business/careers nitial step to a good job is a well-planned resume By SUZANNE M. CASSIDY and MARK FEATHERSTONE Daily Collegian Staff Writers A well-planned resume is the first step to landing a good job, a Career Development and Placement Center staff member said. "The sole purpose, the overriding purpose of a resume in the final analysis is to get an inter view," said Dante V. Scalzi, education placement officer for the center, at a resume preparation workshop. The Career Development and Placement Cen ter holds resume preparation workshops each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the term. Center counselor Sally Hatig said the resume is :the way students try to gain the attention of a potential employer and therefore the student must try to make his resume stand out above all the others the employer might see. "(The resume is) saying, 'This is me;' you're :introducing yourself to the professional world," 'she said. In writing a resume, a student must first :develop his or her career objective and then, must 'analyze his personal, educational and experien tial backgrounds, Scalzi said. In order to develop one's career objective, , Scalzi suggested that each student should sit down with paper and pencil and put in clusters all the things he has been doing, all the things in which he has been involved, and anything that, in partic ular, indicates interest in the career field in which he is seeking to find a job. When all the clusters have been written down, the student should cross-reference them to see 'how they can fall in together to provide a clear image of what the student might want to find in a :particular career. Establishing one's career objectives is one of :the most important steps in the whole resume process, Scalzi said. • In expressing his career objectives on the :resume, a student should go beyond just the •immediate position he is seeking to indicate to the .employer his future goals and his desire to site :ceed within the field. Hattig said the resume has five basic parts Interview can help get the job or at least more consideration By MARK FEATHERSTONE student shows the recruiter' he is real- Daily Collegian Staff Writer ly interested in the company and not While a good resume can get you an just shopping around. interview, a good interview can get Occasionally although not very you the job or at least another look, a often the recruiter will throw a counselor at the Career Development trick question to the student to see if and Placement Center said. he has done any research on the "The resume is important in that it company, Surridge said. gets you the interview," counselor For example, a recruiter from Mary Surridge said. "The decision to Bethlehem Steel has sometimes asked hire is based on the interview." interviewees if they. would be inter- Counselor Jeff Garris said a key to ested in working in Bethlehem's Pitts success in an interview is prepare- burgh office, she said. (Bethlehem tion. Steel is the only major steel company Photo by Jeff H A student checks the interview board at the placement center. According to a staff member at the center, an interviewee should research the company he is applying for a job at so that he will be ready if the interviewer asks him any questions. Before an interview, the student which has no offices in Pittsburgh, should get as much information as Surridge said.) possible about the company and even While interviews often vary in the the interviewing process, he said. ' amount the student might have to Getting to know oneself and practice speak, an interview will often follow a ing the interview beforehand with basic pattern of moving from very someone else are also very important general to gradually' more and more because if a student can't think of a specific things, she said. description of himself then he will The CDPC has prepared a list of 52 probably have a hard time describing questions most commonly asked in himself to a prospective employer, interviews which. students can use to Garris said. get a better idea of the kind of ques- Surridge agreed: "When you're tions recruiters ask, she said. talking with a friend, you don't ask, "You might not know the questions "What are your strengths and weak- but you know the general idea," she nesses? We don't think of those said. things," she said. If the student has read the compa ny's annual report and, other litera ture and can demonstrate it, the • Identifying information general informa tion such as name, address, and telephone. • Carer or job objective a statement outlin ing the student's desire to advance beyond the immediate position he is seeking and his expecta tions of what his career should offer, based on what he determined from his interest and experi ence clusters. • Educational background the University degree he has earned or will have earned and the graduation date, as well as any emphases, special courses taken, which qualify him for the job, as well as any special projects or independent study programs he may have done. The student's grade point average should generally be included only if it is 3.0 or higher, Hattig said. Another option is if the student's grade point average in his major is higher than his overall GPA, he could include just that, she said. Internships could be included in either educatio nal background or in work experience, she said. • Work experience a list of all jobs the student has had, including title of position held, company's name, dates the job was held and what the student did on the job. No job is 'too unimportant to be included on a .resume because it shows the student has held a job and had responsibilities. Jobs should be listed in an order of importance, going from the most important to the least. "No matter where you worked, it should go on the resume," she said. A person who worked as a salesperson in a department store waiting on customers and watched for shoplifters could say he organized merchandise and presented it to customers, as well as increased store security, Hattig said. Honors and Activities could be listed togeth er or separately, depending on how many the student has. Participating in activities shows that the person has taken leadership roles before. Generally listing high school activities is not OK because if the person was a lot more active in high school than in college, the employer might think "What happened?" Hattig said. However, important achievements and honors One general piece of advice she had for students was, "One good rule of thumb is 'Any question they ask you . . ..try to relate it to your career.' " earned during high school should not be dis counted, Scalzi said. Concerning references, Hattig said it is general ly best to simply write "References available upon request." Scalzi said that before a student submits a resume to any employer, he should ask someone else to proofread it. "Your self-image will not come through in black and white as what you see in your mind's eye," Scalzi said. It is very difficult for a student to judge himself Garris said students would benefit from watching the CDPC-prepared film "The Interview: What to Ex pect" because it shows actual student interviews with recruiters and then has both the recruiter and the student analyze how they thought the inter view went. Surridge said five basic stages make up the normal interview: o Social talk on topics ranging from the weather to the latest foot ball. This allows the student to intro duce himself to the recruiter and vice versa and can set the tone for the rest of the interview because an impres sion is usually made in the first three minutes, she said. The student should look enthusiastic and self-confident and dress appropri ately, she said. The interviewee would be well off if he dresses one notch above the type of clothes he expects to wear for the job. For example, if a suit is required for the job, the student should probably wear a vested suit, she said. "When they (the recruiters) go to an interview, they don't want to see a student, they want to see a profession al," Surridge said. "Recruiters tend to hire in their own image." Good eye contact is also important as is assertive behavior, she said. One recruiter deliberately left the window blinds open, letting sunlight hit the interviewee just to see what the inter viewee's reaction would be. The student should be careful to be respectful to the interviewer, calling him "Mr. Smith" not "John," she said. • General broad questions such as "Tell me about yourself." Here the recruiter is trying to see how well the interviewee communicates and comes across as a person. Often he is not really listening closely to what the student is saying, but is instead trying to get a sense of what the student is like, Surridge said. • More specific questions such as "What do you see yourself doing in five years?" or "What special skills could you offer my company?" The recruiter is trying to match the stu dent's skills and personality with what the company is looking for. Questions students should ask the interviewer about the company in general or on what the typical career path a person with that job has. "On the surface, a job might be ideal," Surridge said. "However, it may be a dead-end job." An interviewee is often seen in a negative way if he has no questions because it is almost impossible to cover everything in the 20- to 30-min ute interview sessions, she said. Areas the student should not ask about are salary or benefits, she said. Garris agreed and said usually the employer will bring these up during a plant visit and the person should wait for the emplfver to bring them.up. Students check the board at the Career Development Placement Center to see which companies will be conducting interviews on campus While a good resume can help you land an interview, the interviews is what will help you land the job. By MARK FEATHERSTONE Daily Collegian Staff Writer Employers look for different things in resumes than in interviews, a counselor at the Career Development and Place ment Center said. Counselor Jeff Garris said employers place much more importance on subjec tive evaluations such communication and personal skills in the interview and on 'objective measures such as grade point average in a resume. According to a 1979 CDPC study, grades and the ability to clearly state career objectives are the most important criteria used by employers in screening student interview requests forms which are similar to resumes. However, confidence/assertiveness and then communication/interpersonal skills are the two most important criteria for employers in the interview. Because recruiters often cannot judge what a student is like from an interview request form, they generally use objec tive criteria to do the screening, Garris said. With paper screening, "You can't see the student so you've got to go with tangible things," Garris said. However, the importance of the objec tive criteria drops once the person is in the interview stage because people who do not meet the minimum objective crite ria have already been weeded out, he said. Objective criteria also are not nec essarily as important to success on the job as communication skills, getting along with people, and motivation seen in the interview by clarity of goals, enthusiasm, preparation; and grades to some extent he said. "If you get the interview, grades should not be a big factor," Garris said. "They could have screened you out for that." "Grades do not predict job. success," he said. "They are important in getting the position but they don't tell how suc cessful you'll be once you get in." According to the study, while grades were considered important by 41 percent of the recruiters in determining who gets interviews, only 15 percent considered grades important in determining wheth er the person was selected for an office visit. The 1979 study by the CDPC followed 40 students 10 students each from the colleges of Engineering, Business, The Liberal Arts and Science —through the on-campus recruiting process and checked with the recruiter for his reac tions to each interview request and inter view. Both male and female students were included, in the survey and they rep resented a broad range of grade point averages and number of activities, Gar ris said. Recruiters often use objective criteria to judge who gets interviewed simply because it is hard to find out what a person is like through a resume, Garris added. After grades, the next most common criteria used by recruiters in determin ing who gets an interview was a clear statement of career goals, with 32 per cent of the recruiters considering that TERVIEW • HEM s mrusT HE and when writing a resume, there is no time for modesty, he said. "The resume is'your own personal advertising vehicle —that's what it becomes and it must sell you to a prospective employer," Scalzi said. An employer is looking for several things in a resume and these include the student's indication of interest in his company and the display of certain personal, academic and extracurricular characteristics showing him how the student could prove to be an asset to his organization, Scalzi said. Interviews vs. resumes Know what employers look for sun; 'lf you get the interview, grades should not be a big factor. They could have screened you out for that.' important; followed by major, with 22 percent; work experience, with 19 per cent; and collegiate activities, with 17 percent. Garris said the percentages add up to more than 100 percent because most recruiters use more than one criteria for deciding on who will be interviewed. For the interview itself, confidence/as sertiveness was considered by 50 percent of the recruiters and communication/in terpersonal skills considered important by 48 percent. One factor which was important in both getting the interview and in the Photo by Jeff Holmes These students look through job files at the Career Development Placement Center. success of the interview was being able to clearly state career goals. Forty per cent of the recruiters said this important to them in the interview. The key to being able to state career goals is related to how well the student knows himself and how much research he has done about a career, Garris said. "The single most important thing is Vl'-....::,..!...- , n ~ ~! , —Jeff Garris, Career Development and Placement Center counselor ' The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Dec. 8 '*64:4 „ . . No resume should be sent to an employer without a cover letter, Scalzi said. The cover letter should first mention how you found out about the organization to which you are applying, next, briefly summarize the informa tion contained in your resume and be concluded i; with a reminder that your resume ha's been enclosed and a request that it be read. A cover letter is important in that it helps you to tailor each resume to each individual company to which you apply, Scalzi said. clarity of goals, across the board," he added. Preparation/organization was fourth, with 27 percent; motivation/drive fifth, with 25 percent; and energy/enthusiasm sixth, with 17 percent. Composure during the interview and grades were both considered important by 15 percent of the recruiters. Garris said one interesting point the survey brought out is that certain qual ities are important in helping the student succeed in getting the interview or in the interview itself but are not important in the student being rejected. For example, college activities listed on the interview request form were con sidered important by 23 percent of the recruiters in deciding to grant the stu dent the interview but were important to only 8 percent, in rejecting the applicant. "Activities ao help you get interviews, but, on the other hand, they don't hurt that much," Garris said. • Photo by Barb Parkyn business/careers 'The first thing I notice probably is how they greet me. Just from the initial "Hello," I can get an indication of how well that person is going to communicate throughout the rest of the interview.' Preparation and communication Two keys unlock the interview door By SUZANNE M. CASSIDY Daily Collegian Staff Writer Advance preparation ,and the ability to communicate are the two keys to a successful job interview, an on campus recruiter said. Janice F. , Tolerson, corporate staff employment re cruiter for Trane Air Conditioning, said that no matter how impressive students' academic records are, they will have difficulties making a solid impression if they are unable to communicate their goals and ideas about their future careers. From the moment a student walks through the door and greets the employer until the final moments of the interview, he should try to appear confident and asser tive, Tolerson said. "The first thing I notice probably is how they greet me," she said. "Just from the initial 'Hello,' I can get an indication of how well that person is going to commu nicate throughout the rest of the interview." Communication, Tolerson said, is probably the single most important element she looks for in interviews with potential employees. It is also necessary that students be completely prepared for an interview ahead of time, she said. That means researching the company with which they are interviewing and being completely comfortable with the information they included on their resumes, Tolerson said. "In terms of resume preparation, I look at did they AUTOMOTIVE TUESDAY LEITZINGER IMPORTS 3220 W. College Avenue State College 238-2447 • 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit LS , $7725 Champagne geld with cloth interior, automatic transmis sion, like new condition 1980 Mazda RX 7 $8650 Four speed transmission, AM/FM stereo, cloth upholstery, radial, skyblue with grey interior, like new 1980 Volkswagen Dasher Four Door Diesel Hatchback $7350 Four cylinder engine, four speed transmission, air conditioning, AM/FM radio, 21,200 miles, velour interior 1979 Accord Four Door Sedan $5925 Five speed transmission, AM/FM cassette stereo, new radial tires, power steering, cloth interior, maroon mist with matching interior INCLUDED IN THE ABOVE PRICES IS THIS • SPECIAL OFFER... A 24 MONTH, UNLIMITED MILEAGE PROTECTION . PLAN 1981 Dodge Window Van 250 Custom $10,250 Nine passenger, V-8 engine, automatic transmission, air conditioning, radial tires, remaining factory warranty 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit Custom Hatchback $5650 Bright red, black cloth interior, Michelin Tires, only 14,000 miles 1979 Honda Hawk Motorcycle 400 cc, electric start, mag wheels. Beautiful- condition. Would make a great Christmas present. 1978 Jeep CJS $4650 Three speed transmission, six cylinder engine, radio,' cloth top, 18,000 original miles 1976 Ford LTD SW $2150 V-8 Automatic, 9 Passenger, Air Conditioning, AM/FM Stereo. 1974 Ford Maverick Four Door $1995 Fire engine red with contrasting black vinyl roof, black' cloth interior, automatic transmission, power steering, with only 81,000 miles , 1972 Subaru Under $lOOO Four cylinder engine, four speed transmission; —Janice F. Tolerson of'Trane Air . Conditioning give me career goals, both long-term and short-term," Tolerson said. "Have they really, before the interview, sat down and thought about everything they put on their resume, so if I ask them about anything, they can tell me?" As far as other things she loOks for in an interview, Tolerson said that really depends on the particular position she is seeking to fill. For' example, if the position is in technical sales, she said she looks for some indication that the student interviewing is aggressive. "If someone sits forward during an interview, that shows a lot of strength and aggressiveness," Tolerson said. On resumes, aggressiveness may be illustrated by a person's participation in intramural sports, she said. Tolerson said if the position is in research or deveP opment, a person's grade point average will be a more heavily weighted factor. However, for the most part, GPAs are not the decid ing factor in whether or not the student will be invited back by her company for a second interview at the Trane plant in Lacrosse, Wis., she said. Even if students' GPAs are not that high, it could work to their advantage if students can illustrate, in some way, that they made a serious effort to improve it, she said. For example, if a student's grades were really poor at the beginning of his college career, and he says, "I came to school and I was really immature, I partied a Experience gained through summer jobs and any work related to the field the student is hoping to enter is another thing Tolerson said she looks for. A student should also show how he got those jobs if he went out and sought them himself, that shows drive and responsi bility, she said. "Thine that people have done in the past are proba bly the best guidelines for what they'll do in the future," Tolerson said. How a person dresses for an interview is also very important, Tolerson said. Appearance probably ap pears on 95 percent of all company interview evaluation sheets, so a student should make an effort to dress neatly and professionally for the interview, she said. "Dress according to the type of position and type of company you're interviewing with," Tolerson said. For example, if a student is interviewing with a company at which many of the employees have been there for an extended period of time, hd or she should dress for the interview with how those employees may perceive him in mind. Above all, no matter with whom a student is inter viewing, he or she should strive for a neat appearance, Tolerson said. LION A special group of students making special contributions. . . Students who have chosen and been chosen to make a significant contribution to Penn State. The Penn State Lion Ambassadors are students committed to, the progress of Penn State assets now and in the future. They help recruit students, promote the University, assist with special events, and exchange ideas with Penn State administrators and alumni. Lion Ambassadors a group of young people on the move --- and they're moving the University along with them. Lion Ambassadors is sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association and the Office of Gifts and Endowments. little too much, but then I realized what was going on and I really worked to bring them up after that," that student would be indicating to her that he has really exerted some effort to mature, Tolerson said. Introducing the Interested in this new challenge? Come to our Informal Information Session! tonight: 7:30 p.m., in 108 forum! Contact: Lion Ambassadors 105 Old Main 8656516 ;NIVERSITY PLACEKE.NT REGISTRATION AND (rSt Student Use Only) fie itpnrtent to both students and employers. Its completion by the employer could make the difference in the employment decisions .c4+1115. zakt. To the student ye encourage your best effort and fore o. oth ccur 4caompletely 4nd neatly. To the and see encouraz. by nd every item on the form. A conean nraduata composite of his/ber entire educational e;ner'ence 4,hl e-_ r9 te at) r.c... such as one Joh, or one extracurricular ocitvlry or : .Ph.s, Fill in the blanks Dan Brentzel (11th-industrial engineering) holds an application for registration and interview requests from the Career Development and Placement Center. The center can help students obtain interviews . AMBASSADORS PENN STATE STUDENT ALUMNI CORPS students who are invaluable The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1981 A! * !!'} - 1, - !" -1, th , I pr For (Position Tlc/e) RE TOP.,! Other (Specify) Photo by Barb Parkyn
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