“Lighting the Path to Career Success”

Keathley University Center, Room 328TELEPHONE: 898-2500www.mtsu.edu/~career

Our Staff

College of Liberal Arts:Lucy Billings-JonesKUC 328, 898-2500

College of Business:Katy Francisco RiddleBAS S123, 494-8911

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences: Lewis GrayKUC 328, 898-2500

College of Basic and Applied Sciences:

Nicole Green

JH 309, 494-8797

College of Mass Communication:

Nancy Stubblefield

Bragg 130, 904-8154

Our Services

Career DirectionResume DevelopmentSpecial Events/Career FairsOnline Employment Searching

Career Planning – Junior/Senior

Attend Career Fairs Obtain a part-time or summer job to

gain work experience, develop skills and explore careers

Participate in extracurricular activities and organizations

Develop your resume by keeping good records of activities/projects

Resumes

One page preferable Use good quality paper Stay conservative – even on internet DO NOT use templates in Word

• Your resume will look like everyone elseDifficult to upload on web or to email

Parts of a Resume

Name & Contact Information Objective Education Qualifications/Skills Experience Honors Activities References

Name and Contact Information

Include name, complete address, phone number and email address

Keep it large Put local and permanent address if you will

be moving elsewhere after graduation Appropriate email address

Get a free account from Yahoo or Hotmail Put your name on all pages

Facebook/MySpace

Don’t let this be you…

Or at the very least, don’t take a picture and put it online for your future employers to see!

Objective

One or two sentences about the kind of job you want and what you can contribute to the company in return

Get the reader’s attention quickly

BAD OBJECTIVE: “Desire a position where skills are

utilized.”

How could this objective be improved?

Objectives

Be specific!GOOD OBJECTIVES: Recording Industry candidate with Spanish minor and

customer service experience seeks career in record promotions.

Accounting candidate with experience in bookkeeping, budget analysis and sales seeks internship in finance.

Electronic Media degreed candidate with experience in television writing, editing and production seeks career in news industry.

Education

Near the top Omit high school if you have your degree Know your degree, and write it out

B.S. = Bachelor of Science Even if you haven’t graduated yet, put

expected graduation date (i.e. May 2010) Include G.P.A. if it is over 3.0 Add relevant classes if you lack experience

in a particular area

Subjective Skills/Hard Skills

Friendly and Helpful Team Player Hard Worker Dependable People Person

Do these belong on a resume?

Qualifications or Skills

Computer skills – list programs Communication

Writing news releases? Writing sports articles?AP Style Writing? Telephone presence?Public speaking? Performing?

Foreign Language Quantify skills

Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, QuarkXPress; familiar with Microsoft Access and Adobe Illustrator

Key Word Searches

Think about job position and what skills are needed

List skills which are relevant to the job or field you are applying for

Coursework/Professional Training Accreditations and Licenses

Work Experience

List experience with either most recent first or most relevant first (functional vs. chronological)

Put all your experience, even if you think it is trivial (ex: Fast food, customer service)

It’s all in the words! Which sounds better?

“secretary” or “administrative assistant”?

“put together report” or “complied a report”?

Work Experience

Begin each bullet with an action word Start each bullet with a different

action word to show creativity Go the distance……think of situations

which show an action and result Example: Developed a promotional

fund raising campaign which resulted in pledges of over 30K

Honors and Activities

Activities Clubs or extracurricular activities Include dates Leadership positions

Honors Dean’s list Scholarships

Be specific with what accomplishments you made

If you don’t have any honors and/or activities, leave out the section

References

Include three to five references on a separate page

Ask your references before committing them to your contact list

Include the person’s name, title, company, address and phone number

Leave Gracefully

Give notice – 2 weeks or more Leave on good terms Offer to assist with transition period Build your last employer up.

Cover Letter

a.k.a. application letter, prospecting letter, networking letter, letter of inquiry

Copy your resume header to compliment Use proper business letter formatting Like an objective, the cover letter should be

specific to the position - if known Traditional format letter - job openings where

you know the contact and are familiar with the company

Blind job lead format – newspaper ads which give little detail

Resume Referral Service

Complete Lightning JobSource Authorization Form Online

Fill out your profile Upload and publish your resume We receive about 200 jobs per month We send out about 1800 resumes per

month to employers!

IS YOUR RESUME BEING REFERRED?

Marketing Yourself – Get Involved

Over 300 MTSU Student Organizations

Types of Organizations: Honor Societies Fraternities/Sororities Professional

Organizations (Ad Club,, PRSSA, ARMS, Journalism Club, etc.)

Sports Clubs/Teams

KUC 326,camporgs@mtsu.edu898-5812

Benefits of involvementinclude: Development of

leadership skills Meeting new people with

similar interests Eases the transition into

college Employers look for

extracurricular activities Strengthens

professional, personal, and interpersonal skills

Interviewing – Before You Go

Research the employer Discretely find out about the job if you

have an inside track Find out who the key players in the

company are and what they do Finalize items to bring in portfolio

Portfolio Tips

Quality not Quantity Variety of different work Pages should be neat and in order Show creativity (especially graphic

design) Create a web site if you have electronic

items to profile

Dress for Success

WOMEN• Professional blouse• Business suit• Dress slacks• Skirt, approx. knee length, with hose• Dress, approx. knee length, with hose• Close-toed dress shoes• Conservative jewelry• Subtle perfume or none at all• No body piercings (except ear lobes) and no tattoos in open

view • Trimmed, tidy fingernails• Conservative hairstyle

Dress for Success

MEN• Professional business suit• White button down dress shirt (or other muted colors)• Conservative tie• Dark slacks• Black dress shoes/dark shoes• No facial/ear piercings• No tattoos in open view• Trimmed, tidy fingernails• Conservative hairstyle

Types of Interviews

Traditional Do you have the skills, enthusiasm and work-ethic? Will you be a team player and fit into the company?

Behavioral Past performance indicates future performance “Tell me a specific example about a time you had to

handle multiple projects at once” Situational

Gives specific situations you may encounter on the job “Consider a situation where you and a co-worker are

jointly working on a project. You divided up work in a manner you both agreed to. However, your co-worker fails to do his or her share of the work. What would you do?”

Telephone, Group and Panel

Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself What are your greatest strengths? What do you feel are your weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Behavior Based: Describe a situation

where you had difficulty relating to another person in a group. What was the result?

Handling Illegal Questions

What is legal and illegal? How old are you? Are you over the age of 18?

Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Have you ever been arrested?

Are you willing to travel occasionally or relocate if necessary? Do you plan to have a family?

How much do you weigh? Are you able to lift 50 lbs. and carry 100 yards?

List any professional organizations or trade groups which you consider relevant in your ability to perform this job.

What clubs/social organizations do you belong to?

Closing the Interview

You are selling yourself and with any sales call, you must close.

Let the employer know that you are the perfect candidate for the job

Tell them that you hope you conveyed to them that you are the person for the job.

Remember names or ask for business cards for thank you letters later

Salary Negotiation

Don’t give out a number unless they ask you to on an application

Speak in terms of salary ranges Know the process. What is your value? Research the data before the interview

NACEChamber of Commerce Internet

Your Next StepContact your Coordinator

College of Mass CommunicationNancy StubblefieldBragg Room 130

904-8154