Washington DC Trip

 

We are pleased to announce some details of the Washington DC Trip!

Complete the registration form (front & back) and return it to Career Services with a $50 check or money order (non-refundable), made payable to the University of Pittsburgh, by February 1, 2013. Registration forms are available on Connections or you can stop by Emmy or Shannon’s offices to pick up the form. Late registration will not be accepted, so register now!

The trip will take place over spring break on March 11-13, 2013. Your registration fee reserves your spot on the trip and covers two meals, a networking reception, and a $5 preloaded metro card. You will be responsible for lodging and transportation.*

*Please note we have previously blogged about transportation and lodging options.

On Monday, March 11, we have alumni panels scheduled in the morning. Our current panels include Careers in Security and Intelligence, Careers in International Development, Federal Hiring, and DC Opportunities for International Students. Later that day, we have a confirmed site visit with the Heritage Foundation. Finally on the evening of March 11, we will have a networking reception at Honeywell.

On Tuesday, March 12, we have more alumni panels schedule in the morning. The themes of the panels are the DC Job Market, Philanthropy and NPOs, International Trade and Finance, and Communications and Advocacy. After the alumni panels, we have a confirmed site visit with AECOM.

We are currently working on confirming more site visits with employers on all days on the trip!
For information on places to stay in the DC Metro area and transportation, we have previously blogged on this so just scroll down. If you have any questions on the DC trip plans, please let us know. Make sure to keep following us so you can get up-to-date to information on the DC Trip!
Please note, if there are not enough attendees we will have to cancel the trip. So register today!

Starting Your Job Search

Now that it is 2013, it’s time for you to start your job search. Starting your job search can be a daunting task, but with these tips you should be on your way in no time.

     

 1. Edit Your Resume

 Your resume is the best way to show off your experience and showcase what makes you the best candidate for the job. Check out the links below for resume tips.

• Utilize a list of ‘action verbs’ when writing your resume
• Emphasize transferrable skills (such as communication or customer service), especially if you don’t have much experience or are in the middle of a career change.
• Make the resume attractive and eye-catching; be sure to line up the margins and consider using bullets and bolding to separate sections and duties on your resume.  Leave yourself enough margin space so that the resume does not look crowded.
• Emphasize specific accomplishments at previous positions; quantify these achievements whenever possible.
• Write in the proper tense.  If you are presently at a job that is listed, use the present tense for the job descriptions; if you are no longer at that job, use the past tense for the job descriptions.  Be consistent with the tense throughout. 
• Decide if you should use a chronological or functional resume.
• Consider adding a “Professional Profile” or “Summary of Skills” section to the top of your resume. 

There are more resume tips available on GSPIA Connections under the Documents Library!
   
  2. Schedule Your Second Year Appointment with Career Services
Now that you have updated your resume with your experience, it is time meet with your Career counselor. We’re here to help you! Schedule an appointment on GSPIA Connections today. Make sure to upload your resume on Connections so we can take a look at it before we meet with you. During this meeting, we will discuss your resume and how to start your job search.
   
  3. Start Your Job Search
With so many job boards available online, it can be a little overwhelming on where to start. Below are some useful websites to help you get started.

• USAJobs: US Federal Government jobs
• Foreign Policy Association: Internationally focused jobs
• Devex: International development jobs 
• Idealist: Jobs throughout the country
• Nonprofit Talent: For Pittsburgh nonprofits
• Come to the Job Search Series, Part I workshop!

Now that you have a place to start searching, it is important to create a list of potential organizations and agencies in your field. Search these organizations and see if they have any openings. Even if they do not have an opening now, it is important to check their websites periodically to see if there are openings in the future.

We will be providing more tips and useful information on job searching in our Job Search Series. Career Services is hosting a number of events with our staff and outside employers, alumni, and guest speakers about job searching. Our first event is Wednesday, January 23 at 1:00pm in 3610 Posvar Hall. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP on Connections.
     
4. Network!
Besides job searching online, you should be networking! Not sure what networking is? Networking is professional relationship building. When job searching, you should be connecting with your fellow students, GSPIA faculty and staff, employers, and people in your field. An excellent way to start networking is by actively using your LinkedIn Account. If you do not have one, create one today! Here are some tips on using LinkedIn.

This semester Career Services is holding a Networking Series. Our next networking event is called Networking Series Part II: Juggling Plates & Small Talk (How to work a networking event) hosted by Karen Litzinger, owner of Litzinger Career Consulting. It will be held on Wednesday, February 6 at 1:00pm in Kurtzman Room in the William Pitt Union. Please RSVP on Connections if you plan on attending.

These are just a few tips on starting your job search. Finding a job is all about the work you put into it. Make sure to continually search for jobs and apply. If you need any help throughout your job search process schedule an appointment with us on Connections.

Good luck!

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (Paid Internship!!)

Are you wondering how you are going to pay to exist while completing your internship this summer? Interested in working with under-served populations in the Southwestern PA region? If so, keep reading! The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program is FOR YOU!

Don’t let the word ‘fellowship’ confuse you. This fellowship is designed to take place while you are currently enrolled in school, NOT after graduating. This is a one year interdisciplinary program focused on community service and leadership development.

Here are a couple of sample projects to get you thinking: One fellow wanted to increase self esteem in middle school girls in an under-served community, so she created a poetry program that fostered self expression. Another student conducted focus groups and administered surveys to assess environmental health dangers to people in an under-served community.
Here are the basics of the program:

• This is a service project with a minimum of 200 hours through an existing community-based organization in the greater Pittsburgh area or its surrounding communities. (In order to count this for the GSPIA internship, you’ll need to complete 300 hours, but we’re told that is very easy to accomplish within the year long project).
• A supervisor or site mentor, at the host organization and a faculty member at the student’s school will serve as mentors for the program. In addition, the fellow will have an alumni of the Schweitzer fellowship as an additional mentor.
• In addition to the service project, fellows are required to attend a monthly meeting with other fellows and the program administrator. At these meetings, fellows have the opportunity to chat with each other about their projects, and learn about community service and professional development from area experts.
• At the conclusion of the project, fellows submit a written report, including recommendations for sustaining the projects.
• The fellowship will begin in April 2013 and end in April 2014.

What this Really Means:

• You will write a proposal for a project that you would like to design and implement. For your application, you will need to come up with an organization that you would like to work with on the project. The project must serve an under-served population OR an under-served community.
• You will receive a $2,000 ($3,000 for environmental fellows) if chosen as a fellow. This stipend DOES NOT have to be used for project costs.
• If your project requires funding, the Schweitzer fellowship program can help with those costs. (Don’t forget about GSPIA’s Professional Development Funds as well!)

How to Apply:

• Fellows will be selected on the basis of their completed application, their service commitment, and their ability to articulate ideas and goals related to their role in addressing unmet community needs.
• Applications are available in the Career Services office, or here.
• The application includes demographic, project, and professional information, as well as three references and a resume.
• The application is due NO LATER THAN Friday, February 15th, at 5:00 p.m.

Nationality Room Scholarships

Want to do an internship in Kenya, but wondering how you will pay to get there? Planning on applying for the EU in Brussels program, but not sure about paying for your apartment while you’re gone? Have an idea for an independent study project, but no funding?

The Nationality Room Scholarship is a great opportunity to help fund your next International experience!

Eligibility Requirements:

• US Citizen or Permanent Resident
• Current full-time student on Pitt’s campus, returning to campus for the academic term following travel
• Proposed travel must be career related and credit-worthy (or required by school)

For more information or to apply, click here *Please Note* Career Services has additional information available to students who receive an interview for a scholarship. If you are selected for an interview, please contact us! We can conduct a mock interview with you (last year, 3/3 students who applied and mock interviewed with us won their scholarships!).

Scholarships Available to Graduate Students:
     

AFRICA::
Beulah Glasco Memorial Award, $3,500

ARMENIA:
Andrew J. Traina Memorial / Armenian Room Committee Scholarship (for the study of Armenian culture, first consideration given to programs in Armenia,), $3,500

ASIA:
Dr. and Mrs. Ryonosuke Shiono Award, $4,000

AUSTRIA:
Austrian Room Committee Scholarship (in honor of Frank and Marie Bulik), $3,500

CHILE:
Ivan Santa-Cruz Memorial Award $4,500

CZECH or SLOVAK REPUBLICS:
Czechoslovak Room Committee Scholarship, $4,500

DENMARK:
Herbert E. Lieberkind / Danish Room Committee Scholarship (in honor of Frans Jagher), $4,000

HUNGARY:
Hungarian Room Committee Scholarship (Dr. S. Gomory / Joseph Arvay Memorial Award), $3,500

INDIA:
Indian Room Committee Scholarship, $3,500
ISRAEL
Israel Heritage Committee Award (for the study of Jewish culture, first consideration given to program in Israel), $4,000
JAPAN:
Japanese Room Committee, $3,500

LITHUANIA:
Josephine and John McCloskey Memorial Award, $4,000

MIDDLE EAST OR NEAR EAST:
Fred C. Bruhns Memorial Award (requires a working knowledge of Arabic or Farsi language), $4,000

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, HONG KONG OR TAIWAN:
Chinese Room Committee Scholarship (in honor of Mike Chen), $4,000
John H. Tsui Memorial Scholarship (for study of Chinese culture), $4,000

SCANDINAVIA:
Scandinavian Society of Western Pennslyvania Award, $3,500

UKRAINE:
Eugene Manasterski Memorial Award, $3,500

ANY LOCATION:
Ruth Crawford Mitchell Memorial Award, $3,500
Stanley Prostrednik Award, $5,000
Dorthy Bradley Brown Physical Therapy Award (for SHRS Physical Therapy Students ONLY), $3,500
George F. & Mary Ann McGunagle Memorial Award, $5,000

Heinz Endowments Fellow Program

If you could not make the Heinz Endowments information session, here is all of the information you will need!

The Heinz Endowments is based in Pittsburgh, where it uses our region as a laboratory for the development of solutions to challenges that are national in scope. Although the majority of its giving is concentrated within southwestern Pennsylvania, the Heinz Endowments works wherever necessary, including statewide and nationally, to fulfill its mission. That mission is to help our region thrive as a whole community, economically, ecologically, educationally and culturally, while advancing the state of knowledge and practice in the fields in which it works. The Heinz Endowments fields of emphasis include philanthropy in general and the disciplines represented by its five grant-making programs: Arts & Culture; Children, Youth & Families; Community & Economic Development; Education; and Environment.

The Heinz Endowments is recruiting for a graduate fellow for summer 2013. The graduate fellow is responsible for coordinating day-to-day activities of three teams of 15 interns participating in The Heinz Endowments Summer Youth Philanthropy Internship Program and interfacing with three or four additional teams of interns who are hosted by community agencies. Each team of interns will identify a grant-making area, draft a request for proposals offering $25,000 in grants, and complete short media projects in partnerships with other non-profits. The graduate fellow is the first line of support to the interns and will work closely with the Program Officer who manages the program. Additional tasks and projects may be development based on staff needs at the time. The graduate fellow is a perfect position for anyone interested in project management and grant-making.  

Useful Skills and Experiences:

• Familiarity with grants and fundraising
• Understanding of the nonprofit sector and, in particular, youth development
• Confidence, self-motivation and leadership
• Ability to navigate the Pittsburgh region and neighborhoods
• Professionalism, flexibility, maturity
• Ability to use MS Office and Google Docs
• Knowledge of grant-making (or the desire to learn more about it)
  

Details on the Position:

• Full-time, 9am to 5pm, Monday-Friday (40 hours a week)
• Mid-June to Mid-August
• Paid position!

The application is available online! You will need to fill out the application online as well as submit a resume and cover letter. All of the instructions can be found online at the link above. It is due February 1, 2013!