been interviewed on a podcast (link below) where he discussed the power of weak ties, something those of you who took Econ 2010 with Professor Elzinga may remember from lectures. Through this email, Professor Elzinga connected Brian and me at the ECO and now I'm sharing Brian's remarks about networking with you. And, it is my hope that in the coming year, Brian will spend time with our majors in the department in-person or virtually. This story demonstrates perfectly the power of networking and building relationships. (During the podcast, you'll also learn about private equity from Brian and the importance of financial analysis skills and . To reach Brian's networking remarks, skip to the 10:00 minute mark.) So much of the work that the ECO undertakes is to set the table for you to join the conversation with our economics alumni and employers.  And while we all have independent networks, which are forged from the building blocks of our own families, friends, and experiences outside of UVA, our goal in the ECO is to share the cultural wealth of our UVA community. We will talk much more about this together in ECO programs and individual advising, but for now, take a listen to Brian Ramsay's interview with "Top of the Pile."

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/top-of-the-pile/career-path-private...

Then, take action and reach out to one professional to practice your informational interviewing. This could be a relative, family friend, friend's family member, your family physician...you get the picture. Use these links to draft your email/phone call script to secure the meeting and then this link to prepare for the call. Send me a message to let me know how it goes!  We will include your comments in an upcoming newsletter.

And, please believe me that asking for help now from alumni and other professionals is completely appropriate and expected. The day will come when you will pay it forward by helping upcoming majors who will be in the shoes you once filled.

Link to ECO website and professional development

Link to How to Write a Networking Email That Gets Results

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/06/2018

ARTICLE - 25 SHORT, SWEET TIPS FOR SUCCESS AS A SUMMER INTERN

 25 SHORT, SWEET TIPS FOR SUCCESS AS A SUMMER INTERN

by Sarah Steenrod

 

While it seems like just yesterday (okay, so more like 13 years ago) I was an intern at Neiman Marcus in Las Vegas, the lessons I learned and experiences I had a during that pivotal time in my college and professional career are crystal clear. Here are some tips that will help make your internship a success:

1.      Set goals. Having personal and professional goals can help you make the most of your summer, stay on track, and know if you have achieved what you set out to do.

2.      Ask questions. An internship is a learning process and you may need to seek clarification along the way.

3.      Participate in all intern and company activities that you are invited to. It’s a great way to meet fellow interns and people at the company who are investing their time in your experience.

4.      Share your ideas. People want to know what you think, so speak up!

5.      If you finish your work, ask for more. By taking initiative, you may end up with an awesome project or learning experience.

6.      Pack your lunch. You’ll save money and calories. It’s absolutely fine to join your colleagues and treat yourself to lunch every once in a while, but you will thank yourself at the end of the summer if you don’t blow your paychecks on takeout sushi.

7.      Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Always be sure to follow the dress code. Make sure your clothes are clean, neat, and pressed

8.      Get a good night’s rest. If you’re used to going to bed at 2 a.m., the sound of the alarm at 6 a.m. is going to be a rude awakening (literally and figuratively). No one at your workplace will care if you’re tired, so don’t look or act tired.

9.      Consider your internship a three-month interview. This is your opportunity to make the most of each day with the potential of getting a job offer at the end.

10. Ask people if you can be of help to them. You might think you don’t have a lot to offer, but perhaps one of your colleagues has a child that is considering your university and would love to hear your perspective.

11. Explore the city…and the food. If you’re in Cleveland, don’t miss the West Side Market and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. St. Louis is famous for fried ravioli. In Houston, be sure to try the BBQ.

12. Exercise. Take a brisk walk, ride a bike, run, do yoga! Do whatever you like, just get moving!

13. Drink water. That’s what the water coolers are for! Eight 8-ounce glasses day is what’s recommended, but if that sounds like a lot, just start with a couple glasses a day. It also helps to get a water bottle that you really like.

14. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, find a way to fix it, and move on. Don’t make excuses.

15. Connect with alumni from your school. Use your university’s alumni club. Tap into the LinkedIn Find Alumni tool.

16. Check in regularly with your parents, family members, and friends and let them know how your internship is going….they will appreciate it.

17. Say please. It’s amazing how many people will be willing to help you if you ask nicely.

18. Follow all computer rules and lock your computer when you step away from your desk. Also, if your company has a social media policy, refrain from posting on Facebook during work hours.

19. Ask for feedback. Some supervisors will be good at giving you positive and constructive feedback, while others may be less forthcoming. If they know it’s important to you, they may be more likely to give it.

20. Avoid office gossip. If someone talks about others to you, they are probably talking about you to others.

21. Pay attention to your experiences, reflect on them, and jot down a few notes. Your worst on-the-job experience may someday be your best interview story. The trick is remembering all the details.

22. Wear sunscreen. Seriously

23. Be present and enjoy the experience!

24. Keep in touch. Don’t wait until you need something to e-mail your former supervisor. Send an e-mail every once in a while to check in and let them know how you’re doing.

25. Thank people and let them know how they impacted your life and career. A handwritten note is a very nice touch.

 

Sarah Steenrod is Director of Undergraduate Career Consultation and Programs in the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

Courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Feature | 05/23/2022

Gayoung Ko Presents at the International IO Conference

Gayoung Ko, a sixth-year student, presented her paper, "Gender Discrimination in the Gig Economy: Evidence from Online Auctions for Freelancing," at the International Industrial Organization Conference. This paper proposes an empirical framework to study gender discrimination in an auction-based online platform for freelance jobs.

Feature | 08/01/2021

Blog: Economics Career Office - What You Can Be Doing Now

August 2, 2021

Hello Economics Majors,

My name is Jennifer Jones and I'm the Director of your Economics Career Office (ECO), which is dedicated to the career planning and preparation of our Economics majors. I'm looking forward to working with you this academic year as we all return to the Grounds. Hundreds of students used the ECO's services over the last year, and we welcome back our new and returning students. If you're just meeting us, please check us out at economics.virginia.edu/career, then click on "Students" to get to know us better.
It is truly a privilege for me to work in the Department of Economics focusing on career preparation and for you to have your very own career services office in Monroe Hall. The office was founded by your faculty and generous donors, the latter who are recognized on a donor plaque outside of Monroe 120. Check it out sometime!  Many of these alumni are working in jobs and fields that will surely interest you. 

A few items of note as we begin the year together and a couple of action items:

  • Connect with me on LinkedIn and join the Economics Alumni Group on LinkedIn. This will quickly connect you to hundreds of other economics alumni. (You need not have a comprehensive profile to connect with others. The basics are fine.) LI is also the place I post jobs for our graduates - entry-level and experienced.
  • I'm including here a link to our ECO timeline, which recommends a "syllabus/strategy" for your career planning based on your class year/graduation date. 
  • Different industries and sectors recruit at different times. Check out the recruiting timeline in the Hoos Career Guide (page 47) to learn more about who recruits when. Early fall tends to bring in large firms that know their hiring needs in advance.
  • You will receive a newsletter from the ECO most weeks when classes are in session. Currently, newsletters are being sent via Mailchimp, but we may move to Salesforce/Marketing Cloud over the next few weeks. We will keep you posted.
  • Attend the ECO Orientation on August 23! For those of you looking for internships and full-time jobs for this fall and beyond, please join me and alumnus Kenton Kivestu (Econ 2010 and Founder of RocketBlocks) on Monday, August 23 from 11 am-1 pm. Here you will be oriented to:
    • the dozens of resources available to you as Economics majors
    • a Resume Review session with real resumes from your peers in the department
    • Interviewing Techniques for Management and Strategy Consulting
    • a demonstration of the RocketBlocks platform, which the ECO licenses to help you prepare for consulting, product management, and product marketing
  • Update your profile in Handshake. Choose industries that interest you, geographic locations, and consider making your profile viewable to employers. Career Counselors and employers use this information to message you with relevant opportunities.
  • ECO appointments are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check out Handshake for appointments. If our schedules don't align, please write to me at jlh7b@virginia.edu.
  • Our online resources include:

Our wonderful ECO student staff this year includes the students listed below. If you receive emails from them, please open them! We send Job Blasts (from alumni and employers), Event Blasts, and Resource Blasts. 

  • Carly Dotson (Economics and English Lanaguage and Literature 2022) Writer
  • Ella Fendley (Media Studies, 2024) Marketing Coordinator
  • Flora Kim (Economics and Commerce, 2023) Senior Event Coordinator
  • Chloe Leo (Psychology, 2022) Senior Event Coordinator
  • Luca Pfeiffer (Media Studies, 2022) Media Designer
  • Maggie Rutherford (Economics and Media Studies, 2024) Event Coordinator
  • Mithra Dhinakaran (Economics and Foreign Affairs, 2023)
  • Robbie Eriksson (Economics and Computer Science, 2022) Salesforce Coordinator

Our Student Advisory Board (ECOSAB) meets bi-weekly to discuss career office programming and to plan the annual Economics Undergraduate Career Forum. You may reach out to the Chairperson with questions or comments in addition to writing to me. The Board Members are:

  • Brian Buck (Economics, 2024) Board member
  • Bryson Webb (Economics, 2022) Board member
  • Jenna Short (Economics and Statistics 2022) Board member
  • Kaitlyn Ockerman (Economics and Statistics, 2022) Chairperson
  • Wendy Tang (Economics and Computer Science, 2022) Board member
  • Zach Garfinkel (Economics, Statistics, Commerce, 2023) Board member

Please remember to join us for the August 23 ECO Orientation and on September 3 for our Major to Major Career Coaching Fair.

Until next week when I'll write with more tips and advice, wishing you a wonderful week.

Best regards,

Jen Jones Director, Economics Career Office

Feature | 02/26/2023

Economics Undergraduate Career Forum 2023 (Students)

 

Scroll to the bottom for alumni LinkedIn profile links and complete biographies.

The University of Virginia Department of Economics

Presents

The 2023 Economics Undergraduate Career Forum
Economics at Work

March 30-31, 2023

Charlottesville, Virginia

Program Description and Format:

The Economics Undergraduate Career Forum brings together professionals who hold undergraduate economics degrees with current students and faculty through networking events and educational programming to expose majors and prospective majors to potential professional experiences. The program combines informal networking opportunities with more structured career panels, talks, and office hours. Our hope is that these programs will provide valuable career-related information for students while facilitating and strengthening relationships between all participants.

By the end of the program, we hope that students will have an understanding of the industries, workplaces, and job functions of the panelists and some familiarity with internships, entry-level jobs and career paths. Students will learn how to prepare to be strong intern/entry-level candidates in the participants’ fields, which may include guidance about classes and extracurriculars, building industry-focused professional materials, upskilling resources, and relevant networking and interviewing. We hope that students and alumni will have fun and will emerge with new connections and ideas for next steps.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

March 30       

  • 5:00-6:00 pm Industry Talk: South Meeting Room, Newcomb Hall (Open to Students, Faculty, Guests)
  • 6:30-8:00 pm Dinner (Guests, Invited Faculty, Selected Students) The Ridley, West Main Street, Charlottesville  (applications for students will be available March 1)

March 31       

  • 8:30-9:15 am Breakfast, Monroe 120 (Faculty and Alumni Guests)
  • 9:30-10:45 am Panel 1, Newcomb Hall, Commonwealth Room; Office Hours/Coffee Chats, Monroe 113, 235, and 236
  • 11:00-12:00 pm Panel 2, Newcomb Hall, Commonwealth Room; Office Hours/Coffee Chats, Monroe 113, 235, and 236
  • 12:30-1:45 pm Networking Lunch, Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room (Guests and Students)
  • 2:00-2:30 pm Gift Ceremony before Departure, Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room (Guests, Steering Committee)

Program Descriptions Follow in Order. Please use the Event Schedule you will receive on 3/20/22 for Your Assignments:

Industry Talk:  
Forging Horcruxes in the Rotunda: Using the Power of Economic Analysis at Work
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1205068
Before the dinner at The Ridley, there will be an industry talk given on Grounds. Students, faculty, and alumni are invited to attend.
Speaker: Dr. Gian Domenico Sarolli, Senior Economist, Bank of America

Networking Dinner with Faculty, Alumni, and Students (By Application Only) 
Apply here: https://virginia.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0IE1QynIZkO6CRo

Career Panel 1
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1205072
Jennifer Floyd, Harris Williams
Gian Domenic Sorolli, Bank of America
Stella Yang, Echo Street Capital
Lindsey Walsh, Save 1 Challenge (formerly Gartner)

Career Panel 2
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1205073

Sarah Bufano, Guidehouse
Jenny Rae Le Roux, Management Consulted
Suhail Thahir, FTI Consulting
Amir Rasool, Hanover Research
Meagan Walters, Centers for Disease Control

Office Hours/Coffee Chats
Register here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ObhgDqEV6bC4mJXsCs1PT5mKA148pjU...

Office hours provide an opportunity for students to seek feedback about their career plans or contemplations and to ask questions about a guest’s background one-on-one. 
A virtual or in-person prep session may be required for office hours.

Office Hours/Coffee Chats Session 1
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1205070

Sarah Bufano, Guidehouse
Jenny Rae Le Roux, Management Consulted
Suhail Thahir, FTI Consulting
Amir Rasool, Hanover Research
Meagan Walters, Centers for Disease Control

Office Hours/Coffee Chats Session 2
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1205071

Jennifer Floyd, Harris Williams
Gian Domenic Sorolli, Bank of America
Stella Yang, Echo Street Capital
Lindsey Walsh, Save 1 Challenge (formerly Gartner)

Networking Lunch - All Alumni Guests
Industries Represented: Management Consulting, Economic Consulting, Investment Banking, PE, Health Economics, Government and Policy, AI, Non-profit, Entrepreneurship
Register here: https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu/events/1259898

Lunch provided by Take It Away
Tables will be arranged around the room and each alum will be stationed at a table as a “host.” Students will grab lunch and find their way to a table for the first 5 minutes.  Each alumnus will have 1-2 minutes to introduce him or herself to the room. Students will be provided with tips sheets to prepare for networking.

Part 2: Organized Rotations (2 at 10 minutes each for 20 minutes total)

Students will rotate between two different alumni tables. They should introduce themselves with their names, major, year, and a fun fact.

Part 3: Informal Networking (20 minutes)

Students will move about the room and visit alumni tables.

Alumni will share any information they have about internship and entry-level recruiting for students with their organization/relevant past organizations. This may include information about diversity/affinity group hiring.   

Alumni and Guests' LInkedIn Profiles: 

Sarah Bufano- Sr. National Security Consultant at Guidehouse 

Jennifer Floyd- Analyst at Harris Williams 

Jenny Rae Le Roux- CEO at Management Consulted 

Amir Rasool- Managing Director at Hanover Research  

Gian Domenico Sarolli- Senior Economist at Bank of America 

Troy Sweeney- Associate at NetCapital  (canceled as of 3/26)

Suhail Thahir- Consultant at FTI Consulting 

Lindsey Walsh- Business Co-Owner & Save 1 Challenge Founder, formerly Managing VP at Gartner 

Meagan Walters- Health Policy Analyst at the CDC 

Stella Yang- Senior Quantitative Analyst, Echo Street Capital

Alumni and Guests' Biographies

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/28/2022

ECO Article: How to Close the Networking Gap from The Wall Street Journal

How to Close the Networking Gap
The Wall Street Journal
March 17, 2022
By Ben Wildavsky

Ben Wildavsky is a visiting scholar at UVA's School of Education.

When Mark Granovetter was a Ph.D. student in the late 1960s, studying how white-collar men find new jobs, he zeroed in on social networks. When he asked interview subjects whether the person who told them about their current job was a friend, he repeatedly ran into the same answer. “Over and over again, they would correct me and say ‘No, no, he’s only an acquaintance,’” says Dr. Granovetter, now a professor of sociology at Stanford.
The idea, he explained in his classic 1973 article “The Strength of Weak Ties,” is that a job seeker’s close friends usually know the same people and can only share already familiar information. From acquaintances, by contrast, “you’re going to get new information, new ideas, new ways of thinking,” he says.

Nearly 50 years later, with a healthy assist from the force-multiplier of digital technology, personal and professional networking shows every sign of thriving. But that’s not true across the board. Low-income Americans, racial minorities and first-generation college students frequently struggle. Even when they have checked all the career-readiness boxes by earning college degrees or other credentials, these job seekers typically navigate their careers with the fewest networking advantages.

As a result, according to a 2021 study of Florida State University graduates in the Journal of Applied Psychology, first-generation students have a harder time getting high-quality jobs than better-connected classmates with the same credentials. Having more “occupationally focused relationships” and help with resume-writing and interview skills provides a big boost compared with “job seekers of lower social class who lack such networks,” the authors wrote.

The strikingly insular nature of massively popular platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn doesn’t help. Those social networks “tend to simply amplify users’ offline networks and tendencies, rather than forging new, different or expanded networks,” wrote Julia Freeland Fisher, director of education at the Clayton Christensen Institute, in her 2018 book “Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students’ Networks.”

Several years ago, Meg Garlinghouse, LinkedIn’s vice president for social impact, began to notice that the people contacting her on LinkedIn seeking informational interviews were all advantaged white women with four-year college degrees. “They were kind of in my network,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m unintentionally helping the people who look just like me.’”LinkedIn’s own research shows that a member raised in a well-off ZIP Code is three times as likely to have a robust network, with many connections from a range of places. Members who graduated from well-known colleges and had a first job at a top company are twice as likely to have strong networks.
In a recent analysis of survey responses from 55,000 U.S. college students at 91 institutions, the National Survey of Student Engagement and Strada Education Network found that first-generation students were significantly less likely than their peers to have networked with alumni or professionals, discussed career interests with faculty, or interviewed someone in a career field that interests them.

Entrepreneurs have noticed the problem. In 2014, three undergraduates at Michigan Technology University, frustrated with how few recruiters from companies outside the Midwest came to their campus, took matters into their own hands. Determined to democratize access to information and opportunity, they launched Handshake, a platform for professional networking and graduate recruitment. Today the company serves 20 million students and young alumni from 1,400 educational institutions. It works with 650,000 companies, including all of the Fortune 500, providing services such as video interviews and online career fairs.

Along the way, the company has significantly expanded career networks for low-income students. Six years ago, about 20% of undergraduates using Handshake were recipients of Pell grants, well below the one-third or so of students nationally awarded the need-based federal financial assistance. Today the figure has grown to 32%, thanks to the company’s new partnerships with hundreds of community colleges and historically Black colleges. “For someone who doesn’t have a lot of connections,” says Handshake’s chief education strategy officer, Christine Cruzvergara, “This is a non-intimidating place where the barrier is lower for them to initiate a conversation.”
The next step is getting students from disadvantaged backgrounds launched into strong first jobs. That’s the mission of Chicago-based Braven, which works with a number of university partners across the country. Students in the program are coached in, among other things, forming networks and using referrals and informational interviews to secure internships and career-focused jobs.

As a student at Rutgers University-Newark, Andrej Gjorgiev signed up for Braven, a program that helps launch students into strong first jobs.

Andrej Gjorgiev, 24, signed up for Braven as a criminal justice and psychology major at Rutgers University-Newark. He learned how to seek the kind of connections he would have had trouble making on his own as the child of a construction worker and night-shift lab technician who emigrated from Macedonia a decade ago. “A lot of the time, if you don’t know people, it’s hard to get outside of just your family,” he said.

Yet for too many low-income college students, graduation still means underemployment. Farzana Chowdhury, whose parents run a newsstand in Brooklyn, emigrated to the U.S. from Bangladesh when she was 17. She graduated from Brooklyn College and considers her education well worth the time and money. But, she says. “Nobody preps you for interview skills. Nobody preps you for ‘Hey, after you graduate, start applying for internships, start looking into jobs, start going into LinkedIn.’”

She got that help as a participant in the social-capital-and-skills nonprofit COOP Careers, which works with recent graduates who may be employed in one or more part-time jobs but are seeking more lucrative employment with a promising career ladder. “Skills don’t necessarily protect you. Relationships are what protect you,” says Markus Ward, COOP’s managing director of development. The organization collaborates with a number of large public universities and with major employers such as Google and Microsoft.

As for networking giant LinkedIn, when it came to recognize that networks aren’t distributed equally, it began to take steps to close the gap. Ms. Garlinghouse helped to introduce the “Plus One Pledge,” which encourages LinkedIn members to do informational interviews with people outside their existing professional network, to be mentors and to introduce job seekers to friends or colleagues.

Even as these new tools develop and gain popularity, breaking into new networks remains challenging, especially for low-income students with modest inherited networks. For them to build successful careers, education and skills are necessary but not sufficient. They need social capital, too.

—Mr. Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, is writing a book for Princeton University Press on education, social capital and career success.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/11/2021

7 Kinds of Questions to Ask at a Career Fair to Make a Great Impression

by Stav Ziv at The Muse

Let’s be honest: Walking into a career fair can be incredibly intimidating. Look at all those people who have the power to give you a job one day! Look at all those other people who want some of the very same jobs you want! No one would blame you for feeling overwhelmed.

Start by considering that the recruiters on the other side of the table (literally or metaphorically) are people just like you. Then remember that you’re unlikely to elicit a job offer on the spot from any one of them. Put those things together and you’ll lower the stakes for yourself and do what might actually help your career: have great conversations.

“Remember that recruiters are humans, not robots. They like having conversations,” says Victoria Morell, a Muse career coach and Associate Director of Miami University Farmer School of Business Careers. “You always want to leave them with, ‘Oh I want to learn more about that person.’”

Easy to say, yes, but what do you actually say when you’re face-to-face with a tired recruiter who’s already spoken to 47 other prospective applicants today? At a career fair, your goal is to get the information you need to decide if a company or role is a good fit for you, while also leaving a good impression that could help you get one step closer to nabbing that job.

Here are seven kinds of questions that will help you do just that.

1. Ask About a Particular Role

Most people will come up to a table, say hello and give a little spiel about their background, and then ask, “Do you have any open roles?” according to Muse career coach Chelsea Williams, who in a previous position at an asset management firm attended dozens of career fairs to look for talent. “The recruiter will sometimes say, ‘We do. Check the website.’ That’s not a powerful way to maximize your time,” she says. And it tells the recruiter that you didn’t take the time to do any research and you’re not serious about their company.

Don’t be one of those people. You can stand out right away by taking a different approach. Spend some time ahead of the event looking through the list of companies attending, finding a handful that seem most enticing to you, learning what you can about them, identifying any roles that seem like a good fit for you, and ideally submitting your application before you walk in.

That way, you can use your time to delve deeper into anything that wasn’t clear in the job description and to gather information beyond what’s available online, which could help you continue to evaluate whether it’s really the right fit and come in handy later if you move forward in the interview process.

You can try to get right to the heart of the matter by asking, “What are you truly looking for in this role if you could have your ideal candidate?” Morell suggests. Not only can you get the inside scoop on what’s most important to them, but it also “gives you an opportunity to say, ‘Oh, this is how I’ve done that!’”

Try questions like:

  • Is the [open role] you currently have listed more focused on [some function or aspect of the company] or [some other function or aspect of the company]?
  • I noticed the job description for [open role] listed [some vague item] in the responsibilities—what do you mean by that?
  • In a typical day, what does [open role] do?
  • What’s the biggest challenge the new [open role] can help solve?
  • Who’s the manager/direct report for this role?
  • What’s this team’s biggest goal in the next six months?
  • I don’t have a traditional background in [field or function] but I have worked on [something relevant]. Would that be a good fit for [open role]?
  • I noticed you didn’t have any [type of role or roles on a specific team] open just now. What kinds of opportunities in those areas do you foresee down the line?

2. Ask About the Hiring Process

A one-on-one conversation with a recruiter is also a great opportunity to glean some information and calibrate your expectations for the hiring process. Muse career coach Brad Finkeldei once interviewed for a consulting job in a hiring process that had eight stages. “They really want to make sure it was a good match culturally,” he says. Knowing something like that up front would help you get a sense of the kind of timeline you can expect. (And you might decide to send out some more applications while you wait!)

Try questions like:

  • What does the hiring process for [open role] look like?
  • Can you tell me a little bit about the different stages in the hiring process for [open role]?

3. Ask About Their Experience

One of your main goals going into a career fair should be to use it as a starting point for building long-term relationships, says Muse career coach Clayton Wert. To that end, you “don’t just want to talk about yourself all the time. Be insightful and curious about the other person,” he says.

The person you’re speaking with works at the company. Ask them about their experience there! You might learn something about the culture that you could never glean from a job posting or website alone. Plus, says Muse career coach Kristina Leonardi, “the more authentic and personable and relatable you can be the more memorable you can be.”

Try questions like:

  • How long have you been at [Company]?
  • What do you like about [Company]?
  • What’s your favorite thing about your job?
  • What do you really enjoy about this role in particular?
  • What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your role or at [Company]?

4. Ask About Growth and Development

You may be a student or recent graduate looking for your first real step into a new field, but you won’t be a newbie forever. It’s worth asking not just about the role you’ve applied for, but about how you can learn and grow and do more down the line. “It lets the recruiter know you’re thinking about the future and the long-term with the company, that you’re really invested in what your future could look like there,” Morell says.

Try questions like:

  • What does growth and development look like at [Company]?
  • How does [Company] support its employees as they look to grow and level up their skills and responsibilities?
  • I imagine that [innovation at the company or change in the industry] will change how you’re working on [project or product]. How are you developing your workforce to keep up with this?
  • How does [Company] work to upskill and reskill its employees?

5. Ask About the Company’s Products, Services, or Recent News

Nothing shows you’ve done your homework like casually mentioning something timely about the organization. “Go to the company blog when doing your research, find a recent article or press release, and reference something the company’s currently going through,” says Wert.

If the company’s just reached a major milestone, released a new product, or announced some great news, he suggests going in and saying, “Congratulations, that’s awesome! Hopefully it makes doing your job easier. What do you think this means for you?” Or you could say, “I saw you’re launching [new product]… That’s great! What do you think that’s going to do?”

And if you have a genuine personal connection to the company’s products or services—whether it’s been your favorite thing since you were five or your mother’s always talking about how much she loves it—share that with the recruiter and use it to lead into a question.

Try questions like:

  • I recently read an article about [event, announcement, or news related to the company]. What was it like to be a part of that?
  • I know you’ve just announced a strategy change. How is that shift taking place internally?
  • I love [product/service], I use it all the time! How do you think it’s going to evolve in the next year?

6. Ask About Company Culture

Whatever role it is that you have your eye on, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You’ll be working with colleagues, a team, a department, and an entire organization that has a unique culture. One of the most effective ways you can use your time at a career fair is to ask questions that’ll help you understand a company’s culture and determine if it’s the kind of environment you want.

It’s not necessarily about the culture being good or bad, it’s a matter of finding a match. For example, you might be looking for a highly collaborative atmosphere or, on the flipside, you might prefer to work independently 95% of the time. In either scenario you’ll need a different kind of work culture to thrive.

If you’re new to the working world, you might not know exactly what you’re looking for (and that’s okay!), but you can still use these kinds of questions to feel out whether a company sounds like a place you can see yourself spending most of your waking hours.

When you ask questions about culture—and throughout your conversation—make sure you’re attuned to body language, hesitations, and what’s not being said, in addition to the actual verbal response. “Especially as a recruiter, they’re going to be pretty well rehearsed. They’re there to sell the brand and positions,” says Morell. But small cues like pauses or a perfectly inoffensive but canned answer can raise questions to look into more later.

For example, Morell says, “if you ask about diversity and they only mention one kind of diversity or their statement feels very much like a corporate statement on diversity, that could be a red flag.”

Try questions like:

  • What kind of person is most successful at [Company]?
  • What does communication look like at [Company]? What kind of technology do you use for communication?
  • What kind of culture is there around feedback at [Company]? How do people like to give and receive feedback?
  • Diversity is really important to me. How do you support different identities?
  • I saw photos of [volunteer, diversity, or social event] on the company’s Instagram account. Can you tell me more about that program?
  • Do people hang out outside of work on a regular basis?

7. Ask How You Can Stay in Touch

Now that you’ve had a fantastic chat, wrap it up by ensuring that this doesn’t have to be the last time you talk. Make sure you know the person’s name and take a business card (if they have one) or ask how you can keep in touch with them and the company. That way, you’ll have a contact to reach out to if you don’t hear back about your application.

And you can also start developing long-term relationships. Who knows, “you might connect back with them at a time that’s not as busy and get coffee,” Morell says. Even if there’s not a perfect role for you at this company now, or if this one doesn’t pan out, you never know what might open up in the future.

Try questions like:

  • What’s the best way to stay in touch with you?
  • What would be a great next step to take after meeting you here?
  • Who can I follow up with about [open role]?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/questions-to-ask-at-career-fairs

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/25/2018

Make a Powerful Interview Impact! (First Impressions Count!)

Devaki Ghose

Feature | 05/04/2017

16th CEPR Postgraduate conference at Nottingham

Devaki Ghose presents her paper "Identifying the Role of Vertical Linkage in Agglomeration: Empirical Evidence from India" on Thursday, May 4th, 2017 in University of Nottingham, UK.

Feature | 04/15/2021

STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT ABEL LIU NAMED AS UVA’S LATEST TRUMAN SCHOLAR

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Feature | 08/12/2016

A Different Recruitment Method

Large companies are hiring recruits first then assigning a job role to them later. Review the insightful comments at the bottom of the articles.

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Feature | 01/09/2022

The ‘Great Resignation,’ Employee Leverage and Company Response

*This article offers great insight into today's hiring climate. Keep these tips in mind with your own job search.

“People have reassessed priorities – whether it’s more flexibility with their schedules or relocating to be closer to family – and are seeking jobs better aligned with those priorities,” UVA’s Jennifer Coleman said.

November 12, 2021 Catherine Burtonburtonc@darden.virginia.edu

The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an unprecedented reckoning by the American workforce that some have dubbed the “Great Resignation.” Workers have been not only leaving their jobs en masse, but also reconsidering what they are looking for in their careers.

As executive director of the University of Virginia’s Armstrong Center for Alumni Career Services at the Darden School of Business, Jennifer Coleman has been coaching MBAs on how to best achieve their career goals for more than a decade. But she has never seen a moment like this one.

In the center’s one-on-one coaching sessions, Coleman and her colleagues have helped alumni navigate this brave new world of confusion and opportunity. UVA Today spoke to her about the insights she’s gleaned.

Q. What do you see as the biggest factors going into this trend of the “Great Resignation?”

A. What has happened over the past 18 months is that people have reassessed priorities – whether it’s more flexibility with their schedules or relocating to be closer to family – and are seeking jobs better aligned with those priorities. With my coaching team, we’ve always tried to dispel the myth that it’s a zero-sum [equation] between work and life. What we’re seeing people do now is look for ways to make everything work more in concert – including recreation, relationships, health and work.

Q. How are companies responding to this trend when it comes to hiring and retaining the best talent?

A. Companies are being compelled to rethink what culture means and how important being physically present is to an organization. They are having to be far more flexible, not just on physically where employees are sitting, but also on how employees are structuring their days. Are they working 9-to-5 days? Or is it more fluid, a situation in which they work for a few hours in the morning, then pick up and care for their kids, and then work again from 9 p.m. onward? It’s all about options and choice and empowerment. It’s not about being completely in the office, or completely remote – because working at home is not for everybody – but it’s about giving people flexibility.

Q. How can employees leverage this moment to negotiate the best deal for a new job?

A. For people who are negotiating new positions, relocation isn’t always necessary. I’ve been coaching for about 13 years, and this is the first time I would advise people that if there’s a company halfway across the country that you’re really interested in, by all means pursue it, because you might not have to move.

Moreover, in a hot job market, talent’s always going to be incrementally more expensive, so as candidates think about their value, whether it’s cash compensation or other benefits, they’ll be in more powerful negotiating positions. They can use that as they negotiate the details about remote work environments. Is the company going to pay for your travel to headquarters when it’s required? What are they doing to support your home office environment in terms of equipment?

Q. When do you have the conversation about flexibility and scheduling – during the interview process, or after you’ve already been offered the job, or after you’ve started work?

A. During the interview process, you can get a sense of the culture and ask questions of employees, but I wouldn’t get into the weeds. You don’t want anything to distract the employer from your core value, and the fact that you have kids who need to be picked up at 4 o’clock, for example, is not part of who you are as a candidate. In general, I’d push that stuff off until you are the preferred candidate – ideally until after you have the offer.

It is worth making sure you are aligned on all of that before you start the job, however. I’ve seen people accept jobs in which these kinds of things are not discussed, and they can become problems quickly.

Q. What advice do you have for people who have had a so-called “COVID epiphany” and are considering a larger career change?

A. A big piece is finding a way to dip your toes into the proverbial waters of what you think you are interested in – whether that means you volunteer or take some classes or do something extracurricular that will allow you to talk and network with people. Anything you can do to expose yourself in a meaningful way will help you to really understand what you’re getting yourself into before you quit your job. It also gives you some credentials you can speak to in the interview process.

Q. How much of what we are seeing now in employment is a permanent change in the way people work, versus a temporary disruption?

A. There is definitely a shift here that is permanent. We’ve got a rising workforce of Gen Z that is already completely rethinking their relationship with work, even as this seems like a major mindset shift for older workers. Now that we’ve proven that flexibility and remote work are possible – and developed the technology to support it – I don’t see how we go back to square one. Pieces of this will last for sure.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/great-resignation-employee-leverage-and-company-response

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/18/2021

ECO Article: How to Attend a Virtual Career Fair

By: Victorio Duran III at Firsthand

It isn’t easy to stand out at in-person job fairs, and leaving a lasting impression with employers at virtual job fairs can be just as challenging. However, if you follow the eight tips below, you’ll have no difficulty making meaningful professional connections and differentiating yourself from other candidates.

1. Update your profile and resume

Your resume and professional profiles, especially your LinkedIn profile, need to be up to date. Ensure that your resume is as comprehensive as possible. Don’t skimp on information—and certainly make sure to include key words and quantifiable achievements. Also, make sure your polished, error-free resume is available in both PDF and Word files, and available on your desktop so you can access it and upload it easily. All of this is important during fairs because employers use the information on your resume and profile to see if you match their requirements.

2. Do your research

For employers you’re interested in, go the extra mile while researching them. Find out about the opportunities they offer and their cultures. This allows you to better determine if they might be good fits for you, and to customize your resume and profile to their requirements. In addition, doing your research shows recruiters at the career fair that you did your homework and are interested in working for them. The more you know about a company’s products, employee culture, social media presence, standing in the market, etc., the more topics you’ll have to talk about—and the more likely you are to make a lasting impression.

3. Prepare to ask questions       

Answering questions is so passé. To stand out from the competition, you need to ask questions—and you have every right to do so. Show off the research you’ve done and prepare a list of questions for recruiters. You might ask about company culture, retention rate, growth plans, how a company is managing in these difficult times, and how a company’s work environment has changed in the wake of Covid-19. Also, with everyone working from home, you might have legitimate concerns about starting a job remotely. So, ask about the communication tools the company uses to facilitate work from home, and whether they prefer Glip, Discord, or another collaboration software app.

4. Plan your day

You don’t want your lack of planning and organization getting in the way of making strong connections at virtual fairs. So, if you have trouble getting organized, there are many online productivity tools that can help. It also helps if you proceed step by step through each virtual fair. So, decide head of time which virtual stands you’d like to stop at, and decide the questions you’ll be asking at each stop. In addition, familiarize yourself with the platform hosting the fair so you know how to go about it.

It’s extremely important to spend your time efficiently. You want to attend the career clinics and webinars but also make time for meeting with recruiters on a one-to-one basis. You don’t want to have all the information and knowledge on how to land a job but not get enough time to talk to the people actually offering one.

5. Draft an elevator pitch

It’s important to prepare an elevator pitch you can give to recruiters you meet at fairs. Time is of the essence, as there are typically hundreds of other candidates vying for recruiters’ attention. Making an impression with few words isn’t something most people can do on the spot and off the top of their heads. So, ahead of each fair, draft an elevator pitch thoughtfully, considering how you’ll approach each employer and what would you’d like to say.

It’s probable that instead of talking, you’ll have to text your pitch, so have your pitch ready to be copied and pasted. A little knowledge of the principles of copywriting wouldn’t go amiss to make an immediate impression and be able to sell yourself. And think short and sharp—briefly outline your academic and work background, and mention why you’d like to be part of an employer’s team.

6. Be professional

Even when you’re attending a virtual fair, you should dress to impress. Recruiters will be able see you. Be as sharply dressed as you would for an in-person interview. This shows seriousness and will create a great first impression. Avoid clothing with patterns, and keep your background plain, simple, and clutter-free.  

Of course, don’t be late for the fair. Show up on time so you have a better chance of doing everything you want to do during the fair. If you’ve set prior appointments for personal meetings with recruiters, be there before they are. Doing so will make you come off as eager, well prepared, and someone who respects others’ busy schedules.

In addition, be professional in all your communication. A joke or two can be acceptable during conversations to lighten the mood, but too many jokes can make you seem not very serious and create the wrong impression. While it’s good to have things to talk about, limit your conversation to the company, the job, and the matter at hand.

7. Be real

To come off as your authentic self, especially on a virtual platform, isn’t easy. However, the best advice is to be yourself. Let your personality shine through, and don’t let your nerves get in the way. There’s no need to be nervous or worried that one single job fair will make or break your career—there will be many other fairs. Also, remember that genuine candidates stand out—they’re the recruiters will remember.

So, if you’re authentic as possible while also acting confidently and professionally, you’ll create a great first impression. Give honest answers to questions, relating answers to your personal life and struggles to give employers a quick idea of who you are. Of course, be cool-headed at all times, especially in response to tricky interview questions you didn’t anticipate. 

8. Close thoughtfully

If you want to make a truly lasting impression, you need to connect with employers after career fairs. So, make sure you ask for their contact information during the fair, and send them a formal email immediately afterward. You could also send them a LinkedIn request with a personalized message, thanking them for their time and summarizing the conversation you had. Mention the position you’re interested in, and remind them again why you’re a good fit. Keep it short, and ask to be informed of the next steps in the hiring process.

https://firsthand.co/blogs/networking/how-to-stand-out-at-virtual-career-fairs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=adestra&eid=564591&utm_campaign=08_11_2021_Caree

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2018

What to Wear: Dressing for the Job Search

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/03/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 10.3.16

This newsletter from the ECO includes jobs and internships for economics majors, events, and workshops!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/09/2022

Using Game Theory in Salary Bargaining

 

What Does Game Theory Say about Negotiating a Pay Raise?

William Spaniel at the University of Pittsburgh discusses salary negotiation in this short piece below. The ECO has included this here to encourage our students to undertake the exercise of considering negotiating their job offer, as applicable. You may speak with the ECO/other career offices about this process. We can help!

_____________________________________________________________-

A common question I get is what game theory tells us about negotiating a pay raise. Because I just published a book on bargaining, this is something I have been thinking about a lot recently. Fortunately, I can narrow the fundamentals to three simple points:

1) Virtually all of the work is done before you sit down at the table.
When you ask the average person how they negotiated their previous raise, you will commonly hear anecdotes about how that individual said some (allegedly) cunning things, (allegedly) outwitted his or her boss, and received a hefty pay hike. Drawing inferences from this is problematic for a number of reasons:

  1. Anecdotal “evidence” isn’t evidence.
  2. The reason for the raise might have been orthogonal to what was said.
  3. Worse, the raise might have been despite what was said.
  4. It assumes that the boss is more concerned about dazzling words than money, his own job performance, and institutional constraints.

The fourth point is especially concerning. Think about the people who control your salaries. They did not get their job because they are easily persuaded by rehearsed speeches. No, they are there because they are good at making smart hiring decisions and keeping salaries low. Moreover, because this is their job, they engage in this sort of bargaining frequently. It would thus be very strange for someone like that to make such a rookie mistake.

So if you think you can just be clever at the bargaining table, you are going to have a bad time. Indeed, the bargaining table is not a game of chess. It should simply be a declaration of checkmate. The real work is building your bargaining leverage ahead of time.

2) Do not be afraid to reject offers and make counteroffers.
Imagine a world where only one negotiator had the ability to make an offer, while the other could only accept or reject that proposal. Accepting implements the deal; rejecting means that neither party enjoys the benefits of mutual cooperation. What portion of the economic benefits will the proposer take? And how much of the benefits will go to the receiver?

You might guess that the proposer has the advantage here. And you’d be right. What surprises most people, however, is the extent of the advantage: the proposer reaps virtually all of the benefits of the relationship, while the receiver is barely any better off than had the parties not struck a deal.

How do we know this? Game theory allows us to study this exact scenario rigorously. Indeed, the setup has a specific name: the ultimatum game. It shows that a party with the exclusive right to make proposals has all of the bargaining power.

That might seem like a big problem if you are the one receiving the offers. Fortunately, the problem is easy to solve in practice. Few real life bargaining situations expressly prohibit parties from making counteroffers. (As I discuss in the book, return of security deposits is one such exception, and we all know that turns out poorly for the renter—i.e., the receiver of the offer.) Even the ability to make a single counteroffer drastically increases an individual’s bargaining power. And if the parties could potentially bargain back and forth without end—called Rubinstein bargaining, perhaps the most realistic of proposal structures—bargaining equitably divides the benefits.

As the section header says, the lesson here is that you should not be afraid to reject low offers and propose a more favorable division. Yet people often fail to do this. This is especially common at the time of hire. After culling through all of the applications, a hiring manager might propose a wage. The new employee, deathly afraid of losing the position, meekly accepts.

Of course, the new employee is not fully appreciating the company’s incentives. By making the proposal, the company has signaled that the individual is the best available candidate. This inevitably gives him a little bit of wiggle room with his wage. He should exercise this leverage and push for a little more—especially because starting wage is often the point of departure for all future raise negotiations.

3) Increase your value to other companies.
Your company does not pay you a lot of money to be nice to you. It pays you because it has no other choice. Although many things can force a company’s hand in this manner, competing offers is particularly important.

Imagine that your company values your work at $50 per hour. If you can only work for them, due the back-and-forth logic from above, we might imagine that your wage will land in the neighborhood of $40 per hour. However, suppose that a second company exists that is willing to pay you up to $25 per hour. Now how much will you make?

The answer is no less than $40 per hour. Why? Well, suppose not. If your current company is only paying you, say, $30 per hour, you could go to the other company and ask for a little bit more. They would be obliged to pay you that since they value you up to $40 per hour. But, of course, your original company values you up to $50 per hour. So they have incentive to ultimately outbid the other company and keep you under their roof.

(This same mechanism means that Park Place is worthless in McDonald’s monopoly.)

Game theorists call such alternatives “outside options”; the better your outside options are, the more attractive the offers your bargaining partner has to make to keep you around. Consequently, being attractive to other companies can get you a raise with your current company even if you have no serious intention to leave. Rather, you can diplomatically point out to your boss that a person with your particular skill set typically makes $X per year and that your wage should be commensurate with that amount. Your boss will see this as a thinly veiled threat that you might leave the company. Still, if the company values your work, she will have no choice but to bump you to that level. And if she doesn’t…well, you are valuable to other companies, so you can go make that amount of money elsewhere.

Conclusion
Bargaining can be a scary process. Unfortunately, this fear blinds us to some of the critical facets of the process. Negotiations are strategic; only thinking about your worries and concerns means you are ignoring your employer’s worries and concerns. Yet you can use those opposing worries and concerns to coerce a better deal for yourself. Employers do not hold all of the power. Once you realize this, you can take advantage of the opposing weakness at the bargaining table.

I talk about all of these issues in greater length in my book, Game Theory 101: Bargaining. I also cover a bunch of real world applications to these and a whole bunch of other theories. If this stuff seems interesting to you, you should check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://williamspaniel.com/2014/09/28/what-does-game-theory-say-about-ne...

Feature | 03/22/2024

How to Prepare for an Interview (Steps and Tips)

Article from Handshake Blog 

Get ready to ace your next job interview with these essential tips! Learn how to research the company, practice your answers, and more.

Preparing for an interview can be nerve-wracking, but with the right mindset and a few key strategies, you can set yourself up for success. Whether you're applying for your dream job or just looking to improve your interview skills, there are a few steps you can take to make sure you're fully prepared and confident on the big day.

1. Research the Company

Before you walk into an interview, it's important to have a good understanding of the company and the role you're applying for. Spend some time researching the company's mission, values, and culture, as well as any recent news or developments that might be relevant to your interview. This information can help you tailor your answers and demonstrate your interest in the company.

2. Review the Job Description

Make sure you thoroughly review the job description and understand the responsibilities and qualifications required for the position. This will help you prepare thoughtful answers that align with the company's expectations and demonstrate your fit for the role. It's also a good idea to think about any relevant experiences or skills you can highlight during the interview.

3. Practice Your Answers

One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to practice your answers to common interview questions. This can help you feel more comfortable and confident during the actual interview. You can find lists of common interview questions online and practice answering them aloud or with a friend. Be sure to focus on answering the question directly and succinctly, while also demonstrating your skills and experience.

4. Dress Appropriately

Make sure you dress appropriately for the interview, taking into account the company's culture and dress code. It's always better to err on the side of dressing too professionally, rather than too casually. Make sure your clothes are clean and wrinkle-free, and that your hair and makeup (if applicable) are neat and tidy.

5. Arrive Early

Plan to arrive at least 10-15 minutes early for your interview. This will give you time to check in with the receptionist, use the restroom, and calm your nerves before the interview. If you're unsure of the location or parking situation, do a test run ahead of time to avoid any last-minute surprises.

6. Bring a Copy of Your Resume

Make sure you bring a copy of your resume, along with any other relevant documents or certifications. This shows that you're organized and prepared, and can also help refresh your memory if you need to reference any past experiences or accomplishments during the interview.

7. Follow Up

After the interview, send a thank-you note or email to the interviewer. This shows that you're interested in the position and appreciate the opportunity to interview. You can also use this as an opportunity to reiterate your interest in the company and emphasize any relevant skills or experiences that you may have overlooked during the interview.

Interview Prep Tips

Listen Carefully

Listen carefully to the interviewer's questions and make sure you understand them before answering. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and give a clear, concise response. If you're unsure of the question, ask for clarification.

Be Authentic

Be yourself during the interview and let your personality shine through. Authenticity can make you stand out from other candidates and help the interviewer get a sense of your fit with the company culture.

Show Enthusiasm

Show enthusiasm and passion for the position and the company. This demonstrates your commitment and can make a positive impression on the interviewer.

Follow Professional Etiquette

Follow professional etiquette during the interview, such as greeting the interviewer with a firm handshake, maintaining appropriate eye contact, and avoiding interrupting or talking over the interviewer.

Practice Good Posture

Maintain good posture during the interview to convey confidence and professionalism. Sit up straight with your shoulders back and your feet firmly on the ground. Avoid fidgeting or slouching, which can convey nervousness or lack of confidence.

Showcase Your Accomplishments

Don't be shy about highlighting your accomplishments and successes during the interview. Use specific examples to illustrate your skills and experience, and explain how they would be beneficial to the company.

Research the Interviewer

If possible, research the interviewer ahead of time to gain insight into their background and interests. This can help you build rapport and establish common ground during the interview.

Be Prepared for Behavioral Questions

Be prepared to answer behavioral questions that ask you to provide specific examples of how you've handled certain situations in the past. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers.

Be Prepared to Address Weaknesses

Be prepared to address any weaknesses or gaps in your experience or skills. Provide honest, constructive feedback on how you're working to improve, and demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow.

Show Gratitude

Show gratitude throughout the interview process, from thanking the receptionist to expressing your appreciation to the interviewer. This demonstrates your professionalism and leaves a positive impression. After the interview, follow up with a thank-you note or email to reiterate your appreciation.

In conclusion, preparing for an interview requires a bit of research and planning, but it's well worth the effort. By following these tips, you can demonstrate your skills and experience, showcase your interest in the company, and ultimately land your dream job. Good luck!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/02/2017

ARTICLE - 6 SIMPLE JOB SEARCH TIPS PEOPLE ALWAYS FORGET

"The irony of job search advice: There’s so much available that you don’t have to spend more than four seconds Googling before you land on some nugget of wisdom or another." - Jenny Foss

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 05/17/2016

ARTICLE- THESE ARE THE BIGGEST SKILLS THAT NEW GRADUATES LACK

"Managers and employees don’t always see eye to eye. Fast Companyuncovered a wide gap in the way each group thinks about business cultureand their radically different ideas about work-life balance."-Lydia Dishman

Click here to read the rest of the article

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/09/2014

ARTICLE- 30 SMART ANSWERS TO TOUGH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

"Tough interview questions are supposed to challenge job candidates and make them think on their feet.

This could make the typical job interview "the most harrowing forty-five minutes of your life," writes Vicky Oliver in her book "301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions."

But you can be prepared ahead of time. We've compiled some of the toughest interview questions from Oliver's book — and how to answer them."-Vivian Giang and Alexandra Mondalek

 

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/09/2021

Rookie Bankers Sour on Wall Street's Pitch of Big Pay and Long Hours

By Kate Kelly and Lananh Nguyen

July 26, 2021

When Vince Iyoriobhe joined Bank of America’s investment banking division as a rookie analyst in 2017, he planned to stick around just long enough to get the experience needed to pursue his dream career in another corner of finance entirely — private equity.

“I knew banking was going to be tough,” Mr. Iyoriobhe, 26, said. But his attitude was: “I’m going to do it for two years and then go on to something else.”

The lure of investment banking is fading for the youngest members of the work force.

For decades, investment banking — the job of advising big companies on their most pressing needs — was one of Wall Street’s most prestigious careers, glorified in 1980s best sellers by writers like Tom Wolfe and Michael Lewis. Thousands of young hopefuls applied every year for a chance to start careers at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Salomon Brothers and other banks as analysts — entry-level positions that taught aspiring financiers how to build financial models and evaluate businesses.

They embraced the long hours and grunt work in exchange for the prestige of jobs that eventually paid millions. In turn, each analyst class provided banks with a reliable pipeline of talent.

But new college graduates are increasingly unwilling to put themselves through the strenuous two-year analyst program, despite starting pay that can reach $160,000. That’s especially so as careers in technology and other parts of the finance world promise better hours and more flexibility. The pandemic, which forced many to reassess their work-life balance, has only underscored that thinking. Others, like Mr. Iyoriobhe — who put in 90-hour weeks at Bank of America, sometimes going home only to shower — are willing to do it for the minimum time necessary to put it on their résumés. He now works at a private equity firm.

“It’s kind of like going through boot camp,” said Ben Chon, a 27-year-old entrepreneur whose YouTube video about leaving his job as a health care banker in JPMorgan Chase’s San Francisco office, posted in February, has garnered more than 100,000 views.

Mr. Chon said he appreciated all that he had learned as an analyst, but added: “You don’t have control of your lifestyle, and you’re working even when you don’t want to.”

The number of applicants to banking analyst programs is hard to track, but business school data, which captures a slightly older cohort of potential financiers, shows a broad decline in interest in investment banking. Last year, the five top-ranked U.S. business schools sent, on average, 7 percent of graduates from their master’s of business administration programs into full-time investment banking roles, down from 9 percent in 2016. The decline was pronounced at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where bankers were 12 percent of the M.B.A. cohort in 2020, compared with more than a fifth of the class a decade earlier. Harvard sent just 3 percent of its 2020 class.

In a recent Instagram survey on the page “Millennial Career Polls,” conducted by a former investment banker who wants to start a platform to help young professionals navigate their careers, 79 percent of the 139 respondents said they thought banking would be a less desired career in the future than when they had joined it. And in February, 13 analysts at Goldman showed their superiors a PowerPoint presentation describing brutally long hours and their declining health.

“The sleep deprivation, the treatment by senior bankers, the mental and physical stress … I’ve been through foster care and this is arguably worse,” one of the unnamed analysts surveyed in the presentation said.

“The industry is not as attractive” as it once was, said Rob Dicks, a consultant at Accenture who specializes in recruiting in financial services. “Employees want a hybrid model, and the banks are saying no,” he said, referring to a combination of in-person and remote work. “The message is: ‘The bank knows best, we have a model for doing this, and you will conform to that model.’”

A Culture of Overwork

Although top executives of the biggest banks have recently talked tough about the need for employees to return to the office, many are paying heed to the complaints of their youngest workers. Goldman’s chief executive, David Solomon, said in an earnings call this month that his firm would pay more competitively and enhance rewards for performance. Goldman is also enforcing its no-work-on-Saturday rule. JPMorgan is rolling out technology to automate some aspects of analysts’ work, and recently hired more than 200 additional junior bankers to ease the pressure in a particularly busy year.

A first-year investment banking analyst in New York can make as much as $160,000 in a year, including a bonus, according to estimates from Wall Street Prep, a company that helps aspiring bankers train for the industry. But several firms, including Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Barclays, have raised the salaries of junior bankers. Credit Suisse paid what it described internally as “lifestyle bonuses” of $20,000 to younger bankers.

Jefferies, another investment bank, even offered Peloton bikes, Apple Watches and other perquisites to thank more than 1,100 of its analysts and associates — the next rank up — for working hard during the pandemic. Jefferies employees “have gotten us through the hardest period we have experienced in our careers,” Rich Handler, the bank’s chief executive, and Brian Friedman, its president, wrote in a July 1 letter to staff and clients.

Still, banks tend to hew to a work culture fetishized in the 1980s, when Mr. Wolfe’s “The Bonfire of the Vanities” memorialized Wall Street as the home of “masters of the universe.” Young analysts worked around the clock, picked up coffee and food orders for the team, endured mindless tasks like filing trade tickets, and were subjected to pranks and verbal abuse. In exchange, they gained a foothold in one of the most lucrative careers available, when new products like bonds backed by mortgages and corporate mergers and acquisitions were creating vast profits.

Some of today’s heaviest hitters in banking got their start in that heyday, including John Waldron, the president of Goldman Sachs; Sharon Yeshaya, Morgan Stanley’s new chief financial officer; and Carlos Hernandez, executive chair of investment and corporate banking at JPMorgan.

Banks lost much of their allure after the 2008 financial crisis, just as Silicon Valley was taking off, and private equity firms morphed from small partnerships to asset management behemoths. The newer career options promised potentially quicker and bigger payouts, better hours, lofty corporate missions and perks like taking pets to the office. To young graduates, banking analyst roles appeared too grinding to be worth the effort, at least over the long term.

In recent years, recruiters for giant private equity firms like Carlyle and Blackstone, which manage billions of dollars for clients and also buy up companies, began wooing analysts even before they started their jobs.

Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America, said that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “They’re very talented kids, especially around the investment banking arena,” he told Bloomberg TV this month. “And there’s a lot of offers from private equity and other things that we’re training them for our clients, and that’s OK, too.”

And there’s the pull of Silicon Valley.

“The technology sector has just completely changed the game,” said Jamie Lee, 37, who worked in banking before starting a venture-capital firm this year. “The opportunity cost is simply too high to be sticking around in a job where you’re not getting the treatment that you want.”

Mr. Lee’s father, the JPMorgan banker Jimmy Lee, was for decades one of the best-known players in his field, advising companies like Facebook and General Motors before he died in 2015. But when the younger Mr. Lee was finishing college in the mid-2000s, his father urged him to avoid the analyst programs.

“He said, ‘Honestly, J, the way that I’ve seen that we work these kids, I’m not sure that I want that for you,’” Mr. Lee recalled.

It’s Not All About the Money

More compensation may not be enough for lots of young workers, for whom the pandemic only highlighted the less palatable aspects of investment banking — even as other careers dangled more appealing work-from-home policies.

Armen Panossian, a rising senior at Rutgers University, is interning in the logistics division of the energy company BP and hoping to land a similar full-time role after college. He said the pandemic was part of his motivation for pursuing a more 9-to-5 job rooted in finance.

“I think a lot of people rediscovered the importance of mental health,” Mr. Panossian, 21, said.

Eden Luvishis, a 20-year-old student of finance, computer science and math at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., wants to work in fintech but would consider becoming an engineer at a major bank — a career that could marry her interest in finance with a more predictable way of working.

“I was never so interested in traditional banking jobs,” she said. “For me it was always more of the quant side,” meaning roles involving quantitative analysis. “I really love math.”

Before graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 2016, Areeba Kamal worked for a summer as a trading intern handling complex bond products at Bank of America’s Midtown Manhattan tower. She arrived around 8:30 a.m. and often stayed until 10:30 p.m., trying to learn the intricacies of her product. She sent money to her family in Pakistan.

“If you’re an international student, early on you realize your two options are finance and tech,” said Ms. Kamal, 29, noting that those fields offer the most pay and help with work visas.

But after that summer in finance, she gravitated toward tech. “I don’t want to work 14 to 15 hours a day on something I don’t care about because it pays a ridiculous amount of money,” Ms. Kamal said. She now works for Apple.

Still, not everyone is down on banking. Herby Dieujuste, 25, who worked one summer for JPMorgan’s private bank and did a stint as a TD Bank teller, is studying for one of the required licenses for starting bankers while interviewing for investment banking positions. A longtime basketball player, he said it was unsurprising that the banking industry would treat its rookies as dismissively as a sports team might — until they proved themselves.

“I want to be somewhere where I know I can be for a decade or two, and I always saw finance as that kind of industry,” he said.

 

Kate Kelly is a business reporter, covering big banks, trading and key financial-policy players. She is also the co-author of “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh” and the author of “Street Fighters.”  @katekelly

Correction: July 26, 2021

An earlier version of this article misidentified the class of a university student. Armen Panossian is a rising senior at Rutgers University, not a rising junior.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/22/2022

TOP 6 SKILLS EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN RECENT GRADS IN 2022

Top 6 Skills Employers Are Looking for in Recent Grads in 2022

Article from The Muse

Recent college graduates, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that fewer employers than ever care about entry-level candidates’ GPAs—so all those exam and assignment grades that had you camping out in the library are worth less than you may have thought. 

The good news is that fewer employers than ever care about entry-level candidates’ GPAs—so the actual knowledge and skills you gained from your education and other experiences matter way more than the numbers on your transcript.

According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 37% of employers intend on screening recent grad applicants by GPA—down from a recent high of 73.3% just a few years ago.

As a recent grad, you’re probably more aware than anybody that grades aren’t necessarily a reflection of how much you learned in school or what you’re capable of in a work environment. This shift “signals a recognition that screening by GPA may weaken efforts to build an inclusive workforce as it can put students who are balancing school with work and other responsibilities at a disadvantage in the job market,” NACE executive director Shawn VanDerziel said in a press release.

So what are employers looking for in recent grads? The skills and abilities that you’ll actually use in the workplace. Here are the attributes that the most employers ranked as very/extremely important for the 2022-2023 recruiting year:

  1. Problem-solving skills (61.4% of employers said this was very or extremely important): Employers want workers who can identify issues and come up with solutions. Regardless of what your major was, you likely had to evaluate different aspects of an issue or question, decide on possible methods for finding an answer or drawing a conclusion, execute on one of these methods, and back up your decisions—all vital components of problem-solving.
  2. Ability to work in a team (61%): Those group projects were good for something. You can also use team sports and other group extracurriculars to demonstrate your ability to work well with others.
  3. Strong work ethic (52.4%): You just finished college, and you may have managed part-time jobs and/or extracurriculars on top of that. So you know how to work hard and get things done. (Read more about how to demonstrate soft skills—like work ethic—in your job search.)
  4. Analytical/quantitative skills (50.4%): These are the skills that help you find, evaluate, and synthesize information to make decisions and/or solve problems. For example, in college you may have had to analyze data for science or business courses, or you may have had to choose the right sources and incorporate them into a research project or paper.
  5. Communication skills (50%): Communication skills encapsulates any way you might share or receive information from others. In college you participated in class discussions, put together presentations, sent emails, and submitted written assignments like papers and lab reports.
  6. Technical skills (50%): Technical skills are the ability to use certain pieces of technology or specific methods or techniques, such as creating formulas in Excel, coding in Javascript, or optimizing conversion rates for a marketing campaign. As a recent college grad you definitely have some already and and can likely pick up more of them quickly.

Bonus tips for showing off your skills as a recent grad

So how do you show companies that you have these skills and qualities? Here are a few pointers for your resumecover letter, interview, and overall job hunt:

  1. Figure out what a specific company wants by closely reading the job description they’ve posted. Then, tailor your resume and other application materials to emphasize the skills you have that matter most for this job.
  2. Leverage internships and part-time jobsThese experiences show that you have the professional skills necessary to thrive in a full-time role. In fact, the NACE report found that relevant internship experience is the top deciding factor when there are two equally qualified recent grads competing for a position.
  3. Don’t restrict experience to paid work. Volunteer experienceextracurricular activitiesprojects, and coursework are all ways you could have acquired and used the skills employers are looking for. So mention that fundraising event you organized for a local hospital or the project that sent you out into the field to observe wildlife behavior.
  4. Don’t skip the cover letterCover letters can be hard to write, but even when they’re optional, they’re almost always worth it. You can use your cover letter to give specific examples of when you’ve used the skills an employer is looking for and connect your education and past experience to the entry-level role you want.
  5. Prepare for your interview. Be ready to answer common interview questions and prep a few stories that show how you’ve used skills and demonstrated qualities employers are looking for.
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/17/2019

The Best Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

The Best Ways to Imrove Your Communication Skills

By: Melanie Pinola
Source: LifeHacker

Illustration for article titled The Best Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

We learn to talk at an early age, but most of us don’t have formal training on how to effectively communicate with others. That’s unfortunate, because it’s one of the most important life skills there is, and one you use your entire life. Whether you want to have better conversations in your social life or get your ideas across better at work, here are some essential tips for learning to to communicate more effectively.

Watch your body language

You tell your partner you’re open to discussion but your arms are crossed; you say you’re listening but haven’t looked up from your phone yet. Our non-verbal and non-written cues often reveal more than we think they do. Whether it’s how you make eye contact or how you hold yourself during a video interview, don’t forget that you’re constantly communicating even when you’re not saying a word.

One strange way to tap into your body for better communication? Think about your toes. Or adopt a power pose if you need to boost your confidence before a big talk. Or learn how to read other people’s body language so you can respond appropriately.

Get rid of unnecessary conversation fillers

Ums and ahs do little to improve your speech or everyday conversations. Cut them out to be more persuasive and feel or appear more confident. One way is to start keeping track of when you say words like “um” or “like.” You could also try taking your hands out of your pockets or simply relaxing and pausing before you speak. Those silences seem more awkward to you than they do to others, trust us.

Have practice conversations

If you don’t think you’re great at communicating with co-workers or people you don’t know very well, practice on friends and family that you’re comfortable with. Ideally, find people who will give you honest feedback and let you know if you’re getting too quiet, personal or might make someone else feel uncomfortable.

Have a script for small talk and other occasions

Small talk is an art that not many people have mastered. For the inevitable, awkward silences with people you hardly know, it helps to have a plan. The FORD (family, occupation, recreation, dreams) method might help you come up with topics to discuss, and you can also turn small talk into conversation by sharing information that could help you and the other person find common ground. Hey, all that small talk could make you happier in the long run.

Tell a story

Stories are powerful. They activate our brains, make presentations suck less, make us more persuasive and can even help us ace interviews. Learn the secrets of becoming a phenomenal storyteller with these rules from Pixar or by simply using the word “but” more to structure your narrative. Everyone’s got at least one great story in them.

Ask questions and repeat the other person

Let’s face it, we’ve all drifted off when someone else was talking or misheard the other person. Asking questions and repeating the other person’s last few words shows you’re interested in what they say, keeps you on your toes and helps clarify points that could be misunderstood (e.g., “So to recap, you’re going to buy the tickets for Saturday?”).

It also helps for small talk and to fill in awkward silences. Instead of trying to stir up conversation on mundane topics like the weather, ask the other person questions (e.g., “Got any plans for the summer?” or “What are you reading lately?”) and engage in their answers. It’s more important to be interested than to be interesting.

Put away the distractions

It’s pretty rude to use your phone while someone’s talking to you or you’re supposed to be hanging out with them. Maybe we can’t get rid of all our distractions or put away technology completely, but just taking the time to look up could vastly improve our communication with each other.

Tailor your message to your audience

The best communicators adjust how they talk based on whom they’re speaking to; you’d probably use a different style of communication with co-workers or your boss compared to when you’re speaking with your significant otherkids or elders. Always try to keep the other person’s perspective in mind when you try to get your message across.

Be brief, yet specific

There’s actually a BRIEF acronym—Background, Reason, Information, End, Follow-up—to help you keep your emails short without leaving anything out. It’s a good policy for both written and verbal communication (I’ve always felt that my job as a writer was to clearly get the point across and then get off the page as soon as possible. Just two more items on this list!) Clear and concise are two of the 7 Cs of communication, along with concrete, correct, coherent, complete and courteous.

Up your empathy

Communication is a two-way street. If you practice taking the opposing viewpoint, you can reduce the difficulty and anxiety that sometimes arises when trying to truly communicate with others. (For example, knowing what your significant other really means when she says she’s too tired to talk.) Developing empathy helps you better understand even the unspoken parts of your communication with others, and helps you respond more effectively.

Listen, really listen

Finally, going hand-in-hand with most of the points above, the best thing you can do to improve your communication skills is to learn to really listen—to pay attention and let the other person talk without interrupting. It’s hard work, we know, but a good conversation is a bunch of words elegantly connected with listening. Then, even if your communication styles don’t match, at least you’re both working off the same page. And hopefully the other person will be attentively listening to you too.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/01/2021

Organizing Your Internship, Job, or Graduate School Search

Hello Econ Majors,

With finals just ahead of us, I'm sure you're focused on preparing for your exams and papers. 

Wishing you great success in the next few weeks.

When you return to your internship, job, or graduate school search, consider using the tools below to help keep you organized, which will surely reduce stress! 

This article recommends numerous electronic resources as basic as an MSExcel spreadsheet or MSWord table to track your applications, to websites and apps like JibberJobber that will keep your job search materials in order. Of course, the ECO recommends Handshake, but that is just one tool in your job search toolkit! https://www.thebalancecareers.com/organize-your-job-search-2060710

While the article offers resources to help build your resume and cover letters, UVA has its very own AI tools for you! Check out VMock in Handshake. The three modules we license are:

  1. Resume Review Tool (Scores your resume based on industry/job function and offers suggestions for improvement)
  2. LinkedIn Review Tool (Aspire) (Connects with your LInkedIn profile to score and recommend improvements)
  3. Elevator Pitch Tool (Records your pitch for scoring and recommends improvements)

All three have built-in algorithms to review your materials and help you prepare for conversations with alumni and employers. Please do not use the resume builder tool in VMock because its template is not flexible enough to customize your resume once it is built.

Again, best wishes during this finals period. I look forward to seeing you in the new year!

Jennifer Jones, Economics Career Office

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/24/2018

Opportunity to Attend Davos and the World Economic Forum!

The Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI) Academy Challenge is underway and we didn’t want your candidates to miss out on an outstanding prize:

This year's winner will get the incredible opportunity to take part in the Credit Suisse Event at the 2019 edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where you can engage in discussions on the most pressing global issues with the world's top leaders.

 

The CSRI Academy Challenge is set over 2 stages and open to all university students and recent grads interested in shaping the global agenda.
See all the available prizes here. Enter stage 1  of the Challenge until September 30!

Feature | 07/07/2018

PHD CANDIDATE EMILY COOK PUBLISHES ARTICLE WITH PROFESSORS CILIBERTO (UVA) AND WILLIAMS (UNC)

UVA Professor Federico Ciliberto, UVA PhD Candidate Emily E. Cook, and UVA alumnus and current UNC Professor Jonathan W. Williams recently published “Network Structure and Consolidation in the U.S. Airline Industry, 1990-2015” in the Review of Industrial Organization. The authors study the effect of consolidation on airline network connectivity using three measures of centrality from graph theory: Degree; Closeness; and Betweenness. Degree is the fraction of all possible links that are actually served by at least one airline out of an airport; Closeness is the inverse of the average distance (i.e., number of links) from an airport to every other airport; and Betweenness is the frequency with which an airport is found to be on the shortest path between two other airports.

Changes in these measures from 1990 to 2015 imply: i) the average airport services a greater proportion of possible routes; ii) the average origin airport is fewer stops away from any given destination; and iii) the average hub is less often along the shortest route between two other airports. Yet, the authors find the trend toward greater connectivity in the national network structure is largely unaffected by consolidation—in the form of mergers and codeshare agreements—during this period. Forty years after its deregulation, the airline industry continues to be the focus of research, antitrust cases, and public policy debates. In this paper the authors contribute to the evolving debate by examining how mergers and alliances have shaped the entire industry’s U.S. network.  
The figure above, which captures trends in the network measures from 1990 to 2015, shows the year fixed effects and associated confidence intervals from separate OLS regressions of standardized Degree, Closeness, and Betweenness on a constant along with year, month, and airport fixed effects.

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Working Overseas

This article offers terrific advice about searching for jobs and internships overseas.

When reading the “Consider the Possibilities” section, keep in mind that many countries abroad have U.Va. alumni chapters, which you may access here.  The ECO is certain that alumni who manage these clubs would be amenable to speaking with you about your questions and ideas.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/27/2019

5 Tips for Nailing a Phone Screen

I’m a millennial, and I hate talking on the phone. In other news, the sky is blue. It’s not that I’m afraid of talking on the phone—I do it. I just don’t like it. And I don’t like it because I find there’s a disconnect. In an email, you’ve got pretty much all the time in the world to get your point across, use the right words, and strike the right tone. And in person, you can read a person’s expressions and body language to get a sense of how the conversation is going, which is ideal in an interview scenario. A phone call has none of that—both you and your conversation partner are just disembodied voices.

The phone screen or phone interview is often the first hurdle that you need to clear in getting a job but, because you can’t really see how a person is responding to your conversation, it adds another layer of removal from the situation and thus another level of anxiety. Here, I’ll get into some ways you can set yourself up for success during a phone screen.

1. Housekeeping

No, don’t clean your house. (Although, in a Skype interview, you’ll probably want to do that—or at least the space directly behind you.) I just mean make sure you take care of all the nuts and bolts. Find a quiet space to take the call (i.e., kick your roommates or your kids out of the room), charge your phone, and make sure you’ve taken it off “Do Not Disturb” mode from the movies last night. I know this sounds like really simple advice that no one could possibly need reminding of—but have you ever forgotten to pack your deodorant for vacation? Exactly. So just double check—nothing could be more embarrassing than your phone going dead right as you’re saying that your personal motto is “Be prepared.”

2. Don’t Chew Gum. Do Take Names.

Listen up, hiring manager: I’m here to kick butt, take names, and chew bubblegum. And I’m all out of bubblegum.

I’m sorry, I had to fit that in here somewhere. For real, though—you better be all out of bubblegum during a phone (or any) interview. No gum, no food, and ideally no drinks, but I won’t make a hard-and-fast rule about it. The person you’re talking to can absolutely hear you masticating on the other end of the line, regardless of how sneaky you think you’re being.

And, to fully justify my reference, be sure to get the name and contact info of your interviewer. One, it makes it that much easier to follow up after the interview. And two, when you go in for an in-person interview, it’ll be nice to have that person’s name at your disposal rather than waiting anxiously for them to reintroduce themselves.

3. Use a Crib Sheet

It’s not cheating, it’s using your resources. This is one instance in which a phone screen is actually awesome—you can take as many notes as you want beforehand and, as long as you’re not rustling pages, you can reference them all you like. I do this constantly—I jot down the company’s important clients and business partners, the names of people in my potential department, and a little blurb about me for the dreaded “Tell me about yourself” question. For one, writing it all down makes me feel more prepared beforehand. But it also makes for easy referencing if my mind goes totally blank in the interview. Just make sure that if you do write out answers to questions, you’re not just reading off your notes. Think of them like index cards for a speech: They’re there to remind you of your main points, but you shouldn’t be entirely dependent on them.

4. Be Comfortable—Even If “Comfortable” Is a Little Weird

It’s probably for the best that I don’t make too many phone calls—I’d wear a meandering path in the floor of my apartment. It’s not even an anxiety thing, exactly. I just wander. If you’re a phone pacer, that’s fine—pace! Use wild hand gestures! Do what you gotta do to burn off nerves. I know it’s a little nerve-racking not being able to see your interviewer’s face, but they also can’t see you—take advantage of that.

That said, don’t get too comfortable. Even though your interviewer can’t see you, you should definitely get up, get dressed in something semi-professional, do your hair, and all that before taking the call. It’ll help you get into the mindset of making an impression.

5. Take Notes

Pencils ready, y’all. Remember what I was saying about taking down your interviewer’s contact info? You should also be writing down the main points of what they say. As the first step in the interviewing process, phone screens are often quite informative—this is your chance to get a good feel for the company, for the qualities needed in the position, for the personality of at least this potential member of your team, things like that. This is important info, and while you shouldn’t be hyper-focused on writing everything down, make sure you jot down the most important points. It’ll help you when you go in for the in-person interview—you’ll be able to demonstrate that you were listening, and you’ll know the notes to hit on the second round.

 

Read more here.

Yingqi

Feature | 10/11/2016

ECON Alum: Yingqi Liu, Class of '16

1. Why did you choose to study economics?

Coming into UVa, I knew that I wanted to major in something that is theory-based and can give me solid quantitative trainings. Economics major offers me these, and I can also apply theories that I have learned in class to explain phenomenon in my daily life.

2. What courses/professors have been the most influential and why?

I enjoyed taking many classes, including Industrial Organization with Professor Mills and Econometrics with Professor Michener. If I had to pick, perhaps Antitrust Policy with Professor Elzinga would be one of the most influential courses. In class, we examined the progression of court rulings of interesting antitrust issues over time, some of which took place during the timeframe of the class. I got a much better understanding of economic consulting, and applied for my current job.

3. Over the summer you worked as an intern. In your own words, what did you do in this role? How was it related to your major/how did you use what you've learned in the department to secure this role and on the job?

I interned at a wealth management firm over the summer. It was mainly a client-facing role with access to the most up-to-date market research data. I got to work with a wonderful team and learned more about the financial industry. The analytical training in the Econ Department prepared me well for this role.

4. What career goals do you have for your future?  (immediate/long-term)

I will work for Cornerstone Research after graduation. After a few years, I plan to attend graduate school (MBA or JD).

5. If the ECO has helped in your experience at U.Va., kindly share how/why.

The ECO has been an extremely valuable resource in every stage of my career exploration. By attending numerous career panels, I got to see a wide variety of industries and met many distinguished Econ alumni. I also enjoyed speaking with Jen, who always provided me with constructive feedback and steered me toward the right direction.

6. What is a fun fact about you?

I graduated from a high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I did go to Packers games and I do own a Packers jersey, but I have never worn a cheese hat.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Brexit and Your Next Interview

Be prepared to discuss Brexit in your next interview. The question will surely come up and you will want to be fully prepared to discuss it knowledgeably. 

Feature | 05/23/2022

Joaquin Saldain Presents at Midwest Macroeconomics Conference

In May 2022, 6th-year student Joaquin Saldain presented his paper, "A Quantitative Model of High-Cost Consumer Credit,"  at the Midwest Macroeconomics Conference in Logan, Utah. Joaquin summarizes the paper this way: "I study the welfare consequences of regulations on high-cost consumer credit in the US, such as borrowing limits and interest rate caps. I estimate a heterogeneous-agents model with risk-based pricing of loans that features standard exponential discounters and households with self-control and temptation. I use transaction-level payday lending data and the literature's valuations of a no-borrowing incentive to identify different household types. I find that one-third of high-cost borrowers suffer from temptation. Although individually targeted regulation could improve the welfare of these households, I find that noncontingent regulatory borrowing limits and interest-rate caps—like those contained in typical regulations of payday loans—reduce the welfare of all types of households. The reason is that lenders offer borrowers tight individually-targeted loan price schedules that limit households' borrowing capacity so that noncontingent regulatory limits cannot improve welfare over them."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/07/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 11.6.16

Quick Job Search Tips and Just a Few Events!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

A Great Cover Letter can Lead to an Interview

Tips on how to write a cover letter that could attract potential employers.

Note: Consider the source, the hiring norms of the industry and organization you are looking to enter, and also double check with a career advisor if you have any doubt in your mind about advice.

Haruka

Feature | 09/24/2018

Haruka Takayama Hasegawa Recognized for Contributions to VISA Program

Our very own Haruka Takayama Hasegawa was recognized by UVA's Center for American English Language and Culture (CAELC) for her generous contributions to the VISAS program. VISAS partners volunteers with international students, staff, and visiting scholars to foster support for international students and staff as well as cross-cultural learning that benefits all parties. We are not surprised, as Haruka is known within the department for her perpetual good cheer and kindness. The text from the VISAS article is quoted in full below: 

Haruka Takayama Hasegawa is a PhD candidate in Economics from Kyushu, the sourthernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Haruka’s collegiate career began with her undergraduate studies at Japan’s Kobe University where she focused on development economics. After graduating, Haruka worked as a consultant in Tokyo before moving to the U.S. to earn a master’s degree at Boston University. Along the way, she decided to shift her focus to international trade and returned to Tokyo to work in foreign affairs. Here in Charlottesville, Haruka continues her focus on international trade in pursuit of her doctorate. Haruka became involved with VISAS her first year at UVa, in 2015, working with ESL Assistants in her CAELC ESL classes. Haruka quickly developed as a leader and, in 2016, took on the role as a panelist for the “Teaching as a Graduate Student” workshop series that welcomes and helps acclimate new international TAs to the university. Through these efforts, Haruka has used her insight to help many international students overcome the challenges she faced when she was a new international graduate student in the U.S. This year, in addition to continuing her efforts as a panelist, Haruka has become involved with the Language Consultant (LC) program. She meets with her LC, Mae, on a weekly basis to practice English speaking and learn about different aspects of the U.S. and university culture. Hoping to pursue an academic career in the U.S., Haruka truly appreciates everything she can learn from Mae about the U.S. undergraduate student life, from football games and March Madness to academics and everyday activities. We are sincerely grateful and honored to have gotten to know Haruka and to have her as a member of the VISAS family. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/15/2019

5 Tips on How to Make the Most of Your Summer

#1. Start a service-based business.

Unless you’ve got a reliable summer job, there’s probably a whole host of benefits to make your summer money working on your own terms.

There’s no reason any college student can’t make $1-2k/month over summer break with their own side hustle.

Start a babysitting, landscaping, pet sitting, or other service-based business. Become a full-time merchant and flip stuff on sites like Craigslist or LetGo.

Pick something you won’t mind doing for 4-8 hours a day. Then start looking for work.

I discovered the power of a side hustle during summer ’17. In 43 days, I made $4,067 mowing lawns, digging trenches, and moving rocks.

Odd jobs saved me from having to get a real job while my business went through a few lean months.

If you take the initiative to find clients, you can find steady work in as little as 2-3 days.

Tips for would-be entrepreneurs:

  1. Make it incredibly easy for people to hire and pay you. Capitalize on the convenience factor by having Venmo, Paypal, and Square cash all set up. You’d be surprised how many older people don’t write checks anymore.
  2. Sell your story. Make sure your neighbors know you are a college student willing to work hard in exchange for money while you’re studying. Don’t milk it, but make sure they know your situation.
  3. Charge what you’re worth. Some people will try to low-ball you because you’re a student. Don’t accept anything less than $15/hour. If you’re a good worker, it’s absolutely reasonable to ask for $25/hour for your time.
  4. Ask clients to spread the word and/or rehire you. You’d also be surprised how many people need the type of help you’re offering. As you’re leaving a job, just mention to them that you’ll be available for work until August/September.

Be sure to add that the fact that you built a business from scratch (with X number of clients and revenue) to your 2018-appropriate resume (see #5).

 

#2. Read 10 books.

10 books in one summer? I haven’t read a book for fun ever!“, you say.

Maybe so, but there’s no reason you can’t start now.

Part of the reason you don’t read for pleasure probably has to do with how much reading you already do for your classes. Or maybe you just don’t like reading.

Summer is the perfect time to get back into (or start) reading for enjoyment.

And if you’re so inclined, it’s the best time to choose books that will help you grow as a young professional, too.

Set a goal to read 3, 5, or 10 books over summer. The number doesn’t matter so much as the types of books you choose.

I encourage you to not read books about your favorite subjects during college summer break. Instead, read non-fiction books that teach you how to better work with and understand people.

You’ll be doing that for the next 40 years, after all.

You can see my book selections for 10 Books Every College Student Should Read Before Graduation.

I highly recommend them all, but #1 stands alone. I think it should be mandatory reading for all college students.

 

#3. Get to know yourself better.

Every year of college is like its own island. You’re going to be pushed differently and change as a person a lot over your 4-year college career.

Young people seldom take the opportunity to get to know themselves better- which is 100% to your advantage to do so.

You will stand out from the people you’ll be competing for jobs with.

Employers will see you as someone with clarity, confidence, and an understanding of your skill sets.

One easy (and free) way to understand yourself better is to take the Myers-Briggs personality test on 16personalities.com.

The test takes less than 10 minutes, and for most, is incredibly eye-opening.

The best part about the 16Personalities test is it breaks your personality up into categories like strengths & weaknessesemotionsromantic relationshipsfriendshipscareer paths, and work habits.

If you take the test and want to learn more about how your personality might affect your career choice, email me.

 

#4. Travel somewhere relevant to your major.

I’m encouraging you to use your college summer break to smartly differentiate yourself from other college students.

Yes, many other students at your school will travel this summer. Don’t be basic like me and go take selfies at the Eiffel tower (for real though, I almost got robbed twice in Paris).

Use your college summer break to visit places that interest you professionally– and eventually, impress people who matter.

Pick a place that creates talking points with your professors in the fall and future employers.

Consider the history, origin, and current affairs of your subject or major. I don’t know your major, so you’ll need to do a bit of Googling.

For example, as a sports science student, I might go to Athens and visit the original Olympic stadium.

A selfie there is worth a lot more than a candid swing picture in Thailand.

If I could do it again, I’d probably use a college student travel program like Student-Athletes Abroad.

Where could you go? If you’re on a budget, check out all the cheap travel resources I came across backpacking Europe for 2 months on $5,000.

 

#5. Create a 2018-appropriate resume with technology.

Stop listening to old people give advice about the “right way” to write a resume.

Even many college academic success centers don’t have a clue what resumes should look like these days.

It’s actually scary that academic success center employees get paid full-time salaries to teach college students supposed “crucial”-yet completely antiquated- resume building techniques.

The truth is, your first job is probably going to be offered to you by someone between the ages of 30-45. AKA, there’s a 50% chance the person hiring you is a Millennial.

It’s safe to assume your first boss understands and relates to technology.

Guidelines you should follow when writing a resume include keeping it short (1 page), chronologically organized, and thoroughly edited for grammar/spelling. Other than that, make it your own.

Take time during your summer vacation to write a resume that adequately showcases your understanding of technology in 2018.

Some ideas:

  • Create a “video resume“, then upload it to YouTube with a private link. Add this link to your cover letter. (Bonus: you’ll know how many people have reviewed your resume based on how many views the video gets.)
  • Add links to anything relevant that you’ve built online to your resume. Save your resume as a PDF and you’re good to go.
  • Position yourself as one unique thing. You’re not an “aspiring college graduate with interests in humanities”. Well, maybe you are, but no one gives a crap about hiring you. However you choose to present yourself, be authenticboldquick to the point (the “listicle” world we live in has even infiltrated the job scene), and honest.

Seriously, look at suggestions #1-4. All of them can go on your 2018-appropriate resume.

Use your new 2018-appropriate video resume to show employers that you’re an INFP-vagabonding-bookworm with entrepreneurial tendencies. Bumble profile or resume header? You decide.

“What should college students do over the summer?”

Find ways to stand out.

Position yourself as uniquely qualified for the job you want when you graduate.

Start a businessTravelRead. Push yourself in new ways.

Then write a badass resume that showcases what you’ve been up to.

Feel free to party a bit too, but spend your college summer break doing stuff that will benefit you down the road.

3-4 months of summer vacation is a lot of time. Use it wisely.

Source here.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/22/2022

Rescinded Offers on the Rise

More Companies Start to Rescind Job Offers

The labor market remains hot. Yet businesses in a range of industries are pulling back job offers to recruits they were courting just a short time ago.

Franco Salinas learned this month that a data-analyst position he planned to start in July had been axed.

PHOTO: CAROLINE YANG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By 

Katherine Bindley 

Angela Yang 

June 22, 2022 5:30 am ET

Businesses in several different industries are rescinding job offers they made just a few months ago, in a sign the tightest labor market in decades may be showing cracks.

Companies including Twitter Inc. , real-estate brokerage Redfin Corp. , and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. have rescinded offers in recent weeks. Employers in other pockets of the economy are pulling away offers too, including some in insurance, retail marketing, consulting and recruiting services.

At the same time, many companies have signaled a more cautious hiring approachNetflix Inc. , Peloton Interactive Inc. , Carvana Co. and others announced layoffs. Technology giants such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and Uber Technologies warned they will dial back hiring plans. 

The labor market remains strong overall, with an unemployment rate at 3.6%, near the half-century low it reached in early 2020. 

But these signs of caution in hiring show that executives are finding it tougher to predict the next 12 months in the economy, say hiring managers and recruiters. When a company revokes a job offer, it indicates a company’s business outlook has changed so quickly it has to undo hiring plans made sometimes weeks before.

“I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing—like it’s a job I had had lined up for months and I really was counting on it,” said Franco Salinas, 24 years old, who learned this month that a data-analyst position he planned to start in July had been axed. “This just made me realize how fragile things are.”

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you or someone you know had a job offer rescinded? Join the conversation below.

Some recruiters caution that there hasn’t been a large wave of job offers canceled. At the same time, employers still can’t find enough workers for many types of jobs.

Yet, “going from zero to a fairly small amount seems like a big increase,” said Brian Kropp, vice president of human-resources research for advisory firm Gartner.

He said having a job offer rescinded was almost unheard of six months ago. “If we’ve learned anything from the last couple of years, it’s that things can change quickly,” he said. 

Mr. Salinas is one of many recent college graduates who locked in a job while he wrapped his studies. Information-technology consulting firm Turnberry Solutions in October offered him a data-analyst job based in Minneapolis. An international student from Peru, he said he had passed on other offers to accept Turnberry’s. Having landed the employer-sponsored visa required to remain in the country, he felt secure in signing a lease and making other plans.

The firm called to rescind the offer this month. A Turnberry spokeswoman confirmed two offers for data analysts had been rescinded, though the company says it is still hiring for other skill sets. 

Raleigh Burke accepted a new position at an insurance brokerage in Los Angeles, gave notice at her old job and then her offer was rescinded.

PHOTO: RALEIGH BURKE

“We do not take the decision to rescind offers lightly,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the firm had paid the two consultants two months’ rent to help compensate. “We periodically need to adjust the skills we bring in given changes in demand from our clients.” 

Other companies attribute canceled job offers to the knock-on effects of a tech-industry slowdown—including the firm that made Jenna Radwan an offer in May. It rescinded the offer two weeks before her June start date.

Hirect, a chat-based app focused on tech recruiting, had wowed the 21-year-old with a starting salary of $80,000, plus the promise of a minimum uncapped commission of $195,000 and the flexibility to set her own schedule. Ms. Radwan felt confident enough to turn down three other jobs and withdraw from three additional interview processes, she said. 

“They gave me a strict deadline, so I was like, ‘I’m just going to go ahead and take this and go with my gut,’” she said. 

As she prepped to start, the recruiter sent her an email: Hirect was pulling the offer and freezing hiring because of drastic and unforeseen changes in market conditions. 

 “We haven’t been immune to these recent challenges, nor the considerable belt-tightening going on throughout our industry,” a Hirect spokesman said of a recent slump in tech hiring that led the company to rescind two job offers.

Ms. Radwan is proceeding more carefully in her renewed hunt for a marketing, sales or account-management job. She plans to complete every hiring process before accepting any offer, even if it means asking for more time to decide, she said.

“I didn’t even know that this type of thing could even happen,” she said.

Other jilted job seekers say they are tackling their new searches differently, too. Raleigh Burke accepted a claims-analyst job at a Los Angeles-based insurance brokerage in May, gave notice at her old job the same day, then jetted to Hawaii for some rest. By the time she got home, her offer had evaporated without an explanation. She was surprised, she said, because she had been told she was the top candidate.

Steven Pope was told that his job offer at a retail marketing firm was rescinded because an expected round of funding had been delayed.

PHOTO: STEVEN POPE

Ms. Burke, 35, had turned down an offer with another company to accept this one. “So what do I do, go with my tail between my legs and crawling back?” she said. Next time she pursues a job switch, she said she might not resign until she receives a laptop from the new company or starts its onboarding process.

For now, many hiring managers say signing up new recruits remains highly competitive. A Gartner survey of more than 350 HR executives conducted at the end of May found around 50% thought the competition for talent would increase over the next six months. Nearly two-thirds said they hadn’t made any changes to their hiring practices or HR budgets in response to economic volatility. 

While startups, companies in the ad-tech industry, and those that are pre-IPO might be less stable right now, it’s still a job candidate’s market, said Keith Feinberg, senior vice president with professional staffing firm Robert Half. Still, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if job seekers evaluate some opportunities more cautiously than a few months ago. 

Amid a record hiring streak in the U.S., economists are watching for signs of a possible wave turn. WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein looks at how rising interest rates over high inflation, market selloffs and recession risks challenge the growth of America’s workforce. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP

Steven Pope, 32, was supposed to start a new job as a director of data for a retail marketing firm after Memorial Day weekend. Instead, he’s job hunting again after his start date was put on hold indefinitely. The company told him an expected round of funding had been delayed, he said.  

Mr. Pope is now taking as many interviews as he can get, he said. He’s also rethinking the types of opportunities he’s willing to consider.

“I’m looking at how are these companies backed up or paid,” he says, adding that his friends in tech are starting to prioritize differently in their own searches. “I see there’s a little bit of a shift already where security is going to come before comp.”

Write to Katherine Bindley at katie.bindley@wsj.com and Angela Yang at angela.yang@wsj.com

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/14/2017

ARTICLE- ARE YOU A NATURAL INNOVATOR

"I am often engaged to speak about innovation and strategy… not in an academic sort of way, people want to know how I took an idea and turned it into reality. One thing (unfortunately) that we do know is that most start-up businesses never reach the heights that match the dreams of the founders…yet others are a run-away successes. I’m not yet putting my enterprises in the category of ‘runaway’ successes – but we are managing to serve many customers, grow, and have a good time while we are doing it. So, we are getting something right."-Naomi Simson

 

Click here to read the rest of the article

Feature | 01/02/2023

UVA ECONOMIST RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS ROSS PRIZE: From left to right: Vish Viswanathan (Duke University), John Geanakoplos (Yale University), Ana Fostel, and Adriano Rampini (Duke University)

From left to right: Vish Viswanathan (Duke University), John Geanakoplos (Yale University), Ana Fostel, and Adriano Rampini (Duke University)

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/11/2018

Cover Letter Tips

Some would argue that it’s easier to write a novel than it is to craft an effective cover letter opening. In a cover letter, so much hinges on one paragraph: your intro needs to successfully hook the viewer and compel them to keep reading, market you as a brilliant hire right off the bat, and be original enough to make you stand out. And yet, you only have a few lines to achieve all of this, and you know little about the addressee and what appeals to them.

It’s no wonder that the mere mention of the task tends to paralyze job seekers. But we’re here to help you out of your frozen state. Below are our eight tips for writing a cover letter opening that’ll definitely get you noticed.

1. Avoid generic introductions

Whatever you do, don’t open your cover letter with a line like, “I’m writing to apply for the position of [job title], which I saw advertised on [job board name] on [date]”. It’s dull, it’s uninspiring, and every recruiter has already seen it far too many times. Yes, it’s important to cover key details, like the position you’re interested in and the company name, at the start of your letter, but try do so in a more original way. You could even consider putting these basics in the subject line of your email (if you’re applying digitally) or in a “RE:” header (if you’re sending a hard copy) so you can use your introductory element to get straight to the meaty details that’ll win recruiters over.

2. Let your personality shine through

Naturally, you want to come across as a professional, but don’t open your letter in a manner that’s so excessively formal and dry that you sound robotic. Right from the get-go, you should give hiring managers a sense of who you are—after all, the point is to convince them that you’re a person worth meeting. So, use the first person “I”, inject charisma, showcase your quirks (if appropriate), and generally make it clear that there’s a unique human being behind the words.

3. Express enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is a good predictor of a strong work ethic, so recruiters will be looking for signs of it from sentence one. For this reason, you can’t go wrong if you start your letter by communicating your passion for the field and/or your affection for this company, above all others. Just make sure your declaration of love sounds genuine. You could, for example, include an anecdote (more below) that captures your long-standing devotion to the industry or reference a recent development at the company (like a ground-breaking study they just published) that reaffirms your desire to work for them.

4. Tell a story

Stories tend to make a much bigger impression on people than dry facts do. To make your cover letter opening memorable, start with a short narrative that ties into your love for the subject area or relationship with the brand. For instance, maybe you liked the company’s advertising jingle so much as a child that you once performed it in your school’s talent show. Or perhaps you’re so passionate about sport that you used to fall asleep with a football in your hands when you were young. Or maybe there’s a story worth telling around how you first came across the company as a customer. Whatever the tale, tell it as succinctly and authentically as you can, and it should also help you achieve points 2 and 3 above.

5. Be bold (but first, know your audience)

The best way to make your opening paragraph stand out? Do or say something no one else is doing or saying. Of course, getting a little creative with your opening can be a risky move, so first consider the kind of business you’re dealing with, research the company culture, and take note of the tone of voice used in the job ad. If you’re applying for a job at a startup that’s turning tradition on its head, then there’s room for you to be a bit daring and irreverent, to prove that you, too, can think outside the box. If, however, you’re expressing interest in a position at a large corporate company, like a banking firm, and the job posting uses formal language, then it’s probably safer to go the more conventional route.

6. Lead with an impressive skill or accomplishment

If you possess a relevant ability that few others do or have a major career accomplishment under your belt, then absolutely do open your cover letter with a mention of this fact. Details like these set you apart from other candidates, so you want hiring managers to be aware of them from the outset.

7. Name a mutual contact

One sure way to grab attention in your first paragraph is to mention the name of a common acquaintance, especially if this person recommended that you apply for the role. By associating yourself with someone who’s respected at the company, you automatically improve your chances of getting an interview.

8. Keep it short, sharp, and clean

The job of a cover letter is to sell you and your skills to a prospective employer. So, approach your introduction like an advertiser would approach ad copy—keep it concise, get straight to the point, and try to capture readers in as few words as possible. One tight paragraph will do – after all, the whole letter should be no longer than a page. Also make sure that it’s free of spelling and grammatical errors—typos are the enemy of a successful cover letter opening.

Since 2005, LiveCareer has been helping job seekers create resumes and cover letters via its free resume builder and cover letter builder tools. Also available are collections of free, professionally written resume templates and cover letter templates, all of which are organized by industry and job title.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/12/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 9.12.16

Updates from the ECO with Jobs, Events, and Workshops!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

4 Interview Questions Venture Capital Firms Ask

Venture capital interviews aren’t tricky. Generally, there are no brainteasers or case questions. A VC interview is a chance for venture capitalists to get a sense of you, the same way they do when meeting with entrepreneurs. That’s how venture capitalists make investment decisions—(You may need to login into CavLink to access this article).

Feature | 01/31/2022

2021 Summer Paper Award Winners

The 2021 Snavely Outstanding Summer Paper Prize was awarded to Joe Anderson (not pictured here), for Institutional Strategies and Debt Maturity; Yang Yu, for Venture Capital and the Dynamism of Startups; and Ritika Gupta, for Can Affirmative Action Influence STEM Choice and Math outcomes? Each winner received a cash award and certificate in recognition of their achievement. Congratulations and keep up the excellent work!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/02/2017

ARTICLE- 15 WORDS YOU SHOULD NEVER USE IN A JOB INTERVIEW

"Receiving an invitation for a job interview can be an exciting time – especially after you’ve been job-searching for a while.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to kill off all your chances of getting a job by saying just a few wrong words during your job interview.

To make sure your job interview leads to the next round or a job offer, here’s a list of words which you should aim to avoid."-Steven McConnell

Click here to read the rest of the article

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/25/2022

ECO Blog: Approaching a Virtual Career Fair

Image Courtesy of Indeed.com

 

Hello Economics Majors,

I found the article below on LInkedin and thank Rasmussen University for their sound advice. These are great tips for attending a virtual career fair. Use this companion dress code guide to help you prepare. The ECO recommends at least business casual attire for this week's job fair; but, even smart casual can work. 

There are many fairs coming up in the next four weeks, starting off with UVA's Spring Job and Internship Fair this Thursday, 2/3. Take a moment to read the article below to help you prepare! Then open Handshake to check out this week's fair's employers.  

A final tip from the ECO: If your employers of choice do not have vacancies in their one-to-one schedules, visit with your second-tier employers. Take a chance with an unknown, and let them know you were curious to learn more. 

Best wishes

Jennifer Jones, Director
Economics Career Office

What can you expect at a virtual career fair?

Virtual career fairs are just like traditional ones, where employers gather to meet with job seekers and discuss employment opportunities. The only difference here is that it’s held virtually on an interactive platform.

Virtual career fairs feel similar to online discussion posts. After you log in, you can choose to “enter” various rooms within the virtual career fair. Each room houses a different employer participating in the career fair. When you enter a room, the employer receives a notification. At that point, a representative from the employer will greet you via a chat function.

“Employers in virtual career fairs are very engaging. They’re there because they’re eager to hire and are looking to engage with potential candidates like yourself,” says Jessica Koltz, Rasmussen University Career Service advisor. “Once they greet you, they’re looking to receive some engagement from you in return.”

Others already in the virtual room may be in the midst of a conversation, and you are welcome to chime in. Otherwise, you can also opt to chat privately with an employer, where you may ask about open positions, details of the organization and your qualifications. Employers may even want to video chat with you to get to know you better face-to-face.

In many ways, virtual career fairs mirror traditional, in-person ones. Now that you know what to expect, study up on the following tips and expert advice to make the most of this exciting opportunity.

Before the virtual career fair

Don’t “walk” into a virtual career fair with zero preparation. These are the things you’ll want to do ahead of time to set yourself up for success.

1. Register ahead of time

You’re going to want to register beforehand. Not only will this prevent any last-minute hiccups before the career fair, but it will also allow you to get a glimpse at the employers who will be participating in the fair. Which leads us to our next tip…

2. Research participating organizations

After registering, take some time to review the organizations attending the career fair. You’ll want to get an idea of some of the companies you’d like to meet with. You also don’t want to walk in unprepared—learn about the companies, and think of questions you’ll want to ask.

“At virtual career fairs, companies look for candidates who are curious and ask questions,” says John Capra, zone recruiting manager at Combined Insurance. “In order to stand out from the crowd, candidates should do their research and know about the companies and positions they are interested in.”

3. Prepare your resume

This is a no-brainer, yet it’s so important. Because you’re going to provide your resume to employers you meet with, you’re going to want it up to date and spotless for the optimal first impression.

“Don’t wait until the last minute to review your resume,” says Amy Ites, Rasmussen University senior Career Services advisor. “Have it updated, proofed and reviewed by someone else ahead of time.”

The same goes for your LinkedIn® account or a portfolio of your work samples. If the platform allows, upload your resume to your account so it is accessible and ready to hand over to any employers you meet with at the career fair.

4. Practice your pitch

How will you introduce yourself? Why are you interested in the company? What types of positions are you seeking? How is your previous work experience relevant? What do you plan on asking the representatives at the virtual career fair?

You’ll want to spend some time mulling over questions like these so you’re ready to answer them without hesitation when the time comes. Your well-thought-out responses could impress a recruiter—and even allow you to stand out from the crowd of applicants.

5. Make sure your technology is ready to go

You’ll want to make sure your device is capable of supporting you in the virtual career fair. While it is definitely preferable to have camera capabilities in case an employer would like to speak with you face-to-face, you don’t necessarily have to have a device with a camera, says Ites.

You should also try a dry run the day before the virtual career fair to ensure smooth sailing on the big day, advises Chris Brown, vice president of Human Resources at West's Unified Communications.

“Plan an IT dress rehearsal before to avoid last-minute surprises. Also, be sure to download necessary software for the fair, if need be. Install these a day early, leaving enough time to clarify any troubleshooting questions you may have.”

He also advises attendees to think long and hard about the type of device they plan to use.

“Choose your device wisely. To avoid shaky camera syndrome, use a desktop, laptop or propped-up tablet rather than a smartphone that you’ll need to hold throughout the conversation,” he says.

You may also want headphones if you cannot attend from a quiet, private location.

At the virtual career fair

Once you log in, how can you stand out from the crowd at a virtual career fair? Here are a few pieces of key advice.

6. Wear a professional outfit

You can expect to interact with employers at a virtual career fair through chat functions. However, some employers may wish to speak with you in a video call. Make the most out of this opportunity to make a connection by looking professional and presentable.

“If you have an opportunity to get face-to-face with an employer, why wouldn’t you want to be ready for that?” asks Koltz. “If you’re going to be on camera, be prepared to look professional from at least the waist up. You can wear your yoga pants, but make sure you have a button-up shirt and suit coat on top.”  [The ECO is confident that wearing business casual dress for most general career fairs is fine. Here's a link to images of professional business casual attire.}

7. Attend from a distraction-free environment

In addition to your professional attire, you will also want to plan out where you’ll be attending the virtual career fair. A quiet location is ideal—and camera capabilities mean that you’ll want to ensure your location is distraction free for employers.

“Even on a small screen, potential employers can still see plenty of background. Make sure the room you’re in is clean, quiet and well lit. Your expertise should be the focal point of the conversation, not a visible pile of laundry or dirty dishes,” says Brown.

8. Be ready to put yourself out there

At virtual career fairs, it’s all the more important to exert yourself to make connections.

“It’s even easier to be a wallflower at a virtual career fair than a traditional one,” warns Koltz.

Once an employer engages you in a chat, the ball is in your court to introduce yourself and ask questions about the organization and open positions. Attendees must present themselves to employers and feel confident doing so.

9. Use clear, professional business communication

Being a virtual career fair, much of your communication will be done through written interactions in the chat function of the platform. To make a great first impression, you’ll want to demonstrate articulate written communication.

“Grammar matters, and text lingo, emoticons and any slang won’t be appropriate,” says Koltz. “Your professional written communication needs to be on its A game.”

10. Demonstrate strong body language in video chats

Just like in a traditional career fair, you’ll want to present yourself as a confident and competent job seeker. One way that employers pick up on this is through your body language. If you’re on a video chat with a recruiter at the virtual career fair, you’ll want to stay conscious of your body language.

“On camera, it’s even more critical to hold eye contact with the employers you're interacting with,” says Brown. “Speak clearly, and avoid slouching. Keep hand gestures to a minimum so you don’t distract the person you're talking to or block your face from the camera.”

11. Ask for next steps and contact information

When talking to recruiters at the career fair, don’t hesitate to be forward, and offer to send a copy of your resume. You can also ask about the next steps in the process—whether that means getting in touch with Human Resources, filling out a job application or sitting down for a formal interview.

Before parting ways with a recruiter, be sure to take down their contact information. Some employers may have it uploaded and accessible within the virtual career fair platform. If not, ask how you can stay in touch. You’ll need this information for following up after the virtual career fair.

After the virtual career fair

Don’t let your efforts go to waste by neglecting to follow up with connection after the virtual career fair.

12. Reach out the next day with a thank you

Whether it’s an email, phone call or hand-written thank-you note, be sure to reach out to the connections you made at the career fair, thanking them for their time and further expressing your interest.

Because recruiters at career fairs come in contact with many candidates and resumes, you can use this chance to refresh their memory and remind them about why you’re a promising candidate, why you’re interested in the company, and the skills and experiences you bring to the table.

You may also want to send them your resume if you haven’t already—along with your portfolio or work samples if you have any. You can also stay in touch by adding the recruiter on LinkedIn.

Get excited for the future of career fairs

Employers partake in career fairs because they’re looking for job seekers like yourself. Just because they’re held virtually doesn’t make that goal any different.

With this expert advice in hand, you’ll navigate the new waters of virtual career fairs with ease. You never know—it just might get your foot in the door of a field you’re vying for or even land you the job of your dreams.

If you’re ready to put what you’ve learned above to the test, visit the virtual career fair page for more information on our next event. 

Thanks to LInkedIn and 

https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/virtual-career...

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

How to Ace your Graduate School Interview

Graduate school interviews can be a nerve wracking process. Learn how to impress from this helpful article.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/06/2018

7 Jobs with the Best Employment Prospects in 2019

New technologies are popping up daily, and automation is on the rise. The result is a labor market that’s evolving at a dizzying rate, with certain roles becoming redundant and others (some of which didn’t exist a decade ago) becoming increasingly important. It goes without saying that if you want to remain relevant amid all the flux, the answer lies with the latter positions. 

Below, you’ll find the seven occupations that employers will be placing the most value on in 2019 and beyond. If you’re already working in these fields, then you’re in luck—the future looks especially bright for you. And if you’re currently considering a career change, or you’re about to embark on studies, then take note—these are the 2019 jobs that are most worth pursuing. 

1. Data Scientists

Become a data scientist or analyst, and you’ll have companies everywhere begging you to work for them. As industries across the board start to realize the importance of basing business decisions on collected data, they’ll be looking to hire professionals who are adept at using machine learning and other digital tools to conduct statistical analyses and derive meaningful insights from numbers. Those professionals with expertise in AI, data visualization and communication, and big data storage are especially sought after. And as there’s a major skills shortage in this field across the U.S., data science specialists can demand a rather high salary.

2. Web and Software Developers

For obvious reasons, the IT and computer science sectors will continue to see major hiring increases, and two roles that aren’t going anywhere are those of web and software developer. The need for professionals who can research, design, code, and maintain websites and software programs is driven by the growth of the e-commerce market and the rising demand for mobile apps, advanced operating systems, and online games. As the digital world continues to develop at a rapid rate, a growing number of businesses and government entities are relying on the services of developers to keep up with the times.

3. Sales Representatives with Specialized Knowledge

Another one of the 2019 jobs that’s bound to hold a lot of heat for jobseekers is that of sales representative, but particularly within novel, niche fields. With the retail landscape evolving rapidly, and new products and services being developed daily, businesses are finding that they need sales professionals with a unique understanding of their offering in order to sell it to clients and consumers effectively. For instance, as the demand for green technology grows, companies involved in this sector are calling for sales representatives who are familiar with all the intricacies of renewable energy products, like solar panels, so they can spell out the benefits of them to potential customers and business partners.

4. Data Protection and Privacy Officers

New regulations that govern how businesses collect, store, and use consumers’ personal information are encouraging companies to recruit professionals who can help them comply with these requirements. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example, might only apply in EU member states, but it’s impacting all businesses that offer services to EU-based citizens. Consequently, even enterprises in the U.S. are recognizing the need to hire someone who can assist with implementing processes that will ensure they remain on the right side of the law. In addition to data protection professionals focused on consumer privacy, companies will also increasingly be looking to hire information security analysts to help them safeguard their own networks and systems against the growing threat of cyberattacks. 

5. Health Practitioners

Needless to say, we’re likely always going to need the services of healthcare providers, but the demand for these professionals is projected to grow quite substantially over the next few years for one key reason: the Baby Boomers are starting to reach the age when health becomes more of a concern, and because the size of this generation is so large, there’s naturally a need for more health practitioners to care for them all. More specifically, it’s predicted that those working as home health aides, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, and physical therapists will be especially sought after in the future—all of these promising 2019 jobs are included on the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of the 20 occupations that are expected to grow the fastest between 2016 and 2026.

6. Regulatory Agents and Compliance Attorneys

As more businesses head into uncharted territory and experiment with products and services that rely on AI and other cutting-edge technologies, they’ll no doubt be looking to bring in professionals who can guide them with regards to legalities and ensure they’re abiding by industry rules. A compliance attorney, for instance, will assist a company by managing risks, developing corporate policies, and anticipating legal issues that may arise down the line. By doing so, they create room for innovation while warding off potential trouble. The hiring increases in this field can also be attributed to the fact that organizations across many sectors are being pushed to adapt to new, ever-evolving government regulations, and they’re battling to do so without the help of expert counsel.

7. Workers in the Renewable Energy Sector

Thanks to the (increasingly loud) call for sustainable sources of power, many of the 2019 jobs that have excellent employment prospects fall within the renewable energy sector. Along with energy engineers, wind turbine technicians and PV solar panel installersshould have no problem finding work in future—in fact, these are two of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S., with the first expected to grow by 96 percent between 2016 and 2026 and the latter by an impressive 105 percent (according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook). While these professions initially saw boosts predominantly in California, they’ve grown in popularity throughout the U.S. as more states recognize the importance of adopting green technologies.  

 

Read more

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/28/2022

What’s the Ideal Length for a Cover Letter? —Plus Tips to Get Yours There

What’s the Ideal Length for a Cover Letter? —Plus Tips to Get Yours There

by Regina Borsellino from The Muse

When you have a task to complete, it helps to know what the end product should look like. It's especially true when you’re doing something you might find difficult—like writing a cover letter. How long should it be? What information do you need to include?

Hiring managers and recruiters are busy people, so you don’t want to disqualify yourself by writing a cover letter that’s too long. But you do want to make sure your cover letter is effective. “The cover letter should serve as an introduction to your resume, highlighting why you’re interested in the position, what you’re looking for in your next role, and how you can potentially add value to the position or company,” says Muse career coach Yolanda Owens, who has over 20 years of recruiting experience. 

So how much space do you have to do all that? And how can you make the best use of that space?

How long should a cover letter be?

The ideal cover letter length is:

  • Less than one page
  • Three to five paragraphs
  • Less than 400 words

At least that’s the approximate consensus we came to based on research and input from a few experts who have worked as hiring managers, recruiters, or both.

If this feels short, “Keep in mind that the cover letter is not a tell-all of everything you've done,” says Muse coach Emily Liou, a recruiter and HR professional. “You just want enough to position yourself as a fit and to pique the curiosity of the reader.” You don’t need pages and pages to do that.

In a survey of 205 HR professionals, ResumeLab found that 42% of respondents preferred cover letters between half and one page and 40% preferred cover letters that were less than half a page. Only 18% said they preferred cover letters longer than one page. Muse coach Steven Davis, a technical recruiter, advocates for a cover letter that “can be comfortably read in less than a minute.”

How do you write a cover letter that's just the right length?

Here are a few tips that'll get your cover letter to the ideal length:

1. Pay attention to your structure.

You may remember the five-paragraph essay from school: introduction paragraph, body paragraphs, and conclusion paragraph. Cover letters are structured similarly.

Basically, you should lay out your cover letter like this:

  • Introduction (one paragraph): Your cover letter opening should be original and creative to draw your reader in. It should show your connections to the employer and your interest and excitement for the position, Liou says. You might also use this paragraph to explain that you’re making a career pivot or re-entering the workforce after an employment gap.
  • Body (one to three paragraphs): Your body paragraphs should focus on the ways you can help the organization or team, Owens says. Talk about what skills and experience you bring to the company, and back up what you’re saying with past examples—but keep them concise.
  • Conclusion (one paragraph): Your conclusion should be “a final paragraph thanking the reader for their time and reiterating your interest,” Owens says.

2. Figure out what matters to the employer.

“This is a great time to dissect what is most important to this position,” Liou says, so you can focus your cover letter on what your prospective employer cares about most. Go back to the job description and read it thoroughly. What’s listed first and what’s repeated? From there, Davis says, you should be able to identify the top skills and experiences they’re looking for.

Then, think about what in your background most exemplifies these qualifications—with an emphasis on situations where you’ve made an impact for your past employers, Liou says. These are the experiences you should recount in your cover letter.

3. Use concise examples to pique your readers’ interest.

Davis suggests using the “the STAR format without any details to create curiosity and motivate the interviewer to review the resume.” If you’re unfamiliar, the STAR method is a way of telling stories in an interview where you make sure that you hit on the situation, task, action, and result of the experience you’re recounting. Using a compact version of the STAR method in your cover letter will help show the impact you’ve had in past roles and how without adding too much length. So you might write something like:

“When my last company redesigned their website, I took the lead on layout, and by working as a constant liaison between our product team and our users, I helped produce a website that our users found 50% more intuitive and drew 33% more repeat users.”

4. Go beyond your resume—without regurgitating it.

“The cover letter should be a supplemental piece to your resume, not a summary,” Owens says. So don’t waste space regurgitating other parts of your application. “Use the cover letter to tell the employer what you want them to know about you that’s not on your resume,” or anywhere else, Owens says.

Focus your precious page or less on highlighting your relevant achievements and explicitly connecting your resume to the position. Don’t worry about including all of the context and details about your past jobs. For anything you talk about in a cover letter, your resume can “continue your narrative—filling in the remaining details of the where, when, and what of your work experiences and history,” Owens says.

5. Consider using bullet points.

And we don’t mean repeating your resume bullet points. We mean using a few bullet points to concisely relay a few key pieces of information that aren’t on your resume, but contribute to your qualifications as a candidate, without taking up too much space.

For example, Owens says you might create a “What I bring to the table” section with three to four bullet points (one or two sentences each). In a section like this, you can touch on a few more disparate topics such as your management or leadership style, pain points you can help your next employer with, or work environments you have experience thriving in, Owens says.

6. Use standard formatting.

Did you ever make your font size a bit larger or choose a slightly wider font to hit a page count on an essay for school? What about widening those margins? Did you ever do the opposite to slip in under a page maximum without having to do another editing pass at 3 a.m.? (Guilty!)

These tactics won’t fly for your cover letter (or your resume for that matter). Instead, stick to standard, easy-to-read formatting. Generally this means:

  • Common fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman
  • Font sizes between 10 and 12 point
  • Margin sizes of about one inch on the top, bottom, and sides
  • Lines that are single spaced (1.15 max) with an additional space between paragraphs if you'd like.

Don’t make your cover letter harder to read by cramming as much onto a page as possible. Also keep in mind that your cover letter often passes through the same applicant tracking system (ATS) that your resume does—so any flashy formatting could trip up the software that parses your application materials.

7. Trim the excess.

If your cover letter is still too long, take another look and trim out anything extra that doesn’t need to be there. Some things to cut include:

  • Content about how much you’d enjoy doing the work, Davis says—beyond what you need to express enthusiasm.
  • Mentions of years of experience: While the job description may call for three years of experience with a CRM (customer relationship management) program, you don’t need to use your cover letter to write a word problem where your six months experience from one internship, three months each from two classes, and two years at your last job equals three years.
  • Extra details in your examples, especially those that are found on your resume or don’t contribute to your strength as a candidate
  • Filtering language: This includes phrases like “I think” and “I feel.” You don’t “believe you can help” a company solve a problem, you can help a company solve a problem.
  • Overused or cliché phrases
  • Anything about what the job would do for you: Focus on what you can do for them.

8. Follow any instructions in the job description.

Finally, all of the above are just guidelines. The best indicator of what an employer is looking for in a cover letter—length-wise or otherwise—is the employer itself.

So if a job posting tells you that a cover letter should be a different length than we’ve indicated, default to the job description. If a job posting tells you that a cover letter should include different things than we’ve indicated, default to the job description. If a job posting tells you that you shouldn’t include a cover letter at all, default to the job description.

Feature | 01/12/2021

FOUNDERS OF GRIT COFFEE ARE THEMSELVES A STRONG AND UNIQUE BLEND

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/06/2017

ARTICLE- HOW TO NETWORK BETTER IN 2017

"You've heard it before: The best way to land a new job is through networking and making connections. But many people are stumped as to what that means and how it plays out in reality, unless you're lucky enough to have been offered positions throughout your career. What exactly does making those connections look like, and how should you approach it?"- Marcelle Yeager

Click here to read the rest of the article 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 12/13/2022

Class of 2021 First Destinations Report

Click on the link below to access the Class of 2021 First Destination Report.

Class of 2021 First Destination Report

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Feature | 02/09/2018

Econ Alum Alex Turowski Plays with Data for a Living! And He Wants You to Too!

2010 economics alumnus Alex Turowski is the new Partner Success Lead at New Engen in Seattle, Washington. What does this mean? Alex plays with data for a living at New Engen, a digital marketing optimization and design firm.

After building a successful career in Search Engine Optimization with Merkle (formerly RKG) here in Charlottesville, Alex was lured to New Engen in Seattle to lead their Partner Success team. 

The firm boasts solid, fast growth and has become an industry leader with clients such as TUMI, Volt Athletics, and Man Crates and partners such as Shopify.

Alex is hiring an entry level analyst and the posting is on Handshake. If you'd like to reach Alex directly, please write to him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-turowski-3b500647/

New Engen is a performance-driven marketing technology company accelerating customer growth through digital marketing optimization. By integrating proprietary software with teams of experienced marketers and data scientists, New Engen helps clients solve some of their most complex digital marketing challenges. The company’s powerful technology solution ignites growth at companies across industries, geographies and maturity. New Engen is headquartered in Seattle with offices in Dallas, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

www.newengen.com

Feature | 12/01/2021

Jiafeng Wu Presents at 2021 SEA Conference

Fifth-year student Jiafeng Wu presented his paper, "Price and Efficiency in a Market for Generic Drugs in China," at the Models of Modern Markets session of the 91st SEA Annual Meeting. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 10/09/2017

ARTICLE- WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE A CAREER IN SALES

"Brian Tracy describes sales as the "ultimate default career." By that, he means that many people get into sales because they can't find any other job that pays them what they need. Some of the top sales professionals in the world will admit that they had no intention of getting into or staying in the sales industries, yet most wouldn't change their decision to stay. But while sales may be a default occupation, there are several reasons why you should choose a career in sales instead of being a salesperson until something else opens up." - Thomas Phelps 

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/28/2021

Blog: Making the Most of Your Summer Internship/Work Experience

How to Make the Most of Your Summer Internship/Work Experiences

Whether it is virtual, in-person, or a bit of both, your summer work experience is a chance to build skills, relationships, and possibly parlay the internship into a full-time offer or renewed employment!
Think of the summer as an extended job interview - where you are getting the chance to be a first-pick for full-time work, and you are determining if this is an employer/job function that interests you!

Plan Your Internship!

Design goals for yourself. These may be:

  • skills or concepts you'd like to build (For example MSExcel, Python, data analysis, Tableau, project management, etc.)
  • projects you'd like to design (Design a website, analyze data and produce a written and oral report)
  • relationships you'd like to build (Meet 5 people in the organization through a virtual or in-person meeting)
  • experiences you'd like to have (Attend a staff meeting of senior-level team members; represent your team on a committee)
  • meet with your hiring manager to discuss relevant goals (some may be your personal goals and not for your supervisor's consumption)

Interview! (Yes, you are conducting the interviews!)

  • You want to learn more about this employer, your job function, and the industry. Can you see yourself working with this organization? With this supervisor?
  • ​Spend time in the office (if possible) to learn about Team Culture and Employer Culture (These are not always the same.)
  • You can learn about the firm's virtual culture through their interactions with you and your peers/colleagues
  • Schedule 15 minutes with staff in varying roles and levels, starting with those working full-time in your possible future role
  • Get to know people, both by reaching out and developing a positive reputation. 
  • Stay connected to your recruiter 

Get Involved!

  • Attend events (in-person or virtual) that you are invited to
  • ​Ask questions of your supervisor or recruiter
  • Join clubs or affinity groups, especially if your employer is large and has organized groups for employees/interns ​

Find a Mentor/Employee You Trust

  • Your mentor may be assigned to you through a formal program in which case make the most of the opportunity
  • ​Find a mentor, or someone with whom you feel comfortable and may ask questions. This is not always possible; but, don't be shy about asking other employees to meet with you in person or virtually to discuss their work. You may hit it off and find an informal mentor
  • Mentors can help you navigate through new situations at work
  • Mentors can be future advocates for you with your current employer or a future employer

Document Your Work!

  • Catalog all of your projects in a notebook or spreadsheet
  • List these by responsibilities and results
  • Brainstorm the skills you used and developed and the people with whom you worked to get the work done
  • Add this information to your resume and LinkedIn account
  • Create a website (wix.com or wordpress.com) to showcase your work, if applicable
  • Practice speaking about your summer experiences
  • Record the names and contact information of the people you worked with and connect with them on LinkedIn

Next, read the article from the PennyHoarder Rock Summer Your Internship!

Adapted from the Muse and the ECO's summer internship PowerPoint, How to Make the Most of Your Summer Internship and alum Sabrina Grandhi's recommendations.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/11/2024

End of Year Communication to Alumni from Economics Chair, Professor Federico Ciliberto

Sent 12/15/23

Dear Alumni and Friends,

In May of 2024, the Edwin T. Burton Economics Career Office (ECO) will have participated in the career planning and education of 10 graduating classes! What began as a pilot project a decade ago has now flourished into a full-service career services office providing direct advising, professional development workshops, networking, and electronic resources for economics majors. Jennifer Jones was hired in 2013 to spearhead this effort after funding was provided by many enthusiastic and committed donors through the leadership of Professors Ken Elzinga and Charlie Holt.  

Jennifer Jones continues to masterfully direct the activities of the ECO to equip majors with tools and resources to successfully reach the next steps in their career planning. Jennifer partners with faculty, alumni, students, employers, and other career offices on the Grounds toward this goal.  

To help Jennifer with the daunting task of working with hundreds of Econ majors, the ECO hires several student staff each year, who are instrumental in delivering our programs. The ECO offers real work experience and network-building for student staff. In addition, our elected student board provides a feedback loop to our majors and prospective majors and manages the planning and implementation of the annual Economics Undergraduate Career Forum. This year we welcomed 8 new members. Click here to meet the board. 

The ECO offers work experience for undergraduates in roles such as data analyst, market researcher, marketing coordinator, and event coordinator. More than 40 students have worked for the ECO and developed technical and transferable skills to launch them into the labor market. In reflecting on their ECO experiences some students expressed that work supporting other students' career development was their most meaningful experience at UVA. To hear about the impact of the ECO from alumni and students, click here to watch the video.  

As 2023 draws to a close, we wish to share with you our accomplishments and initiatives over the last 12 months and hope you will consider supporting the ECO for the next year We thank you for your contributions to make our programs successful.

First, the ECO continues to organize the annual Undergraduate Economics Career Forum, (2023 alumni pictured above) which our ECO Student Advisory Board planned and welcomed 9 UVA alumni back to Grounds for 36 hours of programming! We hosted 7 events with more than 100 student participants and 10 faculty participants. Relatedly, we continue to organize the Major to Major Career Coaching Fair, through which we pair upper-level students returning from summer internships with lower-level students to share opportunities and take advantage of our students’ very recent internship experiences. Strategies and advice were shared among more than 300 participants! Finally, we organized How I Got This Job and How I Got into Graduate School Programs, with recent graduates providing tactical career advice to students exposing them to various industries, job functions, and graduate programs. All these activities prepare students for the job market and help them develop networks that will support them well beyond their time on the Grounds. 

Second, in March 2023, we became founding members of Women in Economics across the Nation, a consortium of universities brought together by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s annual women’s symposium attendees. As founding members, we are shaping programs both at UVA and in local communities to expose girls and women to career opportunities aligned with an economics degree and to demonstrate the flexibility and compensation possibilities the degree may yield. In October we co-hosted a virtual panel of 30 alumni from universities across the nation. In November we continued the conversation here on Grounds with six professionals who spoke on their career trajectories and challenges and opportunities for women in the labor market.  

Third, the ECO provided individual advising for more than 200 students and served more than 700 students through our workshops and other programs. We listened to students in Econ 3010, the gateway class before declaring the major, and established Friday drop-in career advising opportunities for prospective majors. More than 50 alumni donated their time and expertise to our students through professional development programs like conducting resume reviews, sitting on panels, hosting information sessions representing their employers, and providing their resumes and cover letters as samples. 

To finish with the words of our beloved Professor Ken Elzinga: “If you have contributed to the Economics Career Office in the past, thank you. It’s been a game-changer for our department. If you are thinking about contributing to the Economics Career Office, I’m not sure where there’s a bigger rate of return on a gift to the Econ department than a gift to the Economics Career Office.”  

Warm regards and best wishes this holiday season, 

Professor Federico Ciliberto, Chair 

Department of Economics 

 

Feature | 11/26/2019

UVA Alum Jose Fernandez Elected President of the American Society of Hispanic Economists

The announcement, made on Twitter, can be found here: https://mobile.twitter.com/ASHE_ASSA/status/1197849863582552069 .

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/16/2023

How to Be Happier at Work, According to a Resilience Coach

article written Jason Shen from The Muse 

Modern workplaces can be an endless cycle of frantic stress, impending deadlines, and existential dread. Especially now, given the rise in headline-making layoffs at major companies like TwitterMeta, and Amazon.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. As a resilience coach, I help my clients weather life’s challenges and find greater fulfillment and—dare I say it—happiness at work. My recommendations are grounded in the idea that resilience is not a fixed trait or a limited resource—it’s a set of skills we can all develop to improve how we respond, restore, rebuild, and reflect in the face of change.

Here are five strategies for cultivating resilience that can make us happier at work.

1. Embrace the messiness of work.

First, it’s important to accept that work is often messy and chaotic. This is not a bug—it’s a feature. The most important problems are the ones with no clear solution—everything else has been automated or outsourced away. This means the only work that’s left is the work that changes rapidly. Work that requires resilience.

As a former startup founder, I thought I knew what it meant to be nimble and adaptable. After being hit in a second round of layoffs at Etsy in 2017, I started Headlight, a tech hiring platform, with a former coworker. Eighteen months into the business we did a hard pivot into gaming and e-sports, and eventually landed a small exit by Facebook in 2020.

But only after ramping up as a product manager at Facebook/Meta did I realize just how seriously the term “move fast” applied to internal work culture. Reorgs, new project objectives, and stakeholder alignment became my day-to-day reality. I had to really get comfortable with the messiness and chaos of my work life. We can’t control everything at work, but we can control our attitude, our presence, and our dedication to our craft. Sometimes the moments of messiness can lead to the greatest triumphs—and that can be one of the best feelings in the world.

Put it into practice:

  • Accept that your work is temporary, your projects are impermanent, and your objectives are not final—and look for new possibilities that emerge when change arises.
  • Develop personal habits and routines at work and in your personal life that can ground you in a sense of stability when the work itself cannot. A weekly check-in with a trusted coworker, a morning yoga or meditation practice, or a regular happy hour with friends can reduce the anxiety of a constantly changing swirl of work.

2. Make time for joy and fun.

Finding moments of joy and happiness at work is essential to our well-being. We need to proactively look for the good and the delightful things in our day, even—especially—when things are tough. A five-minute chat with a colleague about weekend plans, a funny meme that gets passed around the office, or a team lunch (virtual or real) can make a big difference.

“It’s a shockingly recent notion that work and play should be mutually exclusive things,” Scott Berkun writes in The Year Without Pants about his time as an engineering manager at Automattic, a remote-first company since 2005. Much of the book talks about the fun times his team spent together at company retreats and all hands. “We learn about ourselves and each other through play, which helps us work together. Not everyone believes this, of course, but I do.”

We know that across the military, professional sports, and the entertainment industry, there’s often a great deal of play mixed into the work. That kind of fun can create deeper relationships, which in turn drive performance.

A big part of my work is to help my clients identify what brings them joy and then make time for it. One of my clients has a dream of leaving his 9-to-5 job to become a freelance consultant so he can take long bike rides during the week. I asked him why he couldn’t start doing that now, but on the weekends. If it’s not a priority now, it probably won’t be a priority later.

Put it into practice:

  • Schedule in time for fun at work. This could be a recurring activity or an ad hoc event with a colleague or team. Some of my favorite remote-friendly team activities include online escape rooms (like a brainteaser or a detective game), drawing games (like Garticphone or Skribble), and guessing games (like Wavelength).
  • Prioritize fun outside of work. How can you have something to look forward to after work is over? Consider enrolling in a craft, cooking, or fitness class—ideally with a friend. Or plan a bigger activity like camping, international travel, or a show further into the future and savor the ongoing anticipation as the event draws near.

3. Connect to your personal values at work.

In an ideal world, we could work in industries, companies, and roles where we feel total alignment between our personal values and our employer’s values.

The reality is that many people face a bit of a mismatch. Our values might be aligned with the mission of our company, but not necessarily with the project we’re working on, the department we’re in, or the people we’re working with.

When we find ourselves in a work situation that isn’t aligned with our values, it can be incredibly disheartening. But while changing your circumstances (read: getting a new gig) would obviously be the most direct approach to addressing the issue, it will inevitably come up again in your new job (see strategy no. 1).

Instead, look for smaller ways to express your values at work. For example:

  • If you value teaching, maybe you can host a brown bag discussion about a popular topic (“last-touch attribution in marketing”) or tool (“no-code automation apps”) that has emerged in your field.
  • If you value design, how can you make sure your next report or presentation is visually appealing, even if it’s only being shown to a few teammates?
  • If you value contribution, can you come up with some ideas for how to improve a product, feature, service, or team process and see if anyone else wants to join you in working on them?

One big benefit of focusing on values over, say, goals is that you can fail to achieve a goal (“ship Project Sirius by May 1”) but you can always act in accordance with a value (“be transparent in communication”). No matter what’s going on at work, we can always do something that brings us closer to our values, which will make us feel less trapped by circumstance and more in control of our experience.

Put it into practice:

  • Articulate your core values and put them in a place where you can easily see them. Here’s the template I often take my clients through to whittle down from a larger list into a smaller group of personalized values.
  • Make some time at the beginning of each week to reflect on the week ahead and look for opportunities to insert your values at work.

4. Find communities where you can let your guard down.

Leaders often talk about supporting “authentic expression” or “bringing your whole self to work.” But when performance is being scrutinized during tough times, we tend to put on the mask of a bland, upbeat corporate persona. It quickly gets exhausting.

It’s really important to have other places where we can let our guards down and just be ourselves—where we can talk about the challenges we’re facing and get feedback on how to address them.

I recently facilitated a six-week resilience-at-work series with about a dozen employees across technical and business functions at a large tech firm. Each person there was seeking resilience in the face of a challenge: returning to work after family leave, being put on a performance improvement plan (PIP), or feeling isolated as a fully remote worker.

While initially guarded, there was a moment halfway through when people opened up. I was going over the third skill in my resilience framework: rebuilding in the face of change, and letting go of old dreams in order to dream new ones.

One by one, participants shared dreams they had lost—a career as a touring theater performer or a project they thought they would get to lead. And then talked about dreams they were holding out hope for—acquiring a rental property to build financial freedom or having a less combative marriage than their parents had. These vulnerable conversations built a sense of community and helped them feel more at ease in the midst of their struggles.

“My circumstances haven’t really changed,” one participant said toward the end of the series. “But I feel better about facing the unknown. I have some skills I can use and a community to turn to when I feel like things are hard.”

Put it into practice:

  • Join an employee resource group (ERG) or other semi-private support group at work where you can find belonging with a smaller number of coworkers who might not be on your direct team. Contribute to the conversation, ask questions, and consider proposing a periodic get-together—either in person or on video call—to support one another.
  • Find community in a professional network outside of your company. I’ve built relationships and found community through cohort-based courses (like Ship 30 and Great Founders Write), peer coaching groups (like Sidebar), and even dedicated Slack channels and Facebook or LinkedIn groups for product managers.

5. Think about the story you’ll tell.

As an amateur climber and outdoor enthusiast, my sister Amy introduced me to the idea of Type 1 and Type 2 fun. First coined by Rainer Newberry, a geology professor at the University of Alaska, the terms reflect the idea that some things are only fun in retrospect.

  • The ambling hike up gentle hills on a sunny day? Pleasant, enjoyable in the moment. Type 1 fun.
  • Crossing a river with your friend in the dark to search for your car keys after you lost them on the trail? Tiring and unpleasant in the moment, but pretty funny in retrospect. Type 2 fun.

Work is rarely Type 1 fun. The occasional brainstorming session, team offsite, or quietly productive afternoon are the exceptions, not the rule. But when things get hard, you might see the moment as Type 2 fun—an experience or accomplishment that’ll you’ll remember and talk about fondly afterward.

When my third startup got into a Amazon-affiliated startup accelerator, I had to relocate from New York City to Seattle. I left behind my new wife just a few months after our wedding to hunker down in a 250-square-foot dorm for several months as my cofounder and I prepared to wow investors on Demo Day. It wasn’t exactly pleasant in the moment, but I cherish the memories from that intense sprint as part of my life as an entrepreneur.

Extensive work by the psychologist James Pennebaker and others has shown that writing about our experiences during and after difficult circumstances—especially if these thoughts and feelings have been kept a secret—can be tremendously healing, even if we never show those words to anyone. Taking multiple perspectives on the situation and trying to piece together a narrative even when things felt out of your control (using words like “realize” and “because”) helped people move forward in a positive direction.

By retelling the story of our lives through a more empowering lens, we can take the edge off difficult events of the past and see the joy and growth they’ve enabled. Through the power of narrative and reflection, we can internalize lessons that will shape who we are today and who we become tomorrow.

Put it into practice:

  • Reflect on past challenges you’ve faced. What did you learn from those experiences? How have they shaped who you are today? Write it out. Or publish your reflections to an audience: If a fully public platform feels like too much exposure, consider just emailing a group of friends or posting in a private social network.
  • Think and freewrite about how you might want to tell the story of your current situation at work in the future. What actions will you want to say you took? How will you wish you’d handled it? What ending would you want the story to have?

Happiness is not possible at every moment, but by acting with resilience, we can create more consistent happiness in our lives—inside and outside of work.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/31/2017

ARTICLE- THIS LINKEDIN RECRUITER'S TIPS FOR SHOWCASING SOFT SKILLS ON JOB INTERVIEWS

"If you’ve heard a lot about “soft skills” lately, it’s at least partly because employers want you to develop them. According to our Global Recruiting Trends study here at LinkedIn, more employers are rolling out “soft skills assessments” to test job candidates on the cognitive and personality qualities you don’t go to school to learn: critical thinking, adaptability, learning agility, communication, etc. By all indications, these factors aretrading at a higher value in 2017 than they have in the past."-Brendan Browne

Click here to read the rest of the article

Feature | 01/31/2022

Snigdha Das Presents as SEA

Snigdha Das presented her paper, "Corruption and the Golden Goose Effect in the Context of an Ink Bomb Task Experiment," which studies corrupt behavior across a dynamic setting. Snigdha presented the experimental design of the theoretical model along with some preliminary data observations gathered from pilot sessions in Professor Charles Holt's undergraduate class.

Feature | 11/27/2023

Argentina Is a Textbook Case of ‘Fiscal Dominance’

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/24/2021

ECO Blog: What to Know about Employer Information Sessions

Hello Majors,

With the arrival of recruiting season, many employers will be on Grounds virtually or in-person to meet with you and build their applicant pool. This is a great opportunity for you to conduct preliminary research about industries, employers and job functions. In order to prepare, I've listed some basics about info sessions for you below. There are many variables that will influence your ability to interact directly with employer reps at info sessions. These include:

  • the medium of the info session (virtual or in-person)
  • number of employer representatives
  • number of students attending.

Before attending each, you may consider how you would like to interact with the employer team. You may choose to hang back and simply listen, you may choose to introduce yourself and build relationships (aka network). Either way, info sessions are a great way to get your foot in the proverbial door. You can be ready for a conversation with employers simply by writing up and practicing your pitch. Once you write it and practice, you will be much more confident in your introductory conversation with employers. You may practice with our AI software, VMock, which records your pitch, scores it, makes recommendations, and then you may record again.

What they are:

Employer information sessions are typically held the evening prior to an employer's first interview day through On-Grounds Interviewing. However, some employers hold them in conjunction with attending career fairs, or with other reasons they have personnel on campus. In recent years, most employer info sessions are virtual and you may find them on Handshake, by filtering by "events" and "info sessions."

Why go:

Learn more about the organization and meet company representatives in a less formal situation than an interview. You have the opportunity to ask questions in advance of an interview. Many are staffed by alumni from our school.

How they make interviews better for you and the employer:

Consider the employer's perspective on interviews:
They sit in a room all day, and conducts 13 30-minute interviews with 13 students. The employer would rather use that time to get to know you, not repeat info about their company 13 times. Information sessions let employers cover that information once and give students the chance to think over the information before interviews. Students meet someone from the organization (might be your interviewer or someone else) and it breaks the ice. If you don't attend the info session before an interview and you don't have a good reason why, it tells the employer you really aren't that interested.

Length of sessions:

Most are 60-90 minutes to two hours. Sometimes they are formal presentations. Sometimes they are receptions where you can arrive and depart throughout the session.  If you need to arrive late or can't stay for the full duration, contact the employer representative in advance and let them know. Employers won't mind if you show the courtesy and interest by getting in touch. They'll be glad you're interested in attending.

Who can attend:

Often any student interested in the employer is welcome to attend advertised information sessions, regardless of whether you have an interview scheduled. Some sessions, particularly receptions, are by invitation only. If you have heard about a session but can't find the public announcement, contact the employer and ask if it's okay to attend. Employers often include their attendee qualifications in their Handshake postings.

Where to find information sessions:

Find these in Handshake. Note that interviewing season is spring, early summer and fall, and that's when employer info sessions will occur. For banking and consulting these days, some info sessions occur in late spring and throughout the summer.

What if you don't have an interview scheduled with the employer?

Invite-only info sessions likely will not be publicized broadly on Handshake. However, if you learn about an info session and are interested, you may contact the employer about attending. First cross-reference our career fair lists and other employer events to see if the employer will be present there. (Such events include our consulting conference, niche nights such as Economic and Litigation Consulting Night, Careers in Finance night, etc.) If the employer is attending, you may meet them at those events, or drop them an email that you look forward to meeting at that event. 

If the employer is not attending other UVA events, you may write to them about attending their closed info session. If you don't receive a reply or want to take your chances and attend anyway, take your resume, introduce yourself, and explain that you would very much like to interview if there is any possibility of doing so. The employer might have had a cancellation on the interview schedule and be willing to work you in or make other arrangements to meet with you. Maybe your resume didn't stand out from the crowd, but you can present yourself well in person. Employers are impressed by initiative, so this may be effective. The worst possibility is that the employer says no; you haven't lost anything. You may speak with a career counselor before pursuing this path.

What to wear:

During these virtual times, business casual works well, unless the invitation or announcement says otherwise. Events on-Grounds are usually less formal than events in hotels. Some employers may specify business/interview attire for receptions in other venues. If your schedule doesn't permit you to change into appropriate attire, contact the employer in advance and ask if that's okay. Basically, the employer wants you to attend, and wants it to be convenient for you to attend; they also want to observe your judgment in choosing your attire. Ask for contact information of the 

Preparing for the Info Session. It would be helpful to:

  • Do a little background research on what the company does, specializes in, and job opportunities they have, etc.
  • Be aware of competitors in the industry and how this company views itself in comparison to them.
  • Learn about the industry so you understand exactly what the company does.
  • If you have a geographic preference, knowing about the city you want and why you want it (sometimes differences between firms in particular locations focus on specific industries and sectors). 
  • Practice your pitch (see above).
  • Carry something for note-taking (jotting down notes after your conversation) and to collect contact information. For virtual sessions, have something handy for note-taking.

After the info session:

  • Write up your notes and organize by employer.
  • Write up your list of contacts with their contact information.
  • Write up a thank you to the team members you met. You may write to them as a group or individually based on your conversations. Refer to elements of the conversation if something stood out or resonated with you.

I applaud you for taking the time to attend info sessions to explore your interests and the possibilities out there! 

Thanks to our friends at UC Berkeley and Virginia Tech for some of this content.

 

City of Tampere

Feature | 11/01/2018

Cailin Slattery Presents at 74th Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance

Cailin Slattery presented two papers at the recent International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) conference in Tampere, Finland; "Campaign Spending and Corporate Subsidies: Evidence from Citizens United v FEC" and "U.S. State Incentive Spending and Large Establishment Spillovers." Both papers use a new data set that she created on state incentive spending, and are closely related to her job market paper on how states compete for firms using discretionary subsidies. She received valuable feedback on her papers and discussed her research with Public Finance scholars from all over the world, including recent UVa grad Elliott Isaac, who is now an assistant professor at Tulane University. The conference was not only filled with research sessions, but included a walking tour along the Pyynikki Ridge,  the world's highest gravel ridge, which was formed by sediment accumulating between two glaciers.

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/27/2019

Surviving the One-Way Video Interview

Taken from Vault:

Burgeoning bankers beware—recruiting techniques continue to shift towards the electronic. Financial services giant JPMorgan announced that it will be drastically cutting down its presence at college career fairs and will be moving the entry phase of its recruitment process to a one-way video interview (i.e., pre-recorded, not with a person on the other side) accompanied by games meant to reveal behavioral patterns. I can’t speak to the efficacy that games would have in predicting behavior attributes, although I admit to being skeptical. What I can speak to, however, are one-way video interviews.

In short: They’re awful. Companies really like them because, instead of spending 30 minutes on the phone with every potential candidate, the candidates submit their pre-recorded interviews on a rolling basis to be watching at the hiring managers’ convenience. The format they take for the candidate, however, is an anxiety-inducing nightmare. There is no person on the other end of the line on a one-way video interview—I know, right? So it’s less like an interview and more like a virtual, visual questionnaire. You’re given a question, given a set time to think about the question (approximately 30 to 60 seconds), and then your camera turns on and you answer. Within a strict time limit (approximately one minute). Oftentimes, with only one take. I’ll reiterate: One-way video interviews are awful. But you better get used to them, because they’re here to stay. Luckily, I’ve got some tips to making sure that you make it through in one piece. 

Look the Part—and in the Right Direction

A video interview is still an interview—so dress like you’re going to one. Although I suppose, if you really wanted to, you could ostensibly wear sweatpants with your shirt and tie, so long as you’re shooting from the waist up. I wouldn’t recommend it, though. Get your webcam set up and pointed to a spot with a relatively neutral background. (Blank wall or classy painting—probably fine. Dirty laundry piled on your bed—definitely not fine.) I actually place my laptop on a sturdy stack of books to get a better angle, like when you lift your phone up to take a selfie. Make sure you’re well-lit but there’s no lens flare and that you’ve kicked your roommate out until you’re done. One-way video interviews are usually done on a rolling basis, which means you’ve got the time to set yourself up right—and work your best angles.

And don’t forget to look into the camera, not at yourself! Drag the window with your face in it nearer to the webcam if you can’t control yourself. Eye contact is important, even if you’re not technically making eye contact with anyone yet.

Practice, Practice, Practice

In my experience, the average time to answer a question on a video interview was about a minute. Considering that time limit accompanied broad questions like, “How do you believe this position fits in with the team at large?”—which also seemed specific for a first round interview—I felt the time crunch hard. And you can’t rush through your answer either because the first rule of being on camera is: Speak slowly. Usually, I only had one take to get it right—which is fine in person but, with the clock literally ticking, it felt more like being in 8 Mile. So what’s a girl to do if her palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy?

(I’m so sorry.)

Practice. Write up a series of questions you think you’re likely to hear. Ask your friends and family for questions they’ve been asked in interviews. Check out Vault’s sample questions—we’re here for more than striking fear into the heart of those facing video interviews, after all. When you’ve got enough, set a timer for one minute, then rehearse your answers aloud until you have them down pat. Sounding a little scripted and “over-rehearsed” is infinitely better than falling prey to time-induced panic or—worse—getting cut off in the middle of your sentence. The more you practice having to answer questions concisely as opposed to comprehensively, the better you’ll get at it.

Don’t Panic

Crucial advice from the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom. A person can read panic through a video like one might read a book, and hiring managers won’t be impressed to see you very obviously freaking out. Being calm in confident in any situation is critical to life in the working world.

My advice? Keep your perspective. Video interviewing is new—the process is unfamiliar, and you’re not the only person potentially struggling with it. If you went over your time, shake it off—a dozen other people probably did, too. So many of your fellow candidates were definitely looking at themselves and not the camera, and somebody out there certainly sweated profusely through the entire interview. You should try to avoid mistakes, of course, but almost no one is a pro at video interviews, which means your “huge glaring mistake” will simply be one tree in a forest. Just answer the questions as best you can, and then wow them in person at the call back. This initial interview is less about being perfect and more about letting the company know that you’re interested, enthusiastic, and can communicate effectively. So just breathe.

 

Read more here.

Feature | 03/14/2019

Diego Legal-Cañisá, Participant in the new Initiative for Computational Economics (nICE)

Computational technologies are exploding in their ability to analyze complex scientific problems. In August 2018, 5th year PhD student Diego Legal-Cañisá attended the new Initiative for Computational Economics (nICE), organized by Kenneth Judd at Stanford's Hoover Institution, which focused on how these technologies could be applied to the analysis of economic problems. Diego (seen in the accompanying picture, seated in the second row, first from the left) cites the many benefits of participating in nICE: "It was an excellent experience where the state of art numerical methods and their application to economics problems were surveyed. I learned about some powerful software tools, I heard some of the leading experts in computational economics presenting the latest developments in the field, and most importantly, I presented my research--focusing on its computational aspects--and discussed it with top researchers and fellow graduate students from other universities."

Feature | 08/16/2021

ECO Blog: Job Seekers! What You Should Be Doing Now

Hello Majors!

I've been thinking about what to write to you all today and decided to use some inspiration from my friend and colleague, executive coach, Elizabeth Hope Derby. In Elizabeth's recent newsletter, she discusses her kickboxing experience and uses the kickboxing metaphor ultimately to describe how many of us  "stretch a little bit harder, jump two inches higher. [Who] share this desire to push beyond our limits and savor the satisfaction of a really good stretch." This is how I view our majors, as people, who stretch. But, beware stretchers, as Elizabeth warns in her newsletter through personal narrative, there is a point at which we may push "past 'stretched' to 'stretched too thin.'" Elizabeth suggests "marry[ing] the ambition of your brain with the intelligence of your body." 

I want all of our majors to keep this in mind as you begin the semester next week. You will have myriad commitments in addition to the most important, your academic coursework, and there will be times when it may be useful to examine how "stretched" you are and if you need to rebalance. Below this blog are resources to help prevent and mitigate stretching-too-thin.  Now, having said that, I'm sharing below my many recommendations to prepare for your career exploration and job search this academic year. There is a lot! However you approach reading this list and taking action, keep in mind the stretch and stretching-too-thin. There's a lot listed below and you may want to pace yourself rather than take from the buffet all in one pass.

1 - Update your resume, Handshake profile, LInkedIn profile with any summer experiences you have had and have these critiqued by VMOCK and career counselors:​

  • ​Research (your own, work-related, or from a class)
  • Classes that are relevant to the work you are pursuing, (include UVA, community college, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, etc.)
  • Work experience - include all of your accomplishments and responsibilities on a general resume, and then draw from them as you customize your resumes by industry and job function before submitting
  • Personal accomplishments in a Skills and Interests section - If you trained for a marathon, taught yourself guitar, learned a language, etc, this is information to include in a resume (See me or UVA Career Center to discuss further)
  • Update your GPA
  • Click here for resume and cover letter samples and review the UVA Hoos Career Guide for more

​2 - Handshake (Take these action steps, at the very least):

  • Update your work preferences by industry, job function, and geographic location. This allows alerts from the ECO and from employers
  • Determine if you'd like your profile viewable by employers
  • Take the On Grounds Interview (OGI) survey to be sure you are eligible to attend employer and alumni office hours, and apply for jobs by employers recruiting on Grounds
  • Review events and jobs by date to prepare yourself for upcoming relevant programs

3 - Self-Assessment:

4 - Job Applications and Interviews:

  • Familiarize yourself with recruiting calendar for the employers that interest you (pages 46-47 in the Hoos Career Guide)
  • Familiarize yourself with the types of application materials (resumes, cover letters, assessments, interviews) that are used in your sector/industries/job functions of interest
    • HireVue is a virtual job application platform. Many employers use this or other similar video assessments as screening tools
    • Pymetrics is a personality assessment many employers ask applicants to submit; there are many other types. Don't stress over these! 
    • VMock - an AI tool to help you prep your resume and your elevator pitch and perfect your LInkedIn profile
  • Visit job boards 

And if you want more....check out the ECO's suggested timeline of activities here.

Balancing resources:

https://csc.virginia.edu/page/explore-insight-timer
https://csc.virginia.edu/page/practice-meditation-csc-resources-and-oppo...
https://csc.virginia.edu/resources/spaces

 

 

The Southern Economic Association® Honors Twenty-Eight Distinguished Fellows As the Inaugural Cohort

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/23/2016

Midwest Macro conference: Jorge Miranda-Pinto

"This is definitely a great conference for macroeconomists and graduate students working on research. I could interact with Macroeconomists and students from all over the world (U Chicago, Northwester U, Feds, IMF, Bank of Canada, U Warwick, U de Chile, U Hong Kong, World Bank, etc). I attended very interesting sessions and learned a lot about the frontier of macroeconomic research, e,g. explaining the sources of inequality, monitoring financial institution to control systemic risk, predicting future crisis, etc. I received great feedback on my research, not only during my presentation, but also talking to economists throughout the conference. 

I presented my Job Market Paper "Sectoral Connectivity, Volatility, and Downturns: Lessons From Cross-Country Data". In this paper, I find that in emerging countries higher inter-connectivity among sectors of the economy (density of connections) is associated with higher volatility and sharper macroeconomic downturns. I observe the opposite for the group of developed economies, where denser sectoral connections are associated with lower volatility and milder downturns. I then build a multi sector model that, unlike existing models, has a role for the density of connections in shaping aggregate fluctuations. The key for the model to deliver the facts is that emerging economies have less flexible production technologies (manufacturing-intensive economies) while developed economies have more flexible technologies (service-intensive economies). The model implies that during downturns emerging economies with denser connections face constraints in the use of intermediate inputs, while developed economies with sparser connections face constraints in the use of labor."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/15/2019

Internships for Credit in Germany, Ireland, and South Africa

New UVA Programs with iXperience to Offer Liberal Arts Credit, Skills Development, and Practical Experience in Africa and Europe

 

A unique education abroad collaboration between the University of Virginia (College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the International Studies Office) and iXperience, a global educational company founded by two Yale University graduates, will offer undergraduate students from UVA and other universities the opportunity to combine liberal arts study, critical skills development, and practical work experience in Cape Town, South Africa; Berlin, Germany; and Lisbon, Portugal. The new summer programs will debut in May 2019.

  

Students enrolled in the programs earn from 6 to 10 credits from UVA. The program in Cape Town, called iX Immerse, is composed of two parts – a liberal arts component led by UVA faculty designed to provide students with a deep understanding of the South African context; and a “boot camp-style” practicum that immerses students in topics such as data science, product management, or digital design. The program combines an introduction to a 21st century knowledge and skill area, practical application with a South African company or non-profit, and critical reflection. The programs in Berlin and Lisbon, called iX Accelerate, offer a 6-credit liberal arts seminar with a boot camp focus on a topic (such as full stack coding) informed by liberal arts coursework and hands-on experience.

   

iXperience Campus, Cape Town, South Africa

The University of Virginia / iXperience relationship comes at a time when UVA’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences has been working to build on its reputation for academic excellence by advancing itself as an international leader in undergraduate education and global public engagement. With UVA as the academic sponsor, iXperience can offer programs with one of the world’s elite public universities while expanding the professional training opportunities for liberal arts students seeking a rewarding study abroad experience. Participants meet degree requirements, navigate and reflect on life in another country, and prepare for the workplace.

“The collaboration with iXperience has the potential to serve as a new model for higher education,” said Ian Baucom, the University of Virginia’s Buckner W. Clay Dean of Arts & Sciences. “This is a compelling way to integrate the liberal arts with skills-based learning and hands-on internship experiences in a global context, and we’re excited to offer this opportunity not only for students, but also for our faculty seeking research and teaching opportunities in Africa and Europe.”

Over the last three years, more than 150 UVA students have independently traveled to Cape Town and iXperience’s other international campuses during the summer to take non-credit iXperience courses rooted in technology, management consulting and other fields. Through the new collaboration between the University and iXperience, students in the iX Immerse program will have the added benefit of taking of UVA liberal arts coursework built on four key themes; history and politics, environment and sustainability, health and society, and arts and music. The course will be followed by iXperience’s blend of internships and “boot camp” skills training.

This unique educational experience empowers students to face the challenges of the future.""The world is changing at an increasingly rapid rate and in response our vision at iXperience is to bridge the gap between traditional education and futuristic skills development” said Aaron Fuchs, iXperience’s founder and CEO. “In collaboration with UVA, one of the preeminent public universities in the world, we are designing the future of learning by combining the liberal arts with progressive skills development in an international setting. This unique educational experience empowers students to face the challenges of the future."

Since its founding in South Africa in 2013, iXperience has grown globally with more than 1,000 students enrolled in its classes and internships in Cape Town, Berlin, and Lisbon.

   

iXperience students in Lisbon, Portugal

For more information about the new UVA / iXperience programs and the pilot courses debuting in summer 2019, visit the iXperience website.

UVA students interested in these programs must apply through the iXperience website and also secure institutional approval by submitting a UVA Education Abroad application (click on the program(s) of interest to get started).  

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/26/2023

17 Tips to Survive Your Next Networking Event

Article written by Darrah Brustein from ForbesThe ECO pulled our top 15 tips most applicable to the 2023 Undergraduate Economics Career Forum to feature below.

You arrive alone. Your heart is beating a little faster than normal and suddenly all of your charisma and charm go out the window. You try to lock eyes with someone so that you can find a temporary home in what can feel like a sea of strangers. But everyone looks happily engaged in conversation.

While this might sound like your experience at a middle school dance, it's also what many people feel when they enter a networking event. These are completely natural reactions, even for the biggest extroverts. The great news is that people go to these events to meet strangers, so you’re in the same position as everyone else. Here are 17 helpful tips for navigating a networking event and making the most of your time there:

  1. Be yourself. Networking events are meant as jumping-off points for relationship building. If you can't be yourself, you’ll be starting off these new relationships with a lie. Don’t try to be the person you think others want to meet. Be genuine. The people you connect with when you are authentic are the ones you’ll want to stay in touch with.
  2. Set reasonable expectations. When attending an event, understand what you are there to do. Is your goal to feel out a new organization and get to know the vibe? Is it to meet five new people? Is it to meet one or two specific people? These are all reasonable expectations and it takes a little pre-planning to set these goals.
  3. Take notes. When you ask for someone's card after having a great conversation, take notes on their business card after they walk away or immediately after the event. This will help you to be more specific in your follow-up.
  4. Introduce yourself to the organizer. A great way to get to know more about an organization and who is involved is to seek out the event organizer and introduce yourself. He/she can then help point you in the right direction and can introduce you to other attendees to get you off on the right foot.
  5. Treat people like friends. Would you go to a friend, interrupt his/her conversation, hand over a business card, talk about yourself and then walk away? Of course not. Treat new networking relationships as you’d treat your friendships. Build rapport and trust that business will happen.
  6. Ask great questions. The only way to get to know someone else is to ask them genuine and thoughtful questions. It’s always best to walk away from a conversation having allowed the other person to speak more than you did. Not only will they feel great about the conversation, but you’ll have gotten to know a lot about him/her, helping you plan and execute your follow-up more thoughtfully.
  7. Sharing is caring. This is no less true now than it was in kindergarten. If you are willing to share your contacts and resources, others will be more likely to help you as well. Develop a sincerity in your giving nature without expectation of something in return.
  8. Consider their network. When meeting people, it’s important to remember that even if they can't help you directly, someone in their network probably can.
  9. Treat connecting like a puzzle. If you’re asking great questions and considering how you can help others, you’ll naturally start to draw connections between who you are talking to and others in your network. Offer to make these connections! Perhaps they are two people who have the same target client industry, or maybe you know that a contact of yours is looking for the service the other provides. Encourage both parties to follow up with you after they meet so that you can hear what came of their interaction. It will not only pay dividends for you, it will also help you hone your matchmaking skills.
  10. Don’t be a card spammer. The closest thing to you throwing all of your business cards away is handing them out to anyone and everyone you meet without them asking. If you haven’t built enough rapport with someone to encourage them to ask for your card, don’t offer one.
  11. Be specific. The more specific you can be about what you do and what others can do to help you (if they ask), the better. Tell them the names of a few specific companies you’re looking to work with.
  12. Ask yourself why they should care. Consider why the person you’re speaking to should care about what you’re saying. Craft your conversations accordingly. You only have a short time to make an impression, so try to make it favorable.
  13. Be engaged. Keep eye contact with your conversation partner. Nod your head and tilt your body towards them when you’re speaking. These small cues go a long way towards making them feel like you care, which helps you to build rapport and trust: the foundation on which you can later do business.
  14. Do NOT "work the room." Don't try to meet as many people as possible in a room; focus on making just a few solid connections. People can sense when you’re simply speaking with them to grab their card and go. These short interactions will not be memorable and therefore work against you. Aim to meet a few people and begin a meaningful dialogue.
  15. Don’t be afraid to join in. There is nothing wrong with joining a conversation and waiting for a natural break in the chatter to introduce yourself. In most cases, the people who are already speaking will enjoy the interruption because it gives them a chance to meet someone new. If you sense that you’ve entered into a serious discussion, it’s okay to politely excuse yourself.

Now you're prepared to rock your next networking event and hopefully build some meaningful relationships in the process. And remember; do talk to strangers!

Darrah Brustein is the founder of Network Under 40, a networking organization for young professionals.

Feature | 12/01/2021

Joaquin Saldain Presents at 2021 SEA, LACEA LAMES and NTA Meetings

Joaquin Saldain, a sixth-year student, presented his paper, "A Quantitative Model of High-Cost Consumer Credit," at the 2021 Annual SEA, LACEA LAMES and NTA Meetings. Joaquin provided the following summary of his work: "I study the welfare consequences of regulations on high-cost consumer credit in the US, such as borrowing limits and interest rate caps. I estimate a heterogeneous-agents model with risk-based pricing of loans that features standard exponential discounters and households with self-control and temptation. I use transaction-level payday lending data and the literature's valuations of a no-borrowing incentive to identify different household types. I find that one-third of high-cost borrowers suffer from temptation. Although individually targeted regulation could improve the welfare of these households, I find that noncontingent regulatory borrowing limits and interest-rate caps—like those contained in typical regulations of payday loans—reduce the welfare of all types of households. The reason is that lenders offer borrowers tight individually-targeted loan price schedules that limit households' borrowing capacity so that noncontingent regulatory limits cannot improve welfare over them. "

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/31/2017

ECO NEWSLETTER 1.31.17

Networking Programs! New Job Postings! Economics Career Forum!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/17/2020

Week of Jan 13 Newsletter

Things just haven't been the same without you! As you get back into the rhythm of the semester, keep an eye out for upcoming ECO events and networking opportunities on Handshake. On the 24th, the ECO will be holding an Internship Panel with Econ upper-level students who have successfully gone through the recruiting process. Drop by for snacks and straightforward advice from your peers. The ECO offers individual advising to majors. You can sign up through Handshake for appointments if you've taken the brief pre-req workshop. The next pre-req worksho will be held this Friday, January 17 at noon in Monroe 120. Sign up at the links.

ECO Internship Panel

Join us and a panel of economics majors at the ECO's Spring Internship Panel as they discuss their recruitment experience, the internship search process, on-the-job experiences, and their next steps. The program will include 30 minutes for the panel, 15-30 minutes of formal Q&A and then 30 minutes of networking with the panelists. We will provide snacks for attendees at the networking portion of the program.
Sign Up Here

Upcoming Events

ECO Orientation for All Economics Majors; Job and Internship Workshop- Pre-Req for Advising (Sponsored by the ECO)
Fri, Jan 17 12:00 pm EST - 12:50 pm EST
Monroe Hall, Room 120
Sign Up Here

ECO Internship Panel (Sponsored by the ECO)
Fri, Jan 24 12:00 pm EST - 1:30 pm EST
Monroe Hall, Room 130
Sign Up Here

UVA Spring 2020 JCPenney Suit Up!
Sun, Jan 26 6:00 pm EST - 9:00 pm EST
1639 Rio Rd E, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
Sign Up Here

2020 Spring Job and Internship Fair (Engineering and University-wide Career Fair )
Wed, Jan 29 10:00 am EST - 3:00 pm EST
Thu, Jan 30 10:00 am EST - 3:00 pm EST
Newcomb Hall (Student Center)
Sign Up Here

2020 DC IMPACTLink Interviews - PSG Day in DC
Fri, Feb 7 9:00 am EST - 5:00 pm EST
1779 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia 20036, United States
Sign Up Here
Deadline for resumes is January 20th

Employers Recruiting at ImpactLink in DC

  1. American Enterprise Institute
  2. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  3. Cleary Gottlieb
  4. FEMA
  5. Hanover Research
  6. KaBOOM!
  7. Keybridge Communications
  8. National Endowment for Democracy
  9. Tesla Government
  10. US Department of Justice/Antitrust Division
  11. Y Analytics, PBC

Jobs & Internships for Econ Majors

Jobs on Handshake

1/28: Financial Planning and Analysis Associate, Ciena (Hanover, MD)
1/30: Account Executive, E. W. Scripps (Baltimore, MD)
1/31: Business Development Representative, Quorum (Washington DC)
1/31: Marketing Associate, CRC Companies (Arlington, VA)
2/1: Private Equity Operations Intern, Broadtree Partners (NYC)
2/8: Venture Capital Analyst, Blisce (NYC)

Jobs Selected from External Boards

1/17: Royster Lawton Fellowship for Entrepreneurship and Social Impact
1/20: Strategy and Innovation Summer Associate, The Capital Group Companies Inc (L.A., CA)
1/31: 2020 Summer Leadership Academy, Accounting and Consulting Group LLC (Atlanta, GA)
3/1: Market Data Analyst, Bloomberg (Princeton, NJ)
3/1: Finance Leadership Development Program, Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ)
Summer Internships and Jobs found at WayUp

Feature | 07/19/2019

Diego Legal-Cañisá Presents Research on Consumer Bankruptcy at NAMSES

In June, 2019, Diego Legal-Cañisá presented his paper "Unemployment Insurance with Consumer Bankruptcy" at the North American Meeting of the Econometric Society in Seattle, Washington. The data shows that Chapter 7 bankruptcy rates across counties and Unemployment Insurance (UI) generosity are negatively correlated. This fact suggests that Chapter 7 bankruptcy and UI are substitute programs and raises the question of about the implications of consumer bankruptcy for optimal UI. Diego constructed a model matching main statistics regarding the U.S. unsecured credit and labor markets, including the main features of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and UI. The model successfully accounts for the negative relationship between bankruptcy rate and UI generosity observed in the data. In the model, for low levels of UI, a more generous UI reduces bankruptcy and allows more debt. As UI keep increasing, employment falls and lenders react by contracting credit supply. From an ex-ante welfare perspective, an increase in the replacement rate from 50% to 60% is welfare reducing when bankruptcy is allowed but would be welfare increasing without bankruptcy. The conference allowed Diego to get valuable feedback on his research and meet with prominent researchers in the field. It also resulted in an invitation to Diego to present his research at the Economics seminar series at VCU School of Business.

Feature | 11/13/2022

10 Things that Require Zero Talent

10 Things That Require ZERO Talent

Written by: Molly Fletcher

How often do we equate success with talent? All the time. But the reality is, success isn’t created by talent alone. Just like we might see immense talent squandered, we also see underdogs unexpectedly overachieve. Here are 10 behaviors that we can always control that require zero talent yet have a huge impact on our success.

1. Being on time. Punctuality is a keystone habit that requires organization and planning ahead—both of which lead to greater success. Here’s a good primer on why being on time is important and how anyone can make it a habit.

2. Work ethic. This is the discipline of showing up consistently and making the best decisions that lead to peak performance. Even at the pinnacle of his career, the late basketball superstar Kobe Bryant’s work ethic was legendary. Kevin Durant recalls the message a veteran Kobe sent the younger players at Olympic Trials back in 2008, just after Durant’s first year in the league. The players were given a day off, but there was Kobe, the only veteran getting on the bus to go work out at a high school gym. “He made 50 shots at each spot around the 3-point line,” Durant recalls. “We just looked down there and said, man, he’s the best player in the league and he took a bus to a high school to get some work in. It’s that work ethic that Kobe embraced throughout his career to become one of the all-time greats. As Kobe said after getting drafted straight out of high school in 1996, “I don’t want (fans) to think I’m just a high school kid coming in here thinking the world owes me something. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to work.”

3. Effort. Few athletes worked as hard as major league pitcher John Smoltz, who is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. As his agent, I saw him extend his career by years through sheer effort and commitment. He made up his mind to make changes along the way, like going from starter to closer, that kept him in the game as a valuable contributor to his team. Effort is a mindset as much as it is a behavior.

4. Body language. How you move and express yourself around others shapes who you are and how you are perceived. Anyone can improve, and here’s a TED talk that explains why and how.

5. Energy. Everyone has energy to devote to a goal, and the decision of how much to give. Be conscious about where yours goes.

6. Attitude. It’s up to you to keep going. No one else can decide that. A great attitude maximizes the talent that you do have and offsets what you lack.

7. Passion. Perhaps the single most important way each one of us can suffocate the fear that keeps us from peak performance.

8. Being coachable. Anyone can become a better listener, learn from feedback, and embrace the success of others.

9. Doing extra. Go the extra mile. I saw it all the time with the athletes I worked with. The ones who sustained their success were the ones who consistently worked at their craft beyond what was required. That extra work and preparation fosters confidence. We can all learn from this approach and exceed our own expectations.

10. Being prepared. Only you can give yourself the time and space to be as ready as you can be. Make it a habit, and you will make the most of your talent. There is great truth in the saying: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 06/28/2021

Article: Rock Your Summer Internship!

17 Tips to Get the Most out of Your Virtual Internship

Summer internships are an important part of a lot of students’ college educations. Unfortunately, they’re not exempt from the confusion the coronavirus pandemic has wrought on every aspect of our lives.

The good news: Most employers are keeping internships going this summer. Only 22% of employers planned to revoke some internship offers as of May 1, according to a poll by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Instead of cancelling them, NACE reports, “In general, employers are adapting their summer 2020 internship programs by moving as much programming to a virtual space as possible.”

At least 83% of companies in the poll intend to adapt their internship programs to respond to social distancing and stay-at-home orders this summer.

That could mean your internship offer is still on the table — but that table might be in your kitchen.

Don’t let the switch ruin your summer internship experience. Here’s how to get the most educational, professional and networking opportunities out of a virtual internship.

How to Make the Most of an Internship From Home

An internship is a rich opportunity to learn and even to land a full-time job. Turning it virtual doesn’t have to take away those opportunities.

Follow these tips to get as much education and opportunity out of your virtual internship as you could get in person:

1. Surface the Right Strengths

Some fields are more adaptable to remote work than others. If you had planned to spend your summer doing anything but working at a computer, you might have to find new muscles to flex.

Like, if you booked a political internship focused on knocking on doors or talking to people on the street, you’ll probably have to shift gears to social media marketing. If you were going to work with kids in child care or educational programs, you’ll have to get comfortable engaging them on-screen.

Draw on all your classes to put peripheral strengths to use in a virtual internship, even if the work isn’t what you expected.

Things like writing and blogging, graphic design, communications, coding, digital marketing and social media, and data analysis translate well to remote work. Be prepared to take them on this summer — and learn job skills you didn’t think you would!

2. Set a Schedule

You have to show up for work from home just as much as you would in an office. Keeping a daily schedule will help you be fully present during work hours and also disconnect when you’re not on the clock.

Don’t roll over in bed and log into email on your laptop at 9 a.m. Develop a healthy morning routine, so you show up to your work fresh and ready to focus. Get dressed. Don’t let housework, pets or Netflix creep into your work hours just because they’re right there.

3. Set Boundaries With Family and Roommates

The people you live with might mistake your being at home with being available for chores or socializing. Set boundaries early, so they know this isn’t the case.

Let everyone in your house know your work schedule before you start, so they understand why you don’t have time for them during the day.

More important: Enforce the boundaries. When they stop by to chat you up, let them know you have to get back to work. When they ask you to help fold laundry, turn them down, and let them know you can do it after 5 o’clock.

4. Set up a Dedicated Work Space

Designating a work space will complement your schedule — and boundary-setting efforts.

Settling into the same place to work each day signals to your brain that it’s time to work. And creating a space your house mates recognize as a work space helps remind them when you’re at work.

It doesn’t have to be a home office or anything major if you don’t have access to that kind of space. Just choose a place you can work comfortably and with limited distraction. A porch with a little shade could be a perfect summer office!

I recommend avoiding your bed, because it’s too easy to become sleepy. And I recommend avoiding the kitchen table if you live with a lot of people, because kitchens are busy spots. But do what works for you.

5. Take Care of Your Physical and Mental Health

Working from home eliminates some natural opportunities a workplace usually offers for physical activity and socializing. You’ll need that kind of self-care to stay creative, productive and focused during your internship.

Remote work can be tough on your mental health under any circumstances. A pandemic only compounds it.

Take care of your mental health during a virtual internship by:

  • Talking to a therapist online or through teletherapy apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace.
  • Meditating with YouTube tutorials or apps like Headspace and Calm.
  • Going outside for fresh air and sunshine.
  • Decompressing at the end of the day through exercise, journaling, social media, reading or something else relaxing.

Getting exercise and moving around is also helpful for your mental health, just as much as it is for your physical health. (My advice: Start now. Your hips will thank you when you’re older.)

Check out these products to stay active and healthy while working from home.

6. Become Familiar With the Tech

Companies often expect students to be tech wizards — but being a digital native doesn’t mean you know how to use every tool out there. 

If an internship is your first foray into corporate work, you might have never used remote work technology before.

Familiarize yourself with the company’s tools right away. Take time on your first day to log into your accounts, explore the settings and address issues before they become an annoyance in the course of your work.

Some tips:

  • Start a practice call on a video conferencing app, and download whatever software it prompts you to. Set your video, mic and audio preferences.
  • Log into chat apps, like Slack or Skype, and fill out your profile with a name, photo and title.
  • Sign into your company email to make sure your password works.
  • Download video and chat apps to your phone, sign into your accounts and adjust your notification preferences.

7. Ask Questions

I’ve spent a lot of my career being the dumbest person in the room — and that’s a good thing. My biggest asset has been my willingness to ask questions.

Your coworkers expect curiosity from you as an intern. You’re there to learn! Don’t waste the opportunity trying to prove to professionals that you’re already an expert. You’re not.

A virtual internship might present less-obvious opportunities to ask questions — sitting in on meetings, running into coworkers in the break room or sharing a desk cluster with your team.

So you have to be assertive.

PRO TIP

Speak up in virtual meetings or follow up via chat afterward. Ask “why” a lot, even when you think you know the answer. Respond to your manager’s requests to clarify tasks they want you to complete.

Lots of experts and employees say asking questions is vital to turning an internship into a job offer, so don’t shy away from your curiosity.

8. Ask About Company Culture

An on-site internship might present opportunities to dive into company culture, like lunch-and-learns or wacky dress-up days. But companies might not make that effort with a remote workforce, especially if they’re not accustomed to being separated.

Be proactive to show them you’re interested in participating in the culture, not just the job. Join virtual activities.

If no one is coordinating them, suggest some ideas to your team — a wacky-dress day can be just as fun over Zoom as in the office!

9. Keep an Internship Journal

You might have to log your hours and write a paper about your experience to earn college credit for your internship. But even if you don’t, I recommend jotting a few notes in a journal at the end of each day to reflect on your experience.

This is a useful way to decompress, take in the experience and understand what you’re learning. If you end up with internship coordinators who aren’t super engaged remotely, this self-reflection could come in extra handy.

10. Stay Open to Opportunities

Flipping the switch to a virtual internship might present you with unexpected opportunities. You’ll showcase strengths you didn’t expect to use, and the company will likely have needs it didn’t expect to have.

Stay open, and say yes to opportunities. Don’t turn tasks or projects down because they’re not traditional to your field or they’re not what you expected this role to be.

An internship is a place to learn, and staying nimble to possibilities — especially during a time that’s stressful for everyone you’re working with — is vital to your education and development.

11. Make Yourself Critical to the Company’s Success

In any internship, you could easily come in, complete your work and disappear at the end of the summer. Working remotely makes it even easier for you to totally fade from everyone’s memory when your internship ends.

Get ahead of that by doing the job so well the company doesn’t want to live without you.

Note that doing critical work could be a legal problem for an unpaid internship, so know your rights if a company actually can’t function without the work you do.

Instead, focus on being a star by being curious, taking on challenges and fitting into company culture, so the company can see how much of an asset you’d be as a full-time employee in any role.

How to Build Your Network Through a Virtual Internship

A major benefit of internships is building a network of mentors, professionals and other students in your field. Working from home could make that seem impossible.

Follow these tips to build your network virtually:

1. Do Your Homework

Ideally, you researched the company before applying, so you knew what you were getting into; or before your interview, so you could make a good impression.

But if you haven’t yet, bone up on the company’s history, mission, structure, operations and leadership. It’ll help you carry on conversations with your coworkers — and it’ll give you a great education in your field, too!

2. Find Everyone on Social Media

No matter how hard we try, virtual teams don’t seem to socialize as much as those working in a shared space. To make up for the lack of office chit chat, connect with employees and other interns through social media.

LinkedIn is an obvious place to start. You can connect with anyone from the company there to stay in tune with professional chatter. But polish your profile before sending the connection requests!

Twitter offers a similar opportunity to connect with people, even if you don’t know them well. If professionals in your field are active on Twitter, it might be a more useful platform than LinkedIn to follow and engage with influencers in the company, because Twitter users tend to get on the platform more regularly.

Facebook and Instagram might be appropriate platforms to connect with other interns and employees you work closely with. People are more active and personal on those, so they could help you forge connections that last beyond your internship.

3. Organize Virtual Events

Kudos to your company if it organizes virtual networking and social events for employees and interns. If it doesn’t — and that’s more likely — take the initiative to set them up yourself.

Reach out to human resources reps, a social committee or your supervisor, and suggest some ideas for virtual social gatherings to keep employees connected. If appropriate (i.e. if it’s not already someone else’s job), offer to coordinate it.

PRO TIP

You can organize networking events with just fellow interns. Bonding with them will improve your experience and lay the bedrock for your professional network that’ll be valuable for years to come.

Consider these virtual social events via video conference:

  • Happy hours
  • Pub trivia
  • Game night
  • Yoga classes
  • Workouts or fitness classes
  • Sewing or knitting circles
  • Book club
  • Movie night (check out Netflix Party for Chrome to stay in sync)
  • Roundtable chats on fun or educational topics
  • Talent shows

The possibilities are broad; just get creative!

4. Dress to Impress (Including Pants)

Working from home is no excuse to look sloppy. You don’t have to force yourself into Spanx to smooth a pencil skirt over your thighs, but you shouldn’t show up to Zoom meetings in bottomless pajamas, either.

You’ll make an impression in virtual meetings just like you would in person, so dress accordingly. Brush your hair, and wash it occasionally. Wear a clean, comfortable shirt, and change it every day.

Getting dressed for the work day might feel silly, especially if you’re only on camera for a meeting or two.

But studies have shown what you wear impacts your creativity, confidence and attention to detail, Scientific American reports

5. Get on the Phone

I might be an old millennial, but I definitely don’t prefer a phone call if any other option is available. Still, I know they’re important.

You can forge a connection with someone over the phone — or a video chat — that you can’t via text or email.

If you find yourself in a complicated conversation over text, email or chat with someone on your team, suggest hopping on a phone or video call. It’ll help you find clarity and also provide an opportunity for small talk you’d probably skip over text.

You can also suggest purely social calls — reach out to coworkers, and ask to set up a call to chat and get to know them better. It might feel awkward compared to just bumping into them over lunch, but use the unusual circumstances as an excuse to be more assertive.

6. Take Advantage of Your Signature

Most of your communication with people at the company will probably be via email or chat. Use your signature or status on those platforms to showcase your personality and achievements, and show coworkers where to connect with you outside of work.

Some things you could include in your email signature and Slack (or other app) status or profile:

  • Your location
  • Emojis that represent how you’re feeling each day
  • An inspiring, positive or funny quote
  • Links to your website and social media profiles
  • Your career aspirations, like “Future human rights lawyer”
  • Your areas of focus, like “writing, design and social media”
  • A call to action to support your favorite charity
  • Your personality profile from Meyers-Briggs, Enneagram, StrengthsFinders or other tests

Rock Your Summer Internship — From Anywhere

You don’t have to go into an office to have a valuable internship experience. Be nimble, stay positive and make the most of the opportunity you have.

Completing a virtual internship will give you a valuable skill set that might be in increasingly high demand in the future: knowing how to work from home.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) has been writing and editing since 2011, covering personal finance, careers and digital media.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/17/2018

4 Common Interview Questions - Including the Tough Ones!

Interview invitations should really come with a warning: Strong feelings of excitement changing suddenly into dread are imminent upon receiving this invitation. 

Career counselors (and yes, I’m guilty of this, too) will frequently say, “Oh, it’s a two-way street. You’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you.” And while that is partially true—you should definitely use the interview as a way to gauge whether or not you want to work for a company—there is still a power imbalance. Ultimately, the hiring manager will get to decide first whether you’ll get an offer. So, it’s understandable to be nervous. 

But fear not! With a little preparation, you’ll know exactly what to say to impress. To get you started, here are four tricky, but common, interview questions and how to tackle them....Click here for more: https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-common-interview-questions-and-4-perfec...

 

Feature | 12/01/2021

The Economics Department Welcomes Its 2021-23 Bridge Fellows

The Department of Economics is pleased to welcome the inaugural cohort of Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows, starting in Fall 2021: Abigail Matthew and Fatimah Shaalan. The Bridge to the Doctorate program is a two-year, post-baccalaureate program, designed to prepare students from groups that are underrepresented in economics for doctoral programs. Fellows have the opportunity to take graduate or advanced undergraduate classes and gain research experience under faculty supervision. The application deadline for the Fall 2022 entering cohort is March 1, 2022. No application fee or standardized test scores are required. For further information and to apply, please visit the link: https://graduate.as.virginia.edu/bridge-doctorate.

Savelle

Feature | 07/11/2018

Dan Savelle Selected to Present at ZEW Conference

Graduate student Daniel Savelle was selected to present his paper “Discrete Choices with (and without) Ordered Search” at the 16th ZEW Conference on the Economics of Information and Communication Technologies in Mannheim, Germany. Dan presented his theoretical research that relates ordered search with classic discrete choice. Other interesting topics presented at the conference included platform economics, bias in review systems, analysis of social media, and machine learning. This conference blends theoretical, empirical and policy oriented research to provide cutting-edge results pertaining to the digital economy.

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

Tips from a former Morgan Stanley Intern

A former Morgan Stanley intern, Ellen Jin, turned full-time Credit Risk Analyst talks about her experience with finding an internship and how she worked her way up to where she is now!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/27/2019

How to Answer: Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake

 

Although no one likes talking about their mistakes, being able to discuss your past mistakes in a job interview can actually be a great way of impressing the interviewer. So when you encounter a question like, “Tell me about a time you made a mistake,” during an interview for an internship or entry-level job, you should focus on how you dealt with the mistake and what you were able to learn from it. When the hiring manager asks this question, it’s not because they’re trying to trip you up; rather, it’s a chance for the interviewer to see that you are able to acknowledge your mistakes and learn from them, two very important qualities. An employer would rather hire candidates who admit and grow from their mistakes than those who think they never make any.

As with any frequently asked question, it’s important to make sure you have an answer prepared before you go in for the job interview. These tips will help you describe a time you made a mistake in a way that will make it clear you’re the right person for the job.

Be honest

It’s important to be able to admit that you’re capable of making mistakes (as we all are), and that you’re willing and able to admit it. Therefore, you should refer to an actual mistake you made instead of attempting to appear that you don’t make any.

Take responsibility

It’s tempting to catalog how other people’s actions led to your error. But if you spend time during your interview talking about all the ways in which others — or the company itself — failed, you’re not actually admitting you made a mistake. Instead of pointing the finger at others, acknowledge the role you played. Your answer should be related to work; the interviewer doesn’t want to hear about the argument you had with your parents. Nor do you want to reveal any mistakes that could indicate a lack of professionalism on your part. Stick with school or work-related issues that stemmed from a true oversight or misunderstanding:

Highlight the resolution

Make sure to spend time discussing how you addressed the problem and outline the concrete steps to took to rectify it. The interviewer will want to know how you handle complications.

Emphasize lessons learned

Demonstrate that the mistake you made was not in vain. The interviewer wants to know that you can learn from your mistakes and take action to make sure they don’t happen again. By concluding the story of your mistake with what you learned, you can frame the incident in a positive light and show that you’re able to grow from your mistakes.

Say something like: “At my previous internship, I underestimated the amount of time I would need to work on a presentation for a team meeting. I was still getting used to the workflow in a busy office so I didn’t realize that I would need an extra few hours to put a deck together. Luckily, I managed to catch the mistake before the presentation was due to take place and asked my manager for help to complete it in time. It was a valuable lesson in time management and I’ve become better at prioritization and mapping out my schedule as a result of that experience.”

While it can be awkward to discuss mistakes you’ve made, your ability to do so is an asset. Interviewers know it’s a difficult question, and that’s why the right response will signal that you’re the right candidate for the job.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as How to Dress for a Job Interview at a Nonprofit and find answers to common interview questions such as What Motivates You?

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/05/2016

ECO NEWSLETTER 9.5.16

Awesome events and job postings for econ majors! This week's prep programs for Career Fairs!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/27/2018

How A.I. May Affect Your Internship and Job Search

This article covers how AI may affect your internship and job search, and how you may be able to influence this by managing your electronic footprint and social media presence.

Secondly, the companies listed are potential employers for our students. Tip: Consider organizations that you read about, especially those that are doing work that interests you, as employment possibilities.

Wanted: The ‘perfect babysitter.’ Must pass AI scan for respect and attitude.

By Drew Harwell

When Jessie Battaglia started looking for a new babysitter for her 1-year-old son, she wanted more information than she could get from a criminal-background check, parent comments and a face-to-face interview.

So she turned to Predictim, an online service that uses “advanced artificial intelligence” to assess a babysitter’s personality, and aimed its scanners at one candidate’s thousands of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts.

The system offered an automated “risk rating” of the 24-year-old woman, saying she was at a “very low risk” of being a drug abuser. But it gave a slightly higher risk assessment — a 2 out of 5 — for bullying, harassment, being “disrespectful” and having a “bad attitude.”

The system didn’t explain why it had made that decision. But Battaglia, who had believed the sitter was trustworthy, suddenly felt pangs of doubt.

“Social media shows a person’s character,” said Battaglia, 29, who lives outside Los Angeles. “So why did she come in at a 2 and not a 1?”

Predictim is offering parents the same playbook that dozens of other tech firms are selling to employers around the world: artificial-intelligence systems that analyze a person’s speech, facial expressions and online history with promises of revealing the hidden aspects of their private lives.

The technology is reshaping how some companies approach recruiting, hiring and reviewing workers, offering employers an unrivaled look at job candidates through a new wave of invasive psychological assessment and surveillance.

The tech firm Fama says it uses AI to police workers' social media for “toxic behavior” and alert their bosses. And the recruitment-technology firm HireVue, which works with companies such as Geico, Hilton and Unilever, offers a system that automatically analyzes applicants' tone, word choice and facial movements during video interviews to predict their skill and demeanor on the job. (Candidates are encouraged to smile for best results.)

Read more

Soccer

Feature | 09/12/2018

Econ Grads Soccer Match, a Yearly Tradition

It is a yearly tradition for current Econ graduate students to meet, greet, and challenge the incoming class to a friendly soccer game. Current students include Hunda 'Hazard' Kebede, Abiy 'The Ankle Breaker' Teshome and Joaquin 'El Matatopos' Saldain, among other stars. After this first dust-up, new students are invited to join the Econ Grad soccer mailing list and team. Though you couldn't tell from this picture, this 2018 game was a co-ed event, and we hope that in future years, more female students will participate!

 

 

W&P Design

Feature | 01/18/2018

ECO Winter Break Trek to NYC 1.12.18

The ECO and nine students trekked to the NYC area over Winter Break to visit two power-house firms run by economics majors. First we visited private equity firm Kelso in Manhattan followed by a visit to W&P Design in Greenpoint, NYC an urban-industrial hot spot in Brooklyn. Details of our visit follow, but one important take away from both visits was the power of the UVA network. Our alumni discussed this directly and indirectly as benefiting them personally and in their professional work.

At Kelso, we met UVA economics alumnus CEO Frank Loverro and Managing Director, UVA History alumnus Frank Bynum in their plush offices on Park Ave. Firm V.P. Bill Frayer. (Colgate University) walked us through the recruiting process for PE and several deals that the firm has worked on. Kelso invests primarily in middle market companies in Energy, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Industrial, and Media. We learned about the deal process from idea sourcing through valuation, purchasing, management, and selling. We also heard how both Frank and Frank acquired their jobs at Kelso and what their work is like at the senior level. We met UVA McIntire School alumnus Forrest Compton, who discussed his background at Credit Suisse before moving to Kelso and Dan Slutsky's (Brown) experiences with Kelso as an Associate after moving from M&A at Bank of America. The attending students made some great connections for future opportunities. Kelso looks forward to staying connected to the department. 

Our next stop was W&P Design, "a unique full-stack product design company. The firm sees ideas through from design, to manufacturing and delivery. Economics alumnus Josh Williams gave us a tour of their open, contemporary multi-use space in an industrial section of Brooklyn overlooking the Hudson River. It offered a different office culture than Kelso and our UVA students had a chance to observe these very different work environments. The space houses a design team, sales team, operations and logistics, marketing, and production team. Manufacturing and most distribution are off-site. In just five years the company has grown from a staff of 2 (Josh and fellow UVA alumnus and long-time friend Eric Prum) to 80 employees in the states and 100 employees including their overseas staff. Their first round of major funding was for a particular product "the mason shaker" and was crowd-sourced through Kickstarter.  It was one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns at the time seeking a goal of $5,000 and reaching $75,000. The company's products are in catalogs all over the world and in stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Williams-Sonoma. But even with that national and international reach, they keep much business close to home in NYC and in Central Virginia. Their primary distribution center is close to Lynchburg.

A new major project for Josh and Eric is the launch of their consumer goods incubator, Assembly. It is an innovative model where ideas are conceived through the company leadership and then teams are hired to build the products and launch the newly founded company. They are hiring summer interns in sales and design, and full time staff in sales, design and project management. They are also seeking Co-Founders of their newest brands. 

Both Josh and Eric had other jobs before launching W&P, Josh with Lehman Brothers/Barclays and Eric working for a paintball manufacturing company. They got their first taste of owning their own business running a catering company in Charlottesville while they were students.

After leaving Barclay's, Josh attended Culinary School in New Orleans and soon after Eric and Josh launched W&PDesign, they brought on a former intern and friend, UVA alumna Elizabeth Tilton, to build out and run their marketing department. You can read more about all three UVA alumni and W&P Design here.

This first ECO trip was a huge success and we thank our alumni for making it so.

 

 

Feature | 04/22/2020

Yooseon Hwang Awarded 2020 Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) Summer Research Fellowship

Yooseon Hwang has been awarded a 2020 Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) Summer Research Fellowship for her research on how traffic congestion and environmental amenities affect home prices. Congratulations!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

The Reality of Student Debt is Different from the Cliches

Matt Chingos and Beth Akers from The Brookings Institution, who participated in an Econmics Career Office panel in 2013, have published their piece about student debt.  You may find the piece in its entirety here.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/15/2018

What to Say in Your Cover Letter

What to Say in Your Cover Letter

For someone new to the job market, it can be difficult to determine what to include on both the résumé and cover letter. You may feel that you have no experience to include, and your work experience could be non-existent or very limited.

When composing your cover letter, keep its purpose in mind: The cover letter is written to a specific position, aims to persuade the reader to read the resume, and asks for an interview. Your cover letters will be different each time you send one out. Maintaining the right focus will help you determine what to include in the letter. The type of letter will also help you focus: Are you writing to a recruiter or to a blind job posting? What you know of your audience will also help you focus your letter. Finally, your company research will guide you toward a direction appropriate for that particular opening or desired opening.

Just as you did when writing your résumé, review everything you learned about yourself through your assessments. What are your core values? What is your personality profile? What are your best skills? Why are you drawn to this profession? Put all this information in front of you, and review which aspects from your assessments are best suited to this particular position at this particular company. Also consider which characteristics the reader will likely be looking for. If you are responding to a job post, the post itself can often give some clues. Avoid repeating the desired information word-for-word, but do speak to those requests in the cover letter.

After drafting the letter, if you feel you are repeating the same information that is on the resume, use the same information in the body of your letter, but word it or present it differently. Look for information that you can summarize in one sentence instead of the two or three bulleted points you have on your résumé. Did you work summer jobs in sales? How much did you contribute to the bottom line overall? Were you repeatedly in leadership roles on school projects? Instead of listing each project, combine your experience in one pack-it-with-a-punch sentence. And if all else fails, focus hard on presenting your best accomplishments in a new way, but be wary of overusing your thesaurus.

Also consider how the same information can be presented in a different format. Quantifiable information that is listed as dollar figures on the resume can possible shown as a percentage in the cover letter, particularly if it is a figure that shows growth or some type of (positive) change.

For those who are new to the working world, focus on the educational background, volunteer activities, summer or part-time jobs, and any clubs or memberships that may be applicable. Review your background in all of these areas to see which should be stressed in the letter you are composing. Again, include the information that best meets the needs of the employer, and use that as a guide.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/17/2019

9 Tips for Thinking on Your Feet When You're Put on the Spot and Have to Sound Smart

9 Tips for Thinking on Your Feet When You're Put on the Spot and Have to Sound Smart

By: Stacey Lastoe
Source: The Muse

1. Focus on What’s Important

If you’re nervous [about speaking up in an impromptu setting], it probably means you’re overly focused on how other people are going to perceive you. Instead, focus on what’s being discussed and think about three questions: What do I not understand which could be better clarified? What question could I ask that would advance the discussion? What perspective or insight do I have that’s shareable? Don't worry about ‘looking smart’ or making some amazing point or comment. It’s a discussion, not a debate. 

Bruce Eckfeldt

2. Repeat the Question

One of the hardest parts of contributing to a conversation or answering questions in meetings is feeling as though you are under pressure to produce an expected response. One way to overcome this feeling is to not jump into your feedback too quickly. If your response isn’t clear, it can come off as an incomplete thought, or it may fail to address the question. To calm your nerves and come up with a thoughtful answer, simply repeat the question that was asked. This will ensure that you completely understand what’s going on before you attempt to contribute to the conversation. 

Allison Tatios

3. Call Upon Your Knowledge

People usually talk about the things that are of interest to them (professionally or personally), or information most relevant to the organization. Use your knowledge to generate questions that demonstrate your involvement in the conversation. Engaging others by asking questions puts them in a position to share more information, and it takes the stress and pressure off of you. For example, if one of your managers or leaders discusses the company mentoring program, ask her about her best or worst mentoring experiences. You can relay your enthusiasm or interest by restating highlights of what she shared. 

Adrean Turner

4. Take a Deep Breath Before You Do Anything Else

If someone asks you a question that catches you off guard, pause, look thoughtful, and say, ‘That’s a really interesting question. Let me take a minute to think about it.’ This gives you a moment to take a deep breath and collect your thoughts before responding. You’ll be less likely to get flustered. It’s a strategy that works well in interviews, too, if you’re asked a question you don’t have the answer to. 

Heidi Ravis

5. Project Confidence

This all boils down to having confidence in yourself. If you know who you are and feel good about what you’re doing, are regularly and positively engaged in your work, have learned the industry and, in general, have strong interactions with your peers and managers, you should feel comfortable sharing your insights and opinions in any given situation. 

Kristina Leonardi

6. Stop Being Afraid

Get over your fear of looking stupid. If you make a mistake and say something that isn’t immediately met with nods of agreement or approval, that’s OK. Follow your inner voice, and have your own thoughts. Asking a question is an easy way to assert yourself without risking too much if you’re especially nervous about adding to the conversation. But, if that’s the case, and your fear is making you mum, I recommend reading Patricia Ryan Madson’s Improv Wisdom, Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up

Anna Runyan

7. Take a Moment of Silence

Silence can be golden, so don’t be afraid to use it. If you’re unsure of how to answer a question, or are searching for the right words, it’s OK to pause for a bit before speaking. You can say, ‘Let me think,’ or ‘That’s a great question,’ while you piece your thoughts together in your mind. These phrases help buy you time until you’re ready to present the ideas swimming in your brain.

Ryan Kahn

8. Provide Your Point of View

I find it fascinating that when we’re asked for our input on a given topic, we often freeze up, or we feel unqualified to speak. You hold back because you don’t think you have enough expertise. But, you don’t gain expertise by keeping your mouth shut. You gain it by putting your ideas out there, and following what sticks. One of the biggest revelations I’ve helped my students achieve, is understanding that, while you may not feel entitled to share an expert’s opinion, you are always entitled to share your point of view. When you acknowledge that you’re providing your point of view, it takes the pressure off of needing to know everything, and helps you feel at ease sharing your thoughts. 

Rajiv Nathan

9. Avoid Going on the Defense

When we feel caught off guard, it can be easy to get defensive. If, during a meeting or spontaneous conversation, a colleague rattles off a litany of criticisms as to why your proposal won’t work, resist rejecting them by responding with ‘No, but...’ Instead, try the ‘Yes, and...’ strategy, a technique borrowed from improv comedy. By saying, ‘Yes, and... here’s how we overcome those challenges...’ you move the conversation forward. You inspire creative problem-solving, invite possibility, and create an atmosphere for constructive conversation.

Melody Wilding

 

Need a little help in your job search? Book one of these coaches for a one-on-one strategy session.

Feature | 05/23/2022

Joaquin Saldain Presents at Midwest Macroeconomics Conference

In May 2022, 6th-year student Joaquin Saldain presented his paper, "A Quantitative Model of High-Cost Consumer Credit,"  at the Midwest Macroeconomics Conference in Logan, Utah. Joaquin summarizes the paper this way: "I study the welfare consequences of regulations on high-cost consumer credit in the US, such as borrowing limits and interest rate caps. I estimate a heterogeneous-agents model with risk-based pricing of loans that features standard exponential discounters and households with self-control and temptation. I use transaction-level payday lending data and the literature's valuations of a no-borrowing incentive to identify different household types. I find that one-third of high-cost borrowers suffer from temptation. Although individually targeted regulation could improve the welfare of these households, I find that noncontingent regulatory borrowing limits and interest-rate caps—like those contained in typical regulations of payday loans—reduce the welfare of all types of households. The reason is that lenders offer borrowers tight individually-targeted loan price schedules that limit households' borrowing capacity so that noncontingent regulatory limits cannot improve welfare over them."

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/23/2018

Careers in Marketing Forum

Taking place next Thursday (9/27) and Friday (9/28), the Careers in Marketing forum is a unique opportunity for students to learn from a diverse group of Marketing alum representing many different areas within the industry. We have an impressive line-up this year with 16 alums committed to participate and a keynote with incredible experience, James Quarles, CEO of Strava, formerly of Instagram & Facebook who will be discussing: Marketing at the Intersection of Business and Consumer Needs.

 

For details and to RSVP:

Thursday Kickoff: https://app.joinhandshake.com/events/161935

Friday’s Forum: https://app.joinhandshake.com/events/161938

Feature | 02/18/2024

Omna Berhanu, UVA Economics student, participates on a panel about "Careers in Economics" at the SACE conference!

Omna Berhanu, UVA Economics student, participates on a panel about "Careers in Economics" at the SACE conference! Moderated ny Quentin Johnson, University of Chicago. 

https://lnkd.in/diqtBaPV

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

What Color Is Your Parachute?

Article on: Are You a Parachute Counselor, by Dick Bolles 

This article captures the essence of the book and students may want to read it independently, or follow up by checking out the book in its entirety.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 07/31/2021

Blog: Consulting Blog #2

This message was shared by the UVA Career Center for those students interested in management consulting careers. This is message #2 of 3 in the series. For additional information, see Collab/ECO Resources/Vault Guides/Consulting Careers and the ECO website’s Industry Overviews in the “Management Consulting” section. 

Now that you know more about the consulting industry and have a few firms in mind to research, let us talk more about getting prepared for recruiting. This email will focus on building out your materials and upskilling as you prepare for the recruiting process.

Important Process Update:  

Many of the top firms have accelerated their timelines to include deadlines a month or two earlier than previous years. Firms like BCG, Bain and McKinsey have first round application deadlines the second week of July, some of these are posted in Handshake while others are not. Be sure to check the "Careers" page of these organizations to stay in touch with their requirements and deadlines. There are also secondary deadlines in place in the early September period if you miss the July application period. If you have questions, come in and see us!

Create and Update Your Branding Materials: 

The resume is a key indicator into your skills set and how it might align with the consulting industry. It is vital that you spend time refining it to the skills recruiters are looking for and the specific role you are applying to. In addition to the resume, your social media presence is also an important aspect of the recruiting process.  

  • Resume & Cover Letter – Check out the Hoos Career Guide for tips on how to organize your resume and cover letter. Emphasize analytical abilities, experience in teams, communication skills, leadership/management experiences, and a history of achieving results. The consulting page on the Career Center website also has suggestions from firms on resume structure. 

  • VMock is a 24-7 online resume review tool, that leverages data science, machine learning, and natural language processing to provide instant personalized feedback. When you upload your resume, the platform assesses components such as action verbs, format, and how well the 5 core competencies (analytical, communication, leadership, teamwork and initiative) are reflected in your document 

  • LinkedIn – Create or update your LinkedIn account. Learn more about how to organize your profile and use Vmock’s Aspire feature to make sure it is getting noticed by recruiters. 

  • Social media – Clean up your social media accounts! Google your name to ensure that whatever populates is something you are comfortable with employers seeing. 

Make sure that your resume and cover letter have been reviewed by a career counselor. Each career services office also has career counseling available over the summer so it is never too early to have a second set of eyes on your materials. Check here for more information: Commerce Career Services, Economics Career Office, Center for Engineering Career Development, Batten Career Services, UVA Career Center

Build Relevant Skills 

Both LinkedIn Learning and Coursera provide opportunities to build up your skills in a way that can boost your resume. 

If you are not familiar with LinkedIn Learning, it provides you with the opportunity to take advantage of an extensive library of learning content, directly from your LinkedIn profile. Check out this page from the library on how to get started.

While there are numerous skills to focus on, here are a few highlights to consider that are consulting focused.

Feature | 05/23/2022

Yooseon Hwang presents at European UEA Conference

In April 2022, fifth-year student Yooseon Hwang presented her paper,"The Welfare Effects of Congestion Pricing," at the European Urban Economics Association Conference in London. The paper estimates the effects of congestion pricing on welfare by developing a quantitative spatial model with endogenous commuting costs.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 02/14/2017

ECO NEWSLETTER 2.14.17

Goldman Sachs, Alibaba, Think Tanks and Non-profits - Read on!

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 01/17/2022

Want to Help Change the World - Try 80,000 Hours, WSJ

AT WORK The Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2021

Can Your Career Help Change the World? You Have 80,000 Hours to Try.

Many of us want jobs that contribute to the social good. Effective Altruists say some lines of work benefit humanity more than others, and those positions might surprise you

 

By Krithika Varagur Follow

 

Oct. 10, 2021 5:30 am ET

Most of us hope our jobs make a positive difference in the world. It’s one reason companies have infused their mission statements with lofty goals of improving lives and talk of broader purpose in recent years.

Some workers aren’t leaving that to chance, using an evidence-based approach to pursue careers that they believe will provide the maximum benefit to humanity.

They belong to a movement called Effective Altruism, which relies on science and data to determine how individuals can use their time, money and skills to do the most good. Conceived by two Oxford University philosophers in the late 2000s, the EA approach is drawing new attention as the pandemic prompts many workers to reassess the sense of purpose and meaning they derive from their work.

Much of Effective Altruism’s early focus was on encouraging people to pursue lucrative careers to have more money to give and demonstrating which causes went the furthest to improve human lives. (Contributing toward deworming pills against parasites, for instance, helps keep millions of sub-Saharan African children in school, Effective Altruists say.) The early archetype of an EA acolyte was an investment banker or tech executive who gave large sums toward such interventions.

Through a nonprofit called 80,000 Hours, the movement has since expanded into helping people design do-good careers tailored to their talents and skills. The London-based organization, launched in 2011 by EA co-founder Will MacAskill and Benjamin Todd, gets its name from the 80,000 hours you are likely to spend working over a 40-year career, assuming you work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.

Of the roughly 2,000 consultations that the group has done with career seekers during the past decade, some 500 have happened in the past year, says Mr. Todd, the group’s chief executive. The Effective Altruism Forum estimates that, based on EA surveys, several thousand people world-wide are actively engaged in the movement’s community.

Finding the right altruistic career can take time. Adam Gleave, 28 years old, worked at a hedge fund after graduating from Cambridge University, where he first encountered EA. His plan had been to make a lot of money to give away, and he donated part of his salary to the Long-Term Future Fund, a nonprofit focused on global ​challenges like advanced artificial intelligence and pandemics. But he left his job after 10 months.

‘I felt like my job wasn’t directly addressing the problems I consider to be truly important.’

— Adam Gleave, now a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley

Rather than just donating to AI issues, he​ decided he could work on them himself. After ​conversations with 80,000 Hours members, he enrolled in an AI doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he develops techniques for refining machine learning systems, like the ones that generate product and news recommendations on social media platforms.

“I only want to work on problems that directly affect our lives,” he says. He hopes to eventually see his technical ideas put into practice by companies and through government regulations, after he completes his doctorate next year.

80,000 Hours advises people to aim for the highest-impact job that addresses the social problem of their choice. High-impact work often means a high-status position—by EA’s logic, working at a startup developing large-scale solutions for climate change, for instance, would usually be more effective than becoming a social worker. Its website includes a job board for hundreds of EA-aligned postings, most of them white-collar roles, like a China-focused analyst at a Washington think tank or a gene-editing research associate at an Australian biotech firm.


The organization’s own list of priorities reflect a distinct worldview. Effective Altruists focus on the really big, and sometimes abstract, picture, including AI, climate change, great power conflict, surveillance and the governance of outer space—topics that could be plucked from agendas at Davos or the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Scarlette Lesma, 29, discovered EA online a couple of years ago, and its ideas resonated with her. She had been a program manager at a software provider for the energy industry, and had grown frustrated that she couldn’t draw a direct line from her work to the advancement of renewable energy. From attending EA meetups in London, she learned about Counterfactual Ventures, a venture capital firm that supports startups working toward a sustainable food system. Discussing EA in her interview helped her land the job, she says, and her manager there is also into the movement.

“EA principles really influence how people react day-to-day at our company,” she says. There is a strong emphasis on numbers and measurable impacts, she says, and several founders backed by the company came to it through EA connections.

Numerous Effective Altruists are entrepreneurs—an especially high-impact career choice, according to group principles. Lincoln Quirk, 35, lives in Concord, N.H., and helps run a 1,000-employee startup called Wave, which enables mobile payments to sub-Saharan Africa. By focusing on countries with some of the world’s poorest populations, he says, the company’s technology stands to have a larger possible impact.

Mr. Quirk has attended Boston-area EA meetups for several years and also recruits from them. “At least 10 of our employees came to Wave from EA circles,” he says.

Some critics of the EA approach say it overly emphasizes fields out of the scope of many workers, such as AI, and gives short shrift to professions like teaching or healthcare, which also involve directly helping people. A career based on a hard-nosed calculation of societal impact isn’t necessarily the most fulfilling, they argue.

EA backers say their recommendations focus on the best available opportunities to help improve the long-term future, and that 80,000 Hours emphasizes the importance of personal fit for a job more than it once did.

I was intrigued enough to sign up for my own 80,000 Hours consultation. I’m not precisely the nonprofit’s target audience, which Mr. Todd described as a “self-selecting group” whose priority is to change the world in certain ways. (I admitted that I had some reservations, since I believe my job as a journalist is to inform, not advocate.)

After recapping my skills and experience on a brief online form, I hopped on a free 30-minute Zoom call with 80,000 Hours adviser Habiba Islam, who works full-time at the nonprofit after several years in management consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

There’s no need to change my profession, she says, but were I to further my career along EA principles, I could look out for stories on large-scale, but lesser-known, risks to humanity, such as AI biases or potential pandemics beyond Covid-19. Or are there other looming challenges I could tackle with my platform, she asks?

I tell her I’ll think about it.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 04/11/2022

Finding a Mentor Remotely

Below is a WSJ article about finding a professional mentor virtually, on the job or off. Many resources are recommended. As UVA students you also have access the the Econ Alumni and Friends List in Collab, the Virginia Alumni Mentor Network (VAM), and WahooConnect.  Take a read below and then map your plan to connect with potential mentors now, or in the future.

Yes, You Can Find a Mentor While Working Remotely

Young professionals slide into the DMs of their professional idols in the hopes of becoming their mentees

By Ray A. Smith

Jan. 27, 2022 9:14 am ET

 

Note to young professionals looking for a mentor as the pandemic drags on: Shoot your shot online.

Remote and hybrid work has upended many traditional mentorship arrangements, leaving up-and-comers in search of more seasoned professionals to learn from and help their career climb.

In the absence of in-person mentoring opportunities, people in their 20s and 30s are going online to pitch themselves as remote mentees, sometimes engaging in behavior once considered gauche, such as sending cold-call emails and sliding into the social-media direct messages, known as DMs, of stars in their field.

They risk not hearing back. Some prominent professionals might be wary of online messages from people they have neither met nor heard of. A number of mentees who have sought mentorship this way say they have caught the attention of people they admire because, well, everyone is online now.

Priya Jaisinghani said she spent months trying to connect with colleagues and potential mentors when she moved to Manhattan for an endocrinology fellowship in the summer of 2020. The fellowship would be her last big step before going into independent practice and she wanted mentors through this stage of her career, so she said she turned to Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse, joining group accounts, some of which focused on women in medicine or her specialty.

Last year, the 30-year-old came across the Twitter account of Vineet Arora, dean for medical education at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Priya Jaisinghani turned to Twitter and Instagram to reach out to other women in medicine or her specialty.

“I have a strong liking for quality improvement and patient safety, and Dr. Arora is, like, legendary in that field,” Dr. Jaisinghani said.

She decided to reach out on Twitter with a direct message and hoped Dr. Arora, whose account has more than 43,000 followers, would reply.

“I’m just like, ‘Hi, I’m a first-year fellow. I really want to look at this public health crisis that we’re seeing about the dissemination of the Covid-19 vaccine through a quality improvement lens,’ ” she said. She cited Dr. Arora’s expertise in her note and, to her surprise, she quickly responded.

“She seemed so open and warm,” Dr. Arora said. “I usually don’t agree to mentor anyone from a distance.”

Dr. Arora said she was wary of entering a virtual mentoring relationship because less time with a person—and more distance—meant there were more ways it could go wrong. The two ended up working on a monthslong research project together.

“She was so enthusiastic about it, it was a breath of fresh air,” Dr. Arora said.

They said they have stayed in touch by phone, video calls and social media. They still haven’t met in person, yet Dr. Jaisinghani calls the experience invaluable at a crucial career moment.

Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School, advises his students and young professionals to mimic the in-person experience as best they can by asking to help a would-be mentor on a project that can be collaborated on online, like a prototype rendering.

‘When I reached out to this guy, it was very targeted. It was a very different game.’

— Dunte Hector, a 32-year-old engineer who found a mentor on LinkedIn

Early and midcareer professionals can check whether their employer’s mentorship programs have remote options, as some companies have taken them virtual. Mentor, a nonprofit that provides resources for corporations and community organizations, connects mentors and mentees through a new app and moved its workplace mentoring initiative completely online during the pandemic, said Charline Alexandre-Joseph, Mentor’s director of workforce development.

Virtual mentoring existed before Covid-19 with e-mentoring platforms, but “they became more relevant for folks because of the crisis we all found ourselves in,” she said.

Large numbers of people are using LinkedIn to find potential mentors during the Covid-19 era, said Meg Garlinghouse, LinkedIn’s vice president of social impact.

LinkedIn tends to see an upswing in activity in January as people think about their career goals in the new year. The wider reshuffling in the labor market and the long stretch of remote work have people looking for career advisers. Searches for mentees and mentors on LinkedIn doubled during the first half of January 2022 compared with the same period a year ago, the company said. In the fall, more than half of 2,000 working adults in the U.S. surveyed said they have never had a mentor, while 18% said they currently had one, according to research done on behalf of LinkedIn.

Marissa King, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management, advises against cold emails asking someone to be a mentor. Instead, start by demonstrating interest in their work, by citing in correspondence to them their accomplishments, talks or research. Such actions prove you have done your homework, she said.

Dunte Hector sought career advice from a mentor, including over the summer when he was weighing a job change.

Dunte Hector, a 32-year-old engineer who lives near Denver, found a mentor on LinkedIn after starting a new associate product manager job last January. He had been googling for help to improve some of his skills and found a series of articles published several years ago. He decided to track down the author online. Mr. Hector didn’t identify his mentor.

“I sent him an email that basically says, ‘Hey, I found your article from 2017,’ and I put a link to it. I said, ‘This is the part that I loved. Do you have any recommendations for more information on this topic?’ ” Mr. Hector said.

Turns out, he did. Four days later Mr. Hector got a note recommending a whole book on the subject.

From there, the two began corresponding through LinkedIn, email and phone calls, Mr. Hector said. As the mentor-mentee relationship progressed, Mr. Hector said he sought career advice, including over the summer when he was weighing a job change. His mentor talked him through how to conduct his search since his current title isn’t a common one in his field, he said.

Before Covid-19, Mr. Hector said he would have gone fishing for mentors at networking events or in professional groups, where people showed up to in-person gatherings with the hope of finding someone wise to connect with.

“When I reached out to this guy, it was very targeted,” Mr. Hector said. “It was a very different game.”

Feature | 11/21/2022

Top 6 Skills Employers Are Looking for in Recent Grads in 2022

Article from The Muse

Recent college graduates, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that fewer employers than ever care about entry-level candidates’ GPAs—so all those exam and assignment grades that had you camping out in the library are worth less than you may have thought. 

The good news is that fewer employers than ever care about entry-level candidates’ GPAs—so the actual knowledge and skills you gained from your education and other experiences matter way more than the numbers on your transcript.

According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 37% of employers intend on screening recent grad applicants by GPA—down from a recent high of 73.3% just a few years ago.

As a recent grad, you’re probably more aware than anybody that grades aren’t necessarily a reflection of how much you learned in school or what you’re capable of in a work environment. This shift “signals a recognition that screening by GPA may weaken efforts to build an inclusive workforce as it can put students who are balancing school with work and other responsibilities at a disadvantage in the job market,” NACE executive director Shawn VanDerziel said in a press release.

So what are employers looking for in recent grads? The skills and abilities that you’ll actually use in the workplace. Here are the attributes that the most employers ranked as very/extremely important for the 2022-2023 recruiting year:

  1. Problem-solving skills (61.4% of employers said this was very or extremely important): Employers want workers who can identify issues and come up with solutions. Regardless of what your major was, you likely had to evaluate different aspects of an issue or question, decide on possible methods for finding an answer or drawing a conclusion, execute on one of these methods, and back up your decisions—all vital components of problem-solving.
  2. Ability to work in a team (61%): Those group projects were good for something. You can also use team sports and other group extracurriculars to demonstrate your ability to work well with others.
  3. Strong work ethic (52.4%): You just finished college, and you may have managed part-time jobs and/or extracurriculars on top of that. So you know how to work hard and get things done. (Read more about how to demonstrate soft skills—like work ethic—in your job search.)
  4. Analytical/quantitative skills (50.4%): These are the skills that help you find, evaluate, and synthesize information to make decisions and/or solve problems. For example, in college you may have had to analyze data for science or business courses, or you may have had to choose the right sources and incorporate them into a research project or paper.
  5. Communication skills (50%): Communication skills encapsulates any way you might share or receive information from others. In college you participated in class discussions, put together presentations, sent emails, and submitted written assignments like papers and lab reports.
  6. Technical skills (50%): Technical skills are the ability to use certain pieces of technology or specific methods or techniques, such as creating formulas in Excel, coding in Javascript, or optimizing conversion rates for a marketing campaign. As a recent college grad you definitely have some already and and can likely pick up more of them quickly.

Bonus tips for showing off your skills as a recent grad

So how do you show companies that you have these skills and qualities? Here are a few pointers for your resumecover letter, interview, and overall job hunt:

  1. Figure out what a specific company wants by closely reading the job description they’ve posted. Then, tailor your resume and other application materials to emphasize the skills you have that matter most for this job.
  2. Leverage internships and part-time jobsThese experiences show that you have the professional skills necessary to thrive in a full-time role. In fact, the NACE report found that relevant internship experience is the top deciding factor when there are two equally qualified recent grads competing for a position.
  3. Don’t restrict experience to paid work. Volunteer experienceextracurricular activitiesprojects, and coursework are all ways you could have acquired and used the skills employers are looking for. So mention that fundraising event you organized for a local hospital or the project that sent you out into the field to observe wildlife behavior.
  4. Don’t skip the cover letterCover letters can be hard to write, but even when they’re optional, they’re almost always worth it. You can use your cover letter to give specific examples of when you’ve used the skills an employer is looking for and connect your education and past experience to the entry-level role you want.
  5. Prepare for your interview. Be ready to answer common interview questions and prep a few stories that show how you’ve used skills and demonstrated qualities employers are looking for.
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 03/10/2024

38 Smart Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

Article written by Amy Gallo for Harvard Business Review.

“So, do you have any questions for me?”

When you reach this point in a job interview — where the interviewer is done with their questions and opens up the floor — you don’t want to be caught off guard. It’s important to have a plan for how you’ll respond, and a list of questions specific to that opportunity.

But what types of questions should you actually ask? And are there certain ones to avoid? I turned to two job interview experts for advice: Art Markman, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Bring Your Brain to Work, and John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of How to Get a Job You Love. Here are their recommendations for how to approach this part of the interview and sample questions they’ve seen work in practice.

How to Approach This Part of the Interview

Focus on two goals.

You might think of this portion of the interview as your chance to assess the organization and whether you really want to work there, and that’s true. One of your goals is to use these questions to help you determine if this opportunity is right for you, says Markman.

However, the interview isn’t over yet, and you still want to demonstrate that you are the best person for the job, says Lees. So, your other goal is to continue to prove you’re a fit for the specific opportunity. Lees suggests saying something like, “I do have a few questions but before I ask, can I say one thing?” That will give you an opportunity to drive home any key messages about your suitability for the job. In fact, before the interview, you should “decide in advance on two or three messages that you want to get across,” says Lees, and if you haven’t been able to convey those points in response to the questions you’ve been asked so far, you should do so now. Then, you can move on to your questions.

Personalize your questions.

How you phrase your questions is important. Rather than using generic language, you want to ask the questions as if they pertain specifically to you. For example, instead of “What does a typical day look like?” you want to ask “What would a typical day for me in this role look like?” That will allow the hiring manager to begin seeing you in the role. According to Lees, this is a “great psychological trick” because “as soon as they visualize you doing the job, it’s hard to let go of that image.”

Build off of your conversation.

You also want to pick up on what’s happened in the interview so far. Ask questions that build off of what you and the interviewer have discussed. You might want to follow up on a project they mentioned you’d be working on, or a responsibility that you didn’t see in the job description. The key is to make this portion of the interview feel like a continuation of the conversation.

Sample Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview

Here are categories of questions you’ll want to consider in an organized list, along with samples of each that you can personalize.

Questions about the specific job

  1. What are your expectations for me in this role?
  2. What’s the most important thing I should accomplish in the first 90 days?
  3. What’s the performance review process like here? How often would I be formally reviewed?
  4. What metrics or goals will my performance be evaluated against?
  5. What are the most immediate projects that I would take on?
  6. How long before I will be… [meeting with clients, have responsibility for my own accounts, interacting with other departments, etc.]?

Questions about the team

  1. What types of skills is the team missing that you’re looking to fill with a new hire?
  2. What are the biggest challenges that I might face in this position?
  3. Do you expect my main responsibilities in this position to change in the next six months to a year?
  4. Can you tell me about the team I’ll be working with?
  5. Who will I work with most closely? What other departments or units will I interact with?
  6. Can you tell me about my direct reports? What are their strengths and the team’s biggest challenges?

Questions for your potential boss

If the interviewer is your boss, you want to ask questions along these lines as well.

  1. How long have you been at the company?
  2. How long have you been a manager?
  3. What’s your favorite part of working here?

Questions about the company

One important note here: Don’t ask things that you can easily find with a quick Google search (more on this in the “Questions to Avoid” section).

  1. What are the current goals that the company is focused on, and how does this team work to support hitting those goals?
  2. What gets you most excited about the company’s future?
  3. How would you describe the company’s values?
  4. How has the company changed over the last few years?
  5. What are the company’s plans for growth and development?

Questions about the culture

Lees warns that you should take answers to questions about the company culture with a grain of salt. It’s highly unlikely that the interviewer is going to come out and tell you that the culture is unwelcoming, or even toxic. That’s why questions like #22 below can be helpful. They get at company culture without explicitly asking about it and can “help you uncover any unexpected elements about your potential new workplace,” Markman says.

  1. How do you typically onboard employees?
    • If the position will be remote, ask specifically about how remote employees are integrated into the company culture, Markman advises.
  2. What do new employees typically find surprising after they start?
  3. Is there anything that I should read before starting that would help me have a shared understanding with my colleagues?
    • Asking this question not only signals your interest in the position but also shows that you’re eager to have “shared cultural references with the people you’ll be working with,” Markman says.
  4. What’s your favorite office tradition?
  5. What do you and the team usually do for lunch?
  6. Do you ever do joint events with other departments or teams?
  7. What’s different about working here than anywhere else you’ve worked?
  8. How has the company changed since you joined?
Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/02/2021

7 Essential Career Readiness Tips for Students

Taken from Vault

Deciding what to do after school and how to prepare for life after college can be stressful and time-consuming. But it doesn’t have to be. If you follow the below seven stress-free tips, you’ll be well prepared for the next step in your life.

1. Actively build your network

If you want to advance professionally, you need to begin networking as soon as possible—and that means starting in college. You should always try to meet as many people as possible. And don’t be too hesitant to go to social gatherings. You can use social events hosted by your college as fantastic opportunities to engage with key individuals. When you do go to gatherings, don’t wait for others to approach you. Be prepared to take the lead and be the conversation starter.

2. Learn how to budget

Money management might be your last priority when you're in school. However, college is an excellent time to establish sustainable lifestyle decisions such as budgeting. While we all understand the importance of living within our means, it’s easy to forget to sit down and devote some time to developing and managing a budget.

Usually, creating a budget isn’t an issue for college students. But adhering to it is. Budgeting is based on the premise that you should never spend more money than you earn. Otherwise, you risk becoming engulfed in debt that will be hard to recover from. To begin to create a budget, determine how much money you have and which school expenses are unavoidable. These are figures that should remain relatively constant for the school year.

3. Refine and build your social media presence

It's critical to ensure that your social media profiles portray you favorably. Prospective employers will likely conduct an online search of you, and if they find something on your social media that they dislike or find offensive, it may cost you a job opportunity.

It’s also a good idea to start to use your social media to build your network. You can now use various social networking sites to interact with prominent people online. So, participate in online exchanges on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, to name a few. Contact employers, industry experts, recruiting agencies, passionate individuals, and so forth. Create connections that could help you later.

4. Work on your interviewing skills

One of the main things you'll need to do to prepare for life after college is master your interviewing skills. The best way to prepare is to practice your answers well in advance of interviews, so you can be ready to interview on a moment’s notice. It will be far less stressful later if you start preparing as early as possible while in college. Note that it’s an art to learn how to talk to employers and recruiters, and it takes time to master. You shouldn’t only begin to prepare for an interview the night before. Start now!

5. Find internships and mentorships

Any student who has searched for an internship will tell you that finding the perfect one can be challenging. They’ll also tell you it’s well worth the effort. There’s no disputing that an internship can give you many advantages, including essential experience that will help you develop a solid professional foundation as you begin your career path. This can lead to greater job prospects once you graduate, as well as a higher salary.

Also, a mentor can assist you in understanding professional environments by giving you viewpoints that can help you grow your career in its early stages. A mentor might be a professor with industry ties, a previous supervisor, or even a family member. Your choice of mentor will likely be influenced by your area of interest and intended career.

6. Think about student loan repayment

Consider your repayment strategy if you used student loans to help fund your education. There are likely several repayment choices available for federal student loans, including standard, graduated, and income-based repayment. Most likely, you'll have various terms to consider if you took out private student loans.

Also, if you plan to begin your post-grad career in a big city like Los Angeles or New York, you’ll need to be smart with your money and check what the best neighborhoods for renters are. For example, if you target affordable places for renters in NYC, you’ll be able to significantly cut your costs and use the extra money towards repaying your debt.

7. Follow your passions and know your worth

Career paths are full of twists and turns, as well as unexpected stops and starts. Consider your career as a three- or four-decade timeline. It isn't just one job. So, make sure to plant, nurture, and pursue your passions, since they’ll provide you with the most fulfillment and opportunities for success. College will help you find your strengths and realize your worth—claim them. Remember, there’s no one else like you—and that's your biggest strength.

Melissa Fisher is a full-time blogger with a focus on career counseling and job hunting. Her passions include reading true crime novels and playing with her two dogs.

Feature | 07/19/2019

Sarah Turner and PhD Candidate Emily Cook Publish Article on Effects of Universal College Testing

The study was referenced on June 25th in The Washington Post, Education Week, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; the abstract can be accessed using the following link: https://www.aera.net/Newsroom/Missed-Exams-and-Lost-Opportunities-Who-Could-Gain-from-Expanded-College-Admission-Testing

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/28/2021

ECO Article: Becoming a Morning Person Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Sleep and productivity experts weigh in on how to get your morning mojo back; ‘Whatever you do, don’t log on to your work email’

*From the ECO: Although this article intends an audience of working parents, this applies to anyone who is working on modifying their schedule to rise earlier, post-Covid.

For the Wall Street Journal
by Rachel Feintzeig
9.06.21

First I was waiting until the kids went back to daycare. Then the deadline was the return to the office, which never came.
Here I still was: avoiding my alarm clock, stumbling out to walk the dog in my pajamas, ignoring judgmental looks from my husband as he sipped his green smoothie, 6 a.m. workout complete. Had I even brushed my teeth?
I had to face it. My mornings were a mess.
It began as a small indulgence in a strange time, the delicious pandemic sleep-in. Virtual school meant no frenzied dropoffs; remote workers ditched the commute. What else was there to do, stuck at home? A Nielsen survey from June 2020 found 54% of those working remotely were getting up later than before, compared with 12% rising earlier.
Now, on the cusp of a new season, it’s time to take back our mornings. Many kids are returning to in-person learning. Some workers are being called to the office. And even if you don’t have something making you get out of bed, now might still be the moment.
“We kind of have to just do it ourselves, because we don’t know what’s coming next,” says Eric Komo, a manager with software company Leadpages, who lives in Roseville, Minn.

In the early days of the pandemic, he took advantage of the freedom, ditching his early-morning bike ride in favor of snoozing. It took a pandemic puppy to shock him and his husband back to a better routine. Boba, the 10-pound Shih Tzu the couple got in August last year, wakes up at 6 a.m. No exceptions.
Now the couple keeps a strict 10 p.m. bedtime, and they spend their mornings sharing coffee, reading newsletters and running outside together. Mr. Komo says he feels more energized.
“Secretly we were very grateful,” he says. “It got our day started and kind of opened up time in the morning that we didn’t know we needed.”
One of Mr. Komo’s colleagues at Leadpages, Bob Sparkins, seems a little less convinced. He has loved sleeping in until 8 a.m. during the pandemic.

“I know it’s healthier,” he says of shifting to earlier mornings, as his two kids transfer from their at-home pandemic learning pod back to school. Then he recalls how packing daily lunches feels. “Sisyphean.”
Mr. Sparkins has been prepping for the transition by setting a timer on his television so it automatically turns off by 10:30 p.m.—the effectiveness of the cue varies depending on how good the show is—and filling the freezer with home-cooked, easy-to-grab food, like pancakes for quick breakfasts. He has also talked to his boss about coming in a little late. The pandemic showed flexibility doesn’t have to impact productivity, he says.
How to get going
The sleep researchers I talked to would approve. They made me feel infinitely better about my own habits—so much so that I considered sharing some of their findings with my husband, in hopes of tempering all those loving but slightly condescending looks.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, you’re just lazy because you get up late,’ ” says Elise Facer-Childs, a research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, who has studied 
night owls. “But there’s actually really clear scientific evidence behind these differences.”
Still, she acknowledges we’re living in a morning person’s world. To shift earlier, start by getting into bed 15 minutes earlier than usual, says Rebecca Robbins, a sleep scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Cut out screen time at least 30 minutes before bed, and quit with the snooze button, which just interrupts the flow of natural sleep, she says.
Once you’re up, head outside. Exposure to light will help reset your circadian rhythm. After two weeks, you’ll feel good, Dr. Robbins says.
Being awake is only half the battle. You also need a solid morning routine, says Wendy Ellin, a workplace productivity consultant based in Atlanta.
“Do you want to live accidentally or do you want to live intentionally?” she asks. “Accidentally makes me nervous.”
Her own morning routine is a 45-minute eye-opener that includes meditating, sipping hot water with lemon, writing in a gratitude journal and stretching (a regimen I find both awe-inspiring and terrifying). She promises a mere 7 minutes is enough—just think about what motivates and focuses you. Do three yoga poses, turn on your coffee machine, pet your dog. Whatever you do, don’t log on to your work email, she advises.
“It’s more people needing your attention,” she says. “That stuff just starts to swirl in your head.” Save it for when you’ve had a little time to adjust to the waking world.

Add a buffer
Earlier in the pandemic, Edwin Akrong fell into the habit of rolling out of bed and heading straight to video calls on his computer. The “cold start” was jarring, says the Brooklyn, N.Y., resident, a co-founder and chief product officer at communication startup Katch.
“You’re not in the flow,” he says.
He realized he needed a buffer between sleep and work. These days, he wakes as early as 5:30 to fit in a run before meetings with colleagues in India..

Feature | 07/19/2019

Sarah Turner and PhD Candidate Emily Cook Publish Article on Effects of Universal College Testing

The study was referenced on June 25th in The Washington Post, Education Week, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; the abstract can be accessed using the following link: https://www.aera.net/Newsroom/Missed-Exams-and-Lost-Opportunities-Who-Could-Gain-from-Expanded-College-Admission-Testing

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/30/2021

ECO Blog: Conversations with the CIA and World Bank

Conversations with Employers: CIA and World Bank

While many of you have been attending employer information sessions and meeting up with alumni for informational interviews, I've had some great conversations with employers that want to hire our majors. At the bottom of this blog, I've included some questions I ask when meeting with employers to learn about their internship and full-time opportunities. I've been thinking about how to get the information that I gather to you, and then it struck me that I could reach you all right here on our blog. If we see some traffic to this blog page, I'll use this method again to convey notes to you.  

Below I've included a few notes about both employers and how you may follow up for more information. These notes are specifically based on recruiting economics majors. The CIA is recruiting other majors for other positions, and I encourage you to check out their website for more technical and engineering opportunities.

1 - CIA - they are recruiting for financial analysts and political analysts. They do hire economic analysts but don't have an active posting right now. US citizenship is required. Second languages are useful but not required. There is great opportunity for promotion, advancement, and diversity of opportunity. 
These jobs require a security clearance, which can take some time to receive so connecting with the recruiter about interest early is helpful. I can connect you directly with the UVA recruiter. Send me an email to get started. 

As a Political Analyst at the CIA, you’ll support policymakers by producing and delivering written and oral assessments of the domestic politics, foreign policy, stability, and social issues of foreign governments and entities. Analysts examine actors’ goals and motivations, culture, values, history, society, decision-making processes, and ideologies in the context of how those elements affect U.S. interests and national security.

As a Finance Resource Officer Undergraduate Intern for the CIA, you will work with an accomplished and diverse team, providing a full range of financial support for mission requirements. Finance Resource Officers serve as one of the most trusted and financially accountable officers within the Agency and are responsible for the analysis and processing of financial transactions to ensure the financial integrity of the Agency’s funds. (taken from cia.gov)

Opportunities exist for foreign and domestic travel, language training, and analytic tradecraft and management training. You will have an opportunity to develop deep substantive expertise and participate in broadening assignments with other offices in the Agency and across the U.S. Government. (taken from cia.gov/careers) 

The paid time off sounds very generous. Other perks are continuous training and career development along with federal retirement and insurance.

To speak with their recruiter now, please contact me and I'll connect you.

Visit them:
9/8 on Grounds at the Finance Careers Night
9/22 at Intelligence and Security Networking Night

2 - World Bank

I spoke with economist Collette Wheeler, who works on the biannual Global Economic Prospects report. The World Bank has Short Term Consultant (STC) opportunities for imminent/recent graduates, who are interested in macro-economics. Topics researched and reported on include: Macroeconomics and Economic Growth, International Trade and Economics, Financial Sector Development. 

Taken from the January 2021 report: "The world economy is experiencing a very strong but uneven recovery, with many emerging market and developing economies facing obstacles to vaccination. The global outlook remains uncertain, with major risks around the path of the pandemic and the possibility of financial stress amid large debt loads. Policy makers face a difficult balancing act as they seek to nurture the recovery while safeguarding price stability and fiscal sustainability. A comprehensive set of policies will be required to promote a strong recovery that mitigates inequality and enhances environmental sustainability, ultimately putting economies on a path of green, resilient, and inclusive development. Prominently among the necessary policies are efforts to lower trade costs so that trade can once again become a robust engine of growth. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Global Economic Prospects. The Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies." 

STCs may work for 150 days of the year and contracts may be renewed in subsequent years. These STC roles often lead to full-time employment with the bank either in the analyst track or the economist track. As I understood, the economist track requires stronger writing skills. The work involves data scraping and cleaning information from more than 160 countries in order for the bank to write its biannual reports. STCs will gather data from databases such as Bloomberg and create visualizations of their data using Excel, Matlab, and STATA. Familiarity with any of these tools will be helpful in the recruitment process. Ms. Wheeler works on Chapters 1 and 2 of the report. The research covers more than 200 commodities. The majority of Research Assistants at the WB, began as STCs, which means the STC job opens the door for future career prospects.

The application involves submitting a cover letter and resume. Then you may be contacted for a screening call, an Excel test, and a behavioral interview.  You may be asked macro-based questions in an interview and likely will be interviewed by multiple staff and scholars.

If these topics sound interesting to you, I encourage you to reach out to Collette Wheeler for an introductory call. Please contact me to connect with Ms. Wheeler.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some Questions I Ask Employers
Often I conduct research before my employer meetings and may have answers to some of the questions below, in which case I either don't ask the question, or I confirm through the conversation.

  • What industry is your organization in and who are its clients?
  • Who are the competitors in this space?
  • What internship and entry-level positions are available now/typically?
  • What skills and knowledge are you seeking?
  • What makes a competitive candidate? (similar to the question above)
  • Are there other backgrounds you are seeking for your hiring needs? 
  • Talk about diversity initiatives you have in place for recruiting and inside the organization.
  • Are there mentorship opportunities for new employees?
  • What are the steps of the interview process?
  • How many students are you hiring?
  • At what other schools do you recruit and where do you see your best applicants and why? (Less important now with virtual recruiting)
  • How have our majors compared in the past to other UVA students/students at other schools?
  • What is the career trajectory?
  • What do employees typically do when they leave/why do they leave?
  • What is the compensation?
  • Who are the UVA alumni you work with at the organization (if any)?
  • How would you like to be involved with the department?
  • What kind of skill-building programs do you have in place to potentially share with our students?
  • How has Covid-19 affected your hiring/the work environment/on-boarding/start-dates?
     

 

 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/12/2016

What Can I Do with an Economics Major?

Wondering what you can do with a major in Economics?  Find out here!

Feature | 09/04/2020

Hoo-Rizons: Former Cavalier Baseball Star Crushes Yankees, Then His Final Exams

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 11/21/2023

2023 ECO Highlights

As 2023 draws to a close we wish to share with you some highlights!

Women in Economics:

In March, we became founding members of Women in Economics across the Nation, a consortium of universities brought together by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s 2023 February women’s symposium. As founding members, we are shaping programs both at UVA and in local communities to expose girls and women to career opportunities aligned with an economics degree and to demonstrate the flexibility of the degree in the labor market. Our next program was held in October when we co-hosted a virtual panel of 30 alumni from universities across the nation. In November we continued the conversation here on Grounds with six professionals who spoke on their career trajectories and challenges and opportunities for women in the labor market  While we received great feedback, one comment in particular stood out…
 

I really liked the luncheon opportunity to speak directly with the panelists. One unexpected aspect that I enjoyed was the presence of Econ grad student attendees and undergrads younger than me. My conversations ultimately felt more like intergenerational women in economics sharing as I gave a few second years advice on classes, the grad students counseled me on grad school, and the panelist spoke with the grad students about industry—all at the same table. This was a super cool experience...” 

Economics Undergraduate Economics Career Forum:

Our ECO Student Advisory Board planned and welcomed 8 UVA alumni back to Grounds for 36 hours of engaging and informative career programming reaching more than 100 student participants and 10 faculty partners. 

                                

Economics Resume and Cover Letter Guide:

We completed the publication of this guide to assist students in conceiving of and designing their professional materials for fields and job functions our majors pursue, with real resumes and cover letters of students and alumni who landed jobs in these fields.

Major to Major Career Coaching Fair:

We paired up fourth-years returning from summer internships with lower-level students to share opportunities and take advantage of our students’ very recent internship experiences. Strategies and advice were shared among more than 300 participants!

Advising:

We provided individual advising for more than 300 students and served 700 students through our workshops and other programs.

Outcomes Reports

We completed our analysis of the Class of 2022 and where they launched after graduation. We use this data in our advising, workshops, and to share with students as they consider declaring the major.

Alumni:

More than 50 alumni donated their time and expertise to our students through professional development programs, like conducting resume reviews, sitting on panels, and hosting information sessions representing their employers.

We listened to students in Econ 3010, who are on the way to declaring the major and established drop-in career advising opportunities for prospective majors.

Co-curricular Career Programming

The ECO continues our partnership with Econ 3010 whereby all students in Intermediate Micro economics, the gateway class to declare the major. participate in several professional development activities including writing and practicing their elevator pitch, building a LinkedIn profile, designing a personal strategic career plan, and attending career-related programming.

Outreach

We sent 30 weekly newsletters and more than 50 job and event announcements to students reaching more than 75% of our students as demonstrated by click-through rates.

The ECO builds community, provides career education, and encourages new networks for our students, alumni, faculty, and friends.

Click here to make a gift to the ECO. Every gift of all sizes makes a difference in our work. Thank you for your support.

 

Feature | 01/26/2024

Academic research award: problem solvers for the planet

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/26/2017

JOB INTERVIEW BASICS: PREPARE WELL TO PRESENT WELL

"You put together a solid resume and cover letter, and you’ve just been called in for an interview. If you’re like most job seekers, you may be thinking you’ll just throw on a decent outfit that morning, show up on time, and wing it. That’s fine, if your goal is to be like most job seekers. If you’d prefer to stand out from the crowd, read on."

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 09/23/2016

Networking for Economics majors- Part 2 of 2

Part 2 of two articles for Economics majors, written by Professor Bill Conerly.

Elzinga Flash Seminar

Feature | 08/16/2021

ECO Article: Resumes and Best Practices

How to Write a College Resume That’ll Get You Hired (Plus an Example!)

by Meredith Pepin at The Muse

person sitting at desk in college dorm room with laptop

James Woodson/Getty Images

When you’re in college, a strong resume is one of the first things that helps you land an internship or part-time job. It represents you to employers when you can’t be in the room (yet!) and is essential to convincing them to call you for an interview based on your previous experiences and current skills. Whether you have a resume you used for college applications or are starting completely from scratch, putting effort into your resume now gives you a higher likelihood of success and sets a solid foundation, making it a breeze to update in the future as you—and it—evolve.

If you feel like you have nothing to put on your resume, don’t worry. After advising hundreds of students on these documents, I know you have more to offer than you think! I frequently meet first-year college students who believe they can’t include many of the things they did before college on a resume. You absolutely can—and you should—until those get outranked by all the other awesome things you’ll accumulate over the course of your college career. Even if you’re a freshly minted high school graduate, you have valuable skills and experiences employers want, and this guide can help you showcase them.

Read on to learn about what goes on your resume, how to format it, and what else you can do to ensure it makes you shine—and to see our college resume example.

 

 

What Goes on a College Resume

In setting up your resume, you should use a few core sections to help you easily lay out all the information a recruiter is looking for when they make quick decisions about whether or not to interview you. (And yes, recruiters do skim, reportedly spending an average of 7.4 seconds making their first pass on a resume, so you want to make a good impression fast).

Contact Info

It’s traditional to start with your basic contact information at the top of your document including your name, email, phone, and the city and state where you live. Use your full name (and maybe bump up the font a point or two because you’re a big deal!), and if you have a nickname you prefer, you can include it in parentheses.

Use your college email as it’s typically professional and establishes your educational brand. Now is also a good time to check that your phone’s voicemail greeting is up-to-date. In case a recruiter calls while you’re busy—or you don’t recognize the number and swipe it to voicemail—this greeting could be their first impression of you. Even recording something as simple as, “Hello, you’ve reached Christine. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible,” can help them feel confident they reached the right person and that you’re able to present yourself professionally.

Your physical location can be based either on your school’s address or your permanent home address. If you’re targeting opportunities in one location or the other, include the most local address so they know you’re familiar with the area (and likely won’t have a problem finding housing).

Pro tip: Save space by listing your email, phone, and location all on one line. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can add that in your contact information section as well. The result might look like this:

Karla Perez
Stillwater, MN ∙ (000) 765-4321 ∙ karla.r.perez@university.eduwww.linkedin.com/krperez

Education

For college students, education should be right below the contact information on your resume. This immediately orients your reader to the fact that you’re a current student and conveys important information, like what you’re studying. What you include in your education section can also demonstrate that you’re a good match for the opportunity you’re targeting, increasing your chances of a recruiter call.

The basics you should always include are:

  • Your school’s name
  • Your expected graduation date
  • The type of degree you’re pursuing: For example, you might write “Bachelor of Arts” or “Associate’s Degree.”
  • Any majors, minors, or concentrations: If you’re applying to opportunities in these areas, this will help an employer see you already have some knowledge and a motivation for working with them.

Depending on your personal strengths and what jobs you’re applying for, you might also want to include:

  • Your GPA: But only if it’s strong. (It’s usually good to include 3.5 and above.) If you stumbled through some of the general requirements you had to take but nailed all the courses in your major, consider adding two GPAs—your cumulative GPA and your major GPA—to show you have stronger grades in your chosen discipline.
  • Standardized test scores: If you’re applying to opportunities in quantitative fields, like finance or consulting, you might consider listing standardized test scores like the SAT or ACT.
  • Relevant coursework: Selecting and highlighting three to five classes that match closely with the specific opportunity you’re applying to is a really fast way to tailor your resume and make you a more attractive match. For example, if you’re targeting an internship in computer science, you can list your “Introduction to Python” and “Introduction to Algorithms” classes.
  • Other colleges or universities you’ve attended: If you’re a transfer student or you studied abroad at another university, adding these schools can signal that you have other strengths, such as cultural awareness or language skills, or give you a chance to highlight key classes you took elsewhere.
  • Your high school: If you’re shooting for an opportunity local to your high school or went somewhere well-known, then you may want to keep that as your last entry for educational experience. Otherwise, high school is the first entry to cut when you’re short on space. It has gotten you to where you need to be, but the focus should now be on the higher-level degree you’re working on and you should dedicate as much space as you need to boast about all of your amazing college accomplishments!

Here is an example of what a completed “Education” section might look like:

EDUCATION

Candidate for Bachelor of Arts degree, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Double Major: Political Science and Economics ∙ Expected Graduation: May 2023 ∙ GPA: 3.7
Relevant Coursework: Introduction to Political Theory, Politics and Human Rights, Global Interdependence

Experience

The experience section is where the real substance of your resume lives. This is the chance to show a snapshot of the jobs and internships you’ve had (if any), the work you did, the skills you used, and your accomplishments. Let’s talk about what experience you can include, how to pull out skills and demonstrate your value, and what it should look like on the page.

Experience can cover a lot of things. It can be full-time jobs, part-time jobs, internships, or research. Unpaid work—like volunteer and community roles—counts too! Don’t discount the value these other kinds of experiences can add to your resume just because you didn’t earn money. You can leverage all of your experiences on a resume by pulling out transferable skills, or broader talents you’ve developed that will be beneficial even if you aren’t applying to the same type of role.

Take a significant class project, for example. That can be built out as experience as long as you’re clear it was for a class. If you worked on a group project, you probably collaborated on a team, organized, worked under deadlines, completed some independent tasks, presented your work to others, and had some kind of outcome. Even if you were doing something that might not seem widely applicable, like designing a rocket, many of those skills can transfer over to another role. Say you had to do cost comparisons for the materials you selected for your rocket, those same analysis skills could be useful to a business role or for a part-time job where you have to order supplies for a restaurant.

You can also create targeted headers for your Experience section(s) if there are themes that correlate with the internship or part-time job you want. Specific headers—such as “Research Experience,” “Marketing Experience,” or “Software Engineering Experience”—can immediately help your reader see that you’re aligned with the needs they have for their open role.

If you don’t have something that specific, it’s OK. You can still shift your experiences into categories like “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience.” For example, if you’re applying to research roles, you’d want to put any research related work under “Relevant Experience,” and your cashier job and website building side hustle would go under “Additional Experience.” These two headers are great for allowing you to bump the best of your experiences up toward the top of your resume.

Once you decide which headers to use, make sure each entry includes basic information—the title of your role, the organization’s name, the location, and the dates you worked there—along with bullet points describing what you accomplished. For example:

InternMinnesota State Senate, St. Paul, MN
June 2019–August 2019

  • Researched prior legislation and current bills, summarized content, and identified alternate actions
  • Coordinated the schedule for Senator Harriet Maxwell and kept accurate minutes for all meetings
  • Drafted memos for important interoffice updates outside of normal meeting schedule

Skills

A skills section is a great way to make your most valuable knowledge and expertise stand out—and be easily spotted by a recruiter. Which skills belong in your own skill section depend on the jobs you’re applying for, so be sure to read the job description carefully to figure out what skills are most relevant for each particular role.

Skills that might appear in this section include (but are definitely not limited to): technical skills; software or other tools you know well; languages you can speak, read, or write; other job-specific skills like using a POS system or cash register; and, for some jobs, even your ability to drive different vehicles.

From this range, you can see why it’s important to change things up based on what job you’re applying to! Some skills—for example, being fluent or conversational in a second language—might be relatively permanent fixtures on a college resume. If you’re looking for a part-time job waiting tables, you might add the fact that you can bartend, whereas you might list your mastery in JavaScript instead when going after that software engineering internship you have your eye on.

Once you’ve decided which skills are most important for this role, you can simply list them on your resume. If you have a few different types of skills, you can separate them into categories. For instance:

SKILLS

Languages: Spanish (Fluent); Russian (Basic)
Software: JavaScript, Python, CSS

Note that just listing your skills in a separate section isn’t always enough. You also want to make sure to describe how you’ve used key technical and job skills elsewhere on your resume (usually in the bullet points of your experience section).

Other Optional Sections

There are some other sections you can consider adding depending on your experiences and what your target employer might be looking for. For example, a consumer product firm might be looking for examples of design work. In that case you could add a section called “Design Projects,” which might include significant assignments from some of your academic classes or independent projects that you’ve developed in your spare time. Don’t be afraid to include links to your work if you’re submitting your resume online! (Just avoid hyperlinking out from important words, as this could trip up the online systems that scan most resumes.)

Another popular section is “Leadership Experience” where roles like being the vice president for one of your student organizations or being a co-captain for your athletic team would be a good fit. Employers love to see leadership themes on resumes, as it demonstrates the transferable soft skills they’re looking for like communication, collaboration, and initiative.

An “Activities” section can also demonstrate skills. If you dedicate time to learning more about consulting cases with your consulting club, you likely increased your analytical skills in a team setting, which is valuable for many business roles. If you’re an athlete, you can showcase your ability to manage your time, create or be part of a cohesive team, or organize and motivate teammates during practices. These skills gained as an athlete can be ideal if you’re applying for a heavily collaborative role. Additionally, if the activities that you’re involved in are directly applicable to the job, these are powerful to include as it demonstrates interest and dedication. So if you’re majoring in healthcare administration, adding that you’re a member of the Healthcare Society on your campus can be a major plus for an employer.

Any optional sections like these will usually need to be set up similar to your experience entries. Include the organization (or class), your role, the location, the dates you participated, and your key achievements. Here is an example of an entry you might put under a “Leadership” heading:

LEADERSHIP

Head DelegateModel United Nations, Northfield, MN
September 2019–April 2020

  • Researched global topics such as human rights and sustainable energy and developed persuasive positions
  • Represented Chile as a delegate in an education simulation at a conference with 2,000+ participants; negotiated with others and collaborated on common goals to deliver resolutions on political issues
  • Liaised between the delegation and the Secretariat, serving as a first point of contact and resolving issues

 

6 Tips for Writing a Successful College Resume

From formatting to crafting strong descriptions, attention to detail can pay off when tackling your resume. Here are six tips to help you develop a great resume:

1. Choose the Right Resume Format for You

Your parents or other family members might share their resume and have you copy it because it has worked for them. But they’re at a different place in their career and their format may not be the best one for you.

There are three main types of resume formats for laying out your experiences, skills, and education—the functional resume, the combination/hybrid resume, and the chronological resume. The chronological format is almost always the best fit for college students.

With a chronological resume, you’ll list your experiences within each category/section in reverse chronological order (most recent to least recent, based on end date). Since this is the most traditional and common resume format, recruiters are familiar with it and can quickly see what you have to offer.

2. Be Clear and Consistent

In terms of resume formatting, there are a lot of small choices to make about things like font, style, and spacing. Whatever you decide, make sure it is easily readable, consistent, and not overly fancy. You could have the greatest content in the world, but if it’s too difficult or annoying to read, a recruiter is going to move on.

In order to make a document easy to scan, use clear headers for your sections. Maybe they’re bold and in all caps, or maybe they’re a couple font sizes larger, but they should be the same throughout your resume. The rest of your content should be consistent as well. For example, all your organization or previous employer names might be in italics, your dates all right aligned, your locations in plain text, and the titles of your roles in bold. Keeping things uniform helps the recruiter easily absorb all the relevant information you want them to have.

3. Make Sure It Can Pass Through an Application Tracking System (ATS)

Formatting is also important because your resume will likely pass through something called an applicant tracking system (ATS), a type of software that helps recruiters organize incoming candidate applications. Recruiters can apply filters or search for keywords, and the ATS will show candidates matching the desired criteria, making it easier to identify good candidates in large applicant pools.

In order for your resume to pass this first round and make it to the human who has the power to get you to an interview, the ATS needs to see you’re a good match. But there are formatting choices that can confuse an ATS—for example, some won’t read the content inside tables, text boxes, or graphics. And if the ATS can’t read your materials, your resume might be filtered out. (Read more about formatting your resume for an ATS here.)

This all means that using one of the fancy resume templates you see online isn’t necessarily the best moveMost basic formatting can be achieved with bolding, italics, and spacing, and you will still end up with a good-looking resume—meaning that starting with a blank document can actually be a better bet. (If you still want to use a template, we’ve curated 41 free ATS-friendly templates here.)

4. Create Impactful Descriptions

Give the descriptions you use for your experiences some TLC, as this is what recruiters will focus on once you’ve caught their attention. I often discover students undersell—or simply forget—all the things they’ve done that might be interesting and of value to an employer (including those transferable skills).

Here’s an exercise that can help. Reflect on an experience (such as an internship you had or volunteer work you completed) and quickly jot down what you did. You don’t need to have much structure for this—try it as a brainstorm. Think about answering some of these questions:

  • What was your role?
  • What were the goals for that position or experience?
  • What tasks did you specifically do?
  • What projects did you work on?
  • Were there any side projects or tasks you completed?
  • Who did you work with?
  • What did you contribute?
  • What did you accomplish? (Or what did/do you intend to accomplish? This can be a useful way to think about things especially when considering research or longer term projects that are still in progress!)
  • Can it be quantified? Numbers can paint a clear and impressive picture of your accomplishments to someone reading your resume. You might write that you fundraised as part of the Student Government Association, and that will generally get your point across, but if you can say you increased SGA fundraising by 30% and were able to create two new social events attended by 100+ students each, that will make more of an impact. Look for ways to quantify your accomplishments wherever possible.

Once you have a good brainstorm, take the information you gathered and try crafting several statements using this formula:

Action Verb + Subject + Outcome/Purpose/Result (i.e. Accomplishment)

So you might say:

Organized a fundraiser event for 70 participants resulting in $1,000 in donations to a local hospital

Your descriptions are most valuable when leading with an action verb that reflects specific skills. For example, swap “Worked on” for “Collaborated on” and “Responsible for” with “Oversaw.” Other verbs I often recommend students use include:

  • Analyzed
  • Communicated
  • Created
  • Facilitated
  • Improved
  • Initiated
  • Led
  • Organized
  • Presented
  • Researched

5. Tailor Your Resume for Each Opportunity

Always tailor your resume to each specific job you apply to. Making it easy for the recruiter to connect your skills to what they are looking for can increase your chances of success. The job description is your blueprint and key to doing this. A couple of these exercises could help you identify what you’ll want to highlight.

  • Activity 1: Take the job description and go through and underline everything you’ve had some experience in. This might be specific tasks, software/programs/tools, or qualities. Write a quick note in the margin to highlight when you’ve done that. Underline things where you have transferable skills too. For example, if you’ve used a software that is similar to a software they’re looking for, underline it. A recruiter should be able to see on your resume that you used similar skills and would be a quick study.
  • Activity 2: If you aren’t sure which skills to emphasize, take the entire job description and pop it into a simple online word cloud generator, like TagCrowd. It automatically shows you the words most used in the description, which are likely of highest importance to the company or role. If you have those skills, make sure you mention them in your descriptions and mirror the language as exactly as possible (our friend the ATS will be looking for precise keywords!).

These activities can help you identify the right action verbs, keywords, and tools—like software—to weave into your descriptions. They can also help you decide what past experiences to include or which of your college courses are relevant to this role and which direct and transferable skills to highlight to make your resume a stronger fit for your target job.

6. Keep a Few Other Tried-and-True Tips in Mind

Here are a few other parting tips to keep in mind as you build your document:

  • Avoid writing in first person (“I,” “we,” “our,” and “my” statements).
  • Bullet points will make your document more readable—usually two to three per entry works well. But it doesn’t have to be even: Give more description space to the most relevant entries.
  • Attention to detail matters. Proofread—not just for typos, but to make sure formatting is consistent (like date dashes). Employers will use your resume to make assumptions about how detail-oriented you are.
  • Review any headers you put in all caps. Some spell checkers are programmed to assume that they’re acronyms and skip them.
  • Ditch jargon and acronyms wherever possible. Don’t assume the reader always knows what you’re talking about. Sometimes the first person reading your document is a general recruiter and not familiar with the technical side of a role.
  • Be aware of tenses. If you’ve completed an experience, those descriptions will be in past tense, and current roles can be described in present tense. (If you’re still actively involved in a role you can list the role through “Present,” and if more than one entry has the same end date, make a strategic decision to put the most relevant experience first.)
  • Acceptable margins are usually between one and 0.7 inches.
  • Pick a readable font, like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, and try not to go below font size 11.
  • As a college student, stick to a one-page resume. However, you should consider keeping a longer version (called a master resume) for your own personal use. That’s where you keep a full record of your experiences to make it easier to pull out the relevant ones each time you tailor your resume for a specific job.

What Does a College Resume Look Like?

A college resume should showcase your education, experiences, and skills (direct and transferable!) in a clear way, while keeping in mind what is most relevant to your target employer. The resume below shows a student highlighting their relevant education and experiences specifically for internship opportunities in government and politics.

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-write-college-resume-example