Holiday Cheers from Toppel!

By Bree Blair and Thien Van Tran

The Toppel Career Center will be closed for the holidays Monday, December 24 - Tuesday, January 1.  We will reopen on Wednesday, January 2 at 8:30 a.m. 

Walk-in advising resumes on Monday, January 7.  Career advisors will be critiquing resumes uploaded on HireACane beginning Wednesday, January 2.  

How to Find an On-Campus Job!

By: Bree Blair

On-campus jobs are sometimes the best of both worlds. The location is close, considering you live on or near campus, you get to meet other people from UM, and sometimes you even get to squeeze in some homework. What could be better? Well, to get all these great things about an on-campus job, you have to actually find one first!

One thing that some people get a little confused with is the Toppel Career Center and on-campus jobs. Since we are the career center, it would make sense to come looking here for jobs, but our jobs are a little different. The jobs we help with at Toppel are more the careers that you want for long-term or something that you prepared for in school with your degree. Toppel can even help you find part-time jobs or internships, but if you want a resource for on-campus jobs, check out the Office of Student Employment on campus.

The Office of Student Employment is located in the Rhodes House building, which is across from Eaton Residential College. For those of you who aren't too familiar with campus, this is located along Dickinson Drive. This office looks for degree-seeking students, and the jobs are delivered through the following programs: Federal Work Study, Miami Commitment, Student Assistant, and Graduate Assistant. If you would rather look for on-campus jobs without coming to campus, there is a way for that too!

If you log onto your myUM account, click the Life at UM tab. Once you do that, there is a section called Student Employment. Under that section are the four programs mentioned earlier, so if you were searching for a job based on your Federal Work Study, then you would click that link. Once you click the link, you can search for jobs based on location, like administrative offices to student activites, or skill, like language skills to sports instruction skills. Once you find a post that interests you, get your resume ready and apply!

If you need help with your resume, the Toppel Career Center is a great place to go! Monday through Thursday 10:00-4:30 we have peer advisers and graduate assistants who help critique resumes. We also have resume guides that will take you step by step on how to build a great resume. If coming in to Toppel would be too inconvenient, you can always submit your resume on HireACane, and we will still critique it for you. Take advantage of our great programs that we offer so that you don't have any worries when submitting your resume for your on-campus job!

Get Career Advice from Candid Career

Written By: Robert Vanisko
Part of the Career Toolbox Series

Don’t you wish sometimes that you could interview somebody in the field that you want to work in? Wouldn’t it be nice to know what your day-to-day life would be like as well as your responsibilities and required skill set? Now, there is an easy way to find out all of that information without leaving your computer.

Candid Career is a great service that posts video interviews from all different fields of employment.  These videos can answer many of your questions about the future jobs that you aspire for.  For example, if you wanted to go into Public Relations, like myself, you could link to Candid Career from HireACane and watch interviews from PR professionals talking about what their jobs are like and what you need to do to reach that position.  

Candid Career is also extremely easy to navigate. You can search by job title, major, industry, or just for general career advice.  The career advice section includes sections such as how to act at a career fair, how to catch the boss’s eye, and how to effectively write cover letters and résumés.

Overall, Candid Career can be a great tool to use if you need to find out information about a potential job in a short amount of time.  The interviews are detailed and come from professionals who have succeeded in their field.  You can access Candid Career through HireACane or by clicking here.

Internships Survey and 2013 Internship Trends from internships.com

Courtesy of: Internships.com

Take it From Chuck! 5 Ways Chuck Norris Can Help You Be a Better Student

Written by Thien Van Tran

“There’s no way all those ridiculous facts about Chuck Norris could be true, they’re so far-fetched,” said no one ever. Everyone wants to be like Chuck, in every way. And while that’s so highly impossible that it’s completely laughable, there’s something we can all take away from this. It’s like when people say aim for the stars and hit the moon; we should have our aspirations of mimicking Chuck, and hopefully learn something that we can apply to our own lives. Me? I just need to apply more tanning oil. These guns could use some color.

Chuck Norris Was Never Aware of the Filming of Walker, Texas Ranger

He had no idea that his daily life was being watched by millions of adoring fans who followed his every move. Rather than caring about what others thought about him, he continued to be an awesome, hyper-masculine human being. But people judge. That’s just human nature. You know there’s that nerdy club with all the engineers, the muscle-bound frat boys, and the weird music school Acapella groups. While these stereotypes aren’t always true, some people get caught up in how they think others will view them. Forget that, do what you want. Study what you want, and be happy.

When Chuck Norris Left for College, He Told His Dad, “You’re the Man of the House Now”

Sometimes you have to leave your home or your comfort zone in order to discover new interests. You may not know anyone in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, but that shouldn’t stop you from joining in order to partake in the many design competitions and projects. And this applies to any activity or group! You don’t have to be super smart or a science genius to join the robotics club. Some of us are cut out for math, and some aren’t. I found out at a very young age, when a teacher asked me, “If you had 10 lollipops and I took half away, what would I have?” A broken arm.

When Chuck Norris Gets Bored, He Tells Himself Jokes He’s Never Heard Before

Don’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs if you find that you have some down time once in a while. Never sit still. Either start your work early so that you are ahead, or find some other activities to do. Find an on campus job! Join an organization! Make some angel hair pasta! Go to the gym! Being like Chuck will take some work. I mean, Chuck Norris has muscles in places where I don’t even have places.

When Life Hands Chuck Norris Lemons, He Makes Grape Juice

I have no idea why the “When life hands you lemons…” saying even exists. How does that signify taking a negative situation and turning it into a positive one? Lemons are PERFECT for making lemonade! When life hands you lemons, you say THANK YOU. But in any case, when life hands you something you don’t want, you can still make the best of it. If you get stuck with an 8AM class that you have to take, so be it. Schedule your other classes earlier in the day so that you’re finished sooner. If the sorority you wanted to join didn’t give you a bid, so be it. Kill them. Cry about it. Drown your sorrows. Knit. Rush another sorority! Maybe that one wasn’t the right one for you anyway.

When Chuck Norris Was Born, the Doctor Said, “Congratulations, it’s a MAN”

Be confident in yourself! This applies mainly to interviewing situations. Everyone gets nervous to some degree, but remember: the interviewers want to talk to you for a reason, so there is something they like about you. You have some skill set or some strength that drew them to you, so just be yourself.