So you got an interview? Congratulations on that wonderful feat! The insane job market has made it pretty dang hard to even get interviews these days. I know of some of my friends who have sent out over twenty applications without a single interview opportunity. It’s tough right now. But at least it’s been trending upwards these days and not downward.

Obviously, as you know, the interview is no guarantee that you are going to get the job. It’s only the first step, the first sign of “life” that the possibility exists. Different companies have different interviewing procedures, and you may even have to interview multiple times with multiple people. Thoroughness is a quality that companies possess to weed out the unqualified from the qualified.

Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that you prepare yourself for these interviews, to make the best possible first impression that you could possibly make. Here are some ways you can greatly improve your interview skills before you have to actually take your interview.

1. Look up questions beforehand, and think about what you will say. The reality is, most interviewers ask very similar questions. If you study a list of questions like the one provided here, then you should be pretty prepared for whatever questions they may ask you. I know it sounds ridiculous to “prepare” for questions, but some of the questions can be tough to answer well “on the spot”. For instance, the question about “what are some of your weaknesses” can be pretty tough to answer well unless you know how you’re going to answer it beforehand.

2. Practice selling yourself. Look. We all have our insecurities. Furthermore, I realize full well that it feels awkward at times “selling ourselves” because we live in a culture that values humility. Humility is definitely important, but false humility is not. There are things that you KNOW you can do well, and feeling embarrassed to say so is false humility. True humility is knowing who you are and what you can do well, but treating others as equals. Never believing you are a better person just because you are talented.

With that being said. YOU HAVE TO SELL YOURSELF CONFIDENTLY, and cannot be embarrassed to do so! Don’t be arrogant, of course. Arrogance is much different from confidence. Arrogance is an attitude of superiority. Confidence is an attitude of trust. You trust in yourself, and you know that you will be able to get the job done well.

Different jobs require different roles and responsibilities. For instance, if you are applying to an administrative position, you HAVE to make sure that people understand you have experience and a natural talent for administrative duties. Wow the interviewers, show them why you deserve this job!

3. Prepare/buy proper dress attire. You’re going to need to be wearing the right stuff. That’s the bottom line. Your clothes makes a huge impression on your employers. Generally speaking, suit and tie for guys and a two piece matching suit set for girls is a necessity. Unless you’re applying to some trendy skateboard company, and even then, I would consider at least a shirt and tie. The reality is, it’s easier to take people seriously when they come in dressed professionally.

4. Practice interviewing with a friend. This may be one of those ridiculous things, once again. But practicing the interview beforehand will help you a lot with things like: making good eye contact, using appropriate hand gestures, pronouncing words correctly, speaking up so your interviewers can hear you, and preparing your answers for interview questions vocally. It will also give you a place for some critical feedback that your friend who is interviewing you can provide. You should try to find someone who has already gone through the interview process, and can help make you a better interviewer.

5. Believe in yourself. That’s one of the best interview preparation tools anyone can offer you. If you believe in yourself, and know that YOU DO have something valuable to offer to the company, you will have a much easier time carrying yourself with confidence. That confidence will shine through and leave a good lasting first impression on the people who are thinking to employ you.

This is part six of the series “determining your career path“. If you are interested in other articles, just follow the link and look through our database of relevant career material. In particular, we provide an extensive resume building guide.

Nowadays, it’s expected that anyone applying for any job position write a well written cover letter. A cover letter ultimately serves as your “pitch”. Why should the employer read your resume? What skills/qualities/experience do you bring that will benefit the company you are applying for? What job are you applying for? These are some of the questions that your cover letter should answer.

Once again, I have a sample cover letter here.

Cover Letter Format

I will first briefly summarize what needs to be in a cover letter, and then discuss these items in further detail. If you cannot concentrate for too long, just read the opening section of this post and that should give you some basic information on what is needed in a cover letter. For those who need a bit more help, the latter portion of this article should help in that regard.

With that being said, most cover letters contain these following elements:

1. Your contact information. What is your name, address, telephone and email. In our sample resume, we see that our applicant is “Jasmine”.
2. The recipients information. Who are you writing to? Who is the person that is in charge of “recruiting” at the company you are applying to? Write their name, title, organization, and the address where the organization is located. On our sample resume, we notice that the person in charge of hiring is “Mr. Billy Bob”.
3. Opening paragraph. The opening paragraph should explain why you are writing this cover letter. What position are you applying for? How did you hear about this organization/position? What is some basic information you want the reader to know about yourself that you’re going to elaborate in more specific detail in subsequent paragraphs?
4. Advertisement paragraph. This is basically where your “pitch” comes. You should demonstrate here why you would be a valuable commodity to the company that you are applying to. What experiences/skills can the reader of your cover letter identify as “necessary” for their company? Why should they hire you for this particular job? Why are you applying for this job to begin with? A good “advertisement” paragraph gives the reader an idea as to why you would be qualified to fulfill the role that you are applying to. This does not need to be only one paragraph, it can be two (as is the case with Jasmine). Just make sure that you stay as specific as you possibly can.
5. The contact paragraph. In the final paragraph, let the reader know that you will “contact” them in a week or two in order to “answer further questions” they may have in regards to your employment status/qualifications. Furthermore, encourage them to contact you by adding a tag like Jasmine did, “in the meantime here is my contact information…” This demonstrates a proactive personality, and when carried out (make sure you actually contact them when you say you will!) can be very impressive to the employer.
6. End the letter with “sincerely”. This is the safe ending tag.

That is a basic rundown of what each section requires. Here is more information/detail on the specific paragraphs that need to be written.

Cover Letter Opening Paragraph

Your cover letter’s opening paragraph needs to be concise, to the point, and well written. If we look a bit closer at the cover letter that Jasmine has completed, we can get an idea of what and how we need to accomplish this goal.

1. Jasmine clearly stated, right from the beginning, what position that she was seeking. There is no doubt/confusion as to why she is sending this resume/cover letter. “I am seeking a summer internship at…”
2. Jasmine clearly stated where she heard about this internship opportunity from. “One your employees Mina Park recommended this position to me.” Referring to a specific person that referred you can be advantageous for a couple reasons. First of all, there is a chance that the person who may hire you knows Mina Park. Second, the person who is looking to possibly hire you may choose to contact Mina Park and ask her about you, which should definitely help your chance of getting hired. Finally, it establishes a connection to the company that is personal. If you do not have a specific person reference, just communicate to the reader how you found out about the job. “From your company’s website, I found out about the sales representative position…”
3. Jasmine gives a brief academic background, and then gets to her point: “I believe the qualities that makes me a strong candidate for this position are both my educational background and my international experience…” You need a basic “thesis” statement like this. You need a one sentence quick explanation of why you qualify for this job. You don’t have to phrase it exactly like it is written in Jasmine’s resume, but the idea should be the same.

Advertisement Paragraph

After writing a short and concise opening paragraph, you need to address the “meat” of your application. This is basically the “body paragraphs” explaining in fuller detail the “thesis” you highlighted in your opening paragraph. For instance, in Jasmine’s case, she stated that the “qualities” that make her a good candidate for the job position are her educational background and international experience. In the paragraphs that follow, Jasmine will spend some time strengthening that position.

The basic structure of each “advertisement” paragraph should be: topic sentence (what are you going to highlight), what did you do/learn (what experience have you had), the skills you gained, and why these skills will help the organization you are applying to.

You need to be as specific as possible. Don’t be broad in this section by making statements such as “I am good at analyzing reports”. For instance, Jasmine states clearly that she “[can] see the big picture, especially in projecting economic outlooks, but at the same time [can] effectively micro analyze quarterly and annual reports”. This is a very detailed and specific assertion of what skills she gained while working at Citibank Korea.

The key component of this section is showing worth. You need to show the person who is considering the “hiring” why you stand out amongst the pool of applicants. What makes you so special? What makes you qualified? Sell yourself; do it effectively.

The contact paragraph essentially speaks for itself. If you have completed this overview on the cover letter, you should have an excellent cover letter ready for submission. You need to write a new cover letter for each position you are applying to, but can use the same basic “content” and “idea”. You only really need to change the person who is receiving the letter, and what position you are applying for. Good luck on your job hunt!

If you don’t even have a cow to ride, then you’re probably having a very difficult time to pay off all your financial obligations. That’s why a filler job can be very helpful. A filler job is exactly what it sounds like: a job that you get temporarily in order to get you through payments while you are waiting on the possibility of other jobs. There are many different types of filler jobs, but here are some of the ones that I strongly recommend.

1. Tutoring. Tutoring is an awesome and easy way to make a good amount of money for minimal hours. At my tutoring center, we pay our teachers approximately $25 an hour, and most of them work multiple hours a week. The other nice thing about tutoring centers is that most of them don’t start their services till 3:00 PM so you don’t even have to get up early! Mentoring and helping students grow in knowledge can also be very rewarding, and who knows maybe tutoring will make you want to become a teacher?
2. Writing articles for blogs. There are many websites these days looking for writers to post articles on their sites. For example, demand studios is a great opportunity for someone who needs a consistent and steady amount of work, and enjoys writing. Taking a job like this is further beneficial because it can also help improve your writing skills, which is always an admirable trait.
3. Be a waiter/waitress. You’re going to be competing with a lot of aspiring actors/actresses as they basically all use this as their filler job. However, if you can get a decent waiter/waitress job, then you can actually make quite a large sum of money. Tips at nice restaurants can really help your day to day income. As long as you are not impatient (cause I guarantee you will have to serve a lot of a-holes while working), being a waiter/waitress is a great opportunity to make some cash. Scope out a local restaurant that you like, and see if they need some employees.
4. Bartending. You have to get a license for this, but most local junior colleges provide bartending courses that you can attend and get your license in a relatively short amount of time. Bartending is actually quite profitable. Drunk people are willing to fork over a lot of tip money. From what I’ve heard, you can easily make between $150-$400 a single night, especially on a good day.
5. Do some office work. Another recommendation I have is to apply for some office work nearby. There are plenty of doctors/lawyers/etc. that need someone who is competent to handle some of their administrative duties. This type of job is very useful because it helps you to expand your competency with newer computer programs, and also may give you a valuable connection that can really open a lot of job opportunities for you. One of the best ways to get a job is through your network.
6. Find a job anywhere. Honestly, if you are down to your last option, just get a job! Work at Best Buy for a while. Get a job at Sam Ash. Who cares, it’s not like that’s your destination, it’s merely a means to get to an end. I realize, however, that the pride issue may kick in. If you can’t handle it on a pride level, then I guess asking your parents for money is your last/final option.

There are a ton of filler jobs out there available for those who care enough to look. They are definitely not going to be lifetime, but for those who need some money now while applying for jobs, going to grad school, or trying to figure out your life, a filler job can definitely be a good resource. Go out and apply to a local tutoring center (Kaplan, Kumon, Score, Elite, Sylvan, or an Asian one) and get that much needed cash flow!

One of many options that is very enticing to a lot of Postgraduates is whether or not it’s worth it to get an MBA. There are tons of resources out there to provide you with the tools and information necessary to help you decide if it’s a practical option or not. When I was thinking about whether or not I wanted to get my MBA, I just started hitting up a lot of the sites out there and gathered as much information as I could. I ultimately decided to not get my MBA, and started a business instead.

This post is basically a summary of all the research I did. If you read this introductory  post, and are really interested in getting an MBA, then I strongly recommend you check the links at the bottom of my post that provide websites that are dedicated to this specific topic. With that being said…

What is an MBA?

Before I get too crazy about what you need to do to get an MBA, I want to first briefly explain what an MBA even is. MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration—it is basically a graduate school level degree that you get if you want to pursue a promotion (people who own an MBA earn on average about $20,000 more per year than someone in the same field that doesn’t have an MBA), or a better career. In either case, getting an MBA can be a great investment of time and energy if you are working in the fields of:

• Investment Banking
• Non-profit Companies
• Sales
• Engineering
• Consultant
• Website Designer
• Auditor
• Economist
• Copywriter for an Agency

This is not necessarily a comprehensive list, but definitely covers a lot of people who would be interested in getting an MBA degree. Generally speaking, if you are working in any business, there is some practical usefulness to getting an MBA. This degree opens a whole new plane in the field of career options for you. The overall usefulness of getting an MBA is so great that many others (who are not in the work fields listed above) consider getting it just for the sake of personal growth and expanded job opportunities.

Should I get an MBA, then?

After giving an explanation of what an MBA is, you may still be asking, is it really for me? Only you can really decide that, and to do so, I really think you need to spend time trying to figure out what you want to do with your life first. What are your career goals?  I recommend taking a look at my previous post on Researching Job Opportunities, and create a list of careers that you may want to pursue. Honestly, a little research goes a LONG way in helping to determine what career path is right for you.  If you have absolutely no idea what you want to do, you may consider using the Myer Briggs test to help give you a few initial ideas.

Once you have determined what your career path is (or at least created a list of three to four different jobs you may find interesting), start researching information on the job(s) of your choice, and find out if an MBA will be beneficial for your particular work field. You’d be surprised as to how far reaching MBA degrees can be these days. There are literally hundreds of programs that offer very unique and specific MBAs that cover a broad range of needs and wants.

What Do I Need to Do Before Applying For an MBA?

If you’ve decided you want an MBA, or you’re still considering whether or not you should get it, here are a couple things that you need to know/prepare before you can even begin. MBA programs gauge their applicants primarily on two things:

1. Work Experience. This is by far the most important factor in qualifying for an MBA program. Most programs look for anywhere between 2-5 years of prior work experience (although most prefer at least 4-5 years), and most applicants are between 25-34 years of age.
2. GMAT Score. If you decide to pursue an MBA, you have to start preparing for your GMAT right away. One of the wonderful things about a GMAT test is that once you take it, the score can be used for up to 5 years after taking the test. Therefore, even if you aren’t planning on getting your MBA right away, you may want to consider starting your test taking a lot earlier. This way, if you score poorly on your first few exams, you can keep taking it before you actually want to apply to a business school. Wisdom suggests that taking your GMAT right before you plan on applying is bad planning. Typically speaking, for top tier business schools, you need a score of over 600 on the GMAT. However, just because you get a good score doesn’t mean you’ll get into a good MBA program. I’ll provide a link with more information on the GMAT at the end of this post, and will probably cover the subject in detail on a much later post.

Besides that, here are some things you need to do before applying:

1. Gather Transcripts (Undergraduate Transcripts, although grades ultimately matter a lot less than your GMAT score and Work Experience)
2. Gather References and Letters of Recommendation (from employers that are impressed with you and will give you raving reviews)
3. Sharpen Your Essay Writing Skills (each business school has their specific essay requirements/questions. Almost all of them have to do with why you actually want to get your MBA).

Does My Undergraduate Major Matter for an MBA?

The overly simplified answer to this question is no. Ultimately, your major does not really matter when it comes to getting an MBA. However, it can matter if you apply to some business schools that may prefer more technical majors (like business and accounting). Most MBAs require competent knowledge of Calculus, Statistics, and Economics, and may require you to take some preparatory courses in these subjects before you can even apply. The best way to find out if you need to take these courses is to start researching what MBA schools you may be interested in applying to and once you have researched this information, check to see what courses they require before you can be accepted into their program. After you have this information, you will probably want to consider attending a Junior College to prepare for Business School.

How Much Does It Cost to get an MBA?

I’m sure the average cost of getting an MBA degree is an important factor to a lot of people out there. It’s really hard to say how much it will cost exactly, because there are so many different programs to choose from. Generally speaking, you will be expecting to pay $40,000 a year for an MBA degree. This seems like a ridiculous number, but most people who have completed an MBA program are actually quite satisfied with the payback that they get from getting the degree. This is because the MBA program does offer a lot in terms of getting a pay raise.

In order to meet this cost, you want to ideally start preparing financially for an MBA years before you even start the program. Save up as much money as possible (stop eating all that fast food and drinking so much Starbucks!) and put as much money away as possible. If you still don’t have enough money, there are actually quite a number of loans, scholarships, and other funding options that are available to those who care enough to research it. In particular, getting a loan may not be a bad choice—if you get the degree, chances are you will be making enough money to easily pay back the loan in the future.

What Types of MBA Programs Are Available?

There are many different types of programs available, but the more popular choices are:

• Two-Year Full Time MBA Program. This program is typically favorable for people who are seeking a career change or for someone who gets sponsored by their current employer to get an MBA. Choosing this option requires quite a bit of money (unless your employer pays for it), so make sure you have money saved up or have a good financial plan (with loans included).
• One-Year Full Time MBA Program. The difference between the two-year and one-year program is that whereas the two-year covers more of the core classes, one year programs are usually specialized for a specific work scenario/environment. People who pursue a one-year program are those who  want to stay in the same career path but want to increase their skills/pay/abilities in their desired work field.
• Part Time MBA Program. Classes for this program are scheduled outside of business hours so that people who are currently working and do not want to change careers can take classes while working at the same time. Pursuing this option can take anywhere from four to five years to complete, but how long it takes really depends on how big of a workload you can handle.
• Distance Learning Programs. With the advent of internet, you now have access to a plethora of online classes. Overall, distance learning requires less of a time commitment, and is perfect for people who are happy with their careers but want to increase their effectiveness in their particular field. However, you need to have a lot of self motivation for this—not being physically there is very damaging on a psychological level sometimes when it comes to work ethic.

What Are The Benefits Of Getting an MBA?

I’ve already talked about the financial benefits a little, but beyond that, the bottom line is this degree is going to help you on a professional level for the rest of your life. Regardless of what you want to do in the future, people with an MBA have an edge over those who do not—most companies really value this degree, and are more apt to hire someone with an MBA amongst a pool of applicants. With the current employment rate as low as it is, getting an MBA may REALLY be worth your while. The main thing is to make sure you figure out what you want to do before you actually decide to get it. I will cover more stuff on this subject in the future. Until then, here are some VERY helpful links about the MBA. Most of the content of this post was ultimately a paraphrasing of information I found on these websites:

What is an MBA – Very thorough Website on the subject of the MBA. This site is very useful but isn’t the most navigating friendly.

MBA.com – The .com name says it all. This site is super easy to navigate and will give you tons of useful information on the subject of getting an MBA.

Myers Briggs is an absolutely fascinating tool that helps people to understand themselves a little bit more. A lot of people are already familiar with this test, but for those of you who are not, Myers Briggs is a personality test (the most used and trusted to date) that is based off of Jung’s psychological types.  Most Fortune 500 companies use some form of the Myers Briggs to evaluate their employees.  This is because Myers Briggs helps people understand how to relate to each other in work environments.

Saying this is a personality test is actually not completely correct. Personality is unique to each person, and generalizations fall very short of being able to capture the essence of who you are.  It’s not a personality test, it’s a temperament test.  Myers Briggs determines how you would process information and ideas around you on a normal day to day existence.

That’s enough of an introduction.  If you want to learn more, go to the best source of information created in the 21^st century: www.wikipedia.org.  With that being said, let me cover the 4 core components of the Myers Briggs, link a site where you can actually take the test, and explain how it can help you discover your potential career.

Extrovert or Introvert (E vs. I) in Myers Briggs

The first component of the Myers Briggs test deals with how you process social situations. Are you Extroverted or Introverted?  This means exactly what it sounds like. You either enjoy social situations and “thrive” in those atmospheres, or you prefer isolation and generally do not thrive in situations where there are a lot of people.

Sensing or iNtuition (S vs. N) in Myers Briggs

The second component of the Myers Briggs test deals with how you process the information around you. Do you process information through Sensing or Intuition? Let me give a hypothetical situation and through that explain how each function works. Let’s say that Bob (an imaginary person that I just met) meets my friend Sally (although I’m sure Sally will think I’m insane if I ever tell her about Bob).

If Bob is a Sensing type, he will evaluate Sally based on his observations through his five senses. He will notice things that Sally is wearing, how she has her hair, what she smells like, etc. If he’s an Intuitive type, he will notice more what he “feels about” how Sally acts toward him. Does she treat him well?  Does she seem interested? Intuition people rely on their “gut feelings” about situations

Thinking or Feeling (T vs. F) in Myers Briggs

The third component of the Myers Briggs test deals with how you process decisions. Are you a thinker or a feeler? Let’s say Bob wants to go to England over the weekend. If Bob is a “thinker”, the way that Bob is going to process the information is on a completely rational level. Does this trip make sense financially? Are there enough reasons why I should go? Is this trip the best use of my time? Most of the times, thinkers have to think about a decision very extensively before they come to a conclusion. Feelers, on the other hand, rely more on what they “want to do” and how they “feel” about situations.  Do I feel like going?  What does my heart say?

Once again, this does not mean that Feelers don’t think and Thinkers don’t feel. It just means that on the norm, how do you usually come to your decisions? What is the PRIMARY motivating factor that leads you to a conclusion on a specific decision? Do your feelings primarily dictate what you decide to do, or your rational thought?

Judging or Perceiving (J vs. P) in Myers Briggs

The final component of the Myers Briggs test deals with how you handle your responsibilities. People who “judge” situations are usually a lot more organized and structured in the way that they handle their responsibilities. They are the types that can really handle a work schedule very well, and love updating “calendars” as often as possible. People who “perceive”, on the other hand, like to get work done on the fly. They do not like the burden of preparing a calendar, and mostly just want to take care of things when they can or when the need arises. Generally speaking, Judging types are less likely to procrastinate than Perceiving types.

How Myers Briggs Can Help You Find a Job

Based on how you process reality, certain jobs are more suited for you. For instance, a person who is introverted may not be that successful at a job that requires a lot of social interaction (like being a salesman, for instance!). Or, if you’re a perceiving type, it may not make the most sense for you to be an administrative organizer (if you can’t even take care of your own schedule, how are you going to take care of other people’s schedules?).

First take the test here. After you take the test, go to personalitypage.com and look at the “portrait” of who you are. I guarantee you will find the read absolutely fascinating, especially how accurate it is (if you are honest and truthful while taking the test itself). Then go this page about what careers best match your personality type, and get some ideas of what types of jobs can match you. The reason why this is very helpful is that you can see how others (who are similar to you in the way that they process reality) have been successful in the professional world! It REALLY can help you understand what types of jobs you could be successful at.

Take the test!  Get some career ideas!  If you want some input and discussion on the topic, comment on what YOUR personality type is and what jobs YOU found interesting on the provided link pages!

Stop putting off your resume!!!!  This post is for those who need to build a resume and have been procrastinating like mad, or for those of you who already have a resume but want to strengthen it.  If you are not someone who needs either of these things, then I highly doubt you want to read through this post, because it is super long and by the end of it, you will hate me.  However, in the future, when you have to build a resume or prepare a new one for other jobs you are applying to, come back and take a look at this post.  Then I’m pretty sure you will love me for how detailed I get about this subject.  Especially if you are a resume noob, and have no idea where to start.  Then you will probably want to marry me.

For those of you that suffer from chronic ADHD symptoms and can’t make it through this post no matter how hard you try, I have prepared a much shorter (ADHD friendly) consolidated bullet point list here.  It’s not nearly as detailed, but if you get too easily distracted, then the bullet point list might be better for you.  However, if you want someone to really help you through each and every issue, look through this post entirely, and by the end you’ll have a solid resume that you can put in a picture frame and appreciate for the rest of your life.  Kind of like your diploma.

If you suffer from partial ADHD, then my recommendation to you is that you don’t have to do this all in one sitting.  Bookmark this page, and come back to this post later if you need to take a break.  However, don’t put this off too long, or else you’re going to just get lazier, and lazier, and lazier…you know what I mean.  The best way for you to find a job is to get cracking, sit down, and do the necessary work for you to make it happen.

Remember, you have to do a good job selling yourself in any resume. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how sexy you are, because companies will not even accept your resume (most of the times) if you add a picture.  They are, by law, unable to consider your picture when determining whether or not you qualify for a job.  As such, you need to make sure that you come off as the most amazing and confident person ever, without them ever really seeing you.  How you write it then, is obviously going to be super important.

The type of resume that I will be focusing on is the typical chronological resume.  This type of resume basically focuses on listing your different job experiences in chronological order, and what type of roles and responsibilities you had while working at the specified location.

First things first, choose a template:  Template 1 | Template 2

Here is an example of a “finished” resume.  Open it up and take a look at it as well to use as a reference point.

Both template 1 and template 2 are valid choices.  However, the first template has a little added “edge” to it.  The second template is much more traditional and “safe”.  Decide for yourself if you want to be more traditional or not.

If neither of the templates are agreeable to you, then Microsoft Word provides a lot of template options already built in.  If you’ve looked through those and you are still unhappy, you can just build your own.  Just follow the basic principle of the resume, and design it however you want.  Don’t get too crazy with the design, however.  You can spice it up a little, but don’t forget, you’re selling yourself, and not the resume. As such, it’s often better to keep the look of your resume simple and sweet (just don’t put a hello kitty sticker on it and expect to get hired), and let your experience, skills, and words do the talking.

Name, Address, Email, and Phone Number for Resume

If you look at either template, both of them have marked in brackets where you’re supposed to write your name, address, email address, and phone number.  Take the time to do that now, and make sure that you get rid of the brackets.  It would look way too tacky if you kept the brackets in.

Anyways, this section of your resume should be pretty straightforward. The only real suggestion I have to make here is that if you have some weird email address like darkstarlegion@hotmail.com, deathbringer@yahoo.com, or iluvbobaandgirls@highschoolemail.com, I strongly recommend you go open a new email account immediately for professional purposes.  You are not applying to a World of Warcraft guild.  You are applying for a professional job, and so therefore you need a professional email. Typically speaking, having some form of your name in your email, such as samuelkim@gmail.com is the most ideal.  I realize, however, that nowadays that’s very difficult to do unless you have a really cool and unique name.  Find something that works for you, but is professional at the same time.  Then go to a trusted email site like www.gmail.com and make an account that your mother would be proud of (if you don’t already have one).

Is the Career Objective for Resume Important?

I’m sure some of you guys are wondering why I didn’t add a “career objective” section on the resume.  My opinion on the career objective is that it has more potential to harm you than benefit you.  Most people have a very difficult time writing an effective and meaningful career objective, and as such, I generally recommend skipping this part of the resume.  If you wanna “stand out”, write an excellent cover letter instead.  I write about the cover letter here.

If, however, you feel like you need/want a career objective, then by all means include it into your resume.  Just make sure that it is specific, meaningful, and really gives your potential future employer a good description of what you can contribute to the company.  Remember, this section is not about you, it’s about what you can do for your employer.  If people request more information on this section, I’ll provide a separate post covering this in detail.  Do this at your own risk.  Because if it sucks, then don’t be surprised when no one gives you a call back.  In particular, if you write something like, “my career objective is to make lots of money!”, I think you better start looking for other jobs to apply to.

List Your Education Background on Your Resume

On the education bit, list the highest education you have completed or are currently in the process of completing.  For example, if you are a current College Student, list what University you are going to, and don’t bother to list your High School.  For graduates, transfers, or those attending graduate school, list every single college you have attended and are currently attending.  Make sure this is done chronologically.  Once again, if you are not sure what I mean, open the sample finished resume and take a look.

Make sure you put the year you finished school (or write Present if you are still attending) and list the BA, BS, MA, etc. that you received upon completion. If your job requires GPA information (find out for yourself if they do or not), then provide that information and any honors you received while attending school.  For instance, if you graduated with magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors, you should obviously list that because it will help your cause tremendously.

List Professional Experience On Your Resume

This section of your resume is the most important section by a long shot.  If you can do this section well, then you will have a solid resume to give to your potential suitors.  Therefore, make sure you take your time to make it as polished as you possibly can.

Let’s start with the basics.  First of all, follow the bracket guidelines and enter your company name, year you started, and year you completed.  Just like with education, “present” is still an option if you are currently employed.  Then list your position and the city you were employed.

You should list your jobs in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent job you did (or are still doing) on top.  This list of jobs should only include jobs that are relevant to the position that you are seeking.  For instance, if you are applying for a marketing position, don’t list In-N-Out Hamburger Specialist as one of your job listings.  Furthermore, the oldest job you should list is 10 years back, unless you did a job more than 10 years ago that really captures the essence of what your new job will entail.  For instance, if you are applying to a position that requires administration skills, and more than 10 years ago you used to work as the head administrator of some company/office, then that is information you probably want to provide here.

As a rule of thumb, you generally do not want to extend your resume beyond a single page.  Sometimes, if you have a lot of relevant work experience that you believe is imperative for you to list, you can go two pages.  Don’t go beyond two pages, and even if you do two pages make sure that it’s very purposeful.  Your potential future employer has to work a little harder if you provide two pages, so they will be upset if you provided a lot of useless information that could have been omitted in favor of a one page resume.

Typically, four to five relevant jobs should easily cover the span of a page, and should be enough to sell yourself and your experience.  If you are not sure what position you had (IE: there was no specific position name for the job you had), then make something up that captures the essence of what you did.  Make your job sound as amazing as you possibly can without lying.  For instance, if you worked at a tutoring center doing random office work, you may choose to word it as “Administrative Specialist” instead of “Office Worker”.

List Job Responsibilities on Your Resume

Once you have a list of your jobs complete (remember, relevant jobs!), you want to begin listing the responsibilities you had while working at these various jobs.  Once again, you want to make this as relevant as possible.  If you are applying to a marketing position, think about all the qualities you would need to possess to be an effective marketer.  You would obviously need to have great communication skills, you would need to be able to think strategically and analytically, and you would need to be competent with technical equipment.  The roles and responsibilities you list needs to reflect this reality, and show your potential employer how you can provide them with the analytical, communication, and strategic experience/knowledge that they need.

Therefore, you need to use strong descriptive words to help your cause.  Let’s evaluate the completed resume’s job descriptions/roles and responsibilities.  To give you some context, Jane Doe is applying for a part time accounting position.  This is my friend’s resume that I helped construct with her.  Let’s analyze some elements of her job responsibilities.

“Mentee and assistant to lead manager of PwC, experience in auditing and accounting, extensive experience with Excel and Word, attended trainings on teamwork, internship development and management essentials.”

A few things to notice here are how she opened up her job responsibilities with “mentee and assistant”.  Most people would probably have stated “assistant to lead manager”.  However, adding in that “mentee” bit is very helpful because it gives the reader the impression that Jane Doe received a lot of hands on personal training from the “lead manager of PwC”.  Carefully phrased wording like this can really help sell your usefulness to the company.

Then Jane Doe begins to specifically list her experience at PwC so that she can show her potential employers why she is qualified to take on that accounting job.  Notice how she lists here “extensive experience” in Excel and Word.  The reason why Jane Doe chose to highlight those two specific qualities is because any accounting job will require a high competency in Excel and Word.  Therefore, she wanted to make sure that her point got across.  This is a very important selling point because many employers don’t have time to teach you all the basics of how to run their software, especially if you’re applying for a position that isn’t an internship.

Furthermore, adjectives such as “extensive” can be very helpful, especially when they’re true.  You do not want to add that tag if you really don’t have extensive experience, because then when you get the job (if you get the job) your inexperience will show, and it could end up really hurting you.  But if you do have extensive experience, then you should definitely add it (or an adjective like it) to help sell your cause.

Finally, Jane Doe lists elements she received training in, and made sure to specify that she learned about “teamwork, internship development, and management essentials”.  Basically, through that short and simple list, Jane Doe has communicated to the employer that she’s 1. Competent at working with other people (a quality that is important for ANY job), 2. Understands how to train other employees, and 3. Has a basic understanding of management skills.

If I went through each item on her list, I could point out reasons why her wording is powerful and really helps to sell her strengths, but that would make this post longer than it already is.  You should get the idea.  You need to use wording and phrasing that really helps to sell yourself to whatever job you’re applying for.

One final point I want to make is that Jane Doe chose to add her experience as the head coach of a volleyball team.  This may seem pointless, but when you think about it, the fact that she has “developed curriculum” and “worked individually with students” to help them succeed, and gained “tons of leadership and teamwork experience” are all relevant to almost any work environment.  Jane Doe has just effectively communicated that she’s good at working with people (both corporately and individually), is a leader, teacher, and is respected enough to be a head coach.  Think about what makes you such a valuable commodity to the company(ies) you are applying to, and sell yourself in that way.

Lists Skills and Interests on Your Resume

This is where you list any technical skills that you have that can benefit your company.  For instance, in Jane Doe’s resume, you can see that she lists “above average with Microsoft Excel and Word”.  Although this aspect was covered beforehand, she listed it again here for repetition (to emphasize to the potential employer that she really knows her stuff), and because this section is where you’re supposed to list that stuff.  Be honest here, but at the same time, try to make yourself sound as good as you possibly can.  For example, to say “average” is probably not a great thing to say.  Average has somewhat of a negative connotation to it.  You may choose to phrase it as “working and competent knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel” instead.

Listing your type speed is also very important for your employer to know, but only if you are applying to a job that’s going to require a computer.  There are plenty of ways to find out your type speed, just google it and find out that way.

Another thing you can list here are any languages that you know how to speak, and how good you are at it.  For instance, if you are Asian (or some other ethnic orientation that may not speak English well), letting your employer know that you are “extremely fluent in English” can actually help them know not to be concerned with any potential communication issues.  Furthermore, being “conversational” or fluent in another language can help you get a job because, in most cases, knowing more than one language can be useful in some way.

Finally, your interest section is simply a place where you can connect with people on a level that exists beyond “technical” stuff.  Not only are you a worker, you are a person.  No one wants to work with someone who’s socially awkward or a robot.  People are attracted to people, and especially in a work environment where you have to see each other on a continual basis, being able to connect is very important.  List some things that you love to do.  Jane Doe listed “basketball, volleyball, piano, guitar, and traveling”.  If the person who’s looking at your resume enjoys the same things, that person may immediately develop positive feelings about your resume, and that can definitely help you get the job.

Email Resume to Friends After You Are Finished

After you are done with your resume, send it out to any friends you trust (English Majors would be nice) so that they can look over your resume and correct any grammar/word usage errors.  You are finished!  Congratulations!  If you did everything, you should have a solid resume to send out to all your potential employers!

Here at The Postgrad, we are going to start an extensive series on how to determine your career path. Determining your career path can be a challenge, so we will do multiple posts covering all aspects of this reality and help by giving you some practical advice and tools necessary for you to find a career that suits you. Whether you have a job now and you hate it, or you’re not working and are struggling month to month, this series is for you. If you want to check other posts we have on this topic go to our career series link.

When I first graduated from college, I had genuinely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. How do you determine something so drastic? So immense? So life-defining? It felt like no matter what I decided on, I would regret it. As a matter of fact, the only things that I actually felt would be worthwhile and meaningful were the things that “everyone” wants to do upon graduation. You know, become a celebrity, write screenplays, join a rock band. Unfortunately, all those ideas did not pan out so well.

Reality set in and I knew that I had to begin taking this area of my life seriously. So I went out and started researching different jobs/opportunities until I found something that best suited me. Because I did something about it, not only do I have a successful business now (a tutoring center/music academy I started one year ago), but I’m also building up other areas of my life in order to attain that “success” that I desired. Here’s how you can do the same:

1. Be proactive about researching your future career. You cannot expect someone to magically come down and tell you what to do with your life. No one can tell you that! In this society that so values independence and self-motivation, not being proactive can profoundly limit you. You have to be proactive about pursuing your career.

2. Determine how important money is to you. Not everyone is the same when it comes to how much money they want to make. Some people are happy making a very little amount, and working minimal hours. Others, however, have a thirst and ambition for making large sums of money. Before you can effectively research a job that fits your needs, you need to figure out how much you want to make. For instance, if you have hopes of one day banking in on a six figure salary, teaching is probably not the best course of action. Find jobs that have the potential to meet your financial goals, but also realize that if you’re looking to make a lot of money, it usually comes with sacrifices in other areas of your life.

3. Create and research a list of jobs that you could see yourself doing. There are so many jobs in this world; most of us have a much too limited scope. If you’re anything like me, I used to think that if you weren’t a lawyer, doctor, or engineer, you basically had to be a teacher. It was not until I started looking around online and asking my friends that I started realizing there’s so many cool jobs out there. For instance, the site www.coolworks.com provides a listing of over 75,000 jobs that are in unique environments all across the world. If you’re looking for something more practical (and not a job at a ski resort in Sweden), then the site http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/all.shtml has a pretty extensive list of job opportunities that may interest you. There’s really a lot you can do with your life, if you know where to look. Rather, if you actually care to do a little work and research.

4. Use your network. Honestly, nothing will help you more in this area of looking for a job than simply asking the people you know to help! A lot of your friends are probably working in different areas, and some of them may be doing something that suits you. Ask them about their work experience, and if they enjoy it. Tap into your network, and utilize it. I love that line in the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, “no man is a failure who has friends.” Our relationships with each other are what make this world a meaningful place, so don’t be afraid to use your network.

Therefore, if you’re thinking about being a teacher, talk to someone who’s teaching. If you are thinking about going into business, talk to people who are already in the business field. If you are looking to be an accountant…prepare for a very exciting life of crunching numbers and drinking diet coke/starbucks.

5. Balance idealism and pragmatism. Sometimes you just gotta take on a job that isn’t ideal to get where you want to go. Sometimes, god forbid, you have to take on a job to just pay the bills. It goes back to my first post, “How To Attain Success”. Far too often we let our idealism run the show, but pragmatism is not a bad thing, and it definitely comes in handy when determining a career. In our economic situation, it might even be as practical as “take what you can get for now!” Don’t forget, every job you do well is another job you can use to strengthen your resume.

Therefore, when you create a list of possible job opportunities, don’t make the list unrealistic. Being an artist would be nice, but realistically speaking, it’s something you do on the side and develop while making real money from another job. I love blogging and writing. However, I’m not going to close my business (where I’m actually making money) and start a full time career in blogging until I see that it is actually profitable. In that same wavelength, if you enjoy art as a hobby and could possibly even see yourself doing it for a living, find a job that pays the bills and do art when you get home everyday from work. Once you actually make a good living off of doing art, then switch to art full time.

This post is simply the first step to get you started thinking about your career. Obviously, this is a big decision in your life and you don’t want to rush it. However, the best place to start when it comes to finding your career is being proactive about researching/thinking about different job opportunities. After reading this post check out part 2 because it is very important for you to learn how to build a solid resume.