Today I am
sitting down with Will Smith, who has been the Career Services Coordinator here
at OSUM since March 2003. It seems like
just yesterday I met Will Smith when I started classes here in Autumn quarter
2007. Time flies when you are having fun
learning.
I asked Will to
share his thoughts on today’s “resume”, the paper resume, Linked In resume,
Monster resume, or the paper versus the on line. Will talked about how interesting it has been
since he has been involved in this through the years and to see the resume transform from the paper to the
electronic is significant. It hasn’t
happened overnight, it has evolved over time, but the way of mailing resumes,
going company to company filling out company applications and attaching resumes
are a thing of the past. He felt “it is
sad because people won’t have the opportunity to market themselves in a visual
fashion”, people are becoming information in a data base. It will be difficult for people or an
individual to stand out in a crowd. It is about the key words in a resume or a
cover letter. This could create an
individual’s interview to be more significant
With a paper
resume in hand the employer interviewing the individual has a preconceived
thought on the individual walking through the door and the interviewee that
either reinforces their paper resume or takes it in another direction. But with the data base resume the employer
interviewing may not have the “feel” for the person walking through the door
since they have in hand their company or university data base application and
attached resume.
Looking at
another direction, a “new” direction is the “LinkedIn” profile. LinkedIn is growing every day and is a way
for individuals to connect or network with others in their career area across
the country. LinkedIn is designed for
the person to design their own profile and highlight their experience and
background, and in doing this the viewer sees a concept of the person. But LinkedIn is restricted in tailoring the
person’s information to their format. So
for an individual to target a certain employer it comes back full circle to
tailoring that resume that you create for that position and use it to apply for
that specific position. The need for the
cover letter, the letter of introduction is crucial. It should be short and specifically to the
point of the specific position being applied for and why you are the best fit
for it.
For undergraduate
students it is crucial for them to visit their Career Services Office on campus
throughout their academic tenure. It is
the Career Services Coordinator that stays on top of the trends for the job
seeker.
Career Builder
posts jobs, Monster.com post jobs, and other websites as well with some people
being hired in a company this way but most
people get their job through referrals or networking. Networking is the key today in learning about
job openings before they become available or when they become available. With the present economic climate and this
being an election year the job market is tight.
Especially tight for educational institutions, the outlook of
educational funding, student loans, etc, is uncertain right now, so in my
opinion, seeking a position at an educational institution at any level is
difficult right now.
Will thinks it is
important for the undergraduate students to get involved in student
organizations and also join a professional association which is related to
their career industry. This will cost some money out of the student’s pocket to
join an association but the fees are usually less if you are a student and the
“pay off” for joining is tremendous because it gives the student networking
opportunities, inside information about how the industry works resulting in
valuable knowledge. They can use this knowledge before graduation as they begin
to prepare for their job search and resume/portfolio building which will help
“them” stand out among other job candidates.
College students attending a
conference with a professor or staff member is a valuable bonus in not only the
experience of it but being able to include this on their resume is huge. It is one thing to be a member of a student
organization and attend only a few meetings.
Once you join a professional organization, get on a committee or help
with a conference, these are attributes you will be able to talk about. Also, you are building your network of
contacts. It all goes back to it is “who
you know not what you know.” You do need
to know your stuff but you need to be able to get it out there. It is the number one way people get jobs, it
is who you know. Did you babysit during
middle school or high school and how did you get that babysitting job? Or the job at the local market bagging
groceries?
Will stated it is
important for the students to remember their academic work is only part of
their career preparation. He is going to
write more about this in an upcoming future blog article, so watch for it.
The social media
is a market for the job seeker and the social media will only become more
predominant for the job seeker. So
remember, when posting that picture or comment be aware and be careful!
By: Val
August 29, 2012
