From one of my favorite blogs: Indexed.

Thought for the week is featured every Wednesday. Want to share a thought? Email your favorite quotation to schewe [at] dartmouth.edu for inclusion.

Looking for that ideal internship? Have you checked out Dart Board, Dartmouth Career Services’ database that can link you to internship listings, some available only to Dartmouth students? DartBoard is designed to help you navigate the job process: you can identify job prospects and internships, sign up on-line for interviews, create a place to store cover letters, resumes, and recommendations and more.

Dart Board is a database with links to the ‘NIC’ internship consortium, Idealist.org, government internships, ‘Dartmouth-only’ internships, Recruiting Program internships, listings by Career Field and MonsterTRAK internship listings. Internship Blitzes: Receive weekly “hot internship listings” right to your In Box when you register with DartBoard.

So, what can you do on DartBoard? Lots:

• You can also store up to 50 cover letters,  10 writing samples and 10 “other” documents.
• Upload a copy of your Unofficial Transcript
• Create a “List of References” and save it on your desktop to be uploaded.
• Apply online for Active Recruiting Events.
• Practice your interviewing skills. Tuck students have volunteered to conduct mock interviews for career fields in which they have experience and expertise.

Not all of us entered Dartmouth with a crystal clear picture of our post graduation plans. In fact, some of us managed to get through most of our college years before discovering we really wanted to work in a health profession. If you managed to major in a field that prepared you for medical school, you’re in luck, but for others who have some courses to take prior to entering a graduate program, a Post-Bac program can be the perfect solution. A Post-Bac year focuses on coursework needed to enter into a variety of health professions including medical school.

“Dartmouth has such an amazing and diverse offering of courses that as an undergrad I just couldn’t commit myself to taking tons of classes to prepare for a career that I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue,” explains Kate Parizeau ’10. “Rather than taking physics and chemistry, I took anthropology, geography, education and economics courses. Last winter during my off term working at Partners in Health, I had the opportunity to work with amazing people who were doing exactly what I want to do in ten years, and they all happened to be doctors. With only over a little more than a year left at Dartmouth the traditional premed route was no longer an option for me, so I am planning on doing a post-bac premed program for a year or two after I graduate and apply to medical school from there. My academic path may not be the traditional route to a career in medicine, but thanks to the diverse classes I’ve taken at Dartmouth and the experiences that I’ve had with my D-plan, I’m passionate about becoming a doctor and even looking forward to those chemistry classes (something that seemed impossible a few years ago).”

As Chris Han ’11, a double major in Economics and Geography explains, “I’m interested in a post-bac because I wanted to pursue a double major in fields that I am interested in as well as sample across disciplines and take advantage of the liberal arts experience. Since neither of my majors aren’t in the hard sciences, this made being an undergraduate pre-med difficult.”

If you’re interested in a health career or med school but your coursework focused more on Shakespeare than on skeletons, Career Services has a workshop just for you: Health Professions Post Bac Programs on February 19 Haldeman 125 3:00 pm.

Want a little one-on-one time to have your resume reviewed, have a cover letter looked at or maybe just looking for some solid advice on your job search? Career Services has walk-in hours Monday through Friday. Come check it out:

Walk-In Hours: On a first-come, first-served basis – includes cover letter review

Monday – Friday: 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm (last slot at 3:45 pm)

Katie Paxton ‘11 in Hanover, NH

“I’m on a ‘Hanover FSP’ this term, working full time in the Admissions Office as the Reception Area Coordinator. My day-to-day activities include checking in visitors and tour guides, helping design our new website, indexing (filing applications), answering phones and managing the international email account. Outside of that job, I am still a tour guide trainer, senior interviewer for local applicants, and a web guide. The coolest thing I’ve done so far for this job are definitely case studies. A group of us sit down with two real applications (identifying info crossed out), discuss the applications and decide if we would accept, waitlist or reject them. The admissions officers then go through with us the actual decision that was made and why. It’s awesome to hear Dartmouth students’ perspectives on who they would accept! I’ve done this job on a part-time basis since the beginning of sophomore year, but I am learning more of the ins and outs of the process and getting to know the staff better than before. Plus, it’s nice to be at Dartmouth without the stress of classes!”

From round the girdled earth is featured every Monday. Send a photo and short update from your off-term to schewe [at] dartmouth.edu for inclusion.

Skip Sturman, Director of Dartmouth Career Services

Question: I am submitting applications for post-graduation jobs and one employer asked for a Curriculum Vitae. I know it is similar to a resume but longer and more in depth it seems.

Answer: You are correct that a CV is typically longer and more in depth than a resume and mostly used in academic circles (or places heavily populated by Ph.D’s such as think tanks). As noted on the Career Services’ web site,  “a Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a summary of your educational and academic background. Its [usual] purpose is to outline your credentials for an academic position, fellowship, or grant. Its length can range from 2-4 pages.” Often a CV will reference awards/honors; publications and presentations; previous research and teaching experiences; etc. [editor's note: Before you go to the trouble of preparing a CV as opposed to a resume, be sure that the employer isn't just using the terms interchangeably. Many employers ask for a CV when they actually just want a one page resume].

Question of the Week is featured every Thursday. Want your question answered by a member of the Career Services staff? Email your question to schewe [at] dartmouth.edu

We send cover letters and resumes, hunt for the perfect job in the perfect city, interview, make sure our wardrobe is up to interview standards, clean up our Facebook page and still excel in school. When we finally land that great job it’s no wonder we want to just take a break and enjoy life for a while. So enjoy. Then take a tip from Business Week’s Best Practice Playbook for How to Get a Fast Start in a New Job. Here is a short summary:

Never Wait for Day One—Study the company and its financials, create a strategic plan for your first 100 days.

Unearth New Stories—ferret-out lesser known stories about the new company.

Think in Threes—don’t get overwhelmed by setting too many goals—stick to three broad themes

Find Your “Shadow Board”—figure out who the people are that your new boss will turn to for their perspectives on how you are doing. Fail to impress these people and they will bury you.

Map Out Quick Wins—Don’t plan on a Honeymoon—come up with a couple of important but easy-to-reach goals that you can point out.

More Business Week Best Practices Playbook here.

Great, you got that coveted interview for your dream job. Now it’s time to hit a home run and land the job. Want to know what the most common pitfalls are in interviews? Check out this article from Gotta Mentor.

3 Reasons People Bomb Their Interviews

Getting invited to the interview signals that the organization or company thinks you’ve got the right experience and skill set to do the job, but most people underwhelm in their interviews. Here are the 3 most common reasons strong candidates blow their interviews.

Reason #1: Not Enough Detail in Their Answers

One of the key mistakes people make in their interviews is excluding critical details that are relevant for the job they are interviewing for. Keep reading …

Reason #2: They Do a Poor Job of Answering the “Why Me” Question

Why should they hire YOU over all of the other people who want the same job? Remember that the ideal candidate for the job is someone who has the key skills and can hit the ground running. Keep reading …

Reason #3: Bad energy

Interviewees who have flat verbal delivery, talk too quickly, are nervous, or arrogant fail the “fit” test. Since most of us lack enough self-awareness to realize that we may have these problems, the best prevention against this pitfall is to…  Keep reading …

Want some additional interview coaching? Check out Dartmouth Career Services. Career Services offers workshops, has a link to their toolkit with help with interview prep and even has on-line workshops if you’re off campus this term. Also check out Dartmouth Career Services Interview Strategies Guide.

Did you know that some recruiters will actually check to see if you’ve sent the same cover letter multiple times? You know, the fabulous cover letter you crafted that claims this is your dream job. In the job hunt, there are plenty of ways to shoot yourself in the foot. Below is a excerpt of Sarah Needleman’s Wall Street Journal article, Job Hunters, Beware.

There’s been no shortage of warnings about the career dangers of posting racy content on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Yet many job hunters still don’t heed that advice, and others don’t realize they’re doing just as much damage by doing things like bending the truth or spamming their résumés. Recruiters say such faux-pas can result in immediate and lasting career damage.

“You’re going to be remembered—and not in a positive way,” says Colleen McCreary, chief people officer for Zynga Game Network Inc., a San Francisco developer of social games including FarmVille. “Recruiters move around a lot from company to company, and that can carry on with them for a long period of time.”

Ms. McCreary says candidates consistently damage their reputations by sending cover letters that disingenuously claim a specific position at the company is their dream job. With a check of Zynga’s applicant-tracking system, she can see that those people submitted the same letter for several other openings, too. “They’ve now lost all their integrity.”

To continue reading, click here.

We’ve all said stupid things to a potential employer that we wish we hadn’t. We might even realize that our actions or words cost us from getting a particular job or internship. What we might not realize is that our comments or actions might have longer term repercussions. People have long memories, and in a tight job market, a faux pas might have rippling effects that we are unaware of. Joann S. Lublin of the Wall Street Journal writes about How a Black Mark Can Derail a Job Search and gives some ideas of how you can repair the damage done to start fresh again. Here is an excerpt of her article:

Heather R.Huhman needed a public-relations assistant last summer for Come Recommended, her new online matching service for entry-level jobs and internships. A 20-something applicant forgot about her scheduled phone interview, then called and declared, “Let’s do it right now. I am driving my car.” The young woman said she had prepared questions about the start-up but forgot to bring them along. She didn’t pose any during or after the interview. And “while we were talking, she was honking at people,” Ms. Huhman recollects. The clueless candidate subsequently applied for several other positions with Come Recommended. Ms. Huhman ignored those applications. “I will not consider her. She is blacklisted,” insists the entrepreneur, who explained to the applicant after the interview why she wasn’t hired. What’s more, Ms. Huhman says she wouldn’t recommend her to any acquaintance in the PR industry. Things might change, Ms. Huhman concedes, if the woman bought her lunch, requested honest feedback and demonstrated her reliability—such as by performing professionally during a two-week, unpaid tryout. At that point, the entrepreneur continues, “I would give extremely strong consideration to removing her from my blacklist.”

Full article here.