Budgeting on a Full-Time Salary

Graduation is approaching soon for many students, myself included. I know many of the other interns have written on this subject this week, but it’s definitely worth writing about.

At Come Recommended, we’ve been working on the latest e-book in our series. This e-book focuses on personal finance in your 20’s — a relevant topic for graduates who will soon have a full-time job (in some cases, their first full-time job). Be on the lookout for The Numbers Game: Everything a 20-Something Should Know About Personal Finance.

There are a lot of financial decisions to be made when starting a full-time job, and graduates will probably be making a lot more money than they are used to. Some expenses to consider while budgeting:

• Housing
• Food
• Utilities
• Entertainment
• Transportation
• Student loans
• Credit card debt
• Also–remember that taxes and retirement programs will take a significant portion of your income each month. Don’t fall for the notion that your salary is what you will take home each year.

It’s depressing to think a lot of your income has to go toward these expenses, but it will make you much happier if you budget for these in the first place. After expenses are paid for, then you can treat yourself! I know after four years of being poor, I expect to get myself a few fun things with my first full-time job.

Do you have any tips for pending graduates about budgeting? What works for you?

Considering Your Financials Post-Graduation

With graduation approaching very quickly for most college seniors, many big decisions are becoming more of a reality than ever. Annie’s blog post this week touched on post-graduation choices, and many of those choices have to do with considering your future financial situations.

One big thing you will have to think about post-graduation is your living situation. Some post-grads decide to continue living at home, and some choose to leave the comfort of living with Mom and Dad. This can seem overwhelming, but there are a few choices for you to consider.

The first thing you need to consider is your location. If you have previously read the Come Recommended e-book, Relocating for an Entry-Level Job: Why You Probably Have to and How to Do It, then you are already aware that you are more than likely going to have to move for your first real job. This may ultimately mean you have no other alternative than to move out of your parents’ house. However, it’s also important to consider things like how important is it to you that you remain close to your parents, grandparents, friends and so on.

So what will your choice be ultimately? Have you thought about things such as what your potential salary may be? How about your ideal lifestyle? Should you get a roommate if you do decide to move out of your parents’ house?

All of these possible courses of action and more financial issues for post-grads are discussed in the upcoming Come Recommended e-book, The Numbers Game: Everything a 20-Something Should Know About Personal Finance, which will be available for purchase this coming Monday. These sorts of decisions can see overwhelming and any advice can be helpful. If you will be graduating from college in just a few short weeks, I would strongly advise you buy and read this book.

The Unwanted Post-College Roommate

Debt.

With the rising costs of college by way of tuitions hikes that seem to have no end in sight, the majority of students turn to loans to aid the cost of their attendance at institutions of higher learning. After college, hundreds of thousands of graduates take those loans home with them, which have now translated into debt they will be paying off for years to come.

While the original healthcare reform bill was signed last week, on Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed the reconciliation bill that, in addition to tightening some loose healthcare reform bolts, makes the government a direct lender to students seeking help in paying for college. In the reconciliation bill was the The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

The most sweeping redo of college assistance programs since the 60’s, this act strips the banks of their role as the proverbial middlemen in federal student loans and places them into the hands of the government.

Instead of giving a cut to the banks, the government will now be able to boost Pell grants with that recovered money and make it easier for some graduates to repay their student loans. Additionally, higher approval rates on loans and lower interest rates will now be seen by some future borrowers.

To put it in perspective, as it stands today about half of all undergraduates receive federal student aid of some sort, and an additional 8.5 million students go to college with the help of Pell Grants. These changes will not, however, go into effect until 2014, so future college students will be the true beneficiaries.

For more information on the bill and its stipulations, click here.

What Are You Doing After Graduation?

I called my friend up at Haverford yesterday. Since I took the year off, I’ve taken pleasure in watching my friends experience and tell tales of senior year; first semester was about the initial elation of being the oldest, the joined camaraderie of their senior level classes, and enthusiasm for their long awaited senior thesis. Second semester, however, has been a different tale. Thesis research became 60 page deadlines, camaraderie replaced by the solitude of long study hours, and the welcome of senior year became graduation goodbye plans.

It’s incredible with all the amount of work they have had to do that seniors are also expected to apply for graduate schools and jobs. Some have it figured out, most still don’t know what direction they want to go. It’s not an easy market and the pressure to have your next step planned out is just as heavy.

My friend is the prime example of the stuck senior – I’ve known her since I was twelve, and I hope she’ll forgive the online analysis. Further education isn’t an option since she doesn’t know what professional route she wants to take, she has no desire to travel, and finding a rewarding job, like most students, is proving more difficult than planned. With six weeks until graduation, when I ask her for her plans, she in a few choice words tells me to change the subject.

For everyone who fits this category: consider volunteer work. Volunteer work is not only a terrific way to network inside your community, but can provide resume-boosting leadership experience. Volunteering opens doors to other opportunities, while helping others along the way. If you’re confused about what you want your future to look like, volunteering allows you to step outside your comfort and get a clearer picture of what you are passionate about. Volunteering will not only enhance your resume, it can give you a sense of purpose, of drive that will help you step up and step out.

Good Luck!

3 Networking Tips from Brian Batchelder

A few weekends ago, a group of fellow Georgetown graduates and myself had the opportunity to attend Brian Batchelder’s extraordinary networking seminar, held at our Clarendon campus.

Brian Batchelder is a career coach who specializes in teaching his clients proactive networking strategies and tactics. At our seminar, Brian engaged us by discussing the importance of using our time strategically during our job search process. He even advised us to, “never apply to another job posting again!”

I found Brian’s networking strategies to be extremely beneficial. The following are just a snapshot of a few the many helpful strategies and tactics that Brian presented during the seminar:

1. Talk in terms of the company’s interest:

Brian effectively explained that it is never about the candidate, but rather, what that candidate has to offer to a prospective employer. He suggests candidates must listen first, and diagnose what is missing in the mix. Based on the company’s needs, candidates should put a mosaic together of transferable skills around the needs of the employer and to further.

“Creating a value proposition of the skills that the candidate has to offer based off these company needs eliminates the guess-work of hiring managers.” Brian explained that it critical that employers do not have to the do guess-work and that candidates make their valuable skills and assets apparent, tailored, and enticing.

2. Show them, don’t just tell them:

I loved this suggestion. Brian stressed the importance of “demonstrating how much you want the job by taking action.” This includes leveraging digital technology to actively demonstrate to your contacts the depth of knowledge you possess regarding the issues that interest your contacts.  Remember, it’s not about you!

3. Determination and commitment:

Brian reminded our class that the job search can be a daunting process so we need to enjoy it by believing in the process, and by not sweating the small stuff. Also, we must enjoy meeting new people and genuinely delivering value to them.

He asked our class the following question:

“Would you really want to be applying to a bazillion jobs online or would you rather have coffee or lunch with professions in industry to cultivate professional relationships?”

Good point, Brian.

Overall, Brian was an extraordinary speaker and I definitely encourage my readers to visit Brian’s blog for more of his smart insights!

Tags: brian batchelder

What Makes an Effective Pitch?

While working as the media relations intern at Come Recommended, I’ve been introduced to some PR tactics that I didn’t learn about in my program. One of them: the pitch. Dictionary.com defines a pitch as: “Informal. to attempt to sell or win approval for; promote; advertise.”

I never learned what a “pitch” was in formal classes. But when I worked with Program Board, we received tons of these daily: some snail mail, but mostly through e-mail and phone calls. PB receives a generous budget to bring entertainment and educational events to CMU’s campus. But sometimes, the people pitching event ideas did not know when to stop.

I was not a programming chair, but we all had to answer the phone at one point or another, and I learned quickly why some people dread doing it. There were a few companies that continued to call every week, pitching their products or services. The problem was… they didn’t relate to anything we were doing, or the salesperson was just plain annoying.

The bottom line? They weren’t pitching effectively. They were wasting their time and ours. This leads to a few things I took out of the situation…

Things you should do when pitching:

• Connect with the person or group! Some of the best acts we’ve had at CMU come back every year, and that’s because they know us, know the types of programs we run and have built a good relationship with the groups on campus.
• Make it short. No one wants to read a lengthy, 12-paragraph e-mail about your company/product. Along with that, most people do not have the time to talk on the phone with you for an hour about your catalog. Keeping it short, but still figuring out what will be best for them, tends to work the best. On PB, the best phone calls we got were pitching acts within our budget where we could find more information online. Easy, quick and simple!

Things you shouldn’t do when pitching:

• Appear “spammy”. This goes along with a lengthy pitch. Also, anything automated, not personalized, has typos in it, or bad/broken English.
• Mass mail your messages. Most people can tell when an e-mail has been BCC’ed to tons of others. It’s generic and not personal. It makes it easier to not feel guilty about deleting without reading it. It also makes getting in touch with a “real person” seem difficult (these messages typically come from a different e-mail address than a “real person”).

What are some other tips for effective pitching? What is the best pitch you’ve received?

The New Intern

Hello to all! Today is my first of many posts, and I hope to use this space to write a bit about who I am, where I’ve been, and why I’m here.

My name is Annie Kohanek. I was born and raised in Washington DC, and last night was the first time in fourteen months I’ve slept in my bed. If you’ve been away from home for a while, you’ll understand when I quote a Chinese writer called Lin YuTang, “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”

Over the past year I have been traveling, studying and working in China and Vietnam. In Asia, I discovered my knack for meeting new people, my tendency to get into amusing situations, and the encouragement from friends and family back home for more letters of my adventures. These letters turned into a true passion for writing, landed me an editorial internship in Hong Kong, and led me to Come Recommended.

I couldn’t be more excited to begin this internship — not only to continue writing, but to become part of the Come Recommended team. It’s not very often you find a company whose mission is one you can really believe in. I consider myself to fit the target audience: young, intelligent students and graduates who are looking for challenging and meaningful employment. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t fun, but Come Recommended is looking to change the field— to find qualified employers and employees and create a space to connect the two.

I encourage anyone who has any particular questions or thoughts about articles they would like to see, to use this space and let me know. I’m excited to work, to write about my experience with the internship, and to learn about the experiences of others using the site!

Healthcare History in the Making

As President Barack Obama used 20 different pens to left-hand to sign into law the most historic piece of healthcare legislation in our lifetimes yesterday, feelings of agony and ecstasy were emitted by millions of Americans across our great nation as the bill officially became law of the land.

While it still has to go through the Senate again for final considerations on the markups, and many states’ Attorney Generals have their lawsuits cocked back and ready to fire, a significant page in our history has been turned.

What does this mean for us this year? Well to start off, recent grads as well as May grads will be able to stay on their parent’s health insurance until their 27th birthdays as of September 2010.

Additionally, within the first year of its activation:

• Insurers will not be able to rescind policies to avoid paying medical bills when a person becomes ill
• Lifetime limits on benefits and restrictive annual limits will be prohibited
• A 10 percent tax will be imposed on amounts paid for indoor tanning services on or after July 1
• Insurers will be barred from imposing exclusions on children with pre-existing conditions. Pools will cover those with pre-existing health conditions until health care coverage exchanges are operational.

…and much more.

While many remain discontent and downtrodden with results of congressional action to sign the bill, how the bill will be paid for, and the increasing amount of government intrusion, the bill is here to stay for now. With that being said, we must hop on board the ship and reap the benefits.

A Great Resource for Networking: Alumni

A few days time will mark one month since I began my search for an entry-level public relations position. I have been sending out my resume, creating brief, but informative cover letters and researching companies as often as I can, with little response. It’s tough not to get discouraged, but I have tried to remain as positive as possible.

However, today it was hard for me not to show my disappointment with my lack of potential employer replies. I was in a work meeting at my on-campus job and my supervisor decided to ask the student employees how their job searching was going. It was very difficult to hear that I was the only student assistant without a job yet. Granted we all have different majors, but it definitely made me feel the pressure.

It was then that one of our recruiting coordinators spoke up. She said that she had met with some great alumni over spring break that could potentially help me. She even offered to forward my resume personally with a recommendation. One last suggestion she made to me was that despite everything else, I should really look into our online alumni directory.

Unfortunately, I did not really begin connecting with peers in my major until last spring semester. This is when I became heavily involved in our chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, but it was a little too late for me to really meet a lot of the graduating seniors. This is why I have at times felt discouraged in my job search, because I do not really have any “connections” in my chosen career path.

All the same, even though I have not really met anyone personally I will begin reaching out to alumni. I believe that at my university, as well as at many other universities, former students want to help graduating students with finding jobs. I advise all entry-level job seekers to begin connecting with alumni. Use online directories if they are available, or you could even offer to reach out to alumni and ask them to come back to the university in an alumni panel setting. As I once read, weak ties more often land you in the interview room than strong ones.

Have you been connecting with alumni in your job search? How has it benefited you?

3 Reasons My Internship Rocks

For those of you without at least two internships under your belt before graduation, I would definitely recommend starting one ASAP. Being in the PR and communications field, it was important for me to intern in the industry prior to graduation. For those that think internships take too much time, I would suggest considering virtual internships that integrate between classes, part-time work, extracurricular activities, volunteering, and other college-life activities.

I have had the opportunity to work for Heather and the CR team for two semesters — first as a corporate relations intern and now as an editorial content intern. There are many reasons why I love my internship, but I present to you the top three.

1. Independent projects to spruce up my skills.

My assignments are constantly changing, and they help create a dynamic internship. Most of my assignments involve written communications, but I have had the opportunity to use critical thinking skills and strategic application in past assignments. I get immediate feedback, which enables me to learn and strengthen my skills. This practice with independent projects is great experience for my future career in public relations.

2. Networking opportunities.

Although the only person I have met IRL is Heather, the entire team is a great bunch. We all help each other out and collective strive for CR’s mission. I know that when I leave this internship, I will have made professional contacts and I will have the opportunity to continue to connect with my team through social media platforms.

3. Virtual flexibility.

This is probably one my favorite aspects of this internship. This absolutely flexibility of it is amazing! Being able to virtually connect with my team and Heather is simply incredible. Some would question the effectiveness of virtual internships, but I argue that for busy people like myself (full-time graduate student with a full-time job), this is the way to fit time in for gaining experience and broadening skills. Social media platforms make the internship entertaining and successful.

So there you have it! My reasons for loving what I do. For those of you looking to add an internship under your belt with a credible organization, I would strongly recommend contacting Heather for information on the latest internship or job opportunities with CR.