The Low Down

By Caroline Ceniza-Levine '93BC of the Columbia Career Coaches Network
This article originally appeared on SixFigureStart.com 

A job interview is a person-to-person communication, and some people are difficult, so you will likely encounter a difficult job interviewer at some point. The difficult job interviewer pushes back on what you say, picks apart your claims, focuses on your weaknesses and mistakes, or tries to get you to talk trash about your past bosses and companies. The difficult job interviewer frames questions negatively and wants you to get negative as well. Don't fall for these traps!

A self-described "climate activist," Nicole Crescimanno '11GSAS is a bridge between climate science researchers and the rest of us. As the program coordinator for Climate Science Awareness and Solutions at Columbia's Earth Institute, she works for the experts, translating their scary science into something we can understand and do something about.

Crescimanno obtained an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia before joining the Earth Institute in 2014. She currently co-chairs the NYC chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and advocates for a carbon fee and dividend.

For more information about the Earth Institute, visit csas.ei.columbia.edu. To see a TED talk by Dr. James Hansen, visit ted.com. To see Crescimanno’s portfolio, visit nicolecrescimanno.com. To see the young people at the forefront of climate solutions, visit climatecountdown.org, a project that Nicole co-produced.

Happy Labor Day weekend, alumni! Here's the latest from your Columbia community.

Here's what's happening in your alumni community.

The Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) of Washington, DC, has one of the largest concentrations of alumni outside of the greater New York City area, and capitalizes on their city's popularity among Columbians by hosting frequent fun, social, and intellectual events, as well as creative opportunities to take advantage of happenings in the nation's capital.

For Chris Wei, the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) of Taiwan is all about community.

A'Lelia Bundles' story is one of timing and changing tides. Bundles, a 1976 Journalism School alumna, comes from a long line of successful, well-known women, including one of the first African American self-made millionaires and a Harlem Renaissance darling. But rather than go into the family business, Bundles took her own path—in 1960, she discovered her calling as a writer at the ripe old age of eight, during an era of big changes. 

For our first episode in the The Future Is... mini-series, we're honored to feature Bundles, a University Trustee, veteran journalist, and author. 

She spent over 30 years as a producer and executive for NBC News and ABC News. She's currently writing her fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, which will be released in the next couple of years. The biography that Bundles wrote about her great-great-grandmother, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, was recently optioned for a television series featuring Oscar award-winner, Octavia Spencer, in the lead role.  

In addition to writing, Bundles is active as the chairman of the board of the National Archives Foundation and the president of her family's historical archives. She serves on the advisory boards of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study's Schlesinger Library at Harvard and the March on Washington Film Festival. 

Bundles has delivered keynote addresses and served as master of ceremonies at dozens of events, book festivals, and conferences at Harvard, London City Hall, the National Archives, and more, and on all the major television and radio networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, PBS, and NPR.

For more information about Bundles' career and writing, visit http://www.aleliabundles.com. 

You know we love highlighting inspiring alumni -- and this time, we’re focusing specifically on Columbia women who are at the top of their game, the leaders of today and tomorrow. That’s why we’re excited to share The Future Is… a podcast mini-series featuring interviews with alumnae who are the leaders of today and the creators of tomorrow.

We’ve curated a list of incredible women doing incredible things: you’ll hear from an award-winning filmmaker with two TED talks under her belt, from an artist-turned-climate "strategist," and four voices of the future, the top women in engineering on campus.

This podcast mini-series is produced by Shanna Crumley '18SIPA, our digital initiatives intern and a second-year graduate student in international affairs at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Here are her thoughts on this mini-series: 

"As a current graduate student at Columbia, I’m always keeping an eye out for great role models and stories that I can relate to as I start my career. As a woman, especially, I look for other women whose experiences can help me navigate the nuances of modern womanhood.

For this mini-series, I had the chance to look for women who are innovators, creating the future in a variety of fields like climate change, computer science and journalism. I found women doing cool things, and then I asked them about their work, their thoughts on their fields and what inspires them. And I promised one thing:  I WILL NOT ask podcast guests what they’re wearing; I WILL ask about their ideas, opinions, jobs, plans and what makes them tick."

Stay tuned for the first episode next week on here on the blog, Soundcloud, or iTunes. 

Here's what you may have missed this week from your Columbia community. 

By Joshua Spodek '93CC, '96GSAS, '99GSAS, '06BUS of the Columbia Career Coaches Network

You could have learned in the interview why you'd hate your job with this practice. Learn it and make your interviews productive.