2016-2017 HBCU Careers Magazine

HBCU Careers Magazine

be tactful about finding jobs, but at the same time try to have fun. Visit and use your college career center effectively. This may include on and off-campus recruiting events that help you to practice your soft skills and learn the ins and outs of the hiring process. Join local business networking associations as well. You will be surprised how much information and networking you can gather in a single meeting. Like it, or not, recruiters are the gatekeepers before you can get your foot in the door at your favorite company. Therefore, your resume is your first tool to show recruiters why you will be a potential employee. However, many recent graduates and many other forget the importance of a resume. Pick a resume format that works for your! You can use a traditional chronological or a functional resume format to highlight your achievements, key skills and objectives. Also, emphasize on your academic credentials as your selling point, since yo may have very minimal work-related history. Anything such as academic honors dean’s list, and overall GPA. There are many word-processing programs that provide users with the capability of easily and quickly creating a good design and layout for your resume. Use so-called “white space” or other layout elements that can be effective tools to help you create a good resume and promote “YOU” as a unique candidate. Any misspellings and grammatical errors must be corrected. Also, ask someone else to check your resume more than once. These days, there are other tools such as “digital profiles” that let you showcase your talent through videos, images and samples of your work. Here are a few resources, check them out: • www.zerply.com • ResumeUP (Facebook-powered app)

• LinkedIn Resume Builder • www.resumebaking.com • www.visualcv.com

Last option would be seeking out a mentor throughout your career. There are many people who have graduated from college and have searched for jobs through their entire career. Find one in your targeted field and engage with them and ask critical questions. Select a mentor that is a good role model for you. Look up someone who is not only successful, but who also has a reputation for character and solid principals. We tend to think of a mentor as a professor, teacher or executive with gray hair. Not necessarily! A mentor can be anyone teaching you a valuable lesson that can help you with your career move. Sometimes, companies also have mentoring programs that are available to new employees. There are professional organizations that you can check out as well.

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