Transferrable Skills for a Student
You’re in your last semester of school and the time has come to create (or polish) your resume for the first job in your chosen career.
You’ve heard that skills are one of the most important qualities to portray on your resume; however, you’re wondering what skills you might have. After all, up until now you’ve been in school. You don’t have any real world experience. So what do you do?
The answer is to convey your transferrable skills from the classroom to the office. Here are some examples that would work for nearly every college student:
1. Leadership: If you’ve ever been elected to a position in school government or have taken action on a noteworthy cause, it should be mentioned in your resume.
2. Teamwork: School projects that require working with a team, and the results of that project. If you served as a team leader, that’s especially important to include in your resume.
3. Dependability: Past performance is generally indicative of future performance. If you have a perfect attendance record and have completed college coursework in 4 years or less, you should showcase this.
4. Innovation and initiative: If you’ve come up with a new process during a school project and have championed it with stellar results, this is an achievement worth mentioning.
The idea is to take what you’ve achieved in college and translate (to a hiring manager or recruiter) how it will benefit the company/industry you’re targeting.
Even the smallest accomplishment can be valuable and should be included on the resume to get your first job in your chosen field.
You did well in the interview but never heard back…
All of us have been on interviews where we clicked with the hiring authority. There were no awkward moments in the conversation. A better match of personalities and life views couldn’t be found.
It was perfect. You left the interview thinking – “This is it. I nailed it. Give it a few hours and I’ll get an offer.”
Several days later without that all-important phone call, you’re left wondering – what happened? How could I have been so wrong?
Maybe you weren’t, at least about connecting on an emotional level with the interviewer or recruiter. However, when it comes to filling a position, a lot more is at stake.
It could be that another candidate had more experience or industry knowledge that you don’t possess. Or that your training wasn’t exactly what the company was looking for. That doesn’t mean you’re not a viable candidate. It means you weren’t perfect for them.
That’s what companies are looking for – the perfect candidate to fit the position. When requirements are flawlessly met by skills, everyone’s happy. Except for the individuals who didn’t get the job.
It’s important to remember that the interview isn’t a personality or popularity contest. The hiring authority may really like you as a person, but the company’s needs come first. Keep that in mind and use your rapport to get across how well you fit the position requirements.
If you’re lacking in a few areas, the interview is the time to state how you intend to overcome those deficiencies. The individual speaking to you already likes you as a person, so use that to get across your points.
Never let yourself believe that a great conversation will lead to a job offer. It’s all about your skills, knowledge and abilities. Those come first.
Writing your Fed resume is a lot like doing your taxes
All of us have done a private sector resume at least once. We know that there should be an opening summary stating our qualifications, followed by Professional Experience and Education. The format is pretty straightforward.
However, if you’ve ever considered applying to the Federal government for a position, you’ll need to readjust your thinking when it comes to your resume.
Although no resume should have errors, a Federal resume has to follow a particular format, be of a particular length (or not exceed a certain page length or character count), include salary details, supervisors’ names, contact numbers and the like.
If you’re one of those candidates who think – no way am I putting all that stuff in my resume – then it’s best you don’t apply for a government position.
Think of a Federal resume as you would your tax return. Failure to report all of your taxable income and failure to fill out each section of the form properly will be noticed. It may get you audited. You’ll be facing fines and interest penalties.
While nothing as daunting happens with a poorly written Federal resume, what will occur is you’ll never get a call for an interview. It doesn’t matter if you have the best background or experience in the world for XX job – doesn’t matter if you’re the most qualified candidate – if you don’t submit a properly written and formatted Federal resume, no one will ever look at it.
You have to cross all your ‘t’s’ and dot all your ‘i’s’.
You also have to apply to a specific position, unlike a private sector resume where you can use one document for many companies across several industries. For example, an administrative assistant. She or he doesn’t need a separate resume for each application.
For a Federal position that’s exactly what you need. You apply to an open Vacancy Announcement and follow the instructions carefully. You can’t cut corners. You can’t leave an important element out. That is, if you want a shot at the job.
Federal resumes are complicated, like a tax return, and they need to be as flawless.
Don’t go blindly into writing one, hoping for the best. It won’t happen. Learn what it takes to write a Federal resume and if it seems too daunting, enlist professional help.
Don’t Bare Your Soul in a Cover Letter
Too many times I’ve seen cover letters that begin with:
“I know I don’t have any experience in the field, but…”
- or -
“I’m really desperate. I’ve been out of work for over a year and will take anything. I saw your ad and thought I’d apply.”
- or -
“I just graduated and can’t find anything in my field of study; therefore, I’m interested in the position you’re offering.”
Really? The first individual states from the get-go that s/he has no experience to do the job. Why would a hiring manager read further? The second candidate is basically saying the open position isn’t what s/he wants; however, the desperation factor is so great this person will take anything. Just what a hiring manager wants to hear. The last individual is stating a complete lack of interest in the job. It’s only being considered until something better comes along. Way to get an employer enthused.
The common factor in all of these opening statements is that they’re stating a negative. Do that, and you’ll be spending the rest of the letter trying to overcome it. Not that any hiring manager or recruiter will bother reading past the first sentence. Telling someone you’re not qualified or not interested will doom you. You can’t recover from that.
A cover letter is not the time to bare your soul in the hopes that the hiring manager will think – “Gosh, sounds like a nice person. Really trying to get employed. I think I’ll give him (or her) a chance.”
It is not going to happen. Employers don’t care what you want. They couldn’t care less about your aspirations, tough economic situation or the obstacles you’ve faced in getting employment.
They want to know one thing: What are you going to do to make my company a success?
It’s as simple as that, and a cover letter should address what qualities you have that will benefit the organization.
If you put anything other than that in your cover letter, you’re hurting your chances. This isn’t about you, it’s about the employer. Prove in your cover letter and resume that you have what it takes to do a great job and you’ll get an interview.
If not, you’re writing cover letters that will never be read.
