Within three years I will be out of college, into the workforce. I want to prepare my resume so that I can get a job w/o having to stay at home looking for a job. I have a general idea of what to do: good GPA, an least one internship, and blah blah. But what is some little known advice that makes yourself stand out from others.
My field is Geography with my main focus is Environmental and GSS, possibly Geology later on.
I am also willing to work at bottom and get to the top, just fyi.
Setting Myself Up for a Job
Re: Setting Myself Up for a Job
GPA does not matter, repeat, GPA does not matter. It might help on the very first job, but after that it'll never come up. And that's perhaps only if you don't do internship/co-op work to build a work history.
However, good references from professors are very helpful. So you could try to work closely with a couple of professors, make a really good impression some how, participate in a pet project of theirs, whatever.
Co-op/internship tends to have pretty solid results, can be worth it - but make sure you get paid for it, or the opportunity cost might not be worth it. Plus with co-op, you're delaying your education by an entire year. So maybe there are better alternatives such as working at a env/gss/geo-related job during the summers, or perhaps just working part-time during as much of your education period as possible (i.e. Perhaps you could find a 10-15 hour part time job related to env/gss/geo somehow that you can do for the next 3 years. It'd look pretty good on the resume having 3 years of work experience. Perhaps some research job @ the uni)
General notes from books I recently read like "The Subversive Job Search" and "Cracking the hidden job market":
Identify people that are doing what you want to do, look at their linkedin profiles, talk to them, find out specific skills or certification that they need for that job, and go after that. This will let you figure out the job title that you want to go after (note: job title is really the intersection between your function (type of work) & your industry. so pay attention to the industry you want to go into as well).
By filling in the specific skills and/or certs, and having the correct job title, correct lingo on your resume, and talking to people doing what you want to be doing, you'll be able to get job hookups from them and appear qualified to the hiring people.
However, good references from professors are very helpful. So you could try to work closely with a couple of professors, make a really good impression some how, participate in a pet project of theirs, whatever.
Co-op/internship tends to have pretty solid results, can be worth it - but make sure you get paid for it, or the opportunity cost might not be worth it. Plus with co-op, you're delaying your education by an entire year. So maybe there are better alternatives such as working at a env/gss/geo-related job during the summers, or perhaps just working part-time during as much of your education period as possible (i.e. Perhaps you could find a 10-15 hour part time job related to env/gss/geo somehow that you can do for the next 3 years. It'd look pretty good on the resume having 3 years of work experience. Perhaps some research job @ the uni)
General notes from books I recently read like "The Subversive Job Search" and "Cracking the hidden job market":
Identify people that are doing what you want to do, look at their linkedin profiles, talk to them, find out specific skills or certification that they need for that job, and go after that. This will let you figure out the job title that you want to go after (note: job title is really the intersection between your function (type of work) & your industry. so pay attention to the industry you want to go into as well).
By filling in the specific skills and/or certs, and having the correct job title, correct lingo on your resume, and talking to people doing what you want to be doing, you'll be able to get job hookups from them and appear qualified to the hiring people.
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jacob
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Re: Setting Myself Up for a Job
I would focus on having demonstrated some real world effort w results in your area. Classes, sure. Internship, sure (if nothing else, you'll get an idea if you actually like the work compared to just taking classes). But writing programs, blogs, websites, participating in projects, ... something that demonstrates that you're sufficiently interested in your field to take initiative and get things done---and, in fact, have gotten things done.
People who take classes and get A's are a dime a dozen.
People who take classes and get A's are a dime a dozen.
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TheWanderingScholar
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Re: Setting Myself Up for a Job
@JamesR:
Thank for the information.
I'll see if I can do GSS part-time
@jacob:
I'll check on projects.
Thank for the information.
I'll see if I can do GSS part-time
@jacob:
I'll check on projects.
Re: Setting Myself Up for a Job
You might volunteer with a museum or join a club that is somewhat related to your field with the goal of networking. A part-time job as a docent might give you the opportunity to introduce yourself to those who will eventually be running an interview panel. Even a summer job as an eco-camp counselor could be the place where you meet the right person. Positions are often filled by someone who knows someone, even in hierarchical organizations like government and academia.
Also, seek out the person who has your dream job and ask what they did to get it, then do it yourself.
Also, seek out the person who has your dream job and ask what they did to get it, then do it yourself.
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Kriegsspiel
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Re: Setting Myself Up for a Job
If you are going into your soph year, you can join ROTC and the government will start paying for your tuition, and you have a guaranteed job after college. It's what I did, and it's been working out well for me. I did my 4 years in the Army, which civilian jobs look favorably upon. Just something to consider.