Category: job search

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Make Something This Summer

Video games and the related entertainment industry is a growthAnneOdom(5) field for English/CW majors and anyone else interested in making creative content, but it’s also highly competitive, drawing people from a wide range of fields who love video games. To learn more about how English/CW and other humanities majors can position themselves to enter this industry, we brought Anne Odom to campus on April 12. Anne works as a project manager for DS Volition, the video game company here in Champaign. It’s not the career one might expect from someone who majored in philosophy and minored in Russian literature in college, but Anne argues that her experience in making arguments. wrestling with complex material, and using her intellectual curiosity has helped her be good at what she does.

In the course of her talk, Anne told us that “I have a lot of ideas!” is a terrible opening gambit for getting the attention of a potential employer in video games.  Everyone has ideas, she pointed out. It doesn’t make you interesting.

Later I pressed her on that response a little. After all, every industry needs people with good ideas. How do you identify the people whose ideas are worth paying attention to?

Anne explained that it’s really easy to have good ideas, but it’s a lot harder to make them work. If you want someone to be impressed with your ideas, then turn them into something. “Make something!” she said. An app, a game, a graphic novel, a video, a screenplay. “Even better?” She went on, “Make something with someone else — that shows that you know how to work with people on your ideas.” She specifically suggested that “word people” like English/CW majors can benefit from pairing up with someone with artistic skills to create something that is both narratively and visually compelling.

The summer monthAnneOdom(2)s stretch ahead of you. If your summer location doesn’t give you much scope for a career-focused job, if you need to make money waiting tables instead of taking an unpaid internship, if you left it too late to find a resume-building opportunity…you can always make something.

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Summer Publishing Programs: Worth It or Not?

The Dept. of English just got a solicitation from a new summer publishing program, this one at the University of Southern California and co-sponsored by the LA Review of Books:

We are excited to announce … a new summer publishing program that is designed to provide an immersive, five-week training for students interested in digital and print publishing. The new program, the Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop, will have its inaugural session this summer beginning June 26.

The program will be hosted on the USC campus and is open to rising Juniors, Seniors, and postgraduates from any college or university, nationally and internationally, who are interested in a career in publishing.

The Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop distinguishes itself from more traditional publishing courses by emphasizing real-world experience: students will create a print magazine or website, or develop a business plan for a new publishing enterprise ready either for direct funding or for research and development funding. Industry experts will advise students about every aspect of digital and print publishing, from editing to layout, coding to graphic design.

Sounds pretty good. But. The letter goes on to direct the reader to a website (www.thepublishingworkshop.com) for details. You have to click a tab within the website to get to the catch: the cost.  The program alone costs $5K; housing is an additional 1.8K – 2.2K. There are also details about the optional meal plan (only a few meals are included with tuition) and parking ($12/day — no weekly discount available).

That price tag is not unusual for summer publishing programs, which tend to be located in expensive urban centers where the active publishing professionals you want to learn from and network with already live. Here’s a list of some of the most well-known similar programs.  Some are graduate programs (which the USC/LARB program is not), but most offer shorter summer courses of study.

Are they worth it, for those in a position to pay that kind of money?

The question gets asked frequently, and the answer is by no means obvious.  Some point out that these programs involve paying for information and contact that one could obtain for free through assiduous networking, research, and informational interviewing.  Others suggest that the critical mass of knowledge, practice, and contacts that these programs bring together is well worth the return on investment.

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Thinking about Your Future over Spring Break

Crystal_ball_by_Ron_BodohYour future after graduating with an English/CW major: you can’t foretell it, but you can take steps to shape it.  Spring break is a good time to take care of some of the career-planning details that get shoved aside during the semester.

First thing EVERYONE can do is put our upcoming career-planning events on their calendars. After that…

Graduating Seniors:

If you’re not headed to grad school and you haven’t yet gone to talk to Kirstin Wilcox, Director of Internships, about your job-search strategy, email her to set up an appointment!  Even if you’re terrified and have no resume, much less a plan, come see her anyway.  Doing something works better than doing nothing, and it’s a place to start.

Seniors/Juniors:

  • Create or tidy up your LinkedIn profile.  Employers will stalk you online, so give them something to find that shows off your strengths.  Be sure to upload a professionally appropriate photo and try to devise a headline that showcases your work experience or talents (NOT “Student at the University of Illinois”).
  • Line up your writing samples.  Many jobs that English/CW majors excel at require a writing sample.  What that means, specifically, varies from job to job.  Some employers just want to know that you can write a graceful sentence, some want evidence that you can write for a non-academic audience, yet others want to know that you can tell a story or craft believable dialogue.  Depending on what you’re applying for, consider using a short, well-argued academic paper, the strongest piece you’ve written for a CW class, links to online writing you’ve done, or pieces that you’ve created for an organization you’re part of (flyers, instructions, press releases, etc.
  • Try out some different formats for your resume.  Your resume should NOT be a static, one-size-fits-all document. Every opening you apply for should elicit a different resume, one that advertises the specific background and experience you have that qualifies you for the particular job.
  • Spend some time on I-Link and other jobs databases finding what’s out there.  Some others that English/CW majors find helpful are indeed.com, bookjobs.com, and idealist.org.

Freshman/Sophomores

  • Start networking. “Networking” is an intimidating concept, but it doesn’t have to be. Who do you know who would be willing to talk to you about what they do for a living and whether it might be something you want to do?  Start there!  Not sure how to contact someone you’d like to speak to?  Use our template to get started.
  • Get to know I-Link and start checking it regularly to learn more about the kinds of jobs you’d like to apply for. (Pro-tip: use the “Advanced Search” window in “I-Link Jobs,” but refrain from typing into the search bar; instead use the “Industry” and “Position type” pull-down menus to focus your search.
  • Look and apply for a summer internship.
  • Select a campus publication or an RSO to get involved in, preferably one that can give you leadership experience.
  • Plan to sign up for the Alumni Mentoring Network and find an alumni mentor when you get back to campus.

 

 

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What to Expect at a Career Fair (and Why You Should Go)

The Research Park Career Fair is still ahead of us (March 15), but much of the spring career fair season is winding down.  If you went to a career fair this year, well done!  Career fairs are a great way to meet potential employers, explore career paths, and practice your interviewing and networking skills.  If you didn’t go to one, definitely plan to take advantage of them next year!  While some fairs (e.g., the Engineering Career Fair, the Urban Planning Fair) are intended for students with specific technical skills, many fairs feature recruiters seeking students from a variety of programs. Fairs are also targeted towards particular fields of relevance to department of English majors.  The Design+ Job Fair, the Arts and Culture Fair in Chicago, the Educators Fair, and the Illini Career and Internship Fair are particularly oriented towards the interests and skills of people who study English and Creative Writing.

Two English majors who attended the recent Arts and Culture Career Fair in Chicago were willing to share their experiences.  Meghan McCoy (a sophomore) and Henry Yeary (a freshman, who also attended the Business Career Fair last month) independently offered the same two pieces of advice based on their experience:

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