Thank you to poster Dan for some great resume advice. It follows below:
If you are entering the job market for the first time you must finds ways to brand yourself as unique. In your entry-level resume you should have a list accomplishments and achievements NOT tasks.
If your achievements were completed under time constraints remember to include this as well. Your entry level resume should only include your GPA if it was exceptional, 3.5 or greater, or if the job requires it.
You will find many samples of entry level resumes that say you should include your personal skills. This is only a logical thing to do when your past job experience cannot prove your skills. And as an entry level job seeker you probably do not have much job experience. That is OK. Find other things to mention in your entry level resume. List achievements in a group project or success in some form of competition you competed in during school.
Another important thing to note for all entry level resumes is that you should always include dates on your resume. Recruiters and HR personal become concerned when they see large gaps.
If you are a recruiter and have advice for the readers of this blog, please send it in!
Engagement, Interviewing and You
Whenever I teach a seminar on job hunting, I am inevitably asked about the wearing of engagement rings while interviewing. Should a girl wear her ring proudly or hide it away? My answer is not vague. Hide it.
As a hiring manager of any gender, the number one priority is to fill a job with a candidate who will do the best job and make the greatest effort on the organization's behalf. In short, you want to get your money's worth. To some managers, there is a real risk with hiring people who are engaged. They will spend hours of work time immersed in their wedding plans, ask for lots of time off right out of the chute, and be generally unfocused on their tasks at hand.
This can happen in even the best organizations.
Some managers will even go so far as to assume that your next task at hand once your Mrs. Happy is to get pregnant and ask for maternity leave. Is this a legal reason for not hiring you? No. Can it still happen? Yes. And it is all but impossible to prove that your engagement was the reason for the snub.
Before you fire off prickly emails, let me say that I personally taught 5 classes, worked as a consultant for a major company, and took comprehensive doctoral exams while planning my wedding, so I know a hard-working person can multi-task while planning the big day.
But the stereotype still persists. And if you are running neck and neck with another candidate, it could be the tipping point that knocks you out of the running. So as proud as you are of your rock and your hubby to be, I'd avoid the ring and the discussion of your nuptials until you are safely hired.
You may need to negotiate your time off for the wedding and honeymoon as part of your hiring agreement, but you don't need to share the reason. You can simply say that you have some unbreakable personal commitments that will take you out of town for the following dates, and will that be acceptable.
Remember, you may feel the desire to be a shining beacon of feminist power, paving the way for brides everywhere, but you also need a job.
As a hiring manager of any gender, the number one priority is to fill a job with a candidate who will do the best job and make the greatest effort on the organization's behalf. In short, you want to get your money's worth. To some managers, there is a real risk with hiring people who are engaged. They will spend hours of work time immersed in their wedding plans, ask for lots of time off right out of the chute, and be generally unfocused on their tasks at hand.
This can happen in even the best organizations.
Some managers will even go so far as to assume that your next task at hand once your Mrs. Happy is to get pregnant and ask for maternity leave. Is this a legal reason for not hiring you? No. Can it still happen? Yes. And it is all but impossible to prove that your engagement was the reason for the snub.
Before you fire off prickly emails, let me say that I personally taught 5 classes, worked as a consultant for a major company, and took comprehensive doctoral exams while planning my wedding, so I know a hard-working person can multi-task while planning the big day.
But the stereotype still persists. And if you are running neck and neck with another candidate, it could be the tipping point that knocks you out of the running. So as proud as you are of your rock and your hubby to be, I'd avoid the ring and the discussion of your nuptials until you are safely hired.
You may need to negotiate your time off for the wedding and honeymoon as part of your hiring agreement, but you don't need to share the reason. You can simply say that you have some unbreakable personal commitments that will take you out of town for the following dates, and will that be acceptable.
Remember, you may feel the desire to be a shining beacon of feminist power, paving the way for brides everywhere, but you also need a job.
What do employers want? Making the Most of College Part III
Skill: Real-world problem solving.
Problem solvers are the people who get things done. When things get complicated, they brainstorm, deliberate, reason, and disentangle. They don’t complain, whine, panic, or freak out. At least they don’t let you know they are doing it. The person who can get things done is the one you want on your team.Life is really just one giant word problem when you think about it. What do you do if you have just planned an event for 200 people and the venue burns down two days before hand? What do you do if you are presenting a research project to a class of 200 people and your laptop crashes? If the answer is go to pieces, you’re not our ideal candidate.
How do I get that skill?
Choose classes that have practical exercises and projects. These tend to be upper level courses and labs, but if you are resourceful, you can ask your professor to help you turn a project, paper, or assignment into a case study more reflective of the real world. Doing a PR paper, try working with a children’s museum to solve a current PR issue of theirs. Working on a computer course, try creating a software that actually does something necessary to a real organization.You might notice that the answer to many of these questions is to talk to someone, a professor, an organization, etc. Problem solvers are people who are not afraid to call on other people for assistance or advice. They are the people who will get creative and find ways to make things work.
Imagine going into an interview and saying that one of your best qualities is to work with others to make the best of every situation. And then pulling out real-world examples of how you made your class work more productive by negotiating with your teachers. It’s a great example of real-world problem solving.
Skill: Learning New Skills
Most students celebrate the end of their college career. Never having to take a test or attend a class again. The truth is, college is just a primer for all of the training, learning, and skill building that will follow in your professional life. You will spend countless hours training for your job and the employees who succeed are the ones who learn fast and often.
The willingness to learn any and every skill, and to learn them well, will differentiate you from countless other employees.Learn new software, learn new sales skills, learn new ways of managing a project, learn to be a better speaker, learn the newest technological advances in telecommunications. The more you are willing to learn with and without prodding, the better.
How do I get this skill?
One of the problems with college is that the grading system often seeps the learning enthusiasm out of students. The desire to get an “A” becomes the end goal beyond the need to actually learn the material. Compound that with the requirement to take courses on topics about which you care nothing and the fun of learning is destroyed.
In order to really become a lifelong learner (LLL) you will need to move beyond the basics of getting good grades. You will have to think about your classes as opportunities to learn something. What that something is depends on the class. You will have to set your own goals and challenges and decide how you want to meet them. That doesn’t mean you should dump your concern for grades. Grades matter. But you need to have a secondary goal or vision beyond just the endpoint of getting out with a decent GPA. Create a Learning Objective for each class and a plan for achieving that goal.
Problem solvers are the people who get things done. When things get complicated, they brainstorm, deliberate, reason, and disentangle. They don’t complain, whine, panic, or freak out. At least they don’t let you know they are doing it. The person who can get things done is the one you want on your team.Life is really just one giant word problem when you think about it. What do you do if you have just planned an event for 200 people and the venue burns down two days before hand? What do you do if you are presenting a research project to a class of 200 people and your laptop crashes? If the answer is go to pieces, you’re not our ideal candidate.
How do I get that skill?
Choose classes that have practical exercises and projects. These tend to be upper level courses and labs, but if you are resourceful, you can ask your professor to help you turn a project, paper, or assignment into a case study more reflective of the real world. Doing a PR paper, try working with a children’s museum to solve a current PR issue of theirs. Working on a computer course, try creating a software that actually does something necessary to a real organization.You might notice that the answer to many of these questions is to talk to someone, a professor, an organization, etc. Problem solvers are people who are not afraid to call on other people for assistance or advice. They are the people who will get creative and find ways to make things work.
Imagine going into an interview and saying that one of your best qualities is to work with others to make the best of every situation. And then pulling out real-world examples of how you made your class work more productive by negotiating with your teachers. It’s a great example of real-world problem solving.
Skill: Learning New Skills
Most students celebrate the end of their college career. Never having to take a test or attend a class again. The truth is, college is just a primer for all of the training, learning, and skill building that will follow in your professional life. You will spend countless hours training for your job and the employees who succeed are the ones who learn fast and often.
The willingness to learn any and every skill, and to learn them well, will differentiate you from countless other employees.Learn new software, learn new sales skills, learn new ways of managing a project, learn to be a better speaker, learn the newest technological advances in telecommunications. The more you are willing to learn with and without prodding, the better.
How do I get this skill?
One of the problems with college is that the grading system often seeps the learning enthusiasm out of students. The desire to get an “A” becomes the end goal beyond the need to actually learn the material. Compound that with the requirement to take courses on topics about which you care nothing and the fun of learning is destroyed.
In order to really become a lifelong learner (LLL) you will need to move beyond the basics of getting good grades. You will have to think about your classes as opportunities to learn something. What that something is depends on the class. You will have to set your own goals and challenges and decide how you want to meet them. That doesn’t mean you should dump your concern for grades. Grades matter. But you need to have a secondary goal or vision beyond just the endpoint of getting out with a decent GPA. Create a Learning Objective for each class and a plan for achieving that goal.
What do employers want and how do I get it? Part II
Peter D. Hart Research Associates surveyed 305 business executives and 510 recent college graduates in November and December 2006. Here’s what they had to say:
Skill: the ability to communicate
You’re thinking: I know how to communicate! Well, yes and know. Cats, dogs, and babies can all communicate at some level, but they can’t negotiate treaties (or salaries). This is a more nuanced communication. And communication means more than just talking. There’s public speaking, small group communication, and interpersonal communication just to name a few. Communication is more than just the ability to get ideas across to someone. It is the ability to receive messages too. Most students are not exceptional communicators without a certain amount of training.
Where do I get that skill?
Communication courses are a great way to learn the nuances of what it means to communicate. It is an entire major after all. Taking some of these classes is a great way to understand and practice your skills. I recommend everyone take a public speaking class (required at many universities) an interpersonal class and an organizational communication class if possible. Look for classes where there is a lot of discussion, arguing points, and speaking opportunities. Getting comfortable in front of people, be it one on one or in a group, takes a lot of practice. Volunteer for these experiences as much as possible.
Other places to get these skills include campus organizations where you can take leadership positions. Organizations like fraternities and sororities where there is a yearly interview (rush) component are great for practicing these skills. School newspapers offer opportunities to interview people and get good experience talking to people in unscripted situations.
Skill: Listening.
You probably think you know what it means to listen, but more than likely, you're missing this crucial skill. Listening is an active thing. Listening means processing information and responding. It means focusing on the speaker, rather than thinking about your next response (or your next meal.) Poor listeners make poor interviewees and even worse employees. They talk though an entire interview, they don’t pay attention to cues from the interviewer, and they perform poorly when asked to work with a team.
Listening means more than just hearing the person in front of you. It means looking for feedback from customers, co-workers, and supervisors. How do you react when you receive a bad grade on a test or paper? Do you blame the professor? Do you tear it up or stuff it in a bag and never look at it again? If so then you, my friend, are probably a bad listener. You avoid feedback because it can be painful, preferring to stay in your own world of excuses and rationalizations.
Where do I get this skill?
All classes offer opportunities to learn to listen. Choose a class where there is a large amount of lecture. Try focusing on the speaker. Ask questions in your head about what the speaker is saying and write them down. Take lots of notes. Hold yourself accountable for the information in the lecture, regardless of whether or not it will be tested. Offer body language such as nodding and eye contact to show the speaker you are listening. Avoid drifting off into your own thoughts, and if you do, come right back to taking notes.
Read and process feedback on your work. Take a paper or test on which you got a less than desirable grade. Read all of the comments without making mental arguments against them. Wait 24 hours. Read through them again. Go to your professor’s office hours or schedule some time to chat about the comments. Don’t come in with a list of arguments, but really listen to what the critiques of your work are. Then ask how you can work on these issues. It’s amazing how you can improve your work and your relationship to the professor just by listening.
Finally, work on your listening skills with friends and family. Pick three conversations each day in which you will focus on the other person. Listen to their stories, ask questions, and provide feedback that is not about you. Try going through a conversation and count the number of times you use self referencing pronouns such as I, me, my, and myself. See if you can reduce this number. If all of your sentences seem to start with “I” then you could probably stand some more listening practice.
Skill: Thinking on your feet
Whether you’re a surgeon or a salesperson, you will be thrown curves in your job that will require that you think on your feet. You need to respond to situations with speed, but also with professionalism and precision. You can do the right thing, the wrong thing, or nothing.
Where do I get that skill?
Unfortunately, there is no “Think fast 101” for you to take, but learning to think on your feet comes from engaging others. Taking seminar and discussion based classes will go a long way to helping you pick up this skill.
Also, all of those jobs you rarely think of as resume builders can come in handy here. Fast-paced, customer-service oriented jobs such as retail or food service positions can improve your response time in the face of difficult circumstances. Never discount the ability to manage a line of caffeine-deprived commuters first thing in the morning.
Playing team sports is another great way to get this skill set. Your ability to work with a group of people in a competitive environment will be enhanced with every throw, kick, swing, or pass.
Skill: the ability to communicate
You’re thinking: I know how to communicate! Well, yes and know. Cats, dogs, and babies can all communicate at some level, but they can’t negotiate treaties (or salaries). This is a more nuanced communication. And communication means more than just talking. There’s public speaking, small group communication, and interpersonal communication just to name a few. Communication is more than just the ability to get ideas across to someone. It is the ability to receive messages too. Most students are not exceptional communicators without a certain amount of training.
Where do I get that skill?
Communication courses are a great way to learn the nuances of what it means to communicate. It is an entire major after all. Taking some of these classes is a great way to understand and practice your skills. I recommend everyone take a public speaking class (required at many universities) an interpersonal class and an organizational communication class if possible. Look for classes where there is a lot of discussion, arguing points, and speaking opportunities. Getting comfortable in front of people, be it one on one or in a group, takes a lot of practice. Volunteer for these experiences as much as possible.
Other places to get these skills include campus organizations where you can take leadership positions. Organizations like fraternities and sororities where there is a yearly interview (rush) component are great for practicing these skills. School newspapers offer opportunities to interview people and get good experience talking to people in unscripted situations.
Skill: Listening.
You probably think you know what it means to listen, but more than likely, you're missing this crucial skill. Listening is an active thing. Listening means processing information and responding. It means focusing on the speaker, rather than thinking about your next response (or your next meal.) Poor listeners make poor interviewees and even worse employees. They talk though an entire interview, they don’t pay attention to cues from the interviewer, and they perform poorly when asked to work with a team.
Listening means more than just hearing the person in front of you. It means looking for feedback from customers, co-workers, and supervisors. How do you react when you receive a bad grade on a test or paper? Do you blame the professor? Do you tear it up or stuff it in a bag and never look at it again? If so then you, my friend, are probably a bad listener. You avoid feedback because it can be painful, preferring to stay in your own world of excuses and rationalizations.
Where do I get this skill?
All classes offer opportunities to learn to listen. Choose a class where there is a large amount of lecture. Try focusing on the speaker. Ask questions in your head about what the speaker is saying and write them down. Take lots of notes. Hold yourself accountable for the information in the lecture, regardless of whether or not it will be tested. Offer body language such as nodding and eye contact to show the speaker you are listening. Avoid drifting off into your own thoughts, and if you do, come right back to taking notes.
Read and process feedback on your work. Take a paper or test on which you got a less than desirable grade. Read all of the comments without making mental arguments against them. Wait 24 hours. Read through them again. Go to your professor’s office hours or schedule some time to chat about the comments. Don’t come in with a list of arguments, but really listen to what the critiques of your work are. Then ask how you can work on these issues. It’s amazing how you can improve your work and your relationship to the professor just by listening.
Finally, work on your listening skills with friends and family. Pick three conversations each day in which you will focus on the other person. Listen to their stories, ask questions, and provide feedback that is not about you. Try going through a conversation and count the number of times you use self referencing pronouns such as I, me, my, and myself. See if you can reduce this number. If all of your sentences seem to start with “I” then you could probably stand some more listening practice.
Skill: Thinking on your feet
Whether you’re a surgeon or a salesperson, you will be thrown curves in your job that will require that you think on your feet. You need to respond to situations with speed, but also with professionalism and precision. You can do the right thing, the wrong thing, or nothing.
Where do I get that skill?
Unfortunately, there is no “Think fast 101” for you to take, but learning to think on your feet comes from engaging others. Taking seminar and discussion based classes will go a long way to helping you pick up this skill.
Also, all of those jobs you rarely think of as resume builders can come in handy here. Fast-paced, customer-service oriented jobs such as retail or food service positions can improve your response time in the face of difficult circumstances. Never discount the ability to manage a line of caffeine-deprived commuters first thing in the morning.
Playing team sports is another great way to get this skill set. Your ability to work with a group of people in a competitive environment will be enhanced with every throw, kick, swing, or pass.
What do employers? Making the Most of College Part I
Peter D. Hart Research Associates surveyed 305 business executives and 510 recent college graduates in November and December 2006. Here’s what they had to say:
Skill: The ability to work in teams.
Most jobs are not a one many show. Tasks require different types of expertise from more than one employee.
Where do I get that skill?
Look for classes that have a group project in them. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Most people think of groups as the third circle of hell. Group projects are typically tough, so most students avoid them, and for good reasons. Students who are very serious about their grade coming in to contact with those that could care less is a recipe for disaster. Counting on other people is tough. But taking at least on class where you produce a tangible result as a group will give you valuable experience and important reference points about your ability to be a part of a team.
So how do you find the right class? Ask friends in your major for classes where they had a positive group experience. Ask professors how groups are evaluated before you sign up. Make sure it’s a fair grading system. Find out if the project is practical or busy work. Look for projects that have a tangible end-product and use different skills from each person in the group.
Other ways to get this experience is by joining a campus organization or by requesting a team project in your internship.
Skill: The ability to write well
Writing is an important component to almost any job. Writing reports, emails, and letters are all examples of writing done in almost any industry. Many students graduate with very little writing experience. To some degree it’s not their fault. Colleges that have large classes make it more challenging for professors to assign writing. Such projects take longer to grade. It’s much easier to offer short answer or multiple choice exams. Even fewer courses offer chances to write large reports or to revise an assignment.
Where do I get that skill?
Look for classes with a heavy writing component. If it doesn’t say on the syllabus, ask the professor if he or she uses a lot of writing on tests. In some cases it doesn’t hurt to ask a professor if you can substitute a larger writing project for a final exam.
One of the biggest problems in learning to write is that assignments are graded once and then never revisited. Good writing requires revisions. Sometimes lots of revisions. If your classes don’t offer revision, then be sure to ask professors for the opportunity to correct your writing, even if it won’t impact your grade. You can’t get better if you never correct yourself. This will also get you accustomed to being edited and critiqued.
Other places to get the skill include writing for a local student paper. Even if you don’t intend to be a journalist, it’s a great experience that will teach you how to write in a concise manner. You can also offer to write up a newsletter for an organization.
It’s important that you write FOR somebody who will give you feedback. Journaling, blogging, and writing letters are great for improving your typing, but they are less likely to help you improve your technique if you never get reactions.
Skill: the ability to work independently
Yes, I just got done telling you the importance of the ability to work in a group. Just as important, however, is your ability to work with little or no supervision. Working on your own is an essential characteristic in most work environments. Can a manger give you a task and feel certain that, barring any unforeseen problems, you will do it and do it well? You’d be surprised how often the answer is “no.” It’s very common when you are new to a job to need extra supervision and hand-holding. But after that initial learning phase, you should be able to tackle tasks and work on your own.
Working independently also means taking initiative to do work before you are asked. Great employees don’t just sit around with their feet up when they have finished their tasks, they look for more work. It also means taking responsibility when you screw up. Being able to admit to a mistake and finding ways to learn from it, solve the problem, and move forward without blaming others or becoming defensive is part of working on your own.
In a work environment you may be asked to set your own goals, structure your work day, and determine what your deliverables might be for a given project. You will need to push yourself to doing a better job or deciding when a project is complete and should be shared with others.
How do I get this skill?
Independent studies are a great way to develop the ability to work independently. Students typically come to a professor with an idea or goal, they set a plan of work, a schedule of deliverables, and present a final product for evaluation. An independent study should require minimal supervision from your professors (thus benefiting you and them.) Final projects and papers for classes are also important for helping you learn to work on your own.
Where else can you get this skill? You can practice in any work environment by taking some ownership of your job. Working retail? Work with your manager to set a daily sales goal and think of ways you can challenge yourself to meet it. Learning to set goals, schedules, and structure tasks can be done in everyday life. Buy a daily planner and use it. Write down goals for your day, your week and your semester. Check them off regularly. Structure your day so that you can achieve your tasks and track how your time is spent. Above all, be honest with yourself.
The ability to hold yourself accountable for what you accomplish and how you get it done is what separates independent workers from those who require close supervision.
Skill: The ability to work in teams.
Most jobs are not a one many show. Tasks require different types of expertise from more than one employee.
Where do I get that skill?
Look for classes that have a group project in them. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Most people think of groups as the third circle of hell. Group projects are typically tough, so most students avoid them, and for good reasons. Students who are very serious about their grade coming in to contact with those that could care less is a recipe for disaster. Counting on other people is tough. But taking at least on class where you produce a tangible result as a group will give you valuable experience and important reference points about your ability to be a part of a team.
So how do you find the right class? Ask friends in your major for classes where they had a positive group experience. Ask professors how groups are evaluated before you sign up. Make sure it’s a fair grading system. Find out if the project is practical or busy work. Look for projects that have a tangible end-product and use different skills from each person in the group.
Other ways to get this experience is by joining a campus organization or by requesting a team project in your internship.
Skill: The ability to write well
Writing is an important component to almost any job. Writing reports, emails, and letters are all examples of writing done in almost any industry. Many students graduate with very little writing experience. To some degree it’s not their fault. Colleges that have large classes make it more challenging for professors to assign writing. Such projects take longer to grade. It’s much easier to offer short answer or multiple choice exams. Even fewer courses offer chances to write large reports or to revise an assignment.
Where do I get that skill?
Look for classes with a heavy writing component. If it doesn’t say on the syllabus, ask the professor if he or she uses a lot of writing on tests. In some cases it doesn’t hurt to ask a professor if you can substitute a larger writing project for a final exam.
One of the biggest problems in learning to write is that assignments are graded once and then never revisited. Good writing requires revisions. Sometimes lots of revisions. If your classes don’t offer revision, then be sure to ask professors for the opportunity to correct your writing, even if it won’t impact your grade. You can’t get better if you never correct yourself. This will also get you accustomed to being edited and critiqued.
Other places to get the skill include writing for a local student paper. Even if you don’t intend to be a journalist, it’s a great experience that will teach you how to write in a concise manner. You can also offer to write up a newsletter for an organization.
It’s important that you write FOR somebody who will give you feedback. Journaling, blogging, and writing letters are great for improving your typing, but they are less likely to help you improve your technique if you never get reactions.
Skill: the ability to work independently
Yes, I just got done telling you the importance of the ability to work in a group. Just as important, however, is your ability to work with little or no supervision. Working on your own is an essential characteristic in most work environments. Can a manger give you a task and feel certain that, barring any unforeseen problems, you will do it and do it well? You’d be surprised how often the answer is “no.” It’s very common when you are new to a job to need extra supervision and hand-holding. But after that initial learning phase, you should be able to tackle tasks and work on your own.
Working independently also means taking initiative to do work before you are asked. Great employees don’t just sit around with their feet up when they have finished their tasks, they look for more work. It also means taking responsibility when you screw up. Being able to admit to a mistake and finding ways to learn from it, solve the problem, and move forward without blaming others or becoming defensive is part of working on your own.
In a work environment you may be asked to set your own goals, structure your work day, and determine what your deliverables might be for a given project. You will need to push yourself to doing a better job or deciding when a project is complete and should be shared with others.
How do I get this skill?
Independent studies are a great way to develop the ability to work independently. Students typically come to a professor with an idea or goal, they set a plan of work, a schedule of deliverables, and present a final product for evaluation. An independent study should require minimal supervision from your professors (thus benefiting you and them.) Final projects and papers for classes are also important for helping you learn to work on your own.
Where else can you get this skill? You can practice in any work environment by taking some ownership of your job. Working retail? Work with your manager to set a daily sales goal and think of ways you can challenge yourself to meet it. Learning to set goals, schedules, and structure tasks can be done in everyday life. Buy a daily planner and use it. Write down goals for your day, your week and your semester. Check them off regularly. Structure your day so that you can achieve your tasks and track how your time is spent. Above all, be honest with yourself.
The ability to hold yourself accountable for what you accomplish and how you get it done is what separates independent workers from those who require close supervision.
A college grad and his money will soon be parted.
I have bad news for most college graduates. The new car, the great clothes, and the good booze are probably still a few years away. Or at least the should be. For those of you looking forward to the high life, read this blog and then run some numbers of your own.
Let's say you negotiate a starting salary of $30,000 and benefits. (Lucky you!) How does that break down in terms of your ideal post-college lifestyle.
Let's start with taxes. The year you graduate may be the first year you tackle your own income tax return. It can be quite a shock to see where all of your money is going. If you aren't sure about how tax withholding is done, Turbotax has a great summary. But let's assume that 30% of your money will go out the door in taxes before it ever reaches your bank account.
That leaves you with $21,000 a year to live on or $1,575 a month. Not bad compared to the Raman noodle salary from Pizza Express, but how do you budget that?
First: Pay yourself. I always put savings first in my discussions of money and so should you. You should ideally put 10% of your net earnings each month into a savings account for emergencies. Let's face it Pollyanna, your car will need new breaks, you will need to buy a prescription for the flu you'll get. You will probably have to renew your driver's license, etc. If you haven't put money away for these contingencies, where will it come from? Plastic. That means you will pay interest to someone else later which you could have saved by paying yourself first. Once you're in the plastic revolving door, it's hard to get out.
Once you have 3 months salary in that account, you shouldn't stop saving! Instead start another account for your goals like travel, new clothes, Christmas gifts, etc. That leaves you with $1,418.
Let's look at housing. If you can stand another year or two of living with a roommate, you will save thousands of dollars a year. Splitting rent on a $1,200 a month apartment means an extra $7,200 a year you can save not including utilities. Many students just head home and live with mom and dad for awhile. I say if they’re game, go for it. (Just be sure to help out wherever you can.) You might even ask them to charge you "rent" that can go into a special savings account to be used toward the purchase of a new home or other big expense later on.
But if you just have to have the thermostat your way and naked Tuesday, then so be it. Let's conservatively pull $700 a month for a room of your own in a quaint little place. Where you live will really effect this number, so know what the average rent is for your preferred community. That leaves you with $718 for the month.
Transportation is the next big ticket item dreamt of by many a college senior. And automakers make it hard not to be tempted by low financing and rebate offers for recent graduates and first-time buyers. But if you can hold on to the families old Volvo for one more year, assuming it is still fairly reliable, you could save yourself upwards of $5,000 in car payments and insurance. Unless your old jalopy is about to give up the ghost and just can’t be counted on to get you to your job on time, hang on to it.
Better yet, examine public transportation. Even your old jalopy will need gas and servicing and at today's gas prices you could be looking at big bucks. The American Auto Association figures you spend about 55 cents a mile to hop in the car and go when all of your expenses are figured in. As of this writing, gas is north of $4.00 a gallon, so I would call that a very conservative estimate!
So let's say you are lucky to live 5 miles from work. that means you are spending $5.50 a day to get to work and back (no extra trips, please). Throw in another 30 miles of driving on a slow weekend and you are in for a rounded figure of $130 a month. That leaves you with $588 if you don't have a car payment. (Please don't go and get a car payment)
Student Loans. They made it possible for you to earn that degree and now you have to start paying them back. A $30,000 loan on a 10 year term at 6.8% will cost you approximately $350 each month. You get 6 months before you have to start paying those loans. If you are wise, you can take that payment, write the check to yourself, put it in the bank and have a nice little nest egg stored before you have to start making payments.
You can also consolidate or refinance your loans and get longer terms, but paying off your loan when you are eligible for AARP discounts may not be the wisest fiscal course of action.
Now you have $238 for the month. Not bad. If you had parents, a kind aunt or are enough of a brainiac to have gotten a full ride to college and have no loans. Congratulations! You have lots more money to spend.
Of course you haven't eaten anything yet. You must be hungry.
You have waited years to indulge yourself in the good stuff. Food, wine, and drinks that don’t have to be consumed through a funnel at lightening speed to be enjoyed. Don’t throw your Raman noodles and generic macaroni out just yet. Breakfast can be a pretty cheap meal, but when you start throwing in eating lunches out, double lattes and dinners with friends, you can really start to eat into your budget. Taking your lunch (and COFFEE) to work will save you upwards of $10 a day. So let's budget $5 a meal or $15 a day for your food as bought at the grocery store. That's $450 for the month. Now if you can stick with cereal and milk for breakfast, a Lean Cuisine lunch, and an inexpensive dinner, you can cut that back to $7 a day pretty easily or $210 a month. You now have $28 left.
So far you're doing well, but here's the kicker: we haven't budgeted for anything fun. Unless you live at the library, you have a problem.
First, let's hope you don't have any debt to pay off. If you are the fortunate one reading this prior to graduation then... DON'T GET INTO DEBT. If you do, you have to figure those payments into this budget.
Next let's look at entertainment.
A night out with a few friends after work can quickly as much of a financial headache as a hangover. You slap down your credit card and run a tab. You sign the bill around 2am. About noon the next day, you go through your pockets looking for a Chapstick to apply to your dehydrated lips. Your fingers find the old receipt and you immediately wad it up and put in the trash. Then you wonder why your credit card bill is so high three weeks later. Turns out those three drinks you had were $6 each. That’s $18 plus the tip of $3, and you have $21 not including your dinner. Do that a few times a month and you tack between $100 and $200 a month, (plus a few pounds from the empty calories.)
I’m not going to try to tell you not to go out. This isn’t a fiction blog. But I am going to tell you to do three things. 1) Don’t buy drinks for others. 2) Buy cheap beer. 3) Pay cash as you go. You’ll find that these are the three things that will keep your bar tabs down to a manageable level.
Movies are also a costly indulgence. With tickets at $8 and popcorn and a Coke (disclaimer: I own stock in Coke, so buy as much of that as you want. I can use the extra dividends.) at $8, you need to budget these evenings carefully.
And I haven't even gotten into concerts, weekend trips, and travel. If you don't save your money, you may not get into them either.
The moral of the story is that even though the $30,000 salary is a heck of a lot better than you are doing now, it doesn't go that far when you leave the comforts of your dorm room.
Let's say you negotiate a starting salary of $30,000 and benefits. (Lucky you!) How does that break down in terms of your ideal post-college lifestyle.
Let's start with taxes. The year you graduate may be the first year you tackle your own income tax return. It can be quite a shock to see where all of your money is going. If you aren't sure about how tax withholding is done, Turbotax has a great summary. But let's assume that 30% of your money will go out the door in taxes before it ever reaches your bank account.
That leaves you with $21,000 a year to live on or $1,575 a month. Not bad compared to the Raman noodle salary from Pizza Express, but how do you budget that?
First: Pay yourself. I always put savings first in my discussions of money and so should you. You should ideally put 10% of your net earnings each month into a savings account for emergencies. Let's face it Pollyanna, your car will need new breaks, you will need to buy a prescription for the flu you'll get. You will probably have to renew your driver's license, etc. If you haven't put money away for these contingencies, where will it come from? Plastic. That means you will pay interest to someone else later which you could have saved by paying yourself first. Once you're in the plastic revolving door, it's hard to get out.
Once you have 3 months salary in that account, you shouldn't stop saving! Instead start another account for your goals like travel, new clothes, Christmas gifts, etc. That leaves you with $1,418.
Let's look at housing. If you can stand another year or two of living with a roommate, you will save thousands of dollars a year. Splitting rent on a $1,200 a month apartment means an extra $7,200 a year you can save not including utilities. Many students just head home and live with mom and dad for awhile. I say if they’re game, go for it. (Just be sure to help out wherever you can.) You might even ask them to charge you "rent" that can go into a special savings account to be used toward the purchase of a new home or other big expense later on.
But if you just have to have the thermostat your way and naked Tuesday, then so be it. Let's conservatively pull $700 a month for a room of your own in a quaint little place. Where you live will really effect this number, so know what the average rent is for your preferred community. That leaves you with $718 for the month.
Transportation is the next big ticket item dreamt of by many a college senior. And automakers make it hard not to be tempted by low financing and rebate offers for recent graduates and first-time buyers. But if you can hold on to the families old Volvo for one more year, assuming it is still fairly reliable, you could save yourself upwards of $5,000 in car payments and insurance. Unless your old jalopy is about to give up the ghost and just can’t be counted on to get you to your job on time, hang on to it.
Better yet, examine public transportation. Even your old jalopy will need gas and servicing and at today's gas prices you could be looking at big bucks. The American Auto Association figures you spend about 55 cents a mile to hop in the car and go when all of your expenses are figured in. As of this writing, gas is north of $4.00 a gallon, so I would call that a very conservative estimate!
So let's say you are lucky to live 5 miles from work. that means you are spending $5.50 a day to get to work and back (no extra trips, please). Throw in another 30 miles of driving on a slow weekend and you are in for a rounded figure of $130 a month. That leaves you with $588 if you don't have a car payment. (Please don't go and get a car payment)
Student Loans. They made it possible for you to earn that degree and now you have to start paying them back. A $30,000 loan on a 10 year term at 6.8% will cost you approximately $350 each month. You get 6 months before you have to start paying those loans. If you are wise, you can take that payment, write the check to yourself, put it in the bank and have a nice little nest egg stored before you have to start making payments.
You can also consolidate or refinance your loans and get longer terms, but paying off your loan when you are eligible for AARP discounts may not be the wisest fiscal course of action.
Now you have $238 for the month. Not bad. If you had parents, a kind aunt or are enough of a brainiac to have gotten a full ride to college and have no loans. Congratulations! You have lots more money to spend.
Of course you haven't eaten anything yet. You must be hungry.
You have waited years to indulge yourself in the good stuff. Food, wine, and drinks that don’t have to be consumed through a funnel at lightening speed to be enjoyed. Don’t throw your Raman noodles and generic macaroni out just yet. Breakfast can be a pretty cheap meal, but when you start throwing in eating lunches out, double lattes and dinners with friends, you can really start to eat into your budget. Taking your lunch (and COFFEE) to work will save you upwards of $10 a day. So let's budget $5 a meal or $15 a day for your food as bought at the grocery store. That's $450 for the month. Now if you can stick with cereal and milk for breakfast, a Lean Cuisine lunch, and an inexpensive dinner, you can cut that back to $7 a day pretty easily or $210 a month. You now have $28 left.
So far you're doing well, but here's the kicker: we haven't budgeted for anything fun. Unless you live at the library, you have a problem.
First, let's hope you don't have any debt to pay off. If you are the fortunate one reading this prior to graduation then... DON'T GET INTO DEBT. If you do, you have to figure those payments into this budget.
Next let's look at entertainment.
A night out with a few friends after work can quickly as much of a financial headache as a hangover. You slap down your credit card and run a tab. You sign the bill around 2am. About noon the next day, you go through your pockets looking for a Chapstick to apply to your dehydrated lips. Your fingers find the old receipt and you immediately wad it up and put in the trash. Then you wonder why your credit card bill is so high three weeks later. Turns out those three drinks you had were $6 each. That’s $18 plus the tip of $3, and you have $21 not including your dinner. Do that a few times a month and you tack between $100 and $200 a month, (plus a few pounds from the empty calories.)
I’m not going to try to tell you not to go out. This isn’t a fiction blog. But I am going to tell you to do three things. 1) Don’t buy drinks for others. 2) Buy cheap beer. 3) Pay cash as you go. You’ll find that these are the three things that will keep your bar tabs down to a manageable level.
Movies are also a costly indulgence. With tickets at $8 and popcorn and a Coke (disclaimer: I own stock in Coke, so buy as much of that as you want. I can use the extra dividends.) at $8, you need to budget these evenings carefully.
And I haven't even gotten into concerts, weekend trips, and travel. If you don't save your money, you may not get into them either.
The moral of the story is that even though the $30,000 salary is a heck of a lot better than you are doing now, it doesn't go that far when you leave the comforts of your dorm room.
Dreams of Grandeur and the Realities of Your First Job
Graduating from college is a bittersweet sensation. On the one hand, you are leaving a life of sleeping late, all-night parties, summers of possibility, and a clear and conscious mission: graduation.
On the other you are heading to a world of new cars, no roommates, drinking beer without pumping a keg, and finally getting some respect for your status as an adult. At least that’s what you hoped would happen.
Truth told, you should think of your first year after graduation as an extension of your college education. Think of it as your fifth year (or sixth, seventh, whatever, you get the point). The trouble comes when your expectations of life after school don’t match the reality. And for most people they just don’t.
It can really be blamed on a fable that floats around every campus. There’s this one guy (or girl) who got this amazing job making $75,000 a year, who gets to travel, gets a car, and only works four days a week. Now there are careers that pay exceptionally well right out of school and there will be people on campus who get killer jobs at 22. For most students, however, the first year is more like a well-paid internship.
Here’s how the expectations game works. You start your final semester by researching careers and pay rates in your chosen field. You determine what jobs you might want and how much you want to be paid. You apply only for those jobs that meet your criteria. You don’t hear back from your applications.
So you spend February and March interviewing on campus, certain that one of those great companies will want to hire you. No luck.
Now it’s past Spring break. You have two months until graduation. So you spend a month looking for some lower paying jobs at your best companies. No interviews materialize.
Finally you have 6 weeks left on your lease, your roommate is leaving for graduate school in London, and you have no job and nowhere to go. Now all of those jobs you didn’t apply for in January, February, and March are starting to look pretty good.
You get desperate and take the first job you can find, which is running errands for a high maintenance boss who really doesn’t care that you have a degree in marketing and just wants you to make sure their coffee is the right color of russet.
So what’s the moral of this harrowing tale? Realize that you may have to spend a year in a lower paying job to get the experience you need to live like the grown-up you are.
You see once you have a job, it’s easier to get a job. As a college graduate you are an unknown commodity with the same education as almost everyone else in your field. Your degree isn’t special, it’s just an entry level qualification expected of most employees. Now you need a year of experience under your belt to prove that you are a good investment. To get the best experience you may have to take a job that doesn’t have the best pay. Just like your internship where you worked for the experience of working, you should plan to spend your first year working in the job that provides the most experience rather than the fattest paycheck. In other words, plan to continue to live like a college student.
Most people aren't fond of the first job they have out of school and even fewer make that company or career a permanent fixture in their life. That said, it is in poor taste to take a job if you know you plan to keep looking for something better. Be prepared to stick it out for at least 6 months, and even better, a year to not make you look like a job hopper or worse yet, someone who can't keep a job.
Rejoice in knowing that you are not alone. The illusive dream job isn't a Big Foot figment of your imagination, it just takes time. Time to figure out what you want and how to get there.
On the other you are heading to a world of new cars, no roommates, drinking beer without pumping a keg, and finally getting some respect for your status as an adult. At least that’s what you hoped would happen.
Truth told, you should think of your first year after graduation as an extension of your college education. Think of it as your fifth year (or sixth, seventh, whatever, you get the point). The trouble comes when your expectations of life after school don’t match the reality. And for most people they just don’t.
It can really be blamed on a fable that floats around every campus. There’s this one guy (or girl) who got this amazing job making $75,000 a year, who gets to travel, gets a car, and only works four days a week. Now there are careers that pay exceptionally well right out of school and there will be people on campus who get killer jobs at 22. For most students, however, the first year is more like a well-paid internship.
Here’s how the expectations game works. You start your final semester by researching careers and pay rates in your chosen field. You determine what jobs you might want and how much you want to be paid. You apply only for those jobs that meet your criteria. You don’t hear back from your applications.
So you spend February and March interviewing on campus, certain that one of those great companies will want to hire you. No luck.
Now it’s past Spring break. You have two months until graduation. So you spend a month looking for some lower paying jobs at your best companies. No interviews materialize.
Finally you have 6 weeks left on your lease, your roommate is leaving for graduate school in London, and you have no job and nowhere to go. Now all of those jobs you didn’t apply for in January, February, and March are starting to look pretty good.
You get desperate and take the first job you can find, which is running errands for a high maintenance boss who really doesn’t care that you have a degree in marketing and just wants you to make sure their coffee is the right color of russet.
So what’s the moral of this harrowing tale? Realize that you may have to spend a year in a lower paying job to get the experience you need to live like the grown-up you are.
You see once you have a job, it’s easier to get a job. As a college graduate you are an unknown commodity with the same education as almost everyone else in your field. Your degree isn’t special, it’s just an entry level qualification expected of most employees. Now you need a year of experience under your belt to prove that you are a good investment. To get the best experience you may have to take a job that doesn’t have the best pay. Just like your internship where you worked for the experience of working, you should plan to spend your first year working in the job that provides the most experience rather than the fattest paycheck. In other words, plan to continue to live like a college student.
Most people aren't fond of the first job they have out of school and even fewer make that company or career a permanent fixture in their life. That said, it is in poor taste to take a job if you know you plan to keep looking for something better. Be prepared to stick it out for at least 6 months, and even better, a year to not make you look like a job hopper or worse yet, someone who can't keep a job.
Rejoice in knowing that you are not alone. The illusive dream job isn't a Big Foot figment of your imagination, it just takes time. Time to figure out what you want and how to get there.
Sweating Through It: Accentuate the positive
It’s an easy trap to fall into. You are in a room with this person who seems incredibly nice and open. You hit it off and start answering questions about yourself. And all of the sudden it happens, you have the impulse to tell the whole truth. In an interview honesty is simply not the best policy.
Now that every recruiter is going to email me hate mail about this blog, let me tell you what I mean. Lying is bad. Always. Never lie in an interview. The truth, however, must be framed in a way that makes it positive and appropriate. Let’s always remember those two words: positive and appropriate.
Let’s say you hate your current boss. He is a micro-managing, lazy, jerk who takes credit for your work on a consistent basis. Your interviewer leans in and says, tell me about the most difficult boss you have ever had. Wouldn’t if feel great to dish about how you work for Lucifer and all his minions? Don’t you just want to gab about the injustice of it all. What great bonding with the interviewer as you laugh about having to call your boss on the phone even when his office is only one door over and you can hear everything through the walls?
Fun it may be, but good business? No. You see your boss may be the spawn of the devil, but you certainly don’t want to give a potential employer that you are negative and difficult. This is the time to come up with a diplomatic answer. “I think the most challenging thing about my most recent supervisor was also his biggest strength. He believed in structure and while it could be challenging to learn all of the necessary rules, it made it a more organized operation.” Remember: positive and appropriate.
The same is true in any answer that could be made into a negative. Pharmacist Christi Heimer recalls her time interviewing applicants:
I was asked to assist with pharmacy school applicant interviews. During one of the interviews, a professor asked the applicant why he decided to go to pharmacy school. The applicant stated that is was because he couldn't get into Medical school. The professor was so completely insulted that the applicant did not want to go to pharmacy school in and of itself that he immediately without batting an eyelash asked the applicant to leave the interview. Oops! Buh-Bye!
Your role as applicant is to sell yourself. Negatives don’t sell.
Now that every recruiter is going to email me hate mail about this blog, let me tell you what I mean. Lying is bad. Always. Never lie in an interview. The truth, however, must be framed in a way that makes it positive and appropriate. Let’s always remember those two words: positive and appropriate.
Let’s say you hate your current boss. He is a micro-managing, lazy, jerk who takes credit for your work on a consistent basis. Your interviewer leans in and says, tell me about the most difficult boss you have ever had. Wouldn’t if feel great to dish about how you work for Lucifer and all his minions? Don’t you just want to gab about the injustice of it all. What great bonding with the interviewer as you laugh about having to call your boss on the phone even when his office is only one door over and you can hear everything through the walls?
Fun it may be, but good business? No. You see your boss may be the spawn of the devil, but you certainly don’t want to give a potential employer that you are negative and difficult. This is the time to come up with a diplomatic answer. “I think the most challenging thing about my most recent supervisor was also his biggest strength. He believed in structure and while it could be challenging to learn all of the necessary rules, it made it a more organized operation.” Remember: positive and appropriate.
The same is true in any answer that could be made into a negative. Pharmacist Christi Heimer recalls her time interviewing applicants:
I was asked to assist with pharmacy school applicant interviews. During one of the interviews, a professor asked the applicant why he decided to go to pharmacy school. The applicant stated that is was because he couldn't get into Medical school. The professor was so completely insulted that the applicant did not want to go to pharmacy school in and of itself that he immediately without batting an eyelash asked the applicant to leave the interview. Oops! Buh-Bye!
Your role as applicant is to sell yourself. Negatives don’t sell.
Sweating Through It: Sample Answers
Questions are designed not only get a sense of your skills, but also your work ethic, overall disposition, ability to work in a team, and your fit for a company’s culture. You might get a lot of questions that are phrased negatively: your biggest challenge, biggest disappointment, worst quality, difficult co-worker, worst employer. The trick is that if you take the bait and go off on the idiot manager from your internship, you are falling right into the trap. Avoid the temptation to go negative at all cost.
Sample question: Tell me about working for your last supervisor?
Sample answer: He was very hands on in how approached managing a staff. He wanted to be involved in each detail. It really taught me to be equally detail oriented.
Many questions seem to want to know about you, but really, they are targeting your work ethic and how you can serve the company. Don’t be fooled into chatting about your personal goals.
Sample question: Where would you like to be in 5 years?
Sample answer: I have always hoped to find an organization that promotes from within. I am focused on learning as much as I can in a position such as this for the next few years, and then, possibly taking the next step up into a leadership position.
Sample question: What are your biggest motivators?
Sample answer: I have strong drive to succeed in whatever I do. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sample answer: I have an appreciation for helping others and serving customers. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sample answer: I’m very goal driven. Having targets to hit gives me a sense of accomplishment and progress. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sample question: Tell me about working for your last supervisor?
Sample answer: He was very hands on in how approached managing a staff. He wanted to be involved in each detail. It really taught me to be equally detail oriented.
Many questions seem to want to know about you, but really, they are targeting your work ethic and how you can serve the company. Don’t be fooled into chatting about your personal goals.
Sample question: Where would you like to be in 5 years?
Sample answer: I have always hoped to find an organization that promotes from within. I am focused on learning as much as I can in a position such as this for the next few years, and then, possibly taking the next step up into a leadership position.
Sample question: What are your biggest motivators?
Sample answer: I have strong drive to succeed in whatever I do. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sample answer: I have an appreciation for helping others and serving customers. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sample answer: I’m very goal driven. Having targets to hit gives me a sense of accomplishment and progress. (Tell a story/give an example)
Sweating Through It: Behavioral Interviews
The name “behavioral interview” is misleading. It’s not behavior that interests the recruiter. Instead, behavioral interviewing is a chance for the interviewer to get you to talk about specifics, specific projects, events, experiences, or situations in which you may have found yourself and how you handled them.
In a behavioral interview, interviewers ask about a candidate’s experience with a specific situation or task, how they acted in that situation and what the result was. For example an interviewer may ask the following question: “Tell me about a time when you had to train someone.” The situation or task is training. You describe the actions or behaviors you did in that situation and what the outcome was. Your response might be: “When I worked at the YMCA summer camp, I was placed in charge of training two junior counselors. This included learning fundamental rules, as well as tricks for handling separation anxiety with our preteen campers. Our cabin had the lowest rate of homesickness incidence and won several camp awards. Proper training really helped us serve our campers to the best of our ability.”
Always bring the response back to the interview at hand. Training, be it in a camp or a company, is always critical for success. Your answer should demonstrate your understanding of this principal.
Other questions may dig into problems you have encountered, successes you have achieved, or situations that demonstrate a skill. You might get asked questions about a situation in which you have had to complete projects on a deadline. Employers like these kind of interviews because your answer will tell a lot about your work habits, ability to think on your feet, and your experience. It forces you to tell a real story rather than come up with a loaded answer.
While behavioral interviews sound intimidating, they are an excellent chance for you to demonstrate your experience and apply what you have done to the job at hand. You can draw the lines from what they want to what you have done in a clear way. The trickiest part can be thinking of stories on your feet. The best bet is to relax, breathe, and think for a moment before you answer.
Practicing for these interviews is best done by thinking about the key skills an employer will want. These typically include: leadership, motivation, work ethic, work habits, skills, communication, teamwork, and your personality. If you want to practice with someone, you can find a number of sample questions for your specific field online.
Recruiting consultant Mary Beth Henderson notes, “If you prepare yourself for a "behavioral" type interview, you will be prepared to handle almost any interview. I say this from having learned it from both sides of the desk. You have to be able to give specific examples of your abilities in an interview and not talk in generalities. “
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions
In a behavioral interview, interviewers ask about a candidate’s experience with a specific situation or task, how they acted in that situation and what the result was. For example an interviewer may ask the following question: “Tell me about a time when you had to train someone.” The situation or task is training. You describe the actions or behaviors you did in that situation and what the outcome was. Your response might be: “When I worked at the YMCA summer camp, I was placed in charge of training two junior counselors. This included learning fundamental rules, as well as tricks for handling separation anxiety with our preteen campers. Our cabin had the lowest rate of homesickness incidence and won several camp awards. Proper training really helped us serve our campers to the best of our ability.”
Always bring the response back to the interview at hand. Training, be it in a camp or a company, is always critical for success. Your answer should demonstrate your understanding of this principal.
Other questions may dig into problems you have encountered, successes you have achieved, or situations that demonstrate a skill. You might get asked questions about a situation in which you have had to complete projects on a deadline. Employers like these kind of interviews because your answer will tell a lot about your work habits, ability to think on your feet, and your experience. It forces you to tell a real story rather than come up with a loaded answer.
While behavioral interviews sound intimidating, they are an excellent chance for you to demonstrate your experience and apply what you have done to the job at hand. You can draw the lines from what they want to what you have done in a clear way. The trickiest part can be thinking of stories on your feet. The best bet is to relax, breathe, and think for a moment before you answer.
Practicing for these interviews is best done by thinking about the key skills an employer will want. These typically include: leadership, motivation, work ethic, work habits, skills, communication, teamwork, and your personality. If you want to practice with someone, you can find a number of sample questions for your specific field online.
Recruiting consultant Mary Beth Henderson notes, “If you prepare yourself for a "behavioral" type interview, you will be prepared to handle almost any interview. I say this from having learned it from both sides of the desk. You have to be able to give specific examples of your abilities in an interview and not talk in generalities. “
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time you had to handle a dissatisfied customer.
- Describe a situation in which you worked with a difficult co-worker.
- What was your most recent leadership experience.
- Describe a situation in which you had to go the extra mile to complete a project.
- Tell me about a time when you used persuasion to get someone to come around to your way of thinking.
- Describe a situation in which you had to manage conflict in a team environment.
Sweating Through It: The Interview
What will they ask?
That’s the million dollar question. You can spend hours working through questions with your roommate, know everything about the company, and still feel totally side-swiped by their line of attack. Here are some basics.
Here are some standard interview questions you should always be prepared to answer:
That’s the million dollar question. You can spend hours working through questions with your roommate, know everything about the company, and still feel totally side-swiped by their line of attack. Here are some basics.
Here are some standard interview questions you should always be prepared to answer:
- Why are you interested in our company/organization/this job?
- What is your greatest failing/flaw/challenge?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What drives/motivates you to succeed?
- What qualities should a successful (your job here) possess?
- What makes you the best candidate for this job?
- What questions do you have for me?
- Why did you leave your last position? (less relevant for a new graduate)
The most important thing to remember about interviewing is that it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. Prepping for an interview has less to do with the questions than with how you formulate your answers.
There are two preferred structures to answering most questions: the list and the story.
A list style answer to a question means that your respond with two or three specific items. By offering pieces of information in twos and threes you provide a structure that is easy to understand and remember. Lists are particularly useful for general interview questions like, “why did you choose your major?” or “what are the most important skills you have to offer?” These questions are set to probe who you are and what you think. A list answer might sound like this:
I chose my political science major for three reasons, really. First, I wanted to do something that allowed me to learn about people. Second, I wanted a major that offered a lot of different career opportunities. And third, I have always had a passion for politics and government.
Simple, easy to understand and keeps you from talking too much.
Stories, on the other hand are used to provide examples, are easy to follow, and offer a
smooth way of livening up the interview. People remember stories better than they remember facts or lists, so a good story can help an interviewer remember you and understand your skills.
Here's a story answer to the same question about why you chose your major:
When I was a kid my parents used to volunteer for the campaign of our county judge. I would go with them to the campaign office and help stuff envelopes. I loved the energy and the excitement. I've really been addicted to politics ever since that time.
The risk of talking too much is greater with this answer, but it allows you to paint a picture for the interviewer. Stories are the best way to get people to feel your passion for a job or to understand your experience.
Sample question: What has been your biggest failure?
Sample answer: At the beginning of last year, I applied for a position with Davis law firm in their internship program. I worked incredibly hard and spent a great deal of time on the application process. In the end, I wasn’t selected, and that was a tough blow. I contacted the firm’s recruiter and talked about where other candidates had been stronger, and I was able to use that critique in my next application. It was a devastating blow, but in the end, I had to look forward and learn.
In some cases you can blend stories and lists together:
Sample question: Have you ever had to supervise people?
Sample answer: I was fortunate to receive supervisory experience when I worked at Camp Illini. I was placed in charge of four junior counselors. This included managing schedules, ensuring duties were evenly distributed, and working through any performance issues. It really gave me a great insight into the challenges and reward of leading people.
Getting the Most from Your Internship
I have students come to me all the time to complain about their internships. It's boring. They only get to file. They aren't treated like an equal. Now, to be fair, there are a lot of bad internships out there, but there are equally bad interns. The goal is be figure out how to make the most of the experience you have.
First and foremost, figure out why you are doing your internship. What is it you want to get from this experience? Do you want a resume builder, a chance to try on a career, or maybe a networking opportunity? Be honest about what you hope to gain and then begin to set goals that will get you what you want.
The whole listing goals thing may seem hokey, particularly if you aren’t a “list person”, but it’s helpful to write things down so that when you get to the half way point you can see where you are in terms of accomplishing your objectives. Setting your goals will also help you make the most of tasks you are assigned and no when to volunteer for new tasks. A job running errands as an assistant may seem lousy, but if your goal is to get a lot of face time with the top people, it can be a great entrée.
Talk to your supervisor. Set up a work schedule, a set of expectations, and share what you hope to gain while you are there. Put all of this down in writing so that you can refer back to it at any subsequent meetings. I can’t tell you the number of students who got half way through their internships, working in misery because they felt underused, only to find out that their supervisor had no idea what they wanted to do.
Do the crap work with a smile and ask for more. Everybody does lousy work sometimes. It’s part of life. Here’s the secret, the people who are willing to do the crappy work happily are more likely to be the people who get noticed. Do your job well, do it with enthusiasm and then go back and ask for more work. You will get noticed and you will get more responsibility.
Be professional. That’s a tough one. Business culture is really nothing like college culture. Many of your professors have never even worked in a business environment. Professionalism means dressing well (see the Dress for Success entry), being positive, listening more than you talk, taking suggestions from others, offering positive feedback to others, avoiding gossip, romance, and arrogance. Be confident, but humble. A tough order, I’ll grant you, but this is your time to shine and shiny objects aren’t covered in dirt.
Jump at all learning opportunities. Any time someone will teach you something, learn it. Whether it’s about the company, the industry, your job, or life.
Look for a mentor. Your mentor should be a positive person. They should give you solid advice and offer practical tips for doing your job and surviving in your environment. Even if you don’t find a specific mentor, pay attention to everyone around you and how they do their jobs.
Learn networking skills. Get business cards from everyone and write a note about who they are on the back. Learn to write thank you notes and quick emails offering your gratitude for someone who let you take on an extra task or taught you something new. Start creating a holiday card list filled with people you particularly connected with.
What not to do?
Stay away from the poison people. You will meet people who love to hang out with the interns. They will take you to have drinks, they will share gossip with you, they will complain endlessly about their jobs and suggest you bitch about yours. Any and all of these are signs that you have found a poison person. This person may seem fun and welcoming, but what they are really doing is leaning on you to make their world better. This person is not a good mentor. They are probably not well liked by their colleagues and so they spend time with younger, less experienced people. It’s flattering that they want to be with you, but in the end, they can’t help you and will probably bring you down.
Don’t drink around your co-workers. If you have to drink, limit yourself to one beverage and then switch to water. Getting drunk in a business setting can only lead to bad things.
No office romances. Yes that 25 year old ad executive is hot and has been hitting on you constantly, but if things go south, you’ll be the one to go!
No bitching and moaning. Yes you are working for little financial gain, you are doing lousy tasks, and you may not be getting respect for any of it, but this is what you signed up for. Thank you sir, may I have another!
No Blogging. Yes you want to share your experiences with friends, but blogs get around. Many companies will fire you on the spot for sharing workplace details online.
No matter what your experience, you should leave your workplace with a positive vibe. You should thank your supervisor and ask for a final report of how you did, including suggestions for how you could improve. If you developed a special relationship with a mentor, you might consider buying a small token of thanks. Finally, write a note to anyone you met with whom you want to keep in touch thanking them for their assistance and providing contact information for the future. Remember that these are the people who will help you find jobs later, so treat them like gold.
First and foremost, figure out why you are doing your internship. What is it you want to get from this experience? Do you want a resume builder, a chance to try on a career, or maybe a networking opportunity? Be honest about what you hope to gain and then begin to set goals that will get you what you want.
The whole listing goals thing may seem hokey, particularly if you aren’t a “list person”, but it’s helpful to write things down so that when you get to the half way point you can see where you are in terms of accomplishing your objectives. Setting your goals will also help you make the most of tasks you are assigned and no when to volunteer for new tasks. A job running errands as an assistant may seem lousy, but if your goal is to get a lot of face time with the top people, it can be a great entrée.
Talk to your supervisor. Set up a work schedule, a set of expectations, and share what you hope to gain while you are there. Put all of this down in writing so that you can refer back to it at any subsequent meetings. I can’t tell you the number of students who got half way through their internships, working in misery because they felt underused, only to find out that their supervisor had no idea what they wanted to do.
Do the crap work with a smile and ask for more. Everybody does lousy work sometimes. It’s part of life. Here’s the secret, the people who are willing to do the crappy work happily are more likely to be the people who get noticed. Do your job well, do it with enthusiasm and then go back and ask for more work. You will get noticed and you will get more responsibility.
Be professional. That’s a tough one. Business culture is really nothing like college culture. Many of your professors have never even worked in a business environment. Professionalism means dressing well (see the Dress for Success entry), being positive, listening more than you talk, taking suggestions from others, offering positive feedback to others, avoiding gossip, romance, and arrogance. Be confident, but humble. A tough order, I’ll grant you, but this is your time to shine and shiny objects aren’t covered in dirt.
Jump at all learning opportunities. Any time someone will teach you something, learn it. Whether it’s about the company, the industry, your job, or life.
Look for a mentor. Your mentor should be a positive person. They should give you solid advice and offer practical tips for doing your job and surviving in your environment. Even if you don’t find a specific mentor, pay attention to everyone around you and how they do their jobs.
Learn networking skills. Get business cards from everyone and write a note about who they are on the back. Learn to write thank you notes and quick emails offering your gratitude for someone who let you take on an extra task or taught you something new. Start creating a holiday card list filled with people you particularly connected with.
What not to do?
Stay away from the poison people. You will meet people who love to hang out with the interns. They will take you to have drinks, they will share gossip with you, they will complain endlessly about their jobs and suggest you bitch about yours. Any and all of these are signs that you have found a poison person. This person may seem fun and welcoming, but what they are really doing is leaning on you to make their world better. This person is not a good mentor. They are probably not well liked by their colleagues and so they spend time with younger, less experienced people. It’s flattering that they want to be with you, but in the end, they can’t help you and will probably bring you down.
Don’t drink around your co-workers. If you have to drink, limit yourself to one beverage and then switch to water. Getting drunk in a business setting can only lead to bad things.
No office romances. Yes that 25 year old ad executive is hot and has been hitting on you constantly, but if things go south, you’ll be the one to go!
No bitching and moaning. Yes you are working for little financial gain, you are doing lousy tasks, and you may not be getting respect for any of it, but this is what you signed up for. Thank you sir, may I have another!
No Blogging. Yes you want to share your experiences with friends, but blogs get around. Many companies will fire you on the spot for sharing workplace details online.
No matter what your experience, you should leave your workplace with a positive vibe. You should thank your supervisor and ask for a final report of how you did, including suggestions for how you could improve. If you developed a special relationship with a mentor, you might consider buying a small token of thanks. Finally, write a note to anyone you met with whom you want to keep in touch thanking them for their assistance and providing contact information for the future. Remember that these are the people who will help you find jobs later, so treat them like gold.
Finding your Internship
So how does one find a good internship and make the most of it? We go back to the theme of the blog. People willing to work harder and smarter will get it done.
Common wisdom holds that finding an internship has three paths. Path A: connections you have. Path B: connections your college has. Path C: internships that are open and advertised. Path A will almost guarantee you an internship. If you or your family know the an important person in an organization, then getting in the door is much easier.
Path B is great for finding companies that already have internship programs and are excited about having young people in their organizations. They know the value of intern labor and are open to offering experiences that the college deems appropriate. It’s one less hurdle you have to leap.
Path C is usually necessary if you are going to work with larger companies. Your IBM’s, Dell computers, Merrill Lynchs tend to have structured internship opportunities. Often you will compete for these experiences just as you would a regular job. This can be a valuable opportunity to test your interviewing skills, and, if you get in, experience working for a multi-national organization.
All of these paths will take you to an internship. But what if you don’t have personal connections? And the competition for B & C make it a challenge to get any internship, let alone one that will be specific to your career goals.
Fortunately, I can offer option D. Go get your own. Not through contacts, not through postings, but through your own ingenuity. You see, many people don’t know about internships, or they feel guilty exploiting free labor. But once they know that you are a willing participant in this system and that you will work hard, they warm up to the idea.
I have a friend who owns a magazine. He’s an entrepreneur with a small staff of photographers, writers, designers, and sales people. He’s always short handed. I told him that I thought an intern could be a great asset for him. At first he demurred that he couldn’t pay someone and would feel far too guilty to make someone work for free. When I explained all of the things that an intern would gain from being with his organization for a few months, he warmed to the idea and started interviewing. He now has two college students on his team at all times. They learn the publishing business and he gets extra hands he needs to make the company run.
So what can you do? Offer your services. For free.
You can start by writing a letter or email to a manager, owner, or other person who might be able to bring you on board. Your letter should address the person in a professional manner, without being overly familiar. You should mention who you are and what college you attend. You should explain your major, if it is relevant, and/or your interest in the field. You should define your expectations of the time commitment and what you will gain from the experience.
Then you sell it. You should explain why their organization is the one you have chosen. Be specific. Google them and learn about what they do, recent accomplishments, and why they are a great company.
Then make your ask. Be direct and define why you would be an asset. Remember, they don’t care what you want, they want someone who will work hard.
Close politely with contact information and an offer to contact them.
Here’s a sample letter:
Dear Mr. Sanchez:
I am a University of the Unemployed junior majoring in public relations. I am seeking an internship for the spring semester. I am hoping to work between 10 and 20 hours each week. I have always had an interest in public relations work, and am eagerly searching for a strong organization with which I can intern and get a fly-on the-wall view of how an operation works.
I learned about your organization and your work with the Cancer foundation’s gala and was very impressed by the unique promotional strategies used to further the event. I believe I could learn a lot from your team and am writing to offer my services as an unpaid intern. I am professional, energetic, and reliable, and I feel I could be an asset to you. I have attached a copy of my resume for your review.
I will contact you this week by phone (or email). If you need to contact me in the meantime, you can reach me at (555) 555-1234 or anthony.williams@unemployedu.edu.
Sincerely,
Anthony Williams
Follow up with a phone call to the person to whom the letter was addressed restating your case.
Change the letter to Dr. Sanchez and talk about your interest in interning in a plastic surgeon’s office or to Senator Bob’s chief of staff and offer your services in helping constituents.
Lesson: In the end, the people who get what they want are the ones who ask for it.
Common wisdom holds that finding an internship has three paths. Path A: connections you have. Path B: connections your college has. Path C: internships that are open and advertised. Path A will almost guarantee you an internship. If you or your family know the an important person in an organization, then getting in the door is much easier.
Path B is great for finding companies that already have internship programs and are excited about having young people in their organizations. They know the value of intern labor and are open to offering experiences that the college deems appropriate. It’s one less hurdle you have to leap.
Path C is usually necessary if you are going to work with larger companies. Your IBM’s, Dell computers, Merrill Lynchs tend to have structured internship opportunities. Often you will compete for these experiences just as you would a regular job. This can be a valuable opportunity to test your interviewing skills, and, if you get in, experience working for a multi-national organization.
All of these paths will take you to an internship. But what if you don’t have personal connections? And the competition for B & C make it a challenge to get any internship, let alone one that will be specific to your career goals.
Fortunately, I can offer option D. Go get your own. Not through contacts, not through postings, but through your own ingenuity. You see, many people don’t know about internships, or they feel guilty exploiting free labor. But once they know that you are a willing participant in this system and that you will work hard, they warm up to the idea.
I have a friend who owns a magazine. He’s an entrepreneur with a small staff of photographers, writers, designers, and sales people. He’s always short handed. I told him that I thought an intern could be a great asset for him. At first he demurred that he couldn’t pay someone and would feel far too guilty to make someone work for free. When I explained all of the things that an intern would gain from being with his organization for a few months, he warmed to the idea and started interviewing. He now has two college students on his team at all times. They learn the publishing business and he gets extra hands he needs to make the company run.
So what can you do? Offer your services. For free.
You can start by writing a letter or email to a manager, owner, or other person who might be able to bring you on board. Your letter should address the person in a professional manner, without being overly familiar. You should mention who you are and what college you attend. You should explain your major, if it is relevant, and/or your interest in the field. You should define your expectations of the time commitment and what you will gain from the experience.
Then you sell it. You should explain why their organization is the one you have chosen. Be specific. Google them and learn about what they do, recent accomplishments, and why they are a great company.
Then make your ask. Be direct and define why you would be an asset. Remember, they don’t care what you want, they want someone who will work hard.
Close politely with contact information and an offer to contact them.
Here’s a sample letter:
Dear Mr. Sanchez:
I am a University of the Unemployed junior majoring in public relations. I am seeking an internship for the spring semester. I am hoping to work between 10 and 20 hours each week. I have always had an interest in public relations work, and am eagerly searching for a strong organization with which I can intern and get a fly-on the-wall view of how an operation works.
I learned about your organization and your work with the Cancer foundation’s gala and was very impressed by the unique promotional strategies used to further the event. I believe I could learn a lot from your team and am writing to offer my services as an unpaid intern. I am professional, energetic, and reliable, and I feel I could be an asset to you. I have attached a copy of my resume for your review.
I will contact you this week by phone (or email). If you need to contact me in the meantime, you can reach me at (555) 555-1234 or anthony.williams@unemployedu.edu.
Sincerely,
Anthony Williams
Follow up with a phone call to the person to whom the letter was addressed restating your case.
Change the letter to Dr. Sanchez and talk about your interest in interning in a plastic surgeon’s office or to Senator Bob’s chief of staff and offer your services in helping constituents.
Lesson: In the end, the people who get what they want are the ones who ask for it.
I Thought Slavery Was Illegal: Internships and You
An internship is usually a job in which you have to work a lot of hours for little or no money.
You should take part in an internship experience at least once before you leave college.
“What!” you say. "Why would I want to work for slave wage, or worse yet, no wages schlepping coffee, filing papers, and basically doing all of the crappy work no one else wants to do."
Because your about to spend upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 on and education that’s meant to get you ready for “the real world.” And only a fool pays that much for something without seeing what they’ll get for their money.
Imagine buying a car without ever driving it. Imagine buying all of your clothes without ever trying them on (and not being able to return them). Imagine buying a house without walking through it. All of these things are investments. Your car, your clothes, your house are things that will touch your life every single day.
But what about your job? Most students think nothing of jumping into a career without taking the time to learn what a company, a business, or a career path entails. And your educational institution has no refund policy.
A chance to “try on” a job or career
I had a student who was convinced she wanted to be in human resources. She thought it sounded like the greatest career: helping people get jobs, interviewing prospective candidates. I suggested a semester long internship with a major company in their HR department. It was unpaid, but she would learn a lot about what an HR professional does all day long. She was hesitant at first, noting that there were better paying internships she could try, even though they weren’t in her field. Eventually she relented and took the job.
At the end of the semester, she sat in my office and told me how glad she was that she had taken an internship in HR. She hated HR. She hated reviewing hundreds of resumes and matching them to jobs. She said interviewing was nothing like she thought it would be. And she felt a lot of pressure from the manager for whom she hired and the candidates who desperately wanted jobs. HR was not the career for her. Instead she went into pharmaceutical sales and did very well.
Now a semester of free labor sounds expensive, but spending a year or two of your precious youth in a job you hate is the most costly move you can make. Go out and ask people who hate their jobs what their life is like. Most likely you will hear tales of feeling trapped. And what does it take to change careers? Depending on how long you are on the wrong path, it can take a step down in salary and even more education. Cha ching!
Work experience
Experience is the catch 22 of job hunting for college students. Most companies want you to have experience before they will hire you, but how can you get experience if no one will hire you. Internships are the answer. Your internship can give you experience doing all sorts of tasks. You can learn everything from how an account organizes an office to how a computer programmer works with clients. These experiences translate into the answers you will give interviewers when they ask what you have to offer their organization.
Chance to make your mistakes in a lower risk environment
College insulates you, even as it opens your world up to new experiences. Compared to high school, college is a wealth of experimentation, opportunity, and innovation. You will meet people from every conceivable background with all sorts of strange ideas. But eventually, you will settle in with a crowd and a routine and the majority of your days will be spent with people who are either under 25. Your interactions with your professors will be minimal and many of them have never left a university existence themselves. It’s no wonder you have no idea what to do.
The outcome of four years of isolation is that you will screw up when you make the transition from school to work. It’s inevitable. Your clothes, your attitude, your communication skills, your behavior: there are so many things that change when you leave the confines of college. The worst time to learn is when you are in a job you need or really love. An internship gives you an opportunity to tweak your wardrobe, listen to how others communicate, practice your professional demeanor, and possibly even do some real work in your field. People know you are still learning and will be more likely to give you advice and help you learn the ropes. This will be an enormous advantage when you do finally land that first job.
To build contacts & references
The ultimate prize from an internship is the connections you can make in your chosen field. Letters of recommendation from friends and family won’t get you very far in the business world, but the director, vice president, manager, or owner of a company for which you actually worked?
Now that’s useful.
The people you meet will become your job seeking network. They will be the ones to recommend you to others, to tell you of job openings, to share secrets to getting into a certain career. There is no substitute for these people. Collect as many as you can and stay in touch with them all.Sassy Sanders, an executive with a major telecommunications company explains the value of her internship experience:
I interned at [major telecommunications company] for the year, and it was the best decision I ever made! It was 40 hrs/week in the summer for 3 months and although I received college credit, it was no-pay!
Eight years later I am still working there…I've also been lucky enough to have traveled to over 16 different countries with my work! I do owe all of this to what I learned throughout my internship and who I met.
Slavery is illegal, good internships are priceless.
You should take part in an internship experience at least once before you leave college.
“What!” you say. "Why would I want to work for slave wage, or worse yet, no wages schlepping coffee, filing papers, and basically doing all of the crappy work no one else wants to do."
Because your about to spend upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 on and education that’s meant to get you ready for “the real world.” And only a fool pays that much for something without seeing what they’ll get for their money.
Imagine buying a car without ever driving it. Imagine buying all of your clothes without ever trying them on (and not being able to return them). Imagine buying a house without walking through it. All of these things are investments. Your car, your clothes, your house are things that will touch your life every single day.
But what about your job? Most students think nothing of jumping into a career without taking the time to learn what a company, a business, or a career path entails. And your educational institution has no refund policy.
A chance to “try on” a job or career
I had a student who was convinced she wanted to be in human resources. She thought it sounded like the greatest career: helping people get jobs, interviewing prospective candidates. I suggested a semester long internship with a major company in their HR department. It was unpaid, but she would learn a lot about what an HR professional does all day long. She was hesitant at first, noting that there were better paying internships she could try, even though they weren’t in her field. Eventually she relented and took the job.
At the end of the semester, she sat in my office and told me how glad she was that she had taken an internship in HR. She hated HR. She hated reviewing hundreds of resumes and matching them to jobs. She said interviewing was nothing like she thought it would be. And she felt a lot of pressure from the manager for whom she hired and the candidates who desperately wanted jobs. HR was not the career for her. Instead she went into pharmaceutical sales and did very well.
Now a semester of free labor sounds expensive, but spending a year or two of your precious youth in a job you hate is the most costly move you can make. Go out and ask people who hate their jobs what their life is like. Most likely you will hear tales of feeling trapped. And what does it take to change careers? Depending on how long you are on the wrong path, it can take a step down in salary and even more education. Cha ching!
Work experience
Experience is the catch 22 of job hunting for college students. Most companies want you to have experience before they will hire you, but how can you get experience if no one will hire you. Internships are the answer. Your internship can give you experience doing all sorts of tasks. You can learn everything from how an account organizes an office to how a computer programmer works with clients. These experiences translate into the answers you will give interviewers when they ask what you have to offer their organization.
Chance to make your mistakes in a lower risk environment
College insulates you, even as it opens your world up to new experiences. Compared to high school, college is a wealth of experimentation, opportunity, and innovation. You will meet people from every conceivable background with all sorts of strange ideas. But eventually, you will settle in with a crowd and a routine and the majority of your days will be spent with people who are either under 25. Your interactions with your professors will be minimal and many of them have never left a university existence themselves. It’s no wonder you have no idea what to do.
The outcome of four years of isolation is that you will screw up when you make the transition from school to work. It’s inevitable. Your clothes, your attitude, your communication skills, your behavior: there are so many things that change when you leave the confines of college. The worst time to learn is when you are in a job you need or really love. An internship gives you an opportunity to tweak your wardrobe, listen to how others communicate, practice your professional demeanor, and possibly even do some real work in your field. People know you are still learning and will be more likely to give you advice and help you learn the ropes. This will be an enormous advantage when you do finally land that first job.
To build contacts & references
The ultimate prize from an internship is the connections you can make in your chosen field. Letters of recommendation from friends and family won’t get you very far in the business world, but the director, vice president, manager, or owner of a company for which you actually worked?
Now that’s useful.
The people you meet will become your job seeking network. They will be the ones to recommend you to others, to tell you of job openings, to share secrets to getting into a certain career. There is no substitute for these people. Collect as many as you can and stay in touch with them all.Sassy Sanders, an executive with a major telecommunications company explains the value of her internship experience:
I interned at [major telecommunications company] for the year, and it was the best decision I ever made! It was 40 hrs/week in the summer for 3 months and although I received college credit, it was no-pay!
Eight years later I am still working there…I've also been lucky enough to have traveled to over 16 different countries with my work! I do owe all of this to what I learned throughout my internship and who I met.
Slavery is illegal, good internships are priceless.
Dressing for Success
One of the most famous quotes by Coco Chanel is
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” (or man)
But for me the one from Ms. Chanel that sums up this chapter is:
“Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.”
As an adolescent and young adult your clothes have been your identity. They have made a statement about you to your peers and those around you. Your casual appearance has been well suited to a college universe.
Things are about to change.
The typical college wardrobe consists of tank tops, t-shirts, jeans, khakis, short skirts, frayed pants, sweaters, sweats, flip-flops, athletic shoes, loafers, sandals, and the list goes on. None of the clothes I just listed are appropriate for a job interview or, really, for most jobs.
What should be in your wardrobe?
Lady’s Wear
2 neutral or dark colored suits
Separates including:
2-3 blazers or dress jackets
3-4 dress shirts and career tops
2-3 skirts that come no higher than 2 inches above the knee
1-2 pairs of slacks in a non cotton material
1-2 pair of dress flats and 1-2 pairs of dress pumps without toes showing
2-3 sets of conservative, yet stylish accessories to match the above
5 pairs of panty hose if you are going to wear a skirt.
A simple purse of appropriate size (read as NOT able to fit your gym gear in.)
Men’s Wear
2-3 neutral or dark suits
4-5 dress shirts
4-5 ties
2 pairs of dress shoes
2-3 pairs of slacks
2-3 blazers to pair with slacks
5-6 pairs of dark dress socks to match shoes
2 nice belts
1 nice watch
If you live up where it gets cold, add one full length coat with gloves qne an elegant scarf to both genders. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, throw in a sleek and small umbrella and raincoat.
The most important thing to have is two great suits for interviewing. Two is the minimum because you may find your self interviewing with the same people multiple times. Having 3-4 shirts is important because it has been known to happen that a candidate spills, tears, or otherwise ruins their outfit as they are walking out the door.
How do you pay for all of these things?
First, sometime in your junior year, inform your family that you are starting to put together a working wardrobe. Suggest some stores from which you would like gift cards or specific items you need.
Second, browse second hand shops. I love the Goodwill. It's a place where wealthy people who have more money than sense drop off the barely or never worn clothes they went out and bought on a whim. I often find items with the tags still on. If you've never been, grab a friend and head out for an afternoon hunting expedition.
Third, use eBay. Many items like coats and blazers can be found for less on an online auction site or used clothing store.
Fourth, borrow, borrow, borrow. If you have a friend or roommate who is the same size, share your work wardrobe.
Finally, prowl the department stores during the end of season sales. You will find great suits and separates for 75% off that can work well any time of year. If none of these tactics is available, you may have to charge a few key pieces. I am NOT a fan of charging much of anything, but if you need a job, you need a job.
What should these items look like? For the most part they should reflect the company’s values, not yours. You may be a free spirit, but if the company is blue suit conservative, you need to match their level of formality. They should also not reflect your age. Buying your suits where you buy your tanks and flip flops is probably not your best strategy. Step your style up a notch and go for something different.
That said, don't dress old. Find photos of respectable business people in their late 20s and follow their lead.
One strategy that has been put forward many times is to wear something that will get you remembered. It is a good idea in principal, but it has gotten many job seekers in trouble in practice. A few items often mentioned are ties, scarves, and broaches. Having an unusually stylish tie is a great idea. Having an unusually wacky tie is not. It’s a hard line for some people to walk, so err on the side of caution.
For most men, as long as they stick with a well fitting suit, dress shoes, conservative tie, and matching socks, they're good to go. Things to avoid include: messy hair, stubble of any length, mismatched or odd colored socks, white dress shirts without undershirts, Velcro watchbands, polo-style shirts, shirts without ties, cologne, dirty or long fingernails, bolo ties, extremely bright colored dress shirts, printed t-shirts under white dress shirts, and cartoon, political, or logo ties. (I see so many and wonder “why, Lord, why?”)
Women tend to have too many options wardrobe-wise and that can get confusing. That’s why it’s crucial to pick 3 or 4 acceptable outfits and lay them aside.
The other trick for a woman is knowing how conservative to be. Here are some rules of thumb. Skirts should be no more than 2 inches above the knee, particularly if they have a slit in the back. You may look great in the front in that short skirt, but the view from the rear may be YOUR rear. Blouses should be well-fitted, but not snug. If your buttons are separating so as to show your bra through the gaps, it's probably too tight. Be prepared to pin button-down shirts that pouf out or separate. Buttons should be buttoned up enough to avoid showing the top of your cleavage. (p.s.: always wear a bra…and panties!)
No -no’s include: bare arms, bare legs, bare toes, bare stomachs, large earrings, electric colors, heavy make-up, tight or ill-fitted clothing, perfume of any kind, stiletto heels, and fake designer handbags (very tacky).
The old saying to dress for the job you want, not the job you have is absolutely true. Just because you are an intern or entry level worker doesn’t mean you have to dress down. People will be inclined to take you more seriously if you look like a professional.
Purses, bags, portfolios for men and women
Whether you are a man or a woman, you should walk into your interview carrying something.
Do not carry a briefcase, you really don’t have enough stuff to put in it.
Do not carry a laptop case, you don’t need your computer
Do not carry a manila or other paper folder
Do not carry a massive purse
Do not carry a backpack
I always suggest a simple portfolio for both genders and, if you are a woman, a manageable purse or clutch. A portfolio should have a pad for jotting notes, a place to hold business cards, a place to hold a pen, and a pocket for unfolded copies of your resume and other materials as needed. Leather portfolios are nicest, but there are plenty of faux leather styles out there. Many have zippers and snaps to keep them shut. Find one that is professional and sleek that will fit your needs.
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” (or man)
But for me the one from Ms. Chanel that sums up this chapter is:
“Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.”
As an adolescent and young adult your clothes have been your identity. They have made a statement about you to your peers and those around you. Your casual appearance has been well suited to a college universe.
Things are about to change.
The typical college wardrobe consists of tank tops, t-shirts, jeans, khakis, short skirts, frayed pants, sweaters, sweats, flip-flops, athletic shoes, loafers, sandals, and the list goes on. None of the clothes I just listed are appropriate for a job interview or, really, for most jobs.
What should be in your wardrobe?
Lady’s Wear
2 neutral or dark colored suits
Separates including:
2-3 blazers or dress jackets
3-4 dress shirts and career tops
2-3 skirts that come no higher than 2 inches above the knee
1-2 pairs of slacks in a non cotton material
1-2 pair of dress flats and 1-2 pairs of dress pumps without toes showing
2-3 sets of conservative, yet stylish accessories to match the above
5 pairs of panty hose if you are going to wear a skirt.
A simple purse of appropriate size (read as NOT able to fit your gym gear in.)
Men’s Wear
2-3 neutral or dark suits
4-5 dress shirts
4-5 ties
2 pairs of dress shoes
2-3 pairs of slacks
2-3 blazers to pair with slacks
5-6 pairs of dark dress socks to match shoes
2 nice belts
1 nice watch
If you live up where it gets cold, add one full length coat with gloves qne an elegant scarf to both genders. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, throw in a sleek and small umbrella and raincoat.
The most important thing to have is two great suits for interviewing. Two is the minimum because you may find your self interviewing with the same people multiple times. Having 3-4 shirts is important because it has been known to happen that a candidate spills, tears, or otherwise ruins their outfit as they are walking out the door.
How do you pay for all of these things?
First, sometime in your junior year, inform your family that you are starting to put together a working wardrobe. Suggest some stores from which you would like gift cards or specific items you need.
Second, browse second hand shops. I love the Goodwill. It's a place where wealthy people who have more money than sense drop off the barely or never worn clothes they went out and bought on a whim. I often find items with the tags still on. If you've never been, grab a friend and head out for an afternoon hunting expedition.
Third, use eBay. Many items like coats and blazers can be found for less on an online auction site or used clothing store.
Fourth, borrow, borrow, borrow. If you have a friend or roommate who is the same size, share your work wardrobe.
Finally, prowl the department stores during the end of season sales. You will find great suits and separates for 75% off that can work well any time of year. If none of these tactics is available, you may have to charge a few key pieces. I am NOT a fan of charging much of anything, but if you need a job, you need a job.
What should these items look like? For the most part they should reflect the company’s values, not yours. You may be a free spirit, but if the company is blue suit conservative, you need to match their level of formality. They should also not reflect your age. Buying your suits where you buy your tanks and flip flops is probably not your best strategy. Step your style up a notch and go for something different.
That said, don't dress old. Find photos of respectable business people in their late 20s and follow their lead.
One strategy that has been put forward many times is to wear something that will get you remembered. It is a good idea in principal, but it has gotten many job seekers in trouble in practice. A few items often mentioned are ties, scarves, and broaches. Having an unusually stylish tie is a great idea. Having an unusually wacky tie is not. It’s a hard line for some people to walk, so err on the side of caution.
For most men, as long as they stick with a well fitting suit, dress shoes, conservative tie, and matching socks, they're good to go. Things to avoid include: messy hair, stubble of any length, mismatched or odd colored socks, white dress shirts without undershirts, Velcro watchbands, polo-style shirts, shirts without ties, cologne, dirty or long fingernails, bolo ties, extremely bright colored dress shirts, printed t-shirts under white dress shirts, and cartoon, political, or logo ties. (I see so many and wonder “why, Lord, why?”)
Women tend to have too many options wardrobe-wise and that can get confusing. That’s why it’s crucial to pick 3 or 4 acceptable outfits and lay them aside.
The other trick for a woman is knowing how conservative to be. Here are some rules of thumb. Skirts should be no more than 2 inches above the knee, particularly if they have a slit in the back. You may look great in the front in that short skirt, but the view from the rear may be YOUR rear. Blouses should be well-fitted, but not snug. If your buttons are separating so as to show your bra through the gaps, it's probably too tight. Be prepared to pin button-down shirts that pouf out or separate. Buttons should be buttoned up enough to avoid showing the top of your cleavage. (p.s.: always wear a bra…and panties!)
No -no’s include: bare arms, bare legs, bare toes, bare stomachs, large earrings, electric colors, heavy make-up, tight or ill-fitted clothing, perfume of any kind, stiletto heels, and fake designer handbags (very tacky).
The old saying to dress for the job you want, not the job you have is absolutely true. Just because you are an intern or entry level worker doesn’t mean you have to dress down. People will be inclined to take you more seriously if you look like a professional.
Purses, bags, portfolios for men and women
Whether you are a man or a woman, you should walk into your interview carrying something.
Do not carry a briefcase, you really don’t have enough stuff to put in it.
Do not carry a laptop case, you don’t need your computer
Do not carry a manila or other paper folder
Do not carry a massive purse
Do not carry a backpack
I always suggest a simple portfolio for both genders and, if you are a woman, a manageable purse or clutch. A portfolio should have a pad for jotting notes, a place to hold business cards, a place to hold a pen, and a pocket for unfolded copies of your resume and other materials as needed. Leather portfolios are nicest, but there are plenty of faux leather styles out there. Many have zippers and snaps to keep them shut. Find one that is professional and sleek that will fit your needs.
So you want to work in a foreign country
If you are interested in foreign careers, you should begin preparing fairly early in your college career. Obtaining an overseas job typically requires:
Preparing to live in an international environment means more than just learning the language. It also means learning customs and culture. To become comfortable in an international environment, begin by joining a university intercultural group like a foreign language club, international club, or country specific group. By spending time with people from different countries in a social setting, you will become more relaxed and confident and able to learn about the different cultures around you.
Another valuable experience is participating in a structured foreign academic experience. There are many universities and organizations that offer semesters abroad, summer cultural and linguistic experiences, and short term tours of different countries. These experiences, while expensive will help you become comfortable with foreign travel and the experience of being immersed in a foreign language. If you are thinking about graduate school, consider getting your degree at a university in the foreign country in which you have interest. You are more likely to make contacts and learn the nuances of the culture if you are immersed.
Once you have finished school and are ready to do some career seeking, it’s important to do some research to understand what working in your given location means. Each country has different laws and customs about careers and job hunting. In some countries, you will have to have a specific visa to be considered for a job. You may have to prove that you are uniquely suited for a given job and are not taking work away from a citizen of the country. To avoid these hassles, you can apply to American based companies with foreign offices who will handle most of these issues for you.
Resumes and interviews are also different for each country. For example, in many Asian countries it is still commonplace to submit your photo with your resume. In Australia, however, it is not only frowned on, but it is illegal for an employer to request one. Doing some research is of paramount importance if you want to successfully job hunt overseas.
The brevity of a resume is predominantly an American phenomenon. Americans want to get the 411 and move on to the next candidate as soon as possible. Internationally, recruiters prefer the longer CVs to the truncated resume (See post: What is a CV and why do I need one?). A CV in this case should be between three and eight pages and will detail the things that you have done that make you most suitable to a job.
This love of length is combined with a love of formality. While I discourage familiarity, humor and casualness across the board, it is essential to avoid them when writing and interviewing overseas. Remember the importance of formality and hierarchy.
There are a lot of pieces of information that are illegal to share in the United States that will be required information in other parts of the world. Information about your marital status, age, gender, religion, and nationality are not acceptable here, but will be expected in many countries. It behooves you as the candidate to find out ahead of time what the expectations of your chosen country are so that you can provide the appropriate information.
When applying internationally you should include a section of your CV that address key issues relating you your being a foreign candidate. These might include visa status, language proficiency, and any specific training or experiences that are relevant to your living in a foreign environment. Remember that if you list a language on your resume, you will most likely be expected to be able to interview in that language. If you are only slightly knowledgeable of a language, don’t overstate your abilities.
Your first interviews with an overseas recruiter will most likely be through phone, email, or video conferencing. This means you need to be on your toes. You should be ready if the phone rings, check your email regularly throughout the day, and be prepared to receive calls and emails at unusual times due to the time differences. Also prepare your roommates. It can be disconcerting to receive a call in Dutch if you don’t speak the language. Make sure your roommates know that you are applying for positions overseas and prep them for how to act professionally if someone foreign calls.
- a strong proficiency in a skill set that necessitates hiring a foreigner,
- cultural adaptability and understanding,
- and basic language skills needed to complete the job.
Preparing to live in an international environment means more than just learning the language. It also means learning customs and culture. To become comfortable in an international environment, begin by joining a university intercultural group like a foreign language club, international club, or country specific group. By spending time with people from different countries in a social setting, you will become more relaxed and confident and able to learn about the different cultures around you.
Another valuable experience is participating in a structured foreign academic experience. There are many universities and organizations that offer semesters abroad, summer cultural and linguistic experiences, and short term tours of different countries. These experiences, while expensive will help you become comfortable with foreign travel and the experience of being immersed in a foreign language. If you are thinking about graduate school, consider getting your degree at a university in the foreign country in which you have interest. You are more likely to make contacts and learn the nuances of the culture if you are immersed.
Once you have finished school and are ready to do some career seeking, it’s important to do some research to understand what working in your given location means. Each country has different laws and customs about careers and job hunting. In some countries, you will have to have a specific visa to be considered for a job. You may have to prove that you are uniquely suited for a given job and are not taking work away from a citizen of the country. To avoid these hassles, you can apply to American based companies with foreign offices who will handle most of these issues for you.
Resumes and interviews are also different for each country. For example, in many Asian countries it is still commonplace to submit your photo with your resume. In Australia, however, it is not only frowned on, but it is illegal for an employer to request one. Doing some research is of paramount importance if you want to successfully job hunt overseas.
The brevity of a resume is predominantly an American phenomenon. Americans want to get the 411 and move on to the next candidate as soon as possible. Internationally, recruiters prefer the longer CVs to the truncated resume (See post: What is a CV and why do I need one?). A CV in this case should be between three and eight pages and will detail the things that you have done that make you most suitable to a job.
This love of length is combined with a love of formality. While I discourage familiarity, humor and casualness across the board, it is essential to avoid them when writing and interviewing overseas. Remember the importance of formality and hierarchy.
There are a lot of pieces of information that are illegal to share in the United States that will be required information in other parts of the world. Information about your marital status, age, gender, religion, and nationality are not acceptable here, but will be expected in many countries. It behooves you as the candidate to find out ahead of time what the expectations of your chosen country are so that you can provide the appropriate information.
When applying internationally you should include a section of your CV that address key issues relating you your being a foreign candidate. These might include visa status, language proficiency, and any specific training or experiences that are relevant to your living in a foreign environment. Remember that if you list a language on your resume, you will most likely be expected to be able to interview in that language. If you are only slightly knowledgeable of a language, don’t overstate your abilities.
Your first interviews with an overseas recruiter will most likely be through phone, email, or video conferencing. This means you need to be on your toes. You should be ready if the phone rings, check your email regularly throughout the day, and be prepared to receive calls and emails at unusual times due to the time differences. Also prepare your roommates. It can be disconcerting to receive a call in Dutch if you don’t speak the language. Make sure your roommates know that you are applying for positions overseas and prep them for how to act professionally if someone foreign calls.
What's a Vita and do I need one?
I frequently hear a great deal of confusion about the differences between a curriculum vitae (vita) or CV and a tradition resume. Let's clear it up.
A CV is a document used frequently by academics, (and in Europe) to detail your work experience. Unlike a resume a vita offers up excruciating details about every aspect of your professional life
.
The phrase “curriculum vitae” comes from the Latin meaning “life’s course,” and that’s really what it is. It is a document that lays out the path your life has taken over the years. Unlike a resume where employers aren’t very interested in what you did ten years ago, a CV tracks all of your education, writing, teaching, research, and work experiences. It provides information about everything you have written or said for public consumption and information about your educational pedigree, awards, and experiences.
CVs are popular in academic circles because the amount of work you have done has more to do with getting a job than a specific skill set would. Academics are typically judged on the depth and breadth of their expertise. The types of classes they have taught, books and articles published, grants awarded, and conferences in which they have participated. Their CVs can be 5, 10, or even 30 pages if they have enough publications and experiences to share. Unlike resumes, in the word of CVs, more is more.
I receive a lot of requests from academics or recent PhD graduates for help in translating their CVs into a resume. It can be a tough task. The key is always to go back to the first principal of this chapter: your resume is designed to sell you for a job. Turning a CV into a resume is a matter of understanding what skills and experiences you have had in the academic world and how they add up to make you a desirable candidate for a specific job.
CVs are also more modest in tone. In a resume you are constantly pitching and selling in the language. In a CV, you are stating things factually with the assumption that the information will speak for itself. If you were to describe yourself as "a prominent scholar in the field of biotechnology with a strong history of innovative research" you would sound a bit like a braggart to your academic colleagues. You would be more likely to win them over with a simple statement of fact such as: biotechnology scholar who uses grant funding to find new research methodologies.
The massive difference between CVs and resumes is one of the top reasons I give students for shying away from asking your college professor for too much help in formatting a resume. If your professor has never written his or her own resume and worked outside of a university or research setting, it’s a good bet they don’t really have the expertise to guide you. It’s a little like taking combat advice from an Army reservist who has never been to war.
A CV is a document used frequently by academics, (and in Europe) to detail your work experience. Unlike a resume a vita offers up excruciating details about every aspect of your professional life
.
The phrase “curriculum vitae” comes from the Latin meaning “life’s course,” and that’s really what it is. It is a document that lays out the path your life has taken over the years. Unlike a resume where employers aren’t very interested in what you did ten years ago, a CV tracks all of your education, writing, teaching, research, and work experiences. It provides information about everything you have written or said for public consumption and information about your educational pedigree, awards, and experiences.
CVs are popular in academic circles because the amount of work you have done has more to do with getting a job than a specific skill set would. Academics are typically judged on the depth and breadth of their expertise. The types of classes they have taught, books and articles published, grants awarded, and conferences in which they have participated. Their CVs can be 5, 10, or even 30 pages if they have enough publications and experiences to share. Unlike resumes, in the word of CVs, more is more.
I receive a lot of requests from academics or recent PhD graduates for help in translating their CVs into a resume. It can be a tough task. The key is always to go back to the first principal of this chapter: your resume is designed to sell you for a job. Turning a CV into a resume is a matter of understanding what skills and experiences you have had in the academic world and how they add up to make you a desirable candidate for a specific job.
CVs are also more modest in tone. In a resume you are constantly pitching and selling in the language. In a CV, you are stating things factually with the assumption that the information will speak for itself. If you were to describe yourself as "a prominent scholar in the field of biotechnology with a strong history of innovative research" you would sound a bit like a braggart to your academic colleagues. You would be more likely to win them over with a simple statement of fact such as: biotechnology scholar who uses grant funding to find new research methodologies.
The massive difference between CVs and resumes is one of the top reasons I give students for shying away from asking your college professor for too much help in formatting a resume. If your professor has never written his or her own resume and worked outside of a university or research setting, it’s a good bet they don’t really have the expertise to guide you. It’s a little like taking combat advice from an Army reservist who has never been to war.
Writing Your Resume: Tailoring
The lazy job hunter will create a single resume and start emailing it all over creation.
An effective job hunter will find a job or career they want and create a specific resume for each opportunity to which they might apply.
Yes, this is more work. It means you have to have multiple copies of your resume. But would you sell a product to a CNN audience the same way you would sell it to an MTV audience?
No. So why are you sending the same resume for a marketing job as you would for a training job? Different audience, different resume.
So how do you tailor your resume? Take your generic resume and put it against the job description. Look for keywords in the description and see where they match your experience or personality. Rewrite the sentences in your resume using the keywords from the job description. If a job description asks for a multi-tasker then put a sentence in your summary that you are a multi-task person. Need customer service skills? Highlight your jobs that have put you on the front line dealing with customers.
To clarify: you will always begin with a generic resume that highlights your strong points. You can then tweak the resume before each submission to be more appealing for a given job.
An effective job hunter will find a job or career they want and create a specific resume for each opportunity to which they might apply.
Yes, this is more work. It means you have to have multiple copies of your resume. But would you sell a product to a CNN audience the same way you would sell it to an MTV audience?
No. So why are you sending the same resume for a marketing job as you would for a training job? Different audience, different resume.
So how do you tailor your resume? Take your generic resume and put it against the job description. Look for keywords in the description and see where they match your experience or personality. Rewrite the sentences in your resume using the keywords from the job description. If a job description asks for a multi-tasker then put a sentence in your summary that you are a multi-task person. Need customer service skills? Highlight your jobs that have put you on the front line dealing with customers.
To clarify: you will always begin with a generic resume that highlights your strong points. You can then tweak the resume before each submission to be more appealing for a given job.
Writing Your Resume: Style
You've probably seen a million and one style tips for resumes.
Now I'll throw in a few more.
First you have to choose your structure. There are a variety of different structures from which you can choose. Chronological resumes are the most common and most preferred by recruiters. They are mostly a list of your work experience from most recent to least recent.
A functional resume, on the other hand focuses your accomplishments and career highlights and relegates the actual jobs to a simple a list. This resume is very popular for people who have had lots of different jobs, breaks in employment history, or have done a lot of consulting for different companies.
Once you have chosen your structure, you need to think about how your resume looks. Here are some fundamental style tips to remember.
Tip 1: Don’t use small fonts. This is an old trick used by many a newbie resume writer to get more space and say more things. The rule of thumb is never use a font smaller than pt. 10. Anything tinier than that and it is really hard to read. And if your resume is hard to read and someone else’s is easier, they will get the attention and you won’t. Don’t make it harder on an interviewer. Yes, you must be judicious in deciding what to include, but the brevity is worth it if it makes the resume more readable.
Tip 2: Don’t use strange fonts. I know there are many wonderful and eye-catching fonts available. And I know someone once told you to get their attention in any way you can. The problem is that most of the odd fonts don’t scan and e-mail well. Many companies use computerized resume systems that scan in the document and look for key words. Unusual fonts may not be read properly meaning that your attempt to say that you have great writing skills may be read by a computer as writhing skills. A very different translation that probably won’t help you get a job unless it’s with Cirque du Soleis.
Tip 3: Use white space to make it easier to read. Most new resume writers aren’t into minimalism. They want to fill every available space with some useful tidbit. They’d write in the margins if they could figure out how. Your job, however, is not to pack in the information, but to make it easy to read and appreciate. White space helps the eye get to each word. I love how freelance designer and writer Jacci Howard Bear puts it: “White space provides visual breathing room for the eye.”[i] Using 1 inch margins is a good way to start. Carriage returns between major sections will also help the eye get to the right places.
Tip 4: The top three lines of your resume should be your name and contact information. These should include:
Now I'll throw in a few more.
First you have to choose your structure. There are a variety of different structures from which you can choose. Chronological resumes are the most common and most preferred by recruiters. They are mostly a list of your work experience from most recent to least recent.
A functional resume, on the other hand focuses your accomplishments and career highlights and relegates the actual jobs to a simple a list. This resume is very popular for people who have had lots of different jobs, breaks in employment history, or have done a lot of consulting for different companies.
Once you have chosen your structure, you need to think about how your resume looks. Here are some fundamental style tips to remember.
Tip 1: Don’t use small fonts. This is an old trick used by many a newbie resume writer to get more space and say more things. The rule of thumb is never use a font smaller than pt. 10. Anything tinier than that and it is really hard to read. And if your resume is hard to read and someone else’s is easier, they will get the attention and you won’t. Don’t make it harder on an interviewer. Yes, you must be judicious in deciding what to include, but the brevity is worth it if it makes the resume more readable.
Tip 2: Don’t use strange fonts. I know there are many wonderful and eye-catching fonts available. And I know someone once told you to get their attention in any way you can. The problem is that most of the odd fonts don’t scan and e-mail well. Many companies use computerized resume systems that scan in the document and look for key words. Unusual fonts may not be read properly meaning that your attempt to say that you have great writing skills may be read by a computer as writhing skills. A very different translation that probably won’t help you get a job unless it’s with Cirque du Soleis.
Tip 3: Use white space to make it easier to read. Most new resume writers aren’t into minimalism. They want to fill every available space with some useful tidbit. They’d write in the margins if they could figure out how. Your job, however, is not to pack in the information, but to make it easy to read and appreciate. White space helps the eye get to each word. I love how freelance designer and writer Jacci Howard Bear puts it: “White space provides visual breathing room for the eye.”[i] Using 1 inch margins is a good way to start. Carriage returns between major sections will also help the eye get to the right places.
Tip 4: The top three lines of your resume should be your name and contact information. These should include:
- A single address where you would like information or packets mailed
- A home and cell phone which you answer regularly and on which you have voice mail
- An email address that you check at least once each day
You should not include:
- Lots of phone numbers or numbers where you won’t be available to talk should an interviewer call
- Lots of addresses. Choose the one at which you are most likely to be reached. Trying to figure out where you is a pain for an interviewer and you never want to highlight that you are at your parents’ house for the summer.
- Unprofessional email addresses or multiple email addresses. The best email addresses are ones that simply have your name or first initial/last name.
Your name should be the name by which you want to be called by the recruiter. Recruiter Stacey Carpenter of the Millennium Group notes the importance of making your name easy for a recruiter. “If you have a very long or hard to pronounce name, you might shorten it. It’s less intimidating for the recruiter. If your name is Sachidandin Vrindamandan, for example, You might choose to put Sachi or Dan on your resume.” You can always explain what you prefer to be called once you have the job.
This sounds racist. It's not. It's laziness and a desire not to look stupid when you get someone's name wrong. A recruiter is going to take the path of least resistance, so make it easier on them, at least until you get the job.
Tip 5: Don’t over due the “style” element.
One of the most common errors of newbie resume writers is to try to overstyle the resume using fancy flourishes. In fact, the more you add to the resume stylistically, the more you stand to take away from the information. For example, many young people show up in my office with a resume on which every other word is bolded or italicized. They are trying to use these stylistic words to attract attention. That’s a good idea. The bad part is that they have used so much of it, a reader can’t tell which ones are the key words. A resume writer should use bolds and italics sparingly and only to emphasize the headers to make it easier to read. If your resume is well written and organizationally sound, the other flourishes won’t matter.
Tip 6: Use white or cream paper only. No funky colors.
In an age of internet submissions, this may seem like a moot point. But no matter how far away we get from plunking our resumes out on a typewriter, there will always be a need for a paper resume. Even if you submit an emailed resume (which is more than likely going to be the case,) you will still need to have a nice printed out copy to take with you to job interviews. These hard-copy versions should be printed on clean crisp professional white paper. No unusual colors, no flecks of cotton, and no fancy envelopes will change what’s written on the document.
[i] http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/designprinciples/a/morewhitespace.htm
Writing Your Resume: Listing your education
I am going to ask a question that may be painful to those of you who have just spent the better of four years and possible tens of thousands of dollars on your education. Why is education a selling point to an employer?
The good news is that I'm going to answer the question for you.
First off, the education you list tells them that you have the minimum qualifications for most of the top jobs. That means it must be on the resume.
An employer will want to know where you went to school and what degrees you hold such as an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s or other advanced degree.
They may also look for your major, date of graduation, and GPA.
But that doesn’t mean you should tell them.
Huh?
Let’s begin with your major.
Whether or not you share your major depends on what it is and what the job is. Here’s an example. Let’s say you just finished a degree in Classics. You know Latin. You know ancient Rome. But you also always wanted to work on Capitol Hill. So you submit a resume to a recruiter in Washington D.C. Now let’s pretend you are the recruiter. You have 50 entry level resumes for one job as a Legislative Aide. You need to find a way to pull out the top candidates. You look at their education. You have 20 political science majors, 10 that don’t say their majors, and 20 with majors totally unrelated to working for a congressperson. If you are looking to cull the list, you may start by yanking those who you know majored in something other than political science, pre law, or government. Your classics major just got tossed away.
“Not fair,” you say?
True. But a reality nonetheless. So what could you have done to keep yourself in that pile? How about putting a Bachelor’s degree and not stating your major? Then the reader could assume anything about your education.
The moral of the story is that you should avoid putting information on your resume that can’t help you, and sometimes that’s your major.
So when do you list it. You list it when it sells you. If you are applying for an entry level job in an architecture firm, then putting on an architecture or engineering major is a huge plus. Putting your minor in modern dance, probably isn’t. It’s a judgment call that will change with each resume you send out.
So what about sharing the date at which you will be a full fledged graduate? What could possibly be wrong with that?
Let’s go back to our rule #1: Does it sell you?
Let’s say you are a sophomore applying for an internship. You could put down that your prospective graduation date is two years in the future, or you could put down Bachelor of Arts in progress. Which would you put down? Do you think your being a sophomore would make you more or less appealing to the employer? If you are competing against older and more experienced students, you may want to avoid making your sophomore status obvious.
Now try the same thing with a permanent job after graduation. You have your freshly printed degree in hand. Do you put down the graduation date or just leave it as Unicorn State University, Bachelor of Arts? What does that date offer an employer? It offers them a way to try to gauge your age. Assuming you took between four and five yeas to complete your education, I can now subtract your year of graduation to figure out how old you are. Does it help you to be a twenty-two year old up against a twenty-seven year old? Not usually, so it’s best not to offer it to the recruiter. Just put your school and your degree and leave the age game until the interview. Remember, its’ illegal for them to ask how old you are, but not to do subtraction.
What about your GPA?
Go back to rule #1: Does it sell you? What does it tell an employer about who you are? Are you a geek who never got out much and spent most of your time studying? Are you a well balanced, hard-working student? Are you a slacker? It’s hard to know how your GPA will be interpreted. If you have a fantastic internship listed, but a lousy GPA, they might cancel each other out. On the other hand, if you had a fantastic GPA and no internship, the recruiter might see how hard you worked and include you in the interview. Finally, if you had a fantastic internship experience, but didn’t list your GPA, you would probably still get the interview. If your GPA is lousy, then be prepared to discuss it in an interview, but don’t share it on the resume.
The debate about whether or not companies care about grades rages on and on. Lousy students walk around saying “companies don’t care about your GPA,” almost as a mantra to laziness. The truth is that companies care about anything that can indicate if you are a good employee. A GPA may offer a clue in that direction. If it’s there, recruiters will use it. If not, they may or may not ask about it in the interview. Most companies will ask about GPAs if they are hiring on campus. Some never ask.
Rule of thumb: if your GPA is a 3.25 or higher, you want to share. If your GPA put you in the running for a cum laude or other designation, you can place that after your degree instead. Scholarships and honors can be added, but only if there is room and they are key items that sell who you are. Pledge of the year is much less valuable than Presidential Scholar. Some honors, like Phi Beta Kappa, are universal, most are not. You may need to explain the award to give it meaning to a recruiter. Example: Williams Fellow: chosen as one of 10 undergraduates in the country for exceptional community service combined with academic achievement.
The good news is that I'm going to answer the question for you.
First off, the education you list tells them that you have the minimum qualifications for most of the top jobs. That means it must be on the resume.
An employer will want to know where you went to school and what degrees you hold such as an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s or other advanced degree.
They may also look for your major, date of graduation, and GPA.
But that doesn’t mean you should tell them.
Huh?
Let’s begin with your major.
Whether or not you share your major depends on what it is and what the job is. Here’s an example. Let’s say you just finished a degree in Classics. You know Latin. You know ancient Rome. But you also always wanted to work on Capitol Hill. So you submit a resume to a recruiter in Washington D.C. Now let’s pretend you are the recruiter. You have 50 entry level resumes for one job as a Legislative Aide. You need to find a way to pull out the top candidates. You look at their education. You have 20 political science majors, 10 that don’t say their majors, and 20 with majors totally unrelated to working for a congressperson. If you are looking to cull the list, you may start by yanking those who you know majored in something other than political science, pre law, or government. Your classics major just got tossed away.
“Not fair,” you say?
True. But a reality nonetheless. So what could you have done to keep yourself in that pile? How about putting a Bachelor’s degree and not stating your major? Then the reader could assume anything about your education.
The moral of the story is that you should avoid putting information on your resume that can’t help you, and sometimes that’s your major.
So when do you list it. You list it when it sells you. If you are applying for an entry level job in an architecture firm, then putting on an architecture or engineering major is a huge plus. Putting your minor in modern dance, probably isn’t. It’s a judgment call that will change with each resume you send out.
So what about sharing the date at which you will be a full fledged graduate? What could possibly be wrong with that?
Let’s go back to our rule #1: Does it sell you?
Let’s say you are a sophomore applying for an internship. You could put down that your prospective graduation date is two years in the future, or you could put down Bachelor of Arts in progress. Which would you put down? Do you think your being a sophomore would make you more or less appealing to the employer? If you are competing against older and more experienced students, you may want to avoid making your sophomore status obvious.
Now try the same thing with a permanent job after graduation. You have your freshly printed degree in hand. Do you put down the graduation date or just leave it as Unicorn State University, Bachelor of Arts? What does that date offer an employer? It offers them a way to try to gauge your age. Assuming you took between four and five yeas to complete your education, I can now subtract your year of graduation to figure out how old you are. Does it help you to be a twenty-two year old up against a twenty-seven year old? Not usually, so it’s best not to offer it to the recruiter. Just put your school and your degree and leave the age game until the interview. Remember, its’ illegal for them to ask how old you are, but not to do subtraction.
What about your GPA?
Go back to rule #1: Does it sell you? What does it tell an employer about who you are? Are you a geek who never got out much and spent most of your time studying? Are you a well balanced, hard-working student? Are you a slacker? It’s hard to know how your GPA will be interpreted. If you have a fantastic internship listed, but a lousy GPA, they might cancel each other out. On the other hand, if you had a fantastic GPA and no internship, the recruiter might see how hard you worked and include you in the interview. Finally, if you had a fantastic internship experience, but didn’t list your GPA, you would probably still get the interview. If your GPA is lousy, then be prepared to discuss it in an interview, but don’t share it on the resume.
The debate about whether or not companies care about grades rages on and on. Lousy students walk around saying “companies don’t care about your GPA,” almost as a mantra to laziness. The truth is that companies care about anything that can indicate if you are a good employee. A GPA may offer a clue in that direction. If it’s there, recruiters will use it. If not, they may or may not ask about it in the interview. Most companies will ask about GPAs if they are hiring on campus. Some never ask.
Rule of thumb: if your GPA is a 3.25 or higher, you want to share. If your GPA put you in the running for a cum laude or other designation, you can place that after your degree instead. Scholarships and honors can be added, but only if there is room and they are key items that sell who you are. Pledge of the year is much less valuable than Presidential Scholar. Some honors, like Phi Beta Kappa, are universal, most are not. You may need to explain the award to give it meaning to a recruiter. Example: Williams Fellow: chosen as one of 10 undergraduates in the country for exceptional community service combined with academic achievement.
Wasted lines on your resume
Objectives vs. Summaries
Objective
My objective is to find an entry level position with a mid-size architectural firm where I can hone my design skills and advance the company’s objectives.
I often see objectives like this on people’s resumes and wonder why they are wasting two precious lines of their personal advertisement to tell me what they want to do.
First, your objective is obvious: you want to get hired. Obviously, you want to get hired for this job or you wouldn’t have applied.
Second, I don’t care if you are looking for a great career with flexibility where you can excel and lead. I only care about my objective which is to find the right person for this job as soon as possible so I can get the hiring manager off my back.
Finally, why are you wasting space telling me what you want when you could be telling me what you could do for me?
This is where a summary comes in. Call it a Candidate Summary, an Experience Summary or a Skills Summary, but I am a firm believer that the top quarter to third of your resume should be an easy to read summary of your experience and skills that will drive me to read the rest of the page.
Here’s an example.
Candidate Summary:
That small blurb tells a recruiter crucial information. You know some software they use. You can work with a group of people. You can speak a second language. You have experience being a leader. And, it’s easy to read. I don’t have to go dig this stuff out of your Experience section.
That’s a whole lot more useful than the Objective line above! What if you only have those two lines to use? Try this:
Candidate Summary:
Bi-lingual architect with knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit; detail oriented, strong team-player, and experience as team lead.
This two line statement takes up as much space as the Objective above but offers some truly useful information to a recruiter.
References available upon request.
Now there’s a waste of a line that you could be using to tell them something valuable about yourself. I assume that you have references. I also assume that if I ask for them, you will hand them over. So why waste a precious line telling me what I already know? Why not use that line to tell me something else about why I should hire you?
Objective
My objective is to find an entry level position with a mid-size architectural firm where I can hone my design skills and advance the company’s objectives.
I often see objectives like this on people’s resumes and wonder why they are wasting two precious lines of their personal advertisement to tell me what they want to do.
First, your objective is obvious: you want to get hired. Obviously, you want to get hired for this job or you wouldn’t have applied.
Second, I don’t care if you are looking for a great career with flexibility where you can excel and lead. I only care about my objective which is to find the right person for this job as soon as possible so I can get the hiring manager off my back.
Finally, why are you wasting space telling me what you want when you could be telling me what you could do for me?
This is where a summary comes in. Call it a Candidate Summary, an Experience Summary or a Skills Summary, but I am a firm believer that the top quarter to third of your resume should be an easy to read summary of your experience and skills that will drive me to read the rest of the page.
Here’s an example.
Candidate Summary:
- Three years experience with AutoCAD, strong knowledge of Revit
- Detail oriented with demonstrated effectiveness in a team setting
- Design lead on two major projects
- Bi-lingual in Spanish
That small blurb tells a recruiter crucial information. You know some software they use. You can work with a group of people. You can speak a second language. You have experience being a leader. And, it’s easy to read. I don’t have to go dig this stuff out of your Experience section.
That’s a whole lot more useful than the Objective line above! What if you only have those two lines to use? Try this:
Candidate Summary:
Bi-lingual architect with knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit; detail oriented, strong team-player, and experience as team lead.
This two line statement takes up as much space as the Objective above but offers some truly useful information to a recruiter.
References available upon request.
Now there’s a waste of a line that you could be using to tell them something valuable about yourself. I assume that you have references. I also assume that if I ask for them, you will hand them over. So why waste a precious line telling me what I already know? Why not use that line to tell me something else about why I should hire you?
Writing Your Resume: Formatting
This is the stage where your resume becomes more like a puzzle than a document. You have to take all of the things you wrote in the first step and put them in the right place.
First, take your lists and begin to bullet each item. This will make it easy for you to read them, sort them, and move them around the document. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting at this stage, so take a moment to say a quick prayer of thanksgivng for having a computer to help with the chore.
Done praying? Good.
Once your items are bulleted, start to organize them according to categories we set up earlier. In case you didn't read that entry (Writing Your Resume: What's In), they are: experience, work history, skills, education, affiliations and distinctions.
Don’t worry about length yet. You’ll edit later. Some things will fit into the categories that we will leave out (Writing You Resume: What's Out), but don’t delete them yet, just put them into categories. You may see things differently later and want to include them elsewhere.
Keeping it easy to read
Now look at your bulleted sentences. How do they read? Are they short and easy to understand or are they long winded with lots of extraneous information? Begin looking for where you might translate your work into buzzwords that are easily recognized as useful traits by prospective employers. Did you work as part of a team? Did you multi-task? Were you responsible for setting and attaining daily goals? By putting in phrases that an employer can quickly appreciate, you increase the chances that they will pull your resume aside for further review.
Next try writing your sentences so that they indicate responsibility and activity. Here are some examples:
Old: I assisted the marketing manager as she developed marketing plans for the company.
New: Developed company marketing plans in a team environment
Old: I was responsible for calling candidates and scheduling interviews.
New: Pre-screened applicants and arranged interview schedules.
Old: Worked cash register and sold clothes.
New: Employed suggestive selling strategies and ensured customer service at register to improve overall daily sales figures.
Old: I answered phones, updated the database, and filed for a law office
New: Ensured initial customer service experience. Maintained database using Access software. Maintained organized environment to allow staff attorneys to focus on client needs.
The kid that learned grammar in elementary school is revolting at the use of incomplete sentences right about now. It's okay. I know these aren’t full sentences. That’s done on purpose. Long flowing sentences are great for novels, but not for resumes. They ad words that aren’t necessary, and take up valuable space on your short document.
Next your cynical inner child begins pointing and laughing at the rest of you. "This is all just rhetorical B.S." it says to your tired and confused brain. Well tell cynical inner child to keep it's infantile opinions to itself because now that you are getting your B.S. or B.A. or whatever degree you have so justly earned, you should know that there is an art to phrasing. What you've just written tell an employer why your experiences have value. You can look at working the register as just a way of sticking money in a till, or you can see it as the last chance to make a sale and provide a lasting positive impression on the customer. If you see it as the former, you probably aren’t the candidate an employer wants anyway. If you see it as the latter, you have promise.
First, take your lists and begin to bullet each item. This will make it easy for you to read them, sort them, and move them around the document. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting at this stage, so take a moment to say a quick prayer of thanksgivng for having a computer to help with the chore.
Done praying? Good.
Once your items are bulleted, start to organize them according to categories we set up earlier. In case you didn't read that entry (Writing Your Resume: What's In), they are: experience, work history, skills, education, affiliations and distinctions.
Don’t worry about length yet. You’ll edit later. Some things will fit into the categories that we will leave out (Writing You Resume: What's Out), but don’t delete them yet, just put them into categories. You may see things differently later and want to include them elsewhere.
Keeping it easy to read
Now look at your bulleted sentences. How do they read? Are they short and easy to understand or are they long winded with lots of extraneous information? Begin looking for where you might translate your work into buzzwords that are easily recognized as useful traits by prospective employers. Did you work as part of a team? Did you multi-task? Were you responsible for setting and attaining daily goals? By putting in phrases that an employer can quickly appreciate, you increase the chances that they will pull your resume aside for further review.
Next try writing your sentences so that they indicate responsibility and activity. Here are some examples:
Old: I assisted the marketing manager as she developed marketing plans for the company.
New: Developed company marketing plans in a team environment
Old: I was responsible for calling candidates and scheduling interviews.
New: Pre-screened applicants and arranged interview schedules.
Old: Worked cash register and sold clothes.
New: Employed suggestive selling strategies and ensured customer service at register to improve overall daily sales figures.
Old: I answered phones, updated the database, and filed for a law office
New: Ensured initial customer service experience. Maintained database using Access software. Maintained organized environment to allow staff attorneys to focus on client needs.
The kid that learned grammar in elementary school is revolting at the use of incomplete sentences right about now. It's okay. I know these aren’t full sentences. That’s done on purpose. Long flowing sentences are great for novels, but not for resumes. They ad words that aren’t necessary, and take up valuable space on your short document.
Next your cynical inner child begins pointing and laughing at the rest of you. "This is all just rhetorical B.S." it says to your tired and confused brain. Well tell cynical inner child to keep it's infantile opinions to itself because now that you are getting your B.S. or B.A. or whatever degree you have so justly earned, you should know that there is an art to phrasing. What you've just written tell an employer why your experiences have value. You can look at working the register as just a way of sticking money in a till, or you can see it as the last chance to make a sale and provide a lasting positive impression on the customer. If you see it as the former, you probably aren’t the candidate an employer wants anyway. If you see it as the latter, you have promise.
Writing Your Resume: What's Out
You have had a great four years (or more). You were a superstar in high school, prom king, captain of the golf team, National Merit Scholar, and camp counselor of the year. You are a heck of a guy. But it’s time to move past the glory days. Most of this should not go on your resume.
High School – Don’t put the high school you attended, the date you graduated, your GPA, or any other thing that reminds the recruiter that you are old enough to remember who you sat next to in third period Algebra.
Hobbies and activities – Unless you are applying to work at a resort, don’t put down your interest in tennis, your golf handicap or any other non-work related item. Mara Flores of the Millennium Group notes, “No potential employer cares that you can do a marathon and a triathlon in the same weekend.” Well, Nike might, but let's call that an exception.
Clubs – Unless your club relates directly to your job, offers specific related experience, or you have nothing else to offer an employer but your heavy activity load, leave these off. Again, a case can be made for keeping them on if you are competing against other students, as noted above in education.
Religion, gender, height, weight, marital status, familial status, or any other item that is deemed illegal for the recruiter to know. Knowing too much about illegal things makes recruiters nervous. That means that if you were the president of the Campus Crusaders for Christ, you should probably leave it off your resume.
Photos – Don’t include a headshot unless you are applying to be an actor. Note: many foreign countries to require photos with their applications, but they are not appropriate in the United States.
Personal websites – Personal and family websites may seem like a great way to introduce yourself, but most recruiters feel they are tacky. There are very few situations where this might be appropriate. Use personal sites only when you are in a visual business such as web development, architecture, or design. In those cases, sites can be used to provide a portfolio of your work. Make sure the site is up to date, does not share unnecessary personal information and has all the links working.
High School – Don’t put the high school you attended, the date you graduated, your GPA, or any other thing that reminds the recruiter that you are old enough to remember who you sat next to in third period Algebra.
Hobbies and activities – Unless you are applying to work at a resort, don’t put down your interest in tennis, your golf handicap or any other non-work related item. Mara Flores of the Millennium Group notes, “No potential employer cares that you can do a marathon and a triathlon in the same weekend.” Well, Nike might, but let's call that an exception.
Clubs – Unless your club relates directly to your job, offers specific related experience, or you have nothing else to offer an employer but your heavy activity load, leave these off. Again, a case can be made for keeping them on if you are competing against other students, as noted above in education.
Religion, gender, height, weight, marital status, familial status, or any other item that is deemed illegal for the recruiter to know. Knowing too much about illegal things makes recruiters nervous. That means that if you were the president of the Campus Crusaders for Christ, you should probably leave it off your resume.
Photos – Don’t include a headshot unless you are applying to be an actor. Note: many foreign countries to require photos with their applications, but they are not appropriate in the United States.
Personal websites – Personal and family websites may seem like a great way to introduce yourself, but most recruiters feel they are tacky. There are very few situations where this might be appropriate. Use personal sites only when you are in a visual business such as web development, architecture, or design. In those cases, sites can be used to provide a portfolio of your work. Make sure the site is up to date, does not share unnecessary personal information and has all the links working.
Writing Your Resume: What's in
What’s In?
When you start to format your resume, begin by deciding what categories or headers you plan to use. Don’t worry about your name and contact information yet to how to center or choosing fonts. That comes at the end. Right now, focus on getting everything that’s important down on paper. We’ll rearrange it later. First let’s look at the categories most likely to appear on your resume: experience, skills, work history, education, and affiliations.
Experience – This is a dodgy category for most students because it’s the area in which they are most lacking. For a recruiter, your experience is the thing that will best tell them how much of a risk you are. The great thing about experience is that it doesn’t have to be paid. Your volunteer work or intern work can count as experience. If you organized a fraternity charity event and received news coverage, then you have experience in event planning and PR. If you designed a website and database for a nonprofit, you can list it!
Skills – even if you don’t have professional work experience, you probably have some skills a recruiter could use. Can you give a good speech? Are you a great writer? Do you know some computer programs? Can you fluently speak a language? Are you a leader? Knowing what skills to put down on your resume has a lot to do with your ability to read and translate a job advertisement. You need to look for key skills and highlight those you possess.
Work History – This category is tricky because it really mixes with experience. Share only your relevant work history, not your complete work history. Your career taking out trash at a pizzeria won’t give you much credibility as an architect. Whether you put a job on your resume or leave it off is a judgment call based on what tasks you did and how they relate to the job for which you are applying. List only the jobs that add to the recruiter’s overall impression of you as a candidate.
Many students pepper their resume with lots of jobs because they believe it highlights how hard they worked putting themselves through college. Other students want to use their numerous minimum wage jobs to explain why they didn’t participate more in activities or complete an internship. These are all examples of trying to get your resume to tell a story. Unfortunately, this is exactly what a resume can’t do. A recruiter will not give the resume enough time to say what you want it to say. In the end it is better to emphasize your accomplishments in a more business savvy way and leave the explanations for your interview.
Education – most students want to put this first. There are a few circumstances where that’s okay. Typically these situations are when you are competing with other students for the same job such as when you are applying for an internship or you are interviewing on campus. When you start competing in an open market, your education becomes less of a draw, and so it should be placed toward the bottom. For most jobs, a bachelor’s degree is the minimum qualification, and everyone applying will have one. If you went to an exceptionally prestigious school ala Harvard or MIT, then you might move it up. Those are situations when your college acts like a brand that people trust. They know that to get through that school, you had to be pretty great to begin with, so they’ll give you a look. Otherwise, your education is less likely to be a selling point for you.
Other affiliations and distinctions. This is the catchall category for other stuff that will sell you. Have you been a chapter president for the Student Architectural Society? Did you receive a fellowship or award related to your work? Are there things that show that you are an exceptional student? This is the last thing to make it to your resume because it’s not the stuff that will sell you as a future employee.
When you start to format your resume, begin by deciding what categories or headers you plan to use. Don’t worry about your name and contact information yet to how to center or choosing fonts. That comes at the end. Right now, focus on getting everything that’s important down on paper. We’ll rearrange it later. First let’s look at the categories most likely to appear on your resume: experience, skills, work history, education, and affiliations.
Experience – This is a dodgy category for most students because it’s the area in which they are most lacking. For a recruiter, your experience is the thing that will best tell them how much of a risk you are. The great thing about experience is that it doesn’t have to be paid. Your volunteer work or intern work can count as experience. If you organized a fraternity charity event and received news coverage, then you have experience in event planning and PR. If you designed a website and database for a nonprofit, you can list it!
Skills – even if you don’t have professional work experience, you probably have some skills a recruiter could use. Can you give a good speech? Are you a great writer? Do you know some computer programs? Can you fluently speak a language? Are you a leader? Knowing what skills to put down on your resume has a lot to do with your ability to read and translate a job advertisement. You need to look for key skills and highlight those you possess.
Work History – This category is tricky because it really mixes with experience. Share only your relevant work history, not your complete work history. Your career taking out trash at a pizzeria won’t give you much credibility as an architect. Whether you put a job on your resume or leave it off is a judgment call based on what tasks you did and how they relate to the job for which you are applying. List only the jobs that add to the recruiter’s overall impression of you as a candidate.
Many students pepper their resume with lots of jobs because they believe it highlights how hard they worked putting themselves through college. Other students want to use their numerous minimum wage jobs to explain why they didn’t participate more in activities or complete an internship. These are all examples of trying to get your resume to tell a story. Unfortunately, this is exactly what a resume can’t do. A recruiter will not give the resume enough time to say what you want it to say. In the end it is better to emphasize your accomplishments in a more business savvy way and leave the explanations for your interview.
Education – most students want to put this first. There are a few circumstances where that’s okay. Typically these situations are when you are competing with other students for the same job such as when you are applying for an internship or you are interviewing on campus. When you start competing in an open market, your education becomes less of a draw, and so it should be placed toward the bottom. For most jobs, a bachelor’s degree is the minimum qualification, and everyone applying will have one. If you went to an exceptionally prestigious school ala Harvard or MIT, then you might move it up. Those are situations when your college acts like a brand that people trust. They know that to get through that school, you had to be pretty great to begin with, so they’ll give you a look. Otherwise, your education is less likely to be a selling point for you.
Other affiliations and distinctions. This is the catchall category for other stuff that will sell you. Have you been a chapter president for the Student Architectural Society? Did you receive a fellowship or award related to your work? Are there things that show that you are an exceptional student? This is the last thing to make it to your resume because it’s not the stuff that will sell you as a future employee.
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