The Step to Career Preparation Success

8/3/2019 The Step to Career Preparation Success

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THE S T E P S TO

CAREER

PREPARATION

SUCCESS



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Career Planning

With all career possibilities available, how do you make a decision?Once you know what career path you want to follow, how do you getthere?

To determine your interests, think about what you like to do. Thinkabout experiences you have enjoyed. Evaluate what you liked, what

you found challenging, and what you may have learned from thoseexperiences. Make a list of activities you have enjoyed during thepast few years.

n Start thinking about where you want to be

n What kind of environment are you looking for?

n Work out decisions with family/spouse

n Look at your own priorities

n Will you apply everywhere or will you be specific?

n

Consider your family and friends: what kind of communities matter toyou?



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Steps toCareer Preparation Success

STEP 1

Self-assessment STEP 2

CareerExploration

STEP 3

Making aDecision

STEP 5

Keeping theJob

STEP 4

The JobSearch

Howdo Igetthere?

Wheream Igoing?

Whoam I?



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Self Assessment: Interests

Think about your interests: What do you liketo do? Think about experiences you haveenjoyed. What kind of school, religious, social, orsports activities do you like?

Make a list of 10 activities you have enjoyeddoing in the past four years.

Evaluate those interests. Think about what you

liked about the activities. What challenges didthe activities offer? What skills do you need todevelop further to continue in those activities?



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Self Assessment: Skills

Consider your skills: Evaluate school,volunteer, work, or leisure experiences.

Make a list of your school activities (clubs,

organizations to which you belonged). Make alist of any volunteer work you have done (eitherthrough social, civic or religious organizations).

Once you have found a career that matches

your interests and skills, you may need toresearch career options. Check out the followinglinks to internet-based information.



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n

Search Postings: Jobsdb, Jobstreet, Karir,Mailinglist, Job Ad, etc.

n Post your resume online and offline

n Market Yourself: Be seen by companies you aremost interested in

n Sign up with Specialized Staffing Companies (onlythose that are no cost to you)

n Network — Join Professional Organizations

n Use friends, professors and friends-of-friendsn Attend career fairs through university or professional

organizations

Making the Transition from Academia to Industry



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Think SKILLSProfessional/Educational: procedures, instrumentation, etc.Other skills (languages, software, etc.)

Invest in yourself

Software skills, internships, volunteering acitivities

It's all about professionalism

Be flexible and realisticMaybe the best job for you won't have the $40K salary and9 am-5 pm hours

In all likelihood, the job you really want requires the lower-level,lower pay experience

Welcome change!

Be VERY proactive



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Your Resumen What is the purpose of a Resume?

• To represent you and your skills as itapplies to a particular position

n Good Resume => Interview

n Good Interview => Job

n Bad Resume => No Interview (& no job!)



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n Summarize your best

qualities, work and/or

academic achievements

in a paragraph after your

objective.

n Use action words.

n Be specific.

n Let the employer know

who you are.

PROFILE



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The Resume: Your 15 secondcommercial!

n Layout – clear, concise, error free, 1 page

n Gain interest

• The information needed to get the job should be easilyviewable

n Outline technical skills

n Is it relevant to the position you're applying for?

n It's the 21st Century: Be GOOGLE-minded

n HR may not have technical expertise: Use keywordsfound in the job description



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Making Your Resume

Standoutn Heading

• Make it easy to get in touch with you — have asmany points of contact as possible (home phone,cell phone, email address, etc.)

• Have a professional message on any phonenumber you give out and let people you share aphone number with know you are expecting callsabout jobs

• Set Facebook, Myspace, etc. profiles to private

• Have a professional email address

• A local address will get you a much betterresponse



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Making Your Resume

Standout

n Objective

• What objective in your career

n Education

• List degree in bold.

• List date, school and GPA if over 3.0

n Relevant coursework

•

List all chemistry, biology, biochemistry andrelated courses

• Be sure to list all lab course separately



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Making Your Resume

Standoutn Skills

• Include all skills you have learned from labcourses, undergraduate research, internships, etc.

• Be specific — assays, techniques & instruments

• Don't leave anything out, even if it's been a whilesince you done it or you've only been exposed to it

• List in order of amount of experience gained

• Include computer, software and other secondaryskills



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n Experience

• Industry prefers to see 'chronological' resumesversus 'functional' resumes preferred byacademia. A functional resume is a CV.

• Use reverse chronological order.

• Always list dates, duties, title and location

• List all undergraduate research and internshipsunder this section

• List non-related positions if space allows andalways list those below any technical positions

Making Your Resume

Standout



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n Awards/Activities/Organizations• List all scholarships, Dean's list nominations,

society memberships, published work, charitywork (short description), and presentations given

n References

• Available on Request. This is not important to add,you can use it for a space filler or add yourreferences on a separate page—if they need it,they know they can ask for it

n Do Not:List marital info, age, social security number, anyunnecessary info which does not help you (interest inonline gaming, religion, politics, etc.)



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n Send a resume with some kind of introduction — youmust have text in the e-mail.

n Cover letter can be in e-mail text —

• It will more likely be read that way

n First Paragraph• Introduce yourself and why you are interested

n Second Paragraph

• Why you are qualified (address all requirements from Job

Description)• Elaborate on your background and why you think you are

qualified

n Third Paragraph

• Thank you and contact info, forward looking statement

The Cover Letter



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Employment Objective

n Be Specific. Avoid an overly generalobjective such as:

"To utilize my abilities in a successful company and ultimately

have a position in upper management."



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Education Background

n Describe academic courses relevant to position sought. You maysummarize, i.e. 15 hours of psychology.

n Consider a section that presents communication experience: forexample, courses such as speech, business writing, and foreignlanguages, and activities such as debate or presentations.

n If you attended other courses/training, list name and location,then summarize (such as "Completed 30 hours of general educationcourses"). If appropriate, list certificates and non-universitytraining.

n Normally, you do not include academic information from highschool. Exceptions include foreign language and computer courses,communication activities, and honors and awards.



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Experience

n Provide full entries only for relevant experience, either full-time or

part-time.

Use reverse chronology, presenting current ormost recent information first. Put dump entry atthe end of this section.

Provide title for your position only if it

strengthens your application. Consider "teamleader for sales staff" vs "sales staff."



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And More Experience

n Use action verbs plus details. Avoid "responsible for…"

n Use the "how-much, how many" approach. Review tasks forways to provide specifics.

Example: rather than "supervised sales staff," use"supervised five-person sales staff." Use "maintained 2,000

inventory ," rather than "maintained inventory."

Practicums, internships, and cooperative educationexperiences can be placed under "education" or "workexperience" or in a separate section.



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Organizations and Activities

n Organizations, ProfessonalOrganizations, ProfessionalActivities, and Honors and

Awards can be used asheadings for sectionsaccording to what you havereceived or participated in.

n You may have one section,maybe with several"paragraphs," or more thanone section.



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Computer & Langauge Skills

n Describe computer & language skills or abilitiesin separate section.

You do not have to be an expert to list skills: you can qualifyby writing "Limited experience with Word and internet." [Gainat least basic computer skills, even if they are not a major

aspect of position sought.]



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Tips on Content

n Consider abilities and skills you gain from volunteer, community, and

similar experiences. Do not include personal data.

n Use word choices appropriate for employers: for example, "training"

instead of "teaching." Sometimes academic and corporate environmentsuse different terms for the same concept.

n Check with faculty and former students for buzz words currently in your

subject area. Some employers determine whom they will interview by

scanning resumes for terms.



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Interviewing and Follow Up•

Preparation is essential• Be familiar with the Job Description and how your skills apply

• Check out the company's website and be familiar with theproducts, processes, and current events.

• First impressions can lose you or get you the job

• Leave in plenty of time to account for traffic or getting lostn Be on time or 15 minutes early. Do not enter earlier than 15 minutes

before you're scheduled as the interviewer may not be ready foryou. Review your notes in your car instead.

• Personal appearance – better overdressed than under and alwayspractice good hygiene

• Attitude (body language) – shadow the interviewer, be engaged,positive and enthusiastic

• Firm handshake, always make eye contact and smile often.

n Be warm and courteous to all those that you meet, from thereceptionist to people walking by.



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•

Always bring printed resume and references, unless working with astaffing company

• Always bring technical writing samples (lab reports, thesis, anythingpublished, etc.

• Show you are interested – prepare thoughtful and intelligent questions,Some examples:

• What do you think the biggest challenge will be to someone who is just getting started in this position?

• What would you like to see this person accomplish over the nextyear or two?

n Do not bring up money. Let the company bring it up. Never quote anumber.

n Always convey a sense of professionalism and maturity

n Always express interest in the position and thank the interviewer fortheir time.

n Do not chew gum or wear sunglasses and leave your cell phone inyour car.



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Job Interviewing for Success

Prepare Yourself n What is an Interview?

n What happens at an

interview?n Why should I be

prepared?



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Preparing for your interviewn Have a job interview notebook

n Research the entire department/company

n Read all their work!

n Have a package ready (comfortable dress, shoes)

n Get sleep beforehandn Do not drink too much!

n You will always get asked the same questions

n Why do you want the job? (not because you can ski there -what do you bring to the position?)

n Where would you go with the job (play to your strengths)

n Which geographers have influenced you the most?



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Know Yourself

n Interests

n Qualifications

n Previous experiences



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Know Something About The

Company

n What does the company

do?

n Who are it's customers?

n What does it expect of

it's employees?



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Check Your Personal Appearance

n Neat and clean

n Business clothes

n Don't go to extremes



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Go It Alone

n Go to the interview

alone

n Don't bring friends orfamily members



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Arrive Earlyn Know where you're

going

n Arrive 5 to 10 minutesearly

n Know who you are

supposed to meet with



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Stay Alert

n Show interest

n Maintain eye contact

n Answer questions in abusiness-like manner

n Be ready to ask

questions



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Leave Your Problems At Home

n Don't talk about

personal or family

problems

n Try to turn negative

things into "learning

experiences"



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n They watch carefully to see if you have

questions - you better have them!

n Five year agenda for the departmentn How are new employee mentored?

n Tenure clock

n Has anyone been denied tenure?

n Show interest - do not be complacent!

What do you want to ask them?



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Say Thank You

n Making a good

impression means using

good manners

n Be sure to say "Thank

You" before leaving

n Follow up with a "thank

you" note



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• Thank you letters• Be Pro-Active: Follow-through

• If you are turned down, dig deep!

•

If you are turned down, ask if there are otheropportunities for which you are better qualified.

• Ask if they would recommend any companies toyou.

• Learn from your mistakes• If you get consistently rejected, think about it,

is it you or the jobs you're applying for?



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You got the job…now what?

n You don't negotiate until you get the offer

n Be very careful with your offer

n Negotiation takes time

n Check with people you trust

n Ask for a drop in your teaching first year

n Startup funds

n Salary (women and men)

n Don't take too long...



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First year responsibilities

• Making the Transition from Academia to

Industry

n Develop your long term goals and make

sure that your year works towards those

goals

n Listen a a lot and hungry to learn

n Find some good colleagues and mentors



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Documents

The Step to Career Preparation Success