Tag: career

Is your…

✔️ Resume in Olin format?

✔️ LinkedIn profile updated using the WCC-provided workbook, checklist, and tips?

Have you…

✔️ Developed your Personal Brand Pyramid?

✔️ Scheduled an appointment with a WCC advisor to establish an initial relationship and foundation for building a career action plan?

Fall semester is definitely busy season from a recruiting perspective, full of information sessions and events like Meet the Firms, where recruiters expect students to have resumes on hand at all times. Sometimes it’s very obvious that an event will involve sharing your resume. But what if you run into an alumnus on campus or make an unexpected connection? Don’t let the opportunity pass by! Anticipating and having the refined resume always available will avoid being caught off guard—it also allows for a more proactive approach.

Use Optimal Resume as a template to easily develop your resume in the Olin format. Below are key tips for writing an impactful resume. Your resume should be:

• One page
• Concise, accurate, and professional
• Action- and results-oriented
• Customized to the specific position you’re seeking
• Proofed carefully for grammar, spelling, and conformance
• Printed on high-quality resume paper

LinkedIn has become the ultimate supplement for the paper resume, as recruiters increasingly utilize both as sources to evaluate a candidate. Having a tip-top resume without an equally strong LinkedIn may give the impression that a candidate lacks attention to detail, or that LinkedIn—a growing online networking force—is unimportant to them. But LinkedIn is very important to recruiters!

Imagine the recruiter becoming enthusiastic reviewing a resume, clicking into LinkedIn, scrolling down and reading the candidate’s information. If the candidate’s profile is easy to read, with content that is crisply written and rich with information, the recruiter may determine that they are a fit for the organization. As reading continues, the candidate’s education background, involvement, and other valuable nuggets of information further pique the recruiter’s interest. Conversely, if the LinkedIn profile is sparse or clunky, written poorly or incomplete, the recruiter becomes frustrated.  The recruiter stops and moves onto another candidate. The power of LinkedIn—as a networking tool and job search database—is huge. An updated LinkedIn profile, coupled with the resume, gives a candidate a terrific chance to make a lasting impression and inspire action from the reader to contact the candidate!

If you need assistance refining and updating your resume or LinkedIn profile, make an appointment at the Weston Career Center today. Don’t delay—Meet the Firms is in mid-September. Be sure you are resume-ready for Olin’s biggest recruiting and networking event!

Guest blogger: Karen Heise, Interim Director, Weston Career Center

The below post and podcast was republished with permission from PluggedIN, an automated talent recruitment and matchmaking platform specifically focused on startup companies. PluggedIN was founded by Colleen Liebig, who serves as an Industry Career Specialist & Advisor at Olin, with specialization in entrepreneurship.

“If you have the conviction and the personal belief that you can make anything work and solve problems, let your resourcefulness be your biggest resource.” 

In this week’s PluggedIN podcast, we sit down with Colleen Wilson, Founder & CEO of Collaborate Chicago and former Head of Product Marketing for the capital product at Square. An Olin Business School alumna, Colleen shares insights on how she decided to become an entrepreneur and multiple fantastic career tips from her business education and career experience.

Here are a few nuggets of wisdom Colleen shares in this episode:

• The importance of prioritizing learning and mission when looking for jobs. Ask yourself, what do I need to learn, and where am I best equipped to learn those skills?
• One of the best ways to get experience is through doing pro-bono work.
• The importance of being self-aware and knowing what you’re good at (and what you’re not good at).
• The “why” reveals the pain points, and when you find the pain points, that’s when you can start to find the solution.
• Why your own personal gut-check can mean the difference when it comes to finding happiness in your career.
• You can build anything, but sometimes it’s what you don’t build that can make all the difference in your business growth.
• Presence equals productivity: How to find that constant state of flow through personal productivity hacks.

Congratulations! You just accepted an invitation to interview with your dream firm. All the company research, resume polishing and networking at Meet the Firms, at information sessions and with your network, has paid off. What are the next steps to ensure you are ready to conduct a successful interview? Sally Pinckard, the Associate Director of Career Education at Olin’s Weston Career Center, provides this advice to ace the job interview:

Learn everything you can about the company

Both parties are looking for the best fit. Learn as much as you can about the company, culture, and specific process, so you are ready to demonstrate that you are the candidate who best fits what they are looking for. Along with your research, one of the best ways to learn about what to expect in the interview is to connect with alumni in the firm. If there are alumni connections, ask for advice and insight into the interview process. Talking with recent hires at information sessions and workshops, using LinkedIn’s advance search process to find Olin and WashU alumni in the company you will be interviewing with, and asking for insights from fellow students in the student groups where you are a member are all great ways to connect with alumni for guidance. Most are more than willing to help.

Prepare for the type of job interview the recruiter will conduct

Include this in your company research. Most interviews will fall into these categories: behavioral, technical, and case interviews. Some will be conducted face to face, but many first round interviews will be conducted over the phone phone or on Skype. For detailed information on how to prepare for these interviews, see pages 41 and 42 in the WCC Career Guide. Also be sure to check out the Weston Career Center’s Behavioral Interview Questions Guide and Functional/Technical Questions Guide.

First impressions count. Practice your interviewing skills

It’s always important to present your best self. The impressions you leave during the interview (and after!) should be no accident. Practice your answer to, “Walk me through your resume” and other interview questions in a mock interview with a Weston Career Center advisor. Prepare well-informed, inquisitive, and articulate questions for the interviewer during and at the end of the interview. Make sure they are questions for which the answers can only come from a person who has worked in the company (and not something you can find quickly on the company’s website). Check the apparel you plan to wear to the interview to make sure your clothes are clean and in good shape.

Follow up after the job interview

Be prepared so that you can write a thank you note shortly after the interview is complete. Recruiters tell us repeatedly that they are surprised that more students don’t send thank you letters after an interview. Therefore, the letters they do receive stand out, especially well written notes. (AND, recruiters often comment on how impressed they are when the notes are hand written the old fashioned way.) Why? In addition to being a polite way to acknowledge the time spent with you, thank you letters are another opportunity to sell yourself. Have professional stationary on hand so that you can write your thank you note in a timely manner, which is usually within 24 hours of the interview. By writing both an email and hand written thank you, you are signaling your high level of interest in them because you took the time to express your thanks in writing. For more information on the follow up process and thank you notes, see page 45 in the WCC Career Guide.

Sally Pinckard has held positions in merchandising, retail management, and human resources for May Department Stores, now Macy’s. Sally teaches MGT250A, Building Your Career Foundation, and is a certified business etiquette instructor. 

Think of your online profiles, posts, and tweets as a dynamic résumé—an online presentation of your personal brand. They reveal your interests, personality, and expertise. A space like Facebook or Twitter may seem more personal, while LinkedIn is clearly a venue for professional networking and job searching.

However, there are still useful ways to leverage these ‘more personal’ channels to grow your professional network.

“Like” or follow companies

Search for pages of your target companies, and “Like” them. Interact on the page’s wall to highlight your interest in the products and services. Similarly, be sure to follow official company accounts on Twitter—it is a good way to stay up to date on industry and company trends.

Share relevant links, info, and stories

Post links to your profile that will position you as an expert in a field and may attract the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Remember to stay away from controversial topics and inappropriate content or photographs.

“Like” articles on the web

Don’t be afraid to hit the “Like” on blogs, online news articles, websites, etc. When you “Like” interesting stuff, others may want to connect back with you as a resource, and it begins another connection.

Many people use Twitter to keep up on the latest buzz, including job opportunities. It’s also an efficient networking tool, and 140-character tweets force you to keep your message or question concise. When you make new contacts in your field of interest, ask whether they have a Twitter handle to follow. At conferences and social events, include your Twitter handle on your name badge.

Use Twitter as you would a business card—a point of entry for follow-up conversation.

As you build your network of colleagues and professionals, reach out to ask questions. And reciprocate by quickly answering questions directed to you.

How to tend to your network—using social media

Networking online doesn’t need to be time consuming. You can develop your professional reputation and help others in the process through simple etiquette practices that require only a few minutes each day:

1. Be the first to have a point of view. Share relevant news articles, and add value by including any observations.
2. Let them know they’ve been heard. Listen to what your network has to say, and make an informed suggestion or relevant introduction.
3. Establish yourself as the go-to-person. Consider connecting your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts to establish more visibility.
4. Try to add at least one new person to your network a week. Growing networks are far more effective than stagnant ones.

Protect your reputation online

Even with the strictest privacy settings, no social space is truly private, so heed our suggestions to protect your online reputation. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to be yourself; you’ll make your best impression if there’s a real human behind your online identity.

Don’t let social networking jeopardize your career opportunities. Protect your image by following these simple tips:

Keep it professional
Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want a prospective employer to see. Derogatory comments, revealing or risqué photos, foul language, and lewd jokes all will be viewed as a reflection of your character. Carefully select your privacy settings. And since you can’t control what others post, you may want to block or hide comments from friends who don’t practice the same level of discretion.

Be prepared
Check your profile regularly to see what comments have been posted. Remember that other people can tag you, so check regularly, and if a post is not appropriate, untag yourself. Use a search engine to look for online records of yourself to see what is out there about you. If you find information you feel could be detrimental to your candidacy or career, remove it—and make sure you have an answer ready to counter or explain “digital dirt.”

Respect the wall
If you wouldn’t want to read it on a billboard, don’t post it to your Facebook wall—or anyone else’s. This holds true even if you use Facebook only to socialize. Remember, anyone you “friend” can see your comments, photos, and YouTube video links. Email or use Facebook’s messaging feature instead.

The Weston Career Center shares this article on optimizing your LinkedIn profile for the job search. Check out the Center’s resources for students, including career advising and job search resources. 

A LinkedIn profile can be a window to potential employers and the first place where recruiters will look when seeking talent. Here are useful tips to make sure your LinkedIn profile is ready for prime-time viewing:

Consider your job-seeking objectives

You cannot effectively brand your LinkedIn profile without a clear understanding of what position or role you are seeking.

No typos, misspellings, or grammatical errors

Your LinkedIn profile should be error-free, succinct, and articulate.

Who do you want to be seen as?

Make sure you brand your LinkedIn headline in a way you want to be seen, especially by potential recruiters.

Communicate your value proposition, using keywords

Adding specialties to your LinkedIn profile is the perfect time to include some keywords for which recruiters are likely to search. Here’s an article with tips for LinkedIn SEO.

Search engine optimization is very important on LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile is about to become your electronic résumé, so scatter keywords recruiters are seeking throughout your profile. Add an industry in your professional summary because recruiters often use that field to search for candidates.

Seek recommendations and endorsements

Ask your internship or work supervisors or colleagues for a long-form recommendation or LinkedIn endorsement. Having positive recommendations and endorsements can often be the deciding factor between candidates and is an extra touch to your LinkedIn profile.

Consistency matters

Make sure the messages on your website, Twitter, Facebook, and any other online sites are all consistent. Recruiters will do online searches for you before they decide whether to call you.

Update your status regularly

LinkedIn can be your very own PR machine. Recruiters are looking for evidence that you are keeping your LinkedIn profile active and up to date.

Add more content

Use the experience section to explain and highlight each company in which you worked, and remember to include any board, civic, or voluntary positions.

Make sure you are open for business

If you are searching for a job, make sure your contact settings are set to include career opportunities, consulting offers, new ventures, job inquiries, and reference requests.

Follow relevant influencers and channels

Get the most out of your LinkedIn experience by following influencers and channels that interest you. This will allow you to tap into cutting-edge insights and trends from industry leaders and trends from industry leaders, and stay on top of news and events.

Main photo credit: Flickr/Ben Scholzen