Business Publication
CAREER 20 GUIDE 2 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 8 12 16 21
Set Your LinkedIn Profile Up for Success Katie Olson
The 3 Biggest Mistakes on Your Resume Mya Mendola
Ways to Use LinkedIn to Your Advantage Riley Rassman
How to Explain Why You Left Your Last Job Jianglin Liu
How to Find Comfort in the Journey to Find the Career Best for You Kristian Masters
Set Your LinkedIn Profile Up for Success KATIE OLSON The most common way to find work today is through networking. Some experts say that around 70% of all jobs are landed this way; others say that the percentage is closer to 80% or even 85%. No matter the exact number, one thing is for sure: Networking is vital to your job search. This is why it’s important to use networking sites like LinkedIn for the best chances of landing your dream job. In this article, I will be outlining six things you can do to make sure your LinkedIn profile is set up for success.
1. Profile and Banner Picture Although the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover,” that’s precisely what happens with your profile picture. This will be the very first thing that potential employers or connections view on your profile, and they will judge you based on the choices you make for these images. When making this decision, it’s important to choose the right picture that shows your professional side, but also lets them see a bit of personality. When I say personality, I don’t mean last year’s Halloween costume — just something not boring. Most of the time, the smaller profile picture will be one of yourself but the larger banner offers a chance to express yourself or your interests. 4
For example, if you live in Minneapolis and are looking for jobs in the area, use the city skyline as your banner.
2. Write a Biography of Yourself If you’ve ever been interviewed, the first question that is always asked is, “Tell me about yourself.” The About section of your LinkedIn profile is your chance to answer this question as if you were speaking directly to the people who view your page. Organize your writing by separating two or three sections from your resume — whichever best represents you like the education, work experience, or achievements sections, and summarize your experiences from each section. To avoid confusion, try to write in the third person as if someone else was talking about you.
3. Describe your Work Experience Just like on your resume, LinkedIn has a section for work experience. Some argue that it’s the most important section because it demonstrates what professional skills you learned and can offer to employers. Most people in this section will upload just the title and company for that experience. This is your chance to set yourself apart by putting a simple bullet-point description of the responsibilities or skills you gained from that experience.
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4. Follow Organizations and Groups Like every other social media platform, LinkedIn is a place where you can keep up to date with other people or organizations by following them. Doing this shows potential employers or connections what kinds of things interest you as well as the groups that identify you. In any workplace there is a culture, by following the organizations or groups you love, you are building a personality for yourself that could fit in with that culture — giving your profile a personality.
5. Engage in Posts When potential connections visit your LinkedIn page, they have the option of viewing your activity, and that’s why you need to have activity to view. All of the likes, comments, and updates will show up in your profile so make sure you have interacted with several posts to let others know that you are up to date and actively pursuing connections. If you have updates on your current work experiences be sure to post them to allow others to engage with you, demonstrating your value as a connection.
6. Connect with Everyone Last and probably most important, make connections with everyone you meet. It may seem awkward at first but others on LinkedIn are looking for connections just like you! Don’t be afraid to take that first step and reach out to a classmate or work partner, these connections are the foundation of your LinkedIn profile and will build your popularity. Having more popularity allows you to connect with more prominent and otherwise inaccessible professionals on the website. Some of these professionals 6
will not just accept requests from everyone, attend networking events and have conversations to solidify a relationship before sending an invitation. Although we currently live in an online world, there are plenty of networking opportunities on the internet. The University organizes many throughout the year, so take advantage of these events to meet more professionals and build a strong network.
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The 3 Biggest Mistakes on Your Resume MYA MENDOLA A solid resume is a surefire way to put students ahead on the search for an internship, a full-time position, or even a side hustle. Resumes are often the job’s first impression of an applicant and are meant to summarize a person on paper. This makes every resume a little different, contingent on personal preference, industry preference, and situation. Because of this, it is tremendously important to be proud of how you are presenting yourself on that single sheet. While on the journey of creating a document you can be proud of, there are three elements to consider to bring your paper identity to the next level. These are three common mistakes that, once corrected, will set students on a path of success.
1. You aren’t using your resume enough because you underestimate your qualifications.
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According to Rebecca Dordel, Carlson School Career Coach, “the job description is a treasure map.” It lays out what the employers are looking for entirely. However, it is not necessary to meet every single job description requirement to apply for the position. If you meet the majority of the requirements, Dordel said you are still a very strong candidate. This is important to recognize because studies have shown that younger applicants and women tend to shy away from applying to jobs unless
they meet every requirement. According to LinkedIn behavioral studies, women apply to 20% fewer jobs than men. This mindset is simply underestimating your qualifications, work ethic and ability to do the job asked of you. Confidence is important, and using the job description as a treasure map, reflecting those requirements on your resume, and applying for jobs where you meet the majority of the requirements, will enhance your opportunities.
2. You do not prove your soft skills In some industries, a skill section is commonly included in applicant’s resumes, and how you present your hard and soft skills affects the strength of your resume. According to career coach Rebecca Dordel, “there is a difference between showing and telling; showing is demonstrating your skills through evidence whereas telling is asking an employer to take your word for it.” With this in mind, Dordel recommends using evidence to support your soft skills in the bullet points underneath work or involvement experiences. Hard skills, such as languages or software proficiency can just be listed. This is simply because the employer can ask you to prove your hard skills, but not necessarily your soft skills. When possible, including any hard skills you learned from your job, no matter what job it is, works well to enhance soft skills. For example, if you waitressed at a pizza place, stating that you enhanced your communication skills in a high-stress environment is a good bullet point. However, a great bullet point would include how you did that: you collaborated with your coworkers by using a specific form of technology, and that caused a certain amount of customer satisfaction, and so on. 9
3. Your Formatting Doesn’t Include the “zingers” You may have the best content, best experience and best qualifications for a job, but if you are missing the “zingers,” or keywords, on your resume, you may be facing the “no” pile right off the bat. Unfortunately, some companies do use ATS, or an applicant tracking system, that looks for keywords to sort resumes into a “yes” and “no” pile. There are a few ways to approach this problem. First of all, referring to the job description may help when trying to decide what language or phrasing to use to meet the keywords. Another way to negate the yes and no pile is to prioritize networking events. Dordel states that the career fair and other events that focus on networking and real conversation between employers and possible employees don’t work like a “yes” and “no” pile. This is because, when students have the opportunity to have real interactions with employers, suddenly their resumes become threedimensional. Stressing about the “yes” and “no” pile has a few simple solutions: Check the job description, attempt to make appearances and prioritize having actual conversations. There is no one formula to build the perfect resume. A resume is you on paper, and everybody’s situation, experience and field are different. Although every resume is different, the three common mistakes you can make on your resume are all linked by the theme of not effectively explaining your strengths. Once you master describing yourself on one sheet of paper, you will notice that you’re proud of the document not because you “fixed mistakes” but rather because you highlighted what you have to offer as an employee. For further resources on resume building and career hunting, visit the University of Minnesota career services website. 10
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Ways to Use Linkedin to Your Advantage RILEY RASSMAN LinkedIn can be a very useful tool in preparing yourself for jobs, finding jobs and many other career-related things. For those that are unfamiliar with LinkedIn, LinkedIn is a professional social media site in which professionals can connect with each other, share posts, interact with one another and offer insights, among many other things. While LinkedIn is not the end all be all of finding jobs and being a successful young professional, it is a valuable tool that can help you along the way. Knowing how to maximize the benefits it can offer you will help you be more confident in your abilities as well as give you a bit of an edge over some other candidates. Listed below are some of our favorite ways to make use out of LinkedIn (some basic and some lesser-known) that will help users to prepare themselves for whatever career path they are after.
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1. Build Your Network Building your network is the first step of making use of LinkedIn. Without a network, LinkedIn does not have a lot to offer, it is basically like having an Instagram account without followers and without following anyone yourself. The crucial step of building your network allows you to connect with people you know — whether they are in your desired field or not — and stay up to date on what they are up to. Don’t discount anyone from your network, you never know who could offer you a valuable connection later on! Try to connect with as many people as you can. The more people in your network, the more potential connections and opportunities are out there for you in the future. As the old saying goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!”
2. LinkedIn Jobs Page Another great feature of LinkedIn is its Jobs page. Since LinkedIn is a very career-focused platform, it would only make sense that they would offer some sort of job board. You can search for jobs by title, skill or company, and further narrow down the search by location, job type, pay range and many other filters. Once you have searched for jobs on the platform a few times, it starts to understand what kind of job you are looking for and emails you recommendations based on your previous searches. This can be really helpful as they are usually freshly posted opportunities at that point with few other applications.
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3. Set Up Informational Interviews Adding onto the first tip of building your network, another great way to use LinkedIn to your advantage is to use it to set up informational interviews with people in your network. An informational interview is a great way to network and build relationships with professionals but is also a great learning experience. These interviews can offer you great insight into what people in your desired feel actually do on a daily basis instead of generalized job descriptions you get online. They are an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have regarding their work which will help you learn more about what you are looking for in a job. Keep in mind when reaching out to people to set these interviews up, it can feel awkward, but these professionals love to talk about what they do with someone who is interested in it!
4. LinkedIn Learning Courses Our final piece of advice is to utilize your access to LinkedIn Learning courses. As a student of the University of Minnesota, you have access to thousands of courses taught by professionals of various fields. The course list is seemingly endless and covers everything from data analysis to personal branding to K-12 educations and everything in between. There really is something for everyone to learn on LinkedIn Learning making it an amazing resource for students and young professionals trying to learn as much as they can. Listed below are just some of the many courses offered, broken down by the field they are related to.
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Marketing: Writing a Marketing Plan, Marketing on Instagram, Marketing Foundations, Marketing Tools: SEO, Setting a Marketing Budget Human Resources: Human Resources Foundations, Strategic Human Relations, Human Resources: Payroll, Talent Resources Finance and Accounting: Financial Accounting Part 1 and 2, Stay Ahead in Personal Finance, Financial Foundations, Accounting for Managers Sales: Asking Great Sales Questions, Selling to Executives, Sales Prospecting, Making Great Sales Presentations Entrepreneurship: Become a Small Business Owner, Start a Business Online, Entrepreneurship Foundations, Entrepreneurship: Raising Capital Overall, LinkedIn can be a very helpful tool in all things professional, business and career. There are many different facets to the platform and many ways in which it can help its user. Some of these ways include, but are not limited to: building your network, the LinkedIn Jobs Page, assisting in setting up informational interviews and the LinkedIn Learning courses. With all of these resources all in one place, LinkedIn is a super convenient one-stop-shop for young professionals and students to boost their resume and their network.
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How to Explain Why You Left Your Last Job JIANGLIN LIU Nowadays, the employee turnover rate is very high. This means that we need to be prepared to find our next work opportunity. When interviewing for your next job, it’s inevitable that the interviewer will ask about your reason for leaving. This article will give you some situations when interviewers would consider a job seeker who just resigned cautiously and how you can avoid the pitfalls. Among the many reasons for quitting, HR would want to consider it seriously if you mention any of the following situations:
1. The reason for leaving conflicts with the position you are applying for. HR may be concerned if the reason for your resignation relates to the nature of the position. For example, you say that “In my previous position as a programmer, I could not work with the overtime system of the company, and I felt too much pressure.” If you’re interviewing for a similar position, this is a no-no. This kind of answer will make the interviewer think that you don’t accept overtime work and can’t handle pressure, so you may not be qualified for a similar position. 16
2. You quit your job passively. If you quit passively, you may have been fired for incompetence, conflict with a supervisor or discipline violation. Such a person may still have those negative qualities and could be regarded cautiously by the hiring team.
3. You were doing something completely different before applying for the position. Say that you once worked in technology and then moved to the manufacturing industry. If you are now trying to get back into the technology industry, the interviewer will seriously consider your reasons for leaving. Your answer should be clear about your career plans and be honest about how you’ve stumbled, but how you’ve finally found your purpose. If you are able to do the job, the hiring team generally will accept your answer and you as a candidate for the position.
If any of the above situations happen and you want to get an offer, try these ways to avoid pits: 1. Avoid the reasons that are likely to lead to disagreement and misunderstanding and choose less divisive reasons. Remember, the dumbest thing you can do when a recruiter asks you why you’re leaving is refusing to answer. For example, if you left the company because the workload was too small and the work wasn’t worth it, you can say: I left the company because the work was easy and there wasn’t much room for growth. In this way, at least the employer won’t think you are too ambitious and unmotivated.
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2. Talk about objective reasons for leaving, not the subjective ones. Objective reasons are usually concrete reasons for leaving. They are difficult for an individual to control and have little to do with the job seeker themselves. For example, an objective reason for leaving your last job would be because it was too far away. Subjective reasoning is based on opinions and viewpoints, with obvious personal thinking. If you are leaving your job because you don’t like your boss — this is a subjective reason. However, avoid talking about your objective reasoning if the new company has the same faults.
3. Avoid poking fun at your old boss. This tip is essential. Even if the breakup wasn’t an amicable one, it’s important to remain calm and avoid saying negative things about your former boss or company. There are two reasons why you shouldn’t do this: 1. If you make fun of your former employer, the interviewer might worry that you will “smear” their company if you ever end up leaving. 2. With such a small HR circle, you can’t guarantee that your old company won’t hear of your negative words about them. After all, you chose the job, so you should look at yourself first. By doing this, you can learn from the experience and find out the crux of the problem. You will end up having a more professional demeanor, which HR can favor.
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4. Limit conversation on your old position and express your love for the new one. If you left because your previous company wasn’t able to meet your needs, then you can leave the old position with clean reasoning and express your expectations for the new one. For example, if you are leaving because there are no opportunities for advancement, you can say something like: “I have learned that your company is very influential in the industry and has great development potential. At present, you are also preparing for X and other projects. If I join this team, I will work hard to improve my abilities and make contributions to the company.”
5. There are things you don’t have to say. Interviewers are people too, meaning that they also get curious. Sometimes they might be curious about something that you shouldn’t elaborate on. Say that you are talking about your previous position and you were not promoted because your boss promoted the person who was a “brown-noser.” The interviewer may go on to ask if you had a bad relationship with your boss. As an interviewee, what should you say? There is no good answer. So don’t give out details that aren’t relevant to the rest of the conversation, especially if it could bring you down a dangerous line of questioning. After all, the more you talk, the greater the chances of being caught in a difficult situation. Even if you did leave because you didn’t fit in with the people in charge, it’s not a big deal. It takes two to cooperate and job seekers don’t take all the blame. Just because it didn’t work for your last company, doesn’t mean it won’t work for your new one. Besides, what you think is a fantastic excuse may not be a big deal to HR professionals. As long as your reasoning won’t harm your chances of getting the job, it’s fine to be honest when answering this question.
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One final note of caution for job seekers. It’s not terrible to fall into a pit but it is to fall in the same pit twice. Don’t force yourself into accepting a job you don’t really like just to get an offer. Following your heart and working smart are always long-term solutions to the problem!
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Finding Comfort in Your Career Journey KRISTIAN MASTERS During this journey of finding the right career path, students face the challenges of balancing their priorities and feeling good about their next step. Applying for internships may be time-consuming and discouraging for students, especially when their dream employer tells them they’re no longer in the interview process. They also may feel that if they aren’t in the “best program” for their intended career path, they won’t have the same opportunities as the people who are in that program. When thinking of how to approach the daunting task of finding an internship, job posting sites like LinkedIn, Handshake or Indeed are typically a good place to start. Many big-name companies like Amazon, Boston Scientific, General Mills, etc. seem to be appealing ways to lead you to success. Although these are all probably great opportunities, the sick truth is that they are very competitive. However, there are many other ways to kickstart your career path. Anything that you can do to put any sort of experience on your resume is going to be beneficial no matter what, as long as you work hard and make quality connections. Finding an internship, no matter the company, is going to give you the experiences you need and a better understanding of the functions of a business to someday allow you to be a competitive candidate at your dream employer. Taking the time to understand that you have a long career path ahead of you to find your dream job, is going to make finding your first internship a lot less stressful.
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There are many valuable links that the University has to help you feel more comfortable if you are unsure where to start. https://career.umn.edu/students is a good resource that helps find what careers your major can set you up for, different websites to find internships and job opportunities, and even ways on how to prepare for applying with resume and cover letter help and interview preparation. Students, like myself, may feel that their major or program isn’t the “best program” for their intended career path. One example of this includes the Business & Marketing Education (BME) major in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) compared to a Marketing major in the Carlson School of Management (CSOM). CSOM is a prestigious program that US News ranked in 2020 as the 19th best undergraduate business program in the country, which makes it more selective than CEHD. Being a BME major in CEHD, I found myself feeling that my opportunities were going to be limited compared to those in Carlson. I was a bit discouraged by this but quickly learned about the opportunities the BME major had to offer. One thing that helped me find comfort in my major is that 100% of BME students have at least one internship. This helped me understand that no matter my major or program, I am going to be able to show what I have learned about marketing and start my career somewhere. CEHD also gives you all of the different paths your major can take you and I was comforted to know that there were dozens of different ways I could go. It is also worth noting that if students work hard and follow transfer requirements, there are opportunities to transfer from CEHD to CSOM. Ranked the 26th best Computer Science school in the country, the College of Science and Engineering is another very competitive program to be admitted to. 22
There are also two Computer Science majors here at school, one in CSE and one in the College of Liberal Arts. I spoke with junior Wyatt Gustafson about his career path and how he managed the stress of applying for internships. Gustafson transferred from Indiana University into the College of Liberal Arts. He has decided that he wants to pursue a career in Computer Science but was not yet admitted into CSE. He talked about how finding internships was stressful because he was worried about employers not taking him seriously. After all, he was not in CSE. Gustafson used his resources with LinkedIn and Handshake, a platform run through the University, to try and find internships for the summer of 2021. He applied to many different companies when he finally received an offer that he ended up accepting. Although this position may not be his dream job, Gustafson said he understands that he is going to learn valuable skills that will give him opportunities to keep getting closer to his dream job. He has continued to work hard in school and was just admitted into CSE after the 2020 fall semester. Gustafson’s journey is an example of how students don’t need to be in the top programs or majors to land roles that will jumpstart your career. Being able to feel at ease about your future is very challenging for many people. But now, you have the resources and knowledge of how to battle that challenge. Using your resources is going to help create a lot of opportunities. Make sure to remember that although your first job won’t be your favorite, the work you put in and the skills you learn will lead you to your dream job.
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