THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509290036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VALERIE CARINO, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
AT 17, CAROL CARTER was your typical teenager, an irresponsible drifter who liked to dish on the phone and go to the mall. Long-term goals? She had none.
But a painful conversation with her brother helped Carter turn her life around. Now, 16 years later, she shows college students how to become self-starters in her book, ``Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: Career Secrets for College Students.''
The book, published last month, offers tips on everything from choosing a career to landing an interview. But more than that, it's an honest pep talk for students who tend to sit on the sidelines during college, hoping someone else will make those major life decisions for them.
The book aims to force students to take an active role in planning their lives. It also makes students examine their personal attributes and shortcomings. Throughout 241 pages, Carter stresses that students who don't know who they are often end up where they don't want to be.
``Students who don't know what they want to do frequently accept jobs they hate or for which they are unsuited,'' writes Carter, now a vice president and director of student programs for Prentice Hall Publishers. And students who don't assess themselves lack a sense of direction, she says.
That couldn't be more true. I've met many students who don't have a clue about where their lives are going nor what steps they must take to find a career that interests them. Aside from, ``To make a lot of money,'' their goals are usually vague at best.
But Carter gives hope to the lost and misguided (not to say wanting to be rich is misguided!). She devotes a whole chapter to helping students take inventory of their strengths and weaknesses, with Stuart Smalley-esque questions like, ``I developed confidence by (fill in the blank)'' and ``When I am alone the thing that frightens me most is (fill in the blank).''
Cheesy questions, yes, but I understand Carter's point: Knowing who you are can only empower, not hurt, you.
After taking stock of yourself, Carter says it's important to learn as much as you can through the resources available to you. There are tons of them - the career placement office, volunteer work, extracurricular activities and mentors - but often students don't cash in.
At times, the book is annoying in its overpositive tone. Carter is the omnipresent cheerleader who boldly proclaims, ``You are going to get a job in the career of your choice. (Even if you now have no idea of what you want to do.)''
Luckily, she backs that assertion up with concrete how-to's. She shows students how to plan their course load, match their interests with a career and get the most out of working a part-time job, even if it's a job that you hate.
She even shows students how to negotiate for a higher salary once they are hired.
What I found most useful in the book were the chapters on internships and interviewing. Carter provides sample cover letters and resumes, two essential components of application for any job or internship. She even offers examples of good and bad interviews and questions that are most likely to come up. Students will also appreciate the list of summer and winter internships in the back of the book, complete with addresses and phone numbers.
The book also covers developing effective study habits and managing time. Carter suggests writing down a schedule every day and sticking to it.
And her advice about taking notes, ``To take good notes you must go to class,'' is pretty common sense. Even so, I know plenty of students who think they can get by with skipping a class or two. Or three. Or six.
What the book does is motivate students to develop a plan of action. It is convincing because Carter draws upon the real life successes of numerous students.
The book gives countless examples of students, who, with the right attitude, were able to transform their dreams into realities. That's comforting to know when you hear about people with graduate and doctoral degrees not finding jobs.
For example, Francie Berger, a student in Virginia Tech's architecture program, had always dreamed of building Lego models for a living. After interning with a toy designer, Francie approached Lego about creating a model design department in the United States. At that time, Lego had only one model design department in Denmark. Just three months after graduating from architecture school and after several follow-up calls, Francie was offered a job designing large model displays for places like F.A.O. Schwartz in New York City.
Dreams are as accessible for those who are persistent and creative, Carter seems to say. With examples like that, she makes you believe it. MEMO: Valerie Carino is a junior at Old Dominion University.
by CNB