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There’s a fine line between being annoying and being assertive, just like there’s a fine line between being a pest and being someone who responsibly follows up.
People might not tell your boss if you did a great job of being respectful of their time, but trust that the feedback will get to your superiors’ ears if you’re not, even if you’re talking to someone in the most distant corner of the organization who technically has a lower position than you.
How do you position yourself so that others willingly help you?
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Harvard sure can be rough
So, I’m assuming I have retained some sort of occasional visitor-ship. Doing nothing can be beautiful sometimes.
I’ve written a bunch of stuff just for You! already.
I’m sure you have other burning questions that make sense for me to attempt to answer. (No asking me about the new “Core” or where laundry rooms are or when you’ll find out about rooming assignments or why you aren’t in Stoughton the best dorm ever.)
To give some perspective and context, I’m an economics concentrator, with a citation in Chinese. I’ve studied abroad in Shanghai. I’ve worked on the beloved Harvard College Tuesday Magazine (I’m biased). Survived and did a brief stint at The Crimson. Was involved in … maybe as many publications as I have fingers in some capacity. Blah. Blah blah.
I’m going into business after graduation. By determining prices, ensuring proper allocation of inventory or something else. I did e-recruiting for a brief sad stint as a sophomore, ignored it as a junior, and will ponder how the next few months will define my opportunities for the 2 years after graduation.
But you’re all just freshmen, so, you must have some questions I can give a shot at or pass along to my friends who span the range of Harvard student types.
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I think it’s half-way inevitable that your computer suffers a major malfunction at least once during your college career. Sometimes you have to replace it, other times you have to wipe it clean. Sometimes, it’s almost dead, but not quite.
My computer died just this semester and had to get wiped. My new computer caught a virus in about 2 weeks, and I was left straggling.
There are preventative and reactive measures you can take when you computer is on the verge of dying, or is sort of dead already.
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Congrats! Insert the obligatory wow, you made it through the crapshoot etc. etc. etc., now don’t choose Yale blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.
Welcome to Surviving Harvard.
If you’re new, read through The Guides, where I’ve grouped all of my informational articles by category.
I’m a junior economics concentrator in Glorious and Fair Leverett House. I started up this community blog to better help others and myself deal with the ridiculousness that Harvard can toss at you.
Right now, the blog covers a comprehensive set of topics, ranging from the almost annoyingly pragmatic Most Commonly Overlooked Things When Choosing Classes to the somewhat more self-reflective The Negative Cult(ure) of Over-Committing. It also entreats you: Don’t Be THAT Boy or Girl: What Not To Do Amongst Other Smart People.
If you’re so inclined, more introductory-esque stuff, and if you want an answer to the “I CAN’T DECIDE!!” question…
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Commentary: Starting Fresh With an Unpaid Internship
Tags: business, career, Commentary, e-recruiting, graduation, Harvard, jobs, recruiting, summer, WSJ
WSJ’s: Starting Fresh With an Unpaid Internship
Hello recession! What a scary job AND internship hunting season we will have this year. Imagine, competing against seasoned professionals in the internship hunt, or the entry-level job hunt. Makes me shudder, truly.
Granted, Harvard grads will be weathering out the storm better than most. But, this recruiting season, things will get ugly. Really, don’t pester your class of 2010 friends this entire fall with study group requests. We’ll be applying ourselves to grad school or the bottomless job hole.
For anyone not going through the imminent catastrophe of graduation, what are your thoughts? Feelin’ lucky for being in school for some more years?
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