Tips for the Job Seeker

In the process of looking for jobs, young professionals often succumb to the corporate world and lose sight of their vision and who they are. However, knowing oneself, and God’s plan for your career, is extremely important during job hunting. 

Written by Steve Prawiromaruto (Facebook)

Tedx Speaker and author Simon Sinek came up with a revolutionary idea called “Start with Why.” During his talk, he continuously emphasized this idea of “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Sinek discussed how famous individuals such as Steve Jobs and the Wright Brothers came up with ideas that revolutionized the world even though there were others around them that had the same capacity to do so. According to Sinek, what distinguishes these individuals is that they communicate the main driving force or the “why” behind their ideas instead of merely saying what their idea is.

Indeed, Sinek’s point of using “why” is revolutionary and gives us a new perspective on careers and how God plays a role in it. Ultimately, if God is your “Why,” he will guide you in the right path and into the right career path. Ask these questions:

• What talents has he given to me?
• What kind of environment is he calling me to work in? 
• Has he created me as someone who likes social interaction? If not, what jobs would be the best fit for me?
• How much money do I want to make while still putting God first and finances second?

Ah yes, the dreaded money question. Although money is a tricky issue, its still something that needs to be considered. Be honest with yourself regarding how much you should make with your living situation and look for jobs that fit your needs. Do your research regarding the average wage of your position before discussing pay with your employer and do not just accept a low offer for no good reason and expecting a raise in the near future. The organization Glassdoor, a reputable career database, has stated that this does not happen 99% of the time. If you have prayed about it and thought it through, there is no reason to accept anything less, as it will only hurt you and even your future family in the long run.

Sinek states that this approach of using “why” is what makes inspiring leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. said “I have a dream” and not “I have a plan.” He said what his beliefs were and it resonated to those around him and attracted people to him. When you find the right job, and you’re sitting in that office, nervously waiting for your interview, take a minute to examine yourself and ask “Why” you really want this job. Don’t just say profit, which is a result and not a purpose, as Sinek says, but instead ask how this job would accomplish your vision and mission for the future. Going into the interview with this mindset will help you be more confident throughout the interview and help out with those “Tell us a little bit about yourself” questions.

However, even with using “why” and leaning on the Lord for guidance, the path will still be long and challenging. You will probably receive a couple of rejection letters or even not receive anything, after that first interview and maybe even a couple more following that. To make matters worse, your well-intentioned friends and family might continuously remind you about it by asking “Oh how’s that interview you said you aced?” or “Do you have a job yet?” However, these moments are actually where a “why” and a bigger purpose will help you. In a recent article I read from the Huffington Post, the author stated that the number one skill in the workforce is surprisingly not two years of experience with Photoshop but instead “tenacity”. The ability to stay resilient after failure and persistently holding on to your “Why” is how you build up your character and continue working towards success. Thomas Edison took 10,000 attempts to invent the lightbulb. You may fail many times before finally landing the right job.

While a lot of people out there would just say “Follow Your Dreams,” I think this is way too simplistic as your dream will not always be what is good for you. Only by leaning to the Lord as your identity and purpose in job hunting will you be able to choose the right career path and be able to present yourself as someone with ambition and vision. 

Further Resources

Money at US News - Choosing a Fitting Career

Jobs at AOL - How to Negotiate Your Starting Salary

Forbes - 10 Things to Do When You Don't Hear Back After a Job Interview

Huffington Post - The Most Valuable Skill

An Overlooked Genre

The following post is part of a series called Summer Worship Ideas put together by Natalie Hill and Kevin Kusunoki. You can access other posts in this series via this link. 

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The origins of rap can be traced to West Africa, where stories were often told in a rhythmic pattern to the beat of a drum. This oral tradition made its way across the Atlantic with the slave trade and became a staple in the development of African-American music. James Brown, a major figure in African-American music, is often cited as the “father of hip hop”. 

In the mid 20th century, Caribbean music started to become heavily influenced by American music and deejays began ‘toasting’ over beats. They simply made announcements at parties like where the food was, where the next party was going to be, or what the weather was like. Various DJ’s would creatively embellish these announcements with rhyme. 

The combination of these two influences brought about the advent of rap music. Today, it is often impossible to turn on the radio without hearing rap. One scan through the Billboard Top 100 charts and you may struggle to identify a song without an element of rap. It has become a tremendous influence on culture. However some would argue that rap’s influence has been more detrimental than helpful. 

Christian rap is a relatively overlooked genre in Christian circles. That could be because of the general demographic associated evangelical Christianity, or the affiliation of that style of music with negative cultural influences. Whatever the reason may be, you won’t hear Christian rap being played on Christian radio stations; which is unfortunate because there are some really good Christian rappers out there, whose lyrics are drenched in thick theology. Please take time to really listen to these artists, they write some of the most convicting and uplifting raps. 

10 Ways to Build Community with International Students

Because of intense academic pressure, it is really challenging to find ways to build community within international students’ busy schedules.  Here’s some things we’ve tried to incorporate to build community.

1) Food! Everyone loves food and having international-friendly food really builds community.  For snacks, serve pita and hummus rather than chips and dip. Chicken is a favorite with most cultures and fresh fruit is a winner every single time. And always, always have vegetarian options. We avoid pork altogether at events (no pepperoni pizza) to continue to say “welcome” to our Muslim friends.

2) Cook together. Even better…take them to an international grocery to get the ingredients, and then cook together!   It’s amazing what enjoying their cooking creations does to build warmth in community.

Written by Karen Keyser

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3) Games.  Keep an atmosphere of laughter and warmth when it comes to playing games.  Try to have games that are not too language or culturally dependent.  Our group enjoys Gestures, Catch Phrase, and Murder, as well as simple card games like Uno and Spoons.

4) Culture Nights. Choose a culture and have a night where they cook, share their cultures’ music and dance and art, and share a testimony from someone in that culture. 

5) Sports—and ping pong!  Internationals often love sports, especially football (soccer)!  In our group, Haydee from the Philippines invites students to play ping ping on Saturday afternoons. She always has a great group of busy graduate students who show up for her “Ping Pong gang.”  

6) Holiday parties.  Internationals enjoy learning about American culture, so including them in Superbowl parties, Christmas celebrations, and Easter egg dying can be a lot of fun and help students to feel connected to our culture. 

7) Dance!  We’ve had a ton of fun teaching internationals square dancing and line dancing with a professional caller.  Spontaneous cultural dances often break out at other events, and there’s nothing like fun dancing to build community.

8) Grocery shopping.  One of my volunteers said that the best thing she ever did to connect with her busy student was regular grocery shopping.  The student and volunteer could visit while they did something that the student always wanted to make time to do.

9) Sightseeing together.  Taking advantage of academic breaks & weekends to do touristy things together creates special community memories. We’ve enjoyed DC tours, corn maizes, aquariums, and art galleries with our international friends. 

10) Road Trip!  My all-time favorite way to build community with internationals is at a retreat.  Having extended time to cook together, hike, do puzzles, chat into the night, answer questions, share testimonies, and sing under the stars does wonders for building a loving community.

Dealing with Difficult People

Tom* had been coming to our small group for weeks but he just didn’t fit in.  He often said things that were inappropriate, missed social cues and had a hard time adding to the discussion.  I’d like to say that keeping him included showed that we were deeply in touch with the Spirit, but it was probably because our ministry was so small.  We didn’t care who you were, just as long as you kept showing up.  We needed Tom, but we soon found out it was more than just to fill an empty seat. 

Tom was a difficult person to be with and it wasn’t like getting to know him better made things easier.  He was always negative and had a list of problems.  He would constantly ask for your advice, but then ignore almost everything you’d tell him, but we still needed Tom.

Written by Mike Godzwa

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My friend Dick Foth likes to say, “Everyone is my mentor, because everyone has something to teach me.”  

What did Tom have to teach us?  He helped our group understand what unconditional love was all about.  The years he was with us was a pivotal time in our group.  We were setting the tone and culture of our ministry. The truth is, without Tom, it would have been easy for us to fall into the trap just loving the people who were like us and reaching out to those that could stroke our own ego.  But Tom helped us see past ourselves.  He made us understand that true love is impossible without keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus as our source and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit.  

I’m happy to say that Tom did grow. His personality began to soften as he settled into the acceptance of our community, but the rest of us benefited far more. We got to see how potent Jesus’ love is…especially when we give it away.  

Dealing with difficult people is never easy, but my experience with Tom helped me stop asking, “Why me?” and changed my question to, “What do I have to learn?” 

* We have changed this person's name to protect the difficult. 

15 Essential C.S. Lewis Quotes

The following post was inspired by Relevant's 15 Chesterton Quotes That Will Shape Your Faith. It was compiled by Steve Prawiromaruto, a student involved in Chi Alpha at American University. 

One

“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” – The Great Divorce (1945)

 

Two 

“Jesus Christ did not say, "Go into all the world and tell the world that it is quite right" – God in the Dock (1970)

 

Three

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”
- Mere Christianity (1952)

Four

"If a man thinks he is not conceited, he is very conceited indeed."
- Mere Christianity (1952)
  

Five

"God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain." 
- Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis (2006)

 

Six

"It is not your business to succeed, but to do right; when you have done so, the rest lies with God." - Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis (2008)

Seven

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." – Mere Christianity (1952)

Eight

"If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity." – God in the Dock (1970)

Nine

"Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man." – Mere Christianity (1952)

Ten

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." – Essays on Forgiveness (1960)

Eleven

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen — not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." 
 - Is Theology a Poetry (1945)
                                         

 Twelve

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." 
- Mere Christianity (1952)

Thirteen

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."
- God in the Dock (1970)

 

Fourteen

"God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way."
- The Problem of Pain (1940)

Fifteen

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." 
- Mere Christianity (1952)