Read all about NAU Students getting hands-on experience and making an impact in Flagstaff and beyond! Each week a new student will be featured on Experience with Altitude with the hope of highlighting our many amazing students and inspiring the rest of us to get out and be the change we want to see in the world and in our own lives. NAU Career Development at University College:Let’s build lives, not just resumes!
Read the first Experience with Altitude post here.
From engineering to writing – NAU has it all. In our newest blog series, we will be featuring a wide variety of NAU Alumni. We’re calling it “Leap Forward with Lumberjack Alumni.” If you have ever wanted advice from those who have “been there, done that,” keep reading!
Jeffrey Roberts, Class of 1974
Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Master of Arts in American History
Author
What was your career plan during college? Did this change once you graduated?
“My career plan during college was fluid, but what I really wanted was to be a college Professor. Yes, it definitely did change once I graduated! What’s that phrase – ‘The best laid plans of mice and men….’”
How did NAU prepare you for your career?
“NAU prepared me for my writing career because I had superb teachers, such as Dr. McGahee. I became disciplined in my writing.”
Where are you now?
“I am an independent author now, and I have been published in Fate magazine, UFO Digest, Government Conspiracy.com, and I have a short story coming out in Sci Phi Journal, around April entitled BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. Also this summer I have a book coming out, a novella entitled CHERRIES IN WINTER, to be published by Kellan Publishing Co. It’s a science fiction historical romance, between 2016 and 1916.”
What advice do you have for current NAU students?
“My advice for current NAU students? …don’t take yourself too seriously, and study hard – all the while enjoying it!”
What was your favorite part about NAU Flagstaff?
“My favorite part of my NAU/Flagstaff experience? The “countrified” atmosphere, tons of friends that I am blessed to have known; and the wonder of seeing people, places, and things I would never have experienced otherwise! My mind was broadened and my life enriched at NAU. Those memories will be with me for 1000 years!”
Jeffrey’s books, THE HEALER, is available on Amazon (http://amzn.to/ZDv24p) and IN THE SHADOW OF THE HOUSE OF GOD, will be available everywhere around March.
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Margeaux Anderson, Class of 2012
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering
Strategic Project Manager
What was your career plan during college? Did this change once you graduated?
“My plan in college was to line up a job for after graduation. I interned with a few companies over summer breaks and ended up getting a full time job offer from two companies upon graduation.”
How did NAU prepare you for your career?
“The science and engineering classes helped me prepare by honing my critical thinking skills. These skills have helped me realize that there is more than one possible solution to a problem. Additionally the EGR classes helped me learn the best place for me is in management and that I have a natural management style that lends itself to organizing and motivating people to accomplish a specific task.”
Where are you now?
“Currently I work for Desert Paper and Envelope in Albuquerque, NM. My position here allows me to use my natural project management skills to help all of the different sectors of the business as well as learn new things such as hiring. I never would have thought I would be in charge of hiring and new employee orientations!”
What advice do you have for current NAU students?
“My advice for current students is to really explore job opportunities and internships while you are in school. Not only can this let you test out what your career field will actually be like, but it will help you build a network of people to reach out to when you are looking for a job after graduation. Most professionals can relate to what it is like to be a student looking for a job or an internship and are more willing than you think to sit down with you and help.”
What was your favorite part about NAU Flagstaff?
“My favorite part about NAU was the snow. I remember how surprised I was to see people ski to class my first semester!”
The following blog post is a speech Eva Putzova, Flagstaff City Council Member and Director of Strategic Planning at NAU, gave at the NAU Delta Epsilon Iota Induction Ceremony.
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I rewrote the speech I’m going to deliver to you tonight three times. In my first draft I had some generic ideas about leadership and community involvement that would have made you yawn. But then I went for a run. And I thought to myself—I’m just going to share with you exactly what I think.
What a concept, right?
I will not pretend to have an authority to advise you on anything. Rather, I will reflect on my own experiences that are authentic and tell you what I have learned. After all, whether we are 18, 30 or 60, we are just winging this journey we call life.
So here it is.
In 2012, the Flinn Foundation rejected my application for their prestigious leadership program. But what they gave me was priceless. They gave me time I would have otherwise spent traveling to Phoenix. Instead, I spent the following year planning my campaign to run for the City Council.
Before I launched my campaign I talked to a couple of very important people about my candidacy. They told me I was unelectable. That my progressive politics was way out there, that I had a foreign name and accent which are not American enough to win elections, that as a former president of Friends of Flagstaff’s Future I had no chance.
I asked myself “What is the worst thing that can happen?” The answer was “that I would lose.”
In November I won a seat on the Flagstaff Council with the most votes a first-time candidate has ever received in the Flagstaff municipal election history.
The election night was somewhat anti-climatic for me. While the outside world could have perceived my victory as surprising, deep inside I knew that those thousands and thousands of doors I knocked on during the campaign, that the overwhelmingly positive reaction to my campaign platform among my key constituency, and the funds I was able to raise all together should deliver a positive election result. Canvassing and talking to people about how policies like living wages could transform their lives was the most rewarding part of the campaign.
As a child I was quite active in school—always organizing my peers and volunteering to lead activities and projects. But my childhood and early adulthood were far cry from the resume-building lives of young people today. Unstructured play and exploring various art forms early on, socializing with friends in my teen years, and focusing exclusively on academics later on dominated my formative years.
I had a lot of free time growing up.
Shortly after I moved to Flagstaff, while still in mid-20’s, I joined the board of the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council. I wanted to be involved in the community and because of my background in economics, I thought that would be a good match. They probably let me in, thinking as a young foreigner I was politically harmless and would support whatever was put in front of me. While I learned quite a bit about local politics during this time, my heart was not in it. I was professionally well suited for the organization but traditional economic development was not my passion. In fact, I did not know where my inspiration would come from. I didn’t even know I was supposed to find it.
But then in 2008, passionate, former NAU professor Sandra Lubarsky invited me to join Friends of Flagstaff ‘s Future to replace her on the organization’s Board of Directors. And I found myself. I found my passion, my cause, my calling, my tribe. I was 31 years old. And ever since I’ve been inspired over and over to take on new challenges that all relate one way or another to the concepts of environmental sustainability and social and economic justice.
Thank you and be kind to people you encounter on your journey discovering yourself.
Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that this April will mark two years since I moved to Flagstaff to lead NAU Career Development at University College. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of fun! The team has been through a name change, a few staff changes, six career and job fairs, and so much more. Recently, our team met to revisit our mission. We made a few subtle wording changes that I am really excited about, affirming our commitment To empower students and alumni to confidently navigate their careers as citizens of an evolving and global world.
So what does this mean? I’d like to start with the word EMPOWER. At NAU, we believe that you are ultimately in charge of your career. We will give you tools, guidance, and support along the way, but ultimately each student must determine the path that their career will take. Career decisions can be scary, no matter how long you’ve been in the workforce. However, our hope is that each of you can proceed with CONFIDENCE, knowing that if you are true to your values, strengths, and interests, any career decision that you make will be an important part of your career journey.
Which brings me to the word EVOLVING (going a little out of order). Contrary to many myths, no one’s career is a straight line. The old concept of the “career ladder” has been replaced by the far more realistic “career lattice.” Gone are the days when most people stay in one career, within one organization, for their entire lives. Careers today may involve many jobs, and lifetimes may involve multiple careers. We will each move up, but we may also move laterally or down. Some us may step out of the paid workforce for a period of time to be with our families, or to experience new things. At times we will “lean in,” and at others we will “lean out.” Many of us will be working later in life than our parents or grandparents. Some of us will work from an office, some from our homes, some from exotic locations, and everything in between. Jobs that we think of as “stable” today will cease to exist, while jobs that we haven’t even dreamed off will become a reality.
As if this wasn’t exciting enough, we are living in an increasing GLOBAL world. Boundaries between nations are far more fluid than they’ve ever been, and we are fortunate that within our own country we are blessed with a diversity of people, cultures, climates, ideas, and so much more. We deliberately chose the word CITIZENS, because at NAU, we hope that our students will not only to think of themselves as individuals, but will recognize and appreciate their place in our complex universe.
So what does all of this mean? The most successful individuals, and more importantly, the happiest ones, will be able to NAVIGATE the path in rain or shine, (or snow!), when it’s smooth and predictable as well as when it becomes bumpy. Wishing you a Happy New Year as you navigate the path forward!
Finals are afoot and the promise of winter break seems so sweet. If you’re thinking of doing this:
…don’t! Because NAU Career Development is here to help you. Check out our strategies for staying stress-free during finals:
Unless you have a photographic memory, pulling an all-nighter before the final won’t lead to success. Create a study plan! Check out my template for planning your studying here.
Be sure to take breaks and exercise. Did you know that 20 minutes of exercise can improve memory retention and relieve stress? Take a study break, grab a friend, and exercise on Flagstaff’s Urban Trail System or stop by the HLC.
The key is to study smarter, not harder. If you are easily distracted, check out my list of Pandora stations in a previous blog post to keep you focused.
Cline Library will be open 24 hours during reading week and finals week (except Saturday and Sunday). You can also reserve a study room to stay focused! If you missed the StressBusters this reading week, be sure to stop by next semester for a relaxing back rub to de-stress.
Stress and too little sleep can lead to sickness. Be sure to get adequate sleep! Check out NAU Health Promotion’s tips for staying stress free.
Guest post by Jamie Paul
Program Coordinator for Campus and Community outreach
NAU Career Development at University College
US News and World Report says that this year “will mark the largest one-year hiring growth since the 1999-2000 school year!” Everyone seems to be hiring, and everyone wants you – the recent college graduate! A few weeks ago we wrote about the some of the fabulous opportunities for recent grads to make an impact as Teach for America Corps members. The next TFA application deadline is this December 5th, and this program is definitely a force for change in the new job market. Take a look at the various partnerships TFA facilitates with graduate schools and big names in the private sector that allow for deferred hiring or enrollment, and increased financial opportunities after completing your service.
Read on to find out how the TFA experience affected Andre and Mark’s post-grad careers and refer to our Part I blog post featuring other TFA alumni.
Andre Calderon Houston ‘99
NOW: I am an Instructional Facilitator in Seattle, WA, where I also Consultant with Youth Truth Student Survey on increasing student voice in schools.
THEN: I taught for 3 years at Lantrip Elementary. I stayed a 3rd year at my placement school and kick started my lifetime career in education. Being a TFA alumni has greatly impacted my career. I taught for 13 years in TX and WA State and moved to instructional coaching over the last 4. I continue meeting and working with TFA alumni doing inspiring work for all children.
Mark Meier – New Orleans ‘99
NOW: Teaching research writing at VCU, which prides itself on being a university that gets students of all backgrounds to graduate. My department, Focused Inquiry, is sort of like a mini-TFA within the university, though I didn’t pick it for that (unlike many of my peers). I was simply following a spouse’s career, applied, got the offer. I keep getting sucked back into teaching whenever I move and need a new job. It’s a worthwhile endeavor, but I’m also always drawn to something related to the environment. We’ll see what happens next.
THEN: I was shoved around a lot in general. Planned to teach high school science, instead got hired in second grade, then was moved to first, then was moved back to second. School had to fire three people at the end of the year, so I was glad to be one of them as the last hired. Got a job in second year teaching high school physics and physical science, which went much better. Turned down the offer to teach calculus if I stayed in New Orleans and went back to Boston, where the only job offers I got were to teach, so I did for two years in a charter high school. TFA made me more interested in race, education, and urban America in general, which partly sent me into sociology grad school. It also gave me the topic for my first novel manuscript, which may forever remain in manuscript unless I get lucky soon or publish it myself. I think TFA made me a better informed, more resilient person in general.
Delta Epsilon Iota is the only national honor society dedicated to career development and November is National Career Development Month! What is with all of this career development? Do you have any idea what it means?
Is it about building a resume?
Is it about looking good at an interview?
Is it about positioning yourself to buy a private jet and tickets to the moon?
Maybe.
A quick google search turns up some key concepts that make up Career Development. They revolve around developing a life that fits with your values, interests, and talents, and aligning these key aspects of your identity with your chosen career or careers. Career Development is a lifelong learning process and goes beyond studying the latest resume style or confirming the fact that an interview is not the place to wear a string bikini.
Career Development is all about positioning yourself to make work-life choices based on your values, interests, and skills. Ideally these choices can help you create the life you would like to lead at work and at home. For some, Career Development may involve learning to walk in heels and wear a suit. For others it is more about getting vaccinations and acquiring a passport. Still others may need some steal toed boots and the ability to read blueprints. There are a lot of options out there, but the most important work can be in knowing yourself and being open to careers that have yet to be invented.
NAU Career Development at University College sponsors Delta Epsilon Iota with this in mind. Club members learn about themselves and the broader community through service. They plan and participate in various service activities, and meet with people who work with the organizations they serve by networking. Members are called upon to demonstrate dedication, enthusiasm, and initiative as they plan and participate in their own career development and provide opportunities for others to do the same.
To join DEI you need 30 completed credit hours, and a 3.3 GPA or higher. You can join at any point during the school year, although induction ceremonies to welcome new members are only held once a year in January. The lifetime membership fee of $80.00 collected by the national office helps to provide operating funds for our chapter.
Come to the info session in the Gateway Student Success Center Classroom at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, November 19th to learn more about developing the life you want to lead right here and now. You can bring new or gently used warm clothing for the Winter Clothing drive, meet some new people, and eat some free food while you are at it.
As a college student thinking about their career, you may be sick of all of the talk about “professionalism” and gaining “professional skills”. What exactly does professionalism even mean? Demonstrating professionalism does not necessarily mean carrying a briefcase, wearing a pencil skirt, or suiting up with a tie. Professionalism is “conducting oneself with responsibility, accountability, integrity, and excellence,” and it looks slightly different in various job settings. At a construction site, in an office, or even as a student on campus, you can build and demonstrate this important skill!
UTV62 is NAU’s on-campus television station and student-run film production studio. UTV62 has recently expanded their efforts and now they are producing one festival-worthy short film each semester. This group of dedicated students demonstrates professionalism in a way that is unique and meaningful to them. Ryan Massey, Electronic Media and Film Senior at NAU and director of Act Your Age, gives us some insight on what he does with UTV62:
How would you describe the workplace culture of NAU UTV 62?
“Our workplace culture at UTV62 is changing. Since we only recently began pursuing this new direction, we are still working to redefine our goals and determine our values. We want to continue to offer a variety of opportunities to cater to the different interests of our members, even as we change our direction. Many of the members of UTV62 are passionate about filmmaking and really enjoy this opportunity to do more ambitious things beyond what they are assigned in their classes. UTV62 is an ideal workplace for passionate and highly-motivated students who want to begin working towards their careers while still in school.”
What are you most proud of as a student organization?
“What we are most proud of as an organization is the short film we completed in Spring 2014, A Grim Tale. No film of this scope had ever been completed at NAU before. We had a crew of over thirty students and a cast of about ten characters. The script was twenty pages and included multiple locations, making it much more challenging than anything we’d ever attempted. It was an incredible learning process and along the way we had no idea how our final product would turn out, but we are really pleased with the end result. It’s a great new direction for UTV62.”
Have you run into any problems that you did not anticipate? What did you do about it?
“In film production, anything that can go wrong usually will. There are so many unpredictable variables involved in filmmaking, such as cast and crew schedules, location availability, equipment malfunctions, budget shortages, and in a college environment, many students’ plans change on short notice. It’s impossible to anticipate what problems will arise in a production, so you must constantly be prepared to think on your feet. Not only do you need a Plan B, but also a Plan C and D. Things constantly come up at the last minute, or the day of, and you have to think fast in order to keeps the production moving.”
Can you think of the skills you have gained by working with NAU UTV 62?
“I have gained so many valuable skills working in UTV62 that I wouldn’t have gained otherwise. I have pushed myself farther in these last two semesters working on these two films than I had in my previous three years of college. UTV62 has offered an avenue for me to hone my skills and work on projects where I can focus on quality, creativity, and my own ambitions without having to adhere to predetermined requirements. My role on A Grim Tale was Line Producer (although I also became the lead actor as well!) so I created the budget and handled the finances for the film. This gave me the great insight into the business side of filmmaking and taught me about the kind of expenses that I had never considered, such as the cost of feeding a crew, marketing materials, and endless supplies of batteries. On our current film I’m fulfilling a more creative and intensive role, as Director. Through my experience as a director I’ve learned how to elicit great performances from actors, visualize a screenplay from beginning to end, and come up with creative solutions to unforeseen problems. Additionally, having to manage over forty people has taught me a lot about the importance of communication.”
How do you think this experience will impact your career after NAU?
“Having a completed short film that I directed is a very tangible way of showing potential employers what I am capable of. One of our hopes for this film is that we can have it shown at film festivals, which could be great for exposure and networking opportunities. I’ve already made a lot of connections, not only with peers, but with professionals as well.”
What is NAU UTV-62 currently working on?
“UTV62 has just completed production of our latest short film, Act Your Age. It was a high intensity shoot that spanned three full weekends and involved over sixty NAU students as well as numerous actors of all ages from the community. In order to produce this film we ran a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter and raised a total of $4,800. We also received $2,000 in funding from ASNAU. This makes Act Your Age the biggest budgeted film ever attempted at NAU. Currently, our post-production team at UTV62 is working to assemble the film for its premiere at the 73 Hour Film Festival, which will take place at NAU’s Cline Library on Friday, December 5th.”
While you may not be seeing any ties or pantyhose at UTV62, you will see students demonstrating professionalism as they take responsibility for creating an excellent student-run organization. No matter what careers these students ultimately pursue, they are developing transferable skills, including planning, organizing, delegating, adaptability, and others. Ryan and his co-workers are gaining valuable experiences as directors and members as they weave their individual interests into a creative and productive workplace.
Guest Post by Jamie Paul
Program Coordinator for Campus and Community Outreach,
NAU Career Development at University College
Maybe you have always known what you want to do with your life. Maybe you have not. One really fabulous thing about our lives as 21st century college graduates, is that we have the opportunity to contribute to the world in many different capacities. We don’t have to pick one career the day after graduation and hope it sticks, but are much more likely to have multiple interrelated careers- sort of a portfolio approach to the career path. You could start your portfolio with a nice, handy, short-term package that might just change your long-term life. Teach for America was that opportunity for me.
Teach for America is a member of the AmeriCorps National Service network. It was started as a thesis project at Princeton University and grew from 500 corps members in 1990 to nearly 40,000 corps members and alumni today. I committed to teach for two years in inner-city Houston and ended up staying for four, even though I cried for most of year one. Fifth grade lesson plans on hurricanes combined with principals who do not believe “these kids” should have recess can be harsh. I met lifelong friends and learned more than I thought I already knew. Going into teaching through TFA or entering any field as one of an explicitly created cohort of recent graduates is a different sort of experience than you get entering any sector as a traditional new employee.
Corps members become part of a team that is explicitly focused on inequality while also zeroing in on Diego’s reading skills, Mariah’s counting ability, and Maribel’s understanding of the periodic table. As a corps member, you are one of many mission-minded young teachers who have explicitly dedicated themselves to making systemic and personal change happen –you are in essence a known trouble maker with backup. This sort of all-encompassing work-life is ideally situated for new graduates out to get things done. This sort of mission brings together people from many very different economic and cultural backgrounds, which is remarkable given the economic and racial segregation in our current educational system. TFA corps members and the communities that welcome them create an atmosphere in which the lasting effects of income dictated opportunity are immediately obvious and relevant.
Graduating is hard. Teaching is hard. Jumping into teaching as a member of a group founded with rigorous and urgent systemic change in mind is clearly not a cake walk. You can find blogs and articles for and against TFA all over the web. I would encourage you to read both sides of the situation. If you want to make an impact and can’t wait to see what you are made of, TFA (or another program like it) could be just the thing you are looking for. I know corps members who are still teaching 10, 20, even 30 years later, while nearly half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years. I know other TFA alumni who went on to become writers, directors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, professors, principals, policy-makers, librarians, ballerinas … OK, not ballerinas. No matter where they are, they continue to work in some capacity for the type of society where every child matters, and we need more people doing that no matter where they work or how they got there.
I recruited a few friends to share a bit about their experience as a Corps Member:
Tre Johnson Houston ’02
NOW: I am a Board Liaison for Camden City School District in Camden, NJ. I work out of the Superintendent’s Office (himself a TFA alum) managing the relationships between the district, our district advisory board, and various stakeholders throughout Camden.
THEN: I was a HS English teacher at Lee HS in Houston, TX, and as a young teacher, my TFA/classroom experience was absolutely life-changing. I was a child of lower-income, hard scrabble experiences myself, but it wasn’t until being a classroom teacher that I grew to understand how many other kids lived similar and more challenging experiences than mine. Being in the classroom made me incredibly angry about the types of injustices out there for systemically under-resourced communities and schools. I had planned on becoming a writer after TFA, but I instead found myself drawn to advocating for systemic equality for all kids and families. I haven’t looked back.
Reada Glitman Wilkinson – Houston ‘00
NOW: I am currently the Elementary Director of Instruction at Almaty International School in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
THEN: I think TFA is why I am where I am today. My adult life started as a teacher, and I am still in education 14 years later. My TFA experience was challenging but amazing. I was a self -contained special education teacher in a school without a cluster because I got hired the day before school started. Perhaps because I was “alone” I was able to build strong relationships with many of my colleagues. I stayed on after my 2 year commitment for an additional two years as a second grade teacher. While teaching, I became involved in teacher training, which led to my next position as a Training Coordinator for the Houston Independent School District. After two years of that, I decided to fuse my love of teaching with travel and began my career as an international educator.
Pop-up ads on the internet with cheesy pictures of a person in their pajamas working on their laptop at home with Microsoft WordArt saying “Work at home and make $1000 a day!” can be spotted quite easily as a job scam. However, there are many other scams that aren’t as easy to spot.
If you remember my blog post, Understanding Multi-Level Marketing Companies, I go over how pyramid schemes work, the difference and similarities to multi-level marketing companies, and how to avoid being scammed. Many seemingly innocent jobs can be potential job scams and here’s how to spot them:
Being outright contacted by an employer who says you have the job (without an interview) is a sign you could be getting scammed. Would you want to hire someone without an interview first? Keep an eye out for a generic email address (yahoo, Gmail, etc. as opposed to an email associated with the company’s name) and never send your social security number, bank account/credit card numbers, or other personal information over email. Legitimate jobs will usually have you meet in person before signing any paperwork and will not prepay you for any services; certain Mystery Shopping scams break these rules.
When an employer sends you a check and/or asks you to wire money, this is also a huge red flag. Something isn’t right. Never wire or transfer money to anyone you don’t know (especially a Nigerian prince).
If the job posting seems fishy, your first instinct should be to conduct a Google search. Use phrases such as “is (company name) a scam” and check out any website listed in their posting. This can help you decide if you should trust the organization. Next, see if the recruiter is on LinkedIn. Finally, you can use the Better Business Bureau for smaller companies to see if they’re accredited. Accredited means that the business is legitimate and has a positive track record with employees and consumers.
Recently, we had a couple of different job scams on Jobs for Jacks. Both were employers claiming to be small businesses here in Flagstaff, and both had seemingly legitimate job postings. But they were found to be fraudulent once they contacted students who then notified us.
Also keep in mind that any employer soliciting you on campus (handing out flyers on the pedway, etc.) should be solely here at the request of one of the career development offices on campus. If they seem suspicious to you, confirm with us that they are supposed to be on NAU campus.
Our job at Career Development is to review posts and research employers before we approve them for Jobs for Jacks. We have guidance on Jobs for jacks about the kinds of posts that are not appropriate. However, when it comes down to it, job scams are scams and the scammers will try and find ways around university policies in order to post on our site. If a job posting (on or off our site) seems fishy, contact us and we’ll help you determine if it’s worth trusting.
