The networking event at school went well, at least I felt that way. Some students felt jiped and underwhelmed. You can feel disappointed as a participating student, but there is no reason to be dramatic and unprofessional about it. I saw a lot of unprofessional response to the event from students, after and during. Frankly, you can't force companies to attend and when your work schedule has no room for an event like the career fair that's okay.
I can't say I don't understand it, but to say I agree with my fellow students would be untrue. What you put into a career fair is what you get out of it, and all the rest is up to fate. You might find this article of some interest, taken from CCAD's new feed. CCAD 2011 Career Fair. It should also be mentioned that if you treat people with respect (friends, mentors, and especially teachers) that when it comes time for people to ask for references about you, you'll probably get some great ones. That said...Giving the teacher a bird in class, probably won't help your chances, ever. True story, watched it happen. EDIT: Apparently I have an in another article in the CCAD News Feed...this was for the Honors Program. CCAD Honors: It's About How You Think I suppose it's cliché to say I enjoy meeting new people, but you can't help the truth some days. Maybe if I phrased it another way? Observing and studying people is too academic—and a little bit stalker. Merely saying hello is too vague.
How about...no..that might be too strange—but just maybe... My mother talks to squirrels. I talk to people, lets chat. My mother talks to squirrels. This non sequitur ending to my portfolio stemmed from a Copywriting exercise in George Felton's advanced copy class. We were to write two pick-up lines. Having never been someone to use pick-up line, or having been someone they are used on I was really at a loss. What do you say in a pick-up line? Something cute? Passionate? Intelligent? I'm not certain, but I can't imagine what I wrote was any of those things. So I went for something that while it was not sexy or inspiring, it certainly got your attention. To my amazement Mr. Felton next class said it was probably one of the few, that while odd, drew his interest and left him wondering what a date would be like with a person who wrote that unique phrase. I imagine it would be fun, witty, and full of interesting conversation. Talking to a Chema can be quite that way. This phrase works as a closing statement for a portfolio, but what do I say to start the conversation? I think I will merely start with Hello and go from there. So I have a newer version of my tax forms. I mainly updated the header and footer. Then a few tweaks here and there to clean it up. I am open to suggestions!
Seniors in the Honors program at CCAD are required to complete a capstone project their last year. Students choose the subject, submit proposals, and delve deep into their projects. Mine? Tax forms. Here is the run down of this project. It's simple. Redesign the U. S. Federal 1040 EZ income tax form. Seigal + Gale's design from the 70's (which has been modified year after year for tax laws) is outdated and hard to use. I want to clean it up, make it visually appealing, and test my concepts. I have three stages:
Stage 1: Research and Sketching What is already being done in this industry, analytical study of the effective and ineffective parts of the 1040 EZ form, and sketching concepts. Stage 2: Design and Mock-ups I have created 25 potential concepts for this project and have narrowed down my design to three for refinement. Stage 3: Testing and Final Solution Testing the effectiveness and clarity of the designs with a group of volunteers and adjusting my design to the results. Currently I am in stage 2 looking at three potential testing designs, from out of 25 comps I created. |