Why and How You Should Take Full Advantage of On Campus Recruiting

By Monique Beaupre, Toppel Peer Advisor

What exactly is On Campus Recruiting? 

Representatives from local, national and international businesses and industries, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, military services, human services, and school systems visit the campus to meet with students and to interview and discuss career opportunities with students. After applying to openings via HireACane, students may be scheduled for individual interviews with visiting employer representatives.

Why you should participate

They already want you! Many representatives are taking their own time to seek ‘Canes to fill their open positions. They’ve heard how awesome you are and therefore have invested time into recruiting you specifically. 

This is your opportunity at face-time with employers. Rather than merely submitting your application online among hundreds of qualified applicants, you’ll meet face-to-face with company representatives. Take advantage of your chance to express your interest and enthusiasm in a recruiting company.

How you can make the most of On Campus Recruiting

Simply attend information sessions and apply for interviews! Find the On Campus Recruiting calendar here: http://www.sa.miami.edu/toppel/mainSite/Students/programs.aspx. You can go the extra mile by approaching the representative after their presentation and following up with them via email before your interview.

Dedicate at least 15-30 minutes to researching an On Campus Recruiter before visiting them. Look for available positions. Companies come to campus to answer your questions, so it’s okay to ask what opportunities are available. However, you’ll stand out if you approach them with, “I’m interested in [open position] because...” If you arrive better informed, you put yourself a step ahead of the game.

Dress to impress. For interviews, business professional attire is a no-brainer. However, students commonly mistaken their shorts and flip-flops as appropriate for company information sessions. They should be dressed in business casual attire for these events, so they can make the best impression possible when shaking hands with the speaker after the session.

Resume 101

By Maura Gergerich, Toppel Peer Advisor

So you have all these experiences and now you need to put them on paper to get yourself a job. Most employers will see your resume before they see you so it’s crucial that that piece of paper puts your best foot forward. The average time an employer looks at each resume is eight seconds; that’s how much time you have to really impress them with the skills you have to offer. Therefore, your resume must be efficient as well as thorough to get the employer to give it a closer look.

CONTACT INFO:

The required components of every resume are your name, contact information, and education. Your name should be the biggest writing on the paper. You should include your full name (all caps and bold is usually a good idea) and it should be located at the top of the page. Contact information should be beneath that. List a professional email address (make sure it’s not the embarrassing username you made when you were twelve) telephone number (with an appropriate voice message in case an employer makes a call while you are unavailable) and your address. If you have a permanent and current address (i.e. college students) list both, and if you have a personal website or LinkedIn list that too. 

EDUCATION:

When listing education only put the school in which you earned your degree (if you’re a transfer student only list the school you switched to.) It should be listed with the school’s full name, city and state, full degree title, and graduation date. Do not put “expected graduation” as this implies that there may be a reason that you wouldn’t graduate at this time. The month and year is all that is necessary for the employer. This is also the section where you would put your study abroad experience, but not high school information. General rule of thumb is that after your freshmen year of college, anything from high school should be taken off. Also, a GPA of 3.0 or higher should be listed.

EXPERIENCE:

This section is not limited to paid experience. Volunteer activities and leadership positions are important too. Your list should be in reverse chronological order and be sure to include the company/organization, city, state, position, and date of employment (month and year of starting and ending date.) Each experience should also include a brief list of responsibilities (usually bulleted.) Your statements always start with an action verb and state what you did, using what skills, to achieve what result. It also helps to make quantitative statements (ex. Tutored fifteen students weekly…) when you can. This is a great section to utilize your thesaurus as well to avoid seeming repetitive.

SKILLS:

This section is for anything specialized that may or may not have been mentioned in the experience section. Any computer programs you know how to use should be listed and also languages. Remember to be specific! Don’t simply list Microsoft office; each program should be listed separately. With languages, make sure to specify your competency (fluent, proficient, and conversational.) Do NOT exaggerate! You don’t want to be put in a position where you are under qualified.

OPTIONAL COMPONENTS:

After all of the basic resume info there are still many options of what to include on a resume. An objective statement can be added at the top to indicate what type of work or position you are seeking. You can impress employers by adding an honors/awards section (which would include scholarships.) There is also a possibility of adding a significant courses section. This is more geared toward finding a position in a desired area even if you don’t have specific work experience in that field. It can include things such as class projects to show employers specialized skills you have developed.

It seems like such a simple piece of paper, but your resume truly says a lot about you. Don’t feel obligated to include every single detail of your working life if you don’t feel it is important. Make sure, however, that you have one or two full pages, but try to avoid having a few lines hanging onto the next page. And most importantly keep in mind that whenever you have doubts you can always come to Toppel for a resume critique!

Connect Four: Four Tips to Maintaining a Meaningful Network

By: Emmy Petit-Frere, Toppel Peer Advisor

Career Expo is over; Phew!! All the efforts of getting your resume critiqued, business cards made, brushing up on your interview skills, updating your Linkedin, finding the perfect approved outfit, whitening your teeth, and finally combing your hair have allowed you to connect with many prestigious employers at Toppel’s Career Expo. What next though? You’ve made the connection, but you may not have landed a job or internship right on the spot. No worries; many students attended the career expo, and you may have just felt like part of the crowd, but this is where you truly get to stand out. Many of us make connections, but never use them or don’t use them effectively. Here are few tips to keep you connected with all the great contacts you made at Expo!

1. Make a List

• Make a list of all the employers you met at Expo along with their contact info
• Use this list to keep record of when you contact them, what you talked about, and other important notes such as company mission, values, etc.
• This list will make it easier for you in the process of contacting your connections

2. 48hr. Rule

• Contact the employer within 48hrs upon meeting them
• Thank them for their time speaking to you
• Remind them who you are, when you met, and express the possibility of interest

3. Empowerment not Employment

• Seek Advice, not employment
• Offer to volunteer in order to gain more knowledge
• These types of efforts impress employers more than you think and will be beneficial in your development and may potentially land you that internship or job

4. Consistency

• Pick a day/time of the month solely dedicated to connecting with your network
• The more time you put into your network, the greater your network will be
• Build your bridges even if you may not need to cross them at this specific time

Remember, it’s not only important to get connected, but to stay connected! These 4 tips should help you in making those connections meaningful and potentially beneficial to your career development. Good Luck Cane!

How to Make the Most of the Career Expo: Before, During, and After

By Monique Beaupre, Peer Advisor

Before:

Research the companies that will be there.

Find the full list of participants here. Plan to pay special attention to opportunities that stand out to you.

Update your resume.

Stop at the Toppel Career Center during walk-in hours (Monday-Thursday, 10am-4:30pm) to get your resume critiqued. Print out at least 20 copies of your polished resume once it has been approved. 

Check your wardrobe.

Make sure you have appropriate professional attire to wear. For tips on dressing for success, click here. Remember that we require business professional attire at this event.

Review your career goals.

Are you still figuring out what you like and are willing to dip your toes in different sectors? Or are you on a straight and narrow path to the dream job? Decide what you’re looking for and know how to communicate that at the Expo.

Don’t get nervous, get excited!

This opportunity is much more likely to make you than break you. Professionals have taken time to seek out Hurricanes and are thrilled at the chance to meet you. It’s your time to show off your accomplishments and shine.

During:

Making a great first impression begins with a smile.

Smiling will make you appear more friendly and approachable.

Show interest and ask questions.

Professionals love what they do – but not as much as they love talking about what they do. They are happy to share their experiences with you. Indicate your enthusiasm in what they’re telling you. “Tell me more about...” is a simple and skillful way to facilitate a great conversation.

Give a brief, memorable spiel about yourself.

Try not to ramble, but mention valuable accomplishments, experiences, or goals of yours.

After:

Follow up within 48 hours.

Email or call connections you’ve made and let them know how nice it was to meet them. Mention something you discussed so they can easily remember you. If you’ve promised them a sample of your work, make sure you get that to them. Keeping your word gives you credibility.

For additional information on preparing for Career Expo visit: https://www.sa.miami.edu/toppel/mainsite/Students/CareerFairsandEvents/PreparingforaCareerFair.aspx.

Win Over the Interviewer in 5 Easy Steps

By: Emmy Petit-Frere, Peer Advisor 

“So, tell me about yourself?” If that’s not the most dreaded question asked in an interview, I don’t know what is.  You’d think it would come easy to tell someone (who knows nothing about you) a little bit about yourself, but it’s not. This person is your possible future employer! Everything you say counts; even the ‘um(s), ‘like(s)’, and those awkward blank stares when you don’t know how to answer a question. So let me help you out a little bit with some tips beyond the conventional, “dress for success, “ “be on time,” and “make eye contact” advice that have helped me get through a couple of interviews.

1. Be personable; be yourself.

Need I say more? Be you, and just that. You want to impress your future employer, but don’t lose yourself in the process. Rather than transforming yourself to your possible future employer’s criteria, key in on the elements of your personality, experience, and work ethic that will benefit the company’s culture.

2. Talk.

Pretty obvious, right? No, but seriously, talk! The best way to avoid those hard to answer and often times awkward questions is to answer them before they ask! My favorite interview thus far started out as a conversation about my shoes which then led to my interest in sports, to my love for traveling, to my passion for learning/speaking multiple languages, to a load of skills I had. Had I been asked, “what skills do you obtain that will benefit this company,” I would have probably forgotten to mention many of my skill sets or just gone completely blank. Interactive conversation allows for the interview to be comfortable, genuine, and effective.

3. Tie in your experiences.

I’ve found that this makes answering some of those tough questions so much easier! Here’s an example: Often, employers ask, “How do you approach situations of conflict in the work setting?” This can be a hard question to answer, especially for those of us who have never really had a real job; after all we’re just college students. You have more experience than you think- use it! We’ve all had that dreaded college group project (which somehow ends up being an individual/less than the full group effort LOL), an affiliation or leadership role within a club, volunteer work, or even a Federal Work study job. These are all valid experiences to tie into your responses. Be prepared to use your experiences to answer your interviewers questions.

4. Be memorable.

Stop mentioning things that are already on your resume! If the employer hadn’t already scrutinized your resume enough prior to your interview, you wouldn’t be there in the first place. This interview is where you make the lasting impression; this is where you put a face to the resume. You want to be able to be memorable enough that the possible employer can pick up your resume the next day and say, “Emmy! That’s the short girl with the crooked dimples who loves to travel!” My height (or lack thereof), crooked dimples, and love for travel seem to ALWAYS make it into my interview conversations. Sometimes it’s a story, a physical feature, or just your personality that catches the interviewer’s attention. Whatever it is, use it and be memorable!

5. Do your research

Learn about the company, and use your knowledge to not only show your interest, but to aid in keeping the conversation going, tying in your skill set to the company’s needs, and to most importantly impress your interviewer! Go prepared!

Well, these are just some tips that have helped me in my interviews with employers. Don’t forget the conventional tips as well! I’m sure you know them by heart (Be on time, dress for success, eye contact, firm handshake, blah blah blah.) The most important thing is that you PRACTICE! Interviews aren’t always easy, but you can make them easier with a little practice. Lucky for you, Toppel Career Center offers interviewing workshops and mock interviews where you can run through and practice your interview skills. Visit HireACane.com to find out when workshops or mock interviews will be offered. Good luck and remember, everybody wants to hire a Cane! :)