on writing a resume
* Do a skills assessment first.
* When writing your resume, think of it as a tool for obtaining an interview.
* Find out if the company to which you are applying will scan your resume;. If so, eliminate unusual fonts and underlining from the resume. Request "Preparing the Ideal Scannable Resume" from the alumni office.
* ICC staff will critique resumes faxed to them on a time-available basis. Please call in advance to determine the appropriate staff contact and then follow up later with another call.
on interviewing
* Any contact with a company is an interview--even talking to someone at a party. Don't let your hair down. Don't complain about your boss.
* Within 30 seconds of meeting you, the interviewer will have formed an impression. Be cordial, but professional. Stand, smile and shake hands.
* Practice answers to common interview questions that can be found on the Internet sites listed in Other Resources, with the "interview robot" on the ICC home page or by requesting "Questions Asked by Employers" from the alumni office.
* The interview is strictly a business transaction. Every question is really asking, "Why should I hire you?"
* If you will be interviewing in a part of town you are not familiar with, plan a route and locate parking facilities the day before the interview, so you arrive on time.
* Relax. Your interviewer is not a god of the workplace. They need you as much as you need them.
on job search strategies
* Forget about the newspaper classifieds--get out and pound the pavement. Eighty percent of jobs are obtained through networking, only 15 percent through classified ads.
* The top two complaints personnel directors have about job seekers are
their lack of preparation and knowledge about the business field, and
their inability to articulate what job they want and why they should get it.
* Never try to turn an informational interview into a job interview. You'll look like you gained the interview under false pretenses--because you did.
* Think of your career as a lifelong project. Network and update education and professional skills throughout your life.
