Chapter 15, Starting Your Career, gives so much good advice on how to find a job and how to actually make the correct paperwork to get it.
I recently got hired at Subaru of Indiana Automotive as an intern for this semester, and I had to go through much of what this chapter was about. The biggest thing for me was actually making a resume that showed all of my talents and that I was overly qualified for the job I was applying for.
To me the biggest thing for a resume would be preparing it for the exact job you are applying for. In my objective I stated how I wanted to find an internship in the automotive field. A good tip, that I am sure most people do, is to actually read the job description and to reword it into your resume. In your objective statement you should put the actual description of the job, or in your skill set list skills that you know are needed in that industry. I am sure doing both of these helped me greatly in getting my internship. Using the archival approach also helped me greatly because I was able to put my major and school related work bold and up front. Having a major that really fits the industry is important; in my case my major fits the automotive industry perfect.
Getting a resume past a HR representative and to your potential boss is not an easy thing. I knew that my resume had to meet all of requirements and qualifications of the certain job that I was applying for to miss the trash can in the HR reps room. Once I passed that stage, I knew that I had to have enough information that would impress my potential boss and put me ahead of all the other applicants. Impressing your potential boss with the information on your resume is the thing that puts you at the top of the list.
This last semester I have given out lots of resumes and had several interviews. The two most important things I have learned are to tailor your resume to the specific job and to make a good first impression in an interview.
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“Showing that I was overly qualified for the job I was applying for.” This is a very interesting statement and I began to visualize the concept right away. When I have prepared resumes in the past, one of the primary thoughts I entertained was “does all of this suggest I am qualified enough.” Until reading chapter 15 and your post, never had I thought to go so far as to prepare with the mindset of being too qualified. But the premise is ideal; if you go into the job hunt, or even the interviews, feeling and believing that any of the positions you're applying for might prove to be a waste of your time and skills, then you will likely possess a confidence level above many of your competitors vying for the same position. Also, in your closing arguments you offer still another wise guideline to follow. Although your job search will likely be in one particular field, that does not suggest one style of resume will suffice. You recap tailoring your resume to the specific position you are applying for and this is a brilliant idea. In the past, I was guilty of submitting only one version of my resume to any employer but in the future, I will take the suggestions from chapter 15 into consideration.
Skillsets and Resume Tailoring
I'm beginning to see that tailoring your resume to the job is very important. In my field of Computer Technology, we don't get very specific on any certain task, job, or even industry, as I would suspect something like a mechanical engineer would. Instead, we get a broad spectrum of Information Technologies such as programming, database administration, project management, and information systems analysis and design. Depending on what type of position I will apply for out of college, It will important to stress one of those specific topics and how I'm qualified for it. A manager looking to hire me as a database administrator probably does care that I have a background in programming, and have project management skills, but those should just be listed, not detailed. My experience working with, designing, and building relational databases should be the focus of that resume.
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I think that the information that you have about going over the job description and putting it into you resume is extremely important and I am glad that you have noticed it in your response. I think that it is important for people to know exactly what the employer is looking. I also think that you mentioned some other good and unique things that you personally have used in writing your resume. Overall, I agree with most of the things that you have written about. I am glad that you have had success in writing good solid resumes.
tailored resumes
I think tailoring your resume is a great idea for the industry you are in. You had a chance to read job descriptions and fit those into your resume. But what about when you don't know what job you will be applying for. I have never used objectives on my resumes because I have been to too many job fairs or conferences where I want to hand out multiple resumes or e-mail a resume to someone. I think that for me, the skills and experience I have tell people what I want to do and that I can be an asset to their company.
Mike Sheridan