Resumes and Interviewing

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Resumes and Interviewing

• Career Services
• Edgewood College

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RESUMES

• A resume is an advertisement of who you are in
  terms of your competencies, accomplishments, and
  future capabilities.  Employers want to know your
  capabilities in order to predict future
  performance in their organization.  Consider your
  resume a Coming Attraction.  Employers spend,
  on average, 15-30 seconds reviewing your resume
  the first time they see it. 

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Resume Musts

• Keep your resume short.   
• First impressions are critical.  All resumes
  should include contact information, education,
  and experience.
• Know your skills.
• Know your audience.   
• Remember  you have the final say on what your
  resume looks like. 

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Resumes should not include

• Personal information such as
• Marital status
• Age
• Birth date
• Health
• Children
• Religion
• National origin
• Sexual preference
• Race
• A photograph should not be included with your
  resume

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Types of Resumes Chronological

• Lists your experiences under each heading in
  chronological order beginning with your most
  current experience. 
• Special categories of experience (e.g. Relevant
  Experience) assure that your most relevant
  experience is near the top.

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Types of Resumes- Functional

• Emphasizes your qualifications, skills, and
  accomplishments while downplaying your actual
  position and employer. 
• Useful for someone with little actual work
  experience or experience related to their field
  of interest. 
• The focus of the functional resume is on
  transferable skills- a job seeker looking to make
  a career change. Consolidate like experiences
  and skills into Skills Clusters based on
  responsibilities and skills required.

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Skill Clusters

• Marketing component of resume that promotes job
  seeker. It is divided by specific skill or
  functional area.
• These might include Management, Research, Sales,
  Planning/ Organizing, Technical, etc.

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Types of Resumes- Electronic

• Option 1
• Send a brief e-mail referring to an attached
  cover letter and resume. This is most common
  when the resume is expected.
• Dont forget to attach the document in Word.

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Types of Resumes- Electronic

• Option 2-
• Send your cover letter as the body of the e-mail,
  and paste your resume in. This is a cleaner
  way of emailing your resume. Some folks will not
  open attachments.

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Types of Resumes- Electronic

• Option 3-
• Complete an online application or submit your
  resume through their website. You may be able to
  upload your resume, and past from your TEXT
  RESUME.
• The format of this type of resume lends itself to
  this option.

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The transformation

• Save your resume as text resume. Use ASCII
  (plain text) format
• Remove all formatting. Left justify everything.
  Use consistent size font.
• Limit line to 65 characters.
• Use CAPITAL LETTERS for headings. Use hard return
  where you have tabs. Use -, , in place of
  bullets.

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Scan able Resumes

• Use of KEYWORDS
• - A series of words that the employer enters
  into a database of scanned resumes. They
  describe the job, you want to make sure the
  descriptions of your work, duties, abilities, and
  achievements use the same terminology.

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Scan able Resumes

• Use
• White paper, standard size
• Standard address format at the top
• One phone number per line
• Flush Left, no tabs
• Plenty of white space
• Keywords, rather than verbs
• Industry jargon, acronyms, and software known

• Avoid
• Columnar layouts
• Condensed texts
• Italics, underlining, and boldface
• Vertical and horizontal lines
• Folding and stapling of your resume

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Letters

• Resume letters
• Approach letters
• Thank- you letters
• Post- job interview
• After informational interview
• Responding to a rejection
• Withdrawing from consideration
• Accepting job offer
• Terminating employment

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Interviewing
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Ten best things to do for job interviews.

• Go after smaller organizations.
• Find opportunities using the help of friends,
  colleagues, professors, other professionals in
  the field.
• Do thorough homework on an organization before
  going there.
• At any organization, identify who has the power
  to hire you, or accept you as an intern, find
  ways to connect with that person.
• Ask for 20 minutes of their time, and stick to
  it.

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Ten best things to do for job interviews.

• Go to the interview with an agenda, have
  questions an curiosities about the internship or
  job.
• Talk about yourself only if what you say offers
  an benefit to the organization.
• Keep your answers brief, 20 seconds to 2 minutes.
  
• Basically approach them as a resource, and as
  teachable.
• Always write a thank you note the same evening of
  the interview, and mail it at the latest the next
  morning.

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Top ten mistakes made in job interviews

• Going after only the largest organizations.
• Hunting all by yourself for places to visit,
  using ads, and resumes.
• Doing no homework on an organization before going
  there.
• Allowing the wrong people to interview you. HR
  is there to screen people OUT.
• Setting no time limit when you make an
  appointment with an organization.

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Top ten mistakes made in job interviews

• Letting your resume be used as the agenda for the
  interview.
• Talking primarily about yourself, and what
  benefit the job/internship will be for you.
• When answering a question of theirs, talking 2 to
  15 minutes, at a time.
• Basically approaching them as if you were
  desperate.
• Basically approaching them as if you were
  desperate.

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Resumes for internal promotion

• Highlight your strongest skills
• What have your biggest contributions been?
• Where have you been in the spotlight, or have
  taken leadership?
• Keep an eye, and ear on what is happening with
  hiring in your organization. Unless you are in
  HR, they will only hear about openings after the
  hiring manager has made some decisions.
• If you want to work in a different department,
  volunteer for some project that crosses the
  border.

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10 Interview Mistakes to Avoid

• Poor handshake
• Limp hand (dead fish) gives the impression of
  disinterest or weakness
• Tips of the Fingers Shows lack of ability to
  engage
• Arm Pump Sincerity is questionable
• Talking too much
• Talking too much to answer the question.
  Impression Cant get to the point
• Nervous talkers. Impression Covering up
  something, or just plain lying.

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• Talking negatively about your past/current
  employer.
• Showing up late or too early (not more that 10
  minutes early).
• Treating the receptionist rudely. First
  impressions count!
• Asking about benefits, vacation time or salary.

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• Not preparing for the interview
• Verbal ticks avoid the use of fillers umm,
  like, you know.
• Not enough/ too much eye contact.
• Failure to match communication styles
• If the interviewer seems all business, dont try
  to warm them up with a joke. Stay succinct.
• If the interviewer is personable, try discussing
  their personal interests.
• If they ask a direct question, answer directly.

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Interviewing Traits vs. Behaviors

• I am reliable
• ( I have only missed one day of work in the 4
  years..)
• I am a good leader
• ( I was elected chairperson of my dept 3 terms
  in a row. During that time)
• I am good with people
• ( Last month I settled a dispute between..)

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What skills do you want the interviewer to know
you have

• Analyze the job description for skills the
  employer desires
• Know your achievements and how they reflect your
  skills
• Be ready to quantify your achievements
• Prepare anecdotes/stories to demonstrate your
  achievements

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Tough Interview Questions

• Tell me about yourself
• Describe your greatest weakness
• What are your salary expectations
• Where would you like to be 5 years from now
• Trick/Stress questions such as
• - tell me 2 reasons why we would not hire you
• - if you were a salad , what ingredient would
  you be and why

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Other tricky situations

• Otherwise known as The Illegal's
• Are you married
• Do you have children
• How old are you
• What kind of a name is Icenogle
• Are you pregnant
• Are you planning to have children
• When were you born
• Are you a citizen
• What is your religion
• What is your race
• What kind of accent is that
• Do you have medical problems
• How long have you been disabled
• Have you ever been arrested
• Safe answer Can you tell me what that has to do
  with this job?

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During the Interview

• Maintain poise with receptionist and others you
  have contact with
• Know how to pronounce the name of the
  interviewer(s)
• Avoid anything to drink
• Maintain eye contact
• Allow interviewer to control the interview
• Be prepared with questions that demonstrate your
  understanding of the job and

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Closing the Interview

• Be prepared with a wrap up statement of interest
  that demonstrates what you learned during your
  research and in the interview
• Ask when a decision will be made when can you
  follow up
• As you are leaving, thank everyone who has
  assisted in the process

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Post Interview Follow Up

• Within a day, send a thank you note to everyone
  involved in the process.
• - express gratitude for interview
• - express interest in the position
• - be sure to have correct spellings of names
• Make a follow up call as appropriate