Over the past summer, as I was showing my friends around the greatest city in the world, I had made a casual remark about how walking through Manhattan was essentially walking past every single company that has ever rejected a job application from me. Having applied for a million and one jobs and having gone through an infinite number of one night stand equivalents - a moment of bliss when I get the call for an interview, the awkward waiting period afterwards, and then ultimately, rejection –  I realize that I’ve learned a lot (aka developed a long list of complaints) from my job-hunting expeditions.

The first lesson being that rejection letters have a lot of room for improvement. The “Dear X, while you are a highly qualified candidate, you aren’t good enough” letter is anything but consolatory. How about something nicer? I bet you would feel good about yourself if a company wrote to you: “Dear X, You are an amazing candidate and we would hire you on the spot if not for the fact that we require employees to jump in front of a moving train while gathering radioactive sludge and fighting off mutant geese that like to breathe fire. We just value your life too much to put you through that. So we hired a chump instead.”

The second lesson was that career fairs are mechanisms of torture. Who likes to stand in line for half an hour to talk to a recruiter for 15 seconds? Not to mention the fact that recruiters then use up those precious 15 seconds to tell you to apply online. You mean I could have been stuffing my face with ice cream and clicking away at my computer in a zen-like coma instead of standing  in line for hours in shoes that hurt while suffocating from the heat generated by hundreds of people crammed into one tiny room? You should have said something sooner.

Cute but clueless. 

And the third lesson was that it helps to know what you’re applying for. Back in the day - when I was a naïve college freshman - I had applied for an internship and did not quite know how to prepare for the interview. When my interviewer asked me a question about the industry, I stared at her - and did the goldfish. Let’s just say it’s not very attractive to open and close your mouth like a fish gasping for its’ last breath as it flops around on the floor right before it drops dead when you're trying to come up with an appropriate response.

Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. Forever afterwards, however, I have been very diligent about doing my homework before going to any interview. And externships, where you interact with someone in your chosen industry or shadow them for a day, are a great way to prepare for interviews. It's a chance to learn about the industry that you want to work in and the types of positions that you want to apply for because you’re getting facts straight from the source.

Last weekend, for example, I met with a lady who worked in a field that I want to establish a career in. Although it was just an informational interview, I learned a lot more from the hour that I spent talking to her than I would ever have learned from googling. The best part was that I was able to directly ask her what employers look for when hiring and what I can do to make myself stand out.

So do yourself a favor. Don’t do the awkward goldfish: take advantage of the job shadowing opportunity that One To World offers to students. It's a worthwhile investment.

Beyond Manhattan

I’d simply say New York whenever my peers at college had asked me where I’m from. Of course, it being New York, the person asking me would usually say “Oh!” followed by some form of “Awesome!” But I flinched every time I gave that answer – not because I was lying but because it was a half answer.

Brooklyn Bridge

Yes. I’m from New York. But the complete answer is “I’m from Brooklyn.” What a lot of people in the outside world don’t understand is that there is more to New York than just the borough of Manhattan.  

Manhattan is just one of the five boroughs. It’s not even the largest borough - which is Queens - or the most populous - which is Brooklyn - but it gets all the recognition. While I do have to admit that Manhattan is the ‘happening’ borough – aside from mandatory family events in the other boroughs, I spend most of my free time in Manhattan – the other boroughs do have activities and events which are just as comparable to those in Manhattan.

Just this past month, for example, I was out and about, visiting the aquarium, the botanic garden, and the various parks around Brooklyn. Downtown Brooklyn and its surrounding neighborhoods also have a number of cute cafes and restaurants which are definitely well worth their prices (which aren’t as expensive as those in Manhattan to begin with!).

Paris Baguette in Flushing, Queens

We also drive out to Queens quite a bit for food. In fact, for my birthday, my sister drove out to Queens to get my birthday cake from Paris Baguette, a French inspired Asian bakery in Flushing with some of the most unique cake designs and flavors that I’ve ever seen. My sister spent three hours in traffic but the cake (raspberry mousse!) was definitely worth it.

Besides the food, each borough has its own characteristics and something unique to offer. If you’re perpetually stuck on Manhattan, you will definitely not get the chance to fully appreciate how great all of New York City is. Plus, each of the boroughs is just a train ride away. With that kind of convenience, there is no excuse for you to not go out and explore the city. Remember that New York is more than just Manhattan.

The other boroughs need some love too. Check out the Events Page to find specific activities in each borough!


This post was researched and written by One To World intern, Jessica Zhang

Volunteerism

On Saturday, February 19th, One To World is hosting a volunteer event in partnership with Publi-Color, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging teenagers in school by involving them in improving their learning environment. Through their efforts, Public-Color hopes to keep disengaged students in school and off the streets while teaching them a marketable skill – commercial painting – that can help them break the poverty cycle and eventually pay their way through college and to a better future.

By participating in this activity, you can not only make a difference in someone else’s life, but you can also experience the service-oriented culture that is popular for students throughout the US. Is public service a popular concept in your home country? In the US, public service plays an important part in education as students are often encouraged to volunteer and ceremonies are held to recognize their contributions to the community.  

This push to cultivate volunteerism in students can start as early as Junior High School, when students are around 10 years old. Induction ceremonies for Arista and Archon – nationally recognized honor societies for outstanding academic achievement and outstanding service to the school and community, respectively – are held every year. And at the college level, students are bombarded with opportunities to volunteer. Have you volunteered in your home country? What did you do? Volunteer experiences in the U.S. can range widely from  picking up garbage off the highway to building water treatment plants in Nicaragua.

Arista/Archon inductees are conferred with pins in their schools' colors.

Even after their formal education is over, the US’s volunteer culture continues to have a strong grip on students. Many students are encouraged to take a “gap year,” a period of time when students take a break from formal education to travel, volunteer, study, intern, or work. Is there something similar in other countries? A number of students also end up participating in service-oriented programs like Teach For America, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Green Corps, and City Year, all of which offer a living salary in exchange for a full year or two of service.

Generally speaking, if you want to volunteer in the US, it isn’t hard to find an opportunity to do so. With sites like VolunteerMatch and New York Cares, you can dictate nearly every criteria of the activities that you want to volunteer with. Whether your criteria are simple (you’re just having a bad day and suddenly decide that you need some karma)  or elaborate (must work with Children, must be next to the L line, and must be on Wednesday night), you’ll be sure to find a volunteer opportunity that suits you. So even if you can’t attend the volunteer event on February 19^th with One To World, you can always find some other meaningful things to do!