Teaching English Abroad

By Meagan Maddock, senior double major in international affairs (with a concentration in Latin America) and women & gender studies at CU-Boulder

Travel lovers, new grads, and people looking for adventure should all consider the exciting opportunity of teaching English abroad. Teaching English provides one of the easiest ways to travel the world, experience other cultures, and learn new languages. Many prefer this option to volunteering or interning abroad, because you can actually make money, and in some cases, you can make enough to pay off student loans!

Demand for native English speakers continues to rise throughout the world, and Americans can find jobs in basically any non-English speaking country, regardless of their undergraduate major. While pursuing a Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate opens up more, and often higher-paying, opportunities, it is not necessary for landing a teaching job. That being said, qualifications depend greatly on the region.

While teaching abroad can be a great option for all kinds of people, many veteran English-teachers warn that this option is not for everyone. While it offers great opportunities for people who just want to get abroad after college and/or before pursuing grad school or a career, people who are not passionate about teaching and cultural exchange should think twice before teaching abroad. Much like study abroad or international internships, teaching abroad is full of challenges and requires flexibility, adaptability, and an open mind. Check out these blogs to read about personal teaching abroad stories: http://blog.teacherport.com/

It is important to prepare for an international teaching position much like you would for a study abroad program. Various organizations offer programs that are similar to study abroad programs, with a downside of charging a fee and an upside of providing a more structured experience. On the contrary, it is not uncommon for people to become certified and find a job on their own with an independent English school. In those cases, it is especially important to consider visa and work permit restrictions, medical insurance, housing arrangements, and contracts before you go.  Two resources to get you started include the Teaching English Quick Tips and Goabroad.com.

Does this topic spark your interest? Career Services will be hosting a Teach Abroad event on March 6, 5:30-7pm in C4C Abrams Lounge. We will have panelists with diverse experiences teaching in every region of the world. Come with questions!

The Value of a CU Degree

By Lisa Severy, Director of Career Services & Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs

The University of Colorado Boulder is nationally recognized for its unique and stellar academic programs, outstanding faculty, high-achieving students, award-winning staff, and its beautiful geographic setting. In my role as Director of Career Services, I am often asked how this academic excellence translates into the world of work in terms of degree marketability. In that spirit, I am presenting this open letter to our CU community to share my personal perspective based on my experience working with college recruiters and also to give you a view of the current recruiting picture at CU-Boulder.

Career Services at CU-Boulder is responsible for helping students with various aspects of their professional development and for facilitating interactions between students and potential employers in terms of career fairs, job and internship listings, and on-campus interviewing. While the new college job market is related to the national job market, it has some differences that make it bounce back faster and weather difficulties more easily than the market in general. For example, employers who are moving from a stalled hiring period into a more active hiring period may target new graduates as a cost-effective strategy and a way of finding enthusiastic professionals with the latest skills and training. When our employer relations staff talks with potential employers about the value of hiring new college graduates in general and CU-Boulder graduates in particular, they focus specifically on the benefits of hiring the best and the brightest this country has to offer.

Marketing the value of a degree from CU-Boulder is not difficult. In fact, we enjoy talking about the academic and leadership credentials of our students, the caliber of our nationally celebrated faculty, the uniqueness of our academic offerings, and the variety of extracurricular education available to our students. Among the highlights we emphasize are:

•    Five Nobel Prize winners

•    Nineteen Rhodes Scholars

•    Six Marshall Scholarship recipients

•    Nine Truman Scholarship recipients

•    Sixteen Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipients

•    Twenty-five National Security Education Program recipients

•    The 2004 National Professor of the Year

•    Four CU-Boulder professors awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific 
honor

•    More than 100 faculty Fulbright Scholars

•    More than one hundred student Fulbright Scholarships for graduate study

•    Twenty-four faculty members in the National Academy of Sciences

•    Twenty-two faculty members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

•    Sixteen faculty members in the National Academy of Engineering

•    Six faculty members in the National Academy of Education

•    Seven faculty recipients of MacArthur Fellowships, otherwise known as "Genius Grants"

•    Nine Packard Fellows (recognizing the most promising science and engineering researchers in the US)

•    Ten professors awarded Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships since 2000

•    Two National Science Foundation Director's Award winners for Distinguished Teaching Scholars

•    More than fifty fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science

•    Four faculty members named investigators by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

•    Ten professors honored with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities

•    Just recently, two CU-Boulder professors, Pieter Johnson and Rebecca Safran, received prestigious 
National Science Foundation Early Career Development awards.

Also:

•    CU-Boulder ranks No. 4 among all U.S. colleges and universities in the number of its alumni now 
serving as Peace Corps volunteers with 93 individuals making a difference in families and communities throughout the world. More than 2,353 CU-Boulder alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers, No. 5 all time.

•    The University of Colorado Boulder’s ROTC program has won one of eight MacArthur Awards in the nation for the unit’s achievements in the 2011-12 school year. CU-Boulder was selected as the top unit of the Cadet Command’s Fifth Brigade, which consists of 36 senior Army ROTC programs in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

•    Eighteen CU-Boulder alumni have flown in space on a total of 40 missions, beginning with Scott Carpenter and the Mercury missions in the 1960s. CU-Boulder ranks among the top five U.S. universities, excluding military academies, in the number of astronaut alumni. CU-Boulder is the only research institution in the world to have designed and built space instruments for NASA that have been launched to every planet in the solar system.

As the following highlights additionally indicate, CU-Boulder has been nationally recognized as one of the finest universities in the country:

•    CU-Boulder ranked in the top 20 in a 2012 report by SmartMoney that rated the return on investment for 50 of the nation’s priciest colleges for out-of-state tuition.

•    CU-Boulder is one of only 35 U.S. public research universities invited to join the prestigious Association of American Universities.

•    CU-Boulder is one of only three U.S. schools to receive the 2007 Presidential Award for Exemplary Student Community Service. Specially recognized CU-Boulder programs include the Volunteer Resource Center, the Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement, Engineers without Borders, the Puksta Scholars Program, INVST Community Studies, Simply the Best, and the Peace Corps Recruitment Program.

•    U.S. News & World Report ranked CU-Boulder 42^nd among the nation's top 50 public national universities in its 2013 America's Best Colleges issue. The rankings were based on factors such as academic reputation, student retention, faculty resources, alumni giving, graduation rate and admissions selectivity.

•    CU-Boulder ranked second in Outside magazine’s 40 best colleges. The rankings were based on schools that, “...turn out smart grads with top-notch academic credentials, a healthy environment ethos and an A+ sense of adventure.”

•    CU-Boulder is ranked sixth among public institutions in federal research expenditures by the National Science Foundation.

•    Six CU-Boulder graduate school specialty programs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, in U.S. News & World Report's 2013 America's Best Graduate Schools issue.

•    Recognizing its commitment to civic engagement and leadership, CU-Boulder was included in Colleges with a Conscience, published in 2005 by Random House, The Princeton Review and Campus Compact.

•    In March of 2006, Fortune Small Business and CNNMoney.com named CU-Boulder one of ten “Hot Spots” for entrepreneurial education.

As you can see, CU-Boulder is one of the highest caliber universities, public or private, in the country. Although our awards and rankings are impressive, the strength of our employer relations depends primarily upon our graduates. What keeps employers returning to CU-Boulder to recruit semester after semester and year after year is the success of its previous recruits within their organization. CU-Boulder graduates make good employees. As long as hiring managers and campus recruiters come to understand that investing in a CU-Boulder graduate is a good decision for their company, they will continue to look to the CU for their recruiting and hiring needs.

Despite the recession, our graduates continue to interview and are finding success within a tricky new graduate job market. The Collegiate Employment Research Institute (CERI) recently reported that employers anticipate a 3% increase in bachelor’s level new graduate hiring this year, and we believe that outlook is reflective of CU-Boulder as well. Here is an overview of recruiting at CU-Boulder:

•    Despite the recession, the number of opportunities posted for CU-Boulder graduates has increased over the past five years. In fact, our full-time job postings have increased more than 28% since before the recession started. Our number of internships has doubled in that time. While some schools have stalled in the recessions, our numbers have continued to increase.

•    Last year, the number of full-time positions we posted at CU-Boulder increased by 4.7% over the year before.

•    Last year we posted approximately 5,838 opportunities in diverse industries across Colorado, the US, and the world.

•    Our Spring Career Fair in 2013 maxed out our space for employers with more than 153 companies attending. The most frequent major request by those companies was “All Majors.” In other words, companies are looking for talented, educated, motivated leaders from any academic discipline or background to be problem-solvers within their organization.

•    According to the Wall Street Journal, corporate recruiters are increasingly hiring from large, state schools, in part because a recruiter can interview more candidates more quickly at a big state campus than at a smaller, private school. In addition, the quality gap between private and state schools has narrowed. Recruiters call graduates of the top state schools among the best-prepared students and say they fit well with their corporate cultures.

•    According to independent research by PayScale, the starting median pay for CU-Boulder graduates (bachelor’s degree holders with no further education) is $45,000 and the mid-career (10-19 years of experience) median pay is $87,100. Of course, these median numbers vary greatly by discipline, industry, and geography.

To help our graduates maximize their potential and stand out among candidates, we offer professional career counseling and coaching. Coaches and counselors can help students identify strengths, make career decisions, strategize a plan, write a resume, practice interviewing, and build a network. We also work closely with the Alumni Association to help students connect with alumni as well as to help alumni in career transition. The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to helping graduates be successful professionally throughout their lifetimes.

The good news from our employer partners is that CU-Boulder will continue to stay at the top of their recruiting lists, even in these difficult economic times. The quality of the degrees earned here at CU- Boulder, as evidenced by the list of accolades above, helps to keep us at the forefront of college recruiting. Those of us on the front lines of marketing CU-Boulder degrees will continue to represent the University of Colorado with great pride. We continually meet with new employers as well as our long- time partners to bring the best opportunities to campus. As always, we seek feedback from students, faculty, staff, and CU-Boulder parents to shape and guide our programs. As our students and the world of work constantly change, we continue to strive to meet the needs of the best and brightest students and new graduates in the country.

The College Student Perspective - Staying Motivated Through Your College Career

By Nuriya Safarova, pre-law student at American River College for My College Calendar

I am a sophomore at American River College in Sacramento, California preparing to begin my fourth semester. An ongoing issue I have each semester is that as soon as classes begin, I fall into some sort of “ditch” where I get stuck and struggle to motivate myself. I have trouble focusing on my studies and completing assignments. Sometimes I catch myself comparing my student life to other students and think how are other people able to stay in school, work their jobs, and earn good grades, while I struggle so much with motivating myself to do the same.

I try to I do well with planning ahead; I know the work ahead of me, but it all stays in my mind rather than getting executed. When it comes to completing homework, all of a sudden I become tired and begin to think of other tasks that need to be done; eventually, I start to panic and begin creating excuses for not doing the work. I tell myself, “10 more minutes and I will sit down and focus.” This struggle typically continues every day and the more I beat myself down, the worse the situation becomes.

As students we all struggle with pulling ourselves together, having the motivation to stay in college, and doing well academically . . . and believe me, it will only get more difficult when you transfer to a 4-year university. In order to get accepted to a good 4-year university, one needs to have top grades and successfully complete time-consuming transfer student application; an application on which all of your work throughout your community college career is presented for admission officers to review and evaluate. On top of that, most community college students have additional challenges of either part-time or full time jobs, tremendous amounts of homework, and, perhaps, family obligations.

The obstacles to student success are many, but here are some tips on how to stay motivated throughout your college career and be successful not only in community college, but in 4-year universities as well: Stay focused on academics, allow yourself to rest properly, prioritize school and work, and earn the excellent grades necessary to boost your transfer eligibility and chances for admission to your university of choice.

Staying motivated means staying focused on one thing at a time. Get a notepad and make a list of priorities from most difficult to easiest; not only will the list keep you focused on one task at a time, you will eliminate the stress of having to think of everything that needs to be completed. As you progress, scratch out tasks you have completed and move on to the next. Don’t think about what comes afterward, focus on current assignment and get it done.

Resting between tasks will build your motivation to work on next assignment. Taking breaks between assignments will allow your brain to store the information learned, recharge, and be ready for the next project. For me, the most effective way to rest is to step outside into fresh air and take a 15-minute walk.

One of the impediments to staying motivated is having a busy schedule. If you are working full-time or part-time, arrange to work on your school assignments during the hours you are best able to function. For example, if you come home late at night, it is always better to wake up early the next day and do your work rather than trying to cram everything together through the dawn. Or, if you return home from school or work early, give yourself an hour break then sit down and to work on your assignments. The earlier you start, the earlier you finish and potentially have spare time to complete other responsibilities.

To help retain the knowledge gained from academic assignments, try to apply what you have learned to life situations; try to explain what you have learned to someone else. This will help you store the knowledge and be able comprehend it more fully. If you are still struggling with understanding the material, ask your professor for help or find a tutoring center at your college. Remember, keeping up those grades is necessary if you intend to transfer to a 4-year university and ultimately enroll into a graduate program.

Finally, 4-year universities require transfer-student applicants to have excellent grades and to submit an outstanding application for admission. To be able to demonstrate both of these, students need to stay motivated to do the highest quality of work and make a determined effort to create a stellar application. Stellar applications should clearly show your years of hard work, academic successes, and the strong desire to enroll into the university to which you are applying.

A college career is never easy, especially if you are unable to properly motivate yourself. I personally struggle with staying focused and getting top grades because of my need to juggle work, school, and family life. But I always remember to take one step at a time, prioritize my school schedule amongst other responsibilities, make sure I don’t burn out by not taking rest between assignments, and strive for the best possible grades I can earn. In the back of my mind I always remember the importance of being able to show my hard work and success not only through my college application for admission, but by actually reaching the goals I set for myself. 

10 Ways to Lose Your Internship

By Kelsey McWilliams, junior journalism major at CU-Boulder

Now that you’ve landed your dream internship, you may think the pressure’s off to be professional and courteous. Wrong. If you want to lose your internship after all the hard work you’ve put into landing it, then most definitely do all of these things below. However, if you want to keep your internship and these bad habits remind you of yourself, then change your path now because you’re about to self-destruct! Get on a better path where you can be proud of who you are and the work that you do.

If you want to lose your internship, then definitely:

1. Show up late. Stroll into the office half an hour late with Starbucks in hand. People will notice that you’re late and will see exactly why. Coffee was definitely more important than the meeting with your boss, right?

2. Complain constantly. Since the work you have to do at your internship is so boring and helping you in no way, make sure to look really bored and complain a lot. Then, take it a step further and ask your boss for a recommendation letter. I’m sure he/she will have great things to say about your work ethic.

3. Ask questions you can easily find out the answers to. Pretend as if Google doesn’t exist and bother your boss with as many questions as you can think of. Definitely don’t take initiative and solve problems on your own. Your co-workers are going to love you!

4. Dress inappropriately. Wear only outfits that you would also wear to the bars – the more skin showing, the better. Or even better, dress in the wrinkled clothes you slept in last night. So fashionable!

5. Expect to be thanked and rewarded for everything you do. You have such an important position at the company that you should definitely expect hand-written thank you notes for each task you complete. If you don’t get these, then act like a three-year-old and throw a hissy fit until someone notices.

6. Come to work hungover. Stay out until at least 4am every night before work. Make sure to roll out of bed right before work in the morning without making yourself look presentable and smelling like a bar. People love this look.

7. Stay connected with your friends. Don’t miss a single text or phone call from your friends during work, no matter what you’re doing. That report you’re working on can wait, right? You just got a text from Ashley that says, “OMG.” It must be really important. Respond right away, even if you’re in a meeting with your boss.

8. Tweet and post statuses at work. Make sure to let the world know what a horrible day you’re having at work and how excited you are to leave. Hopefully your boss follows you on Twitter too!

9. Talk about inappropriate things. Spill the beans to everyone about your boyfriend or girlfriend, the party you went to last night and how much you had to drink. The list goes on and on with all the drama that everyone hears from you and you’ll be the center of attention.

10. Act ungrateful. You’re getting paid minimum wage, or better yet – not getting paid at all, so it’s totally fine to act like you’re doing them a favor. After all, this internship is purely for your resume and your benefit, right? You’ll be sure to be the first person on their hiring list with this kind of attitude.

Don’t forget to follow these 10 steps for a quick ride to unemployment, not to mention horrible references. If you’d like to keep your internship, however, pay even more attention to these 10 mistakes – are you guilty of any of them? It’s never too late to break these terrible habits and become the best intern, rather than the worst.

Friends vs. Colleagues: Where's the Line?

By Kelsey McWilliams, junior journalism major at CU-Boulder

Friend [frend] noun: a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard

Colleague [kol-eeg] noun: an associate

The two definitions above may seem pretty straight forward at first glance, but the truth is: there is a fine line between friends and colleagues. That’s not to say that you can’t be friends with the people you work with, but colleagues are not equivalent to friends outside of the workplace.

First of all, your boss is not just an ordinary colleague, especially if you’re an intern. As fun and friendly as your boss may be, remember that you are in a professional setting, so it is imperative to act that way. Do not come to work hung-over or talk about inappropriate things with people in the office. Making a negative impression could certainly hurt you in the future at your current job or internship and affect your career search.

Workplaces are a great way to meet people and make friends; so don’t be afraid to take advantage of that opportunity. Just remember to be cognizant of your surroundings whether you’re having drinks with colleagues after work or sitting in the office lounge. Making a good impression on people is an important part of professional life, so make sure to know your boundaries.

As much as you may like your colleagues, they are not replacements for your mom, roommates or childhood best friend. That means, over sharing of personal details is definitely not recommended in a professional environment. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being friendly and outgoing, as long as you know where to draw the line.