Tag Archives: Job Search
How to Update Your Resume
Every now and then you should update your resume so that when the time comes, you’re always ready to apply for any position that comes your way. Â Instead of waiting for when it is time to apply make sure to take some time and update it to create the best possible resume.
Ask for help
Itâs always a good idea to get help. Especially with something as important and tricky as writing a resume, getting all the possible feedback can make a huge difference. Â Maybe make an appointment with someone in your campus career center. They can help you make sure youâre resume is typo and error free. They could also let you know of any other positions you might be interested in.
Contact info
Start with the top and work your way down. That way you can make sure you updated everything! While this information does not change as …
How to Succeed in a Phone Interview
Last week I gave the best advice I had for an in-person interview. If you missed it or need a refresher you can read it here. While I know that not everyone will have to experience a phone interview, they are becoming more popular and I want to make sure that if you have one, you’re as prepared as possible.
Preparation
Just because you arenât going into an office doesn’t mean that you can just go into it without any preparation. Like any interview, you should be researching the company and starting to get familiar with what the company does, who works for the company, and who is going to be interviewing you. Knowing some of these key elements and mentioning them in your interview could really set you apart from other candidates. You can even use being in a remote location to your advantage and keep a page of …
How to Succeed in an In-Person Interview
When starting off your professional career, interviews are going to become a lot more common than you would hope for. Preparing for an interview and knowing how to set yourself up for success isnât as easy as everyone makes it out to be. Here are some steps to take when preparing for an interview.Â
A few days beforeÂ
Interview preparation should start as soon as possible. You should start with researching the company. This is a great way to get ideas about what the company is doing and where they are headed. Bringing up some key elements during the interview will really help set you apart from other candidates. Start with the companyâs website. Learn about the goals, missions, and future plans for the company, which will help you get an idea of what you could be getting involved in. Now is also a good time to prepare for how …
The Power of Social Media
Itâs no secret that social media has slowly become a part of our everyday lives. Between snapping pictures and finding new memes, social media can hold a lot of power when it comes to finding your next internship or job.
It’s important to keep your profiles clean because you never know who could come across what you’re posting. You need to realize that companies want the right people representing them. This means watching what you say, being aware of who you follow and interact with, and being careful about what types of pictures you’re posting. Some people think making fake profiles under different names is safe, but the accounts can still be connected back to the real owners.
While it might seem fun to make that post now, it could cost you a job offer in the future. It’s okay to enjoy your youth and have fun, but some activities …
Why You Should Never Ghost an Employer
One of the latest hot topics in the business world is how candidates are “ghosting” employers. As you may already know, the practice of ghosting comes from the dating world. Instead of communicating that you’re losing interest, or you don’t like someone, you simply disappear and cease communication with no explanation. This method avoids having a difficult or awkward conversation.
Of course it’s ironic that employers are making a fuss over ghosting. After all, employers are notorious for ghosting their job applicants. You can spend hours cultivating your job application, even going to an interview, only to never receive a response. So employers, this article applies to you too. Don’t ghost your applicants! At the very least, develop a quick email template that you can easily send to your rejected candidates.
But for those of you that are seeking jobs, you shouldn’t ghost employers! It’s a bad practice all around.
…
Why it’s Worth it to Stay in Indiana
If youâre attending school in Indiana, youâre probably thinking about what your future plans are. When I attended Butler University, it always sounded like everyone wanted to go somewhere else after graduationâŠNew York, California, Washington D.C., and so on. I think part of the reason why people want to move somewhere else after graduation is because they arenât aware of everything Indiana has to offer. Here are a few reasons why itâs worth it to stay in Indiana.
Indiana has the best of both worlds.
In 2016, a study of the best housing markets for millennials came with a catch â the cities with the best housing markets had almost no jobs to offer, and the best job markets meant higher housing costs. Cheap housing usually goes hand in hand with poor job markets. However, Indianapolis made the list of the top 10 most affordable metro areas for cost per …
How to Ace a Phone Interview
As I searched for a job after I graduated college, I was navigating a new kind of hiring process. In my previous experiences, I would receive a request for a face-to-face interview, and they either hired me or they didnât. I became used to excelling in those types of interviews, and thought my job search would be easy. It wasnât. For the first time in my life, employers were requesting a phone interview instead of in-person. This meant all my face-to-face skills were worthless, as my interviewer couldnât see my body language or facial expressions. A phone interview is structured differently from an in-person interview. So hereâs what you need to know to ace one.
Set up the ideal environment.
If youâve never had a phone interview, itâs exactly what it sounds like. You schedule a specific time for a phone call, and the interviewer asks you questions over the …
Avoiding Scams During Your Job Search
Ah, college. Youâre starting to embrace your independence, youâre away from your parents, and youâre getting a taste of everything the world has to offer. While this sounds amazing to you, it also sounds great to people who want to scam you. College students can be susceptible to scammers, who try to use your newfound independence to take advantage of you, especially during your job search. You might think you can spot an internship scam or manipulative job posting from a mile awayâŠbut can you really?
Misleading Practices
Have you ever searched for a certain type of job on a site, then it pulled up a position that wasnât really related? Look out for companies that use misleading practices to get you to view their job posting. For example, when I was looking for communications/marketing internships in college, I kept getting sales positions as search results. Occasionally, it would be …
The Job Search and Dating: More Similar Than You’d Think
After I graduated, I was still in the midst of my job search for an âadultâ job/career. So I continued at my internship and working retail, searching for that coveted full-time position. At the same time, I navigated the dating world, trying both online dating sites and various events to meet people.
I noticed uncomfortable similarities between dating and my job search. Here are the two biggest lessons I learned.
Both parties won’t immediately reveal their true intentions.
Most of the time, on that first or second date, you won’t be completely honest with each other. You won’t say that youâre hung up on your ex, and youâre trying to date to forget them. Your date wonât say that theyâre just lonely because theyâre living by themselves, and have no intention of talking to you after this date because they have commitment issues. But you both feign interest, and warily …
One Post is All it Takes: A Reminder to Keep Your Social Media Clean
By now, everyone has heard the cautionary tale of the NASA intern who was fired because of two profane tweets. Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer, had tweeted a warning to the now-former intern about her language use, but she was unaware of his identity and used profanity in her reply to him. While the story was certainly cringe-inducing, many people may think the same situation may never happen to them. But chances are, employers will look at your social media. You just wonât be lucky enough to get a warning.
Social media is fun and engaging, and many of us have the habit of posting anything and everything we do. But more employers use social media in the hiring process than ever before. A 2017 survey by Harris Poll found that 70 percent of employers used social media to screen candidates.
This is both your greatest advantage and disadvantage.
This doesnât mean you should delete your accounts. …
Post-Graduation Internships
Perhaps you were busy with other responsibilities during undergrad and you didnât have time for an internship. Or maybe you changed majors part of the way through your college career, and it set you back a little bit. Many students pursue internship positions during college, and assume that once they graduate, they will be done with them. While that is the case most of the time, there is nothing wrong with accepting an internship post-graduation. Hereâs why:
The job market can be tough, especially if youâre are seeking employment in a small city where there is lots of competition â namely, your fellow graduates. Full-time positions can be scarce, depending on the economy, your profession and the area in which you live. An internship can help to provide you with some money and additional experience as you search for a salaried role.
Oftentimes, graduates instinctively accept job offers that do …
Tips & Tricks for a Polished LinkedIn Profile
If youâre a college student, thereâs no doubt youâve heard of LinkedIn. The professional social network is extremely popular, and Iâm sure more than one professor, career counselor or mentor has told you to join it.
LinkedIn can be intimidating to use at first for inexperienced students, but a solid LinkedIn profile can go a long way in your internship and post-grad career search. According to LinkedIn, 9 in 10 companies use LinkedIn to recruit new hires. Additionally, you can apply for many jobs and internships directly through LinkedIn.
Here are five suggestions for students to polish their LinkedIn profiles.
Add a (good!) photo.
This one is more important than you might thinkâaccording to LinkedIn, profiles with pictures get viewed 14 times more than those without! Use a clear, high-quality photo of you in appropriate clothing. No grainy shots, cropped group pictures or crazy expressions. A simple smiling photo is …
Job vs. Career: The Choice is Yours
The path to finding a career winds through many twists and turns, before it brings passionate and successful purpose into your life. Everyone sets out on this path with a distinct plan about how they envision their future. But to their amazement, where they end up is far from where they started. Maybe you didnât get your dream job right after graduation and didnât move across the country like you planned. Donât give up! Remember that your journey is your own. Different opportunities will present themselves along the way, maybe in the form of part-time jobs or a chance to volunteer. Itâs important to know how these different jobs can help you realize your full potential and lead you to a fulfilling career, no matter how laboring it may seem. You should know when to move on and challenge yourself for something greater. There is a distinct difference between a …
Job-Ready Prep for College Students
Whether you are a bright-eyed freshman or a senior counting down the days until graduation, itâs never too late to learn the best techniques to prepare for the real world. And by real world, I mean the world outside of your dorms, where meal points disappear and your class schedule turns into a full-time work schedule.
When itâs time to transition from campus to career, students should understand that although a college degree can boost your earning potential and improve your resume, it is only a small part of the employment equation. Hiring managers look for applicants who not only have the skills necessary for the job, but also whether the applicant would be a good fit in their company culture. They look for professionalism, confidence, self-motivation and willingness to accept challenges. Many of these qualities arenât a pre-requisite for your diploma, but are learned through practice and experience. Internships, …
Intern to Full-Time Employee: What Does it Take?
Internships arenât just for gaining real-world experience in your desired field. They are more than just programs to receive college credit, too.
Interns have an especially advantageous position within a company that has potential to turn into a full-time offer. Itâs best for interns and employers to sit down at the beginning of their experience to discuss some goals they wish to accomplish with each other. If full-time employment is a possibility at the end of the internship, interns can treat their 10-12 weeks as an ongoing interview. Here is some more advice on how you can be remembered as the rock star intern who turned into their next full-time employee.
Be dependable. Employers want to see that you are arriving on time to work, successfully hitting your deadlines, and ready to help out whenever needed. Pay attention to detail and do your work consistently well. Network with your co-workers. …