Resumes can make the difference
North Career Services helps students prepare
Elisa Karafilis
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: Campus Life
|
The Resume Writing Workshops held October 21 and 27 in North's third floor conference room were offered to assist students who need help putting together resumes that can help acquire jobs in fields that are of interest to them. The workshops also showed students where jobs are and what they pay.
"People write resumes to make them look like the best candidate for the job and to get an interview with an employer," Emma Lee Hartle, employment specialist at North Campus Career Services, told the Voice.
Hartle said employers will usually take 30-60 seconds to scan a resume, and in that time, they will decide to keep the resume or discard it. The resume must be written from the employer's point of view.
On the resume, the basic information consists of a name, address, phone number, e-mail address, career objective, qualifications, education and work experience. Resumes must be perfect and should not have any mistakes.
The workshop taught students the right way to present their information in order to gain the attention of the employer yet not waste his or her valuable time.
"With the right resume, it will be a lot easier to find an employer who will want you for an interview," said Hartle.
Once written, people look for a way to get their resume out there into the job market. A fast and reliable way is to use an online job application process. The site www.collegecentral.com helps students formulate a proper resume, depending on what job they are seeking.
CCAC Career Services helps with different aspects of preparing and seeking jobs, including providing job fairs, internships and externship experiences to its students. The WESTPACS job fair is one of the biggest opportunities for people to find jobs with over 100 employers looking for people to employ.
Other upcoming job fairs include the Pittsburgh Federal Career Day and the North Campus Nursing and Allied Health program.
Internship experiences are most helpful in securing a full-time position, but finding part-time positions can help also. Students are encouraged to seek career positions at the beginning of their next to last semester of classes.
Finding a job is tough, and most often, there is not really that one, single job that will carry a person through a lifetime of employment.
"Most people today will make 10-15 job changes throughout their life," Hartle told the Voice, "And they will make around three career changes."