It’s that time of year. College seniors have a few precious weeks left before graduation and are frantically applying for jobs.
Sophomores and juniors are looking to nab that perfect summer internship
High school seniors are waiting for the last of their college acceptance letters and will make (this week!) their final choice.
I was at a meeting last week and forgot to bring my business cards. I began to apologize as I frantically wrote my contact info on the back of a piece of paper when somebody said to me, “don’t worry, Google is your resume.”
That got me thinking…if Google is my resume, then the entire application process for jobs and internships just changed.
Consider the following pieces of advice:
1) Stand out.
Your application is not just your name, experience and references. It’s everything that anyone can easily find out about you online. This includes what other people are saying.
So if you’re applying for a particular job or internship, why not prove your interest in the field you want to work in? If you’re seeking to go into foreign policy, create a public profile and provide insightful comments on the latest New York Times story on Libya, or a critical rebuttal to an opposing viewpoint on the Foreign Policy magazine blog. Especially if it’s a recent article, these show up when someone Google’s you.
2) Distinguish your application
If the organization is looking for three summer interns, they may get something like fifty or sixty resumes. What will set yours apart? Treat the application like a project, the cover letter as an invitation to other places the employer can learn about you.
Find out what somebody in your position will be doing. Will it be office tasks or research and strategy development? Once you find this out- do it, on a small scale. Work on a sample memorandum for a hypothetical situation or come up with the outline of a strategy brief you may be asked to prepare. Bring this to the interview. It will set you apart and show your boss you are ready to hit the ground running, and the organization will lose out if they don’t pick you.
3) Network.
There are a lot of people who are connected to the organization you’re applying to beyond the contact person listed on the application form. Make sure you know who they are and what position of influence they’re in. Who sits on their board? Who are their major donors? Strategic partners? Former executive leadership? Then find if any are connected to you- family, friends, connections to former bosses. Did any part of your college’s alumni network? Go to your high school? Did they grow up in your home state or hometown?
Once you’ve done this research, find out if anyone is close to your network and if you could meet with them, just to let them know you’re interested in their work. For example, if you find one of their board members is an active member of your alumni association, figure out when the next alumni event he or she is likely to be at is, and go. Introduce yourself and mention that you recently applied for a job at their organization and give them your business card. Who knows? If you make a good impression, maybe they’ll send an email. Organizations always respond to suggestions from their board members.
4) Use social media.
Increasingly, after a prospective employer Google’s you, there’s a good chance they’re going to next look you up on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Here’s your chance to give them the latest insight into who you are, and why you would be a great player to join their team. Beyond the basics (having an appropriate profile picture, not posting profanity-laden updates), use social media as a chance to show all sides of who you are. Did you just find an article that was unique or interesting? Post a link. Did you find someone else’s tweet particularly insightful? Retweet it.
This doesn’t mean you have to “working” 24/7. If it’s Saturday night at 7pm, an employer isn’t going to expect you to be reading the early edition of the next day’s newspaper. Here’s a chance to highlight your interest, reveal something interesting about yourself that makes an impression- and will be remembered.
Above all else, think outside of the box. Keep in mind that you want to make the organization want to hire you. Today, it’s easier than ever to create an online presence that showcases your strengths and shows any prospective employer or intern supervisor why they need to hire you.
Chris Goldenis Co-Founder and Exectuve Director of myImpact.org. He is an alum of American University. Tweet him via @ChrisGolden
Google Is Your Resume
By Chris Golden · March 29th, 2011 · Student Life · Comments
29 March
It’s that time of year. College seniors have a few precious weeks left before graduation and are frantically applying for jobs.
Sophomores and juniors are looking to nab that perfect summer internship
High school seniors are waiting for the last of their college acceptance letters and will make (this week!) their final choice.
I was at a meeting last week and forgot to bring my business cards. I began to apologize as I frantically wrote my contact info on the back of a piece of paper when somebody said to me, “don’t worry, Google is your resume.”
That got me thinking…if Google is my resume, then the entire application process for jobs and internships just changed.
Consider the following pieces of advice:
1) Stand out.
Your application is not just your name, experience and references. It’s everything that anyone can easily find out about you online. This includes what other people are saying.
So if you’re applying for a particular job or internship, why not prove your interest in the field you want to work in? If you’re seeking to go into foreign policy, create a public profile and provide insightful comments on the latest New York Times story on Libya, or a critical rebuttal to an opposing viewpoint on the Foreign Policy magazine blog. Especially if it’s a recent article, these show up when someone Google’s you.
2) Distinguish your application
If the organization is looking for three summer interns, they may get something like fifty or sixty resumes. What will set yours apart? Treat the application like a project, the cover letter as an invitation to other places the employer can learn about you.
Find out what somebody in your position will be doing. Will it be office tasks or research and strategy development? Once you find this out- do it, on a small scale. Work on a sample memorandum for a hypothetical situation or come up with the outline of a strategy brief you may be asked to prepare. Bring this to the interview. It will set you apart and show your boss you are ready to hit the ground running, and the organization will lose out if they don’t pick you.
3) Network.
There are a lot of people who are connected to the organization you’re applying to beyond the contact person listed on the application form. Make sure you know who they are and what position of influence they’re in. Who sits on their board? Who are their major donors? Strategic partners? Former executive leadership? Then find if any are connected to you- family, friends, connections to former bosses. Did any part of your college’s alumni network? Go to your high school? Did they grow up in your home state or hometown?
Once you’ve done this research, find out if anyone is close to your network and if you could meet with them, just to let them know you’re interested in their work. For example, if you find one of their board members is an active member of your alumni association, figure out when the next alumni event he or she is likely to be at is, and go. Introduce yourself and mention that you recently applied for a job at their organization and give them your business card. Who knows? If you make a good impression, maybe they’ll send an email. Organizations always respond to suggestions from their board members.
4) Use social media.
Increasingly, after a prospective employer Google’s you, there’s a good chance they’re going to next look you up on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Here’s your chance to give them the latest insight into who you are, and why you would be a great player to join their team. Beyond the basics (having an appropriate profile picture, not posting profanity-laden updates), use social media as a chance to show all sides of who you are. Did you just find an article that was unique or interesting? Post a link. Did you find someone else’s tweet particularly insightful? Retweet it.
This doesn’t mean you have to “working” 24/7. If it’s Saturday night at 7pm, an employer isn’t going to expect you to be reading the early edition of the next day’s newspaper. Here’s a chance to highlight your interest, reveal something interesting about yourself that makes an impression- and will be remembered.
Above all else, think outside of the box. Keep in mind that you want to make the organization want to hire you. Today, it’s easier than ever to create an online presence that showcases your strengths and shows any prospective employer or intern supervisor why they need to hire you.
Chris Golden is Co-Founder and Exectuve Director of myImpact.org. He is an alum of American University. Tweet him via @ChrisGolden