Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Beyond Résumés and Cover Letters: How to Get Noticed by Employers

By Dylan Mark, senior sociology major at CU-Boulder


The dollar just doesn’t go as far as it used to.  Worse, entry-level jobs are becoming harderto find for college students and competition to get a foot in the door istougher than ever.  Cookie-cutter résuméshave become commonplace.  Internships, jobs,and good grades, while valuable, don’t hold the same weight that they did tenyears ago.  Here are a couple tips toboost your image to prospective employers:

Make Connections
Success in the job market often comes down to who youknow.  Whether it’s references for jobapplications or knowing the person who has the contacts to get you your dreamjob, networking is critical to your career. Start by building strong relationships with your professors and academicadvisor.  Employers often look to facultyon campus to recommend students for open job positions and if you play yourcards right, you may find a window to the job market that others aren’t able toaccess.
Another great place to seek connections is in thecertificate, leadership, diversity, and other extracurricular programs oncampus.  Joining groups such as thehonors society, scholars programs, and leadership trainings ensures anexclusive gateway to the job market. The people who facilitate these programs willhave relationships with the community that you can utilize.

Acquire Skills
Although who you know is important, what you know istoo.  Attending workshops on campus willsignificantly increase your attractiveness to employers.  Many campus institutions provide freeseminars to help you learn the ways of Excel, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and otheroffice tools.  Career-related workshopscan also help you with your interviewing skills, résumés, and professionalism. 

Put Your Face OutThere
Sign up for a Linkedin account, attend the career fair, andhead over to Career Services!

Follow these tips for the keys to success during the job search process! 

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