My mentee from my undergraduate school reached out to me for advice on choosing majors. The first question I asked was “Have you signed up for the Future Fright Week sessions in the fall?” After explaining to her what Future Fright Week sessions are (workshops aiming to educate underclassmen on majors and the associated career paths), I told her that I was glad that she asked me (That’s what mentors are for!) but that “I am not the only resource you have. Take advantage of all that are available to you”.

After that exchange, I had an epiphany – it is very important to be resourceful! How do you define “resourceful”? Jeff Bezo considered it the most important characteristic he looked for in a wife, “a woman who could get me out of a Third World Prison“. In all seriousness, I define “resourceful” as knowing how to identify and engage resources to help you. In the world of international students, being resourceful could include knowing what workshops to attend to polish up certain skills, finding articles to read to stay informed of the industry trends, involving outside assistance (academic advisors, career advisors, professors, alumni connections, mentors, strangers on Quora.com, etc).  Isaac Newton once said “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants”. You do not need to handle all the problems alone. If you could ask an expert and solve a problem in 20 minutes rather than spend more than 2 hours figuring it out yourself, why not raise your hand? Although the outcome might be the same for both scenarios, you could save a lot more time to deal with even bigger challenges.

Speaking of giants, I want to give a big shout out to Michelle Moylan at University of Minnesota who led the initiative to build a new Career Website for Minnesota’s International Students and Alumni. I am so excited about it that I wrote this post right away. In her own words, “On this page you will find information to help you with US job searching (including lists of companies who have hired U of MN international students and lists of what companies in what states and cities sponsor H1B visas), with non-US job searching, applying to graduate school and more.” Furthermore, if you have suggestions for additional content, you could email Michele at moyl0002@umn.edu. By doing so, you are not only getting your own questions answered, but also doing a favor for the rest of the audience. Michelle also spearheaded the International Careers Facebook page, which shares the latest relevant articles and provides updates on various program initiatives for international students.

If you are an international student, drop everything and add the two sites as your favorites! Even if you do not attend University of Minnesota, great resources have no boundaries thanks to the power of the Internet. If you are not an international student, I hope this could be a reminder that we have more resource than we think. It just takes a little digging and the courage to say “I don’t know about this. Can you help me?”

I have been aspiring to be “a giant” for my fellow readers. Subscribe to my blog by putting down your email address (quick painfree process!) so you will receive notifications when I share new learnings and reflections!

P.S. On a different note, I was a little bummed that the readership stats on my last post “Email from a Blog Reader – FOMO and 20 Slots” did not fare as well as I expected. I could probably write it a bit more concisely. Regardless, it described my big learning in 2015 that I found a sense of direction to some extent. One of my favorite bloggers on Medium Bo Ren also mentioned “FOMO” in her article on “maximizer” and “satisficer”. I highly recommend.