Internships are a must these days. Internships are becoming the best way to strengthen your job prospects.  With statistics showing high rates ofunemployment and underemployment (in other words, you have a degree and you’re working in a job that doesn’t require one) for recent college grads, a key way to distinguish yourself in the job market, beyond pursuing an in-demand field is to get relevant experience.  Interning is a great way to do this. 3 Steps to an Internship Game Plan I highly recommend the book, All Work, No Pay, to help you get an internship game plan, but here are

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been talking about what employers want in employees. (The 4 Cs of conscientiousness, creativity, communication, collaboration). After today, I feel like the things I talked about led me to jump to point C when I should have started at point A.   Why should I be talking about these 4 Cs when most people don’t even do the basics like showing up? You see, I teach a Work Skills class at the local community college.  It’s a 1 hour credit course designed to help students with resume writing, interviewing, workplace topics, etc.  Basically, it’s the tactical stuff of getting a job.

We’ve been following the career decision-making path of Graham by looking at his talents, passions and values to find appropriate job matches.   Much of what we’ve done so far requires matching personal characteristics with specific occupations. This is a very helpful process, but it doesn’t negate the reality that life happens and sometimes you’ve got to jump start your career pathway with action that may or may not lead to the specific careers targeted in your career exploration activities. John Krumboltz’s, (who with Ed Levine wrote, Luck is No Accident), career development theory is one of “planned happenstance”.   Basically, this view is that people