R|Intern: jung personality test

take the test ... and ponder.

the four agreements

not quite focused on the workplace & not quite a business book ... more about life (and work is part of one's life, eh?) ... the four agreements by don miguel ruiz.

1. be impeccable with your word
2. don't take anything personally
3. don't make assumptions
4. always do your best

makes sense, eh?

r|intern: apprenternship!?

just a thought for today (and tomorrow)

thinking of giving our internship the nickname

apprenternship = apprenticeship + internship

(sounds better than boot camp internship or enviro-slave)

SL Tip #9: planning & doing tasks

Estimate TIME to complete tasks. Be REALISTIC and then ADD 20%.
ASK to extend deadlines or remove things from your plate.
- Silver Lining

if you are considering an internship with us, you will be exposed to the basic elements of project management. a mnemonic (that is sort of an abbreviation/acronym) that is often used in project management is SMART ...

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable (or appropriate, or action-oriented)
  
• Relevant (or realistic, or results-oriented)
  
• Time-related
  

and this relates to SL tip #8 - prioritizing. be prepared. be enthusiastic. be smart.

r|break: your view on immigration ...

tho' not required for the internship position
(we have a different test),
give this a try ...

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 8 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

[DISCLAIMER: be prepared (during the internship) - there are moments of debate & discussion on current events, pop culture, some reality TV, and adult swim]

r|break: and he ran like the wind ...

andy, who is a vendor with us and who sat in on Ama's final presentation, is in the boston marathon. very cool ... so at 10:36:46 AM (PST), i got the following .txt msg:

(Marathon Alert) 110th Boston Marathon 2006
At 1:36 PM, Andy F at 21K.
Pace: 04:27
Projected Finish Time: 3:07:45 (Net)

very cool! [race result]

just like this sign

that's all!

over and out
for now

post r|intern: it finds you ...

all about networking ...

maggie, shirl, todd, bill

just memorializing that SL had lunch with bill.

quite the networking opportunity! ... uh ... or free-lunch for SL. peace.

R|Intern: Ama memories

just several posts on Ama's 12-week internship ...

• internship foundation - our approach
• intern syllabus
  
• making it through week 2
  
• ama's view
• making it through week 3
• ama's midterm presentation
• ama's midterm self-evaluation & feedback
  
• getting coffee
• making it to week 8
• making it through week 9
• ama's tip
  
• networking at the bistro
• ama in the A.M.
• ama's final presentation

thanks for all those supporting us and ama!

R|Intern: 12 weeks, already!?

ama has completed her internship.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

what was her last day like?
work + lunch + feedback on her self-evaluation.
and by her choice, she worked up until the last minute.

next steps?

• for her - continues the permanent job search
• for us - contemplates the next intern search

until then ... anyone interested, check us out!
it's not for everyone, but it's for someone(s).

r|boss: U.M. #166

once again, from the psyche with a l'il help from L ... L says... & i think...

1. Buck :: henry
2. Harry :: met sally
3. Play :: the piano
4. Monstrosity :: truck pull
5. Nightclub :: crack
6. Missing :: link
   
7. Sprout :: food
8. Flavor :: lick it
9. Identity :: card
10. Saucy :: sassy

and now i'm hungry.

R|INTERN Amabelle: Interviewing Experience

(amabelle posting!)

While interning at R|CAT, I landed interviews with 2 companies: one, in the military defense industry and the other, in the public utility industry. Balancing the internship while going through the interviewing process was challenging, but doable. Shirley and Todd were supportive through the process and also prepped me for the interviews.

Some questions that were asked of me during the actual interview:

1. What do you know about our program?
2. Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
3. Tell me about your experience as a (occupation) with (former company). [experiences listed on my resume]

The interview results were good: one, led to a job offer, and the other, led to a 2nd interview. Karine, a contractor to R|CAT, also helped me prep for the 2nd interview.

(commentary by r|boss: ama is not dudette. ama is waiting to hear outcome from the 2nd interview folks.)

four + one + one

just adding ANOTHER trait to the five traits... a sixth trait would be:

• initiative
  

R|Intern: Ama's final presentation

to the left, the view for most of us.

ama's view, to the right.





today, amabelle gave her final presentation for the internship. (congrats!) the guidelines were very similar to the midterm presentation.

the audience members ... keeping in mind - SL tip #4.
todd,

andy, and myself.

the format consisted of - ama presented; self addressed style and content elements; and todd addressed style, content and technical elements.

the guest audience member - in this case, andy - can address any or all elements. (andy addressed style, content and technical elements.) feedback is provided, and question/answers are discussed.

after the presentation, we went to lunch, and a good time was had by all.

we drank (err... drunk?, had drank?, had drunk?) water. yeah. water.

r|interview - what not to say ...?

[warning: ATTEMPT at humor! this is closely based on an actual e-mail exchange between 2 friends. laughter is NOT guaranteed.]

SCENE: Telephone interview by Corporate America with Dudette

• Tele-interviewer: Where do you see yourself in two to three years, after graduating from college? (whether B.S., M.S., etc.)
• Dudette: arghy...grrbrchr...ertrx...ackklmth...uglutmeqy
• Tele-interviewer: Huh?

LESSON LEARNED: Be prepared. There are several resources (books, friends, web) that can give you a list of those sample questions. I did a quick search with key words typical college graduate interview questions ... and there were some good links. check it out.

It's easy to figure out what NOT to say.

SCENE: e-Mail from Dudette to Chica. Chica reading e-Mail.

E-MAIL from Dudette: Oh, had a phone interview this morning. For CORPORATION ABC's EH&S. They were totally into the "compliance" thing, R-CAT was highly relevant. The question I botched up -- where do you see yourself in two-thee yrs/ post-college -- UHHH.........

(EH&S ... environmental health & safety)

E-MAIL response from Chica: Possible answers to Q ---

1. working for R|CAT if I don’t get a job from you peoples;
2. knocked up;
3. breastfeeding; and/or
   
4. what do you mean "...two to three years, post college?" I do not expect to graduate on time. See response 2 and 3.

PLEASE Be prepared (for the interview).

SL Tip #8: prioritize

tasks and priorities constantly change.
learn how to prioritize.
- Silver Lining

somewhat related to (or contributing to the antithesis of) SL Tip #7, prioritizing is critical when on the job. (actually, it's basically similar to making decisions about how to spend your money ... but wait! does this have to do with why my milk is old, and i'm sitting around eyeing options for a 6th laptop bag, instead?)
at a minimum, there is an element of time management that is involved. what tasks do you do first? why should one be done first over another activity? what options do you have to delegate or share tasks? (thanks to my friend sheila who introduced me to my hero, who has some awesome advice.)

understanding the task and its importance can help one prioritize. for illustration purposes, this The Action Priority Matrix- Making the very most of your opportunities - provides a visual approach to the ranking of activities. another format. (from a random google search, this one scared me, but it's actually rather interesting.) a perspective about working smarter.

regardless, prioritize. next thing you know ... SL Tip #7 will be a distant memory. HA!

R|INTERN Amabelle: seasonal persona

You Are Spring!

Hopeful Playful Sweet Fresh Airy

What Season Are You?

r|boss: season personality test-lite

boss as a dog and element ... as a season?

You Are Fall!

Thoughtful Expressive Creative Poetic Smart

What Season Are You?

SL Tips to date: recap

just a recap on SL's tips ... 'cuz we'll be posting several this week

#1: on the socratic approach
#2: on the project management book
#3: love abbreviations
#4: presentations
#5: on grammar and style
#6: resume - to serif or not to serif
#7: deadlines

(SL bonus tip and a l'il funny that made todd laugh (way too much!).)

r|resume stuff - seven stories exercise

this will not be a post about how to prep your resume. it will be a post about one approach to understanding yourself and approaching your resume - the seven stories exercise.
search the web and i'm sure you'll find stuff.

(SIDE NOTE: as part of our internship program, we make a point to help our intern(s) with resume content. at a minimum, we will make sure the content for the internship experience is representative and accurate, as well as demonstrative of r|intern's abilities and accomplishments. to do this, we approach the resume in the story exercise form.)

the seven stories exercise appears in several books and on several websites. one of the more well-known books, "what color is your parachute?" by richard bolles, contains the seven stories exercise. as noted on the author's web site (at the bottom of his link):

Practical Exercise:
Write out seven stories from any period of your life (no more than a page each) of something you did well, some problem you solved, and tell (yourself) how you did it.

Whether you believe in parachute or not, the exercise is pretty useful. (i still have my stories from 1994, when i was thinking of leaving my job. totally glad i did the exercise.)

for me - i'm a bit of kate wendleton fan. A friend of mine, Karine, told me about the Five O'Clock Club. I'm not a member, but I've given the books to some of our interns, as well as recommending to friends also looking for jobs/career change (as well as having a book or two on my shelf). while surfing, i came across this article, which has an interesting before/after resume, after applying the story exercise. so here is a link to a wendleton's downloadable .pdf ... preparing your seven stories in context of the objective of the exercise.

enjoy!