Job Searching After College

Are you graduating soon?  Congratulations!  This is a great moment in your life, but job searching can be more scary than entering college.  Check out these great job searching tips for college graduates. It is never too early to start.  These can also help you grab a great internship.  Check out US News and World Report for more information.

1. Don't wait to start job searching. You might be tempted to take a few months off after graduating to relax, but you might not realize how long job searches take. Hiring processes often take months, and getting a job in this market—especially without much experience—may really take a long time. Start actively searching now, since even with a May start, you might not find a job until the fall or later.

2. Include all of your work experience on your résumé. New grads sometimes exclude certain types of work from their résumé, like fast food or retail, figuring that it won't be relevant to the types of jobs they're targeting now. But especially if you don't have much other work experience to show, these sorts of jobs can be key in demonstrating that you know how to deal with customers, show up reliably and that you have a track record of handling paid employment like an adult. Don't shy away from including them.

3. Don't listen to every piece of job-search advice you hear. If your parents or friends are your main source of job-hunt guidance, you might be at a disadvantage. Job-search conventions have changed significantly in the last decade, so your parents might not know what's most effective in the process today. And your friends probably don't have much more experience than you do, so take their suggestions with some skepticism. Seek out more current and reliable sources of advice instead.

4. Don't apply for everything you see. Anxious job seekers sometimes blast off their résumé to every opening they spot, hoping that something will garner them a call-back. But carefully targeting your search to jobs you're truly qualified for—and writing a tailored cover letter for each—will get you far better results than simply aiming for quantity. That said…

5. Broaden your horizons. While you shouldn't apply for everything you see, you also shouldn't be narrow and only willing to consider a very specific role in a very specific field. The reality is, in today's job market you might not have the luxury of being picky about the specific roles you'll take. Open yourself up to a broader range of possibilities, and you might find it easier to find work (and might also discover that you like some of the alternatives that you hadn't originally considered!).

6. Don't think you can't intern just because you're no longer a student. If you're having trouble finding a full-time job—and if you're like a lot of new grads, you might be—don't assume that internships are no longer a possibility. Many internships are open to non-students, and they can be a good way to get experience and give you something to put on your résumé while you continue to search for something full-time. Volunteering can play a similarly useful role as well.

7. Use your network. You might feel pushy reaching out to co-workers at past internships, your parents' friends and other people you know, but it's very normal to do that as part of a job search. At a minimum, make sure that you've alerted your managers from past jobs to the fact that you're now looking—that's a basic and crucial step that far too many new grads overlook.

8. Practice interviewing. You might have been able to get away with occasionally skipping a reading for a class, but job interviews don't work that way: Interviewers will be able to tell whether you prepared or not, and winging it—especially when you don't have much experience interviewing—virtually guarantees that you'll crash and burn. If you prepare ahead of time and practice your answers to likely interview questions, you'll do far better in interviews and dramatically increase your chances of getting an offer.

9. Make sure that your email address, outgoing voice mail message and online presence all portray you as a professional, mature adult, not a partying college student. Employers will form opinions about you based on these things, and the more mature and polished you appear, the better your chances.

10. Don't panic. Your job search might take time, possibly a lot of time. That's pretty common these days. But it doesn't mean that you'll be unemployed forever or living with your parents when you're 45. You will find a job eventually!

Frozen Fruit Recipe

Wake up. Shower. Get dressed. Get moving! If your mornings are a hectic blur of hustling to get out the door then we've got something for you. Shave some minutes off your morning routine with "Recipe: Frozen Single-Serve Oatmeal with Almonds & Dried Cherries" to make your food grab-and-go!

Frozen Single-Serve Oatmeal with Almonds & Dried Cherries

Makes about twelve 1/3-cup pucks (4 to 6 servings)

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 1/2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon salt
Honey, brown sugar, agave or other sweetener, to taste (optional)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup almonds, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Lightly grease a standard muffin pan and set aside. (No need to grease if you are using a nonstick pan.)

Combine the oats, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and ready to eat, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in sweetener of choice, if using. Divide the oatmeal evenly into the cups of the muffin pan. Top with the cherries, almonds and pumpkin seeds, pressing lightly to make sure they are embedded in the oatmeal.

Place the muffin pan in the freezer until oatmeal is fully frozen, at least 3 hours. Remove and allow to thaw slightly, until the oatmeal can be popped out of the pan with an offset spatula or a thin butter knife. (You can dip the bottom of the pan in warm water to speed the process.) Wrap the oatmeal in freezer-safe packaging and freeze.

To eat, remove the desired number of pucks and warm in a bowl in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.

Recipe Notes

• Steel cut oats can be used in place of rolled oats. Adjust the amount of water and cooking time according to package directions.
• Any combination of nuts, dried fruit or seeds can be used on top of the oatmeal.

(Images: Anjali Prasertong)

Make and Freeze Meals

Sometimes there's just no extra time to cook up a complicated meal, so having ones already prepared to eat can be incredibly convenient in a pinch. Check out "​5 Great Meals to Make Ahead and Freeze" to make sure that you'll always have something to chow down on even if you're in a time pinch.

Soups

While I grew up eating canned soup, that’s not been the case for my kids. The canned variety is generally oversalted, oversweetened, and overpriced. Since it’s so easy to make my own, there’s really no reason not to.

I regularly prepare our favorite soups, sometimes two or three varieties at a time, and freeze them in family- and individually-sized portions. It’s super easy to grab a few different pints of soup from the freezer for a quick lunch or supper. They pack well to work as well to reheat in the microwave.

Soups are great to pack on vacation, send to college with your child, or fill the freezer of a new mom or aging parent. Soup is good food. Particularly if you make it ahead of time and stash it in the freezer.

Favorite recipes:

• Cheddar Cheese Soup with Zucchini, Broccoli, and Carrots
• Jalapeño Chili
• Roasted Vegetable Soup with Fresh Oregano

Casseroles

Casseroles are an ultimate comfort food. It speaks my husband’s love language to pull a pan of enchiladas out of the oven. For my kids, it’s my famous Chicken Pot Pie or Lawnmower Taco. It’s even easier to treat their tastebuds when I’ve made a bulk batch of these and stashed them in the deep freeze.

Consider your favorite lasagna, enchilada, quiche, egg bake, or other casserole. Next time you prep it, make two (or more) and freeze the extras. It really doesn't take that much more time, but you'll reap the rewards later.

Favorite recipes:

• Chicken Pot Pie
• Cheese Enchiladas
• Lawnmower Taco

Marinated or Cooked Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is one of the most economical proteins here on the West Coast where it’s regularly less than $2/pound. I snatch up big flats of chicken and do one of two things: I package trimmed breast fillets with marinade in a ziptop freezer bag, or I cook it up by poaching or grilling and then I freeze the cooked results.

The fruit of my labor is an easy, ready-to go protein. I can thaw the marinated chicken in the fridge overnight and have it ready to throw on the grill at dinnertime. I can thaw the cooked chicken and toss it into salads, stir it into soups, or tuck it into sandwiches.

Favorite recipes:

• Salsa Verde Chicken
• Dijon Chicken
• Pulled Chicken

Taco and Burrito Fillings

We’ve always been big taco and burrito fans, so it makes sense to keep the fillings on hand for quick and easy suppers. By cooking up bulk batches of seasoned taco meat, pinto beans, or carnitas, I’ve got the makings of many a great dinner. Since these items are already cooked, I can quickly thaw and reheat, lay out tortillas, taco shells, chips, rice or even fried potatoes, and an array of toppings, and dinner is served before I can make a run for the border.

Favorite recipes:

• Salsa Verde Beef
• Seasoned Taco Meat
• Slowcooker Carnitas

Apple Pie

Apple pie is a meal, right? Well, at our house it is, at least on the first day of school when I serve apple pie for breakfast. While it may not be your typical "meal," it sure is nice to have a stash of pies in the freezer.

Every fall, I prep as many pies as I can and store them in our big freezer. This allows me to surprise my family with a fresh-baked pie on cold fall evenings. It takes the load off my Thanksgiving Day prep work since I only need to slide them into the oven on Wednesday night. And it brings a comfort and a touch of sweetness to savor the flavors of fall throughout the cold winter months.

Favorite recipes:

• Slab Apple Pie
• Nanna’s Apple Pie

When I’ve got my freezer stocked with these five of my favorite things, all’s right with the world. I can surprise my family with their favorite foods. I can pull a quick dinner off in less time than it would take me to find my car keys and latch some car seats. I can rest a little easier, knowing that if other plans don’t go my way, at least dinner will.

Check out Jessica's book on freezer meals

→ Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook

Visit Jessica's family cooking blog:

→ Good Cheap Eats

(Images: Jessica Fisher)

Original Article Here: http://www.thekitchn.com/5-great-meals-to-make-ahead-and-freeze-193994

5 Things You Do Not Need to Move Back to College

Moving back to college can be fun and  an exciting time.  However, saving money is also crucial on a college budget lifestyle.  Check out these five items that you really do not need to go back to school.  You can get away without them or find cheaper alternatives. Keep reading or check out College Hack for more information.

1: Anything From The School Bookstore
C’mon; are you a Freshman? The School bookstore is convenient, neat, and nice, and you’re paying a premium for all those services. Go on the internet; buy your textbook, rent your textbook, borrow your textbook from your friend; whatever you do, don’t buy it whole-priced, wrapped in plastic, from a smiling clerk who thinks you’re a Freshman now. Move ahead and buy from different sources when you can.
2: Highlighters.
When have you ever used highlighters? They look pretty and represent productivity. Wonderful. Underline your books with good old fashioned pencil and save your eyes the trouble of checking around the bright yellow sentences jumping out of your book. And don’t get me started on the variety packs of highlighters, full of new colors to color code your book as though that’s the thing that can write your essay. If you’re productive enough to want to color code your book you’re set: you’re productive enough not to need to. If, on the other hand, you, like me, would never do that sort of thing, don’t buy the highlighters because you won’t. Get it?
3: A Fancy Backpack
A backpack is made to carry your books. You don’t need it to be strong, you don’t need bonus pockets or camouflage or a holder for your water bottle. The entire backpack holds things: why do you need a bottle-holder? A backpack is simple: it’s something that isn’t a paper bag that can hond your books, packing them, if you will, on your back. That’s it. Nothing complex that can handle camping or whatever. Nothing huge to handle all the books you’re taking- you shouldn’t be taking more than two classes of books at a time, even, just for your back. Leave the fancy backpacks for the fancier students. Get one that works and move on.
4: Anything New in Bulk
If you want to get back to school, and you’re determined to try something, don’t get it in bulk. That includes protein powder, those colored post-its, or a whole set of assignment notebooks; whatever it is, no matter how much you want it, start smaller. Nothing’s more embarrassing than leaving forty bucks of school supply untouched when you’re September ambitions fade.
5: Anything New, Period.
Okay, maybe I’m biased, but don’t get anything new.
If you haven’t used it before, you’re not going to use it now. Sorry. Those binders, that orginization you say you’re always going to do? Not happening. And that’s okay. If you’ve survived this long without it, you’ll keep on surviving. Old dogs don’t learn new tricks, so if you find yourself looking at an impulse buy that’ll change the way you study, ask yourself: do you think you’re going to change anything? If not, then be honest, and save yourself twenty bucks. Otherwise you’ll do things just like you always have, only now you have a few shiny new binders under your bed.

Moving Tips

 

1. Proper planning prevents problems. Be prepared with your vehicles (unless they are bringing them and that's why they got stuck helping you move!), boxes, tape, packing materials, blankets for car protection and maps to help them find your new home. The greatest goal when having friends take time out of their day to help you move is to make it easy on them, and show your gratitude as best as possible. Preparation helps this process.

2. Food! Have some fun snacks or meals on hand, depending on the duration of the move for your friends. Take into consideration what they like and will appreciate. (ie Don't buy pepperoni pizza for your vegan friends, etc.) Have beer for your drinking friends during the move, but be careful not to drink too much! Also, have plenty of water and cold, icy drinks for super hot days.

3. Don't expect them to be there all day. Some of your friends may be able to help you for just a little while and then will have to or even want to go about their day. Try to schedule friend-helping time to move large pieces of furniture that you won't be able to move without help.

4. Do a clean sweep before the move. You might not need a lot of those books you've been holding onto, and they are definitely heavy. It will help you and your friends in the long run if you donate some of the items you won't necessarily be using in your new home.

5. Let them know what to do during the actual move. No one wants to rifle through your things or assume which pieces go where. Help your friends know how to help you by giving them specific tasks to keep them busy and the move, well, moving!

6. Give them a token of your appreciation. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to buy them a gift—just return the favor. Take them to the airport a few times, or offer a babysitting date night, or organize a lovely dinner party at your new home when it's all set up! Remember your friends' acts of generosity and let them know you appreciate them.

It is almost that time of year.  You need to ask your friends and family to help you move into your new apartment for school.  Friends and family are always willing to help, but here are some tips on how to make the experience a bit more enjoyable for them.  You can find more great apartment tips on apartment therapy .

Organize Your Life with These Tips

Do you feel like your life is unorganized sometimes?  These tips can help you organize your life and be more productive in your every day tasks.  You can learn more at the ZenBlog.

1. 3 Most Important Tasks. Writing down and making mental note of my top 3 tasks to get done for the day. Everything else seems to fall into place if I do that.
2. An easy and workable task list, or to do list. While I love all of these handy web 2.0 apps, computer software, very neat gadgets like palms and really cool cell phones, they just don’t work for me. I’m a lazy woman, with an even lazier attitude. I might put a task in Remember the Milk, another task in my palm, one in my Gcal and send another text to my phone. With all of these different ways of doing things, I end up spending much more time trying to organize my to do list, or consolidate it, that I don’t get much actually done.
3. Keep ubiquitous capture device. It might not be the same device for every location (I have a moleskine for work, but use my mobile for inspiration on the fly) but just being able to write stuff down when you think about it is key for me.
4. Choose one tool and stick with it.
5. Do one thing at a time.
6. Do it now.
7. Make use of the word no.
8. Use the recycling bin/trash basket. Organizing unnecessary items is wasted energy. It is amazing how much more in control I feel just by ridding myself of now outdated articles I’d like to read “someday,” or countless meeting notes from which relevant action items have already been extracted.
9. A (good) place for everything, and everything in its place. By finding places that are easy to get to for all the things I use most often, and places that are pretty easy to get to for the things I use less often, I spend less time dreading doing things and more time actually doing things. And the place for things you never use is elsewhere (trash can, place that accepts donations, etc.).
10. Simplify, simplify, simplify!
11. Put it away now. The single, simplest thing I do to stay personally organized is to put whatever tool, item, clothing, bag, hairbrush etc., away immediately after using it. I always know where everything and anything is so I never waste time looking for something. Very efficient. I could tell a stranger where to find anything in my home.
12. Keep a to-do list that syncs with your mobile phone (so you can add stuff as and when you remember it). And make sure every item has a due date.
13. Change. It obsoletes unimportant things. It brings down any method or idea that isn’t timeless. It brings up newer and more important things that you and others can’t resist anymore. Best of all: it’s an organizing tool that operates itself. You simply have to embrace it.
14. Divide material into red, yellow, blue and green plastic file folders. For example, anything that has to be done today (paperwork to be given to a client, bills to be mailed) go in the red folder. Contact material or anything related to customer field support goes in the yellow folder. Your mileage may vary as to how you organize your briefcase, and like me you may also have project-specific manilla file folders as well, but dividing stuff up into just four color coded folders is a huge help.
15. Flylady.net. She helped me realize that I needed to apply GTD principles to my home life and not just work. I had work under control using checklists, projects and next actions. I tried the same system at home and failed. Then about a month ago I discovered flylady.net courtesy I believe one of your blog posts. Wow, what a difference. My house is clean and so is my desk at work. Many if not most of her basic ideas are just like GTD in a slightly different perspective (control journal, baby steps) and also concrete methods for accomplishing next actions (2 minute hot spots, 15 minute timers). Her most useful tip was to put my daily/weekly lists into shiny page protectors in my control journal. I use a dry erase marker and voila no more killing trees or not doing my list because I can’t print it (or want to avoid the hassle). The best thing about this, I am more relaxed, my blood pressure is finally dropping and I feel less stressed.
16. Unapologetically take control of your time and priorities.
17. Sort at the source. My favorite organizational tool is my post office box. I visit it once a week (usually Saturday), stand at the counter in the lobby and sort my mail. I use the P.O.’s trash bin. What comes into my house is only what I need to have. Bills and letters and checks go into my inbox (which by the way is a box with a lid that is wrapped in lovely fabric and has a yellow bow on it so it looks like a present sitting on my desk). Reading material goes on the table by my chaise lounge which is where I do all my reading.
18. A sheet of paper, a calendar and a white board. I’ve found that the easiest way to organize myself, my days and so forth is a good paper calendar, a sheet of paper that I divide into four sections and a medium sized white board. For my paper the top left section is my actual running to do list for today. The top right section is my running grocery list, or list of things I must purchase. The bottom left is for notes such as calls I made, who I spoke to, appointment dates. The bottom right is whatever I need to move to another day. If I’m told to call back on Monday, then I note that on the calendar. As for the white board, the kids can make notes (Can I spend the night at Brian’s on Friday? Grandma called), and I can jot down things as I think of them to be added to tomorrow’s to do list. My calendar, and the white board are in the same location, so I can transfer short notes if need be. I carry my paper task list with me everywhere, so I can make notes at any given moment.
19. Color coding. I’m a visual person, and I find that color-coding my various lists and calendars minimizes the time I have to spend looking at them. This worked especially well when I was in school: I dumped every class syllabus into Outlook, and then color-coded every class period (blue for paper due, yellow for quiz, red for test, etc). It took awhile to set up, sure, but then for the rest of the semester I only had to glance at Outlook to get a very clear idea of what kind of week I was going to have.
20. One binder. I use a binder cleverly labeled “@ 2007″ with the following divisions:
    • @ Today – With my Emergent Task Planner from davidseah.com;
    • @ Week – The remaining days of the week ETP’s as a skeleton;
    • @ Year – All my historical sheets;
    • @ Diet – Which tracks what I have eaten for the day;
    • @ Fitness – Which tracks my workout routine for the day. My binder is with me all the time and it has helped me become a better employee, family member and relationship guy.
21. Write down, execute and tidy up on the way. These are is my organization bible. I’ve been living that way since more than two years and I can say that I’m an organized person.
22. A little whiteboard on my bedroom wall. I have it separated into two sections, a “todo” and a “today”. “Todo” is a list of general things I have to do, like get my car inspected, buy someone a present, etc. Then “today” is what I need to do, obviously, today! Things can be moved back and forth as appropriate. I find having a specific list for today helps push me to get the important things done in a timely manner. I also keep two things permanently on the “today” part, which are meditation and exercise. This seems to help.
23. Note cards. One can write tasks on them — one per card, or in a list (depending on the type of task in question; I do both). When doing one per card, the stack serves as an easy prioritization scheme. But wait, there’s more: They can be arranged on cork boards, shared, annotated, torn up and rearranged. They can be used as placeholders, as mini-white boards and as tokens to model ideas. They are easy to carry around, and to attach to other documents. Further, different colors allow for a visual representation of different kinds of todo’s (as can different annotations). Finally, they are cheap and most importantly of all: easy (much easier than software) to reconfigure as needs and projects change.
24. Never rely on a single point of failure. I’ve seen people pay $1,000 to hear speakers at a conference and only have one pen to take notes. It’s a great feeling when one thing breaks, gets lost, or runs out of power, and you have another one in reserve!
25. Have.. less.. stuff.
26. Delegate. Learn to trust people with critical tasks in all areas of your life. When you learn to effectively delegate tasks you actually find that it is easier to keep the stuff you cannot delegate better organized.
27. You control your life. Whatever electronics or paper you use, make them work for YOU not the other way around. Does Outlook really have to stay checking your email every 5 minutes? Maybe, but I bet you’ll get a whole lot more done if you check it a few times per day. That goes for the Blackberry too! After all, there are so many tools, and one to fit everyone – so use what works, but make it work for you!

A Creative Way to Remember Your Wifi Password

Do you have a really complicated wifi password? Check out this great idea to always have your wifi password handy?  You can learn more at apartment therapy.

Eve-Marie of Tixeretne came up with the brilliant idea of converting her wi-fi neywork password into a custom QR code, then framing it for display in a guest room. Guests can use a QR code reader on their smartphone or tablet to read the code and get the password in an easy copy-and-paste format.
Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Eve-Marie writes:

Now when we have people over, they don’t actually have to awkwardly talk to us to get the wi-fi password. They just scan it with their device and viola: internet access. You see, we have eliminated the last shred of one-on-one social interactions. Now we can all spend our time together ignoring each other and playing with out phones! Bliss.

Yes, in many cases it's easier to just quickly tell the guests your wi-fi password when they first ask, iPad-in-hand. But with a super-secure and hard-to-remember password, it's convenient to have the QR code displayed in the guests' room to call up at a moments notice, especially if the host is away.



Generate the CodeCreating a QR code is way easier than it looks, thanks to fool-proof QR Code generator websites. Check out The Super Simple Way to Make Your Own QR Code. Eve-Marie used a site called QRStuff.com, which lets you link your QR graphic to plain text instead of a link.

Print it OutThere's no wrong way to do this, really. Once you have a QR graphic, test it out to make sure it works, then drop it into a graphics editor like Photoshop or Paint (or even just a Word document) to size it up and print it out. Eve-Marie's made it foolproof, including a wi-fi graphic and detailed instructions on her site.