On Grad Schools:
This I tell you, and I tell you with the hopes that you’ll learn from my stupid mistakes: If you are AT ALL considering continuing your studies after undergrad in a field you did not major in, for the love of Jasper Gabriel bon Jingles- MINOR IN IT!! My faculty adviser told me minors weren’t worth anything unless I was sure I wanted to study that subject in grad school. And, given the fact that I wasn’t forward-thinking enough to be considering grad school, (mostly because I hate application essays), I didn’t minor in anything. Stupid, stupid me.
After all, I knew I was interested in film studies and psychology- but instead of sticking to either of those minor programs, I took more English courses (Literary Criticism and Shakespeare) and a not-required Biblical Studies course (Exodus-Deuteronomy) because it was taught by a professor of uber brilliance. Do I regret taking these classes? No, I enjoyed all three (well, not Shakespeare so much as a class, but I was in Oxford at the time, so I would have been happy to study ancient native Haitian basket weaving… or whatever). But wish I had also made room to take more psych courses (even if APU’s psych program SUCKS TO HIGH HEAVEN… regardless of how blindly proud they are of it. I’m sure the faculty members are all very nice people…). Because now I find myself staring at MA program aps and banging my head against the wall because I haven’t taken the prerequisites. Could I trudge my way through the information at the Advanced Level- sure, if I really put my mind to it. But they don’t know that, and that stinkith. So then what? Online classes or MJC? Yuckiness… Gr.
On Interviews:
Due to the fact that I once (ignorantly) aspired to be an Executive Assistant in the film industry, I have gone to many, many interviews. Perhaps this is indicative of my resume’s brilliance (since a resume’s purpose is to get you the interview), or maybe Oxford’s too shiny to resist, or they chose aps at random. But, I never did get an assistant job (and, after hearing how Sam’s bosses treated her, I stopped applying). Regardless, I’ve faced many an interviewer, and this is what I’ve noticed:
Bad:
1. When he/she picks you out of a crowd as “the one wearing all black?”
2. Ending rambling sentences with “and, um… yea. so on?”
3. Sending out mass emails to potential employers in the “To:” section instead of the “BCC:” section (one actually sent me an email back, all insulted and whatnot. Er, sorry? My bad…)
4. When the interview is really short.
5. Going home and deleting all your info on a potential employer because you’re convinced the interview went horribly. They still might call you back.
6. Sweat. It’s just a pain. It screws up your bangs and makes your feet smell weird. And there’s little to nothing you can do about it- RAHH!!
This afternoon, I learned that:
1. Group interviews suck
2. I am not so great at making a good impression when there are three other interviewees around the same little table, and only one question is actually asked pertaining to job-related experiences, etc.
3. Some people, when asked if they have any questions, will ask the interviewer what her favorite color is. (I spell this without “u”s because it was a freaking stupid question)
4. At a group interview, you will get interrupted by loud-mouths. And they might even pretend not to notice that they talked over you.
In my experience, no one cares if:
1. You don’t tailor your resume drastically for each position. Of course, it should show that you can do the job (ie. have previously answered a phone and/or spoken to a human being in real life).
2. You’re nervous. They probably can’t even see you shaking, so grin and ignore it.
3. You spill your purse contents everywhere- especially if the interview is for an internship that they barely pay you anything to do.
4. You call them by their first name. They seemed to expect me to, at least in LA. Don’t know what it’s like up here in hick country though… teh hehe…
So, now I have to figure out how to take prereq classes and write a statement of purpose, as well as still picking programs to apply to. And I start working at a new job tomorrow. This is a good thing but…. AHHhhhhh… *hides*
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