HOW TO
Find a job in a recession
Badier Velji ’07 was a research and development engineer at Energy Innovations, an Idealab company in Pasadena, for one year, eight months before being laid off in January 2009. It only took him two months to find his current job, which he did through one of his classmates with whom he reconnected at an HMC Career Fair. He has been working at SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif., for just over one year as a research engineer designing instrumentation to support military training.
The first step is to breathe. Losing your job is not the end of the world and will often lead to new opportunities in your career and can even renew your hidden passion. File for unemployment benefits immediately; the longer you wait, the more financial pressure you will feel. The next step is to figure out what you want to do with yourself. Compile a list of all your contacts and investigate if their companies have openings. Remember, your friends can help you get your foot in the door but only your merits will win you your next job. Contact the Office of Career Services for resumé help and leads. Make use of the Harvey Mudd LinkedIn and Facebook groups to connect with fellow Mudd alums. The Alumni Association Board of Governors is a diverse body that spans many industries, and is always willing to help with your search. Be aggressive with your job inquiries; there is little room for complacency in this tough market. During my job search, I received some sage advice
HOW TO
Find inner peace
Suzie Gruber ’87 spent the first 15 years of her post-graduate life working in biotech, specializing in construction management and telecommunications consulting. She now is a 5Rhythms teacher and Native American energetic herbalist. She worked at Willits Economic Localization, a non-profit organization focused on reviving the local economy and is currently a volunteer at the Sonoma County Herb Exchange, a local organization dedicated to providing high quality medicinal herbs to herbalists.
Inner peace is the ability to experience the here and now regardless of what is going on around us. So why isn’t it just this simple? Our nervous system has four responses to stimulus—engagement with the stimulus, fight, flight and freeze—states we move through easily when we are in balance. However, many of us live stressful lives, so we stay activated in fight, flight or freeze rather than returning to a relaxed state of engagement. Every time we become present, we build our capacity
to relax into inner peace. We can practice in any moment using two powerful tools: orientation and observation. To orient, just let your eyes go where they want to. They will eventually linger on something interesting to you in your environment. Try it right now. Next, observe
what you like about what you see. Maybe you are looking out the window at a beautiful tree. Describe to yourself in detail what you like about the tree, maybe its shape. Additionally, feel any inner sensations as you look at the tree; maybe you feel warmth in your chest or a loosening in your shoulders. You have just created a moment of inner peace for yourself. You can do this anywhere, anytime no matter what is happening around you. String these moments together to reprogram your nervous system to be more fully present and engaged with whatever is happening right now.
To learn more, contact Suzie at
inspiringmovement@earthlink.net. Adapted from Somatic Experiencing®
created by Peter Levine.
from another alumnus that I impart to you: Don’t spend all your time searching. Instead, spend one-third of your time on a hobby that makes you happy. Spend the other third on your health and fitness. You can use the last third to land yourself that dream job. Good luck!
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