Spring often means that many students are engaged in an active search for jobs or internships.  Identifying companies of interest is certainly the first step, but what comes next?  Your resume, along with your cover letter or presence/conversation at a career fair, is your opportunity to illustrate how you would be a good fit for a position or organization.  That means that you should be purposefully highlighting skills, abilities, and attributes that are relevant to the employer.

Figuring out what is relevant is the behind-the-scenes preparation before your resume is created, your cover letter is drafted, and your interview responses are practiced.  By researching the organization and industry of interest, you will be able to tailor your job search materials and create a strong personal brand that advocates for why you should be considered as a candidate.

According to the Digital Job Choices Magazine, available through the Career Services website, “Researching employers is perhaps the single-most important activity you will undertake in your job search.  The information you uncover can help you:

• Discover organizations that are a good match for you,
• Identify the organization’s goals and needs,
• Tailor your resume and cover letters to highlight your skills and experiences that match the employer’s needs,
• Know what questions to ask employers,
• Demonstrate your interest in and enthusiasm for the organization,
• Answer interview questions with confidence, and
• Make an informed employment decision."

One Page ………………. (in length)
15-20 Seconds ……… (amount of time you have to make a great first impression)
Multiple drafts……….. (before you have a polished document)

These are important considerations to remember when putting together your resume.  Whether you are applying to a summer position, an internship, full time work, or graduate school, your resume is often your first means of introducing yourself.  Be sure it represents you well!

Your resume, like your finger print, should be one of a kind. The activities that you’ve been involved in, your accomplishments and successes, as well as qualities you’d like to highlight, will be different from anyone else’s.  Although your resume is meant to be a snapshot, meaning it won’t include every detail of your life, it should include the information that will be the most impactful and demonstrative of the skills you have to offer.  This takes time and thoughtful preparation!

Check out the CareerSpots video Make Your Resume POP for advice and a quick-tips sheet.  Career Services also has plenty of resources to help strengthen your Communication for the Job Search.  Remember, your goal should be to produce an impressive document that represents your strengths and accomplishments.  Anything less will make it that much more difficult to get noticed!

When you made the decision to come to college, hopefully your primary concerns were doing well in classes and increasing your understanding and application of many different fields of study.  Your academic performance should be your top priority; however, there are many other things that ‘the college experience’ can give you if you take advantage of your time here.  It's true that getting involved on and off campus is valuable socially, developmentally, and personally.  But doing so is also extremely valuable when thinking about the job and internship search.

Being a well-rounded student demonstrates to employers that you are ready to handle the world of work.  Depending on your involvement, it is also where you are developing many job related skills that can help you to stand out from your competition.  All you need to do (aside from participating!) is to make the connection between what you are accomplishing and how it relates to necessary job/internship skills.

CareerBuilder recently conducted a survey, finding that “one-in-four hiring managers say relevant experience is the top thing they look for in a new graduate.”  You may be thinking that one in four is low, but why risk it in a tough economy?  Especially when you may already have plenty of experience from your involvement!

Take a look at THIS ARTICLE to see how CareerBuilder writers suggest that you connect your coursework, part-time jobs, campus leadership positions, clubs and other extra-curriculars, and volunteer work to your future job search efforts.  If you are a senior, be sure these things are sufficiently illustrated on your resume, in your cover letter, or through your interview responses; for those of you with a year or more left, take advantage of your time to get involved!

Does your Study Abroad experience relate to your job search?  Absolutely!  Through Study Abroad, you are building and/or developing an entirely new set of skills that can help you stand out from other candidates and transform you into a more confident person. 

There are certain qualities that employers seek in an ideal candidate, a few of which include: verbal communication skills, a strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative.  At a recent Unpacking your Study Abroad Experience workshop, Career Services and Study Abroad teamed up to help students articulate and market skills such as these by utilizing examples and illustrations from their time abroad. 

I asked two students to give some insight into at least one thing they gained from their experience that might serve to strengthen their job candidacy.   

Amber Keeseman ’11 – London, England:               
While my desire to study abroad never stemmed from a need to improve my resume, it is just an added bonus that my experiences abroad are great examples of characteristics necessary for success in the workforce.  As most people who have studied abroad would agree, the person who leaves is not the same as the person who returns.  The transformation that I experienced by pushing myself out of my comfort zone is sure to have a positive impact on my career success.  Now when I talk to employers, I attempt to convey my increased confidence and my new-found willingness to take on risk. 

Caitlin Murphy ’12 – Maastricht, Netherlands:               
My college experience has provided me with valuable time management and critical thinking skills. Whether it’s analyzing literature in English Class, volunteering in a student organization, or playing basketball on the court, I am confident in my abilities to handle my tasks. Another aspect of my college career that was very influential was my study abroad in the Netherlands. I was forced to make difficult decisions about which train or plane to take and other survival necessities. The roadblocks I faced made me realize my ability to think through any situation and the confidence I gained from each challenge has made me the independent and capable person I am today.

What you are able to ‘unpack from your experience’ will be unique to you – the important thing is to remember that your study abroad experiences can be great additions to your job search!

This semester, Career Services hosted a Professional Development series to provide information on the topics of resumes, working abroad, going to graduate school, navigating the corporate world, and internships.  For those students who attended, we hope you obtained some valuable information to use as you move forward!  There are still opportunities on November 2nd and 4th for the 'Internships: Accounting to Zoology' program.

We were pleased to host guest speakers for two of the topics – ‘Creating Compelling Resumes’ and ‘From Graduation to Corporation’.  Robert Frey, a 1977 graduate of Lebanon Valley and a successful business owner, gave his professional advice on marketing yourself through a resume.  An important take-away from his session is: regardless of how much experience you have, the main thing is to demonstrate how your education and experiences will benefit the organization.  There are plenty of services available to help you create your resume.  Start by viewing the Creating a Resume webshop to learn the basics.  Look in the Resource Library of your Job Center account for additional information, including Robert Frey’s presentation slides that will remain available through this semester.  We would also recommend you meet with Career Services staff for individual help.

Andy Teach, a 30 year veteran of the corporate world, spoke on October 19^th about best practices in transitioning from college to the corporate world.  Mr. Teach has written a book ‘From Graduation to Corporation’ in which he shares personal insight on the do’s and don’ts of a successful corporate career.  After working 23 years in the entertainment industry, Teach is now travelling to speak with students and share his stories and examples of navigating the corporate world.  As you get ready to graduate and head off to the beginning of your career, be sure to think about the new environment you will be adapting to!  Career Services offers great articles to refer to for a successful first year after college. 

Valley News has posted two great articles on Mr. Frey and Mr. Teach - enjoy!   ‘Creating Compelling Resumes’ and ‘From Graduation to Corporation’. 

Putting together your resume for the first time may seem like a daunting task.  That’s why it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to write one for each position you are interested in.  According to a recent article, the worst resume mistake you can make is ‘failing to customize.’  This means that every single resume you send out should be tailored. 

Your objective should be specific and your summary of qualifications, if you have one, should highlight skills you possess that are relevant to that employer.  The supporting bullet points that illustrate your experiences should also be customized to bring out accomplishments that are important to the position/company.  Basically, everything in your document should be written in a way that answers why you are a great candidate for that job!

What can you do to make it as painless as possible to tailor every resume?  Start with a ‘master resume.’  Create one resume that includes everything you can think of from your educational background and experiences.  This is the document you will continually add information to as you gain new skills/accomplishments.  (Remember, your resume is never ‘done’!  It is a living document that needs to be updated regularly!)  When it comes time to customize, you can pull relevant information directly from your master resume so you are not starting from scratch each time.  Customizing your resume takes time and careful consideration – but it is absolutely a necessity!

With last week’s post on the Do’s of Writing a Spectacular Cover Letter, I thought I’d post a few other articles that I’ve recently found.  Remember, there are many opinions out there on how to write a winning resume and cover letter, as well as the best techniques to master for an interview – the important thing is to make sound judgments on what works best for your particular set of qualifications in the specific field/industry/job you are applying for.  Gathering as much information as possible will help you be more informed.

‘How Long Should Your Resume Be? Expert advice and 5 tips for determining the right length’ 

‘50 Worst of the Worst (and Most Common) Job Interview Mistakes’  

*These articles certainly are not the only ones out there on these topics and should not be taken as the final word-just things I happened to find and wanted to share!

Putting together a winning resume is one of the most important aspects of your job search.  Think of this document as a snap shot of your combined qualifications (education, experience, activities) and build it to demonstrate how you would fit into the big picture of a company/organization.  Our office has many resources to help you get started and improve your resume, the accumulation of which would be too much to include in one post.  Therefore, I’d like to give some basic tips now and then continue on in later posts.

Regardless of where you currently are in the process of creating your resume, keep in mind that this is a working document, meaning it would be impossible to write it once and consider it complete forever.  You should be tailoring your resume to every position you’re applying for.  It might sound time-consuming, but it’s worth it in the end when your resume stands out above other candidates.

To begin, research the company you are applying for.  Read the job description carefully and circle key words of things they are looking for or things that describe their organization.  Also be sure to check out their website and any literature available to help you tailor your qualifications to fit their needs.  It might help to research the general industry that you are hoping to work in to learn of any trends and characteristics of employees who are successful in that field.  Both of these things will help you word your resume to give you a better chance of landing an interview.

Then, get a piece of scratch paper and begin writing down everything you can think of that you have accomplished during college.  Write down class projects, research experiences, work history, internships (paid or unpaid), volunteer activities, campus involvement, and anything else you can think of that might be relevant.  This is just a brainstorming activity so don’t worry about whether or not everything relates, just start writing it down to get yourself thinking.

Next, start grouping things on your scratch paper into different headings.  This might require help from someone in Career Services, but some sample sections might be: Leadership, Student Involvement, Employment Experience, Community Service and Volunteer Work, Relevant Experience, Computer skills, Internships, and Awards and Achievements.  Each person’s resume will be different, so it’s impossible to address all possible sections that might appear on yours.  The important thing is to highlight what you have in such a way that makes sense to the reader and illustrates what is relevant to the position first and foremost. 

That’s all I’ll include in this post, but hopefully it’s some food for thought on how to get started on creating a tailored resume.  Don’t forget about our workshops this semester on Creating Your Resume!  They are one of many excellent resources available to learn the basics of how to get started. We already had one yesterday, but there are three more being offered this fall. For more information on these workshops, go to the Career Events section of JOB CENTER.