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Career Development Center offers tips for success |
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Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
by LINDSAY CRAVEN
Lifestyles Reporter
The time of year is approaching in which many students begin the process of sending out cover letters and resumes for summer internships or jobs.
Resources on campus exist to help prepare students for these important steps in their careers - one of the largest being the Career Development Center in John E. Thomas Hall.
 Photo by Anna Donlan
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Career
development counselor Virginia Page has provided students with tips and
solutions to common questions and mistakes that students make when
preparing for internship and job applications and interviews.
The Appalachian: What should students do differently when writing a cover letter for an internship as opposed to a job?
Virginia Page: In a cover
letter for an internship you can communicate a bit more about what you
hope to learn from the experience, in addition to writing about your
skills and qualifications. In a cover letter for a job you really want
to spend your time emphasizing what you bring to the organization
rather than what you hope to get out of it.
TA: What are common mistakes students make when writing resumes and cover letters?
VP: The most common mistake I
see is not spending enough time on your resume and cover letter.
Employers are using these documents to check for your attention to
detail, so be sure that all of your spelling and grammar is correct and
that all formatting on your resume is clean and consistent. I have even
seen students submit cover letters with the wrong name of the employer
on it because they were cutting and pasting and forgot to change the
name in each new letter.
TA: What things should you consider for cutting if your resume is too long?
VP: Instead of thinking about
what to cut, I advise students to think about which experiences are
most important for the employers to know about. Important experiences
which are relevant to the desired position…should be listed first. In
most cases students should not include high school information unless
they are freshmen.
Generally students who are undergrads can fit their all significant
experiences on one page. Margins can typically be as small as 1/2 inch
and fonts down to 10 to 11 points, depending on the font type.
TA: What tips do you have for students who have internship interviews?
VP: My advice for students
going into any kind of interview, whether it’s internship, job,
graduate school, or scholarship is to practice. The Career Development
Center offers mock interviews year round for students who want to
practice and get feedback on their dress, body language, and responses
to questions.
TA: How do peer career and the Career Development Center differ?
VP: The Peer Career Center is a
joint program of the Career Development Center and the Counseling
Center. It provides information for students who are unsure of their
major or career options. Professional staff and trained peer counselors
help students perform self-assessments and find careers and majors that
fit well with their interests, abilities and values.
TA: Do you have any student success stories that you can tell from your work in
the Career Development Center?
VP: I think some of our
favorite stories are the Appalachian graduates who go on to work as
recruiters and come back to Appalachian State to help our current
students find jobs. Just today we had [an alumnus], who is a regional
representative for E&J Gallo Wines, come back to campus to talk
with our students. He’s now responsible for sales in all of Western
North Carolina. If students want to find out more about alumni success
stories in their career area they can access the Career Information
Network (CIN) from our Web site to contact alumni and friends of the
university who have volunteered to be career resources for our
students. They would be happy to give advice and share their
experiences with students.
The Career
Development Center welcomes drop-ins every Monday through Friday from 2
p.m. to 4 p.m. in room 369 of the JET building; however, drop-ins are
not allowed March 4 and 5 due to the job fair.
Appointments can also be made for 30 to 60 minutes sessions with a counselor.
To make appointments or for more information, visit the Career
Development Center’s Web site at careers.appstate.edu or call at
262-2180.
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