Use The Walking Dead to Survive During Your College Years

By Oleg Ignatenko & Rob Vanisko

So, you are probably thinking how in the world does the show about a zombie apocalypse at all compare to your college years.  Would you like to know?  Well, all the questions will be answered by the end of this blog. But for now lets take a look at the what brought you to this blog.  Is it internships, career choices, your major or possibly this awesome title that took me twenty minutes to come up with?  Either way you came here to learn something and we intend to make sure you don't leave "empty handed". 

Here are some of the most important lines from the show that will keep you on the right track during your college years that way you will be able to avoid the walkers (challenges, problems, possibly crazy ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends) that could stand in your way of survival (reaching your goals):

Rick: "There's us and the dead.  We survive this by pulling together, not apart"

There are successes and failures.  How you approach them will eventually determine your future.  But since you are at a University where there is so much spirit and connection between students and faculty, try to "pull together" and use the help of your classmates and professors to gain information and figure out what's best for you.  I guarantee they will gladly do their best to help you out in your career survival.

T-Dog: "Guess the world changed" 

Guillermo: "No. It's the same as it ever was: the weak get taken"

 Don't be a weak link.  You need everything you can get in order to survive.  You wouldn't want to bring one small knife to take on a herd of walkers, instead you want an entire arsenal of weapons at your disposal.  The Toppel Career Center can provide you with all those tools and services that will help you in your path to survival.  You can find all of these weapons and more in the Career Toolbox.  Some of the weapons that you will be able to find there are Glassdoor, Pathbrite, LinkedIn, etc. 

Andrea: "No crying in the boat. It scares the fish"

Keep you head, especially in times of failure or if one of your friends is taken by the walkers or becomes one of them.  There are many struggles that you will have to overcome during your "survival" through the career search.  One thing to remember is to not give up.  You will face a lot of  rejection in your career search but don't let it affect you.  There are many different circumstances when applying for a job that are outside of your control, so don't take it personally and use this as an opportunity to improve and better yourself in order to succeed next time.

Dale: "I see a chance to make a new start"

Each job you will apply for is a chance for you to prove yourself worthy of this particular career choice.   Separate yourself as a leader in this post-apocalyptic world run by "walkers," stand your ground and put your best foot forward towards your future career.

Using Pathbrite to Build Your Online Portfolio

By: Robert Vanisko
Part of the Career Toolbox Series 

While resumes are very crucial to getting a job, most of the time they do not tell the full story of who you are and what you can contribute to a particular job.  This is especially true for people with creative majors.  Don’t you wish there was a way for creative people to show off their writing and design samples without having to create an entire portfolio from scratch? Luckily for you, there is. 

Pathbrite is an online service that allows you to build an online portfolio in just a few quick and easy steps.  Pathbrite gives you different options for what type of portfolio you want, including Professional, Academic, and Freestyle.  When making a Pathbrite portfolio, you receive prompts that tell you exactly what to include in your portfolio.  For example, the first step in a professional portfolio is to upload your resume, followed by a prompt to upload something that represents your professional skills, which could include a writing sample, design sample, etc. 

Pathbrite takes you step by step until you have a completed portfolio full of diverse materials.  These materials should adequately represent the skill set that you want your potential employer to see.  As a Public Relations Major, my Pathbrite portfolio includes my resume, my design samples from Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, a Press Release, and a Backgrounder.  Therefore my own portfolio reflects my graphic design skills, writing skills, and work experience that shows that I have used those skills in a work setting before.

The portfolios are very easy to send to any employer and can go a long way in differentiating you from other candidates for a particular job.  This is also a very good networking tool as well.  If you are giving an elevator pitch to your dream employer and don’t have too much time to get all of your qualifications across, it is always good to have the URL to your Pathbrite portfolio ready to go so you can have all of best work available in an instant.

Overall, Pathbrite is a great tool to use and can be a key factor in separating yourself from the rest of the pack when applying for a job.  To view a sample Pathbrite, click here. For those of you looking for additional information on how a portfolio can help your job search, you can refer to this blog post.