Capella Connections

A warm, beautiful August weekend in Minneapolis was the setting for the most recent Capella commencement. Graduates from 45 states and five countries attended the ceremonies, along with their families and friends. Here are some scenes from those memorable days. READ MORE

Q:  How do I get a job for which I have the required education but not all of the work experience the employer prefers?

A:  Employers look for a combination of education, experience, skills, and attributes in a job candidate.  While your education is important and adds a lot of value, organizations also want candidates to have experiences related to the job. If your work history does not precisely fit the specified requirements, you may still be qualified to successfully perform the job. Here are some suggestions to show that’s the case: READ MORE

Ever have someone in a group project for a Capella course who didn’t seem to get it? He’d post late and ignore your emails for days. You had to explain the project’s scope over and over again until finally he did his share of the work. At the time, you might have wanted to throttle him, but in the long run he did you a huge favor. READ MORE

Library databases are extremely literal: They look for exactly what you tell them. This can make it difficult for new users to find what they want, but it also gives experienced searchers great power over their searches. Here are some tips on how to put that power to use in the alumni and learner library databases.

Use AND, OR or NOT

Whenever you add another keyword to your search, you need to tell the database how to use that keyword. This is where what are known as “Boolean operators” come in. The most common operator—AND—tells the database to find only results that contain both words. This greatly limits your search results and helps you find articles that contain keywords two or more concepts at once. READ MORE

With more people using it than any of its competitors, Google is the king of search engines. But there are rivals to the throne, including a new one called Cuil (pronounced “cool”) developed by former Google employees. Despite Google’s popularity, it’s not the best choice of every search. We’ll look at the differences between Google and its upstart competitor to explore when you might want to Google something and when you’re better off Cuiling it. READ MORE

Eight Capella PhD learners have grown so close over the past two years, they plan to take a cruise together when they’ve all completed their programs. Funny thing is, most of them have never met face-to-face. Instead, they communicate virtually every day through an online group they started in 2006.

They call themselves “The Squirrels”—a name that came after a rough day when one quipped that they had to be nuts to take on the challenges of earning a doctorate.

All are seeking a degree in psychology, but on the face of it, they would seem to have little in common: They live in 8 different states, and their cultural identities are nearly as diverse. READ MORE