Career Services is preparing Tech students for the one thing that could make or break them in their career prospects.
When the time comes to apply for jobs, every student will have to submit a resume, and they may not know how to properly prepare one.
“Everybody thinks the way they do it is the right way, so students will get confused, because they will say, ‘well my mom said’ or ‘my friend said’,” Alice Camuti, career services director, said. “The difficulty is that there is no one book that says this is the way you do it.”
Submitting a resume is the first step to getting a job. Camuti said if employers do not like what is on your resume, you will not get the interview.
“It is the tool that you have to use to open the door, so it’s like the key to open the door for an interview,” Camuti said.
To an employer, a student’s resume reflects their character. If the resume is messy and unorganized, the employer will perceive the student to be the same way.
Some of the mistakes Camuti notices when reviewing resumes are grammatical issues, omissions and providing wrong information.
Camuti said the most common mistake is that students short-change themselves byforgetting to write what they do, such as holding part-time jobs. They also don’t put their degree information on the first half of their resume or give a full description of their job history.
Camuti said that compared to other schools, Tech students submit average resumes.
“I think that probably Tech students do better than the general population, because the general population is trying to put everything on there and they’ll have page upon page,” Camuti said.
Camuti recommends students pay attention to detail, proofread and let others review their resumes in order to create stronger ones.
“You don’t want an error or a typo.” Camuti said. “It’s the kiss of death, so proofread.”
When preparing a resume, Camuti said students should not use a Microsoft template, because the templates are not correctly formatted for a college resume. Also, it should be a professional resume and not a high school resume, which focuses on activities and organizations verses college classes and skills.
“I think our students pretty much around campus know they need to keep to one page, and they know they need certain categories,” said Camuti. “I think they are learning those things, which make a good resume.”
Camuti said students should have the beginning of their resume by the end of their freshmen year.
Camuti recommends students use the resources that are available through the career guide and jobweb.com, and then bring the draft into career services for revision.