Resumés: Now is the time!

If you don’t have a resumé then it’s time to create one. We’ve done several sessions on resumés at PRSSA meetings and you can have your’s checked by professionals at our April 12 conference. (http://prssa.org.ohio-state.edu/special_events.html)

Students often don’t think about how their resumés look. Whether you email it or send it snail mail, it has to look attractive. Professionals don’t have time to read large chunks of text nowadays so your resumé should be easily scanned. Consistency is crucial and there must be no grammatical errors and typos.

Your resumé should include the following sections:
1. Your name and contact information;
2. Your university, major, expected graduation date, and any honors you’ve earned. If your grade point average is good then include it;
3. Your employment and internship information including your job title and responsibilities;
4. Your activities and other honors earned.

Where the rubber meets the road on your resumé is in the employment and internship section, where you list the responsibilities you had in the position. Each item must begin with an active verb and carefully and completely, yet succinctly, tell what you did.

Dan Orzano of Nationwide once provided the following list of action verbs for students to use in writing their resumés.
For example, you may say that you:
Received, reviewed, corrected, validated and entered data from co-workers

Or that you currently:
Write news releases, internal newsletter and Web site articles, pamphlets and brochures, and pitch stories to the media

After you draft a resumé have people check it to make sure it is perfect. When you think it is, have professionals review it so you can make the perfect impression.

Here’s that list of action verbs to help you on the way.
achieved
adapted
addressed
administered
advised
analyzed
anticipated
appraised
appointed
arbitrated
arranged
articulated
assembled
assessed
assigned
assisted
attained
audited
automated
bought
budgeted
built
calculated
checked
clarified
classified
coached
collaborated
collected
communicated
compared
compiled
composed
computed
conducted
consolidated
constructed
consulted
controlled
coordinated
counseled
created
critiqued
defined
delegated
delivered
demonstrated described
designed
detected
determined
developed
devised
diagnosed
directed
discovered
documented
earned
edited
eliminated
empathized
enforced
established
estimated
evaluated
examined
executed
expanded
experimented
expressed
facilitated
financed
followed-up
forecast
formulated
gathered
generated grossed
guided
handled
helped
hired
hypothesized
identified
illustrated
implemented
improved
increased
influenced
informed
initiated
innovated
inspected
inspired
installed
instituted
instructed
interpreted
interviewed
invented
investigated
labeled
lead
listened
maintained
managed
marketed
mediated
memorized
modeled
monitored
motivated negotiated
observed
obtained
operated
ordered
organized
oversaw
performed
persisted
persuaded
photographed
planned
prepared
presented
prevented
printed
processed
produced
programmed
projected
promoted
proofread proposed
provided
publicized
purchased
questioned
received
recommended
reconciled
recorded
recruited
reduced
referred
refined
rehabilitated
repaired
reported
represented
researched
resolved
responded
restored
retrieved
reviewed
revised
routed
scheduled
selected
served
sketched
solved
sorted
studied
summarized
supervised
supplied
surveyed
tested
trained
transcribed
translated
traveled
treated
tutored
upgraded
utilized
wrote

How to make the most of your internships

I love my internship. I hate my internship. It will look good on my resume. I hope it leads to a job. It’s paid so who cares what I do. I sat in a client meeting today. I spend at least two hours each day looking at Facebook. I’m totally bored. Will it look bad if I quit after three weeks?

Ah, internships. Ya gotta love ‘em. There’s nothing like feeling you’re simply free labor. The internship should be, of course, for the benefit of both you and the employer. That’s not always the case.

So how do you make sure you get something out of your internship, other than five credits? The successful internship depends primarily on a good plan to make full use of, and educate, you! Be strategic and approach your internship with goals in hand.

CREATE AN OVERALL PLAN. You should know before you begin what your responsibilities will include. In the interview for the internship, ask them what you will be doing. You should tell your supervisors that you would like to have a few items you can add to your resume and portfolio by the time the internship is completed. Discuss goals early in your internship so that 10 weeks down the line your goals will be met. Agree upon responsibilities in writing and refer back to them at regular intervals.

MAKE A CHECKLIST OF RESPONSIBILITIES. You should ask for one or two large projects to continuously work on throughout your internship. That way, during “slow periods,” you’ll have a project to return to. In addition to long-term projects ask for a list of reasonable short-term assignments to complete, sometimes on a daily basis. Don’t forget to include experiences you would like to be exposed to: observing a client meeting, attending a brainstorming session, shadowing an executive, talking with entry-level employees, watching graphic designers at work.

SET EXPECTATIONS EARLY. If a weekly update would be helpful to you, be sure to include that in your checklist of items. Not every assignment will be substantive so demonstrate that you also do grunt work—all internships have some and interns should expect it. Meet regularly with your supervisor to ensure expectations are met and to provide feedback.

LEARN NEW SKILLS. INCLUDE A CHALLENGE. A good intern should want to learn both general and industry-specific skills, and want to be challenged. Try to learn a new computer program that you can use to help you get a job. Ask to learn effective and efficient internet research. Discover gaps in your knowledge and skill-base and work to fill those gaps. Find a new challenge—training others, providing background information to a reporter, briefing a senior-management executive—and tackle the challenge.

STAY IN TOUCH AFTER THE INTERNSHIP. A periodic e-mail or call means a good connection and may help in securing your next internship or job. After you revise your resume, ask your supervisor to review it and your portfolio AND write a recommendation letter if warranted.

USE ALL OF YOUR RESOURCES. Use your contacts, academic advisors, university career offices and professors to help you set internship expectations. Don’t be shy…people generally want to help!

Nine steps to take NOW for your job search

Headline: ‘Job market looking bleak for ‘08’

Nothing like a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking when you’re planning to graduate this year. The Columbus Dispatch headline above appeared on December 26, 2007. You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

The article states that 29 percent of Columbus employers plan to REDUCE the number of employees in 2008, 44 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels and the other 27 percent don’t know what they will do. Yikes. Nobody said they plan to hire in 2008.

So what do you do with an upcoming March or June graduation? Declare a second major? Apply to grad school? Go abroad for a year?

Nah. While the job market may appear to be unwelcoming now, you never know what the economy may bring. And, for better or worse, with a new president elected this year (hard to imagine worse), things can change mighty quickly!

So what should you really do? Start doing everything you can NOW so you can have a job already lined up or at least so you can hit the ground running the day (or week) after graduation. Here are nine things you can do right now:

1.) Start making contacts. Make a plan to meet four professionals each month and secure their business cards. That would mean about 25 contacts before June graduation. Take advantage of the PRSSA and other networks and meet professionals. Attend meetings, contact OSU PRSSA professional advisors, eat lunch with former comm students now working in the profession. When a job opens you want your contact to think of you so start meeting and making impressions now.

2.) Ask your contacts if you can have an “informational interview” with them. A regular interview is when a position is open and you are asked questions posed by the organization’s representative. In an informational interview you ask the questions, mostly, to seek advice, meet a contact, or learn about the company. It’s another opportunity to make contacts and make an impression. “Would you have 30 minutes to conduct an informational interview?” It’s that simple.

3.) Make sure your resumé is perfect now. Try not to use the Word templates. Accentuate your strengths. Have it reviewed by several people (a good way to keep in touch with contacts). (Sorry for the commercial interruption but the first PRSSA meeting this quarter is on How to Write a Resumé and Cover Letter, January 16, 6 p.m., in 1005 Smith Lab. Bring your laptop! Now back to our regularly-scheduled blog.) Your resumé will go through several drafts so make it perfect now.

4.) Draft several cover letters tailored to the positions you are seeking. Always, always, always include a cover letter with your resumé. Don’t even ask if it is required, just always, always, always include one. Think of your cover letter as a way to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Add skills in your cover letter that aren’t in your resumé. Have the letters reviewed by people you will call upon to help you find a job.

5.) Practice your interview skills now. There is a strategy to interviewing. Learn it! I have a list of the most common questions asked in a typical interview. Brainstorm concise, strategic (but truthful) answers and conduct mock interviews with friends, family, professors, dogs, anyone. Practice for an interview like you would study for an exam.

6.) Have a big picture plan about internships. Seek targeted internships now. Know what you lack in skills on your resumé and seek an internship where you gain those skills. Make a six-month plan. Check out this link to the Lantern about a former student. http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/01/04/Arts/Recent.Osu.Grad.Gets.Victoria.Secret.Dream.Job-3146230.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition

7.) Begin to assemble a portfolio. This shows what you have accomplished so employers know what they can expect of you. Focus on results. More to come in another blog.

8.) Begin to clean your Facebook page. Yes, professionals have ways to access Facebook and see more about you. (Do you think professionals want to hire “her,” the one with the glassy eyes, Bud Light bottle in hand, pretending to pucker up with her girlfriend, who has a lime wedge in her mouth, with three guys in the background making gang signs?)

9.) Also clean your voicemail message. (Hi guys. I’m chillin’ right now. Leave me one. BEEP.) Think about who is hiring you…it isn’t your 22-year-old friend, it’s likely an older person with different values and ideas on how to work and behave in the work place.

And if all else fails, according to the Dispatch article noted above, there WILL be hiring in some job categories. “There may be a growing need for debt collectors, repossession officers….” (Ugh!) Additionally since the home-mortgage market is in tatters, “there may be a need for more rental agents.” Sad but true.

Welcome to Strategic Student Tips

Hello Buckeyes and former Buckeyes. Over my eight years at Ohio State I've been asked countless times for help with internships and jobs. I'm glad to help. So I've created this blog because the earlier students begin to know the do's and dont's of obtaining such internships and jobs, the more successful they will be. I'm going to send this to former students who can give their feedback and advice to current students as well as to current students who can learn and provide their experiences in applying these tips. I hope it will be fun to see some comments from you all.

It's my belief that strategic preparation is critical to earning what you want. You know that teamwork involves practice, and learning a language involves practice, so it stands to reason that getting an internship involves practice and preparation in writing, researching and interviewing.

Over the next six months I'll sporadically send you my thoughts (mostly random; however they will be STRATEGICALLY random) and you can add to them, learn by them, or simply delete them. Your feedback is always welcome. Good luck and thanks, Dan