Topic 7: Resumes and Cover Letters 3/26/12-04/01-12

Hello everyone,

We are on Topic 7 this week, covering what hopefully is a familiar topic. If you haven’t yet, you will be expected to create a resume for your cornerstone class along with a cover letter. So let’s talk about what makes up a good resume and just what is a cover letter exactly.

Your resume is a one stop shop for all of your greatest hits. Now I know you all have accomplished so much, but it’s important to try to keep your resume simple. I would suggest using bullet points and keeping your resume at one page (even if you have to delete some things). Use your resources and do some searching on the web for resume builders. When creating my resume, I used a template on the Mac. You want your resume to stand out and be easily remembered. One thing I did was use a template that allowed me to add a picture at the top corner above my name. This way, the employer could establish a peripheral connection with me before we ever met and when reviewing my resume later the employer would easily be able to connect my resume with my interview. So you want to think what makes your resume stand out?

Well, a cover letter could help you to stand out in a crowd. It allows you to write a few paragraphs about things that just couldn’t fit on your resume even before you get into an interview. Essentially, a cover letter explains your interest in the company. You should include your experience here and what would make you best for the job you are applying to. Don’t forget to mention the job position. Remember, you want to sound knowledgeable about the company, so do your research and remember to have a few people read over your letter for errors.

If you’re having trouble building your resume or establishing a cover letter, UCF has a department called Career Services. They are around just for you so that you can bring your resume in and have it reviewed by staff that has professional advice as to what makes up a good resume. They also can help you make connections to graduate school or internships. You can find more information here: http://www.career.ucf.edu/

So what are your tips and tricks when it comes to writing a resume and/or cover letter?

Have you ever written a cover letter before?

Do you have any experience in hiring and can give pointers as to the dos and don’ts of this process?

Are there any other resources you can share with everyone?

Remember it’s an open response so you don’t have to answer these questions as they are. They are simply to get you started.

-The Mentors

Topic 5: Interdisciplinarity & The Professional Life 3/12/12 - 3/18/12

Hello!  Here we are in week 5 of our blog, and this week’s topic relates to prior job experiences and skills, professional opportunities, and how interdisciplinarity relates to and interacts with these concepts.  First, we are going to ask you to share about your professional history to date.  Share a little about the types of jobs you have had, if any.  If you have not had any specific job experience, feel free to discuss any volunteer experience instead.  Have you have participated in any internships or externships?  If so, how have they promoted professional development for you?  Did any of your work experiences lead you to a particular area of focus in your interdisciplinary studies?  Can you identify ways that your career goals have fluctuated and changed?

When evaluating past professional experiences, it is important for each of us to identify our strengths and weaknesses, as we each have them.  Some people are naturally good with detailed-oriented, focused assignments while others are much more people and customer service oriented.  What have you found to be your strongest and weakest job skills?  Try to identify at least one strength and one weakness with regards to your work experience.  Once identified, we should always be striving to build up where we are weak realizing that we will never be perfect but should always strive to be better.  What are some strategies or ways you can actively improve upon the weakness you identified?

Lastly, we will ask you to consider and discuss your personal philosophy regarding your professional life and work experiences?  How has it impacted your work life thus far?  How do you see it relating to your future profession?  Would you say that your philosophy is interdisciplinary in nature?  Something that can be immensely helpful is to identify a couple of professional organizations that would provide useful to your future career.  Try to find and list at least two relevant organizations in your post.

Now for a shameless plug for UCF’s Office of Experiential Learning.  If you are interested in finding work, an internship, or any professional experience potentially related to your areas of study, be sure to check out the options available to you at their office.  The staff will link you with a coordinator specific to your studies that will help you with your resume, interviewing skills, and accessing job and internship opportunities.  Here is the link to their website to get you started!  http://www.coop.ucf.edu/

A quick word about the timing of this post as it relates to your portion of the assignment…this post is live tonight Sunday, March 4^th even though tomorrow is the beginning of spring break.  You are by no means required to post on the blog over spring break, which is from March 5^th to March 11^th.  This topic is intended for the following week of March 12^th to March 18^th, but we are required to put it up tonight!

As always, please be sure to post thoughtful responses to the topics and sign with your first and last name.  Enjoy your spring break!

~ The Mentors