Archive for the ‘Student’ Category
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
When competing against hundreds of other applicants for limited seats in degree programs, it’s essential that your resume quickly conveys what you can bring to the program in terms of academic abilities, special talents, or real-world experiences. Below are general guidelines as to what admissions directors seek in application resumes. Be advised that it’s always wise to first check with the targeted school for specific guidelines that will help in creating your new resume so that it gets noticed.
Should you use a Resume or a CV (Curriculum Vitae) for Admission to Schools?
Generally speaking, if you’re applying to college or a university for an undergraduate degree program, or to a law/business/medical school, a resume should be employed.
If you are applying for a medical fellowship and have numerous publications, presentations, and abstract submissions, the preferred format is the CV. CVs, unlike resumes, may be longer than two pages in length, and often exceed ten pages when the candidate has numerous publications.
Guidelines for resumes used in application to Colleges or Universities for Undergraduate Degrees:
1. Opening Summary: This should provide an admissions director with a “snapshot” of you as a candidate, and your most relevant accomplishment. The achievement may be academic in nature (a perfect SAT score, selection as Class Valedictorian), may involve a specific talent (awards for art work or in drama competitions), or be focused towards athletics (member of football team that won division championship). The idea is to show your skill and potential.
2. Education: In addition to listing your high school, include any relevant club memberships (National Honor Society, Gold Key Club, Art Club for an aspiring artist – Language Clubs for an aspiring Linguist/Interpreter), honors (dean’s list, etc.), and anything else that made your work in high school special.
3. Volunteer Work: List first that volunteer work that coincides with your future goals. For example, if your intent is to study sociology or psychology in college, then detail volunteer work done at homeless/battered women shelters.
4. Hobbies: List first those hobbies that coincide with your future goals. (i.e. working with fabrics and sewing if you’re interested in becoming a Fashion or Interior Designer).
5. Length: No more than one page
Guidelines for resumes used in application to Graduate Schools:
Many schools will have their own requirements. It’s best to follow those directives in constructing your resume.
However, some general components are:
1. Education: List only the Bachelor’s Degree, not any Associates Degrees leading up to it. Include coursework that is relevant to the graduate program (i.e. Banking coursework for Finance programs), and any academic honors such as scholarships, dean’s lists, honor societies.
2. Professional Experience: Your employment and relevant daily duties presented in a reverse chronological order – that is, your most recent employment first, followed by the next most recent, and so on. If the school requires it, include full dates of employment – that is, both months and years. If no such requirement exists, then only provide years of employment (i.e. 2001-2004).
3. Volunteer Work & Hobbies/Interests
Variables:
1. A Qualifications Summary: These are optional. Some schools may even require that they not be included. It’s best to check with the school to which you are applying to determine if inclusion of an opening summary is appropriate.
2. Career Accomplishments: Professional achievements can be showcased in their own section, or as a part of the employment listing. It’s best to check with the graduate school to see which is preferred.
3. Length: It’s best to check with the targeted school to see if any length restrictions exist.
Guidelines for resumes used in application to Law Schools:
The specific requirements for most law schools are:
1. List all academic and non-academic honors and awards received, including fellowships, prizes and memberships in honor societies; list and/or describe the basis for your selection.
2. List your extracurricular activities since entering undergraduate school, the hours per week devoted to such activities, and the dates of the activities.
3. List your positions of employment since high school (either full or part time), the number of hours per week devoted to each position, and the dates of employment.
Variables:
1. Length: Generally speaking, most law school resumes are no more than one page in length. However, some law schools have their own length restrictions and/or requirements. It’s best to check with the school to which you are applying to determine what is most appropriate.
2. Opening Summary (also known as Qualifications Summary): These are optional. Some schools may even require that they not be included. It’s best to check with the school to which you are applying to determine if inclusion of an opening summary is appropriate.
Guidelines for resumes used in application to Business Schools:
Unlike other graduate school programs, Business Schools are seeking candidates that have real world experience. Therefore, in applying to this type of graduate program, the resume should resemble, as closely as possible, one being sent to a hiring manager.
The components of a Business School resume include:
1. A Qualifications Summary: This brief paragraph should provide relevant and recent data that enhances your candidacy. This would include an overview of your professional experience (i.e. “Internet Entrepreneur with a successful background in founding and operating two websites specializing in. . .”), a recent/relevant accomplishment (i.e. “Increased sales at Bank One by 40% within six months of hire by implementing a unique bank card program targeted towards college students.”), and your goal in applying to Business School (i.e. “Currently seeking admission into the MBA program to enhance business skills for a future as a venture capitalist.”)
2. Career Accomplishments: When competing against countless other candidates with similar backgrounds, the only thing that sets you apart is what you achieved during your professional career. These accomplishments should be showcased in a separate section, directly beneath the Qualifications Summary. They should be quantified with dollar figures, percentages, and time frames, if possible (i.e. “Reduced costs 35%, representing $4000 monthly, by outsourcing all publishing work.”)
3. Professional Experience: Your employment and relevant daily duties, presented in a reverse-chronological order – that is, your most recent employment first, followed by the next most recent, and so on. Accomplishments that have been previously provided should not be repeated here.
4. Education: List only the Bachelor’s degree, not any Associates Degrees leading up to it. Include any academic honors such as scholarships, dean’s lists, honor societies.
5. Length: Business school resumes generally can be two pages in length as long as only relevant data, as it pertains to the application, is included.
Guidelines for resumes used in application to Medical Schools:
The components of a Medical School resume include:
1. Education and Training: List here GPAs, honors (dean’s list, scholarship), memberships in relevant honor societies, relevant coursework (Biology, Labs)
2. Professional Experience Related to Medicine
3. Other Professional Experience
4. Volunteer Work Related to Medicine
5. Other Volunteer Work
6. Hobbies & Interests – if relevant to medicine
Variables:
1. Opening Summary: It’s best to check with the selected medical school as to whether a Qualifications Summary is allowed. If not, exclude.
2. Length: This can vary from school to school. Therefore, it’s best to check with the selected medical school as to the appropriate length of the resume.
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW
No matter how well you prepare for a career, it’s rare when your professional or academic background perfectly matches all of the employer requested qualifications.
Despite this, there are ways to overcome perceived deficiencies in your academic history, while proving you are a good match for the position.
1. If you have some college, but lack a degree: These days most positions require, at the very least, a bachelor’s degree. However, life experience can be as important. If you ran your own business or have a stellar work history, showcase that. After all, that’s what college is preparing you for.
Equally important is specialized training. In some industries, this may be far preferred to a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts. Be certain to list the names of courses, sponsoring agency, and the dates of completion.
Last, but not least, it would be wise to list some of the coursework you took while in college, so long as it’s related to your current career goal.
2. If you have a Bachelor’s degree, but lack a Masters: Again, the hiring authority may very well consider a candidate who has real world expertise, rather than an academic degree. This is especially true if your work history had been unbroken and has shown a steady progression to positions of ever increasing authority.
Also, be sure to showcase quantified Career Accomplishments as these provide ample evidence that you are skilled in your chosen profession, and can get the job done for the new company.
3. You have a Masters, but lack a Doctorate: In some instances, a PhD will be a requirement that cannot be overlooked. However, if you are currently pursuing a PhD, and expect to receive it within the year, you might be able to convince a hiring authority to consider you for the position. Hiring managers, especially if they are interested in a candidate, are generally willing to be flexible.
4. When specialized training is required: Before passing on these positions, research what the specialized training entails. It could very well be that your experience and academics is a close match. Just be certain to make that connection in your resume and cover letter to the employer.
Another option is to consider signing up for the training course, and including that bit of information in your documents.
The key is to always showcase what you have in a way which proves to the hiring manager that you can get the job done, and do it well.
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW
Recent high school graduates, some stay-at-home moms, and those individuals who are just starting trade school or vocational college are faced with extra challenges in creating a resume that will prove their worth. As with all resume content, it’s imperative to focus on what you do have to offer, rather than what you lack. All it takes is a creative approach in putting your best foot forward.
1. USE A FUNCTIONAL FORMAT THAT STRESSES SKILLS, RATHER THAN EXPERIENCE:
Unlike the popular reverse-chronological format that details employers, titles, dates of employment, and job duties, the functional format showcases what you know.
For a recent high school graduate or those just entering trade school, that may mean clerical skills such as typing (including words per minute), computer proficiency (list software), data entry, 10-key, some bookkeeping, tailoring (sewing), cooking (home economics skills), or whatever was learned in high school that can be applied to a real job.
In the case of a stay-at-home mom, everyday tasks such as managing a household budget, paying bills (bookkeeping in the corporate world), childcare, scheduling pediatrician visits (appointment setting in the corporate world), planning children’s birthday parties or family get-togethers (event planning in the corporate world), can all have value in a professional environment, especially in an administrative assistant role.
2. USE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE IN LIEU OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Many individuals erroneously believe that if they weren’t paid for work, then it has no value in the corporate world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Skills in fundraising, event planning & coordination, media relations (either speaking with the press or authoring newsletters), activities planning, and community outreach (providing after school activities for at-risk youth, organizing a soup kitchen, etc.) can be stated as skills on a resume so long as the volunteer work is relevant to the current job search. It’s equally important to indicate how these skills transfer to a corporate environment – i.e. event/activities planning may be valuable in an administrative assistant position when clerical support is needed to make travel/lodging arrangements for an executive or when a corporate party needs to be organized.
3. SEARCH ONLINE JOBS (HOTJOBS.COM, ETC.) TO DETERMINE HOW YOUR SKILLS MATCH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS MOST WANTED BY EMPLOYERS:
Even a basic entry-level position such as reception requires skill in answering phones and greeting the public. Determine what employers generally want in an employee, through online searches, then dovetail your strengths with their needs.
For example, a recent high school graduate is seeking a job as a receptionist. The information to highlight on this individual’s resume is any school activity that would tell the hiring manager this is a people-person, with a pleasant demeanor, who is always willing to help. Information that might relay this would be functioning as a hostess at a school-sponsored Las Vegas night or a fundraising supper, or perhaps this individual represented the school to prospective students during campus visits and tours.
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
Heading off to another conference and dreading the schmoozing scene? It might help to know that networking is a critical element of a successful job search. In fact, there is a lot of truth to the saying, “It’s all in who you know.”
 Many jobs, particularly high-level and executive, fill through word of mouth, rather than through traditional channels. A solid grasp of networking basics keeps you in the loop and helps avoid the urge to skip networking opportunities.
Network here, there, and everywhere
Conferences and seminars are great places to meet influential people, but making contacts doesn’t necessarily have to take place in hotel conference rooms. Day-to-day functions and events in your current job, as well as during free time, offer many opportunities to meet important people. An invitation you received to your neighbor’s holiday party could be the perfect chance to meet that CEO or HR manager living around the block.
In this age of technology, your laptop is an invaluable friend when it comes to job searching. With a little Internet surfing, you will find an abundance of message boards and chat rooms that are industry-specific and provide not only the advice of other professionals, but also contacts that could prove useful down the road. Over time, networking helps you build a list of valuable contacts.
Networking is not a bad word
Some people dread the idea of networking because they equate it with “schmoozing” or “sucking up,” but it is simply a process of getting to know people. If you are friendly and good at making small talk in social and work-related settings, then your list of “Who’s Who” will grow quickly! Don’t stress yourself by the idea of having to be “on” and making a good impression.
Basic social skills will get you through your first few rounds of networking, and while you may not impress everyone you meet, you can avoid leaving bad impressions altogether by doing your best to make sure people remember your name.
Try sticking with these basics:
Relax. People can tell if you are nervous or anxious, but you don’t need to be – most of them are doing the same thing as you. Don’t get hung up on titles. For the most part, everyone is approachable, and if they aren’t, move on.
Be yourself. You know how to talk to people. Don’t over think it. Talk about whatever makes sense. Wander the room, hit the buffet, do what seems natural. Inevitably, a situation will arise where you can break the ice and start a conversation. There is always something to talk about, even the weather!
Make eye contact and smile. It makes you appear sincere and interested. If you come across as distracted, or let your attention wander, it will show and it is downhill from there.
Be polite. Put your best manners on display. Be a good listener and don’t interrupt. Avoid making rude or biased comments, and end conversations gracefully. If you’ve done the job right, you might even score a business card before you go.
Follow up. If you connected with someone and discussed the possibility of working together, follow up with him or her a few days later. Schedule lunch or arrange a formal meeting to discuss future endeavors.
If you leave a function empty-handed, don’t be discouraged. You win some, you lose some. There will be other opportunities to meet people and hone your networking skills.
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