Job FairsWorking TogetherInternshipsEmploymentJob TipsEmployers & PartnersContact Us
Resources
Career Research LibraryHelpful Links
CareerConnect
Student/Alumni Log InAdvisor Log In
- Always prepare for the interview at least a few days before.
This interview is a test and if you pass you will be offered the position. - Always dress professionally for an interview.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. - Dress for success.
Men: always wear a suit and tie of conservative colors; a clean, pressed light colored shirt; shined shoes; proper grooming-combed hair, limited cologne, clean fingernails and no earrings or other visible piercings.
Women: always wear a suit or dress; nylons; clean shoes; conservative makeup; conservative earrings; conservative hair; no long loud fingernails and limited cologne. - Try to arrive approximately 15 minutes early for the interview.
Even if you are running a little behind schedule, you will arrive on time. - Always make eye contact during the interview.
An employer wants you to talk to them, not their desk. - Discuss your work experience, educational background, skills and career goals.
This is your opportunity to shine. - Remember to ask the employer questions.
You want the employer to know you are interested in their company and you want this position. - Remember to get a business card from the interviewer.
You do not want to send correspondence that has incorrect information. - Always thank the interviewer for their time once the interview has come to a close.
Remember to follow the interview up with a thank you letter. - Keep a positive attitude.
Every interview is an opportunity for improving your interviewing skills regardless of the outcome.
Is Your Resume Alive?
by Gregory Tall, Human Resources Recruiter
As much as I talk about your career search being an integrated campaign, the overall effectiveness of your campaign is very much based on the strength of the individual pieces. Today, I want to speak about a foundational piece that is easy to overlook...your resume!
What is the purpose of your resume?
Your resume is a tool that will help get you interviews--not jobs. You will need to perform well in an interview in order to get a job offer. However, your resume is the document you have that summarizes your key skills and accomplishments to employers.
How important is your resume?
Consider this--your resume is the first and possibly ONLY impression that an employer might ever get of you. They might never get the chance to see your well-pressed business suit or hear your well-prepared 60-second commercial. That being the case, make sure your resume truly reflects the professional that you are--from content to appearance. Resumes should be completely free of typos and misspelled words. Proofread and have several others proofread your resume. Simply put, spell check won't cut it. While spell check will catch the words that are blatantly misspelled, it won't catch the words that are spelled correctly but are used in the wrong context. For example, "too" used instead of "two". Resume errors are completely preventable and will give employers the impression that a candidate is careless, sloppy, or not serious about his/her job search. Employers will look at the quality of your resume and assume that the quality of your work will be similar.
Appearance counts too! Even though you should spend a majority of your time developing content, the appearance of your resume is important too! It is very similar to how it is still important to dress professionally for interviews even though you are great at selling yourself. The exterior package does count! First things first--if you used a template to do your resume, redo it. Besides the fact that templates make it very hard for you to move information around on your resume, the resumes they produce also look very generic. Do you really want to deal with the possibility that your resume will look exactly like the resume of anyone in the world who can use Microsoft Word? Instead of using a template, try building your resume from scratch. Maintain a professional appearance (no graphics or hard-to-read fonts), but throw a splash of creativity in there. Remember that an employer might view your resume as one out of a pile of literally hundreds. Does yours stand out???
Is your resume alive?
If you have ever paid any attention to marketing, you know that even the most successful campaigns are eventually replaced. Doesn't it seem like it was only yesterday that Pepsi was "the choice of a new generation"? That campaign served it purpose. However, when times changed, so did the campaign. So is the case with your resume. There is no such thing as a "once and for all" resume. It is just fine, and often necessary, for your resume to change over the course of your job search. Employers are your target market as a job seeker. Therefore, make sure your resume is constantly updated so you are effective at reaching your target market. Needed resume changes could be any number of things including the addition of new sections or non-paid experience, the rewording of job descriptions to focus more on accomplishments, or the redesigning of your resume to make it more visually appealing.