November 4, 2011
Don’t Interview Scared!

Achieve your potential by being prepared!

Presented at the 2011 OCPA Careers in Student Affairs Conference

by Dave Kokandy
Career Specialist, Ashland University

Download the slides from the presentation here!

Download the handout from the presentation here!

Interview Rules
1. Be honest.
2. Be prepared!
3. Be your professional self.

Contents

Career Inventories and Assessments Mentioned

Self-Directed Search: The self-directed search and similar vocational interest inventories are based on the theories of John Holland, who found that people can be grouped into types based on vocational activities they prefer. Your career office probably offers a test based on Holland Codes. This can help you identify what work activities come naturally to you and which are harder. You might identify activities that do not match with your types as weaknesses. You can find more about the Self-Directed Search at its website, http://www.self-directed-search.com/, but don’t pay the $4.95 to take it there. Your college probably has already picked up the tab if you take it through the office.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or Keirsey: These are both purely personality type tests. For more information about the Keirsey test, please see their website at http://www.keirsey.com/ You might find a free and amateur personality test based on Myers-Briggs types available online, but your college career office might have a professional version available.

Combined assessments, such as SIGI3 and FocusCareer2 offer multiple different angles of self-evaluation. For instance, each of those programs can assess your Holland Codes and your personality traits, as well as career-related values. These programs are generally only offered to students of schools who subscribe to their service. Check with your career office.

16PF: Offered by IPAT, this is an expensive and invasive test that might offer great insight into your personality. It is based on sixteen personality factors, rather than the MBTI’s four. Your career office may or may not offer a test like this, but I really loved my detailed results. The answer to my personal weakness question came from this test.

DISC: There are several expensive DISC assessments available online, and your career office probably does not offer a DISC assessment. For more information, or to try to identify your types intuitively, I honestly think the best place I can send you is Wikipedia.

A Word about Resumes (In case I don’t get to this slide during the presentation)

  • Your resume MUST be typographically and grammatically perfect. - Just as interviewers expect that those they are interviewing are at their best, your resume is assumed to be the best work you can do. Go over it with a fine-toothed comb.
  • Should be a data sheet. No paragraphs. - This is mostly for ease of reading.
  • Clean, neat, and easy to read. - Don’t do anything too flashy, fancy, or outlandish with your resume. It should be a professional document.
  • Top 2/3 of the page should have the most important information and details. - If someone has a stack of resumes to get through, that person will generally only get through the top two-thirds. Top-load your best stuff (education, relevant experience).
  • Use your career office, and show your resume to people in the field.

Evaluating Resume Advice

It’s great that your family and friends want to critique your resume, but take the advice of others with a grain of salt. If someone suggests a change to your resume, it is not rude to ask, “Why?” Listen to their answer and ask yourself,

  1. How similar is this person’s experience to mine? (Different careers have different resume conventions. Government resumes are quite different from resumes for business or higher education. Also, resumes of experienced professionals are quite different from those of new graduates.)
  2. Does the reasoning make sense? (Or do they even have a reason beyond, “Because that’s how I always do it?”)

If you like it, take their advice. If not, thank them anyway.

More Resume Rules (from an introduction I give sophomores)

Content Quality

  • Proofread! Remember spell-check doesn’t catch everything.
  • Avoid writing in the first-person. No I, No my.
  • Put in effort: Do not abbreviate. Avoid acronyms. Spell out numbers under ten, don’t abbreviate states.
  • Don’t volunteer some personal information (family, SSN, religion, age, date of birth, weird personal hobbies, etc)
  • Be consistent with punctuation.
  • Avoid wordiness. Be clear and concise.
  • Unpaid experience is still experience!
  • Objective should be clear and well-defined or omitted.
  • Avoid confusion by giving one easy-to-find set of contact information at the top near your name.
  • This is not a life history. Omit irrelevant or old information. (At this point, high school information)

Formatting

  • List items in reverse chronological order.
  • At this point in your life, if you are a traditional student, stick to one page.
  • Bullet points. No paragraphs.
  • Use a simple, readable font. Sans-serif fonts are best.
  • Do not use a Microsoft Office (or other) resume template. They are ubiquitous and difficult to modify.
  • Don’t mix fonts. Don’t go crazy with shading, graphics, or icons. (You may ignore this rule if applying for a job in design.)

Suggestions from, “What should I be reading?”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://www.chronicle.com

Komives, S.R., Woodard, D.B., & associates. (2003). Student services: A handbook for the profession (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Amey, M.J, & Reesor, L.M. (2009). Beginning your journey: A guide for new professionals in student affairs (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: NASPA.

Peters, R.L. (1997). Getting what you came for: The smart student’s guide to earning a master’s or Ph.D (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

You can find resources available through professional organizations. For instance, newsletters, listservs, and RSS feeds may be available for free from a professional organization in your target functional area. You can find of a list of professional associations in various functional associations at http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/studentorgs/graspp/resources.cfm

Mentioned in “Institutional Research”

Common Data Set: If you search Google for “Common Data Set (the school you’re looking for),” you may find information that was reported to the common data set initiative project. I do not believe schools are required to post the common data set, but participating institutions do send it to someone.

College Portraits, the public face of the Voluntary System of Accountability, attempts to provide prospective students with easily comparable information about public colleges and universities.

U-CAN (Universities & Colleges Accountability Network) attempts the same transparency as the VSA, but for private colleges.

Google News can help you search for external news stories about colleges.

Ohio Link links to is a wonderful database of books and scholarly articles held by libraries throughout Ohio, including many journal articles online. Search for articles written by faculty at graduate programs that interest you.

Dressing for the Interview

There are lots of guides online for interview dress. Here is an article from Kent State on interview attire - http://www.kent.edu/career/interviews/dress.cfm

In general, keep it conservative and professional.

The GRE

The official homepage of the GRE is at http://www.ets.org/gre/

The ETS website provides plenty of preparatory information for free in the test prep section. For additional free material, you can visit your academic services or career office.

Presentation Sources

If you are interested in finding out more about information presented, please take a look at some of these sources. I especially recommend taking a listen to Career Tools. They have some excellent information about a variety of important topics from group interviewing (virtually all interviewing in student affairs is group interviewing) to resumes, to meal interviews. Check it out! It’s always in my iTunes.

Auzenne, M., & Horztman, M. (2010). Career tools [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/career-tools

Hamilton, C., & Parker, C. (1997). Communicating for results: A guide for business & the professions (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Kapoor, J.R., Dlabay, L.R., & Hughes, R.J. (2007). Personal finance (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Peters, R.L. (1997). Getting what you came for: The smart student’s guide to earning a master’s or Ph.D (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Reardon, R.C., Lenz, J.G., Sampson, J.P., & Peterson, G.W. (2006). Career development and planning: A comprehensive approach (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Custom Publishing.

12:38pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZOdT4yBUvLHs
(Notes: 5)
  
Filed under: c ca oc 
April 1, 2011
Budget? …What’s That?

Budget: …What’s That?

Presented at the 2011 OAC Greek Leadership Conference, hosted by Otterbein & Capital Universities

by Andi Kelley, Graduate Assistant, Office of Student Involvement & Leadership, University of Mount Union
and Dave Kokandy, Graduate Assistant for Career Development, University of Mount Union

View our presentation!
Budget? …What’s That? [PDF]

Download our Handouts!
Outline [PDF]
Budget Planning Worksheet with Itemized Breakdown [.DOCX]
Budget Planning Worksheet with Budgeted/Actual/Difference [.DOCX]

What is a budget?

  • An organized plan of future revenues and expenses
  •  A FLUID document that should be changed as the facts change
  •  A visual representation of your organizational priorities.

 Why budget?

  • Keep your organization and its members fiscally responsible.
  • Help your organization make decisions on spending and event planning.
  • Forces your goals to be more firm.  Assists in longer-term organizational strategy.
  • Plan for forthcoming revenue and expenses.
  • Preserves historical financial information for future chapter leadership
  • Allows you to evaluate spending and improve future budgeting.
  •  Report financial info to university, national.

 When to budget?

  • Plan your budget in advance!
  • Review your budget throughout the year
  • Adjust/Reallocate your budget accordingly

 Where does the money go?

  • Consider all revenue sources, including dues, fees, national/alumni support, fundraising
  • Expenses include dues, maintenance, rent, security, apparel, philanthropy, events

 How to budget?

  • Do your research!
  • Be a good fiscal steward!
  • Waste not, want not.
  • Plan dues based on necessary expenses, not from a number out of the sky.

Planning Fundraising/Philanthropy:

How do you raise money with events?

  • Cover charge for events
  • Selling goods, services, or intangibles
  • Seeking free-will donations

Is your fundraiser fiscally sound?

  • If revenue < expenses, you spent more money than you received. You spent a lot of money on the event. You won’t be giving much to your charity. If this was a fundraiser for your chapter, you failed.
  • If net income < expenses, you earned enough to cover your expenses, but spent more than you made. If this was a fundraiser for your chapter, you earned a little money, but if this was a fundraiser for your philanthropy, you should have just written them a check.
  • If net income > expenses, your event was a success.

Types of Costs

  • Fixed costs –Certain items will cost the same no matter how many people participate
  • Incremental costs –Certain costs will increase per each additional attendee
  • Step costs –Certain costs will increase in intervals of increased attendance
  • Overhead –Certain costs cannot be assigned to particular functions, but must still be paid


11:12pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZOdT4y3_muYL
November 6, 2010
Notes from “Electronic GPA Calculator”

Electronic GPA Calculator: Fast and Accurate GPAs

Presented at the 2010 NAFSA Region VI Conference

by Kristen (Leciejewski) Summers, International Admissions Counselor, Kent State University
and Dave Kokandy, Graduate Intern, Kent State University
moderated by David DiMaria, Director, International Student Recruitment, Admissions and Advising, Kent State University

View our presentation:
Electronic GPA Calculator on Prezi

Download the GPA Calculator:
The calculator is available below in Excel 2007 format or in template format. I strongly recommend using the Template format. Saving it as a template ensures that you will never accidentally save a completed form over the blank spreadsheet. Saving the template in the template folder (on Vista, usually  C:\Users<your name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates) will allow you the choice to create a new document based on the template any time you start a new document.

For information on Excel templates, please see Create and use an Excel template.  

The following versions of the calculator have been saved in a format that should be compatible with Excel 97-2003, but has not received the same level of testing in the office.

Download the Handout

Download the Examples:

China-TUC

India-US Transfer

China HS Example

Resources for transcript evaluation:
WES Tools - WES provides free grading scales, country profiles, and additional information to assist credential evaluators in converting rough grades into equivalent US grades.
AACRAO Edge - Edge is a paid, subscription service that provides detailed information on diplomas and degrees, educational ladders, and many other resources.

Excel tutorials and information:
Excel Tutorial - A basic introduction to Microsoft Excel and its functions.
Microsoft’s Office Website - Microsoft provides plenty of free information about Excel and its formulas.
Excel Formulas - This Pearson website explains some advanced Excel functions.
Mr. Excel’s Podcast - This free video podcast details one Excel trick per episode. Archives are available.
Check also your institution’s library for print and electronic materials. OhioLink lists excellent print materials, including many available instantly online.

2:59pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZOdT4y1PJuHZ
Filed under: nafsa international admissions 
October 15, 2010
Notes from “Interviews on the Horizon?”

Interviews on the Horizon? Learn how successful candidates prepare!

Presented at the 2010 OCPA Careers in Student Affairs Conference

by Dave Kokandy

Graduate Assistant, Career Development, and Resident Director
University of Mount Union
Graduate Student, Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel
Kent State University

Download the slides from the presentation here!

Download the handout from the presentation here!

Interview Rules
1. Be honest.
2. Be prepared!
3. Be your professional self.

Career Inventories and Assessments Mentioned

Self-Directed Search: The self-directed search is based on the theories of John Holland, which posits that people can be grouped into types based on vocational activities they prefer. Your career office probably offers a test based on Holland Codes. This can help you identify what work activities come naturally to you and which are harder. You might identify activities that do not match with your types as weaknesses. You can find more about the Self-Directed Search at its website, http://www.self-directed-search.com/, but don’t pay the $4.95 to take it there. Your college probably has already picked up the tab if you take it through the office.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or Keirsey: These are both purely personality type tests. For more information about the Keirsey test, please see their website at http://www.keirsey.com/ You might find a free and amateur personality test based on Myers-Briggs types available online, but your college career office might have a professional version available.

16PF: Offered by IPAT, this is an expensive and invasive test that might offer great insight into your personality. It is based on sixteen personality factors, rather than the MBTI’s four. Your career office may or may not offer a test like this, but I really loved my detailed results. The answer to my personal weakness question came from this test.

DISC: There are several expensive DISC assessments available online, and your career office probably does not offer a DISC assessment. For more information, or to try to identify your types intuitively, I honestly think the best place I can send you is Wikipedia.

A Word about Resumes (In case I don’t get to this slide during the presentation)

  • Your resume MUST be typographically and grammatically perfect. - Just as interviewers expect that those they are interviewing are at their best, your resume is assumed to be the best work you can do. Go over it with a fine-toothed comb.
  • Should be a data sheet. No paragraphs. - This is mostly for ease of reading.
  • Clean, neat, and easy to read. - Don’t do anything too flashy, fancy, or outlandish with your resume. It should be a professional document.
  • Top 2/3 of the page should have the most important information and details. - If someone has a stack of resumes to get through, that person will generally only get through the top two-thirds. Top-load your best stuff (education, relevant experience).
  • Use your career office, and show your resume to people in the field.

Evaluating Resume Advice

It’s great that your family and friends want to critique your resume, but take the advice of others with a grain of salt. If someone suggests a change to your resume, it is not rude to ask, “Why?” Listen to their answer and ask yourself,

  1. How similar is this person’s experience to mine? (Different careers have different resume conventions. Government resumes are quite different from resumes for business or higher education. Also, resumes of experienced professionals are quite different from those of new graduates.)
  2. Does the reasoning make sense? (Or do they even have a reason beyond, “Because that’s how I always do it?”)

If you like it, take their advice. If not, thank them anyway.

More Resume Rules (from an introduction I give sophomores)

Content Quality

  • Proofread! Remember spell-check doesn’t catch everything.
  • Avoid writing in the first-person. No I, No my.
  • Put in effort: Do not abbreviate. Avoid acronyms. Spell out numbers under ten, don’t abbreviate states.
  • Don’t volunteer some personal information (family, SSN, religion, age, date of birth, weird personal hobbies, etc)
  • Be consistent with punctuation.
  • Avoid wordiness. Be clear and concise.
  • Unpaid experience is still experience!
  • Objective should be clear and well-defined or omitted.
  • Avoid confusion by giving one easy-to-find set of contact information at the top near your name.
  • This is not a life history. Omit irrelevant or old information. (At this point, high school information)

Formatting

  • List items in reverse chronological order.
  • At this point in your life, if you are a traditional student, stick to one page.
  • Bullet points. No paragraphs.
  • Use a simple, readable font. Sans-serif fonts are best.
  • Do not use a Microsoft Office resume template. They are ubiquitous and difficult to modify.
  • Don’t mix fonts. Don’t go crazy with shading, graphics, or icons. (You may ignore this rule if applying for a job in design.)

Suggestions from, “What should I be reading?”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://www.chronicle.com
-An RSS feed of the Chronicle’s daily news items is available at http://feeds.chronicle.com/chronicle/news
-For more information about RSS feeds, please visit Google Reader, which is also a great feed reader.

Komives, S.R., Woodard, D.B., & associates. (2003). Student services: A handbook for the profession (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Amey, M.J, & Reesor, L.M. (2009). Beginning your journey: A guide for new professionals in student affairs (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: NASPA.

Peters, R.L. (1997). Getting what you came for: The smart student’s guide to earning a master’s or Ph.D (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

You can find resources available through professional organizations. For instance, newsletters, listservs, and RSS feeds may be available for free from a professional organization in your target functional area. You can find of a list of professional associations in various functional associations at http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/studentorgs/graspp/resources.cfm

Mentioned in “Institutional Research”

Common Data Set: If you search Google for “Common Data Set (the school you’re looking for),” you may find information that was reported to the common data set initiative project. I do not believe schools are required to post the common data set, but participating institutions do send it to someone.

College Portraits, the public face of the Voluntary System of Accountability, attempts to provide prospective students with easily comparable information about public colleges and universities.

U-CAN (Universities & Colleges Accountability Network) attempts the same transparency as the VSA, but for private colleges.

Google News can help you search for external news stories about colleges.

Ohio Link links to is a wonderful database of books and scholarly articles held by libraries throughout Ohio, including many journal articles online. Search for articles written by faculty at graduate programs that interest you.

Dressing for the Interview

There are lots of guides online for interview dress. Here is an article from Kent State on interview attire - http://www.kent.edu/career/interviews/dress.cfm

In general, keep it conservative and professional.

The GRE

The official homepage of the GRE is at http://www.ets.org/gre/

The ETS website provides plenty of preparatory information for free in the test prep section. For additional free material, you can visit your academic services or career office.

Presentation Sources

If you are interested in finding out more about information presented, please take a look at some of these sources. I especially recommend taking a listen to Career Tools. They have some excellent information about a variety of important topics from group interviewing (virtually all interviewing in student affairs is group interviewing) to resumes, to meal interviews. Check it out! It’s always in my iTunes.

Auzenne, M., & Horztman, M. (2010). Career tools [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/career-tools

Hamilton, C., & Parker, C. (1997). Communicating for results: A guide for business & the professions (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Kapoor, J.R., Dlabay, L.R., & Hughes, R.J. (2007). Personal finance (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Peters, R.L. (1997). Getting what you came for: The smart student’s guide to earning a master’s or Ph.D (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Reardon, R.C., Lenz, J.G., Sampson, J.P., & Peterson, G.W. (2006). Career development and planning: A comprehensive approach (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Custom Publishing.

11:44pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZOdT4y1E_VsX
Filed under: career development ocpa careers in student affairs 
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