Please review this letter from Bill Forsyth ’83, a member of our current Scholarship Committee and former ATO National Thomas Arkle Clark Award Winner as the top ATO Undergraduate in the nation.  Bill addresses the importance of university and community service and leadership –  ‘GZ mentor letter (3) (1)

I came across an interesting Blog and Podcast series called “The Art of Manliness“.  It contains interviews with authors and experts who have studied various topics of interest to men… “a blog dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man”.  This particular episode challenges the popular career advice of “Follow your Passion” and everything else will take care of itself.

Well, what if you are like the vast majority of 22 year old people and you don’t yet know exactly what your passion is?  This discussion and the book written by the author who is interviewed provides some great advice.

Podcast – The Myth of Following your Passion

Book – So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport

Gamma Zeta Alumnus Tom Drugan ’98 wrote the linked below ebook about the importance of managing your online reputation.  Included are some tips on what to do if you have some less than favorable items out there that you’d rather not have potential employers or grad schools see.

Start by googling yourself.  Do you believe that what shows up on the first couple of pages is going to help your chances of landing that position that you want or hurt it?  Put yourself in the shoes of a 40 year old hiring manager… not one of your drinking buddies.

Not Just Your Space
The College Student’s Guide to Managing Online Reputation
Written By: Tom Drugan
Co-Founder of Naymz.com

Creating a resume doesn’t start in the fall of your senior year in college when you first wake up to the reality that your college years are almost over and it’s time to start looking for a career and first full time job.  For those who have the most success in the job search process and have the most options to consider, It starts the moment you step on campus as a freshman… even sooner.

The linked paper below was contributed by Dave Erhardt (Gamma Zeta ’81).  It was written by his older son John who had recently landed a great first job with PwC Consulting and addressed to his younger son, Paul, who was just starting college.  Great advice from one brother to another…

Building a Resume and Preparing for the Interview Process

Many people view Linkedin as a tool for those already well into their careers.  However, there can be tremendous value for undergraduate and graduate students as they are just beginning their job search.  Gamma Zeta ATOs have the additional advantage of a large and active private Linkedin Group and several subgroups by industry.  Gamma Zeta ATO members in these groups are happy to help students and each other with insight into particular companies and careers and introductions to others who can help.

To take advantage the first thing to do is to create a Linkedin Profile.  Here’s a link to an on-line article with tips in what should be in a student’s profile .

Once a profile is created, the next step is to join the ATO Gamma Zeta Illinois group and subgroups of interest.  Here’s a link to the ATO Gamma Zeta Illinois linkedin group .

Finally, familiarize yourself with linkedin.  Learn how you can search for individual names, job titles and industries to identify Gamma Zeta brothers who you’d like to meet.  Reach out to these guys respectfully and request a time convenient for them to talk.  You’ll find that the members are knowledgeable, generous with their time and happy to help.