518 Appendix A Competent Interviewingnetworking sites, adjust your privacy settings to ensure that you have not been,
and cannot be, tagged in any photographs that you wouldn’t want a potential
employer to see and that the details of your profile are not visible to anyone
other than your approved friends. Perform searches for your name and e-mail
address to make sure that any comments you’ve left on public forums or chat
rooms don’t come back to haunt you. Consider also asking your friends to
search and review your sites for negative information.The résumé. Begin by pulling together a résumé—a printed summary of
your education, work experiences, and accomplishments (see Figure A.2). It is
a vehicle for making a positive first impression on potential employers. An ef-
fective résumé tells just enough about you to make employers believe they may
need your skills and experience.
No two résumés look exactly alike, but most résumés should contain the fol-
lowing general information:c Contact information. Include both campus and home addresses if necessary,
phone numbers, and your e-mail address. Make sure that your voice mail
greets callers with a clear, professional message, and check it often. If you
have an odd or cute address for your regular e-mail (partygirl@provider
.com, [email protected]), consider opening another account
with a more serious name for all of your professional communication.
c Employment objective. Be concise and specific about what you’re looking for
in a position and your career goals. If you are applying for several types of
jobs, you should create multiple résumés tailored to specific positions.
c Education. List the institutions you have attended, their locations, and the
dates of attendance. List degrees received (or dates to be received), academic
majors, and areas of concentration. Awards and GPA can be listed if they
enhance your marketability.
c Work experience. If your work experiences are all in the same area, list them
in reverse chronological order (most recent ones first), focusing on concrete
examples of achievement or skills that you have mastered. Explain job func-
tions as well as titles. If, on the other hand, you have had a variety of jobs
(for example, waiting tables and being a camp counselor), reverse chrono-
logical order may not be very practical. Consider grouping actual employ-
ment and volunteer activities together in a way that best matches the job
responsibilities you are seeking. Remember that prospective employers read
this section carefully to discover how your experience, abilities, and achieve-
ments relate to their organization’s needs. You can make this easier for them
with a clear and organized presentation of yourself.
c Activities. For employers, participation in a variety of academic, extracur-
ricular, or social activities indicates that you are motivated and get involved.
Include activities that are relevant to your career objective, emphasizing ac-
complishments and leadership roles—and link them clearly together.
c Special skills. Do you speak fluent Spanish? Are you skilled in a particular pro-
gramming language? Have you managed a charity race in your community?1 18_OHA_45766_App_A_498_529.indd 518 8 OHA 45766 _AppA 498 _ 529 .indd 518 13/10/14 5:38 PM 13 / 10 / 14 5 : 38 PM