No, don't take more classes, especially if it is going to cost you money. Invest that money in building yourself strategically crafted work experience through an internship. To be honest I don't like a lot of those internships that I posted because it directly contradicts my philosophy of career leapfrogging. Even if an internship is paid, 90 percent of the time it isn't even enough to cover your rent. Moreover, the work experience is crafted to benefit their immediate needs, and not to develop skills you will need in your next job. Thus, it makes more sense to use the internship as a springboard to make yourself very attractive to employers down the road.
Recruiters are expecting you to be able to paint the Mona Lisa, even though all the training/experience you've had in your internships was scrawling on the sidewalk with a piece of chalk. To demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that you can create a masterpiece, you are going to have to find your own canvas and paints to work with.
An employer sizing you up for a position will think something like this:
"I need this guy to be able to work independently, work well with others, know how to build a spreadsheet and a powerpoint presentation.....it would help if he could do some sales too."
You should learn in advance EXACTLY what the employer is going to want to see on your resume. Not a general picture of who you are - WORD FOR WORD, BULLET POINT BY BULLET POINT the PRECISE candidate he wants.
He wants leadership, teamwork, microsoft office, and sales? You design a project for your current internship that looks like this:
XYZ CONSULTING, SHANGHAI OFFICE - JUNE 2011 - DEC 2011
INTERN PROJECT MANAGER
- Independently tutored senior members of the company in English language skills, empowering coworkers to function in an international environment (PROVEN LEADERSHIP/TEAMWORK EXPERIENCE)
- Created a business plan for the company to enter a strategic new market and presented to senior management, enabling the company to forge a long term competitive strategy (PROVEN TEAMWORK, MICROSOFT OFFICE SKILLS)
- Independently sourced and interviewed potential clients, increasing the company's client base by 20 percent and sales by 10 percent in the third quarter (PROVEN AND QUANTIFIED SALES EXPERIENCE)
Usually getting those three bullet points would take 1-2 years to achieve, because the opportunity to accomplish those things is directly dependent on whether or not you are given those sexy projects. Instead of waiting for that to happen, create all your own sexy projects, volunteer to do them for free as an intern, then cram two years of work experience into 6-12 months while doing other shit like building your own business or learning a foreign language. You don't even have to work full time for them.
People work aimlesly for 1-2 years, hoping that what they are currently doing will help them in the long run. It won't. Design your own career path by hacking your work tasks. By having control of what you do at work, you can directly alter colleagues' and future employers' perceptions of what you are capable of.
I haven't even gotten into hacking human resources, strategic networking, social media strategies, outsourcing, and the dozens of other hacks I've designed up to this point. This is the tip of the iceberg.
That's why I'm making this product. I'm starting with China specifically but will transition into a different product later on about career hacking. If any of you are interested in this topic, please let me know, as I have been looking around for interest from my target market and the kinds of things they might want from such a product.
Recruiters are expecting you to be able to paint the Mona Lisa, even though all the training/experience you've had in your internships was scrawling on the sidewalk with a piece of chalk. To demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that you can create a masterpiece, you are going to have to find your own canvas and paints to work with.
An employer sizing you up for a position will think something like this:
"I need this guy to be able to work independently, work well with others, know how to build a spreadsheet and a powerpoint presentation.....it would help if he could do some sales too."
You should learn in advance EXACTLY what the employer is going to want to see on your resume. Not a general picture of who you are - WORD FOR WORD, BULLET POINT BY BULLET POINT the PRECISE candidate he wants.
He wants leadership, teamwork, microsoft office, and sales? You design a project for your current internship that looks like this:
XYZ CONSULTING, SHANGHAI OFFICE - JUNE 2011 - DEC 2011
INTERN PROJECT MANAGER
- Independently tutored senior members of the company in English language skills, empowering coworkers to function in an international environment (PROVEN LEADERSHIP/TEAMWORK EXPERIENCE)
- Created a business plan for the company to enter a strategic new market and presented to senior management, enabling the company to forge a long term competitive strategy (PROVEN TEAMWORK, MICROSOFT OFFICE SKILLS)
- Independently sourced and interviewed potential clients, increasing the company's client base by 20 percent and sales by 10 percent in the third quarter (PROVEN AND QUANTIFIED SALES EXPERIENCE)
Usually getting those three bullet points would take 1-2 years to achieve, because the opportunity to accomplish those things is directly dependent on whether or not you are given those sexy projects. Instead of waiting for that to happen, create all your own sexy projects, volunteer to do them for free as an intern, then cram two years of work experience into 6-12 months while doing other shit like building your own business or learning a foreign language. You don't even have to work full time for them.
People work aimlesly for 1-2 years, hoping that what they are currently doing will help them in the long run. It won't. Design your own career path by hacking your work tasks. By having control of what you do at work, you can directly alter colleagues' and future employers' perceptions of what you are capable of.
I haven't even gotten into hacking human resources, strategic networking, social media strategies, outsourcing, and the dozens of other hacks I've designed up to this point. This is the tip of the iceberg.
That's why I'm making this product. I'm starting with China specifically but will transition into a different product later on about career hacking. If any of you are interested in this topic, please let me know, as I have been looking around for interest from my target market and the kinds of things they might want from such a product.