Careers Education and Placement Centre

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Careers Education and Placement Centre

• Communication and Interview Skills Workshops for
  Final-year EEE Students
• Date 17 - 19 January, 2001 (Wed - Fri)
• Duration 1.5 hours / session
• Venue Rm 315, Meng Wah Complex

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Careers Education and Placement Centre

• Mr K H Leung
• Deputy Director
• E-mail leungkh_at_hkucc.hku.hk
• Web http//www.hku.hk/cepc

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Careers Education and Placement Centre

• Ms Rachel Hong
• Senior Manager
• E-mail rkmhong_at_hkusua.hku.hk
• Web http//www.hku.hk/cepc

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Slides from this presentation
lecture notes are available at - CEPC Enquiry
Desk for photocopying - CEPC homepage
lthttp//www.hku.hk/cepcgt
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Résumé Covering Letter

• A Résumé is a one or two pages history of your
  achievements, education and characteristics that
  qualify you for the position you seek.

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Résumé Covering Letter (Contd)

• A Covering Letter introduces your résumé to the
  employer and links your most important skills and
  experience to the job.
• It should explain why you are interested in that
  career and that employer.

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Who are the READERS? What are their backgrounds?

• The Human Resources Personnel
• The Line Managers
• The Selection Committee

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Your Challenge

• To show where you are different or better than
  your competitors!
• Add value - your experiences inside and outside
  of school will set you apart from your peers.

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Remember

• The résumé and covering letter are your
• own personal marketing document
• no standard format
• Your can read examples of resumes, but dont copy
  them.
• Make one for yourself.

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Covering Letter

• Basic knowledge of cover letter
• Limit it to one page, one and a half at the most
• A4 size quality paper
• Be brief and specific - dont re-produce your
  résumé
• be addressed to the relevant named person in the
  organization

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Covering Letter contd

• say how you came to know about the vacancy
• say how your skills and experience are relevant
  to the job
• dont merely quote what skills your have, give
  specific examples
• say why you are attracted to and suitable for the
  job

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Covering Letter

• Why are you interested in the company and the
  job??
• Research!!
• recruitment talk
• career booklet
• recruiting organisations annual report /
  brochure
• world wide web (e.g. South China Morning Post
  Achive)
• alumni contact/friends
• CEPC homepage

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Application Letter
I. follow the 4S Rule - Short - simple -
succinct - specific II. include competency
statements - should say what the candidate can
DO - should make it clear what results they have
achieved - should be related to the employers
needs and organised so as to show how the
candidates qualifications can help to meet them
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Format for Cover Letter

Your Address Date The persons name Job
tile Employer name Address Dear (Mr/Mrs/Ms
Surname), Ref (Position) Introduction -
Explain why you are writing Middle paragraph/s
- Match your qualification, experiences, and
achievements with the primary tasks of the
appointee. Make them interested in meeting you!
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Format for Cover Letter contd
Penultimate paragraph - Say why are you attracted
to this employer, occupation, and/or
industry. Closing paragraph - Leave the way
open for further communication. Yours
sincerely, Your name
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Exercise - Match your qualification, experiences
and achievements against the primary tasks of
the appointee
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Basic Knowledge of Resumes

• Keep it to 1-2 pages
• Use quality A4 paper and matching envelope
• Neat and clear presentation
• Include information that is relevant to the job
• Leave out expected salary unless asked for

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Information to be included (contd)

• Summary Statement (value adding)
• It underscores the important message in the cover
  letter
• It repeats the key words in the cover letter
• It leads into the career objective

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Information to be included

• Career Objective (value adding)
• Tell the employer
• what type of job you are looking for,
• what type of industry,
• what skills would you like to apply to his
  position.

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Information to be included

• Education
• Start with your MOST RECENT education and work
  backwards
• Give the name of the University, the title of the
  degree in full, date of graduation and final year
  project title, if relevant
• Other relevant training courses that you have
  attended

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Information to be included

• Work Experience
• Start with your most recent or most relevant
  experience,
• Give the company name, period of employment and
  job title,
• Describe your duties and responsibilities,
• Show what your have done rather than simply tell
  (statement of achievements, showing result).

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Information to be included

• Extra-Curricular Activities
• Include student activities, committees, sports or
  responsible positions that you have held,
• Include related achievements,
• Include title, period, statement of
  responsibilities, and statement of achievement as
  with Work Experience.

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Information to be included

• Skills
• Include other qualifications that are relevant to
  the company
• e.g. language and computer skills

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Hobbies and Interest

• Useful if they are relevant to your career
  objective.
• Avoid being too general such as reading or
  sports,
• Be specific and list achievement, if any
• e.g. reading detective stories, war game
  strategies, literature classics etc.,
• bird-watching and keeping log book of
  species seen,

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Resume Format
Name Address Contact Numbers Summary
Career Objective Education Qualification
Extra-Curricular Activities Position,
Organisation, Period, Statement of
responsibilities (use action words to show
skills) Statement of achievement (showing
results)
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Resume Format contd
Work Experience Position, Organisation,
Period, Statement of responsibilities (use
action words to show skills) Statement of
achievement (showing results) Hobbies and
Interest Skills and other qualifications
relevant to the employer and post References
(Ideally three referees, not relatives, to
comment on your ability, character, attitude to
work, achievements) Expected Salary (unless
asked for)
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Action Words
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Action Words contd
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Action Words contd
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Action Words contd
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Action Words contd
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The DOs

• write the resume yourself
• make it error free
• make it look good
• stress your accomplishments
• be brief and specific
• be honest
• keep it lively - use action words (e.g.
  organised, participated, handled etc)
• address to the right person

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The DONTs

• Incomplete Information
• Poor layout
• Too fancy/complicated
• Incorrect dates (e.g. date of birth, year of
  graduation)

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Selection Interview
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Objectives of a selection interview

• to talk about your skills and strengths,
• to learn more about you, your ideas and your way
  of thinking,
• to assess your personality,
• to see how you interact with others,
• to supply you with the relevant information about
  the company and the job.

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Structure

• one interviewer
• two interviewers
• a panel of interviewers
• - normally only one person asks the majority of
  questions
• - focus your attention on the person asking the
  questions and occasionally involve the others by
  glancing at them when appropriate

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Employer Expectation

• Do you look like the right person, in terms of
  personal appearance, manners etc.?
• Can you do the job?
• (Job-content Skills e.g education and
  training, life experience, achievements, ability)
• Can you be counted on?
• (Adaptive skills and personality e.g can be
  trusted, get things done on time, get along well
  with others, is productive)

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Preparation for the Interview

• 1. Research the Company and Position
• Review annual reports, newspaper articles (try
  the SCMP database), WWW, call alumni, ask at
  recruitment talks.
• Get to know the size, number of employees of the
  organization, major products or services,
  competitors, reputation, values, major
  opportunities or weaknesses.
• Have an idea of the duties and responsibilities
  of the position applied for.

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Preparation for the Interview - Contd

• 2. Know Yourself
• Career goals, accomplishments, strengths,
  weaknesses etc.
• Why should you be hired?

3. Go through a list of Most Often Asked
Questions. The questions may not be asked in the
exact wording, but the interviewer is looking for
answers to those questions. NEVER try to compose
and memorize answers beforehand. Note the key
points only.
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Dress and Grooming

• Dress and groom like those who are already in the
  job
• No casual wear
• Clean and tidy hair style
• Avoid jewelry and perfume/cologne
• Keep nails clean
• Polish your shoes
• Iron your shirt
• No bad breath and body odour

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Tips for Ladies

• a simple tailored skirt, matching jacket and
  blouse e.g. navy, grey, beige
• simple style leather shoes, solid colour e.g.
  black, brown
• thin skin-coloured stockings
• matching leather handbag, not too big
• elegant watch
• simple make-up

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Tips for Men

• dark business suit e.g. charcoal and navy
• matching long-sleeve shirt
• conservative tie classic patterned, avoid tie
  with bright colour or large pattern
• tie should reach belt buckle and very close to
  collar when tied
• black leather shoes
• black, dark grey or navy socks, long
• black leather belt, no suspenders
• shave

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How questions are asked?

• situational - what if questions (future
  behaviour)
• pattern behaviour - what have you done (your past
  behaviour)

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Tips for Answering Questions

• Listen carefully to the questions,
• understand the real concern,
• avoid answering merely yes or no,
• answer the question briefly but to the point,
• always match what you have to offer with the
  needs of the job,
• answer the hidden questions,
• dont pretend to know something that you are
  ignorant of, and
• ask the interviewer to repeat the question if you
  do not understand it.

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The Prove It Principle
1. give relevant examples 2. be
specific 3. specify results 4. link to desired job
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Is there anything you wouldlike to ask me?

• Do ask about the job, the firm, its employees and
  products
• do show that you are interested,
• avoid asking about pensions and peripherals, and
• avoid telling the interviewer what the employer
  can do for you i.e. promotion and more pay.

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After the interview
Evaluate your performance and see how you
can improve upon it. Review answers with a
counsellor - help desk or e-mail.
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The Dos

• Get to the interview a few minutes early.
• Smile and relax.
• A firm but not crushing handshake (unless the
  interviewer does not offer to shake hands).
• Use the interviewers last name Mr. A or Ms.
  B.
• Have eye contacts, but do not stare.
• Your voice should be neither too soft nor too
  loud.
• Show enthusiasm.
• Pay attention to both interviewers and your body
  language.
• be yourself
• tell the truth
• be positive
• turn off your mobile/pager

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Donts

• take someone else with you
• disguise ignorance
• over-drink
• wear strange items of clothing
• embarrass the interviewer
• tell jokes
• criticize the interviewer and company

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Other Resources on Website
CEPC Homepage lthttp//www.hku.hk/cepcgt -
Application Writing / Interview Techniques
/ Assessment Centre ? Websites Student
Centre http//www.aboutwork.com/rescov/cover/ Pr
oven Resume http//www.provenresumes.com/ Resume
Writing Guide by Job Web http//www.jobweb.o
rg/catapult/guenov/restips.html College Grad -
how to post your resume on the Internet
http//collegegrad.com/resumes/reslinks.shtml
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Other Resources on Website contd

• Career Development track
• Prospects Planner available on the CePcs
  hoempage
• -- a computer-assisted careers guidance system
• -- you can expect the results of the following
• 1. What you are good at
• 2. What interests and motivates you
• 3. How these relate to the world of work
• 4. What different jobs involve
• 5. Your chance of getting into these jobs
• 6. How to make effective job application

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Other Resources

• The Resume Writing Workbook
• Write for the job
• Getting the job you really want
• Interview Workbook (CEPC)
• Getting the Job You Really Want (JIST)
• Job Search That Works (Crisp Publications)
• Make Your Job Interview A Success (ARCO)
• Win the Job at the Interview (Ward Lock)
• Language Centre

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Other Resources

• Effective Answers to Interview Questions (Video)
• Effective Writing and Interviewing
• (Video)
• Tell Me, Mr Dunstone (Video)
• Write, giving full details (video)
• The Miracel Resume (video)
• Language Centre
• More .......
• Careers Library, 3/F, Meng Wah Complex

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ANSWERS
QUESTIONS