Tips For College

For college students, finding a job post graduation and/or summer internship might seem difficult. However, there are websites designed to help people find what they need. TrueCareers is a company that serves as a vehicle from person to organization and vice versa.

The TrueCareers is Sallie Mae's online board which receives one million resumes with 35,000 job openings, many well known companies including KPMG, Coke and Cisco. TrueCareers counselors offer advice to help students find jobs they are looking for. The jobs are not temporary jobs, nor are they work from home jobs.

The site serves people with degrees and those pursuing degrees for a professional career. "Basically it is for educated people," said Cecelia Dwyer, president of TrueCareers Sallie Mae's online board for finding educated diverse candidates quickly and easily.

Here are some tips that TrueCareers provided:

When going in for an interview, acknowledge the old way. Usually dressing conservatively works. Dress like the environment and a little more i.e. for a business interview, wear a pantsuit if you are a female and a suit if you are male.
"Downplay the wild earrings, save them for a party, and let the classics out like pearls," said Dwyer.

Usually the first thing on your mind is 'how much will I get paid,' but don't bring that with you in the interview. As a general rule of thumb "let them love you, let them want you and let them (the company or organization) bring it up," said Dwyer.

Although it may seem old fashioned, mail out thank you notes after your interview because it makes a big impression on the receiving end. Think about the things that make you stand out form the many applicants.

Your resume is a sneak peek into you and your skills. You have a very short time to impress so the resume should be clear, concise and point out your strengths as well as your skills. "They are the simple things that work," said Dwyer. Make sure that there are no typos and grammatical errors. Put together a strong resume, but make sure not to exaggerate because you could be called to the table.

In some markets being bilingual is an advantage, so in your resume indicate that you are bilingual when applicable i.e. in Southern California, if your job requires you to have a lot of interaction with people then that could benefit you.

The most important and hardest thing is being motivated. This means writing and rewriting many times. "You need to budget time, to the leg work and follow up," said Dwyer.

For a recent grad or undergrad, Dwyer recommends keeping the resumes to a page and no longer. She said that it is not necessary to put down every job that you have done for example babysitting for your neighbors. For a good resume have few but significant entries.

To get a job you must post your resume, visit company website and contact the company saying you saw their posting.

"Have a good, solid and clean resume," Dwyer emphasized. "Send out resumes, apply for jobs, do the research before going to the interview and be prepared."