Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Brad Collet Assistant Director Experiential Education

1. Building Your Resume from the Ground UpBrad ColletAssistant DirectorExperiential Education Building Your Resume from the Ground Up

2. The First Question “Why Should I walk away from my Customer to Interview You?”

3. Purpose of a Resume A Marketing Tool: To convince an employer To call you For an interview You’ve got 10 seconds!!!

4. Steps toBuildinga Resume • Laying the foundation • Building the resume • Polishing the resume

5. Laying the Foundation Assess Yourself on Computer/Paper • Personal Inventory-what have you done/accomplished? • Skills, Abilities, Work Experience and Extracurricular Activities/Leadership • What are your Objectives? • Kind of job you are looking for and when you are available

6. Laying the Foundation • What Resume Format is most appropriate? • Chronological • Organized by date in reverse date order • Most commonly used type and more acceptable by employers • Functional • Grouped by status areas • Useful for employment gaps • Less acceptable by employers • Combination • Chronological/functional types combined

7. Building the Resume Tell the Employer…… The Mostest, The Fastest

8. Building the Resume • Personal Data Section • Objective • Education Section • Work Experience • Skills • Activities and Honors • Work Authorization (Int’l Students) • Do Not List References

9. Building the Resume Personal Data Section Examples Example #1 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. 4321 West Way College Station, TX 77840 Kingsland, TX 78639 (979) xxx-xxxx ita@tamu.edu (325) xxx-xxxx Example #2 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. College Station, TX 77840 Home: (979) xxx-xxxx Cell : (979) xxx-xxxx ita@tamu.edu

10. Building the Resume Personal Data Section Examples Example #3 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. (979) xxx-xxxx College Station, TX 77840 ita@tamu.edu Example #4 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St., College Station, TX 77840  ita@tamu.edu  (979) xxx-xxxx

11. Building the Resume • Objective • Type of Job - CO-OP, Intern, Full-time? • Specific Ideas, Not Vague and Fluffy • Operations, Business, Sales, Design, R&D, Consulting? • CO-OPs and Interns – start date • Education • University, Location, Graduation Date, • Degree in Major, Minors, Certificates, • Major GPR, Overall GPR • % Paid by Work, Scholarships, Loans • Senior Design Project, Study Abroad, Graduate Research, Related Coursework

12. Building the Resume • Work Experience • Job Title, Company Name, Location, Dates of employment • Job Description – Statements (not sentences) • Using action words and showing results • Be Positive, Be Concise, Be Persuasive • Activities • Professional/Student organizations • Leadership positions • Skills • Computer software/systems, foreign languages • Security clearance

13. Building the Resume • Honors • Scholarships,Dean’s List, etc. • Work Authorization • “Eligible for Optional Practical Training (or Curricular Practical Training)” • Bottom of resume • References • Do not list on resume • Bring separate page to interview

14. Building the Resume • Present most marketable information first • Use brief, descriptive phrases • No personal pronouns • Use action verbs to describe experiences and accomplishments • Be Positive • Be Truthful • You Have the Right to Remain Silent

15. Polishing the Resume • Be Concise • Show results • Top Heavy • Reader Friendly

16. Polishing the Resume • Avoiding common mistakes • Broad generalization statements • Spelling and grammatical errors • 2013 CareerBuilder found 58% of resumes have typos • Formatting, fonts, length, paper quality • Translate “Aggie speak” to business English • Don’t overdue it • Can’t explain every statement • Too long • No picture • Don’t include references

17. Polishing the Resume • Use white or off-white paper (checkout resume paper at area copy centers, i.e. Kinkos, Copy Corner, or Graphics Center on campus) • Use 8 ½ x11-inch paper • Use a font size of 10 to 14 points • Black ink only • Do not fold or staple your resume • If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope

18. Employer Comments • Stick to 1 page. We had several students give us 2 (and in one case 3) page resumes. After 8 years in the industry, I can still highlight all necessary and pertinent information on my resume in a single page. • Clearly state GPR. Several students played games with the GPR by giving us only their in-major GPR because the overall was significantly lower. Another presented only the last 2 years because the first two years were very bad. Some gave no GPR. It does not reflect well on students to manipulate their resumes in this fashion before we even interview them. Employers who went to A&M can very easily review an A&M transcript and see who is playing games.

19. Employer Comments • Several of the students had not updated their "Job Objective" knowing that the interview that our company conducted was for a sales position.   Examples were: A manufacturing career; Plant flow organization. • One person did not spell check their resume.   • Another, the formatting was off and not consistent.

20. In Conclusion…. Did You Tell the Employer The Mostest, The Fastest ??????

21. Internships/Co-ops Brad Collet Assistant Director Career Center

22. Why Work Before Graduation? • Employers expect it! • Increases your marketability! • Confirm choice of major and identify career options • Increase understanding of classroom theory and real world applications • Earn $$$ • Gain useful employment contacts & Networking • Develop confidence and professional skills

23. CO-OPs Typically multiple semesters Always paid Receive academic credit Full-time student status No Readmission No loan payments INTERNSHIPS Usually one summer semester Paid or volunteer Academic credit decided by Department May/may not retain FT student status Characteristics of Internships and Co-ops

24. Hiring Trends • 85% of employers have said they only hire candidates who have had meaningful experiential learning opportunities (Gardner, 2009) • 57% of internships were converted into jobs in 2009 (Internships.com) • 80% of jobs/internships are never posted, they are filled through networking (NACE, 2009)

25. Available Resources for Finding Internships/Co-ops • HireAggies.com • Career Fairs • Networking

26. Resources Available on HireAggies.com • FIND JOBS • On-Campus Recruiting • Job Postings/Listings • Career Resources (left hand margin) • Career Shift • Internships.com • Going Global

27. Screen shot of Aggienetwork.com

29. Finding Opportunities Through Using the Career Fair • Career Fair Preparation • Find list of attendees (sec.tamu.edu) • Determine companies to talk to • Research companies • Overview of company • Products/Projects/Services • Ask/Answer 2 questions • Why interested in company? • Why are you a strong candidate? • Career Fair Presentation

30. Finding Opportunites Through Networking • Aggienetwork.com (Association of Former Students) • Create an Account with AFS • Find an Aggie • Advanced Search Options • Career Tools • Effective Networking • LinkedIn • 80% of jobs/internships are never posted, they are filled through networking (NACE, 2009)

32. On Campus Interviewing Departmental Advisors/Faculty Internet Job Search Student Organizations LinkedIn Professional Organization Conferences, Websites, Publications Former Students Inside Contacts, Family, Friends Former Employers Area Chambers of Commerce Utilize ALL Resources

33. Go for it!! Questions? contact the Career Center at Hire Aggies.com or (979) 845-5139