FirstGen Ahead
December, 2019
Founder’s Message

I n the last two newsletters, my Founder’s Message focused on vision and then on strategy. In this third newsletter, operations are highlighted. 

As a pilot initiative, we are led and run by committed volunteers. We are organized into what might be called a "squad" with 10 experienced coaches and 10 first-generation college juniors. Over the 17-month commitment, students receive guidance through one-on-one coaching and participate in an online, eight-part, monthly curriculum. Together, these two types of supports are designed to build networks, understanding, and skills to facilitate a successful transition from college-to-career. 

In the squad, each student is presented with basic descriptions of potential coaches (biosketches written by the coaches) and then chooses the one who they believe will best meet their professional development needs. These student/coach dyads meet one-on-one, either in-person, by phone or video conferencing, for approximately two hours per month. Based on their evolving needs, students are responsible for setting the agenda with their coach. They are also responsible for summarizing each meeting and following up on action items that are generated during those meetings. 

The students participate in monthly, peer-to-peer facilitated dialogue video conferencing sessions with the founder. These sessions are guided by the FirstGen Ahead on-line curriculum. The online curriculum follows a relatively linear path that might or might not pertain to what is primarily being discussed in the one-on-one coaching sessions. The areas of learning through the online curriculum include: assessing self and networks; career exploration; marketing materials (resume, cover letter, online profile, and elevator pitch); internship search; and planning, problem-solving, and self-care. The first half of each online session consists of a dialogue based on student insights from homework assignments; the second half of the session introduces new professional development materials and homework assignments related to those materials. The content of the curriculum can be adjusted based on insights from coaches and other data sources.

Coaches participate in their own orientation and monthly support sessions via video conferencing. These monthly sessions are facilitated by Dr. Lois Benishek, a counseling psychologist (a master coach), and draw on the diverse talents of all the coaches. During the coach-to-coach sessions, information is imparted about the online curriculum and related homework as well as status updates from the coaching experience, including what’s working well and issues that need problem solving. Coaches support each other in sharing resources, ideas, and information that can benefit other students participating in the pilot, such as identifying people in their network who could be a good connection for conducting informational interviews or exploring internship opportunities.

As this is a pilot, we’re systematically tracking data on a monthly basis from both coaches and students. For operational purposes, we also collect periodic survey data. For example, a student survey on the helpfulness of the first three months of supports will be sent after they complete their fall semester final examinations, with results reported in a future issue of the newsletter.

If the pilot is on a successful path, we will expand the number of squads during the summer of 2020.
Susan Gershenfeld, PhD
"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment”
― Oprah Winfrey
The Informational Interview Checklist
By Valeria Duque
Since starting FirstGen Ahead, I have learned a lot about job search and networking. Over these last few months specifically, I have learned how to conduct informational interviews. As of now, I have done a total of four informational interviews, each of them pertaining to either the Human Resources field or the Social Work field, both career areas I am interested in exploring. During these four interviews, I learned a lot about what you should do before, during, and after these informational interviews.

Based on my experience with informational interviews, here are my six pieces of advice:

1. Utilize your coach and others in your network to identify people who you can interview. All of my informational interviews happened through a personal connection where they sent an introductory email.

2.  Immediately follow up after an introductory email with an email expressing appreciation for the opportunity and asking the person to identify a convenient time for a 30-minute phone or face-to-face conversation. Being able to initially connect through e-mail is always a good idea in order to schedule a time that works for you and your interviewer. It’s also important to know that life can get in the way for both people involved, so being able to communicate and reschedule is key.

3. Always prepare 6-8 questions in advance to ask during the interview, recognizing that spontaneous questions are likely to emerge during the interview. 

4. Look for a location that would be well suited for the interview. If the interview is conducted over the phone, then select a location where there’s minimal background noise and the likelihood of few outside interruptions.

5. During the interview, take notes on information that piques your interest. Whether it’s their story, what they did to get where they are at professionally or suggestions they give you that are relevant to your professional growth, it is always good to write it down and compile it all in one document immediately after the interview is completed.

6.  Write a thank you e-mail about what really stood out to you during the interview and promise to follow up on all action items that were discussed. This is always a great thing to do when it comes to keeping the network strong. Send that email within 24 hours!

Informational interviews and being able to master them are a great skill to have if you have questions you want to ask of people in the actual field that you are interested in pursuing. Knowing what to do before, during and after the informational interview maximizes the opportunity to learn as well as to make a positive impression on the person you met. 
Winter Break is a Great Time to Do a
Job Shadow!

Job shadowing is a great way to learn more about a professional’s day-to-day responsibilities. This hands-on experience can help you decide if you can see yourself in a career, and it can also serve as a valuable opportunity to grow your network. But how do you request a job shadow?

If you or your network do not have any contacts in the profession you would like to shadow, send an email to the human resources department with a request. Include in the request a brief statement about yourself (name, college, major, year of study), why you are interested in a job shadow at that organization, and what you hope to gain from the experience.

The job shadow might be for a portion of the day, a full day, or longer, so it’s important to maximize the time together with these tips:

Know the logistical details
To avoid any miscommunication that can reflect badly on you, ask in advance where you’ll shadow and meet your host, what time you should arrive (always arrive 10 minutes early), and what you should wear. Know the itinerary for the day, including when your day will end. Research how long it will take to travel to the job shadow and allow extra time in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Be prepared
Research the company you are visiting and the person or people you’ll be shadowing. Start with the organization’s website and LinkedIn. Take initiative by noting any job-shadowing ideas you have, such as processes you would like to see. Identify questions that emerge from your research and specific objectives you would like to accomplish; it will help you learn more from your experience and also leave a good impression.

Reflect on your own career aspirations
Your host will likely be interested in what brought you to the organization and where you are headed for a career. Reflect on this before you arrive so you can give a short, articulate answer that will leave a positive first impression.

Know your role during the job shadow
Make good impressions while you are learning. The basics for making good impressions are shaking hands with every person you meet, maintaining eye contact, addressing them with their formal titles (unless told otherwise), and thanking people for their time. Be curious by asking questions. Stay positive even if you realize during the job shadow that the career might not be right for you. Take notes of your observations and insights. Asking for business cards with the people you meet will help you when following up with thank you emails that you should send within 24 hours after the job shadow. Finally, turn your smart phone off so you aren’t distracted and continue to make a positive impression.
Tuning Your Resume to
Avoid Rejection

Everyone knows that having an impactful resume is essential as a first step in securing a job interview. Not everyone knows that what happens to a resume once it’s submitted to a potential employer is just as important. Having a clear understanding of this process is particularly relevant when applying to large companies, 90% of which use computerized Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) to initially screen resumes and determine which applicants should be given serious consideration for that position.

These ATS s scan resumes for key words and phrases that are based on the job description. A common standard used is an 80% or higher match between key words in the resume and the job description. This means that you can have a beautifully crafted resume that will be rejected if the content doesn’t match 80% of the words and phrases in the job description. For testing purposes, Jobscan is a free ATS you can use to see how well your resume matches a job description.

In those instances where a resume is reviewed by a person instead of an ATS, the average time for the initial screening is only about 6.2 seconds to determine “fit” and “appeal”. Since you don’t know whether it will be an ATS or person initially reviewing your resume, you need to develop it in a way that it will be evaluated favorably by an ATS and also be appealing to a person.

Here are four pointers to keep in mind when creating your resume:

Be intriguing. Make the person reviewing your resume want to learn more about you. Don’t just play the ATS probabilities game by stuffing your resume with key words since this may undercut your ability to use your resume to tell your unique story.

Maximize the use of your 6.2 seconds . Every bullet point on your resume should clearly map over to the roles and responsibilities listed in the job description, making it easy for the person reviewing your resume to see that you have the specific experiences or transferable skills they’re looking for.

Show them the money.  Write powerful bullet points that focus on accomplishments by including numbers, percentages, and the results associated with what you did.

Be error free . Errors in your resume indicate that you don’t have good attention to detail and can be the reason for rejection. Have a detail-oriented person proof your resume. 
Meet Coach Fern!
For the past 30 years, Fern Slom worked for information technology consultancies helping her clients innovate by harnessing the benefits of leading-edge technologies. Her work cuts across sectors, including financial services, healthcare, digital media, B2B, and technology. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she embraces leadership roles within her Princeton, NJ community and has volunteered in a coach/mentoring role with i.c. stars and SCORE prior to agreeing to serve as a FirstGen Ahead coach. 

“I was a first-generation college student at the University of Pennsylvania and was fortunate to have had assistance with my internship and job search. I remember the gratitude I felt for the valuable support I received, and I would love helping others facing the same challenge,” recalls Fern as to her initial motivation in coaching a UPenn junior through FirstGen Ahead who is majoring in computer information science.

Unlike other FirstGen Ahead students who are exploring potential careers, Fern’s student knows what she wants to do – she just needs help getting from where she is to where she initially needs to go. Fern has been instrumental in opening doors for her student, preparing her for interviews, and helping her evaluate two summer internship offers she has already received. Her approach to coaching is to begin by developing an authentic relationship by building trust and by being an active listener, while setting goals to keep the coaching relationship on track. She prefers an “asking not telling” approach to help her student formulate and clarify their own ideas and goals; then they brainstorm together about the steps to reach them. Fern tries to support her mentees by building confidence, encouraging and motivating, while still providing advice, insight and feedback to guide them on a path to reach their goals. She says, “The coaching process can be one of the best ways to learn and develop. I view it as a partnership between someone with experience and someone who wants to learn."

Of the experience thus far, Fern reports, “ My student was very receptive to sharing information, being accountable, and acknowledging her feelings and needs. I have enjoyed serving as an advisor and advocate, and to helping my student understand which types of summer internships can best fit into her long-term career goals. ” Her hope for her student is that she achieves the objectives that she has set for herself while still finding the time to have fun along the way.

Fern’s advice for other first-gen students who are searching for a summer internship is “ to determine your priorities. To maximize your chances of landing that dream internship, it’s imperative to know where the best places are to look and how to go about the journey. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. And most of all, keep a positive attitude and rest assured that eventually you’ll secure a position that’s right for you! ”

If you know of someone who would like to learn about serving as a FirstGen Ahead coach for the next academic year, please have them contact susan@FirstGenAhead.org . 
Who Would You Hire?
You are responsible for hiring an accounting intern for the summer and have narrowed down the list of finalists to two candidates. Both have strong grades, attend a top-tier university, and scored similarly during the interviews. Candidate S wrote thank you emails to every person she met within 24 hours after she completed her interviews; the thank you messages were unique to each person. Candidate M sent a generic thank you message to you as the hiring manager a few days after the interview but didn’t thank anyone else who interviewed her. You can only choose one…who would you hire and why?
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Sunday, December 22, 1:30-3pm
A networking reception will take place at Susan Gershenfeld’s home in Auburndale. This reception is a great opportunity for coaches and students to meet each other in person and for students to practice networking in a reception-type environment.   Other guests who work in the areas of interest to students will also be invited. Please click here to RSVP .

Sunday, January 12, 7-8pm
Online coach support session will be facilitated by Dr. Lois Benishek. A Zoom link reminder will be sent to all coaches. Please email questions to Susan at susan@firstgenahead.org .

Sunday, January 26, 7:30-8:30pm
Online student peer session will be facilitated by Dr. Susan Gershenfeld. This session will include two guests speaking and answering questions about their respective professions and/or sectors: Julie Crockford at ESC (nonprofit leadership, management, and consulting) and Lhea Townes at PepsiCo (human resources at a Fortune 100 company). A Zoom link reminder will be sent to all students. Any questions should be emailed to Susan at susan@firstgenahead.org.
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