How to get an Obama staff job

In this Andie Coller piece in Politico, it's refreshing to see the blend of tongue-in-cheek bribery suggestions with good, basic, what makes sense to get hired advice. Jim Messina is the director of personnel for the Obama transition team and he says,

“I believe that politics is truly a merit-based world,” he told High Country News magazine in August. “If you work hard and you’re honest — and you keep winning — you’ll get to rise. [In my early political jobs,] I was the kid who was the first in the office and the last to leave. And it’s still kind of true. ... I’ve been chief of staff to three famous members of Congress and I work for a fourth, and when [each] hired me, I don’t think any of them even asked me where I went to school — they just asked me what I had done, and I love that.”

That doesn't help us for admissions, but it does help with regards to what we tell students to get out of their experiences: EXPERIENCE! A light-weight internship at a big name won't cut it here. Name-dropping and enthusiasm won't cut it, but a record of results will.

Photo by Quinn Dombrowsky

Economy Chills Hiring Prospects for College Graduates, Report Says

Economic news is dismal these days, and college graduates' job prospects are no exception, according to a report scheduled to be released today by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.

The university plans to make its report, "2008-2009 Recruiting Trends," available on the Collegiate Employment Research Institute's Web site.

Hiring for graduates at all degree levels will decrease by 8 percent over last year, says the annual report, which is based on employers' projections.

In this tight market, the best advice for students is to line up a job now—if not sooner, said Philip D. Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute. Many employers, contending with economic uncertainty, are looking to complete their hiring as soon as possible, he said.

Henry Jenkins, Prominent New-Media Scholar, to Leave MIT for U. of Southern California

Henry Jenkins III, co-director of the comparative-media-studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has turned himself into something of an online celebrity by studying online celebrities, and now he’s headed to Hollywood. Today Mr. Jenkins announced on his popular blog that he plans to leave MIT after this academic year to take a position at the University of Southern California.

U.S. recession will last 14 months: Fed survey

Reuters reports that Philadelphia's Federal Reserve Bank's quarterly Survey of Professional Forecasters "also predicted non-farm payrolls would shrink by an average 222,400 per month during the last quarter of the year, nearly five times the pace of monthly job losses forecast when the previous survey was taken in August."

Photo by Alan Turkus

We could do better: From Co-Worker to Boss

Here's a little piece by Fred Whelan and Gladys Stone on what to do when your colleague becomes your supervisor. It's just 5 quick points, a no brainer for us, but it got me thinking: maybe WE should be doing more writing like this! We're getting lots of media requests, if you have an idea, maybe we could work with Media Relations and issue press releases . . . just a thought.

The points?

1. Offer support
2. Don't be two-faced
3. Take orders with a positive attitude
4. Be patient
5. Keep your friendship

Their new blog on The Huffington Post "is a new regular feature focusing on career issues."

Photo by Bart Everson

Citigroup job losses 75,000 since October

A cut of 53,000 was just announced in this AP story and is on the Citigroup website. Last month, they announced the elimination of 22,000 jobs, taking their workforce down 20% since 2007.

Yet they still have 100 positions posted for new graduates here.