What's Inside...

1. A Letter from the Executive Director
2. This Week's Career Events
3. 10 Tips for Your Search During a Pandemic
4. Update from Employer Outreach
5. Upcoming Deadlines

Dear students,

All students received a comprehensive email from Meg Heenehan on Friday, March 20. Below are a few key points from that letter:

• Any second year student currently engaged in their internship requirement will be awarded credit for that internship, even if they are unable to meet the hourly requirement. These students will still be required to submit an internship report and supervisor evaluation to receive credit. 
• If travel bans continue into the summer, first year students can choose to fulfill their internship (remotely or in-person) in the upcoming academic year, or complete an additional professional development module, as part of the required Professional Development course.
• All OCS summer grant programs have been postponed until further notice.
• Advisement will now take place over Zoom or by phone, and appointments have been added beyond the 9am-5pm workday to better accommodate students in different time zones. Additional programming is forthcoming, and will be held virtually.
• Employers have been contacted, and OCS is actively collecting remote internship and full-time employment opportunities to share with students and alumni. 

We commend you for your resilience and adaptability as we face the uncertainty of COVID-19. As partners, we will navigate this new terrain as a unified community.

Best,
Meg Heenehan, Executive Director

This Week's Career Events

10 Tips for Your Search During a Pandemic

We are living in unprecedented times. You may be tired of hearing that by now, but it's true - and this is not going to be a "normal" job/internship search. While many employers have reported that they are continuing with recruitment, you may notice that the hiring process takes longer than expected or your first day(s) of training is held remotely. Here, we've compiled a list of 10 tips for your search during the COVID-19 pandemic that are actionable this month:

1. Optimize your LinkedIn headline and summary section. There's no better time than now to rethink your online presence. Start here and then join OCS adviser Jodi Caplan on March 31 at 1pm for a Leveraging LinkedIn webinar.

2. Continue to schedule [virtual/phone] informational interviews. Why stop now? Chances are, the folks you want to connect with are also at home looking for somebody to talk to.

3. Practice phone and video interview techniques with Big Interview. The good news about spending your days on Zoom is that it's great practice for the inevitable virtual interview! Many screening interviews are already happening virtually, especially in finance and banking. You can practice by creating a personal account with your Columbia UNI at https://sipa-columbia.biginterview.com/. Access the Learning and Practice sections, set up both general and industry-specific interview questions, and record and review your responses. 

4. Sign up for free trial month of LinkedIn Premium and use Learning to upskill. Have you noticed that video icon in the upper right-hand corner of your LinkedIn homepage? No? It's time to get acquainted. Set yourself a weekly goal (LinkedIn will help remind you!) and browse hundreds of videos spanning topics like personal branding to fighting gender bias at work to data analytics and beyond.

5. Do online courses via Udemy, Coursera, Codeacademy, etc. Some of you may find that you have some extra time in your week, now that commutes have been eliminated from our routines. Perhaps reallocate that time towards learning hard skills like Python, SQL, R, HTML & CSS - it'd sure look great on a resume!

6. Join LinkedIn theme-based groups. You probably already know about the SIPA Alumni and Student Network, but have you thought to search your undergraduate university or other affiliate groups? Your professional network is larger than you think it is.

7. Follow us on social media. This is not a shameless plug for followers. We will be posting daily job search strategies, important updates, and wellness tips across Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

8. Add the words "remote" and "interim" to your search. OCS is actively collecting remote opportunities from employers and uploading them into SIPAlink. Set up a saved search in SIPAlink so you don't miss out (student.sipalink.com > Jobs + Internships > More Filters > Position Type > Remote/Virtual > Apply Filters > Save My Filter) and while you're at it, check out this list of remote-only job boards.

9. Be prepared for postponed interviews and rescinded offers. This one isn't pleasant to think about, but we should brace ourselves for the possibility. It's important here to be patient, be flexible, and to find a sympathetic ear (friends, family, trusted advisers, etc.).

10. Meet with an OCS adviser. Advising hours have been extended from 8am ET to 8pm ET (days and hours vary) to accommodate students in all time zones. Make an appointment in SIPAlink, and we'll see you soon on Zoom!

Upcoming Deadlines

March 22 - ConEd | Project Manager (26613039) / Project Specialist (26613034), Energy Policy & Regulatory Affairs

March 23 - ConEd | Director of Queens Regional and Community Affairs (26613042)

March 25 - KPMG | Associate Advisory (26614910)

March 27 - J-PAL | Graduate Policy Intern (26615878)