A Peak Behind the Scenes During the Interview Selection Process

A recent article shared with The Office of Career Services, highlighted some of the reasons employers decided not to push applicants further along the interview process.  Items that led to applicants resumes ending up in the trash included pictures on resumes, misspellings and grammar issues, inappropriate email addresses and being too casual during the interview process.   Many of the items that made the top 30 are those that an applicant can control.  To be best prepared for your interview, check out the many resources Career Services offers both on their website as well as in person to put yourself in a position to be successful.   Click on the link for more information http://www.ut.edu/career/jobsearchtoolbox/ .   In addition, a few of the issues that made the top 30 list can be found below.   Best of luck and happy interviewing.

Thought Catalog by Derek Marshall

16. the_no_name_man

One of my friends had to conduct telephone rounds for a position. It was technical and the person’s answering style was like he reads it from a text book. That person couldn’t get answers to any of situation based questions too. So finally my friend asked him to explain subnetting after opening Wikipedia. His answer was the first 2 lines from Wikipedia. Then my friend asked him to explain a little bit in detail. Then comes the next 2 lines from Wikipedia.

19. r7ndom

Inconsequential: The filename of the resume.
When you upload your resume to most systems, they do not rename the document – if it was called “Mama Peppers first draft.docx” that is exactly what the hiring manager will see first – because they must click on it to open it. Another common one is “resume.doc”,which means when I download 30 resumes all at once, guess what I’ve got? A directory full of “resume 1.doc” “resume 2.doc” etc. – every one of those applicants lose a bit in my book when I am forced to rename their resume so I can easily find them later.
Also, always upload in .doc/.docx or PDF. Preferably PDF since it is the only one (almost) guaranteed to come out properly on the other side – doc/docx can lose formatting, especially if you used odd fonts or other such things.

26. TinCupChallace

Said his drivers license was suspended …I watched him drive away after the interview.

27. TheDaggle

Pro tip: be courteous and professional with EVERYONE in or around the building.

My girlfriend used to be an “office specialist” who greeted and seated every applicant before their interview. Part of her duties were to evaluate applicants’ appearance and behavior and report to the manager/interviewer.

The interviews were almost a formality. Your fate was pretty much decided by the notes she jotted on your paperwork while you waited to be called in.

UT Students- Do Your Communication Skills Match The “Real World”

In a recent article on CNBC, the idea is challenged that today’s college students are not prepared for the level of communication skills necessary to effectively work in an internship or full-time job setting.  Are cell phones, texting and character limits altering how prepared you are for today’s work environment?   Many would say YES and I would argue they are correct!!   If you haven’t done so already, conduct your own study on the lack of face to face contact going on in your environment.   Witness countless students pulling out cell phones the minute they walk out of class or while in line waiting for mail.   How many virtual conversations do you conduct a day?  Check out the full story below and please share your thoughts, we want to hear what you think?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101176249

Excerpt:

Experts differ on why job candidates can't communicate effectively. Bram Lowsky, an executive vice president of the workforce management arm of Manpower, blames technology. "With Gen X and Gen Y, because everything is shorthand and text, the ability to communicate effectively is challenged," he said. "You see it in the business world, whether with existing employees or job candidates looking for work."  Others say colleges aren't doing a good job. In a survey of 318 employers published earlier this year by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and conducted by Hart Research Associates, 80 percent said colleges should focus more on written and oral communication. 

Take a day for you!

Thanksgiving Break is only a few weeks away. Thank goodness! It’s an opportunity to sit back, relax, and enjoy the lack of school related stress for about a week. But the thing is, only one day of your break is allotted to spending time with family and devouring some turkey related goodness; the rest of the break is up in the air, and for most of you that means a number of things. But for me, I’ll be taking that time to prepare for my future.

I consider myself lucky. I know where I’d like to live, what I’d like to do, and more or less how I’d like to go about doing it. I know that for most of you this might not be the case, yet. So I encourage you all to do what I’m going to do, and that is take a day and plan ahead. I like to call it a ‘future day,’which I realize is fairly cheesy, but that’s exactly what it is. For example, I know that I’d like to do graphic design for a firm, but which firm? On my future day, I’m going to research some different firms in the area, and once I have a few that I’m interested in, perhaps I’ll go for a drive and see if any of them would be willing to give me a tour. It’s important that we who are graduating next semester start doing our research now, because if we start looking in May the opportunities we seek may be out of reach.

What I’m getting at is this; now is the time to begin planning. I don’t care what year you are; freshman, senior, or otherwise. Graduation day is too late to start planning for your life. So do it now, when you’re free, and I guarantee that your future will turn out a lot more like you’d planned.

Have an excellent and safe break. If you do start to make plans, decisions, or even just start coming up with ideas, we’d love to hear about them. 

Video Interviewing

As you begin your job or internship search, especially if you are seeking positions in another city or even country, you may be faced with a video interview rather than the traditional in person interview, especially for the initial phase of the process. With the popularity of Skype, Facetime, and other methods of video communication, chances are that you will have an occasion to conduct a video interview in the future, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers published the following hints tips for video interviews in their December 5, 2012 Spotlight:

 
1.      Know the technology and be comfortable with it.  Students shouldn't sign up for a video interview until they’re comfortable with the process.  They should know what they can and can’t do with the audio and video controls, what their image looks like, and where to look once the interview begins.  Being adept with the technology gives students credibility as professionals.
2.      Consider image and the interview environment.  Students should dress professionally as a video interview is an interview.  Is the background of the interview area consistent with the image the student wants to portray to recruiters?  The student should remove or silence all distractions, such as cell phone ringers, e-mail alerts, and music.
3.      Test all settings and connections beforehand.  Students should make sure the settings are optimized and all connections are working prior to the interview to avoid any issues during the interview.
4.      Be prepared for a system hiccup.  Students should have a Plan B ready in case the technology fails during a video interview.  For example, a student participating in a video interview should have his or her cell phone available in case the connection is unacceptable or drops.  Being prepared in such a manner and making a smooth transition to another method in light of unexpected problems can impress an employer.

Attention December Graduates!

Are you going to Graduate School? Working Full-Time? Going into the Armed Forces? Tell UT about your plans!

The Office of Career Services at The University of Tampa collects data to learn about the post-graduate accomplishments and plans of our alumni. We want to hear from you!

By completing this survey, The University of Tampa will be able to provide you with access to alumni salary and employment trend data for 2013 that may be helpful in your future career search needs. Additionally, the answers you provide help us collect valuable data to report back to various accreditation and news agencies (such as US News and World Report and other college rankings). These reports help promote the value of your degree!

Recent recognition includes:
• The University of Tampa being ranked one of America's Best Colleges by Forbes (2013);
• UT will be featured in The Princeton Review's "Best Colleges" guidebook (2013);
• The Sykes College of Business's rank as one of the top 300 in the world by The Princeton Review (2013); and
• The National Council of State Boards of Nursing naming UT's Nursing Program number 1 in the country (2010)!

Please note: All information you provide will remain confidential and will not be used to solicit donations. Responses will only be used in combination with others, in an aggregated form, without any specific identifying information, in order to report post-graduate statistics as a Class of 2013.

Thank you very much for your participation!

Career Fair Feedback

Feedback, or “constructive criticism” as it is sometimes called, is always a good way to check in and make sure what you’re doing works and to see how it can be improved.  I thought this would be a good time to share some employer feedback from the Professional Job Fair last week.  It seems that the requirement for professional business attire was definitely a step in the right direction; many employers commented on the improvement over past fairs, and we’ll continue to require it in the future.  Employers said that many students were well-prepared, especially in the area of research on employers.  In general students were able to articulate their interests well, and some of the “elevator speeches” were very good.  Students were engaging and proactive, and resumes were “strong” for the most part. 

Now for the “constructive” part—watch for workshops, blogs, and handouts from Career Services as we try to address these concerns. We still need to reach more students with preparation suggestions and focusing on a few key employers based on interests, rather than just “walking the floor.”  While some students were quite outgoing, some were very hesitant and had to be drawn into conversation by the employer; elevator speeches and quick introductions needed polish for the majority of students.  (See “elevator speeches” above!)

All in all employers were pleased with our students and compared us very favorably to our bigger neighbor to the north.  Keep up the good work, and practice those quick elevator speeches to introduce yourselves! A great place to do that is at our Speed Networking event on November 13^th at 5:30 p.m. in the Crescent Club in the Vaughn Center! 

Myths Busted

After the job fairs for the semester are over, we always look for other ways that students can interact with employers and can explore opportunities for employment in some less traditional ways, ways that may not “require” a particular major but are open to students of all majors and degrees.  The first of these panel discussions, which we call “Myth Busters,” will be from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. in the Vaughn Center Trustees Board Room on Tuesday, October 29^th with representatives from the CIA, FBI, and MacDill Air Force Base who will discuss careers in the US Intelligence Community.

The second will be on Wednesday, November 6^th from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Riverside 102 when our “Myth Busters” panel will discuss what careers in volunteerism/public service look like.  UT students seem to have a passion for volunteering, and our Peace Corps representative is anxious to take advantage of this and helped us to contact other agencies with similar post-graduate opportunities to give back to those less fortunate, whether in the international realm or right here at home.  He will be joined by representatives from Americorps/VISTA, City Year, and the Public Allies Program.

So, whether you are a first or second year student just beginning to think about a career or a junior, senior, grad student, or alum in a more immediate job search, we hope you’ll join us to explore some options that you may not have considered.