Binh Tran
What’s Next for the Class of 2012?
On May 10th, Temple celebrated the 125th commencement at Liacouras Center. This is the biggest year yet for Temple with more than 8,600 undergraduate, graduate, and first professional degrees. I would like personally to congratulate all the new graduates for making this great accomplishment. They all worked hard for the past few years and in the end they are now the Class of 2012! What is the next step for most new graduates? It is to find a job.
Under this economy, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates under the age of 25 is 9% and has shown little or no improvement. According to an 2011 analysis of the Census Bureau data, about 53.6%(1.5 million) of students graduating with bachelor’s degrees last year were jobless or underemployed. This statistics is terrifying for many of the 2012 college graduates including Temple students.
As undergraduates, we all choose our major and when we graduate we wish to apply all that knowledge into the real world. However according to Diane Knich, who wrote an article on The Post and Courier, recent college graduates are struggling to find jobs in their field. The fact is that recent graduates have no experience in their profession and at the end of the day they have to find any job to pay the debt from college. This is really frustrating if you are not able to find a job that you went to school hoping to get.
Yet, everyone should not panic and be worried. Margot Camichael wrote the article Recession Job Search Tips for New Graduates on Monster.com and gave out some useful tips that I strongly encourage students to follow: Think Broadly, Act Globally, Do your Research, Be Productive, Get Help, and Stay Positive.
I hope all the recent graduates right now are not too excited and forget that their journey has just started. You have little time to relax and you must be active in your job search. Congratulations again and best of luck on looking for that dream job!
Image Credit: guardian.co.uk
2012 AIS Leadership and Student Competition
I am pleased to once again recognized a few Temple students for their great achievements. At the 2012 AIS Leadership and Student Competition, many Temple students participated as finalist in various events. This competition was for all students in the AIS chapters around the United States. The competition was divided into four tracks: IT Risk Management, Mobile Application Development, Social Media Optimization, and Video Competition.
There would be two phases from each track, the first one would be an online virtual component that any student could participate in. Then the finalist would meet onsite in the second phase to compete face-to-face with the other finalists. Out of the four tracks, the students from the Temple AIS chapter was selected as finalist for three of the tracks and they came out with two 1st place awards and one with 2nd place. The Mobile Development and IT Video teams both came in 1st place and the IT Risk Management team came in 2nd place. This again proved that our MIS program has one of the best talents there is in the nation. Those three teams received their plaques at the inaugural student completion winners.
I had a great opportunity to have a small interview with a member of the IT Risk Management team. Her name is Haoren Yu and she is also currently a the VP of Professional Development at AIS. She shared with me about the project/case and at the end she also encouraged why students should participate in this event in the future.
The project is a business consulting case. We, as a consulting team, acted as a consulting team that hired by the CIO of a company to persuade the CFO of Atlantic Paper Co. to implement an Identity Access Management System. We did a completed analysis for this case, including a project scope document, stakeholder analysis, a four-step business evaluation analysis, solution implementation plan, SMART analysis for that, etc.
I would encourage students to participate into this event more and more. It certainly helps students to put what they learn from class into practice. More important, it is about teamwork, and putting yourself in front of the real jury which are consisted by real business people with couple years of experiences. Furthermore, it is also important to fit our expectations into the real world scenarios.
Saraya Hyder – 2012 Student Achievement Award Recipient
Saraya Hyder, a former MIS student came back at the IT Awards 2012 to accept an award for Student Achievement. She currently works at Deloitte as a Business Technology Analyst (BTA) after her graduation on January 2012. In order to achieve a good job in her career, she had to work really hard during school and participated in many associations such as AIS and Gamma Iota Sigma. Aside from that, she also attended to one of the MIS classes called Co-Op Experience where she had a great opportunity to intern for Lockheed Martin in the summer of 2010. She improved her leadership skills through this internship and was a Teaching Assistant for Professors Mart Doyle, Doug Schutz, Than Lam, and Richard Flanagan. Saraya worked very hard and she deserves this honor.
I had the great opportunity to ask her a couple of questions below:
Q: As a former MIS student, how did you feel when you receive the MIS Student Achievement Award?
A: It was truly an honor winning the award. It’s always a great feeling to be recognized for all of the hard work that I put in when I was a student. It makes you realized that the department truly does care and that you aren’t just another nameless student.
Q: How has MIS helped you to achieve your career now?
A: When applying for my current position, I learned that it wasn’t just my grades that companies cared about. It was also experience, leadership, and overall knowledge. By being an MIS major, I was able to gain knowledge throughout the curriculum, especially during the capstone class but being an MIS student also assisted in the other criteria. At my first IT Awards ceremony I attended, I met someone that connected me with the manager of my internship at Lockheed Martin. As for improving my leadership skills, I gained experience through being a Teacher’s Assistant for Mart Doyle, Doug Schutz, Than Lam, and Richard Flanagan at one time or another.
Q: How often do you use technology in your work-place and why is technology important in the work-place?
A: At Deloitte, I am a business technology analyst (BTA), meaning that I am in an entry level position and possess technology skills. Although, my current role is not extremely technically compared to what other BTAs are doing, I do work with excel and other programs on a daily basis. However, in the future, I could be in a role that would involve implementing technologies, coding, maintenance of technologies, etc.
Q: What is your advice to the students?
A: As a recent alumni, most people’s advice to me tends to be “network, network, network.” However, in my opinion, as great as networking might be, it is truly your work that speaks for you and those connections you make that truly benefit your network. So, my advice to students would be advice I actually received my Junior year and always try to live by – “Just say yes.” What I mean by this is no matter what the opportunity is that someone is offering to you, just say “yes.” A lot of people think too much in the moment and how boring or hard the task is or just how they don’t have the time but it is those moments that you are truly recognized for assisting those around you. So, whether it be a teacher asking for a helping hand, a boss, or just some person you happened to meet at an event, by saying yes, you open a whole new set of doors for yourself and by doing that, you aren’t just another person that someone shook hands but rather, a person that is known for going the extra mile even when the task isn’t always the greatest.
Saraya mentioned that being an MIS major has allowed her to be able to gain knowledge throughout the curriculum, especially during the capstone classes. Students should take her advice and saying “yes” to any opportunities because it will open different doors for you in the future.
Official Website for Temple AIS
I have wrote many topics about the Association for Information Systems (AIS), Temple University Student chapter and showed the benefits of becoming a member. You should know what is AIS and the opportunity to meet a variety of AIS great speakers. AIS also has many great social opportunities such as rock climbing and the IT Awards after party recently.
AIS now officially has its own website that was just launched: temple-ais.org. This website will allow everyone to access information such as news, weekly events, meeting information, and other important links. This is a great resource because students can learn about weekly speakers and the opportunities to come in to listen and network.
The website also displays the current officers and you can literally learn about them through the short articles they provide. AIS also offers IT services for the small firms and other organizations. This is a great chance for students to learn real-world experiences and explore their options through these services. If you want to become a member or purchase some merchandise items, you can do that on this website. If you have any questions, there is a contact button that will directly send the message to someone who can assist you.
AIS always keeps up to date technology by using Swoop Text to communicate with the members through text messages and now AIS uses Instagram. AIS keeps growing bigger and has more members, this means that students need to start to pay attention to their careers. I suggest you all visit the AIS new website for more useful information and I am sure you will like it.
What Is Your Klout Score?
Social media is becoming more important for employers nowadays. As you may know a couple weeks ago I wrote about what if employers ask for your Facebook password? Not even that, employers may want to know what is your Klout score is? Students from the social media class of Professor Steven L. Johnson may have been introduced to Klout already. Klout is a service that measures your influence on social media on a scale from 1 to 100. Klout scores are based on how active you are on those social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, and even Pinterest. It also takes into account things like retweets, discussions started, replies, likes, friends, followers, etc.
Sam Fiorella, who interviewed for a VP position in Marketing, was passed on because his Klout score was too low even though he has 15 years of experience and has worked for the big company such as AOL and Ford. Sam was confident about the interview and he thought he would get this position because his qualifications and experiences was more than what they requested. During the interview, he was about about his Klout score. Sam admitted to them that he did not know what Klout was and in the end, after discovering it was only a 34, Sam did not make the cut. It sounds a bit ridiculous but it happens in this world.
Imagine if recruiters want to know more about you, they just need to type your name on Google and your information will appear. Yes, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media but if you use it in the right way, it can create a huge benefit for you. You will build up your reputation and advertise yourself without having to even interviewing yet.
Do you want to check your Klout score now? Go to Klout.com and create a new account. If you are unsure what to do, you can ask Professor Steven for more information by emailing him at steven@temple.edu
12th Annual IT Awards
The Twelfth Annual IT Awards happened without a hitch last night. There was many people in attendance including undergraduate students, MIS alumnus, faculty, members, and guests. The MIS program was ranked apart of the top 20 in the nation for 2012 according to U.S. News. It was a proud moment for the MIS Department and showed that they were not only the best in teaching but also in research. The awards opened with the warm welcome from the Fox MIS Advisory Board Chair, Bruce Fadem, Dean M. Moshe Porat, and Associate Professor, Chair, and Executive Director, Munir Mandviwalla. Then everyone welcomed Michelle Dy-Reyes, AIS president of Temple University Chapter, who seemed be the favorite from all the students. As you may know, the AIS Temple Chapter was awarded the Outstanding Student Chapter in 2010 and 2011 which shows all the hard-work from its members.
The awards presentation included the Fox IT Leader, Innovator, and Distinguished Alumni awards. Those awards were given to Adrian R. Gardner from NASA, K. Venkatesh Prasad from Ford Motor, and Marc E. Snyder from KPMG respectively. The recipients made great speeches about the award, how meaningful it was for them, and the empowerment of technology that lead them to be where they are now. There were also awards for MIS students, MIS Researcher of the Year, Faculty Leadership, Teacher of the Year, Administrative Achievement, Administrative Leadership, IBIT Information Technology, and many more. All those awards work as a motivation for the MIS Department to work harder and encourage students to put in 110% every day.
This event was a great experience that I strongly encourage all Temple students to join it every year even if you are not a MIS major/minor. It is a great place to network and exchange information with each other and professionals. So mark the date for next year so that you don’t miss this event.
Women in Tech
In the past, the technology industry was mainly comprised of men. However, now I am glad to say that more women are venturing into the IT field and more opportunities are being opened for them. Not only from that, women are creating technology groups to collaborate ideas and learn from each other. More and more women groups have formed recently and one of the popular groups that I want to mention is right here in our community. For Tech Week, there will be many technology events for women to celebrate technology with a focus on bringing more women on board.
One of the member of the group, Kate Krauss, was from San Francisco where there was a very low population of women in the tech scenes. She found that the community in Philadelphia is really different because it is not just focused on women but also about technology.
There will be a first ever Women in Tech Summit which will be on April 21st at Wharton, Philadelphia. This event will bring in female hackers, developers, designers, and executives to come together and connect. There are only 25% women in IT but this is expected to increase over time.
If you want to join the women tech groups, here are some popular in Philly such as Web Start Women, Girl Develop IT etc. All female students who are enrolled in IT or MIS major should not be intimidated by the male-dominated field because we can do as much as they do.
If you want to know more about this subject click on this article: Philadelphia County where Philly women are joining the ever-expanding technology party
Image Credit: allupdate.blogspot.com
Technology Skills Gap
The majority of IT careers have a positive outlook nowadays even though the economy is still recovering from recession. However, that still does not mean IT professionals do not have to worry about their jobs because technology changes constantly. This requires them to always keep up to date on the latest news and happenings. I just read a great article, “Tech workers stress over skills gap” by Mary K. Pratt, that was posted on the computerworld.com talking about what hiring managers are looking for. To sum it up into one word: “Perfection”
Dean Haddock, manager of IT at StoryCorps, has been through many cycles of technology changes at his company. He encourages the IT professionals to keep up to date with technology and not just stick to the traditional ways. A vivid example Dean gives involves about understanding his company’s strategy and with the help of new technologies, like cloud computing , help to push them forward .
Hiring managers not only look for the basic skill sets, but also see if the candidates could adapt to new technologies and have the ability to apply it to the business. Brian Gegan, Senior Vice President of Technology at Eyefinity said that people should not stay at their comfort zone when it comes to technology. As he noted, “It’s a real problem, because the skill sets that work today aren’t necessarily going to be applicable tomorrow.” Unfortunately this is very true, even for students graduating today.
For the students, you should take the initiative to learn new technologies as much as possible during college. Whether it on your own or through a classroom environment, you don’t want to master an old technology that no one uses. The more you know, the better valuable you are, and the easier it is to get a job. You should always be willing to take challenges and see it to the end.
How long do recruiters look at your resume?
Did you ever think what happens after you submit your resume? How it is viewed by the potential employer? We all have submitted our resume with the hope that recruiters will take the time to look at our resume and give us a call for an interview. A recent study from BusinessInsider noted that recruiters only look at your resume for an average of six seconds! Imagine what they can really see in only six seconds. This really surprised me and I start to wonder what we can do to make our resume attractive enough to someone who only looks at it for six seconds.
According to BusinessInsider:
In the short time that they spend with your resume, the study showed recruiters will look at your name, current title and company, current position start and end dates, previous title and company, previous position start and end dates, and education.
Therefore, you want to make your resume very concise and easy to read because if it is too messy they are just going to ignore that area. You also want to highlight the major areas. Temple offers many resume services with specialist that look at your resume and critique it. I think all of students should take advantage because a resume is the way for you to introduce yourself to recruiters. The job market is very competitive now and you have to take full advantage of what services you have access to. If you currently don’t have a resume, simply click on the resume template that FoxMIS has created. I think it helps a lot because the format is very neat and concise.
Here is the list of resume do’s and don’ts from Temple University Student Resources, you should read it and compare against your current resume.
Image Credit: jobsearchchatter.wordpress.com
What if employers ask for your Facebook password?
What should you do when an employer is asking for your Facebook password as part of the interview process? Studies show that some employers nowadays will ask applicants for access to their Facebook password because it is used as a basic personality test, according to Reuters. Interviewers want to understand more about the candidate by logging in to his/her social media sites. Well is this ethical? It is still being debated right now because it is a huge issue involving a candidate’s personal life and privacy.
If employers ever ask or request you to give them the password to your Facebook, what will you do? That would be an awkward situation. It will seem like you are hiding something or it will look like you lost your confidence if you can’t answer that question. Tony Morrison wrote the article “What to Do When A Potential Employer Asks for Your Facebook Password” which was published on Mashable.com, he shared with us some tips if we ever find ourselves in that situation:
- Be calm, show respect, and mention that you prefer LinkedIn better because it displays your professional connections which can bring benefit to the organization
- You should evaluate carefully if the job is really worth it because most likely the employer will be watching you at work and now they want to evaluate your personal life
- Take precaution with your personal social media site by preventing employers to search for your profile by creating a nickname or disabling public viewing
Social media is very powerful and employers may take advantage of it by looking at our Facebook profile, posts, or pictures so that they can evaluate our personality. However, this is more of an invasion of privacy. It is a controversial topic and it is very sensitive but I do believe that, as students, we should be careful of using social media because it does have it’s disadvantages for us. Let me know what you think and what you would do if you fall into this situation. Thanks for reading!
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