Tag: students

Why Honor Societies Have Admissions Requirements

Why Honor Societies Have Admissions Requirements

Have you been invited to join Golden Key International Honour Society? Or would you like to join?

Fall 2017 Scholarship Winners Announced!

Fall 2017 Scholarship Winners Announced!

Today, we’re excited to display the recipients of the Fall 2017 Golden Key headquarters awards!

Golden Key Profiles Avery Hlavinka, Star Student and Golden Key Member

Golden Key Profiles Avery Hlavinka, Star Student and Golden Key Member

AVERY HEADSHOTAvery Hlavinka joined Golden Key during her sophomore year at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She is now a senior, and has just been accepted into the Texas A&M Rangel College of Pharmacy.
Everyone at Golden Key is thrilled about Avery and her future. Let’s hear more from Avery about her life and her plans.
Golden Key: Where did you grow up, and what you are up to now?
Avery Hlavinka: I grew up in the small town of East Bernard, Texas. I have always had an interest in the healthcare field and worked as a student athletic trainer throughout high school.
I am currently a senior at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and I will be graduating in May. I have especially enjoyed science and English classes. That led to my college major, Biomedical Sciences, and my minors, English and Chemistry. Next fall, I will begin studies at the Texas A&M Rangel College of Pharmacy.
Golden Key: Outside the classroom, what have been your favorite activities at Texas A&M-Kingsville?
Avery Hlavinka: I am a leader in multiple student organizations and participate in undergraduate research. During the summers, I work at a rice dryer near my hometown.
I became a member of Golden Key during my sophomore year. Honestly, when I initially received my invitation to join Golden Key, I joined because it would look good on my resume. However, since I joined, the society has become so much more than a bullet point.
I began serving as Vice-President of the TAMU-K chapter of Golden Key during my junior year. This is a position that I am maintaining now that I am in my senior year.
In the short time that I have been a member of Golden Key, the society has already paid back every cent of my membership fee and the benefits that I have experienced as a member far outweigh every ounce of time and energy that I have poured into the organization. I have attended professional development events, career-building workshops, and leadership conferences, to name a few. These opportunities for personal and professional growth are in addition to scholarships and monetary awards that I have received as a Golden Key member.
Some of the greatest benefits of Golden Key are the networking opportunities. Not only can you join a close-knit group on your own campus, but there are many events where you are able to make connections with people from other schools from around the country and the world.
Golden Key: Would you encourage other students to join? What do you believe they can gain from membership?
Avery Hlavinka: I encourage every student who receives an invitation to accept the offer of membership. The opportunities that Golden Key presents don’t stop after your New Member Recognition Event. Through your membership, you will experience countless opportunities to receive scholarships, invitations to attend career-building workshops, chances to participate in professional development and networking events, the ability to participate in volunteer service events and projects to give back to your community and much, much more.
Golden Key is one of the few organizations that continue with you throughout your life. I know that no matter where life takes me – pharmacy school, job opportunities in other cities or even in other countries – I will still be able to participate in Golden Key events and will have a Golden Key community almost anywhere I end up.
I grew up in a small town and community has always been an important part of my life. Golden Key will allow me to maintain that feeling of community and inclusion anywhere I go.
 
Do you have an outstanding Golden Key member that the world should know about? Nominate them to be featured in a member profile!

How to Find a Local Golden Key Chapter and Get Involved

How to Find a Local Golden Key Chapter and Get Involved

A Golden Key membership offers many benefits – awards and scholarships, exclusive study programs, opportunities to study abroad, and more. But many members feel the opportunity to get involved with local Golden Key chapters is one of the most valuable benefits of all.   When […]

Watch: Golden Key Members Explain Why they Love Being Members

Watch: Golden Key Members Explain Why they Love Being Members

There is nothing like learning the value of Golden Key from the members themselves – students who joined and are now getting so much from their memberships.

Networking Your Way to the Top: Five Keys to Success

Networking Your Way to the Top: Five Keys to Success

networking
Back when you were in high school, networking was simple. You sat down with someone who worked with your mother or father, or with a member of the clergy at your house of worship, with a local business leader – or maybe with someone who had attended a college that interested you. You asked general questions about your future, your education and your career.
There was value in that kind of networking at the time. But now that you are a college student, a graduate student or a college grad, the stakes are higher. You aren’t just collecting general information. You are at the stage of life when you are making specific plans. That means taking the process of networking to a higher level.
Here are five ways to get the most from networking now that you are “playing for the pros.
Reach out to people in the professions where you would like to work
They should work in the companies or industry that you are targeting, not people who are just important or influential in a general sense. The goal of meeting with them is to ask specific questions, not collect general information. Some examples might include:

  • “Do only communications majors get hired by companies like yours to work in PR, or do you sometimes hire English majors like me?”
  • “I never took any courses in electrical engineering in college. Do I need to add those before I apply for jobs in companies X, Y or Z?”
  • “Which companies in our area are most involved in doing good in the community and helping people?”

Tap individuals who come from communities where you belong, not “anyone who will speak to you”
There are many reasons to do this. First of all, they will be more likely to meet with you. Second, they will have more interest in helping you succeed. Some of these communities might include:

  • Graduates of your college or university.
  • Members of Golden Key or other honor societies to which you belong.
  • Members of professional fraternities or other professional organizations.

Stress that you are asking for an informational interview, not a job interview
The most effective networking happens when you ask for information, not for a job, for several reasons:

  • If you ask for a job, your networking contacts will either refer you to the employment office at their companies or turn down your request to meet. (“We are not hiring jobs right now.”)
  • When you ask for information, most people will be happy to meet with you. If they know of jobs that are right for you, they will refer you to them. In contrast, asking for a job interview is a “hit or miss” strategy that has little chance of getting results.

Effective networking means staying in touch with people, not just meeting once
On the day you meet with someone, he or she might not know of any jobs or other opportunities that are right for you. In a week or two, that could change! That is why it is so important to take the following steps to keep your networking contacts active:

  • Send a written thank-you note after your first conversation. Not an email . . . not a tweet . . . a good old-fashioned handwritten thank-you note! It will get your networking relationship off to a strong start.
  • Share news about what you are up to. When you get an internship or win an award, let your networking contacts know.
  • Send links to articles and other information that your networking contacts will read and appreciate. It is a quick and effective mind to “stay on their radar.”
  • If you get a new job, let them know. It’s another way to demonstrate that you see your networking contacts as resources who are part of your success team.

Effective networking works best when you meet people face-to-face, not only connect online
Online forums like LinkedIn can certainly help you network. But the most productive networking happens when people invest the time and effort to meet people face-to-face. Some reasons include:

  • When you actually meet your contact, you become vastly more memorable.
  • Your contact will notice strengths and abilities in you that simply cannot be communicated online.
  • Genuine in-person relationships are far more easy to maintain and strengthen than online relationship can ever be.

So go out there and start connecting! Do you have any tips for networking you’d like to share? Sound off in the comments!

Winning the Joan Nelson Study Abroad Scholarship

Winning the Joan Nelson Study Abroad Scholarship

“I would tell prospective members not to hesitate to join. Members of the society are a unique and varied group with access to scholarships that could offer them invaluable opportunities now and in the future.”

Golden Key Atlanta Regional Summit 2016

Golden Key Atlanta Regional Summit 2016

Golden Key’s Regional Summit 2016 for Regions 3 and 7 kicked off in Atlanta, GA. On Friday, February 28, 2016, Golden Key members arrived to the gorgeous Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel with the anticipation of having a fun filled weekend. Everyone knows that Atlanta traffic […]