Syracuse University Gradcast

In this episode, Dr. Romita Ray, Associate Professor of Art and Music Histories, discusses the thorny issue of the reference letter, and encourages us to get started asking for them now! But before you ask, there's plenty to know: whom to ask, what information your referees need, how to "pop the question," and more. 

As many professionals work from home, we interviewed several alumni on their top tips for working well in your personal space. On today’s episode we’ll hear tips from:

Tanya Achhra, G’18, Information Management, is a Program Manager at Amazon Web Services, and began her job working from home this past spring.

Janak Khilnani, G’15, Information Management and Managing Consultant at IBM and has been working from home for five years.

Jessica Garay Redmond, Ph.D., G’18, Assistant Professor at Syracuse University. Jessica is also a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS),  Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND) and 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. You can connect with Jessica on Twitter, @CuseSportsRD.

Zhicheng (Mike) Zhao, G'14, Computer Science graduate from the College of Engineering and Computer Science is currently a Tech Lead at Alibaba in China. Mike formerly worked as a Senior Software Engineer at eBay and lived in San Francisco where he created a large orange alumni community. Mike will provide tips for conducting your job search.

Join Syracuse University alum Laura Spenceley, PhD, who is assistant professor of School Psychology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at SUNY OSWEGO to explore the ins and outs of effective teaching statements. A good teaching statement, Dr. Spenceley says, are "teasers for what faculty and students can expect from you when you're on campus." Yet so many statements let the reader down, so how do you write one that makes faculty want to see what you're like as a teacher?

Christa Kelleher, an assistant professor of (this is a mouthful!) Comparative Hydrology, Urban Hydrology, & Hydrologic Modeling in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, joins us this week to give us her take on the research statement. Given her preference for "shiny things," as she calls them, what makes a research statement shine? Listen to find out. 

In this podcast we welcome alumnus Meriton (Tony) Gollopeni, a December 2019 grad from the College of Engineering and Computer Science with a Master of Science in Structural Engineering. He now works as a Bridge Engineer at STV Incorporated in Baltimore, Maryland.

Tony answers questions on how he secured a summer internship and full-time job. He gives advice for students conducting jobs/internship searches and mentions what he wishes he knew as a student.

This edition of the Academic Job Market Series tackles the crucial and sometimes under-appreciated role of the cover letter in an effective academic job search. We answer so many questions: How long should your cover letter be? What is its purpose among so many other documents? How do you organize it,  and most of all, how do you save time when you have lots of applications to complete?

This episode features an interview with Shasta Savage, MSW. Shasta is also a Registered Yoga Teacher-200 (RYT). She is a Finger Lakes native with a background in the trauma-informed lens, human rights perspective, mindfulness and resilience. She strives to instruct wellness practices in the most accessible way.

Questions we addressed: How is mental health, in general, being affected by the pandemic? What are some effective ways to cope? With spending so much time at home, what suggestions do you have for separating work/student life from recreational/relaxing life?  What are some easy, inexpensive, beginner-friendly ways that students can start to engage in more self-care? How can I support friends or family members who are struggling? For more accessible wellness tips and resources from Shasta Savage, MSW, visit www.cascadillawellness.org and follow @cascadillawellness on Facebook and Instagram!

Additional Information and Resources:

Syracuse University resources:

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency or you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Syracuse University students experiencing a mental health crisis, seeking support for sexual assault or relationship violence, or needing medical consultation can receive free confidential services 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 315.443.8000. Please note, routine consultations should hold until the next business day. You can find more information at the following links for Counseling at Barnes Center at the Arch and Recreation at Barnes Center at the Arch.

Glenn Wright, Ph.D., and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., discuss creating a great CV for academic jobs, maybe the most important part of your application packet. This discussion includes: what are the key differences between a resume and a CV? What information goes on the CV and how should you organize the information? For research jobs, is there a way to organize your categories and information? What publications should be listed on the CV and are they important? For teaching-intensive institutions, how should you communicate your teaching experience and how do you include related teaching information? How important is university service and how can you build a record of university service as a graduate student? How many different versions of your CV do you need to have?

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., as we answer your frequently asked questions on LinkedIn, such as: What is LinkedIn and why do I need an account? What should I include on my profile? How do I write a headline? How do I write a good “About” section? How do I find people to connect with? How do I network on LinkedIn? What should I post about in the news feed? What other features are helpful?