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Turkey Talk Redux Anew: Perspectives on the Holiday Ahead

By Burton Nadler, director of the Gwen M. Green Career and Internship Center

Each year I share with seniors a humorous yet pointed piece to reinforce requisite attitudes and actions yielding outcomes so strongly desired. While some parts of the essay remain constant each year, others are added or deleted, reflecting timely issues. Below is a preview of what is intended to attract attention, entertain and inspire behavior and inquiries of readers.

Commercials for Christmas sales are appearing on television and radio, and as pop-ups and email coupons with annoying and uninvited regularity. Trees, wreath and menorah are selling at Wegmans, so, by twisted consumerism logic Thanksgiving is upon us. With this holiday in mind, I want to prepare every senior (and other students who relate to themes of this piece) for what I call "turkey talk." Oh, this perhaps foul implying fowl inspiring phrase is not intended to cast implications on those who initiate conversations, but provide a context to the timing of exchanges.

"Pass the gravy please. By the way, what are you going to do after you finish that fancy and expensive school you're going to? Your ride on the gravy train is almost over." These words will be heard in some form over Thanksgiving break. Whether Uncle Mortimer, Aunt Matilda, or some other not-so-well-meaning relative asks directly, or whether Mom or Dad ask indirectly, post-graduation plans will become a source of curiosity. We hope they don't become a source of great consternation or indigestion.

It is critical that you be able to articulate post-graduation goals. Don't misinterpret the above question as "What are you going to do with the rest of your life?" This could cause grave or gravy consequences, perhaps the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge a fork full of fowl you were trying to consume or a change of clothing as you spill gravy on yourself. No matter the intention of the inquirer, you must respond by revealing decision-making is underway. Ideally, you should be prepared to cite fields, functions and firms of interest, as well share graduate school curiosities. The gravest of all consequences follow inability to articulate goals and avoidance of pResearch (research before job search, internship search, and graduate school search) needed to do so.

Don't whine about how difficult job search will be while enjoying a fine vintage.Take action and use your time well. Actions speak louder than words. Toast to your future successes, confident that goals will be achieved. Yes, jobs are difficult to find, particularly in down economies. Like any journey, job search begins with first steps. Your steps should be through the doors of Meliora Hall to the Career and Internship Center. Materials available in our office and our website (www.rochester.edu/careercenter) detail ten steps to job search as well as graduate school success. Wine increases in quality and, often, value over time. Job search today takes 6-9 months and most likely only about one-third of all college graduates will not have jobs nor admissions to graduate school as of commencement. During challenging times like those we face today, the process can take longer than expected, or desired, and require (yes, require) incorporating post-baccalaureate internships into your search for a full-time professional experience, or for admissions to graduate programs.

When holiday feasts are done, delight in meals yet to come. For many, thanksgiving bounties last beyond one day; with leftover legacies to be consumed lingering in brains and, soon, stomachs. Within weeks and months we consume anew. Christmas, New Years, and Super Bowl offerings bring us together for shared fare. We repast on Easter, Passover, and other culturally decreed days, as well as commencement weekend. Secular, non-secular and familial bread breaking reveals food is not finite. Hard earned celebratory meals will always be a part of our lives. In reality, post-baccalaureate jobs and internships are also not finite! While some deadlines, especially for programs (like those announced later in this piece), do exist, the overall and process is about postings, places, people as well as programs and requires persistence and patience (too much alliteration?). Daily or weekly trips to markets allow us to eat appropriately healthy, and strategically conceived meals; confident there will be something to purchase, consume and sustain us. Regular visits to goal-driven job markets (field, function and firm focused actions) transform food for thought shared in varied media by the Career and Internship Center into joyous celebrations of success.

Attain your just deserts, and desserts, your fully baked, well-conceived and labored for post-graduation goals, by following our recipe for success. Our data show that goal-directed job seekers who use career and internship center resources, and have over four appointments with a counselor per semester, are most likely to successful by graduation and take the least amount of time to find employment after. And, those who act upon graduate school options now, between Thanksgiving and January 1st, are also most successful.

While the early bird doesn't necessarily get the worm, the meal our fine-feathered friend seeks, you my future focused facilitator should start now! Be prepared for on- and off-campus interviewing, and assertively implement networking and other effective self-initiated efforts. Identify, communicate with and apply to graduate programs. Now is the time to act. The following Career and Internship Connection events should be acted upon in the days and weeks ahead.

Washington D.C., January 6, 2012
American Management Association Conference Center

Boston, January 9, 2012
John Hancock Conference Center

New York City, January 11, 2012
American Management Association Conference Center

West Coast (Los Angeles), January 12, 2012
Olympic Collections Banquet and Conference Center

The deadline for registration, uploading resumes, and attaching resumes and cover letters to particular postings for the Career and Internship Connections is November 28th, right after Thanksgiving. Registration and additional information on the CICs is available here. Your "token password" is cic2012.

Supplementing CICs, we will, with Alumni Relations, cohost Alumni Networking Nights in Washington DC on Friday, January 6th; Boston Monday, January 9th; and New York City, Wednesday January 11th. Details regarding these options will soon be transmitted to all.

Carve a niche for yourself at one, or more, of these amazing events. Most important, please schedule an appointment so a counselor can discuss your goals, and after, inspire you to implement strategies that yield employment, graduate school, and other objectives. Gobble! Gobble!