How to Succeed at a Career Fair: Part I

With this past Monday marking the Autumnal Equinox (first day of fall), it means a couple things— leaves will fall, pumpkins will be carved, and career fair season is on the horizon.

And for all of you reading this on a college campus somewhere, you are well aware that one meaning of Fall is that it’s time to update your résumé.

It’s a fact that most résumés get scanned for less than a minute before they are kept or screened out.Your resume, or your 2 dimensional representation of your 3-D self, needs to truly represent how awesome you are.

Your resume should:

• Get you more, high quality interviews — not a job!


• Give employers a first impression of your professional talents


• Market and highlight your most applicable skills


• Provide a verbal picture of your qualifications


• Catch the recruiter’s attention

DOs

DON’Ts

· Keep the layout simple, balanced, and well-organized · Format to ONE page only · Maintain consistent indentation, capitalization, font, style, tense, and spacing · Use boldface and/or italics for important information · Quantify accomplishments when possible · Avoid abbreviations · Critique, proofread, and refine · Center the body of text with one-inch margins, if possible · Research the company and tailor your résumé to the available job · Do the thinking for the employer · Use language that creates vivid word pictures Include an objective only if it is written specifically for the position you are seeking Use a chronological format

· Include salary requirements and demands for employment · Include personal information (i.e., SSN, age, marital status) · Use negative or neutral words or phrases · Use meaningless words or phrases such as "seeking a challenging position" · Use flashy graphics or print that is difficult to read · Exaggerate your experience · Round up your GPA, inconsistent with normal convention · Give complete addresses of your former employers · Begin phrases with "I" or use complete sentences · Use "References Available Upon Request" - it takes up valuable space and is assumed · Use the passive voice Start phrases with "My responsibilities included ..." Forget to have a friend or professor proofread your resume

For more information on Careers at GE, visit the GE Careers home page.

Comments

[Andrew Knoll]

Having gone on recruiting trips back to my alma mater already, I'm going to have to echo how a good resume is a very necessary thing to have in order to get your foot in the door. A poor resume makes you look like a poor candidate and a great resume makes you look like a star. It's your first impression to recruiters and it needs to make a statement. Make use of resume workshops at your local college and don't be afraid to ask recruiters for possible improvements on it too - we're happy to give you pointers. Just remember to highlight your strengths, experience, academics, extra-cirriculars, and your personality. And don't forget to make it pop. I'm not saying add a picture or use funny text, but don't be afraid to have a bit of custom formatting/spacing and creative use of bold/italics... making your resume visually stand out from a stack of cookie-cutter resumes is important too.

If you're really desperate, send it on over to me. I can't promise you an in-depth, line-by-line review, but I wouldn't mind giving you a few pointers if you need some. Best of luck in your interviewing!

[Paul Zuniga]

I notice a lot of pictures on the profile pages include 20 year olds. What about the older crowd say like someone in their 40's just finishing an MBA? I am beginning to wonder was it worth getting an MBA only to have to face the rejection of age discrimination?

[Andrew Knoll]

Though GE's IMLP program does target young, recent college graduates, this is not to say that GE doesn't look for middle-aged talent as well. In fact, GE is always looking for intelligent, interested, & driven individuals to bring on board. Just check out www.gecareers.com to see what's out there and to apply if you see something you like. And if you're looking for the IMLP experience, but don't fit the 20-something profile that IMLP tends to lean towards, there are actually programs within GE that provide IMLP-like experiences for people who are further along in their careers (such as the EIMP program - the Experienced Information Mangement Program). Though these programs often require significant experience in their respective field and at least a year of service in GE, there are ways to experience leadership programs like IMLP without having to be fresh out of college. So, keep at it and I'm sure you'll find that there is plenty of opportunity out there for you just waiting to be captured.