killer resumes and acing the job interview for new graduates

[abcxyz]

to be honest, this is how i go through resumes of new graduates. if at any one step, the resume does not match the criteria, i junk the resume and the person does not get a call for an interview :

1) read cover letter - needs to grab me
2) good school? good school reputation?
3) check major - fit for the job?
4) check school activities - look for leadership roles and achievements (most important, actually)
5) good grades? (the least of my concerns, actually)


for interviews ---- looking for the following :

1) confidence
2) verbal communication skills - communicating his/her ideas, persuasiveness, correct grammar a must
3) quality of ideas and opinions (important!)
4) ability to handle pressure - i ask tough questions
5) being late for the interview and not dressing well for the interview is an automatic delete!

[mac_bolan00]

i encountered too many interviewers like you when i was still in makati. that's one reason why i'm working in quiet quezon city right now and have things going pretty much the way i want them to.

[bachelor_zone]

to abcxyz:What can u say about the graduates of East Asia College of Information Technology (an eduactional partnership of IBM Phils,IWI and SM shoemart).I heard from a friend that this is a good IT school.May nainterview ka na bang galing sa school na to?Am looking for a good school for my brother.Ano ba maganda?You mentioned above that ur looking for a candidate that came from a good school.Don't mention La Salle n Ateneo di namin kakayanin ang budget dun.The tuition fee of east asia is 18,000 per sem.Tri-mestral din sila.Ano ba magandang school basta di dapat lumampas sa 20 thou per sem and reputable naman.Asia Pacific in Magallanes.Ok din ba dun? Pls. share ur opinions.Thanks

Nasa topic pa ba ako.Medyo related naman eh.Patulan nyo na pls.

[jobls_prsn]

For abcxyz:
Would you go for the person with high grades and no extra curricular or the person with a lot of extra curiccular and low grades?

Do you have tips for writing a cover letter that grabs the attention of the HR person?

[abcxyz]

Originally posted by bachelor_zone
to abcxyz:What can u say about the graduates of East Asia College of Information Technology (an eduactional partnership of IBM Phils,IWI and SM shoemart).I heard from a friend that this is a good IT school.May nainterview ka na bang galing sa school na to?Am looking for a good school for my brother.Ano ba maganda?You mentioned above that ur looking for a candidate that came from a good school.Don't mention La Salle n Ateneo di namin kakayanin ang budget dun.The tuition fee of east asia is 18,000 per sem.Tri-mestral din sila.Ano ba magandang school basta di dapat lumampas sa 20 thou per sem and reputable naman.Asia Pacific in Magallanes.Ok din ba dun? Pls. share ur opinions.Thanks

Nasa topic pa ba ako.Medyo related naman eh.Patulan nyo na pls.

sorry - have not interviewed anyone from East Asia nor Asia Pacific. so no opinion there.

am also not from IT. i guess among IT practitioners, certain schools would have a reputation and they should know.

what i know works for IT graduates is it helps a lot to have SAMPLES of your work, an original work that you have done. having your own website also helps. the websit and sample of your work ought to showcase your skills and/or interest.

[abcxyz]

Originally posted by jobls_prsn
For abcxyz:
Would you go for the person with high grades and no extra curricular or the person with a lot of extra curiccular and low grades?

Do you have tips for writing a cover letter that grabs the attention of the HR person?

i would consider both - person with high grades and no extra curricular; and person with lots of extra curricular but low grades.

high grades/no extra c to me means the person might have good intellectual abilities but might need to work on leadership or people skills. in the interview i will probe on leadesrhip and people skills.

low grades / lots extra c to me means the person might have good people/leaderships skills. in the interview i will probe on how responsible/irresponsible the person is. will also probe in intellectual skills and comunication skills.

i like cover letters that are :

* error free, absolutely no typo or grammar flaws
* shows the person did some research about the company and mentions a skill or interest that is specifically applicable to the company
* shows a lot of interest on the job
* has spunk, is confident

go check out monster.com they have lots of tips there too.

[jobls_prsn]

thanks

[abcxyz]

what do hr practitioners think?

[DiyosA]

>3) check major - fit for the job?

Reality dictates it. You don't stand a chance to get employed if your degree is far from your actual abilities. For the convenience of the employers, they want concrete evidence (i.e., aside from the portfolio of your work) - your diploma. There are many graduates there with relevant courses anyway, they would say. The company wouldn't risk on employing "magicians" or say, those who are bullheaded and almost-technically qualified for a particular position.

For example, a self-taught artist.

[hodgepodge]

Do hr ppl know when "binobola" lang sila ng new graduates? How? Sometimes its really hard to strike a balance between sounding good, confident and pure "bola".

[abcxyz]

Originally posted by hodgepodge
Do hr ppl know when "binobola" lang sila ng new graduates? How? Sometimes its really hard to strike a balance between sounding good, confident and pure "bola".

its really hard to tell if its "bola". but when i feel its "bola", i change the topic in the meantime, then go back to it after awhile and ask other qualifying questions. will also probe for more details. if the person is unable to provide details, "bola" iyon.

[Leigh]

I used to check and revise resumes for other students when i was still in college. I have observed that certain schools have certain resume looks...in Ateneo - it's usually just one page and just one line descriptions of their participation in activities. In DLSU, they have this resume with maximum of two pages.

Basically the resume should be error free, i always told the students that they should ask at least 2 people to read their resume before sending them to companies. Try to highlight your skills that you possess in relation to your activities in school.

for interviews:
- again, research always helps, get to know more about the company, visit their site or ask people about how's it working there. Also read about the industry the company is in, plus their competitors.

[aji]

Could anyone of you give me tips on how to deal with panel interviews? I'm having a big and serious one in a few weeks time. I need some views from the "experts". Thank you!

[aji]

Another thing, Should resumes contain high school achievements? I notice some of my friends include high school awards received way back in their freshman year (1st year HS- onwards). Is that proper? Would that clutter the resume or would that concretely show off your capabilities?

[abcxyz]

Originally posted by aji
Could anyone of you give me tips on how to deal with panel interviews? I'm having a big and serious one in a few weeks time. I need some views from the "experts". Thank you!

treat panel interviews like any other interview. you need to do the same kind of preparation and mental attitude.

these things work :

> do some research on the company and products, form an opinion on them
> work on a few "images" you want to cultivate about yourself and make sure your examples about you and your answers go back to these images. work on a very few anjd select images, no more than 3 --- "leader", "fast learner", "good communicator" for example could be the images you want to cultivate. make sure these images are meaningful to the company, to the job and you can deliver.

panel interviews normailly mean they are in a hurry to hire. it also means you might not get another chance, so make sure you pass the panel interview.

it would be good to connect and cultivate a dialogue with one panel interviewer who appears to be the person who has the most power to hire.

but dont snob the others. dont ignore everyone elese bec if you do they will be antagonostic against you.

[abcxyz]

Originally posted by aji
Another thing, Should resumes contain high school achievements? I notice some of my friends include high school awards received way back in their freshman year (1st year HS- onwards). Is that proper? Would that clutter the resume or would that concretely show off your capabilities?

clutter on the resume is a good consideration.

but the more important consideration is ---- will including the high school achievements help your cause? will it improve the resume on the over-all? how meaningful are they? use your judgement.

also, if there is a noticeable difference between the high school and college achievements, be prepared to explain why there is a significant difference.

[aji]

Thank you abcxyz !

[anwarlorenzo]

sometimes it pays to be spunky pala

[ahock]

abcxyz

Can you also give info about applicants with experience already. What field are u into nga pala?????????

[aji]

Question: Should I recognize the panel when the panel interview starts? If yes, would that make me look bad if I didn't? If no, would that make me look good?