FIRSTHAND: Forget Me Not!

By Hannah Polansky

Week 11: Asking for Help in FIRSTHAND

INTRODUCTION

Hello all! We have come so far in our FIRSTHAND journey! It is so important to remember that asking for help when you need it is essential to moving forward with your career journey. Today’s blog will be the last of the FIRSTHAND series as the academic year comes to a close. We will be talking about the final section of FIRSTHAND, which is the “Help” section. This tab is where you can go in case you need more clarification on how to navigate FIRSTHAND, how to find exactly what you’re looking for, and how to get more involved with all the options that FIRSTHAND has to offer regarding your career needs. I will break down the “Help” tab step by step and explain the most efficient ways to get the answers you’re looking for quickly and easily!

 FEATURES OF THE “HELP” TAB

You can find the “Help Tab within your personal profile that we learned how to make back in our third blog post. The first step is getting onto your FIRSTHAND homepage.

Then, click on your name in the top right corner of the page.

Once you’ve clicked onto your name, click the third option on the dropdown menu titled “My Profile”.

Here you will see a button on the top right of the page that says, “Help”. It should be located directly to the left of your name and avatar circle. Push that button.

This button will have two options. The options are “Help center” and “Report an issue”. Let’s explore the first option, “Help center”.

HELP CENTER

There are two things you can do within the Help center:

1.) Search for your specific question

Here in the white search bar, you can type in whatever specific question you have, giving you the freedom to be particular. The benefit to this service that FIRSTHAND offers is that you don’t have to choose from the usual vague and unhelpful menus that most help centers offer. Additionally, as soon as you type something in, (such as how to… or how do I…) FIRSTHAND automatically autofills in some suggestions that may answer the question you are looking to answer. When you find a question to pick, it will give you automated instructional directions that answer your question.

2.) Submit a request

You can find the “Submit a request” button in the top right corner of the main page (circled in orange)

When you click this button, you are redirected to a page where you can input your email address, the subject of your request, and a detailed description of the thing you would like to request from FIRSTHAND’s help center, whether that be directions on how to find something, access to more resources, or any other general questions. A unique feature of this button is that you also have the option of attaching files to go along with your request. The file could be an image, screenshot, or document.

REPORT AN ISSUE

Moving on to the “Report an issue button”, this can be accessed back where the “Help center” button is, directly below it.

Clicking this button will split your FIRSTHAND screen into two parts, the main screen and an email screen. An email draft will open with the To: line already filled out with FIRSTHAND’s support email address, which is support@firsthand.co

This feature is very similar to the “Submit a request” feature, but it allows you to do it outside of FIRSTHAND’s server, and you can use the email of your choice instead of going through your FIRSTHAND account.

Now that we’ve finished examining the entirety of FIRSTHAND step by step, you can always go back to any of our previous blogs to get refreshed! In so many creative ways, FIRSTHAND as a whole is able to provide countless company rankings and profiles, extensive access to job and internship information and opportunities, career guides and advice to give you every opportunity to be fully prepared for your steps to finding and keeping the career of your dreams. Doesn’t everyone deserve the tools to find something they really love and transform it into a sustainable, fulfilling career?

Please feel free to make an appointment with Career Services in 412 McCarthy Center if you have any questions regarding your career journey… we would love to help you with your career search process. It’s what we’re here for!

Save Your Career Worries for Another Day!

By Hannah Polansky

Week 10: The “Saved” Tab in FIRSTHAND

INTRODUCTION

In today’s blog, we will be taking a trip down memory lane and go back to FIRSTHAND’s homepage. The destination? FIRSTHAND’S “Saved” section. This tab is where you can find advisors/mentors and keep their contact information on hand for any of your future career needs. Helping you find advisors/mentors is another unique feature of FIRSTHAND. I will break down the “Saved” tab step by step and explain the most efficient ways to find an advisor that you can really click with!

 FEATURES OF THE “SAVED” TAB

You can find the “Saved Tab within your profile that you learned how to create back in the third blog post. The first step is getting onto FIRSTHAND’S homepage.

Then, click on your name in the top right corner of the page.

Once you’ve clicked onto your name, click the first option on the dropdown menu titled “Saved”.

Here you will see a big green button that says, “Find an advisor”. Push that button.

This is the place you will go to find and add as many advisors as you want to your profile. If FIRSTHAND is not able to find an advisor that meets your requirements immediately, you still have access to a space on the screen to input your email address so that FIRSTHAND can help you find the advisor(s) that are a good fit for you via email. They will search the database and get back to you in one business day with advisors they think are a good match.

You can seek advisors/mentors based upon things that are important to you. Clicking the “Available Now” button will show you advisors that are available at the time of your search. You may fill in the request and wait for FIRSTHAND’s response if you choose to opt out of this button. You are encouraged to customize your advisor search but may want to consider not overly limiting your search. There are six main dropdown sections that are essential to utilize the advisor search feature in FIRSTHAND’S “Saved” tab. They are:

1.) ADVICE TOPICS

Within Advice Topics, there are 5 subgroups to explore:

• Career- There are 18 options to choose from. They are: Career Conversation, Resume/CV critique, Mock interview, Job Search, Cover Letter Critique, LinkedIn Profile Critique, Portfolio Review, Case Interview, Product Manager Interview, Coding Interview, Transitioning from School to Work, Charting a Career Path, Salary Negotiation, Work-life Balance, Re-entering the Workforce, Retirement Planning, Being Successful at Work, and Changing Careers.

• Academic- There are 6 options. They are: Making the Most of Your Time in School, Picking a Major, Studying Tips, Writing a Thesis, Writing a Dissertation, and Navigating the PhD.

• Admissions– There are 9 options. They are: Speaking With Prospective Students, Applying to Business School, Law School, an MS Program, Med School, Vet School, a PhD Program, College, and Prep School.

• Startups & Business– There are 14 options. They are: Industry Insights, Business Plans, Fundraising advice, Founding Team Assembly, Leadership advice, Product Management advice, Team Management advice, Sales advice, Marketing advice, Product design advice, Strategy advice, Accounting advice, Finance advice, and Engineering management advice.

• Opportunities– There are 5 options. They are: Job Shadowing, Job Openings, Volunteering, Partnering, and Serving on a Board.

2.) LOCATION

-Within “Location”, you can input the city or country from which you would prefer your advisor to be based. An advantage of an advisor based in the area of your choice means they may have networking connections and knowledge of the corresponding market. You also have the option to include past locations that you had already searched before.

3.) FIELDS OF STUDY

-Within “Fields of Study”, you can add as many fields as you want by searching for it in the search bar.

4.) FUNCTIONS

-There are 34 different functions you can choose from, ranging all the way from Accounting, Administrative and Architecture to Sales, Transportation, or Writing and Editing.

5.) INDUSTRIES

-You can pick from 16 industries which are Agriculture, Art, Construction, Corporate, Education, Finance, Goods, Government, Health, Legal, Manufacturing, Media, Organizations, Recreation, Services, Technology, and Transportation.

6.) LANGUAGES

-You can choose from six languages and pick the one which best suits your needs, whether it be English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Hindi, German or feel free to add your own!

For our next blog, we will talk about how to access FIRSTHAND’s help center!