3-7.7.24
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the third edition of the Mindful Morsels, a newsletter focused on mindful content consumption!
What is Mindful Morsels?
This newsletter focuses on making the most of our time and attention. Specifically, that means consuming content with purpose, focusing on quality over quantity, and fostering a healthy information diet.
What can you expect from this newsletter?
* Actionable Notion tips and featured Notion templates: Learn practical strategies and use templates to become a more mindful content consumer.
* Curated tech resources: Discover tech-focused articles, podcasts, and tools to enhance your mindful consumption journey.
* Personal updates: From a 22-year-old college graduate who is trying to figure out life.
Notion Tips and Templates:
* Notion Tip: Use Ctrl + Shift + N (or Cmd + Shift + N on Mac) to quickly open a new Notion window to seamlessly work on two window screens!
* Featured Notion Template: “Travel planner” by Notion
* I’m literally using this template right now for my current trip out of the country. Watch me break down this template and more in my latest YouTube video below! “Travel planning can be a fragmented mess with different documents and information scattered across email, files, websites, and more. This template puts all the essential details about your travel plans into one spot.”
Latest Articles:
* “This is Big Tech’s playbook for swallowing the AI industry” - The Verge
* “Scientists Create Robot Controlled by Blob of Human Brain Cells” - Futurism
* “Supreme Court Protects the Future of Content Moderation” - The Verge
Book Recommendation: “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement” by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony & Cass Sunstein
I’m going to be honest. A lot of this book’s content flew over my head the first time I read through it. It’s a book that definitely deserves a second, maybe even a third read. The authors expertly break down this concept of “noise” that influences the judgement of important societal decision makers. The scenarios the authors use highlight judges, doctors, business leaders, government officials, and more. A fascinating read, if you are ready to think critically for 521 pages (Kindle edition). Read more about the book HERE.
Personal Updates → securing a job
After about a year of searching, I have finally secured a full-time job. It’s been a long journey but I am glad to have made it to the other side.
I think there are three key takeaways from this experience for college student:
* It’s never too early or late to find an opportunity at this stage of a college student's career.
* The process will likely be challenging if you’re interested in industries like consulting or tech. It’s important to have a few people you can consistently rely on, who accept both the best and worst parts of you.
* Using organization tools like Notion can be very helpful. I’m happy to share more either through my platforms or by booking a call with me.
🛋️Background
For some context, I graduated this past May from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Global Affairs. When I started at Georgetown, I was pretty sure I would pursue consulting because of the university's resources for that career path. I joined a consulting club on campus, gained experience working with clients, and felt ready for recruiting by the summer of 2022, between my sophomore and junior year.
🌀Initial Struggles
And then, things went south. I spent the summer of 2022 rigorously preparing for interviews and doing casework to put my best foot forward for the consulting company interviews. These interviews were for a junior summer internship, which I wanted to achieve. However, during June, July, August, and September, I did not receive an offer I wanted. This situation was very disappointing to me. I felt like I had worked really hard to be the best candidate possible. Even though these rejections and missed opportunities did not define me, they obviously hurt at that point.
🥣Changing Course
In September 2022, I thought there were two clear paths to proceed. First, I could continue looking for consulting opportunities, whether big, small, or far away. Alternatively, I could pursue other interests as part of the class of 2024.
I realized my first year of college at Georgetown was highly unusual because it was virtual. I felt like I had missed out on much of the professional and career exploration that typically happens in college, especially in the first few years as a student. After considering the option of continuing to apply for consulting opportunities, I decided to instead expand my horizons.
🧢Studying Abroad & Cool Internships
First, I wanted to see if there were study abroad opportunities because I had not yet studied abroad. My first year was virtual, and the pandemic made it hard to travel. I continued to apply for various internships and summer 2023 opportunities. Finally, in February 2023, I was awarded a fellowship with the CIEE to be part of their Frederick Douglass Fellowship program. The experience of having a fully funded trip to South Africa and Ireland was amazing, but I'll save that story for another time.
The second area of exploration I wanted to pursue was technology, specifically tech ethics concerning privacy and misinformation. In the fall of 2022, I did an internship at the U.S. Library of Congress, studying how the first modern information infrastructure networks, like those set up by the CIA, were established.
🖌️Continuing the Job Search
However, that meant that at the conclusion of this fellowship in August 2023, I still did not have a clear path forward for my post-grad career, unlike some of my peers who had summer internships at organizations where they would return full-time. This situation does not just for consulting and banking opportunities, but for opportunities in general.
I didn't have that situation, so I did what many people would do in my position: I started thinking about my opportunities and skills over the past three or four years and how I could apply them moving forward. It was hard to pinpoint because my major in business and global affairs and my experiences in tech, business, nonprofit, and government seemed good for a college experience but not easy to translate onto a résumé.
🦋Applying to Tech and Ethics
Going into fall 2023, the main two industries I applied to were tech consulting and tech ethics. There were opportunities in both fields, but unfortunately, neither led anywhere. The hardest part of the application process in fall 2023 was definitely getting interviews.
At a certain point, after applying to numerous places, I got into a rhythm of recognizing how to send applications and network well to get referrals. However, the problem was that these referrals were not leading to many interviews. Despite feeling like I was a strong candidate for positions, I selfishly felt like the effort I put into sharpening my résumé, networking, and interview prep was not paying off as it should have.
📘Shifting Focus to Startups
In the spring of 2024, my job search shifted due to a fellowship I was awarded. I started applying to smaller companies, specifically startups. In this environment, I found it easier to get interviews because of my fellowship status. However, the positions were often either very vague and uncertain about their future needs or extremely specific, which seemed a bit challenging for a college student to meet such precise requirements in their career.
🚙Looking Forward
So, which opportunity ended up actually working out? That will be for another post once I start working! I'm super excited to be working in D.C. starting at the end of next month, and that experience will definitely be part of these newsletters. I will detail what that experience is like as well. That's been the job process for me. Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you next time.
Stay tuned!
The next issue will cover the differences between Notion and other similar platforms like Obsidian, Asana, monday.com, and more indirect competitors like Google and Microsoft.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam
About the Creator
Sam H Li is an entrepreneurial technologist on a mission to bridge the gap between innovation and responsibility. He is particularly passionate about tackling major technological challenges like disinformation and user privacy breaches. His focus lies in analyzing how organizations (both private and public) handle data ethics and sustainability as they scale.
Podcast Timestamps
* 00:00 Intro + Overview
* 01:16 Notion Tips, Latest YouTube Video, Latest Articles, Book Recommendation
* 04:05 Personal Updates: Job Search Process
* 19:18 Conclusion + Next Issue
