Sorority Life Lessons used in the Real World

Hey Ladies,

Saw this and I thought all my fellow Greek Alums would like.

http://newlycorporate.com/2008/04/01/what-sorority-life-taught-me-about-business/

PPL,
Adrianne

Welcome (Again!)

This isn't the first post on this blog, but for many of you seniors about to graduate... this may be your first visit!

When the current STO - Kelly - emailed you all after your alternative meeting, she included some links of interest including this blog (yay!) and Microsoft's Ultimate Steal. Here's a little background on both:Life As An Alum

Written by NC Delta's... for NC Delta's.
That's it - it's a total free for all about life after undergrad. Feel free to comment, post new questions, share your experiences, etc. Just get started and see where it takes you!

Microsoft's Ultimate Steal

If you wait to buy this, you are ridiculous. All you need is a .edu email address and you'll be saving $700 and getting an AMAZING computer software suite for $70. (Helpful hint: spend $12 more and get the back-up CD just.in.case.!)

It is one of the best purchases you'll ever make and includes Office: which makes your email and calendar life so much easier to manage.

Want info on how to use each component? Check out Microsoft's Ultimate product page to get started!So there you go... now get going!

Budgeting Advice ;-)

I saw this in a blog and wanted to pass it on to you Angels.

Anyway she wrote a blog about finances and I'm going to have to pass on this awesome advice to people who are:

1) Trying to budget or just track their expenses

2) Trying to balance their checkbooks (which you ALL should be doing)

3) Do a lot of small trips to places like Starbucks (aka Crackhouse, Inc.)

"If you are making the same purchase everyday, make it easier on yourself and get a gift card. I, for example, drive to get a coffee at Starbucks in the morning with my husband before we head off to work. I make this purchase every weekday. Now, admittedly, it is a pain in the rear to make a $1.97 entry every morning in the check register. So here's the solution. If I KNOW I'm going to be going to Starbucks every morning, I withdraw $50 and buy a gift card. That way I have $50 on the check register for "Starbucks - May" and then you just make your purchase every morning with that! So much easier."

Here's the link if you want to look at the whole entry: http://hyperhomemaker.blogspot.com/2008/05/starting-fresh.html

You could use this same theory for eating out, even if it's at different resturants...

Here's my suggestion:

If you are a fast food addict or find yourself eating out to much at sit-down places you could buy a Visa Gift Card and then use that as your budget.

For example: You budget $50 a month for fast food (definition: any place with a drive-thru or a in which your food comes in a bag.) You buy a $50 Visa Gift Card and make all your fast food purchases with that. When it runs out, no more fast food for you. If there's some left over, you 1)reload the card with another $50 and you either get extra fast food 2) Only reload the card so that the balance will be $50 (like if you had $12 left over you just add $38, so the total's $50) and then you have extra money in your checking account for a nice dinner, a movie, or an extra 3 gallons of gas.

Either way it will help you see what you're spending and regulate it.

Hope this helps ladies. Peace out Angels.

Interview Advice

Hey Ladies,

Well you guys have been alumna for a week. Crazy huh?

And for you who don't have jobs yet, the race is on. I saw this slideshow and figured it might be helpful:

It's from BusinessWeek and it's about the seven things you need to make sure you do in an interview: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/04/0403_interviewing/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

Read through, embrace it, go get a job because as the Dean from your College probably told you at graduation, they will be calling you and asking for money by the end of the summer.

PPL,
Adrianne

Getting a Job. It all starts with getting an interview.

So some of you ladies are probably stressing about not having a job yet. Fret not ladies, this happens to a lot of college graduates. So stop throwing yourself a pity party, stop acting like a victim, and start being proactive... TODAY.

Step one: Update (or create) your resume
You have worked for the last four (to six) years on juggling the right classes, active in Pi Phi, joining the food science (or political science or accounting) club, and working part-time jobs; you need to make sure that all that good, hard work is reflected in your resume.

• Planned a dinner for the house?: "Managed the logistics of a special event for 100+ people."
• Head of philanthropy committee?: "Used interpersonal communication skills to contact venues and to increase opportunities for community service for 100 people."

Make sure you take the time to go through your transcript and include any courses that might make you a more attractive candidate for any position that you are applying for. Who knows if that communications class from freshman year will turn out to be very helpful.

If you find that you are interested in more than one field then its probably necessary for you to make more than one resume to best outline your skills for each field; a marketing recruiter and an accounting recruiter are looking for different things...even if they both are considered "business." My personal suggestion: a resume for your dream job and a more general resume that would be good for the majority of jobs in your field.

Step two: Put your resume out there where employers can find it
Some of the best jobs for you, you don't even know exist but there are recruiters out there looking for people like you to fill them. Make sure your resume is on sites like Monster, HotJobs, Careerbuilder, and SimplyHired. These sites also allow you to set up a search and then they will send you jobs that meet your specifications automatically.

Also, while you still have the help of the University use the career center and talk to your professors. And remember all those people you have been hanging out with for the last 4 years? Use them and make sure they know you are looking for a job and what you are looking for; you never know whose parents/neighbors/big sister/friends are in the same field as you. Make sure you leave copies of your resume in your email box so that you have easy access to it if someone wants to look at it. It's a lot easier then toting your resume to a dinner party at the 'rents house.

Step three: Clean up your (digital) image
In a time when there are so many ways to have access to someone and their information, you have to watch your back. Make sure you clean up the following items in your life to reflect the character a potential employer would like to hire:

• Your ringback tone (Anything with a radio edit is probably not such a good choice...)
• Your voicemail message ("Hey, you reached your favorite bia, RiRi. I'm either in class, at my horrible job, or getting drunk right now so I can't come to the phone. Leave your info and I'll hit you back after my hangover has subsided. Unless this is a certain super cute fella, I'll call you after class. Peace out." is probably not the best thing for a potential employer to hear.)
• Your Facebook or MySpace...make them private for people who aren't your friends. For Facebook you can make different elements of your facebook page (such as your photos, wall, and/or contact information) private for only your friends but still allow you to be able for your profile to be searched for so your random new friends can find you. Keep in mind that if you're searchable then your profile picutre will show up, make sure it's recruitment proof.
• Your instant messager profile: If on Facebook or MySpace there is a link to your AIM profile that a stranger can reach then make sure there's nothing in there or your away message that you wouldn't want an employer to find. It's probably easier to make things private so they can't find your IM and you can still let your girls know what's going on tonight.

Step four: Be accessible:
If you are not a regular email and voicemail checker then first, how did you get through college?

Secondly, become one.

The Phone: Make sure that you have enough minutes on your cell phone to spend up to 20-30 minutes on the phone with a recruiter about a job.

Email: Make sure that you have an email address that you can check regularly without a harsh SPAM filter on so that emails from companies don't get filtered out. Personally, I suggest a free one that is your name such as polly.angel@gmail.com or polly.angel@yahoo.com, and only use this one for your job search and your university one for other less urgent stuff (like your Facebook notifications) while you still have it. This way when you see emails in this account you know that these items are things that require your immediate attention.

Step five: Be open about opportunities that come your way:
One the key problems that a lot of seniors and new grads have when looking for a job is that they are looking in too narrow a scope. They have a specific company, job title, and location in mind and don't look anywhere else. They forget that they have to start from the bottom and work up, you aren't going to get your dream job and be at the top of a company on your first day at the office and this can make you feel frustrated and like a failure.

Look for a job in an office in your field, in your field but at a smaller company than your dream company, or away from your hometown or dream city. Today's mail room clerk in Ohio is tomorrow's VP in New York. However, make sure that you have a job that is in someway moving you toward your dream career or lifestyle, your time is precious and there's no point in being in a job that makes you miserable all the way around.

This also goes for pay, more than likely you will not be getting paid $50-$100K your first year out. Make sure that you can cover your living expenses (rent, transportation, utilities, food, some entertainment) so that you aren't resentful of your job all the time because you're always worries about money.



If all this goes well then hopefully you'll be booking interviews before you know it. While you are waiting there are a few things you should probably take care of:

1. Buy a first interview outfit. Make sure everything fits properly, it stays ironed, and makes you feel confident and amazing.
2. Get new shoes, preferably with a 1"-2.5" heel depending on your height...and DO NOT wear them to a bar or on campus. Worn out, beer stained shoes with rips from walking in the cracks of bricks do not say "hire me."
3. Get a haircut. Looks matter when you go to an interview even if no one wants to admit it and if you end up with an interview that is short notice you won't have time to go beforehand.
4. Make sure you step up your game as far as appearance and behavior...you never know when the guy at the end of the bar sipping a martini will be your interviewer next week and you don't want to be that "sloppy drunk girl who fell on her face last Friday." ("The fun girl dancing with her friends and having a few drinks" is fine though so don't fret.) If you need help with your makeup or clothes take a sister with you whose opinion about this type of thing you value, I'm sure she will be flattered and more than willing to help you land a job.
5. Figure out what is the most important to you when you look at a job: location, job description, salary, or prestige. Knowing your priorities will help you select a job when you get to that point without second guessing yourself the whole time.

Hope this helps ladies.

PPL,
Adrianne

How to Stay Motivated...

This question comes from a current Pi Phi undergrad (who will remain anonymous)... but I felt it was important to share because I think it's something we all go through!:"How did you stay so involved in Pi Phi when you were older...it's getting really hard to be motivated to be into it. Just looking for worldly advice from an 'elder'."

Welcome Pi Phi Alums!

As Adrianne and I were preparing our notes for what we wanted to talk about at tonight's Senior Transition / Alternative meeting things just kept popping into our heads. There is so much we want to share with you all about what we've learned in the short time that has passed since we were Pi Phi Senior. So much in fact, that we figured this would be a better way for us to offer tips and stories as we go... instead of cramming it into a quick dinner meeting at the Olive Garden.

Our first lesson that stems directly from this blog... is learning the importance of being up-to-date on technology. If you don't know what a RSS feed or Feed Burner is... google it now. If you don't know what the term "google it" means... you're going to need to pay EXTRA attention.

PPL & lots of M,
Lil Lisa