Feature Article: What Recruiters Wish College Job Applicants Knew: The Top 5 Tips for Getting a Job
A Quintet of Quick Questions: QuintZine's Q&A with a Career Expert
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Career Kick! A column by Teena Rose
Latest Additions: What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
This issue, I was struck by the assertions of both contributors -- Lindsey Pollak, author of
Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World, and regular
contributor Maureen Crawford Hentz -- that college students who want to land good jobs must be resourceful
and have good research skills.
This advice is important and often overlooked. Maureen's feature article and our Q&A article
with Lindsey are full of valuable nuggets like these.
This issue of QuintZine is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the April 16
shootings at Virginia Tech. It is with great sadness as we publish our College Grads issue that we
remember those whose lives were senselessly snuffed out before they had a chance to graduate.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master,
Certified Electronic Career Coach, and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Grad Job Tips
What Recruiters Wish College Job Applicants Knew: The Top 5 Tips for Getting a Job
by Maureen Crawford Hentz
As a college recruiter, I have seen some truly awful gaffes and mistakes made by otherwise (potentially) great candidates.
These blunders always make me question if they really are good candidates. What you have to understand as a college student is
that although the economy is rebounding, there is still stiff competition out there for jobs.
QuintZine's Q&A with Career Expert: Lindsey Pollak
Lindsey Pollak is author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World.
"My favorite job-hunting tip applies to job hunters of all ages, but is especially important for recent grads," said Lindsey Pollak,
in our Q&A interview with her. "The biggest complaint I hear from recruiters is that students don't know enough
about the companies to which they're applying. It's crucial to be extremely knowledgeable about any company you want to work
for, so you can show that you are a great match for the job you want and ready to jump right in.
Pollak's advice is "to set up Google news alerts for any companies on your target list," she says. "You will then
receive an
email whenever that company is in the news, which will keep you in-the-know about new products or services, company
announcements, stock changes, industry issues and, of course, opportunities. This info is also great to have on the tip of your tongue
while networking in your industry. Bottom line: Today's job-seekers need to be expert researchers. Thanks to the Internet, there
is no excuse not to be!"
Read more of Pollak's advice, including how to make the most of stereotypes surrounding new graduates, how to improve your
job-seeking odds, and what inspired her to write her book in
our full Q&A with her.
From the United States Office of Personnel Management comes a site for students to explore
career and job opportunities with the federal government. Job-seekers must register to use all features of the site,
including searching job listings and posting resumes.
The site provides tools for building, managing, and posting a resume, along with information on
e-Scholar Internship, and Grant and Scholarship Programs.
The site also offers tips for working for the federal government, a Career Interest Center
and links to other government sites.
QUINTESSENTIAL RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS has been re-launched!
Are you thinking about engaging the services of a professional writer for your resume, CV, cover letter,
thank-you letter, or other career-marketing correspondence? Before you take this step,
consider how a professional resume writer could benefit you.
externs.com --
an internship site for college students, where you can browse for both
traditional and virtual internships. With a virtual internship, you work
in a remote location (dorm room?) from the employer. No cost to job-seekers.
Jobs Finder
-- a job site for job-seekers searching for jobs in Ireland (and parts of the UK),
where you can search job listings (by job category, location, employment type, and keywords),
as well as post your CV, and receive new job listings by text to your mobile.
Includes some career advice. No cost to job-seekers.
ResTrust --
is the pioneer of resume certification for both job-seekers and employers. For job-seekers,
the company will enhance your credibility by verifying elements of your resume. For employers, the company
verifies that the information applicants present on their resumes if true. As a QuintCareers partner site,
job-seekers and employers who enter "Quintcareers10" will receive a 10 percent discount on services.
SkilledWorkers.com --
a site dedicated to assisting U.S. and Canadian job-seekers in the construction and skilled trade industries, where you can
(by employment type and location), or browse openings with featured companies -- as well as post your
job application for employers to find. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
CAREER KICK!
What's a Good Return When Sending a Resume?
A column by Teena Rose
I'm often asked this very question, and although I've had thoughts on a response, I routinely keep comments to myself. A job-seeker
recently resurfaced this topic, and so I thought a break in silence is finally warranted.
A good return differs among candidate, position, and industry. Although I've never seen specific stats on the subject, a good
return could be estimated upwards of 20 percent; two interviews for every 10 resumes sent. Some reading this figure might think
that number seems low, or even high.
Compare those numbers to speed dating. Entering a room of single people, you scan the attendees. Upon initial inspection,
there are likely only a handful that you'd want to sit down with -- and that number may decline as you get closer. You pre-qualify
people based on initial impression; attractiveness, hair style, and possibly, age. Hiring companies perform a similar pre-screening
process, weeding out candidates based on reasons such as depth of skills or academic credentials. It's the practice of screening out
candidates based on initial impression and preset criteria.
Sometimes there's more than meets the eye. You thought you were qualified based on the job posting, but those reading your resume
might feel differently. Maybe the company plans an upcoming change in technology or market focus, and those details didn't make the job
posting. The recruiter or hiring manager may be looking for credentials beyond those known by the job-seeker. Open and filled positions
continuously change, explaining why so many employees must revisit initially set salaries to include new and altered job responsibilities.
It's the nature of the beast: companies evolve and expand within complex environments.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
CollegeGrad.com research reveals that entry-level employers are
increasing their hiring by 7.3 percent in 2007. The site's Top Entry-Level
Employers list represents more than 170,000 jobs for the class of 2007. The list,
available online,
details 2007 entry-level hiring plans for more than 500 employers and includes links to the home page,
careers page, and college page for each employer.
Among the Top 500 Entry Level Employers, 60 percent planned to hire
more college grads in 2007 than in 2006. Twenty percent said they would hire
the same number and 20 percent planned to hire fewer college grads than in 2006.
The CollegeGrad.com survey results name Enterprise Rent-A-Car
as the No. 1 Entry-Level Employer for the fifth year in a row.
With 8,000 projected entry-level hires for 2007, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
predicted a 14 percent increase in its 2007 entry-level hiring.
According to a recent poll by CollegeGrad.com, 72 percent of college-grad job-seekers don't have a resume yet or
say theirs needs help. Following are the overall survey results:
How good is your resume?
Needs help - 45.2 percent
Perfect - 28.0 percent
I don't have one yet - 26.8 percent
As the class of 2007 finalizes its post-graduation plans, CollegeGrad.com announces the Top 25 cities for entry-level job
openings. The list represents more than 34,000 jobs for entry-level job seekers.
The list is available online
and includes links to job postings for each city.
New York and Los Angeles top the list for cities with the most
entry-level job openings. Houston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, PA,
round out the Top 5. New York, the largest city on the list, accounts
or about 3,300 entry-level jobs, while Los Angeles accounts for about
2,800 jobs. Miami, Chicago, Tampa, Dallas, and St. Louis round out the
top 10, all with more than 1,600 entry-level jobs.
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
Need a career expert for a story or article you're working on? Searching for college,
career, and job news? Interested in learning more about Quintessential Careers?
Our Press Room
is your one-stop location for getting the information and resources you need.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Office Politics
* Women and Men at Work
* Gossiping at the Office
* Defending Yourself at Work
* How to Transition Back to Work: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Parents
* Women as Breadwinners
* Maternity Leave
* 10 Job-hunting Mistakes to Avoid
* Your Job Search IQ
* Jobs on the Cutting Edge
* Should You Make a Lateral Career Move?
* Volunteer Your Way into a New Job
* First Impressions Quiz
* Be Ready for an Unexpected Job Interview
* Your Blog as a Resume?
* Font Facts: Resume Typography
* Resume Bullet Points: Before and After
* Social/Online Networking from the Recruiter's Perspective
* Salary Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid
* Use Your Resume to Negotiate a Higher Salary
* GLBT Job-search Issues
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more...
