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I chose to interview Rebecca Harris, the Executive Director for the Center of Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University. She co-founded Toledo Area Parent News, and was the founder and president for Harris Consulting from 2004-2009.

Her advice on studying:
1. Get enough sleep. This is absolutely imperative, because even if you haven’t learned all the material, your brain works better when it’s rested.
2. Begin studying four days away from a test or presentation. This gives you enough time to learn and master the material.
3. Study first thing in the morning, for about two hours. Do not open your email, or check the news or social media beforehand. Those are distractions, and they make it all too easy to be sucked in and forgo studying at all. Studying in the morning makes the material a priority, and by limiting distractions, you are able to focus solely on the material, which helps you learn it better.

Her advice on building a good resume:
1. Do a group project. Doing one allows you to develop essential skills such as research, information management, and teamwork that look good on a resume. It shows that you are a self-starter: ambitious, organized, and work/communicate well with other people.
2. Read some good resumes, and model yours after these. Look at ones that reflect where you are in your career. For instance, I would search for undergraduate resumes. Incorporate the action verbs they use into your own resume. If needed, you can always hire someone to write your resume for you.
3. Get an internship. Not only does an internship look good on a resume, but it’s an opportunity to be well-rounded. You don’t necessarily have to do something in your field. Many employers look for people with many different skills. It would be beneficial to get some experience outside of your specific skill set. Also, even if an internship is unpaid, you’re still getting something out of it.

As an aside, Rebecca also stressed that networking is critical. All students should be networking. She tells people that there’s a reason it’s called netWORKing: it takes work. It can be difficult to get out of your comfort zone, but it’s essential to meet people and make connections.


The above article talks about a Chatham Marketing and Economics student, Anh, who interned for A+ Schools in their Research and Communications department. I believe this proves Rebecca’s point about getting experience outside of your major/skillset, and how getting out of your comfort zone is beneficial. No one learns and grows from doing the same thing all the time. According to the article, Anh learned a lot from her internship. She “had the impression that marketing activities were exclusive to for-profit organizations or businesses that offer tangible products or personal services…but quickly found out this is not the case.” She was able to use communications skills to help A+ Schools with their marketing campaign and learned about how non-profit organizations function in the process. 

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