The Career Development Center Blog

Posted by Kelsey Johnson and Fernando Ramirez, Career Services Career Assistants

As many of you might know the Winter Career Fairs are coming up next Tuesday and Wednesday. Once you know what employers are coming to the fairs, how should you prepare to land the perfect job or internship?

Preparation is one of the most important things you can do to stand out to potential employers. Researching the companies you are most interested in can help you convey your interest in the employer, as well as increase your confidence. Instead of feeling intimidated by hundreds of employers, you can feel confident approaching them. Something one might do to gain information is go to the employers website and browse around. Questions to consider while online might be: What are the qualifications for applicants? What is something new and exciting about this company? What is their mission statement, and what are their goals? What kinds of projects are they involved in? Are there any new products? Where is their main office? Utilizing their website is an easy and efficient way to acquire background knowledge of the organization. This way when you attend the Career Fair, you aren’t asking employers, “So… what do you do?” Employers actually tell us that this is one of the least impressive and unflattering questions they get.

Another way to ease your nerves while approaching employers is to prepare a 30-second self-advertisement in advance. This 30-second advertisement should not only serve as a way to introduce yourself to the employer, but also illustrate why you would be a good fit for the position. Your 30-second ad should contain your name, major, year in school, opportunities you are seeking, relevant experience, highlight of skills and strength, and some knowledge of the company. By knowing and practicing this information in advance, you can feel comfortable approaching employers and in turn they will appreciate your preparation. So, remember if you’re hoping to catch a recruiter’s attention at the Career Fair or any other occasion, be prepared. Also, don’t forget to have some fun with it! Believe us, it pays off! For additional information on preparing for the Career Fair go to the link that follows and click on Career Fair Success Strategies. http://oregonstate.edu/career/node/116

Posted by Tim Chen, OSU undergrad and Career Services Career Assistant

Typing A couple of days ago, a friend of mine approached me about how he needed to write up a resume for a position the night before it was due. I mentioned to him that the general resume writing process takes time since it requires a lot of self reflection, but we spent the time to sit down and tough it out anyway.

After spending roughly an hour going through a quick draft, I decided that it is possible to create an initial resume in a short timeframe. I personally highly discourage students go through this process for any job application, but I encourage students use this process as a way to get a generic resume started. Most students seem to have trouble figuring out what to write in a resume. It’s definitely easier once a draft has been made.

And with the Career Fair coming up, many students are struggling to figure out how to create a decent looking resume. I have decided to try and compile a simple must-have list that will give you a jump start in marketing your skills to employers.

The key things a student should include in their quickly written resume:

1) Identification: the most important information on a resume, the applicant’s contact information. Students should include their name (in a large font size such as 20), mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address (make sure it’s professional, I encourage students to put their ONID e-mail address on there). The location of the job does affect the addresses you need. If the job is on campus or within the vicinity, use the current address. If the job is back home or out of town, include both the current and permanent address. Make sure the current and permanent address is bolded so the reader knows which location belongs to which.

2) Education: unless you have written a resume before, you generally want to place your institution at the top. Include the name and location of the school, the degree you have received (or intend on receiving), and your expected graduation date. If your GPA is above a 3.0, list it. Here is an example of what this may look like:

Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Bachelor of Arts in New Media Communications
Minor in Chinese
Expected Graduation: June 2011
GPA: 3.2

Depending on your major, if you have taken classes that teach a specialized skill that can satisfy the requirements for a given position, take this chance to market yourself! This way, if you submit a resume that matches the qualifications of the position, your chances of getting an interview for the position increases dramatically.

Example:

Relevant Coursework: MatLab, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Java Programming

This section can either appear at the end of your Education experience (but before your GPA), or appear as its own section before experience.

3) Experience: this section covers the bulk of your resume. Many students believe that only job employment belongs in this section. This statement is NOT true. If a student had previous employment, they should definitely include that because it shows that they understand the roles and responsibilities of a job. If a student does not have previous employment experience, then they need to start brainstorming on any significant involvement. This includes volunteer work, course work, special projects, and more. After coming up with the list, figure out which experience contains enough transferable skills to talk about. The importance of transferable skills is the ability to tell the reader how those skills from previous experiences can benefit the organization.

Generally, I believe that a decent quick resume should include at least three experiences and three bullet points to describe their role. Sometimes this step is difficult, especially if you feel that you didn’t play a big role in a previous position. Your best bet is to brainstorm and figure out how to accurately reflect your role—think hard on the skills you used in that role. For example, if you worked at a fast food chain, you probably learned how to properly handle food, provide superb customer service, and learned how to handle transactions (assuming you worked at the cash register).

4) Awards, Activities, and Interests: If you still have a little room after listing your experiences, take this chance to talk about any awards you have received, any activities you’re involved in, and possibly what you like to do during your spare time. This section allows for the interviewer to get a better understanding of what you do outside of your time. Ideally, advertising your awards and achievements make you look like a star player. A list of some clubs, organizations, or activities shows that you’re an involved person. Interests should only come in if you can’t come up with something.

At the end of this walkthrough, you should now have a decent looking resume. All of the information should fit within a page and appear in either size 11 or 12 font (depending on how much depth you have put into it). Make sure that you proofread it again and have someone else look over it so that the information makes sense. Try and stop by Career Services for a drop-in appointment and have a Career Assistant look it over! Drop-in appointments take place Monday through Thursday’s from 1-4PM in the basement of Kerr (B008).

I hope you have found this walkthrough helpful in getting a start on your resume!

Hey there you job and internship-seekers. Be sure you’ve marked your calendars for the upcoming Career Fairs–February 16th (all majors) and 17th (engineering) over at CH2M Hill Alumni Center. Events kick off THIS WEEK with workshops at Career Services.

Schedule of Events (Click to get to our website; then click the large career fair icon on the front page.)

Employers Attending Fairs

Posted by Kelsey Johnson, Career Services Career Assistant, and OSU Senior

Anxiety and excitement are common human experiences. Often they go hand in hand. Whether it’s preparing for a date or for a big game, there’s a desire to impress and/or live up to one’s potential. Interviews work in much the same manner. Typically, if a student is preparing for an interview, it means that their initial contact with the employer, grad panel, or supervisor (via networking, cover letter, resume, etc) has succeeded in sparking an interest in what else they may have to offer. Therefore, being able to communicate your skills, abilities, and experiences in a professional and timely manner is important for winning over potential managers. Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it sounds. Still, many students believe they can walk into an interview and “wow” any employer, just by being their normal “fabulous” selves. Well, news flash! Unless you are Bill Gates (and you don’t need a job), the chances of anyone “wowing” an employer without preparation is pretty slim, especially in today’s competitive job market. As the old but true cliché goes: you play like you practice. So come down and practice!

Career Services offers mock interviews which can focus on a variety of student goals. Whether you’re interviewing for grad school, an internship, or your dream job, we’ll work with you one-on-one to make sure you don’t sell yourself short. Mock interviews can last from 20 minutes to an hour and typically involve common questions asked by employers, such as “Tell me about yourself”, “What is your greatest strength/weakness?”, “Do you feel your grades accurately represent your abilities? Why or Why Not?”, and numerous others. We also provide various help sheets that give quick tips for different interview types and/or settings. In addition, we provide a list of common questions to ask employers as well as tips for follow-up interviews and thank you notes. So don’t be shy. Come on by and make an appointment to ensure your interview success. 541-737-4085

Posted by Rachel Erickson, Career Services Career Assistant and OSU Undergraduate

People interviewing For many people, interviews can be a stressful experience. We would all love to walk into an interview, ace it, and leave the room feeling sure we’d landed the job. But the truth is that you must prepare, because perfect interviews do not just happen. You may have all the qualifications and experiences the company wants, but that is not enough. An interviewer will be critiquing you on more than what you say.

Here are a few helpful Do’s and Don’ts of Interviewing:

Do dress the part for the job

Do research the company and the position you are interviewing for

Do a practice run with a friend or make an appointment for a MOCK interview at Career Services

Do make eye contact

Don’t rely on your application or resume to sell you

Don’t act like you would take any job

Don’t say anything negative about former supervisors or employers

Don’t answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no”

For more information on these suggestions and more Do’s and Don’ts visit http://www.quintcareers.com/interviewing-dos-donts.html

Remember, you are interviewing the company just like they are interviewing you. Go into the interview prepared with questions you would like to know about the company. For example “How would you describe your company’s culture” or “What do you enjoy the most about working for this company?” will give you an idea of what it is like to work for that company.