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The Wichitan
March 2, 2011
How to make a perfect resume *results may vary
Brittney Cottingham Features Editor
Before the MSU Career Fair, Friday March 4 in Clark Student Center, the Career Management helped 50 students prepare their rough draft resume through Resumania Days.
CMC College Coordinators Heidi Hakimi-Hood and Derek Crawford provided resume critiques to help students to get them just right. “Creating a resume can be so difficult if you have no idea what you are doing,” junior Bridget Williams said. Williams is in the process of
looking for an internship. She is now well aware that a mistake on a resume can make or break her chances. “One time I went in for an interview and I had misspelled the name of one of my past employers, (which) is well known, and the man interviewing me
Back to basics...
pointed it out,” Williams said. “It was completely embarrassing and from that point on I realized how important having a flawless resume can be.” Williams wasn’t offered the position she was interviewing for. But she is looking forward to
making a better first impression a the Career Fair this week. Forty to fifty employers will be present at the event. Both college coordinators want students to come prepared with resumes and to be ready to network. “At my former college, they
Talk yourself up...
never provided students with career fairs, so I plan on taking full advantage of this opportunity on Friday,” Williams said. Below are steps to make a resume that future employers would find perfect, courtesy of the Career Management Center.
“From early on, a lot of students are told to be humble and don’t brag on yourself, but your resume is your time to shine.” - Derek Crawford, college coordinator
Basic Resume Content Areas: Objective, Education, Relevant Coursework, Internships, Experience, Activities, Honors, Personal Associations or Memberships
•Be confident! •Stress your accomplishments, not your responsibilities. • List non-traditional experiences such as going to school while working and raising a family. This kind of information tells a lot to prospective employers. •Student athletics prove valuable leadership experience.
•Relevant class work should be included, such as class or senior projects that would be beneficial to the job you are applying for. •Put important information on top of your resume •Acknowledge community and campus group involvement
Tips for references...
Hot Tip!
Professors, past employers or organization leaders are good choices for potential references.
•Always ask the individuals if they would be willing to serve as your reference. • For each reference, you must include their name, title, company, address, phone number and e-mail. •Keep your references professional. Those individuals that are in your chosen field are ideal choices. • Remember that references belong on a separate sheet of paper with your name and contact information on top.
Contact the Career Management Center! Clark Student Center - Room 108 Phone: (940) 397 – HIRE (4473) careermanagement@mwsu.edu www.MustangsHIRE.org www.mwsu.edu/career
Facebook: Midwestern State University Career Management Center Twitter: MSU_CMC
Mark Your Calendar
Most common mistakes students make are...
•Make sure E-mail addresses are professional. Hint - they should include your name! •The phone number listed on resume should be a working number with appropriate voice mail or callback tones. •Buy resume paper! Special paper cam add that extra spark to your resume.
Career Fair - 03/04/11 - 10:00 AM - Clark Student Center Explore internship or job opportunities at the MSU job fair. Dress well, have a quality resume and prepare for typical interview questions. Education Career Fair - 3/24/11 - 10:00 AM - D.L. Ligon Coliseum Teaching opportunities will be plentiful with over twenty school districts in attendance to discuss their opportunities with you. Bring plenty of resumes and dress professionally.
BAILOUT........................................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1 “Many of the suppliers didn’t get paid. They broke contracts in order to renegotiate new contracts,” he said. The workers union also suffered. “They had to take massive concessions, layoffs and buyouts in order to reduce the overhead.” Government officials needed to make sure GM could continue to operate if they injected funds into the company. Forrester said the company is showing that it can – numbers are up and they’re on the rise. GM shows $4.7 billion in earnings for 2010. This includes one of the most profitable quarters for the company in the last 11 years. But it’s not all good news – Forrester said 900 GM dealers had closed up
shop by the time the dust settled in late 2009. A company that was comprised of 8 brands now only has 4: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac. Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac and Saab were all dropped. Another problem the company faced was that their product was spread to too many dealerships. “They had too many dealers,” he said. “They had to take some dealerships that had been owned by families for a hundred years and close them down.” There was a light at the end of the tunnel, though – it appears as if letting go of Hummer and other popular brands has actually helped GM survive. “Sales with half as many brands rose
12 percent,” Forrester said. After the bailout, GM needed to improve individual accountability within the company, as well as decision making, Forrester said. “It seemed like the problems were all delegated,” he said. “They were put off to other people and so no one was really accountable for the problem, even the CEOs.” The company has received a boost in sales from an unlikely source: foreign nations. GM executives have been noting a new trend in sales: 70 percent of profit is being made from sales outside the U.S. Brazil, Russia, India and China. “They’ve experienced quite a bit of
growth with GM products,” he said. International profit increases for GM by brand: n Chevrolet – 16 percent n Buick – 52 percent n GMC – 29 percent n Cadillac – 35 percent GM sales in China, at a 28 percent increase, are growing faster than any other country. That’s 2.35 million vehicles. Brazil sold 65,000 vehicles last year. “Usually in the car business we look for a one or two percent profit margin increase,” he said. “That’s tremendous growth.” These sales have helped GM restore or create 12,000 jobs in the U.S. and Canada.
The company is also trying to improve customer relations, he said. “They’re going on Facebook, Twitter and different blogs, talking directly to the customers,” Forrester said. “They have a customer service center were people are going there and looking for dissatisfied customers. If they find somebody who’s dissatisfied with the product, they go in and they try to correct the problem. Instead of waiting for the customers to come to them, they’re being proactive.” GM has recently doubled the size of its customer service department. “It’s actually more economical to do that than to buy another customer,” he said.
WORK-STUDY...............................................................................................................................................................................................continued from page 1
Once in the program, workers must maintain a 2.0 GPA. Dean of Students Dail Neely learned about the issue when he was attended a meeting in Austin this semester. He warned an MSU committee about it at a
university advancement meeting a couple weeks ago. “Half my student worker budget is based on work study,” Neely said in the meeting. “That could be a huge chunk to look at when you’re looking at reducing
budgets.” Work-studies students often work in the Dean of Students office, Clark Student Center, the Wellness Center, the Financial Aid office and Moffett Library, among others.
Since the jobs are all on campus, the work is convenient for students who don’t have access to a vehicle. “They can walk to their jobs,” Pennartz said. As a bonus, work-studies
doesn’t factor into financial aid, meaning participants in the program can still receive other forms of financial aid. For the most part, the students are good workers. Pennartz said that about 10 percent of them
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