Workforce

Tips Before an Interview

• The interview is your opportunity to let your personality shine through. Since interviews can vary in length, preparing beforehand is key. Here are some tips to help you prepare:

• Share why you are interested in the position, scholarship, or college.

• Research the company or organization. Do a Google search and become familiar with the mission, core values, and the organization’s online presence, such as social media updates and blog posts.

• Practice answering sample interview questions. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will become speaking about yourself. The most important thing to remember is to just be you.

• Develop questions you would like to ask interviewer(s).

• Visit UC Davis’s internship and career center to view examples of sample interview questions and sample questions to ask your interviewer.

• For a more detailed guide of interview preparation including general interview tips, questions, what to wear, etc. download UC Berkley’s Interview Guide.

Tips for the Day of the Interview

• Print copies of your resume for yourself, the interviewer(s), and always being a few extra with you, just in case.

• Bring a paper and pen to take notes and to write down key information so you can refer to it later.

• Be on time for your interview. Make sure to calculate the distance to your interview meeting location beforehand, and give yourself extra time so you will not feel stressed.

• Afterwards, be sure to send a thank you note or email to the people who interviewed you. This is a personal touch that shows your gratitude for their time and your interest in the opportunity.

• Remember to apply to a number of positions, scholarships, or colleges. It can be helpful to keep a list of jobs you are applying for, and to dedicate time every day to sending out your resume. 

Resumes are typically documents students will create and add to year-after-year, and they will use when applying for jobs, internships or summer programs even. When it comes time to apply for college, most applications have students take their resume and convert it into a list of involvement which will be a particular form or page on the college application.

Think about:

Performance: When a resume is coupled with a student's transcript, colleges can see how well a student balances activities and academics.

Personality: While transcripts are limited by academic options, the resume is where a student's major interests have a chance to flourish. Chances are that some of the co-curricular activities a student has listed show the types of areas they're interested in outside classes. The resume also offers hints to how a student might be involved once they get to their college campus.

Participation: Most colleges want to see all the things a student chooses to do with their time. In particular, they're curious about the depth of commitment, the breadth of interests, and the impact a student has had through pursuing those activities. 

Depth

Outlines how involved a student has been in a particular activity throughout the years.

Example: leadership positions, both formal and informal that a student has

Breadth

Specifies the amount of time a student has spent on one activity, and the diversity of activities students have participated in across the high school experience. 

Impact

Something that you can measure, either quantifiably or through qualitative stories

How to Format a Resume

Resumes should be kept to one page and should be easy to read. It is important to keep the formatting consistent and use a legible font, usually in the 10 to 12 size range. You can choose from three popular formats, or create your own. It’s best to choose a format that will best highlight your work experiences and skills: Click here to see samples.

• Chronological Resume: This format focuses on your work experience, listing them from most to least recent. 

• Functional Resume: This format highlights your skills by using categories or headings to separate particular skills you have. Each category includes three to four descriptive statements about your responsibilities and duties and the results you achieved. 

• Combination Resume: This format highlights skills and experiences first, followed by your employment history from most to least recent. 

General Resume Tips

• A resume is a snapshot of your interests, skills, and accomplishments.

• Use action verbs to describe your strengths, experiences and interests. See below for some examples.  

• Proofreading is important. Ask a school counselor, teacher, administrator, mentor, or family member to review your resume for any spelling or grammatical errors.

• If relevant, include your foreign language skills and computer skills, software skills or web tools.

• Continue to track your experiences and update the content in your resume. 

• Your resume should include your contact information. If needed, create a professional email on a platform, such as Gmail.

• Your resume should include the most relevant experience for the desired position. When appropriate, your resume can even include community service involvement and babysitting.

What are employers looking for?

The world of work is changing. Find out what employers look for now.

Skills to highlight in your resume

Bucknell University shows how to highlight skills and not just list activities.

The Power of Action Verbs

University of Chicago provides powerful action verbs for compelling interviews, resumes and applications. 

CEG's Epic List of Activities List Verbs

Making an Activites List for Common Application

CGN Live: Career - How to Land a Job

On March 23rd, host Michelle Weise (Founder of Rise & Design, Author of Long Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs That Don’t Even Exist Yet) was joined by the "Job Doc," Pattie Hunt Sinacole (CEO and Founder of First Beacon Group) on getting eyeballs, interviews and offers.

To view the recording, click here.

We’ve included a broad mix of options here, so whether you’re only just starting to explore your ideas for what a career might mean to you, or you’re ready to get starter – there’ll be an episode (or ten!) to help you on your way:

1. CAREER TALK: LEARN — GROW — THRIVE

 Content creator, host, and editor Stephanie Dennis is trying to empower people to take control of their careers by offering holistic advice. The goal is to provide everyone with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to crush their career goals. This podcast takes a funny, fresh and playful approach to discussing various career topics.

2. CAREER CLOUD RADIO

Entrepreneur Michael Gardon is on a mission to help people get intentional about their career journey, and there’s never been a better time to take control. Hear from hiring managers and CEOs at cutting-edge firms about what it takes to get ahead. Hear from side hustlers who build more resilient work lives and entrepreneurs who invest in themselves to pursue a more fulfilled, more sane life.

3. THE SCHOOL OF GREATNESS

Lewis Howes is a New York Times best-selling author, 2x All-American athlete, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur. The School of Greatness shares inspiring interviews from the world’s most successful people—world-renowned leaders in business, entertainment, sports, science, health, and literature—to inspire YOU to unlock your inner greatness and live your best life.

4. COLLEGE CENTRAL PODCASTS

College Central podcasts provide clear, concise, expert advice and tips for entry-level job search and career-related issues. Find insight and instruction on resumes, interviews, internships, etiquette, and more. It’s great for entry-level career starters, and there are episodes that many will find beneficial – no matter where you’re looking for work.

5. WORKLIFE WITH ADAM GRANT

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. From learning how to love criticism to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again. He shares key insights from his conversations on how to enjoy and make our work more worthwhile. Guests include inspirational speakers like Trevor Noah and Richard Branson.

6. GET WORK SAVVY

The Get Work Savvy podcast aims to inspire you to find a job you love by sharing experiences and tips from those who love their job. By sharing stories of people who love their jobs, this podcast will help you discover what it’s like to work in their industry, how they found their ideal job, and, most importantly, any tips and advice they have gained from their experience. This podcast will help you discover what it’s like to work in a broad spectrum of jobs and industries, bringing you new ideas and strategies every Monday.

7. #WEARECAREERS

While this one isn’t technically a podcast, it makes the list for the fantastic range of advice it delivers precisely for young people, school leavers, and early career starters! #WeAreCareers, the Career Development Institute’s live-streamed program, is hosted by Chris Webb and MeetSabiha and features a wide range of expert and fascinating guests discussing all aspects of career development.

8. KIDS LEARN CAREERS

This is an excellent podcast for anyone who wants to learn about various roles and is perhaps at the early stages of understanding their career ideas and goals. Each week, host Kyle Northcutt asks another person about their job so listeners can start to learn about the options. Episodes include interviews with a cattle rancher, school principal, landscaping business owner, and content marketing specialist.

9. KIDSVERSE

Kidsverse is an Australian podcast created by young people for young people to ask questions and speak with the people they know you want to hear from – with careers and work as the primary focus. The podcast talks to people about their jobs every month, including a fun fact about the history of the job. Episodes include conversations with a researcher, film director, and acupuncturist.

10. SOLVE IT! FOR KIDS

This science podcast offers a peek into the world of real-life scientists, engineers, and experts as they solve problems in their everyday jobs. Listeners are then invited to take on a challenge and solve a problem themselves. While it is not solely career-focused, it does highlight different positions across STEAM.

11. EARLY CAREERS PODCAST

The Early Careers Podcast with Jack and Ollie will guide you through every aspect of the early careers market. As the co-founders of AllAboutGroup.org and R M P Enterprises, the pair have more than 20 years of experience in the marketplace between them and hope to help anyone involved in any aspect of early careers get new insights, perspectives and ways of thinking to raise the game across the industry from the best minds and the most progressive organizations.

Careers, Explore. “11 Career Podcasts You NEED to Check Out! - Explore - USA.” Explorecareers.com, 6 Jan. 2023, explorecareers.com/11-career-podcasts-you-need-to-check-out/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=279920312&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--0MGRpapZMLL6F_z3dC1Wr3HdDj2jaC5eIRL4zKqnHe3JtLTbv_RR2MmgHK98VMciJaMHPvtPFdpyOp9HlQOglznKE6A&utm_content=279920312&utm_source=hs_email. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.