By admin, on April 9th, 2007 Did you know that employers typically only take 15-20 seconds to visually scan your resume? Make sure that your resume STANDS OUT.
Quick Tips:
- Stay relevant – TAILOR your resume for specific positions and individual employers
- Keep the most relevant information about you closest to the top of the resume
- Be sure the resume is grammatically correct and historically accurate
- Use active verbs to create your bulleted statements
- Make your resume easy to read by using concise, abbreviated language; remove unnecessary articles, such as: a, an, the
- Choose standard fonts like Times New Roman or Arial
- Keep the resume to one page in length
- Print the resume on high quality paper (available for purchase at the Career Center) and use a laser printer for printing
- Have your resume reviewed by a professional – the Career Center staff is prepared to review your resume and offer suggestions for editing or revision
- Always send your resume with a cover letter
(This article is revised from my LU Career Center blog.)
By admin, on April 9th, 2007 
We’ve all heard them, the nightmarish, gruesome tales of innocent interns caught in the horrors of Intern Hell. “I was supposed to be learning about marketing and public relations, but all I did the entire summer was filing!” cries “Ashley”, a sophomore at an unnamed New England college.
“Brandon’s” story was even worse. “Coffee, coffee, coffee…I used to like coffee. Starbucks was like a second home to me. And then I interned last summer, and ALL I did was make coffee. What in the world does coffee have to do with financial management? I’m an econ major; I was told I was going to learn about managing retirement funds, instead I developed carpal tunnel from pouring cups of coffee from those heavy carafes! Now I can’t even smell a cup o’ joe without grimacing. What’s worse, there’s not even a Coffee Haters Anonymous in northern Illinois!”
Every year, hundreds, if not thousands of interns across the United States accept what they believe to be an ideal internship. Instead, they find they’ve entered Intern Hell.
“Intern Hell is basically an employment situation where the “intern” is hired to work on a project related to their field of interest, but ends up doing work that is completely unrelated,” says a career counselor from Costa Mesa, CA. “Internships are supposed to be short term learning opportunities, but some employers see interns as cheap labor. It’s despicable.”
According to another career counselor from a university in Iowa, Intern Hell can also include internships that start out well, with the best of intentions, but devolve into hellish experiences. “Anything can happen; site supervisors quit, get fired, become ill – next thing you know, the new supervisor comes in and doesn’t know what to do with the intern. Or, you have internships where the work itself is great, but the supervisor mistreats the intern. Whatever the case, if the intern is not working with their institution, it’s hard to avoid Intern Hell,” says the career counselor.
Fortunately for many students, most colleges have an Internship Program. University career centers work with interns prior to starting their internships to develop specific learning goals. These goals can be documented on a Learning Agreement which is typically then signed by the student, the site supervisor and the career center. (In the case of credit internships, a faculty supervisor would usually also sign the document.) Often, internships also include a mid-term evaluation and site visit. These steps help to ensure that interns receive genuine learning experiences from their internships. University career centers are often open throughout the summer and are available to support interns during their entire internship experience.
(This article is revised from my LU Career Center blog.)
By admin, on April 6th, 2007 
OK, maybe finding a job isn’t exactly like dating, but there are similarities – at least if you’re doing it right. Perhaps if I used an older term, like “courtship,” it would make more sense.
Picture it, a beautiful young lady – she’s smart, talented, witty, and funny. Along come two very different young men. The first handsome young man who is trying to win her heart is genuinely enamoured by the young woman. He learns as much about her as he can by talking to her friends and family. He strikes up casual conversations with her whenever he can so he can understand her better, learn her likes, dislikes, goals, ambitions, and fears. The more he learns about her, the more he cares for her. He takes a long hard look at himself to figure out what it is that he can offer her. The second young man just wants a woman, any woman. He’s suave and debonair, but he doesn’t really care about our heroine. It’s not that he dislikes her, just that he doesn’t really know her. He has a standard set of pick up lines that he’s been using with every woman he meets. He knows very little about the young woman, except perhaps her name. Is she athletic, does she enjoy the theatre, is she allergic to peaches? He hasn’t a clue.
Courtship begins. The second young man approaches first. He’s charming and handsome. At first, the young woman is flattered. Then she asks him, “Why are you interested in me?” He is flabbergasted. He doesn’t know! So, he falls to his standard answers: “You’re lovely, my dear. I am looking for someone who can take care of me, who will make me look good at parties, and will not get too upset with me if I spend time with my male friends.” She gives him a strange look, and he knows his boat is sinking quickly. “I want a woman who will make me a better man, help me to be stronger, more caring and more capable.” We’re not especially surprise when our heroine walks off.
Next, the first young suitor approaches. Our young lady is somewhat weary given her last experience. (She’s feeling like the suitors that approach her only care about what they will get out of a relationship and care very little about what she is looking for.) He presents her with three yellow tulips. (She smiles and wonders how he knew yellow tulips were her favourite flower.) They chat comfortably for a little while. (She feels quite at ease with this young man because she’s spoken with him on several occasions in the past.) Finally, he asks if she would accept him as a suitor. She quickly asks her probing question: Why ME?? The young man launches smoothly into a monologue about why he’s fallen so hard for our heroine – her intelligence, her close ties to family, her commitment to volunteerism, her aversion to spiders. (She’s impressed, but wants to know more.) He explains why he believes he’s the right man for her. “I know you are looking for someone who can support himself and is not lazy. I’ve been working and attending school full time for four years. I’ve saved enough money for a good down payment on a house. I’m also quite handy – I help with my uncle’s construction company. I also know you’re hoping to find someone who has similar interests and goals. I am very close to my family. I also volunteer once a week at a local pantry. And, I would gladly slay any spider that dare enter the same room as you!”
Who do you suppose our heroine would choose?
Just like our heroine, employers are looking for candidates that know something about their organization: What is their mission? What are their products/services? What populations do they serve? Employers also want you to know something about the position for which you are applying. They are far less concerned about how you think the employer can make your life better. “I am looking for a challenging job where I can grow and develop my skills?” How different is that from what Suitor #2 said? Why would the employer respond any differently than our heroine? On the flip side, if you get to know the employer well, and emphasize the specific things about you that fit their needs, the employer will likely respond the way the young lady responded to Suitor #1…and you’ll live happily ever after!
By admin, on March 30th, 2007 For my first official entry to Sweet Careers, I thought it would be fitting to talk about job search. When people talk about finding a job, they are often hard pressed to think of practical strategies that yield actual results. Mind you, everyone has an opinion about where you should look for a job, or what you should do with your life, but few people can offer any tried and true methods for making your job search effective.
That said, I thought it would be helpful to offer some practical advice on job searching. (This initial entry will also help me identify the key topics that I would like to write about in future entries):
- Using the Internet as your sole job search tool is only effective 1% of the time, so diversify your job search. Use multiple strategies, such as attending career fairs; letting friends, family, faculty, etc. know about your search; conducting targeted informational interviews and reading trade/industry journals.
- Network without ceasing! This doesn’t have to be an icky process. In fact, networking should just be a professional way to stay connected with colleagues in your field. (Stay tuned for an article about networking in the near future.)
- Identify a job target: select a field and a type of organization for which you would like to work. Try to be specific, even if you’re feeling desparate. If you are too vague, your job search won’t have enough focus and you’ll end up spreading yourself too thin. For example, if you’re interested in Human Services, you might decide that youth development organizations, community centers, and educational outreach organizations are of interest and might be likely to hire someone such as yourself.
- Identify a geographic location where you would like to work. If you’re willing to relocate, identify 4 or 5 cities where you’d be interested in living.
- Use a directory like the yellow pages to begin to find 4-5 organizations per location, per field or type of organization. For example, if you’re interested in human services in the Portland, OR area, you might use yp.yahoo.com to find the names of youth development organizations in that area, such as the Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA. What you’re doing is creating your Universe of Possibilities
- Once you’ve created your Universe of Possibilities, select 1 or 2 organizations to research further. Find out contact information, product/service provided, organization size, organization structure, mission.
- Set up an informational interview with both of the first two organizations you’ve just research. (Look for more about info interviewing in future entries)
- Send out prospecting letters to both organizations to ask that they consider you for positions should they become available.
- Follow up with both organization after a week’s time.
- Return to Step 6
|
A sample text widget
Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis
euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.
Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan.
Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem,
suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.
|
|
