Again, I'd like to welcome you
to today's webinar,
"Translating VISTA Service
to Your Resume and Career.
I'm Patrick Triano,
Director of Training
and Member Support
for the VISTA program.
And I'll be your host
for today's webinar.
Assisting me today off screen
are our partners Jessica Knight
and Scott Weinrobe
from Education Northwest.
You'll see us all in the chat
in the Q&A to assist you
during today's session
and to help you get
your questions answered.
Leading today's
session we're delighted
to have with us Erin Barnhart.
Dr. Barnhart is the founder and
President of Effective Altruism,
LLC, as well as the Director
of Operations for the American
Gap Association.
Erin serves
on the Board of Directors
for the Building
Bridges Coalition,
on the Oregon Committee
on Volunteerism,
and as an online instructor
for the AmeriCorps VISTA Blend.
She teaches a section
of the Volunteer
Mobilization course,
and is an adjunct professor
at the University of Oregon
and Concordia University,
Portland.
Erin is also
an AmeriCorps NCCC alum.
Today we'll also hear from two
VISTA alumni guest speakers,
Jordan Katcher and Erin Pringle.
You will hear more
from them a little later.
Our goals for this session are
that after today you are able
to effectively translate
and highlight important aspects
of your VISTA service
on your resume,
identify keywords
and language for your resume
that resonate with various
job fields and sectors,
and build a portfolio
that showcases the experience
you gained and work
you accomplished
during your service.
We will begin today
by looking at how you can
prepare for a successful
transition
out of your VISTA service.
We'll focus
on some tangible ways
you can highlight and share
your service experience,
both in person
and through your resume.
Along the way we'll hear
from our two VISTA alumni
about their personal experiences
with this process.
Finally, we'll close by sharing
some additional resources
and end with
a question-and-answer session.
Before handing the presentation
over to Erin,
I'd like to share a tweet
someone sent to VISTA Buzz
this past spring.
As you can see,
even six years later,
the benefits of serving
with VISTA continue to manifest.
At CNCS we wanted to learn more,
so we reached out to this alumni
and learned
that after her VISTA service
with adult literacy programs
she went to graduate school
for public health.
Today, she's currently
employed at a statistician
at a large research hospital.
When asked to explain
the connection
between her VISTA service
and career benefits she says,
"I have been asked about VISTA
in every job interview
I've been on.
My opinion is that my graduate
degree is what makes me
qualified
for the research statistical
jobs I've taken,
but the skills I've
gained from VISTA
may have set me apart
from other candidates.
Keeping this in mind,
I'm excited Erin
and our guest speakers are here
to discuss the best ways
to represent VISTA service
by undergoing a career search
and set yourself apart
from other applicants.
Erin?
Thank you so much, Patrick.
To answer the initial question,
I wanted to be either
an astronaut or a veterinarian,
possibly both at the same time,
but I really didn't
have that figured out yet.
Thank you everyone for indulging
us and sharing your goals
for your adulthood at
the beginning of this webinar.
So, before we dive into our
webinar content this afternoon,
we'd like to ask you
a few more questions.
You'll see a poll
on your screen there,
and I'd like you to answer
two questions specifically.
First, where are you
in your year of service?
Are you early
in your term of service?
Are you in the middle somewhere?
Are you nearing the end?
Or are you an alum
and you've completed?
Similarly, do you know
what you want to do post VISTA?
Now, this might be a different
answer than you had as a child,
but as of today you have a sense
for what you want to do next.
Your answer options
there are "I know or I'm pretty
sure what I would like to do,"
"I'm currently considering
and exploring what I want
to do post-service,"
or "I'm not sure
what I want to do and I haven't
yet begun to process it."
So we have a little bit of extra
time up there on the screen.
We're seeing responses come in,
a really nice range
of responses.
It looks like overwhelmingly
we've got folks
on the call who are early
in their term of service,
which isn't too surprising
given where we are in the year.
So, welcome.
It's never too early
to start thinking about what you
want to do post-VISTA.
Similarly, when we're looking at
if you know what you want to do,
pretty good mix between "I
know or I'm pretty sure"
and "I am currently
considering."
A handful of folks
still not sure at all,
which is totally fine.
We're going to try
to give you some tools
and ideas today to get you going
on that so that you have a sense
for what you might
want to do next.
So we're going
to talk a little bit
about preparing
for the transition.
What you can talk about
and what you can do today
to prepare for your
professional next steps.
We're going to talk
about how you can
start building a portfolio,
collecting things
like writing samples,
program materials,
social media,
outcomes and evaluations,
trainings that you've completed,
software that you've used.
There's a host of things that
you can add to your portfolio.
And if you've already
completed your term of service
you can request copies of
those materials after the fact.
You can get back in touch
with your host site.
Another thing
that you can do today
to prepare for your professional
next steps is identify careers,
jobs,
and/or degree programs
that are of particular
interest for you.
You can do things
like start tracking job posts
and employers,
and identify those of interest.
There's a great activity
in a guide called "The Idealist
Guide to Nonprofit Careers"
where you can
actually go through--
it's called
a "career track activity"
--where you can go through to
any sort of job site out there,
Monster.com, Indeed.com,
Idealist.org,
find a bunch of jobs
that sound interesting to you,
jot those down.
Don't assess yet whether or not
they are a good fit for you,
whether you actually
want that job,
whether you're willing
to move to that place.
Literally just copy
and paste every one
that's remotely of interest,
and then when you have several
at your disposal,
hopefully 50 or more,
you go back and read
through them and decide, "Okay,
is this something I actually
want to do?
Is this something that's
a good fit for me?"
That's a great activity
to figure out
what is it that I really want,
what sort of themes are emerging
that will tell me
what is it that I want to do.
Another great
activity is to poll
your peers and your colleagues,
as well as your
organizational partners,
and ask them where do they
think you would thrive,
what do they think you
would be great at.
If they were the architect
of your career,
what would they say
that you should pursue?
You also might want
to consider whether or not
you might want to or need
to go back to school.
You can research possible
programs,
ask for recommendations,
and do some informational
interviews,
talk to folks and colleagues
in the field
to learn whether or not
a particular degree program
would be useful.
Now, speaking
of informational interviews,
informational interviews are
a really fantastic way
to learn more
about specific career tracks.
You can ask your colleagues
or supervisors
and your peers who they know
in particular fields
or organizations of interest.
You could also take
a look at LinkedIn
and see who might be connected
to someone who's doing work
that you find interesting.
What you then do is you can
reach out to someone,
say, "Hey, I'd like to borrow 30
to 60 minutes of your time,
can we meet over coffee
or can we chat on the phone?"
And what you do
is you ask them questions
about what does
their day look like,
how did they come
to this position,
what did they study,
what do they read,
how should you prepare.
Ask if they might be willing
to share a copy of their resume
that you can use as a potential
model for your own.
You might want
to consider listening--
excuse me-- to the recording
of a recent webinar presented
on the topic of career research,
it's titled "Considering
Your Career Options:
What You Can Do Today,"
and this webinar covered some of
the career research activities,
including information
interviews,
that I've mentioned
in more depth just now.
And, in fact, you'll see a link
to that webinar
in your chat window.
So I highly recommend you
check that out
to get more in-depth information
on what kinds of activities
you can start doing today
to prepare.
The last thing on the list
here is to request letters
of recommendation,
and I do recommend
that you wait until near the end
of your service to do this.
And the reason for that is
they're going to be able
to write more detailed,
more specific letters
of recommendation
once they've seen you in action
over your course of service.
So, as you near the end
of your service,
start requesting those letters
of recommendation
so that you have them as part
of your packet of information
to search for a new career
and new job.
So let's talk very briefly
about building your portfolio.
Here's a list of the kinds
of things you might
collect for your portfolio.
Keep in mind that your portfolio
can be something
you create with paper.
It can literally be in a binder,
or it can be something
you host online.
And there's plenty of free sites
out there where you can
host a website of your own,
for example, WordPress
or Google Sites,
or if you want to get fancy
and spend a little money
you can use something
like Squarespace as well.
Now, there's a terrific guide
for creating your own portfolio
titled "VISTA Portfolio Toolkit:
Turning Service into a Career."
And you're going to find
the link to that toolkit
in the chat window as well as in
the "Resources" slide at the end
of this presentation.
So I really recommend you
check that out so
you can start figuring out how
to put your portfolio together
because that is something
you can start today.
No matter where you are
in your term of service,
that's something you can
start this very moment.
So translating service
to career-speak,
that's the next
thing we're going to talk about,
how to describe what you did as
a VISTA to a potential employer.
My first piece
of advice is prepare a one-
to two-sentence description
so that you can seamlessly
explain VISTA to an employer.
For example, it might
say "AmeriCorps
VISTA members live and serve
in some of our nation's
poorest urban and rural areas.
With passion, commitment,
hard work,
and innovative solutions,
VISTA members build capacity
by creating
or expanding programs designed
to bring individuals
and communities out of poverty."
One to two sentences
that describes what is VISTA,
what does it do, so that
when you explain to someone
that you served
as a VISTA member,
they're able to grasp
what the program is and how it
relates to your work.
And I see in the chat there's
someone asking
for that one to two sentence.
We can, indeed, try
to get that for you,
and it should also be in
the transcript on your screen.
You'll also want to learn
how to talk about the work
of capacity-building,
and one of the hints here
is that every single field
needs capacity-building.
So let's talk
about that very briefly.
As you learned that PSO,
VISTA defines capacity-building
as a set of activities
that expand the scale,
reach, efficiency,
or effectiveness of programs
or organizations.
The task and activities related
to capacity-building
include such things as creating,
expanding, or strengthening
an organization's systems
or processes, as well
as the transfer of knowledge,
products, and relationships
to the staff
and volunteers of the host site.
Your examples might
include the ability
to do more with less;
leveraging human,
financial,
and other resources
to meet organizational goals;
developing internal programs
and strategies
to make the organization
more efficient;
participating
in resource developments
and volunteer engagement
to help make the organization
more sustainable.
Now, the VISTA blend course
that I teach,
Volunteer Mobilization,
is all about capacity-building,
and, in fact,
this semester I'm actually
also teaching a section
of resource development.
Both of those are
really critical
capacity-building activities.
So when we think
about translating our service
to career-speak
you want to spend
a little time talking
about how do we make that leap.
First thing I want you to do is,
thinking about your
particular VISTA service,
the first thing you do
is brainstorm a list
of skills that you developed,
accomplishments and activities
that you complete
or with which you assist,
materials that you create
or that you've created,
responsibilities
that you've had.
Some of the ways
you might think about this are
what did you do each day,
what did your day look like,
what were you responsible for,
what did you need to know and/or
do to succeed in your role.
These are the kinds of questions
that will help you brainstorm
a list of skills,
accomplishments,
and activities
that you can actively
share in your resume
and in your interviews.
And thinking of skills,
you want to consider technical,
interpersonal,
and characteristic skills.
Now, an example
of technical skills
include database development,
community outreach,
volunteer management,
resource development,
community development,
project management,
and program development.
Interpersonal skills could
include coalition-building,
experience working with diverse
groups of individuals,
experience working
across sectors.
And characteristics
could include such things
as mission-oriented,
being a critical thinker,
having cultural competency,
being a quick learner,
motivated,
outcome-oriented,
flexible,
innovative, and dedicated.
Do any of these sound
like anything
that you're doing as a VISTA,
because chances are
all of that stuff is stuff
that you are actively
engaged in as a VISTA.
So these are the kinds of things
you want to talk
about when you're speaking
to a potential employer.
So we have a little
mini activity for you here.
And what I'd like to ask you
to do is use the chat box
and make sure you send
to "All Participants."
We want to see your--
the reason we want you to do
that is we want your comments
to be visible to everyone,
so put them in the chat panel,
not the Q&A panel further
down the screen.
So what we want
to see is what skills
and experiences have you gained
during your VISTA service.
And I already see
some coming up,
conflict management,
coalition-building,
website development,
public speaking,
grant proposal writing,
networking.
These are such great things
to list, and what I
want you to be doing is as
you're reading these consider,
"Oh, yeah, that one
is true for me, too."
Keep track of the ones
that make sense
for you so that you can hold
onto those when you
practice this later.
I'm seeing research
and development,
leadership skills,
promotion,
networking, project planning,
establishing a 501
(c)
(3)
--wow, that's a major skill,
my goodness--
working with salesforce,
database management.
Yeah, absolutely.
Community--
building, there's advocacy,
there's so many great skills
and activities that I'm
seeing listed on the screen,
and I really want you
to keep track
of these because these are--
someone said "I hate
salesforce," sorry about that--
these are the kinds of things
that you're going to want
to talk about with employer.
If you were to just say
to an employer, "Hey,
I served as a VISTA member
and I helped an organization,"
they're not going to understand
what that means.
But if you say "I
did public relations,
I worked on social
media strategy,
I helped establish a 501
(c)
(3),
I did public speaking,
I did marketing,"
wow,
that's all translatable
and it's transferrable,
and that's
what employers care about.
They want to know that you can
succeed at their organization
with your skills and talents.
So you're welcome to keep
using that chat window there,
but we're going to move
on to the next part
of translating your service.
The first part of it is that
you'll want to learn the terms
for your particular field
or sector of interest.
As we all know,
every field and sector of
interest has its own language.
So you want to do some research
to figure out
what language matters for your
particular field of interest.
One way you might do
this is to check out
what terms are common job posts.
Use sites like LinkedIn,
Idealist.org,
USAjobs.gov, Monster.com,
Simply Hired--
we're going to have a whole list
of these at the end
of the webinar,
so don't worry
about missing those.
Take a look at what words
do they use in those job posts,
what titles do they use,
how do they name their skills.
Seek examples of resumes
from people in the field.
Again, you can do that through
informational interviews,
you can look on LinkedIn,
you can also just simply request
and see if someone's willing
to share them.
What terminology do they use?
What language do they
use to share
and discuss and describe
the work that they do?
And, again through
those informational interviews,
not only can you ask for resumes
but you can simply
ask them straightforward
what language should I
use when I describe my work,
how will it make the most sense
for my field of interest?
And then what you want to do
is translate your VISTA work
to that language so that you're
doing the job for the employer,
helping them see how your VISTA
experience is transferrable
to their field.
So how might you describe
your skills, experiences,
and responsibilities
to a nonprofit employer,
to a for-profit,
to a public entity,
to an educational institution?
The chances are that the same
skill or activity that you use
in one place is absolutely
transferrable to another,
it's just
under a different name.
So, for example, in working
in the nonprofit organization,
you may have done significant
community outreach,
reaching out to the community,
telling them about what you do,
alerting them
to upcoming events,
things that they might
find of interest.
In the for-profit world they
probably call that marketing,
exact same thing,
maybe a slightly
different focus,
slightly different goals,
but it's the same set of skills.
You're reaching out
to a known audience,
you're trying to get
their attention,
you're trying to point them
towards something
that they might
find of interest.
At the same time,
if you're working
for a government agency,
they may call it
public awareness.
They don't do marketing
at the government agency,
that's something
that for-profits do,
but they do public awareness.
So hopefully you can
see how the exact same skillset
can be applied in three
different areas just
by simply shifting and changing
the language just a little bit.
So I'd now like to introduce
one of our guest speakers.
This is Jordan Katcher
and she served from April
of 2014 to 2015
as a Tribal Colleges
and Universities VISTA at United
Tribes Technical College
in Bismarck, North Dakota.
And she is now
with the Conservation Legacy
VISTA Program in Beckley,
West Virginia.
Jordan, I will pass
the microphone to you.
We're excited to hear from you.
Thank you, Erin.
So, hey, everyone.
As mentioned,
my name is Jordan Katcher.
And from April of 2014 to 2015
I served a Tribal Colleges
and Universities VISTA at United
Tribes Technical College
in Bismarck, North Dakota.
And my role basically
involved building capacity
for their land grant department,
which promotes food sovereignty
both on campus
and within the five reservations
of North Dakota
that govern the college.
So during my last month
as a VISTA
I started creating
a sustainability folder,
which is similar to a portfolio,
and that was for my
VISTA replacement,
for my nonprofit,
and also for myself.
This folder included
completed projects,
uncompleted projects,
partnerships, past events,
community donations,
and advice from firsthand
experience at my site.
A lot goes on during a year
of service,
and so I used my
quarterly reports,
my work calendar,
previous emails,
and desktop folders to really
capture all that took place
during that past year.
I can't highlight enough on how
crucial looking over your emails
and calendar was for me
during the process.
There were numerous partnership
meetings and outreach events
that I didn't remember until
I found them in my calendar.
So when I started thinking
about where I wanted
to go after my VISTA year,
I started examining what aspects
of my VISTA service were
the parts that I loved the most.
While looking
through my sustainability
binder I asked myself
was it forming partnerships
with local nonprofits,
was it bringing awareness
through social media,
was it taking part
in cultural practices,
was it recruiting volunteers
or serving in an academic
environment.
And for myself, personally,
it was basically all of that.
I was very fortunate
to serve with an inspiring team
of tribal college educators
that welcomed me with open arms
and allowed me to take part
in actually making
a real difference on campus,
which is why I decided to apply
for VISTA leader position.
Once I knew
that the leader position
was something I was really
pumped up for,
I examined
the position qualifications
and started to look over my past
and current work experiences
to begin building up the case
for why I would be a qualified
candidate for the position.
My experiences began a few years
before my VISTA service
when I attended
the University of Virginia
and I interned with our Office
of the Dean of Students,
and I was able to create
an official concentration,
Native American Studies,
for my university. Then,
in expanding
[inaudible]
state and national
and live on the Mescalero Apache
Reservation in New Mexico,
and afterwards
when I had the opportunity
to serve at United Tribes.
Once I had a solid
framework I started
to dig deeper into what exactly
it was that I accomplished
during those opportunities,
especially as a VISTA.
What skills and educational
occasions did I partake
in that would qualify me
to lead other VISTAs,
not only just
for the approval of
[inaudible]
accepting my position
but also for myself?
Was this something I was
prepared for
and would it be best
for the program
to have me as their leader?
That can sometimes be
a difficult question,
but I find it very beneficial
to attempt to step
outside of my own mindset
and see things
through other perspectives.
And my sustainability binder
really helped with that process.
And the same would
basically be applicable
for other job positions as well.
Once you understand
what the position entails
and you know that it's
something that you want
to put your heart into,
you can frame your
VISTA experience
around what
that employer is looking for,
just as long as it's applicable.
Taking on a year
of service is a beautiful thing.
And effectively expressing
what you accomplished
during those 12 months
to a future employer is crucial,
not only for them to understand
what you took part in
but to also bring forth
a better awareness
of VISTA service in the country.
So, before I took part
in the interview
for the VISTA
leader position I made sure
to discuss this opportunity
with as many people as I could,
from my mother to my best
friend, to my coworkers.
I really wanted to
work on articulating
what made me love this program
and organize the thoughts in my
head into comprehendible speech,
so that way during my interview
I could feel more confident
in my answers
and also have a list
of experiences in front of me
for an additional resource.
And after understanding
the positions,
realizing
that I wanted it so badly,
and coming up with qualifying
examples from my VISTA service,
I felt confident, not
that I would get the position
but that I had put
a great amount of time
and energy into this process.
A few weeks after the interview
I was offered the position.
And not only was it
an immense honor
but I was also ready
to fully accept that position.
I've been serving as a VISTA
leader for four months now
and it has already
been such a rewarding
and eye-opening experience as
I mentor and support my VISTAs,
serving nationwide
the tribal communities.
Now, first, even if we
take all the steps,
we won't always be
offered the position.
My five-minute talk isn't
the golden ticket
to getting you your dream job,
but I do hope that it
was worth your time
to hear from my own experiences.
And, before I go,
I'd just like to thank all of
you for your VISTA service,
and I wish you all the best
of luck on your job searches.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Jordan.
I just love hearing
from specific of just
alumni so that you can
hear about their journey
and how they translated
their experience
and how they transitioned
from just VISTA service
to their next step.
And it sounds like you've got
a really great fit,
and I couldn't be more pleased.
Thank you so much
for sharing that, Jordan.
So we're going to focus
a little bit now on your resume.
This is always such
a big piece of finding a job,
moving into a career space.
And we want to talk about
crafting a compelling resume
as it specifically relates to,
again, your VISTA services.
So there are some general tips
and things that you'll want
to do when you're thinking
about a compelling resume.
One of them is to share
those details.
Be specific.
Break your service
down into skills,
experiences, tasks,
and responsibilities,
just like the ones
we just brainstormed,
so that you can tell them
exactly what you did.
Again, they won't
understand what you mean
if you say "I was a VISTA member
and I helped this organization."
That tells the nothing
about your abilities.
So break it down into specifics.
Name the organizations
and the communities in
and within which you worked.
Tell them where you were,
don't just say,
"Hey, I was a VISTA."
Say,
"I was a VISTA in this community
with this organization
and this was my role."
Again,
make the case for them and make
it really clear what you did.
Don't undersell yourself.
Be confident.
And this is not the place
to be humble, this is not
the place to say,
"Well, I don't know,
I guess I helped with that,
but I didn't really,
I wasn't the lead,
so maybe I shouldn't list it."
Absolutely not.
List it.
Tell the people reading your
resume what you've done,
what you have practiced with,
what you'd like
to learn more of.
This is the place
to talk about your talents,
your abilities,
what you're great at,
and what you'll bring
to their position,
because that's the number one
question they have,
is this person the right fit
for the role we have?
So tell them what you did and be
confident about that background.
Wherever possible,
quantify your successes.
For example, if you brought in X
number of volunteers, list that.
If you raised X dollars,
if you helped them
establish new partnerships
with this number
of organizations.
People like to see numbers,
and if you can
quantify your successes,
especially for those who are
going to be looking
for those types of things,
it's a language
that translates really nicely.
So if you can-- if you can't,
don't worry about it--
but if you can,
quantify your successes.
A great tip that
a mentor suggested to me that I
cannot recommend
enough is to create
what we call a master resume.
And the master resume is
the document
on which you list everything,
every task and skill and ability
you've ever had, every job,
role, volunteer position you've
ever done,
your education, your awards,
your special skills,
everything,
and I guarantee it's going
to be over a page
because it's going
to be your master document.
Now, what you'll do
with that is each time
you apply for a position you're
going to go through those lists
of all of the skills
and abilities
and experiences that you
have in your master resume
and you're going
to cherry pick the ones
that make the sense
for that position,
because what you're doing
is designing a resume
that is tailored for that job.
So that master resume is going
to make it so much easier
for you to create new
versions of a resume
that align with the job
that you're applying for,
but you won't lose anything
in the saving of each new draft.
It's really important
to hold onto that.
So tailor your resume
and make the case
why you are the best fit
for what they need.
So we're going to look
at two examples real quick
here of a resume.
So we're going to start
with a not-so-good example.
We have your job is listed
as AmeriCorps VISTA in Portland,
Oregon, and I was a volunteer.
Okay, well that doesn't tell me
anything about what is VISTA,
who are you, what do you do,
you know, what was your title,
what organization were you with.
All I know is that you
were a VISTA in Portland.
As far as your specific tasks,
you have "Volunteered
with Rose City Youth,
an organization
that runs afterschool programs
for at-risk youth."
Okay,
I guess I know a little bit
about where you volunteered now.
You managed volunteers
and helped create new
volunteer positions.
Okay, that tells me a little bit
about what you did.
And you helped with fundraising
and grant-writing.
"Helped" isn't really
super active language,
it doesn't really tell me
what part you did,
what your role was, how much
of it was your responsibility.
Overall, this is pretty vague
and it's just not targeted for
any specific field or position.
Now let's look
at a better example.
This says you spent your time
at Rose City Youth,
you were the AmeriCorps
VISTA volunteer manager.
Okay, I know
what organization you're at,
I know what your
specific title was,
and what your role was.
You committed one year
of full time national service
to nonprofit
organizations serving
at-risk youth in Portland,
Oregon's Northeast neighborhood.
So much more specific
and you mentioned VISTA.
It's one year of full
time national service.
Oh, okay, that's
what VISTA means.
You contributed
to significant expansion
of organizational capacity via
increased volunteer engagement,
fundraising, and grant writing.
Specifics, you're telling me
what you did,
you contributed
to the expansion.
You recruited, screened,
and managed volunteers
for Rose City Youth's
afterschool programs.
Active term,
you're telling me specifically
what you did and why you did it,
for what you did it.
You increased the size
of the volunteer program
from 25 to 35 active volunteers.
And if you
[inaudible]
members, you're like,
"Well that's only
ten more volunteers,"
but percentage-wise that's
a significant increase.
List that.
You designed and led recruitment
and outreach efforts for three
new volunteer positions,
social media coordinator,
book club facilitator,
and fundraising assistant.
Again, you're giving me
specifics.
You're telling me
some of the details
of your work that you created,
three new roles,
and you designed
and led the recruitment
and outreach efforts for them.
If I'm hiring someone
to do marketing,
you're giving me absolutely
detailed information.
You're telling me
where you succeeded.
And then you participated
in internal grant writing
and annual fundraising drives.
It may be that you didn't
have a very big role in that,
but you still need to list that,
say you were an active
partner in that.
So this better
example gives me specifics
of what VISTA service is.
It gives me a brief description
of what VISTA is
under the title.
It translates and targets
specifically
toward a desired position.
And, most importantly,
it hones in on your talents,
your skills,
and tells me what you did.
And, as an employer, I can
go through that list and say,
"Well, I'm looking for someone
who has outreach experience.
I'm seeing success here.
I'm seeing someone who actively
did recruitment and outreach,
and can tell me precisely
how they succeeded.
This is someone I want
to talk to."
And speaking of people
to talk to,
we're now going to take a moment
to talk to Erin Pringle.
Erin is a VISTA alumna
who served with Campus Compact
for New Hampshire
from 2007 to 2010.
She stayed in the CNCS family,
though, after her service,
and she's now
a program coordinator for RSVP
and Foster Grandparent Programs
in Bismarck, North Dakota.
We've got two
North Dakota folks--
well, now Jordan has gone
to West Virginia,
but we're thrilled to have folks
who are representing
North Dakota on the call.
Erin, we'd love to hear
about your experience.
Awesome.
Hey everybody,
and thanks so much
for allowing me an opportunity
to share with you today.
As mentioned,
my name is Erin Pringle
and I served
as an AmeriCorps VISTA member
through Campus Contact
for New Hampshire
from 2007 through 2010.
I served two years at Southern
New Hampshire University
and then was invited
to be the Campus Contact
for New Hampshire VISTA leader
for my third VISTA year.
Since completing
my service I took a job
as program coordinator with RSVP
and Foster Grandparent
Programs in Bismarck,
North Dakota, and I've been
in this role for now five years.
And it has been an awesome way
to continue my love for service
as well as expand my experience
working in the CNCS family.
So I thoroughly enjoyed
my three years as a VISTA.
I managed the Community
Service Work Studies Program
that placed college students
at nonprofit organizations,
and those students worked
in nonprofit organizations
to earn their work study funds.
And I developed and managed
the Computer Literacy Program
for Immigrants and Refugees
that were recently resettled
within the Manchester,
New Hampshire community.
I also organized
one-time service projects
for the Southern New
Hampshire University community.
My VISTA time,
like so many of us,
was spent building relationships
with other organizations
in our community and developing
sustainable programs
to address critical
community needs that would last
beyond my service years.
I was asked to send
in a monthly progress report,
keeping track of the number
of volunteers I recruited,
the number of organizations
I built or
strengthened partnerships with,
as well as any anecdotal
information or stories
to share about my successes
and struggled.
I then used the data
for my monthly reports
to write my semiannual
progress reports.
As a VISTA, I attended
a presentation
very much like this one,
and we were told to use numbers
and action words
to describe our work
during our year of service.
My VISTA Assistance Description,
or VAD,
as well as my progress
reports came in handy
when I had to sit down
and add my VISTA experience
to my resume.
I honestly could not remember
every single little detail
about my service,
but I could pull numbers
and accomplishments
from my progress reports,
and use my VAD to help
with the responsibilities
of my position.
So now, instead of a bullet
point saying "Managed community
service work study programs,"
it can now say "Recruited
and placed 25+ college work
study students at 12 community
partner organizations focused
on addressing community needs."
And once my resume was written,
I asked several friends
and colleagues to review it.
I wanted to make sure
that all spelling
and grammar errors were
identified and that the message
I was trying to convey was clear
and understandable.
Once it was ready
I used my resume
to update my LinkedIn page
with my VISTA experience.
Now, this is a great tool
that not everyone thinks about.
Organizations can search
through LinkedIn profiles
to recruit candidates
they think would be a good fit
for their open position.
I also sent a message out
to my contacts to let them
know I was job searching.
I received a couple referrals
to job openings
that friends thought I
might be a good fit for.
Now, I wish I could
say that I was offered
and accepted the first job
that I applied for,
but I can't.
The job searching process
can be downright stressful,
but I found it helpful
to talk about my career goals
and what I wanted out of my job
with my fellow VISTAs,
friends, and colleagues,
as well as research common
interview questions.
It was a great practice
for me to think about how I
would answer those questions
in an interview.
The practice also helped me
see where I had skills
that could be transferrable
to other positions.
For example, I had
experience advising students
as they planned community
service projects.
While advising isn't exactly
like supervising,
I could make the case
in an interview
that the skills I gained
as an advisor are similar
to the skills required
to supervise staff.
I found out as I
was interviewing that not
everyone is familiar
with AmeriCorps or VISTA,
so I had to take some time
to think about how
to describe it to people.
I ended up saying VISTA stands
for Volunteers
in Service to America,
as a full time volunteer working
behind the scenes
to develop sustainable
programming to address poverty
in the United States I would
then go on to explain what I
did during my year of service.
I'm sure that you are
all doing and accomplishing
some extraordinary things
during your VISTA year.
Make sure to do yourself a favor
and truly highlight
that on your resume.
Thanks again for all you do
to make our country
a better place to live.
And now I will turn it back
over to Erin.
Thank you so much,
Erin.
I love hearing
about what your process is like.
And even five years out,
it's still so salient.
And one of the things
you touched on there is
cover letters and interviews,
and we're going to talk
about that very briefly here
before we move on to resources,
next steps, and questions.
So, again, thank you so much,
Erin.
And thank you, again,
to Jordan, both of you,
for sharing your perspectives.
Very briefly,
we're going to talk about
cover letters and interviews.
Now, cover letters are
your opportunity
to introduce yourself
and make the case,
very briefly, for why you are
the right hire for the position.
So, to help make that case,
plan to briefly introduce
your volunteer program--
your VISTA program,
I should say,
and your role within it,
in addition to all of
the other experiences,
education, and background
you bring to that position.
Remember to use that same active
language we use on your resume
and use similar strategies here.
Tell them what you did.
Tell them
what your strengths are.
And speaking of strengths,
be sure you highlight
the most relevant skills
and strengths as they relate
to that specific position
for which you are applying.
This is one of the mistakes we
sometimes see with cover letters
is people throwing in everything
and the kitchen sink
of here's everything I've
ever done in one letter,
I better tell you
everything all at once.
What I'm looking
for is the specific skillset
you have that makes sense
for the position
for which I'm hiring.
So give that to them first
and foremost.
Highlight what's most relevant.
One of the other
biggest mistakes I
see with cover letters is
applicants using
their limited space
to explain why they want the job
and why it would
be such a good fit
for their goals and aspirations.
Now, I love that,
and of course that's true,
you do want to find a job
that makes sense for yourself.
Remember that the reader is most
interested
in learning how you'd
be a good fit for them.
They want to know
how you would fit
with their organization's goals
and aspirations
more than they're invested
in your own path.
So make sure the tone
and the content
of your letter makes that case
first and foremost,
why you are a good fit for them.
You can certainly expand
on how this is your passion
or this fulfills particular
dreams for you,
but, first and foremost,
make sure
they understand why you're going
to be who they want to hire.
Now, speaking of interviews,
I recommend choosing
a few examples
of relevant experiences
in advance.
Pick a few stories
from your VISTA experience
as well as your other
professional experiences
and potential schooling
that are most relevant
for the position at hand,
and then practice.
How might you tell these stories
briefly and professionally?
Ask friends and colleagues
if you can practice
it with them of
how to have some talking points.
For example, Erin had a great
talking point
that she just shared of how to
describe VISTA in an interview.
It was very brief,
very short,
in fact, it was one sentence,
but it was clear, concise,
and she was able
to share it and not get tripped
up by it and have to think,
"Well, how would
I describe this,
I'm not sure, I don't know."
So practice your storytelling.
Similarly, pick a few
talking points.
Again, how to explain VISTA,
your role within it,
what work you did,
and, again, practice
those in advance
so that you can
answer questions succinctly and,
more importantly,
with confidence.
Practice really
does make perfect.
So the more you can
prepare this in advance,
the more you're going to be
set for going into an interview
and talking about your
VISTA experience.
So we've talked about a lot
of different resources
on the call today,
so I'm providing a list here.
And, again, you'll
be able to find
this on the VISTA Campus
recording page for the webinar.
If you're ready
to start searching for
or researching potential jobs,
for example, that career tracks
activity I had mentioned,
you can start with sites
like the VISTA job board.
Depending on the sector
of interest,
you'll also want to explore
sites like Idealist Careers,
usajobs.gov,
and some of the for-profit
standard sites like Indeed.com,
Simply Hired, and Monster.com.
Now, one resource I
especially recommend
if you plan to pursue work
in the nonprofit sector is
the guide I mentioned earlier,
Idealist.org's Guide
to Nonprofit Careers
for First-time Job Seekers.
You'll find this guide within
their Idealistcareers.org,
and we've also just posted
a link to the chat window.
This guide is free.
It's downloadable and there are
a ton of really useful,
interesting chapters specific
to nonprofit work,
but you can use them
in any sector really.
That will walk you
through how to design a resume,
how to do cover letters
and interviews,
but also just many,
many career research activities.
And, again, I do recommend
that you check out
that webinar that we did,
I believe it was just
a month ago.
So go to the VISTA
Recordings page and check out
the one about considering
your career options.
Again, there will be
some really great tips
there for doing the research
in advance of what kind
of job do I even want.
We also have a link here
for the Princeton Review.
If you're considering
a next step to education,
check out the grad fairs
that are hosted by Idealist.org.
These are programs
specifically focused on careers
that benefit the public,
things like international
affairs, social work,
environmental science.
And the Princeton Review is
also a link
where you can search by specific
program types and schools.
So if education is your
next step,
here are some links
to get you going.
Speaking of next steps,
I have a list here that I want
you to consider doing next,
and it depends on where you
are in your service.
If you are still in service
or just began,
your tasks are to start
building your portfolio.
Think about what
Jordan was talking about
and the list we
have on the screen.
Check out that great
VISTA resource
of how to build a portfolio.
Think about if you want it to
be paper, if you want it online,
but start collecting
great information now.
It's going to make your job
so much easier when you reach
the end of your service.
You also want to start
researching jobs
and degrees of interest.
What might you want to do next?
What should you be doing now
to prepare for that?
Do you need specific degrees?
What is required of
the application process?
Start thinking now
about what you can do next.
And informational interviews,
I can't recommend
these highly enough.
You learn so much
about particular positions,
about what the work looks like,
about what newsletters
you should be reading now,
what networks you should
be connecting with,
all from a 30-minute
to 60-minute conversation
over coffee or on the phone.
So valuable.
I've been the subject
of these and I've been the--
I've been the interviewer
and the interviewee,
let's put it that way,
and every time I gain
so much value from it.
Now, if you're close
to finishing your time
or you're somewhere
in the middle,
you can do all of the above.
It's never too late
to start those steps.
And also as you near the end
of your service,
starting thinking
about requesting
those letters of recommendation.
Again, that's the best time
to do it because they'll
have a good sense
of what your capacity is,
what your strengths are,
what you're great at.
And if you're already done--
I know we don't
have a lot of folks
on the call
who are already done,
but if you are,
do all of the above.
It really isn't too late.
You can start
building your portfolio
by going back to your VAD,
going back
to some of the reports
that you wrote as a VISTA,
take a look at your files,
email your site and say,
"Hey, would you be willing
to share examples
with me or some of the samples
of work I did with you,"
ask for those letters
of recommendation,
do informational interviews--
that's a lifelong
activity in my book.
Wherever you are,
these are the kinds of things
you can be doing now
to prepare and translate
your VISTA service.
And, most importantly,
thank you so much
for the service you're doing.
You're doing extraordinary work
in communities
around our country.
And it should be celebrated
and it should be highlighted.
And that's why we want
to give you these tips
so that employers can see,
"Wow, not only did you
help communities thrive,
not only did you dedicate a year
of your life to making sure
that communities could thrive,
but you also picked up
invaluable skills
that can be utilized
at my place of business,
at my organization,
at my institution."
So thank you so much.
And, with that, I'm going
to transition back to Patrick.
It's time for our questions
and a couple next steps.
Sorry for being on mute.
Thank you, Erin, very,
very much.
All right.
We want to know
what you thought.
So on the right side
of your screen
you will find a quick poll
where you can share feedback
about this webinar.
Please, it's really
important to us,
take a moment
to answer the questions.
We'd like to be able
to improve these webinars,
and your input helps us
immensely.
So we've given you a lot
to think about,
and now it's time
for your questions.
You can ask a question using
the Q&A panel located
to the right of your screen.
And I also now ask our operator,
Jeremy,
to let us know how to ask
a question by phone.
Jeremy?
Thank you.
If you would like
to ask a question by phone,
please press " * 1" and record
your name at the prompt.
To withdraw your question,
you may press
" * 2." Once again,
to ask a question,
please press " * 1"
and record your name
at the prompt.
Thank you, Jeremy.
And for all you multitaskers,
ask a question
and take the evaluation.
It will look great
on your resume.
Okay, let's see
what we've got getting in.
I do see a question--
it's being answered--
"How do we get to this
PowerPoint on VISTA Campus?"
You'll get an email.
We'll give you a heads-up.
It will be available
to you on Campus.
Erin, here's a question
for you, eh?
It says, "Is there
a template available
for building a resume?"
What would you say?
That's a great question.
One resource I would
recommend right off the bat is,
again, that Idealist Guide
to Nonprofit Careers.
If I'm recalling correctly,
there's a couple different
templates in there
that we'll show you
what they could look like.
Also, as far as templates,
I mean,
certainly you can do just
a quick Google search
for resume templates.
They even exist
for Word and Pages
and some of the documents
they have built in templates.
But, honestly, my number one way
that I have developed resumes is
I've borrowed them
from people I know,
from people I look up to,
from colleagues,
from peers, from supervisors.
And I say, "Hey, can I
take a look at your resume
and take a look
at how you formatted it?"
And people are generally pretty
willing to share examples
of how they've structured
their resume.
My resume I use right
now is built off of someone
else's that I knew and admired.
So you can certainly
Google search,
look at sites
like the Idealist Careers site.
But also you might just go
to your supervisor
at your VISTA site and say,
"Hey, I'm working on my resume
and doing some professional
development,
would you be willing
to share a copy of yours
or is there a copy that you
found particularly great
that you'd like to share
that I could use as a template?"
That's, honestly,
the best advice I
have is borrowing from others,
seeing examples of resumes
that you think look good
and then using
a similar template.
You know, you took the words
out of my mouth, Erin.
I also have the opportunity
to read a number of resumes.
And I think either going
to the human capital office,
if there is one
in your organization,
or your supervisor,
because being able
to look at other
people's resumes is really
enlightening.
Erin, here's
another question for you,
"Research for action words
to use in resumes?"
Another-- excuse me--
another great question.
Honestly, that's one
where just even Googling,
you're going
to come up with so many
great lists of action words.
Again, the Idealist guide has
a chapter on resume development,
and I believe there's a whole
table in there of words to use.
I mean, honestly, I would just
do a quick Google search.
I would take a look
at the Idealist guide.
And, again, go through--
and this is a great place
to do some peer networking.
And I'm seeing some peer
networking in the chat,
including lots of
LinkedIn connections.
Ask one another, go back
through the chat window where I
asked you to list your skills
and your experiences,
and borrow language
from your peers.
How did they
describe their work?
What action phrases
did they use?
There's some pretty
standard tables
out there that are called,
you know, "Action words
for resumes"
where they'll give you
all of the great terms
that are sort of resume-speak.
So I would even just do
a quick Google and start there.
Thank you for that.
I might also add whatever is
in the job announcement,
look at those action words
and make sure they show up
somewhere in your resume.
Absolutely.
Great point.
Let's see.
I'll take one that I might
be able to answer and then
I'll toss this other one
to you, Erin.
"What federal jobs look
for previous AmeriCorps
members" is the question.
So I will recommend
to all of you to take
a look
on the nationalservice.gov site
for the employers
of national service.
The acronym is EONS,
eons.
So there is a list of employers
that are looking for members
of national service,
Peace Corps, AmeriCorps.
As a matter of fact,
take a look at
the Huffington Post Blog today
and you'll find
both the director of Peace Corps
and the Corporation for National
and Community Service talking
just about this subject,
employers of national service.
And, in general, every federal
agency is interested
in those members who have been
involved in national service.
It's really to your advantage,
particularly because you
have noncompetitive eligibility.
Erin, this has come up often
about cover letters,
either how to write one,
are there good examples of it,
any ideas around cover letters?
What would you say?
You know, again,
I would say ask for great
examples of cover letters.
You can certainly ask--
this is a case
where you might ask
your peers to take
a look at theirs,
but I can't guarantee
that theirs are good.
So this is where I
would turn to people
who have hiring experience.
Go back to your VISTA site
and talk to whoever it
is that does the hiring there.
"Hey, do you have some memorable
examples of cover letters
that you'd be willing to share?"
Excuse me.
Do a quick Google search
but specifically say, you know,
"compelling cover letters,"
"effective cover letters."
I keep talking
about the Idealist guide,
but I really can't
recommend it enough.
I'm a little biased because it
was written by some colleagues
of mine when I was at Idealist.
But they really put
a lot of blood, sweat,
and tears into finding
great examples
of what these things
should look like So
there are some great examples
in there as well,
but talk to people who do
hiring and say, "You know,
if I were writing
a cover letter,
what would you be looking for?"
Talk to people
at your VISTA site.
Talk to people
at your partner organizations.
What I wouldn't recommend
is don't go to a specific
hiring manager who's
currently hiring for a job
that you want and say,
"Hey, what should I put in my
letter to get your attention,"
because then they might say,
"Well you're just trying
to get an inside edge."
That probably won't be
the most effective way
to get good examples.
But just in conversation,
through informational
interviews,
ask for examples of
what does a compelling
cover letter look like,
what sort of language do they
want to see,
do they have examples
they can share with you.
And, again, do a Google search
and, you know,
trust your gut
as you're reading them.
If you were the person hiring
for that position,
did someone tell you enough
about themselves to help you
make a good decision?
Consider that many
hiring managers
might receive not just one
to two but maybe 100
to 200 resumes and cover letters
for a position,
and all the information
they have to make a decision
whether it's worth the time
of interviewing someone is
a one-page letter
and a one-page resume.
Put yourself in their shoes
and think would this person's
cover letter tell me enough
about them to be a good fit,
and practice that
with any cover letters you see.
Erin, if I'm hearing correctly,
I think you're saying,
look,
there's no example,
no template that is going
to be a silver bullet.
Really look around
as much as you can.
See what's out there and pick
what fits you well. Exactly.
And it's going to be
different for everyone.
It's going to be different
for positions,
for sectors, for fields,
so, again, try to use
that translation language
we talked about in this webinar
of making sure you're using
the terminology of the field,
you're using
the right action words
that are affiliated
with the field,
and you can learn those through
looking at the job post,
through looking at--
talking to people in that field.
But, yeah, as far as a magic
bullet response,
it doesn't really exist.
But there are good templates,
so look for those and then
use your gut to figure out
which ones make sense for you.
Yep.
Being on the receiving end,
I will say that there are
a few things
that really set
people's teeth on edge,
one, typos.
Really read it three times
and then give it to a friend.
Typos drive people crazy,
and, in fact,
many times just knock them
out of competition.
Two is both a resume
and a cover letter that's not
tailored to the job,
that it looks as if you've sent
the same thing
to 25 other agencies and people.
It shows whether you're just
casting a very wide net
or whether you've focused in
and tailored your communication
to a particular person or job.
Those are excellent examples
of what not to do.
I couldn't agree more
on both counts.
And I hate to be negative
and tell you what not
to do as opposed to what to do,
but just a little something to
add to your conversation, Erin.
Here's a really
interesting question,
Erin.
What would you say?
In categorizing VISTA service,
where would you put it?
I mean, do you put it
under a volunteer deadline,
because many people
will look at volunteer
as the community volunteer
who does a couple of hours,
and it ends up
at the bottom of the resume,
and it doesn't really
highlight the experience well.
So what are
your thoughts on that?
And I'd open that up
to the alumni as well.
I was just going
to say I have my two cents
and that I'd love
to hear from Erin
and Jordan of
what their thoughts are as well.
The way that I draw
the line is I call
it "professional experience"
rather "jobs" and that blurs
the lines a little bit,
that's my heading
I use for the things
I list at the top of my resume.
And the distinction
for me is how much
time you've spent on something.
To me, the volunteer roles are
the places where I
might be contributing
a few hours a week,
maybe just a few hours a month,
and that's why that really lives
under "volunteer experience"
because it's something that is
supplementary to my main role.
VISTA service is full time.
And, as we all know,
you are volunteering
but it is your full time role,
it is your full time space.
And we could
have a philosophical discussion
about how do we
define "volunteer." To me,
it's under the broader
umbrella of service really.
But you're in full-time service.
This is your job.
You may not be being paid
a living wage-- or a,
you know, market wage,
I should say,
for what that job should pay,
but you are
a full-time participant.
So I would put that under
"professional experience."
And if it is the most
recent thing you've done,
which for everyone on this call
it sounds like it is,
it goes at the top
of the resume.
And that's why it's so important
to really be specific
about what you did
so that they don't just see
the word "volunteer"
and keep moving thinking,
"Oh, that's just something they
did in their free time." No,
this is your professional role,
and it belongs under
"professional experience"
in my opinion.
Erin and Jordan,
anything you would like to add
or would your opinions differ?
This is Jordan.
Go ahead, Jordan.
Thanks.
Yeah, I agree with Erin.
Basically, I mean, if I were to
go back to my last actual job,
I would be going back,
like, three years.
And so, like,
both on my LinkedIn
and my resumes I
always put my VISTA
and AmeriCorps experience
first up in line.
And then I also
do volunteering on the side,
even though I'm still a VISTA.
And so I definitely work
in utilizing, you know, yes,
you are a full-time volunteer
but you're serving, you know,
typically 40
or more hours a week,
and what you're doing is very
in line with what someone
that has a job would be doing.
So I definitely recommend using
that and just highlighting
on it more because you're right,
when you put it down
underneath "volunteer"
it seems like it's maybe
a few hours a week,
but this is a full-time gig.
So I'd definitely do that.
This is the other Erin.
And I definitely
agree with the other two.
And I just think
look at different ways
to describe your heading.
So if you want to do experience
or professional experience
or volunteer experience
and additional experience,
I think there are ways
to I guess highlight
what you're doing
in those different areas.
Thank you, all of you.
And I'll just highlight
what you said.
I think an employer is looking
at what competencies,
what skills,
and what's your motivation.
And, secondarily, he
or she is going to be interested
in whether that was paid
and how well it was paid.
But, first and foremost,
they're looking
at the functions of your job
and how they all fit together,
you know, in measuring your
capacities for the position.
And they're going to look
at your education equally.
Here's something
along those lines.
Again, I open it to everyone.
A person here has a degree
in graphic design,
but what they're doing
as a VISTA right
now isn't related
to the graphic design.
How does one make sense
of the degree, the education,
and the practical
professional experience?
How do you do that?
Do you just throw it
all on and hope
it sticks to the wall or,
what would you say?
I think it depends on what
jobs you're applying for.
If you're applying for a job
that is primarily
about graphic design,
then you really highlight
your education,
you seek those examples
where some of your
graphic design skills
maybe have come into play
in your VISTA role.
So, for example,
it may be that your primary
role was fundraising,
but you also advised
on how to create the materials
that they used
for fundraising using
your graphic design skills.
If the role
that you are applying for is
less about graphic design,
it's more
about capacity-building
or nonprofit work, then you,
first and foremost,
highlight what you did
as a VISTA but you also,
sort of as a bonus,
say "In addition,
I have these graphic
design skills that I can bring
to bear and it's
another part of y skillset."
Which ones to emphasize,
I also saw a question
up there about, you know,
should I be general
or should I be specific?
You can be general
in your career
search and in your job search,
but where you're going
to specify is so dependent
on the job you're applying for.
So if you need to do
a little bridging,
what you'll want to do is,
you know, take a look
back at your VISTA
and go through that list
of tasks and responsibilities.
And, you know, be confident
and be focused on where did
my graphic design skills
and sensibilities come
into play here?
It may have been something
you did once on one day
out of all of your service,
and it may not feel significant
in comparison
to everything else,
but it may be exactly
what that employer needs
to hear is that "I
took my graphic design skills,
I brought them to bear
at our marketing materials,
and it created something
that was even more efficient,
something that was even
more compelling."
So spend some time building
the bridge yourself,
identifying those places
where your design
background helps you
to be an even better employee
and even better VISTA
in your particular role,
and highlight
those on your resume
and in your cover letters.
So show them how your
graphic design skills
can be a useful asset
for the position you're
applying for.
But, again, depending on the job
that you're focused on,
you may want to emphasize
or deemphasize
particular skillsets,
and that's true
for educations as well.
As far as what your
specific degree is in,
there are certainly some fields
where your specific
degree needs to align
with what they have or it's just
not going to be a good fit.
I'm not going to think of
an example off the cuff
because I don't want
to give you the wrong one,
and that's where informational
interviews are
really useful to say,
"Hey, what degree
should I have here?"
For a lot of roles out there,
honestly,
the specific degree
you have is less important
than the fact
that you have a degree
at the level
that they're looking for.
Oftentimes, an employer
will say "A bachelor
of arts is needed
in one of these fields,
or comparable experience."
It may be that they just
need someone who has four years
of higher education experience
but it doesn't matter
what degree it is.
My undergraduate
degree is in geography.
It was fascinating
and really interesting,
but mostly what I
learned studying geography was
cultural competency
and critical thinking
and how to write,
and I bring
those to bear at my work,
and what I do
is highlight the skills
I learned
from that degree program.
So don't get hung up
on your specific degree
unless it's specifically
related to that job,
and you can learn
that by asking questions
of people in that field.
That's my-- I wandered
a little bit on my advice there,
but that's what I would suggest.
I think you're raising
a really key point,
because there are
a few questions
that are similar
to this one, Erin.
What I hear you saying is,
first of all,
this isn't really a technical
question about writing a resume,
this is an existential question
of "how do these skills,
capacities, and experiences hang
together for you."
And then, secondly,
how does that apply
to the job you're interested in?
And then it
becomes a writing task.
Yeah, that's a great way
of putting it, Patrick.
It really is. You're telling
the story of your abilities,
and you're making the case to
the potential employer that you,
as a whole package,
are the right fit.
Right.
So questions--
there were other questions here
about should I play up
my service experience
or should I play it down,
I'm not really sure?
And I think what you're saying
is look at the context
in which you're working
and see which pieces make
the most sense when applying.
Yeah, I agree.
That's a great way to put it,
Patrick.
Here's a question
that maybe I can--.
[Inaudible]
but I thought I would check
with you, and we should
probably check with Jeremy,
and see if we
have anyone on hold.
Yes, I was about to do that.
I wanted to answer a question--.
Sorry about that.
No, no, it's okay.
I wanted to answer a question
that's come up three times now.
And I think it's somewhat
related to this conversation,
what to do
about the VISTA Blend courses.
To all of you who've taken
the courses,
and I think
you've found them valuable,
they are accredited courses.
Just because they don't
fit into a degree,
they are part of your education
and training.
And many resumes list "training"
to say these are the additional
academic experiences that I
have had that support me
and have developed my skillsets.
So if it makes sense to include
your experience with the Blend,
I strongly suggest
that you pull on that.
I agree.
And now let me turn to Jeremy,
as, Erin, you were so right
to have pointed out.
Jeremy, do we
have anybody waiting?
At this time, there are
no questions in queue.
As a reminder, if you would
like to ask a question,
please press " * 1" and record
your name when prompted.
What do we have here?
Any tips on how we can
apply this information
with graduate
school applications?
There's an interesting thought.
That's a great question.
You know, grad
school applications
almost always include
some sort of essay component,
so you can take
some of the things
we talked about
with the cover letters,
only you have a lot more room
to work with.
You're telling the story
of your background.
The difference is there is
a slight shift in your focus.
The cover letter,
you really
should be telling the story of
why I'm the right fit for you.
In an application
to graduate school you're
telling two stories,
why I'm the right fit
for this program
and why this program is
the right fit for me.
So, as far as describing
your VISTA experience,
what I would recommend
is take some of those stories
that you've identified
for your interviews,
for your cover letters,
and the examples
of where your specific VISTA
experience led to an outcome
or a discovery or a particular
moment of enlightenment,
and keep those at hand
when you're writing your essays
for graduate school.
Highlight the real
world experience you have.
I can tell you that as someone
who previously ran
a graduate degree program,
I spent three years running
a master's degree program
at Concordia University,
Portland, and it was a great
experience but one of the things
I really liked to see was grad
school applicants coming
who had real world experience
that they could bring
to bear in their studies.
We'd get a lot
of applications from folks
who come through from undergrad,
and there's nothing wrong
with that,
that's certainly
a valid path as well,
but there's something really
compelling about an applicant
who has been out
in the world in the field
and wants to continue their
education and their learning
but also wants to challenge it
by bringing to bear
their experiences on the ground.
So share
with the application committee
how your VISTA experience has
changed your world view,
how it has given you insight
into what you want
for your career path,
how that particular grad
degree program is the right fit
for you because of
what you've learned.
Go through your
informational interviews,
have those discussions,
be able
to say I've talked
to professionals in the field
who have identified this career
path or this degree program
as a critical component
of my career path.
People on the application
committee are looking
for the right candidates.
They may have a limited spot.
So they're looking
for the people
for whom this would
be most critical,
this would be the most
valuable degree program,
as well as the people
who will thrive
and succeed in that space.
And one of the major assets
all of you will
have and already have,
if you decide to apply
for a higher education program,
is real world experience
that you can bring to bear.
So tell the story of your VISTA.
Share real world examples
of what you did
and what you learned
and what you discovered
as you're writing those essays,
and that's going
to be a huge asset.
Erin, let me take you in
another direction for a second.
I know that these questions have
come up in the past,
and they pop up here as well.
One has to do
with informational interviews.
They don't come easily
and naturally to everyone.
There are always questions
about how do you make sure
that you have a good
informational interview,
how do you mine
that for all it's worth?
And then there's the same
question around the portfolio;
it makes sense
in that where do you start,
what's your recommendation?
So let's start with
the informational interview,
what would you say, Erin?
Well I'm going to answer
the informational interview
and then I'd love to turn
to Erin and/or Jordan
to talk about how they
started their portfolios,
because they've gone
through that experience.
The informational interviews,
I'll couch this by saying
despite my perhaps bubbly sound
on the phone, I'm actually
quite an introvert.
In one-on-one conversations
with people I don't
know can be really jarring.
So I'm much easier
in front of a crowd
than I am in one-on-one chat
with someone I've just met.
What has worked really well
for me and the reason
why informational interviews
don't make me too uncomfortable
is that it's
a structured conversation.
I come in with a list
of questions.
And you can find
suggested questions
for informational interviews,
again,
you can do a quick
Google search,
you can go
to the Idealist guide,
you can watch the webinar
that we recently did.
We spent quite a bit of time
on informational interviews
in that webinar,
and I really recommend that you
go listen to the recording
so that we can give you
some great tips
there on how to approach them.
But having that list
of questions takes a lot
of the awkwardness out of it
because you're not stumbling
to come up with a topic.
You're first communications
with them are likely by email
of reaching out to someone.
In a perfect world,
someone has introduced
you because that makes it even
less awkward to start.
If someone says, "Hey,
I know someone
over at the hospital.
If you want to talk to them I'll
do an introduction over email."
Then you've set up a time
to meet with them.
You walk into the room.
Oh, my gosh,
there's a stranger.
What do I do?
Well you have a list
of questions.
You can introduce yourself
and you can sit down,
and those questions will
guide the conversation.
And, honestly, every time I've
ever done
an informational interview,
once you start talking,
the awkwardness goes away
so quickly.
It's the scary factor of,
"Oh,
I'm going to talk to a stranger
and I need to make
a good impression."
But you'll have a list
of questions.
You have things to come back to
you if the conversation stalls.
You know what sorts
of things you're asking them.
Every time I've ever done this,
and I've done it many times,
it gets comfortable really fast.
People want you
to feel comfortable.
They know
that you're reaching out
to learn about their profession.
The only time I've
had people say
no to informational interviews
is when they're just too busy,
and, you know, that happens.
But most of the time people want
to share with you their work.
They want more people
in the field
who would find it interesting.
So it gets comfortable
really fast.
The scary part is asking.
So check out that webinar,
check out the Idealist guide,
have a list of questions,
and just keep in mind my goal
here is to learn from them
and to ask them questions
that they can share with me,
and the kinds of questions
you're asking are, you know,
"Tell me about your work,"
"Tell me
what your day looks like,"
"How did you come to this role,"
"What did you do before it,"
"What did you study in school,"
"What newsletters do you read?"
These are pretty
straightforward questions,
so the ripping off the Band-Aid
of this all is just to do one.
So maybe start with someone,
if you're nervous about it,
start with someone with whom
you're already comfortable.
Start with a friend
or a peer or even
your supervisor at your site,
and say, "Hey, can I practice
an informational
interview with you?
I really would love to hear
from you and I'd also love
to get the practice
on how to do this."
So start with someone with whom
you're already comfortable with.
Get used to the process of
asking these kinds of questions.
And then slowly work your way to
people that you're just meeting.
And I think you'll find
that they get comfortable
really fast and you'll become
a rock star doing informational
interviews very quickly.
And, with that, I'd love
to turn to Erin or Jordan,
if you have something
to add to informational
interviews as well,
please don't hesitate,
but also
how did you start
your portfolios?
What thoughts do you have there?
You're on mute.
This is Erin.
I just figured we
we’re going to start
talking at the same time again.
You know, for me,
what was really important
was keeping track of what I
had done throughout my service,
and I know we talked
about that earlier.
But if there's some big
project you worked on,
if you created some documents--
I know I created
a couple documents
that helped with sustainability
beyond my service years.
You know, keep copies of that.
You know, if there's any
important social media things,
like poster things
that you've made,
make a screen cap of that and
put that in your portfolio,
and I think maybe Erin
talked about that earlier
in the webinar.
But just everything that you
think would be important
or tell the story
of your service,
just keep a copy of it,
even if you think it's silly,
because you can always go back
and change things and,
you know, add more things if you
think you're missing something.
So I don't think
there's anything--
when you're just starting to,
you know, build your portfolio,
I don't think there's anything
you shouldn't
consider putting in,
but you can hone it
and take things out
if you don't think that they're
a good representation
of what you've accomplished.
Yeah, and along those
similar lines, I mean,
just putting together everything
that you already have and then
funneling through it and seeing,
like,
what is most beneficial
for the position
that you're applying for,
you know, whether that was
your volunteer recruitment
or your grant-writing
strategies,
or marketing your nonprofit.
I think it kind of comes down
to just, like,
figuring out what you've done
that you're proud of,
and sharing that with someone
that you're interested
in working with.
And not only
the portfolio itself,
but just the passion behind it,
you know, like,
feeling really good about what
you've been able to accomplish,
and that energy will just,
like,
feed off of the people
that you're interacting with.
Thanks, Jordan.
I just answered something
privately,
but I'll answer it
publically as well.
There is a question of,
well,
how do we talk about AmeriCorps
and our sponsor?
Is AmeriCorps our employer?
Is VISTA our employer?
Is the sponsor our employer?
So if you want
to get really technical,
nobody is your employer,
but that's neither here
nor there.
I would recommend that you speak
of AmeriCorps as your employer
in a partnership
with your sponsor.
I think that would
be immediately understandable
to most people who are familiar
with national service.
Erin or Jordan, would
you agree with that?
This is Erin Barnhart.
And in the resume example where
you listed your organization,
then under it your titles,
I actually did it
as your sponsor
as the organization
and then AmeriCorps VISTA,
and then your title
as the title aspect of it.
But I think
the partnership approach
could also work really well.
It could be
on that organization line,
you'd list both the sponsor
in partnership
with AmeriCorps VISTA.
And this is Erin Pringle.
And that's exactly
how I listed my--
the title on my resume.
It was
the organization I was with,
my AmeriCorps VISTA
name/volunteer manager.
So I think that's
the perfect way to bridge
the gap between the two.
Great.
I think we have time
for maybe one more question
and then we'll have to move on
and shut down.
This person is asking, look,
is it okay if only
the VISTA experience is listed
as professional experience?
The person has many years
of service industry experience,
but it seems that
what she's done
this year is the greatest
resource for organizations
that she's looking at.
So any off-the-cuff advice
you might give there?
What do you think?
Well,
I mean
[inaudible]
I think it's
another existential question.
I'm sorry, Patrick, I didn't
mean to talk over you there.
No, no, my fault.
I said I think it's another
existential question, Erin, but.
Yes, it is.
In my opinion,
we all have to start somewhere,
and we all start
our professional
experience somewhere.
And this is the first
significant thing you've done
that relates
to your field of interest,
so what certainly
should be the thing
that you've highlighted
the most.
You know, some of it,
I think it depends--
this is an off-the-cuff
response--
but it depends a little
bit on age.
If you are in your late 20s
and that's the only thing
on your resume,
the employer may want to say,
"Well what did you do
with your time before that?"
If you're 20 or 21,
they may think, "Oh, well,
of course this is your
first experience
because you're not long
out of school."
My first resume,
the very first thing I did
after my undergraduate degree
was my AmeriCorps NCCC
experience.
And then when I
did my first resume
for my first job after that,
my AmeriCorps NCCC was
at the top of the page
because it was the most
valid experience
to tell them
what I wanted to do.
I think under that I
listed some of my other jobs
that I'd had,
which at that point were
all retail
and service and food industry.
They were my jobs I had during
college and during the summers.
And, you know, I think you
could go either way.
If you look at your resume and
you think an employer might say,
"Oh, I see a gap here, what
were you doing before then,"
I think there's no harm
in listing what your other
roles were before that.
And, frankly, there are
transferrable skills there.
Anyone who has worked
in a restaurant
has some of the best diplomacy
skills of anyone I've met.
If you've worked
in customer service,
it means that you
have a professional background
in being able
to speak to customers,
and conflict resolution,
that's also waitressing.
Any time you've done that,
you've done conflict resolution.
If you feel like you can make--
you know, certainly feel free
to translate those terms
if you feel like you
should explain a gap
in your employment.
If you're pretty early
in your career
and there's no need
to explain a gap,
then I think it's fine for
this to be the primary thing.
List your other
volunteer service.
List your education.
And you may have a filled
out one-page resume
just with that content.
So I think it really depends
on where you are in your career,
but absolutely highlight it
because it is the most relevant.
That's great, Erin.
And for--
I hate to stop these,
they're such good questions,
but our time has come to an end.
So thank you all very much
for interesting questions.
And before we leave you,
I'd like to share
some information
on an upcoming webinar,
"Social Media Strategies
for Advancing Your Project."
I think it's going to be
a fascinating conversation.
These webinars, you know,
hinge on the expertise such as
we have in Erin and our alumni,
Erin and Jordan,
and I think that will hold true
for the social media strategies.
So I hope to see and hear
from you on September 23rd.
So, with that, please
check the "Webinars" page
under "Connect and Learn,"
sign up for future webinars.
Everyone, Erin, Erin,
Jordan, Scott, and Jessica,
thank you so much for
your support and great guidance.
With that, Jeremy,
I also want to thank you
and say goodbye to all.
Thank you everyone.
