Barrister on a Budget: March 2015

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Spring Cleaning Series: How to Organize the Scholarship Application Process

As with employment applications, the scholarship search and application process can be just as overwhelming and easily get out of hand. But you can apply the same organization system to avoid applying to the same scholarship multiple times or missing deadline. Try implementing the following tips.

Be prepared. There are standard materials that most scholarship applications require and you must make sure they are ready to ship out. Have résumés, cover letters, recommendation letters, personal statements, and references updated, reviewed, and critiqued. Of course you may need to adjust these to pertain to the scholarship, but at least the bulk of the work will be completed.

Establish a schedule. Block off time to tackle different tasks. Schedule time to search for scholarships, focusing on a search engine or institutional scholarships. Schedule another time for filling out application, spelling out which applications you plan to attack.

Create your tracking table. Keep a calendar system such as Google calendar to track what needs to be done across multiple devices as well as an Excel spreadsheet. Organize the opportunities you find by the date of the deadline, listing the name of the scholarship, qualifications, application requirements, additional notes, and the date in which you applied. Color coding what steps you have completed with each scholarship will also be helpful.

Apply technology. The internet is helpful in finding scholarships, but you should also use the internet to help limit your search to those scholarships you actually qualify for so you aren’t wasting your time. Here are 5 ways to aid your scholarship hunt using social media and the internet.

Bonus. My friend Monica Matthews at How to Win Scholarships has a great ebook with many more organizational tips that helped to win her son over $100,000 in scholarship aid.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Spring Cleaning Series: How to Organize for Summer Employment Search

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With the internet, it’s easy to come across the same job ad more than once. To avoid sending multiple applications to an employer or just to keep from being overwhelmed, it’s important to stay organized. Here are a few tips to simplify the process and help land you the perfect job.

Be prepared. Most employers require a few basic documents. A résumé and cover letters are pretty common. Make sure you have updated these documents and save them in a new file that is easy to remember. Make sure you have another set of eyes read these documents and critique them. You don’t want a silly typo to give an employer a reason not to continue with your application. Also, make sure you have letters of recommendation and contact information for references saved in this folder as well.

Establish a schedule. To get the ball rolling, you’ll need to spend time hunting. Block out time each day or week to collect openings, applications, requirements, and deadlines. If applications use paper filing, keep a folder system of applications, arranging them by due date. Create targets that you want to accomplish whether you want to spend that block of time focusing on one search engine, filling out applications or attending a networking event. Setting a time limit with a particular goal in mind will keep you focused and help you accomplish more.

Create a tracking table. An easy system to use is a calendar that you can access on multiple devices such as Google calendar and create an Excel spreadsheet. Record what date you applied with a company, listing the employer, position, and the contact person. Schedule a date for a week later to follow-up if you haven’t heard from the person. Use this to keep track of your interview dates as well. After an interview, be sure to have a section in your table to mark off whether or not you’ve sent a thank you note, and schedule a date to follow-up after your interview. Use colors to help code where in the process you are with an employer and to keep the process bright and fun.

Apply technology. There are many new apps and programs – some free – that you can use to help you stay organized. For instance, Resunate has a basic program that’s free, which will help better your résumé. Or, to keep the stacks of business cards you’ll receive from being lost in the washing machine or scattered all over the place, try Evernote to keep them organized.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Spring Cleaning Series: How to Organize Your Notes for Finals

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Using computers has lessened the probability of your desk looking like the photo above, but maybe you feel like this is what is going on with your note situation or even with all of your mental notes. Who can blame you? Notes and case briefs as you read, notes you take during lectures, handouts, hand-me-downs from classmates, annotations in the text and supplements. Chaos! Here is a way to get your notes consolidated and in an order that can turn everything into your ultimate study product so you’re ready for finals.

Consolidate. If your notes are truly all over the place, there is no way around this step. Start by pulling out your syllabus. If there are subjects created by the professor, use them for your outline headers – and it’s also a great way to determine the focus that your professor wanted you to examine. Then, go through the assigned reading section by section. Use the textbook to determine the rest of your outline headings and subheadings as it is already broken up that way. Pull up your reading notes and the lecture notes and fill in the outline. Shorten case briefs to a few sentences. If you are allowed to use your textbook for the exam, also take this time to tab/highlight the main points. Work until you are caught up to the current assignment. For the next class, type your reading notes into this one document. If you’re allowed to use computers in the class (as not all professors are caught up with the times), fill in the lecture notes here so you are consolidated by the end of the class – no extra work required! If the professor doesn’t allow computers, spend 15-20 minutes after class to consolidate. This action will help you solidify the lesson as well as keep the mess from returning.

Color Coding. It’s well known that color coding can help with memory recall, but it can help you organize your notes and help in bringing the important information forward. For instance, always highlight the rule in a case brief the same color. If a professor emphasizes a footnote or concept, always highlight that in a certain color.

Bolding/Italics: As with color coding, these tools can also help signify to your brain what is important. Put case names in italics and bold key words like ones you know need to show up in the written portion of the exam.

Condense. Over the course of the semester, this one outline is going to become a giant. About a month before finals, you should be condensing your giant outline down to about a 5 to 10-pager. This is the outline to memorize (and use if allowed to bring an outline to the exam). Short sentences with the rule, examples, and exceptions. This is where your color-coding, bolds, and italics will come in handy. Keep your headings and copy/paste the key information into a new outline form. If you have any issues while memorizing this smaller outline, you’ll be easily able to reference the longer version (using control find) and if this area remains difficult, just copy/paste the longer information into your new outline and reprint. A printed version will keep you from other diversions on the computer.

Use technology. If you’re not good at backing up your work, purchase software like Carbonite to automatically back up your work when connected to the internet. Nothing is more devastating than losing an entire semester of notes. If your work spans multiple devices, consider using applications like Evernote or Dropbox.

Here’s a sample of a consolidated and condensed outline. *Disclaimer, this outline is old and may be outdated. It’s always best to use your own notes to better understand the material, reflecting your textbooks and professors’ lectures and individual understanding.