When you're working a full-time job, finding time to enjoy the warm, bright summer weather can be a challenge. This is especially true for young professionals, as many of them are used to having summers off (or, at the very least, having a flexible summer schedule). But there's no need to feel trapped behind your cubicle walls. Go out and enjoy summer!
Here are a few tips for making the most of your summer while working full time.
1. Grab Some Foldable Chairs
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Keep a couple of foldable camping chairs at the office so you and a co-worker can catch some rays during lunch—whether it's in the park or the parking lot.
2. Keep A Beach Bag In Your Car
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Keep a bag full of summer supplies for your favorite summer activities. Having a bag (or, in my case, a backseat) full of towels, sunscreen, and swimwear keeps you prepared for anything. Friends hitting up the pool after work? You're covered. Once the clock strikes five, you can head to your destination of choice immediately.
3. Plan An Office Outing
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Plan an office field trip to the beach, the park, or the pool. Just do something fun so your brain can recharge and refresh!
4. Organize Group Walks
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Get a bunch of co-workers together and go on regular walks around town during lunch. (Or you could suggest a quick jaunt over to the ice cream shop.) This is a great way to get some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.
5. Eat Lunch At The Park
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When you find yourself eating out, hit up places with a deck, porch, or patio of some sort. Obviously, eating out every day isn't really a feasible option for most of us, so look into alternative ideas as well. Pack a lunch and hit the park for your own little picnic.
6. Organize Office Sports
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Whether it's setting up an official office sports team or just hanging out with your colleagues a few times a week, playing sports is a great way to get out and enjoy the weather. Have a field nearby? Try setting up some slow-pitch softball games. Or see if you can get a basketball hoop for the office so you and a few co-workers can shoot some hoops at lunch.
7. Join A Professional Group
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During the summer, professional networking groups often have fun events like harbor cruises, pub crawls, and outdoor mixers. Find a professional group in your area and make networking fun this summer.
8. Have An Office BBQ
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Get your grill on! Talk to your boss about setting up an office BBQ. Ask everyone to contribute their favorite dish, side, or drink. Fire up the grill and relax! Hey, it's summer after all.
9. Wake Up Early
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Yes, yes, I know...waking up early is an incredibly painful and unbearable experience for some of us, but waking up even an hour earlier has its benefits—especially in the summer. Go for a morning run, putter around in the garden, or watch the sunrise with a loved one. Talk about starting the day off right!
10. Strategically Use Your Time Off
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Strategically use your vacation days around holidays. This way, you can make a potentially long weekend longer without having to use too much of your precious vacation time. Half days are also pretty awesome. It's amazing how much you can do with four extra hours! If you want an early weekend but don't want to burn up your vacation days too quickly, try taking a half day on a Friday instead of using a full day off.
11. Bike To Work
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If you're one of the lucky few who live within walking or biking distance of work, take advantage of it! Not only will you get plenty of fresh air, but you'll also save money on gas, which is always a plus!
There are plenty of easy ways to enjoy summer when you work a full-time job. So this summer, try out a few of these ideas and make the most of the sunshine and warm weather—while they're still around!
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Whether you’re a new college grad just entering the workforce and looking for media jobs, or a seasoned professional who finds yourself back in job hunting mode for the first time in a long time, you’re probably a bit intimidated at the prospect of sitting for an interview with a prospective employer. Honestly, even those who have recently been through numerous interviews are rattled by each and every one, at least to some degree.
Interviewing, after all, is a stressful process. There’s a lot riding on your performance during that interview, after all.
There are ways of honing your skills and the primary method for becoming more competent in interviewing is through practice or mock interview sessions. A mock interview is, simply put, a practice run that mimics the real life interview process as closely as possible. By going through several such practice session, you will become more confident and capable of making a strong positive impression when it comes time for the real deal.
Wrangle a Mock Interviewer
While it’s entirely possible for you to run through potential interview scenarios in your own head – which you’re likely doing anyway while you stew over how intimidating the interview process may be – the most effective means of practicing for an interview is to actually have a friend or family member play the role of interviewer.
If you can wrangle someone into being the mock interviewer, you’ll have the opportunity to run through question and answer practice sessions. This provides you the chance to refine your answers, practice speaking clearly and delivering clear and comprehensive responses, and to master the non-verbal communication aspects of interviewing for fulltime jobs and partime jobs as well. The manner in which you conduct yourself during an interview is as important as the answers you deliver to an employer’s questions.
Stage Your Practice Sessions Effectively
Best methods for productive mock interviews require that you mimic the real work interview situation as closely as possible. This means you should dress the part for at least some of your practice sessions, in order to get more comfortable in your suit or other business attire. Wear the outfit you plan to wear to the interview so you can ensure its comfortable, fits properly and doesn’t cause you to fidget or feel self-conscious.
You should also sit at a table, with the mock interviewer across from you. Practice making appropriate eye contact while interviewing. Pay attention to how you sit in your chair – square your shoulders, don’t slump, and don’t move around too much in your seat. Keep your hands in your lap or on the table, only using conservative hand gestures in appropriate places in your conversation for providing emphasis to verbal responses.
Try to avoid falling out of character during the practice session. This means both you and the mock interviewer that you’re wrangled into helping must maintain the professional manner and demeanor throughout the entire session. Save any and all discussion of performance, behaviors or other details for after the mock interview is complete, whether you’re interviewing for sales jobs or any other variety of positions.
Ask the interviewer to take notes during the session on areas of potential improvement they see or hear. This will not only help you better your interviewing skills during future practice sessions , but will also let you get used to the way it feels to have someone taking notes while you’re speaking , which is something that will occur during a real interview for a social worker position or any other job.
If possible, you should consider video recording some, if not all, of your practice sessions. You may be a bit self-conscious with the process, but it can help you learn how to control your facial expressions, posture, hand gestures, and other forms of non-verbal communication which all play a role in interview performance and the perception of a candidate by a prospective employer.
Get All Your Facts Straight
Mock interviews give you the chance to practice discussing the details of your own resume, work history, demonstrated skills and competencies, as well as the opportunity to promote yourself in a positive manner. Take advantage of the sessions to ensure you have all your facts straight and in your head about your past positions in fulltime jobs or partime jobs and job duties and responsibilities, no matter if you’re interviewing for administrative assistant, sales jobs, engineer jobs, or even social worker jobs. While it’s fine to occasionally reference a copy of your resume during an interview, doing so too often can make it appear as though the information contained within that document is fabricated or exaggerated.
Do Your Research
In your search for jobs, you’ll also be looking into the background, work environment and reputation of prospective employers, or at least you should be! After all, you’re considering them to see if they’re a good fit for you as much as they will be doing so with you if you’re called in for an interview. When you find media jobs of interest to you, take into account the postings and the employers and compose some relevant mock interview questions from that information. Ask your interviewer to read questions from that script during your practice sessions.
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