Executive Management Manners

Are you faced with the challenges of being a younger manager with older employees reporting to you?

Recognizing that the older employees may feel resentment, hostility or have fears of being replaced, Ms. Baldrige advises that the younger manager set his/her style of management at the first staff meeting by doing the following:

Greet and shake hands with every employee present, asking each person their name and job title.

Read carefully beforehand the employee bios, so that he can profess admiration for the impressive background and job skills of the people he or she will now manage.  One should memorize interesting tidbits about them, to prove when he meets them how well he did his homework. 

Such as, "You're the one with nine children, aren't you?  Wonderful!  I'd like to see a picture of them some day."  "You must be the one who transferred from Indianapolis.  How do you like Denver in comparison?"  "You won the company sales championship last year, didn't you?  Great!"

Explain to workers that they really need one another in order to work as a team, to bring increased profits.

Demonstrate why they are qualified to be in the new lead position. You should talk about their background and expertise, and how they expect to utilize it.

End with a vigorous affirmation of how pleased they are to be in the new job, how much they admire the team already in place, and how successful they know they will all be.

This tip was provided by the Culture and Manners Institute at http://www.cultureandmanners.com/ 

What to do about the knife...

You are attending a business lunch in with your work colleges...

"Would you like to hold onto your knife?" asked the server.

It always seems like a strange question. There you are holding a knife dripping with salad dressing and you are not quite sure what to do with it.  At a high-end restaurant you usually get a knife with your salad and another knife with the main course.  But some restaurants, in order to cut costs, cut back on the number of eating utensils.

Here are your options:

1. Give up the knife and ask for a new one.

2. Place your knife, blade in, horizontally across the top of your bread plate, if you have one.  Or prop it up on a spoon that is already resting on the table. 

3. If there are no other options, you may have to set the knife on the table itself.  (If you are worried your knife might pick up bacteria from the table, you need to read The Wall Street Journal's article this morning about what kind of bacteria is already on your cell phone.  Sometimes you just need a good pre-Halloween scream.)

What happens if your knife falls on the floor?  Wait for the serving staff to pick it up and hopefully, bring you a new one.

Etiquette Tip of the Week thanks to Culture and Manners Institute at http://www.cultureandmanners.com/ 

What do you mean you can't get a job?

"Hello, can I help you?"
"Yes, I need a job."
"Ok, What kind of job?"
"Any job, but no one will hire me with out experience but I can't get experience with out a job."
"Wait, say that again..."
"I can't get a job without experience and I can't get experience with out a job."
"Do you have a resume?"
"No..."
"Do you have a career services online account?"
"No..."
"Do you have any leads to where you would like to work?"
"No..."
"Ok, well your in the right place, have a seat, we have a lot to talk about!"

You will not have this problem any more once you come to OIT Career Services!

In between the time of our last blog, (about a month ago) and now, employers posted over 160 jobs using our career services online system. Which would roughly come out to about five postings a day, give or take a few.

We provide endless amounts of information about jobs! We even get the employers to come on campus to host interviews! They are looking for you!

Career Services supports student and alumni efforts to develop and achieve career goals. Services include: individual career advising; workshops and classroom presentations on resume writing, job interviewing, job search and applying to graduate school; on-campus employer recruitment, whereby companies and government agencies interview students for career and internship opportunities; Career Fairs, which bring employers and students together on campus to discuss career opportunities informally; career resource materials and job listings; and a resume referral service, which supports student applications for employment and graduate school.

If you want a job, we got them! Come see us!

Your future starts today!

http://www.oit.edu/career
http://www.facebook.com/OITCareerServices

@OITCareerCenter

Can't leave the house? Skype us! OITCareerServices

Whooo Whooos that New Guy?

Hello to all!

My name is Michael Schreffler, Mike for short, Schreff if you get to know me! 

I am honored to announce that I am the new Career Services internet assistant!

Here is a little background info about myself!

I grew up in a suburb, 25 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio called Twinsburg. Interesting enough this small town holds a world record. But for what you might ask?

The Twins Day festival! This started in 1976 with only 36 sets of twins but has grown to be the world’s largest annual gathering of twins with approximately 3,000 sets attending each year. The weekend of events attracts twins, multiples and their families from all over the world, many returning year after year.

At a young age I was thrived for activities that would provide me with high levels of adrenalin such as Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Skim boarding, BMX, Motocross and much more! Only problem was I lived in a suburb division where there wasn’t much space for any of that to take place.

So I began spending my time on something that I found extremely interesting, Computers! I have been using a computer since I can remember; my first computer classes were in 1^st and 2^nd grade.

I went on to join the school band in 5^th grade and chose the drums as my new passion. I got my first drum kit summer before 7^th grade, which I still treasure to this day. During middle school I was a part of school band and the jazz band. Outside of school, I began trying to put together my own musical groups but there seemed to be a lack of musical talent where I came from.

 

I got my driving license when I was 16, so that meant I had to get a job to pay for gas and insurance. At that point reality set in! Life was not all fun and games any more. 

 

Junior year of high school I decided to attend Cuyahoga Valley Career Center to study Computer programming and software development. I wanted to really understand what the computer industry was all about. After one year of what seemed like programming boot camp, I came to the conclusion that I understood programming basics and developing concepts and decided to switch into a senior only program, which was Marketing Technology.

 

Before I knew it I was sending my transcripts to colleges throughout Ohio to see where I would fit in the best.

 

I chose to travel 4 hours south to the University of Cincinnati. Figuring it was the furthest I could get away in Ohio and still be considered in state.

For the next 7 quarters I studied computer support, day in and day out. My hard work had paid off, resulting in my first college diploma!

Associates degree of Applied Business in Computer Support Technology!

Right before graduation, there was a lot of commotion about a semester conversion, not only at the University of Cincinnati, but all throughout the state of Ohio. I began to ponder my education options due to the fact that all my credits hours were on a quarter schedule.

Not sure if anyone knows the conversion equation for this predicament, it goes as follows…

Semester Units = Quarter Units / 1.5

Quarter Units = Semester Units x 1.5

The math just didn’t make sense to me! Why would divide my 104 credit hours by 1.5?

Why would I got to a semester schedule college and be limited to taking 25 credit hours a year verses going to a quarter schedule college and being able to take 40 credit hours a year? Again the numbers were still not making sense.

Now what? I asked myself, after I moved back into my mother’s basement following graduation.

I googled and googled until I found a new degree program at a new school that was still on a quarter schedule!

HOOT!

Oregon Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology specifically the Business and Systems Analysis option! Owl that’s a mouth full!

So I told my mom I was gearing up to head to Oregon!

After an eye opening cross country road trip, I am thrilled to have landed at OIT’s Klamath Falls campus.

I am extremely excited to have the privilege to be providing students with information about career services!

So let’s get ready for a great 2012-2013 school year!

Check out our social media pages!

https://twitter.com/OITCareerCenter

https://www.facebook.com/OITCareerServices

http://oitcareerservices.blogspot.com/  

Having a Phone Interview? These Tips May Help You Out:

By: Nicolas Odeh

Now that we are nearing the end of the school year, a lot of are looking for (if you haven’t already found) jobs for the summer/the beginning of our professional careers. While it goes without saying that there are a ton of jobs out there in a multitude of industries, almost all of them have one thing in common; you have to interview for them. Whether it’s in person, Skype, a telephone interview, or survey, there are a great deal of ways that that employers utilize to make sure that they are hiring the right personnel.

Over the last year, I’ve had over a dozen interviews – some in person, some over Skype (or any webcast), and over the phone. Below are some pieces of advice I’d like to offer you guys that would help make phone interviewing not only easier, but to help tip the scale in your favor.
 

1)      Have your Resume and Cover Letter on hand: A lot of employers base their interview questions on things they’ve seen on your resume or cover letter, so be ready to answer questions about it. If you have several copies of your resume, make sure it’s the same one that you submitted to that company (especially your cover letter!)

 

2)      Print out the Job Description: As the old adage goes, “never put all your eggs in one basket.” Employers are very conscious of the fact that students are applying for jobs all over the place. Just because you don’t necessarily have all your eggs in one basket does not mean you don’t have to give them your undivided attention in the interview. Know what the position is, know where its located and know what the job requires of you.

 

3)     Use a Landline: Simple, right? The last thing you need is a dead battery or a dropped call during a phone interview. Those are nearly impossible to recover from! If you do not have access to a landline, Oregon Tech Career Services has a conference room with a landline (and webcam) to help you get the job you want!

 

4)      Research as much as you can!: This goes for all interview types, regardless of setting. Give yourself the best chance of getting the job. Find out who you’re interviewing with and see if they have a LinkedIn account – it could help you connect with them even better. It’s also a good idea to know about the business as a whole, not just the position you are interviewing for. Not sure how much the job should pay? Check out places like www.cbsalary.com or www.glassdoor.com to find out about what you should be expecting for the position you are applying for.

 

5)      Make sure you have water: During a phone interview, the only thing you have to project yourself is your voice! The last thing you need is for your mouth to go dry, because then you’ll start to stumble on your answers. While that may be the case, the employer may have no idea that is what’s actually happening, so to them it comes off as a potential lack of confidence.

6)      Dress For Success: The one thing that you should always consider in a phone interview is your voice intonation, and how confident you sound. Even though your potential employer cannot see you, it may help to dress for the interview (even if it’s just putting on a shirt and a tie!) so that it helps put you in the interview mindset.  

 

Phone interviews are usually one of the first steps in the interview process. Doing well in phone interviews usually leads to in-person interviews, so your success at phone interviews is paramount. For more information on finding the right job for you, and any other career related endeavors, check out Career Services at www.oit.edu/career and “like” us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/OregonTechCareerServices.

Linx Technologies Now Partnering with Career Services

Linx Technologies is now another great partner with Oregon Tech Career Services, making them the 3^rd partner promoting student success after graduation.

Linx Technologies (Linx) is a leading provider within the wireless industry of cost-effective, easily applied and highly versatile radio frequencies, located in Merlin, OR just outside of Grants Pass. Since its incorporation in 1997, Linx has directly served over 10,000 customers and countless more through distributors worldwide.

Linx corporate headquarters is located in beautiful Merlin, Oregon just outside Grants Pass. Linx Technologies and Antenna Factor are based in Merlin. A close-knit work environment and a high quality of life in the surrounding area make Linx a desirable place to work. The company's custom-built 20,000+ square foot facility houses engineering, test, marketing, support, administration and distribution departments. Linx modular products are manufactured by a highly qualified contract vendor. Volume production of other products takes place worldwide at independent fabrication facilities. In-house inspection and testing ensures that all products meet or exceed Linx quality assurance standards.

The company is comprised of three divisions: Linx Technologies, Antenna Factor, and Connector City. The largest division, Linx Technologies, specializes in hybrid wireless modules, OEM RF products, and interface solutions such as encoder/decoder ICs. Antenna Factor specializes in cost-effective standard and custom antennas for a wide range of consumer and industrial wireless products. Connector City provides high quality standard and custom connectors and cable assemblies for volume OEM applications.

Linx utilizes the Oregon Tech graduates in the fields including Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing and Management. As of this publication, there are two positions open on their website; Marketing Communications Specialist, and Senior RF Design Engineer.

As a partner to Oregon Tech Career Services, be sure to be on the lookout for Linx to be in attendance at the next Oregon Tech Career Fair, as well as Linx coming to campus to recruit new graduates for their positions.

Oregon Tech, SOU Opening Up Career Fairs to Each Other:

April 9, 2012 – Klamath Falls, OR

Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech Career Services are partnering with one another by having open invitations for all students to attend all Career Fairs hosted by both schools.

This move not only opens the doors for current students at Oregon Tech and SOU, but now creates what can be a long term agreement between these two schools.

The partnership was initiated by Kay Swader, from the SOU Office of Student Life. SOU’s upcoming Career Fair is on April 24, from 11:00-2:30 at the Rogue River Room in the Stevenson Union. Registration for this event is not required – all students are encouraged to attend the event professionally dressed and resumes in hand.

With graduation and summer around the corner, this Career Fair looks promising to students who are looking to work, with over 27 businesses already registered to attend.

The list of businesses planning on attending is below. Oregon Tech Career Services is committed to preparing as many students as possible to attend the event, offering services such as resume prep, business card design and mock interviews.

Have questions about this event or other Career Services activities? Email us at career@oit.edu or call 541-885-1020.

Businesses Attending SOU Career Fair, 4/24/2012 as of 4/9/2012:

SOASTC

National College of Natural Medicine

KTVL-TV

Master in Health Counseling - SOU

KOBI

Northwestern Mutual Financial Network

Uti Transport Solutions

Klamath Falls City Schools

Peace Corp

City of Grants Pass

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Willamette University MBA

Macy's

Jackson County

Amy's Kitchen

SAIF Corporation

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads

Grange Co-op

Willamette University College of Law

Bicoastal Media

University of Western States

Grayback Forestry

Providence Health and Services

Target

Americorp /VISTA

Edwards Jones

Medford School District

MIT Externships; not your everyday job search opportunities.

With the winter term nearing a close, the hunt for students to find a employer and/or internship in the coming months is becoming increasingly intense.

OIT has a very unique niche in the job market hunt, specifically for the Medical Imaging students. Rather than attempt to wax on the subject myself, Chin (Silver) Chan volunteered some of his time to elaborate on the unique opportunities provided by the MIT Department. Enjoy!!

For All current and Prospective

OIT Medical Imaging Students:

My name is Chin Silver Chan and I am a student office aide for the Student Success Center at the library. I was asked by my supervisor to write some blog entries and as it has been a long time since I have written a blog I’ll have to ask you to bear with me.

Here at OIT I am a junior and a teaching assistant for the Radiologic Science (x-ray) program.  Lately I have been asked a lot of questions by my sophomores and “Pre-MITers” about senior externship. Even though a lot of people are interested or were already admitted to the imaging programs, they actually have no idea what awaits them senior year. I guess they have some powerful blind faith then?   ;)

All Medical Imaging Technology (MIT for short) students in their senior year have to extern out to a hospital in another city. This is because our local hospital could not possibly handle the large number of students that rotate every year. Yet at the same time our students need a certain amount of clinical experience by law before we’re allowed to take the registry exam with our governing board and become certified to work in the US.  It’s similar to how lawyers need to take the BAR exam in order to practice.

Where you extern at is highly variable - pretty much if any hospital is willing to work out the contract with OIT and your program director then it could be a potential extern site so long as you can fulfill your clinical competencies there. For x-ray, the vast majority of our sites are in Oregon. Usually a hospital in every major city here will take one of us every year.  I know we currently have established sites in Eugene, Salem, Medford, Bend, Portland, La Grande, etc. However for the other medical imaging programs the sites are more diverse.  My friends in Echocardiography have told me that their sites are all over the country: New York, Ohio, Texas, and more.

Note: If you have friends in higher places at a hospital, you could have them sponsor you and, with the help of your program director, you can establish your own personal extern site.

So how do you know which site you get?

Well that is determined by the infamous “draw”.

In order to be fair to all juniors (such as yours truly) who are about to extern next year, they will do a drawing for extern sites. Before the draw your program director will have gathered enough hospital contracts that will be equal or slightly greater than the current juniors. Be advised that these contracts are extremely fickle and could change even the minute before the draw.

Anyways, all of the students in your program gather together with your professors and they call out an extern site at random. For example they’ll say like “Oregon Health Science University in Portland”, and then whoever is interested in that site will throw in a piece of paper with their name on it into a bucket. They will draw a name at random from that bucket and that person gets that site. They will keep drawing until everyone has a site. What this means is if you have just enough sites for juniors then someone will HAVE to be stuck with an extern site that potentially no one wanted. However fear not, for at the end of the draw you’ll be allowed to trade each other sites if desired. With some shrewd bargaining you’ll be able to get somewhere that you will remotely like…hopefully.

So what are the advantages to each site?

Besides the location, some sites have more advantages than others such as a stipend, paid health insurance, child care, etc. However, students are usually not aware of the perks of each site until AFTER the draw is over - in order not to influence their choices. Some sites are better than others to learn certain specialties, for example if one wanted to specialize in the Catheterization Lab and other interventional type procedures, they would be best served by externing to a place like OHSU, which is a level 1 trauma center and could provide more learning opportunities. Also, it is likely that your extern site will become your first job for at least a few years since they have already seen what you can do during externship.

So all of this is a simple process right? Basically, everything is determined by luck but a lot of people have trouble agreeing with it. I can’t say I blame them as I like to plan out my own future. However, you need to get use to the idea that the draw is really an illusion of choice so don’t have your heart set on any particular site or you might suffer. Before joining a program you need to be willing to move wherever for a year and do what it takes to succeed.  Some of the previous juniors I have talked to have said that they didn’t even draw what was on their top 10 choices on their list.

Externship is really all about showing off what you’ve learned in school and making your own opportunities. Even though the x-ray program has a 99% pass rate on our registry, no amount of quality training will absolutely guarantee success. Only you can determine that, and with that said I want to wish everyone good luck and hope you enjoy the ride!

Fine and Dine, Network and Get Work!

Hello again!! 

For those that have been following Career Services and events on the OIT Klamath Falls Campus, you're probably aware that the annual Etiquette Evening and Networking event is next Thurdsday, February 9 at 5:30 PM. If you have no idea what I'm referring to then, well, shame on us!! 

The annual Professional Networking and Etiquette Evening is geared towards all students who are interested in learning how to succeed in the professional environment outside of the cubicle and board room, and in the public setting.

Be sure to check your OIT email and the campus for this flyer!! 

Like stated in the flyer above, this year Career Services is fortunate to have guest host Taryn Voget, CEO of Everyday Genius Institute - www.tarynvoget.com - with her presentation "How to Land Your Dream Job." In this two and a half hour event, students will learn how to network with professionals they have just met, learn how to get every advantage they can in a job interview, and know what each fork does in a dinner setting when you have more than one!


For only $10, attendees to the event will enjoy a four course meal, and unmatched experience that cannot always be tought in the classroom!

To register for the event, please go to www.oit.edu/career or www.myinterfase.com/oit/student. Students must be registered by 3:00 PM on Friday, February 3.

Have any questions? Contact us at 541-885-1020, Career@oit.edu, or swing by the Student Success Center, located on the 2nd floor of the Learning Resource Center (library).

Winter Term, 2012

Welcome back everyone!

If you were one of those lucky students that had the chance to leave Klamath Falls during winter break, you were probably coming back expecting there to be about a foot of snow on the ground, only to be disappointed by clear blue skies and not a single drop of rain on the ground (heartbreaking, I know).

With Winter Term about to get underway, there are a couple of things to take note of that weren't so relevant in the Fall Term:

1. OIT Basketball is in the heart of conference play, with both the men and women's teams in the hunt for national tournament berths and
2. All graduating seniors (and underclassmen looking for summer internships) will begin starting to look for employment opportunities in the summer.

While having school spirit and supporting athletics is important, I want to focus on the second part of that list - job searching. For the most part, all students want to have a job right after graduation lined up for them, so that they don't have to move back home with Mom and Dad and have a curfew all over again.

OIT has two career fairs a year; the fair for the school of Engineering, Technology and Management (ETM) which was in the fall, and the one for the school of Health, Arts, and Sciences (HAS) approaching on Marh 5. While these are great ways to help secure internships and careers after graduating, these are not the only ways you can find the career path for you after graduating.

Work at a place you enjoy, not loathe!

First, make a list of things you want out of your job, and prioritize them. What matters to you the most? Location? Starting Salary? Opportunity to move up? Then, find companies that you want to start a career with that also reflect your priorities.

Once you've found companies that you want to start a career with, network with them! This would be a great time to utilize Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn and get in contact with the right people to help you get the job you want. (Career Services can help find OIT Alumni in companies to help make the job search easier - be sure to check us out!)

Now that you've made contact with the right people, make sure your resume, references and cover letters are all up to date. Always remind your references that you are job searching and that they still may receive a phone call about you from a potential employer. Be sure to remind your references of things you've done recently, just so they don't have to struggle to find something good to say about you.

The final step when applying for the job is both the easiest and hardest thing to do: be yourself! It's unfair for you to try and apply for a job being someone you're not, and even harder to try and keep being that person if in fact you're hired! If you just show the real you from the beginning, it almost always will work in your favor.

Need any help with completing these steps? Just contact Career Services at Career@oit.edu or visit us on the 2nd floor of the LRC.