The Low Down

By Eric Horwitz '90CC of the Columbia Career Coaches Network

I hear it all the time. I have three interviews next week: one Skype, one phone, and one in person. What should I wear? What questions will they ask? If I get the job, how much should I ask for? Do I really want these jobs? Maybe I don’t want any of them.

By Kris Ishibashi '78BC, '82BUS of the Columbia Career Coaches Network

You’ve been successful in your career for more than ten years. You learned quickly, worked on great projects, and you advanced. Everything was going really well, and then you wake up one day realizing that you have plateaued. What do you do?

There has been buzz recently surrounding resumes being reviewed through automatic scanners and applicant tracking systems (ATS). Goldman Sachs is one company that is changing its hiring process, including an electronic screening tool for resumes and having applicants interview via a prerecorded-video platform. In a time when a computer is the first pair of eyes to evaluate your credentials, how can you stand out?

Members of the Columbia Career Coaches Network and the Columbia Alumni Career Coalition offer these eight tips: 

Sree Sreenivasan '93JRN, stepped down from his post as chief digital officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 17, amid the museum's efforts to scale back costs due to a $10 million deficit. 

Sreenivasan has worked at the Met for three years and led the Met’s recent website redesign and the development of a smartphone app, The New York Times reported. 

According to the Times, he will stay on temporarily as a consultant.

Some may vent, others may feel like hiding—what Sreenivasan did, though, made news.

Read on for some highlights from Quartz of what the former Columbia Journalism School professor and Columbia chief digital officer did exactly right.

Welcome to the Columbia alumni community, Class of 2016!

Officially turning the tassel from "students" to "alumni" is one of the most exciting moments for new grads. But it can also be a time of uncertainty, especially for those still considering the next career move in their post-schooling lives.

You're not alone. And so we asked your fellow alumni from the Columbia Career Coaches Network to share their best post-graduation career advice to new alumni.

By Debra Feldman '74PH of the Columbia Career Coaches Network

If you want to switch roles, change industries, relocate, or keep your search confidential, it's near impossible to get an employer to pay attention. Here are some guaranteed ways to beat the odds.

Posted on Behalf of Julia Harris Wexler '83TC, '14BUS, Columbia University Certified Executive Career Coach

Searching for a job is usually associated with as much joy as . . . dental work. The truth is that it doesn't have to be anxiety-provoking or painful if you are smart in your plan of attack. Here are some basic tips on how to use the tools available to you to cut down on time and wasted effort and actually target your ideal role with maximum effectiveness:

By Melody J. Wilding '11SW of the Columbia Career Coaches Network

Originally published on melodywilding.com

Why does it seem like some people can effortlessly “follow their passions,” while others can’t? What’s the secret of successful entrepreneurs and creatives who live out their dreams of dedicating their careers to inspiring, meaningful work? Why do the rest of us feel stuck in an unfulfilling funk?

Not everyone can follow their passion and make money from it. Not everyone can work on a personal project or business that lights you up and makes every day feel like retirement. Or can you?

The exciting truth is that there are small changes you can make every day to dig yourself out of burnout and inch yourself closer to creating a life and career that invigorates you, instead of draining you. The key is attuning yourself to your capacity for creativity.

Unfortunately, the systems we find ourselves in—whether that be family, schools, or—condition out of us the courage to risk. Playing it safe suits the naysayers who are scared of the sacrifice and upheaval big ideas entail, but staying small is unfulfilling. This is why, if you truly want to be exceptional, you have to nurture this skill again. You have to nurture your creative genius. Luckily, you can do that through developing habits and deliberate practice working the creative “muscles” in your brain.

Creativity is part art, and part science. In the decades since the science of creativity began to be uncovered, there have been many books written on the topic, which will help you build those muscles and achieve that illusive creativity.

These are 5 of my favorite:

Planning to make a major career transition or change from one industry to another? These Columbia alumni have had success with this—check out their insight below. 

There's a new and exclusive resource available—just for Columbia alumni. The online Alumni Community is a portal for many things, from updating your information with Columbia to group discussions. For networkers, job seekers, or hiring managers, it's an important place to establish a profile as a savvy professional, thought leader, and to leverage your Columbia connections.

Read on for 10 tips on how to optimize the Alumni Community for your job search and enhance your professional profile.