Job Interview Mistakes

I definitely agree that these are some of the biggest mistakes you could make during a job interview. One, because I’m sure the writer knew what he/she was talking about and two, because these are definitely the types of things that run through my head when thinking about an interview. I’ve had both a phone interview and face-to-face interview and my biggest battles with both was sweating the little things and not practicing quite enough. The phone interview I had was for a Disney Internship where they asked me several scenario questions. I was somewhat caught off guard when they asked me what I’d do in each but I thankfully was able to answer them well. The face-to-face interview was much more intense! I had an interview with Avon in New York City this past summer and I honestly felt like I wasn’t prepared at all. It being my first official interview, I was very nervous and didn’t know what to expect outside of what I knew after talking to a few people. I had a hard time answering their questions involving work-related situations since I haven’t had many of those experiences yet. Next time, I’ll make sure I am much more prepared by trying to avoid many of these mistakes and practice, practice, practice! I’ll certainly make sure I also follow up to ensure I show my interest and just try to RELAX!

An Amazing Experience...

This was a tough one for me...just writing about anything we want because there are so many ways to go. Since its Superbowl Weekend, I thought I'd write about an experience I'll never forget. When we did the four sentences icebreaker in class, one of my truths was that I cheered at the ProBowl in Hawaii, so I thought I'd share my story of the wonderful opportunity. When I was 15, I cheered for a competitive cheerleading squad near my hometown in Montville, NJ. We had vigorous 3 hour practices 4x a week and would prepare for competition season until we were flawless. One of the big competitions we were invited to was in Atlantic City, NJ. During one of our pep talks before taking the floor, our coach had a few ribbons that he said he was going to hand out for us to tie on our shoes. He told us they were from a cheer association called ECU but didn’t explain. He said he only had 5 and that he would hand them out randomly and I was lucky enough to get one :). I thought, “Hey, this is cool…maybe I’ll get some free cheer stuff,” but didn’t think much else. He told us to tie them to our shoe laces before going on the floor. Later, during the trophy ceremony, an announcer from ECU explained that the ribbons were for an opportunity to cheer at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii that coming January. I thought that was pretty cool but didn’t get too excited because I remembered seeing a LOT of ribbons on other girl’s shoes! She explained that they watched each girl during their team’s performance and that they were going to read off names of who was invited. As she was reading down the names, I heard my own! I was so excited but didn’t think it would happen with all of the costs and worrying about missing school, so I was just happy to be chosen at all. When I talked to my mom right after, she told me that of course I could go…it was an experience of a lifetime that I just couldn’t miss out on! So, at the end of January I flew with mom, her fiancé and 2 other girls from my team. Hawaii was absolutely GORGEOUS! We had practice everyday right in front of the Diamond Head Volcano…that was pretty amazing! Come the day of the ProBowl, I was so excited to be a part of it all. We were a human flag during the National Anthem and did a routine with hundreds of other girls for halftime. It was really cool! I got autographs from many players and got a video of the whole show. To top off the experience, my Mom and fiancé hadn’t picked a wedding date yet so decided to plan a small Hawaiian wedding that was absolutely wonderful! This experience was one of many that I will truly remember forever. Oh, and back to football….GO CARDINALS! :)

In Ten Years...

In about ten years, I hope to be a successful business woman working at an advertising agency in the design department. I’ll have gotten my masters in marketing and hopefully have my dream job. I would like to have travelled a good amount to experience all of the different places around the world. I’ll hopefully be married, ready to start a family. I would ideally be living in a suburb somewhere close to where in grew up in New Jersey. I like a place with a lot going on and different things for families to do. I’ve always been somewhat of a risk taker so at some point, I would love to try skydiving, bungee jumping and fly a plane someday. You only live once, so it is important to me to experience all of the great things in life!

The Machine is Us/ing Us - Hmmm...

After watching the video “The Machine is Us/ing Us”, I had mixed feelings. I believe that the machine is us in the sense that the Internet has become such an important part of our lives – for both business and pleasure. Technology has become so advanced that we now can’t imagine living without it. It is as if our computers are attached at our hips – like we’d feel naked without it (as many do with their phones). Society has become so dependent on the Internet that we would feel disconnected from the world without it. Now, regarding it using us – I’m not so sure. To some extent, I feel that because we are so dependent on it, it’s as if the machine is taking over and “using us” but at the same time we created it! If anything it would be a good thing if the machine is using us…it has made many things a lot more convenient!

Web 2.0 affects someone who is ready to enter the workforce in a few ways. It definitely is a valuable tool to find anything and everything you need to know. It has resources for job searching, resume building, etc. It is so convenient for both employers and potential employees. On the downside, the Internet truly puts us all out there! Anyone can find out a lot about each of us and when its an employer - that can mean trouble! We must all be very conservative about what we decide to post on sites. The same applies for people already in the workforce – it provides tons of information that can help an employee’s job much easier. At the same time, they must be very careful about what is said in emails and online! With all of this advanced technology, it seems like nothing is private anymore. For the employers sake this is actually a good thing! They have much more control over their employees in the sense that they can monitor everything their doing. When it says we will have to rethink everything, I think it means that this technology has crept up on us (the general public) and have to make sure we are careful how far we let it get. There are people out there who are obsessively addicted to the Internet. We have to be careful to not let it truly takeover to the point where we someday sit back and say, “Wow, the machine really is using us!” It’s definitely something to think about!

A Little Bit About Me...

Hey Guys!

My name is Alexis but I usually just go by Lex and I'm a junior Marketing major. I am from good ol' New Jersey (hence the 'hey guys') and graduated from Morristown High School in 2006. You're probably thinking...Jersey=damn Yankee!..but I'm not you're stereotypical super tan, mean Jersey girl. It was definitely a little bit of a culture shock coming down here but its certainly been an enjoyable new environment. Growing up, I spent a lot of my time cheering competitively and in dance class. In high school, I was a football and basketball cheerleader and played lacrosse in the spring. Being from Northern New Jersey is quite nice because I am an hour from the Jersey Shore (for some reason, I couldn't tell you why, Jersey beaches are called the shore - we'd say "I'm going down the shore for the weekend"), forty minutes from New York City and an hour from ski resorts. We have a little bit of everything nice and close! I love being spontaneous and trying new things and I truly believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason!

Well, thats a little about me! I'm excited to be in class with all of you!