Marketing Your Total College Experience to Todays Employers University of Tennessee Professional Development Series Host: Russ Coughenour Speaker: Donald.

Marketing Your Total College Experience to Today’s Employers

University of Tennessee

Professional Development Series

Host: Russ Coughenour

Speaker: Donald Asher

Missing from the C.V.

Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

“I was just a volunteer”

Also: We don’t do a lot of candy around here…

Our Main Point

A 4.0 in the right major is not enough to get a job

Our Main Point

Important skills are indicated by more than your GPA and your major!

Even casual experiences can prove skills

Students need to get all the credit they deserve for skills, wherever and however they obtained them

We’re going to show you…

How to show skills in writing and in structured and unstructured verbal settings

We Want to Influence Your Approach

Content for…

Resumes

Broadcast emails

Networking interactions

Interviews of all types

How do you sell your total college experience

in terms employers can embrace??

We Also Want…

Consider picking up some key skills, or gaining some experiences that will prove you have these skills

It’s never too late to tweak your approach to getting all you can out of college…

Starting Point

What do employers want, and what do they say about new hires?

What Employers Value Most (NACE)

1. Work in a team structure (4.60 out of 5, 5 = “extremely important”)

2. Communicate verbally with persons inside and outside the organization (4.59)

3. Make decisions and solve problems (4.49)

4. Obtain and process information (4.46)

5. Plan, organize, and prioritize work (4.45)

6. Analyze quantitative data (4.23)

7. Possess job-specific technical knowledge (4.23)

8. Software proficiency (4.04)

9. Create and edit written reports (3.65)

10. Sell, persuade, influence others (3.51)NACE Job Outlook 2012

What (Some) Recruiters Say

“Hire for attitude,

train for skills”

But What They Really Want Is…

Both

What Employers Want in College New Hires (AACU, Hart Associates, LEAP)

In-Depth Knowledge 20%

General Knowledge 20%

Both 59%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Association of American Colleges and UniversitiesLiberal Education and America's Promise

More from the LEAP Study

12

Complete a significant project before graduation

Complete an internship or community-based field project

Learn about cultural and ethnic diversity in the United States

Learn about cultures in other parts of the world besides Western Europe and North America

Employers say they want from students…

84%

81%

60%

58%

Employers not impressed with education’s product (LEAP)

0.19

0.2

0.49

0.4

28%

26%

13

Doing good job Some improvement needed Significant improvement needed

60%

68%

Two-year colleges and universities

Four-year colleges and universities

From a Major SHRM Study

Two largest deficiencies of college graduates:

Writing

Leadership

What they mean by leadership: the ability to make decisions and get things done, i.e., agency

A Sad Truth

Many college graduates don’t write good

Bad writing, by some surveys, is the number one complaint about new hires

What This Means

Your degree, by itself, does not convey to employers that you have the skills they seek

ExamplesYour major doesn’t convey skillsets employers say they want:

Chemistry, they don’t assume you can work on a team, or manage your own project

English, they don’t even assume you can write

My brother hires engineers based almost entirely on soft skills

Can this engineer talk to a client?

Your Best Feature May Be Unpaid

“Organized SummerFest, an event drawing 5,000 students to participate in 17 alcohol-free activities, total budget of $23,600, all-volunteer staff of 35. SummerFest was the largest alcohol awareness event ever produced on our campus”

The Seven Skills Employers Seek

in a college graduate:

Writing

Quantitative Reasoning

Work on a Team

Communication & Presentation Skills

Organizational Abilities (projects and self)

Leadership (agency)

Global Perspective

Major and Minor and Electives

Activities

Internships

Shadowing

Field Work and Labs

Volunteering & Community Service

Jobs

Sports

Study & Travel Abroad

Hobbies & Avocations

Skills Evidence You Can Feature from Your Total College Experience

Dig Deep!

Even your letter to the editor is something that you can feature with an employer

Soft Skills Matter

Student activities, extracurricular and co-curricular activities often best ways to prove:

Sales skills

Organizational skills

Leadership experience

Drive and initiative

Charisma

Creativity

First, Survey Your Total Experience

What did you do?

What did you learn from it?

Build a Databank of Accomplishment

From any experience, from church to weekend pickup basketball…every experience counts

What did you do?

What did you learn from it?

Telling Stories in a Business Setting

Use your list of accomplishments as a source for stories, interview content, resume items…

Learn to tell a business story

Good stories have a point, they are rich conductors of information

Behavioral Interviewing Questions

Beg for story

“Tell me about a time when…”

Be ready with a selection:

Problem on a team

Dispute with a professor

Financial or time constraints

Hero Stories

Hero stories

You are the central actor in the story

You are the agent of action

Beginning – middle – end1. Introduce the characters and/or setting

2. Lay out the problem

3. Tell how you addressed the issue successfully

Has to have a happy outcome or you shouldn’t tell that story

One Good Formula

P.A.A.R.L.A.Problem

Analysis

Action

Result

What I Learned from this is…

How I Applied this in other contexts…

Identify Hard Skills and Soft Skills

Examples of Hard Skills:

Business-level proficiency in speaking and writing Spanish

Chem Lab bench skills with a spectrophotometer

Statistical analysis using SPSS, including regression analysis

Can design and modify web pages using RE-TULE v.8

Examples of Soft Skills

Can interact successfully with clients, for example:

Professional phone etiquette

Can make a presentation or pitch using PowerPoint

Can be charming at a business dinner sitting next to the decision-maker’s spouse

Examples of Soft Skills

All those intangibles…

Professional dress and demeanor

Punctual

Honest and forthcoming but…

Know what not to say in a meeting or to a client

Can manage my work without constantly seeking approval

Experiences vs. Accomplishments

Everybody showed up, but what did you contribute?

Routine duties don’t sell

Accomplishments sell

In every experience, identify your contributions and accomplishments, however grand or small (we’ll devise a method to sort and prioritize them in a moment)

Quantification

On the raw listing of every experience, quantify everything

Quantification conveys verifiabilty

“I taught 16 students, 12 and 13 years old, the four swimming strokes used in the Olympics”

“I delivered papers to 162 homes in the neighborhood, seven days a week”

“Out of the 32 campers in my cabin, 100% signed up for camp for the following summer”

Secret Twist to Quantities

Advanced technique:

Always consider the context for a number.

Do you present it as a % or as a raw number?

Do you present it in comparison to someone else’s performance, a goal, or a prior mark?

Ex.: All the Same Root Datum

I sold 157 wombats

I sold more wombats than anyone else in the company

I sold 123% of my assigned goal for wombats

I sold more wombats than the prior rep for my territory

I won a sales award for sales of wombats

I was fired because I didn’t sell enough trilobites, and wombats were really a sideline

Which Brings Us to: Discretion

Every single thing in your resume and every single thing you say in an interview has to be true…But you don’t have to reveal damaging information, or even just less impressive information

Present the best side of the truth

Here’s the Covenant

You have to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, but you don’t have to blurt out the whole truth

Example

Why an employer will ask you: “What’s the worst mistake you ever made?”

Back to Your Database of Accomplishments

Consider the financial or other ramifications of your contributions

In the university development office, my telemarketing team brought in over a million dollars to the annual fund, helping to reduce the need to raise tuition

Ramifications

My letter to the editor got the weekend parking regulations changed for everybody, students, faculty, and staff

I got the manager to reduce the portion sizes for desserts by half, reducing costs by approximately $13,000 per year, and eliminating over a million unneeded calories

A Joke, but a Fun Example

On my last job I was assigned to sweep up the dock. I requisitioned a 12” broom to replace the old 10” broom…

thereby creating a 20% increase in efficiency

Search for the Superlative!

first

most

only

youngest

highest

top

best

fastest

Search for the Superlative!

Selected to go to Washington, DC for training

vs.

Only intern selected to go to Washington, DC for training

Search for the Superlative!

Named team leader

vs.

Youngest employee in the history of the company to be named a team leader

I Know You’ve Heard This…

Internships matter

80+% of employers want you to have had one

May trump major, grades, and intentions

Summer, fall, winter, spring, full-time, part-time, paid, unpaid, volunteer, even just a couple of hours a week…

What’s new:

Postbaccalaureate Internships

Virtual Internships

Convert Language to Employer’s

Students use college language, and don’t know industry jargon

Skill claim of student: “I am good at writing and editing”

What the employer wants to hear or read:

“Skilled copywriter, editor, and proofreader. Detailed knowledge of all major style guides, including AP, Chicago, APA, and others”

To Jargon or Not to JargonJargon identifies you as an insider!

Want to work in a hotel? Put F&B in your resume…

Want to work for a car dealer? Put F&I in your resume…

Want to work on Wall Street? Know the difference between buy side and sell side

Want to work in student services? Know not to call them “dorms”

Want to work in HR? Put HRIS in your resume

Want to work in the movie industry? Know the difference between a ‘best boy’ and a ‘grip’

Want to work in venture capital? Mention mezzanine funding in your interviews

RESUMES & INTERVIEWS should be full of job-specific language

How Do You Learn Industry Lingo?

Get out there and talk to some employers!

Aiden gets a job…

Accessing the Right Employers

You need to learn the right lingo!

You need to learn the secret handshake!

Shadowing & Field Visits

Informational Interviewing

Internships

Shadowing/Field Visits/Info IntQuestions to Ask:

1. How did you get into this?

2. What kind of preparation is typical to get into this? Is that really required, or just the typical approach?

3. What was different from what you expected? What was the biggest surprise when you went into this? Any myths you want to shatter for me?

4. Who else does this? What other companies? Who else should I be talking to?

5. What ensures continued advancement?

6. What is the typical career path out of this position or field? What does this prepare you for next? For example, What’s next for you?

7. What advice do you have for someone like me?

How to Talk $

Don’t ask about their salary or salaries at their company. Ask,

“What could a person expect to make in a position like this?” or,

“What would be a typical salary industry-wide for a position like this?”

then subtract 10 to 40 percent

Stumble onto an Opening?

“That sounds like a very interesting opportunity. How would I go about formally applying for that position?”

Soup Ingredients Rule

Not by weight or volume, but in order of importance to your audience

What knowledge, skills and abilities are critical to performing in this position?

What kind of person or personality would thrive in this situation? 

If you were hiring someone for this position, what would be most important to you?

Prioritize & Highlight

For each experience, in the resume and in the interview, feature information

in order of importance to the audience

Selling the Major, Minor & Electives

Can list specific classes and course content on the resume, under the “Education” heading

Don’t just use actual class name

“Coursework included…”

Especially effective for minors and electives

E.g., Music major seeking jobs in business and marketing:

B.A., Music, Ginormous UniversityCoursework included:

The Business of Music

Introduction to Marketing

Business Writing, including Writing to Persuade

History of Rock & Roll, including analysis of Marketing & Promotions of R&R Legends

Also includes skills picked up across several courses

Coursework included:

B2C E-Marketing

Covered in four different classes, “Marketing 101,” “Psychographics,” “Principles of Web Portal Design,” and “Senior Symposium: Trends & Developments”

Education, Coursework, Honors, Activities:

Experience Section of Resume

Don’t write “Jobs,” as a heading, write “Experience”

Full-time, part-time, paid, unpaid, volunteer, even casual

List Pertinent Volunteer Experiences on Resumes Just Like a Job

Poetry Slams!

Organizer

Organized and produced a poetry slam season. Identified and featured poets from students and faculty. Brought in guest poets from the surrounding community. Set up stage and event space. Worked with Campus Affairs, a department of the President’s Office, to publicize our readings. Obtained first local media coverage of a poetry event by students in the history of the college. Learned to plan, organize and promote an event, serve as MC, serve as a spokesperson, and create enthusiasm in the larger community.

Volunteer, Unpaid Position:

SportsWhat did you learn or demonstrate? In an interview you can mention…

Time management

Team work skills

Ability to take direction (coaching)

Leadership

Train others

Etc.

Using “Additional” on Resume

ADDITIONAL

Knowledge of business protocol in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Fluent in Spanish; basic Portuguese. Travel to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Spain, Japan

Hobbies include translating science fiction from English into Spanish, and designing and flying novelty kites

Warnings

Don’t put height, weight, marital status, date of birth, SS number, or place of birth on most American resumes

Don’t put citizenship status (some exceptions)

Don’t put high school (some exceptions)

Make a Systematic List

Every time you revise your resume

Every time you prep for an interview

What skills will be valued, and in what order?

How can you show that you possess these skills???????????

Again, Skills Most Commonly Sought

in a college graduate:

Writing

Quantitative Reasoning

Work on a Team

Communication & Presentation Skills

Organizational Abilities (projects and self)

Leadership (agency)

Global Perspective

Again: Where Skills Can Come From

Classes

Activities

Jobs

Internships

Sports

Travel

Self Study

Don’t leave any skill or experience out if it will impress an employer

Finally, Ask Yourself

Do you need to pursue an activity or experience to be able to prove a skill that is critical for your career goals?

If so, get on it! It’s not too late!

Good Luck!

We hope you’ll use these techniques

to market all your college experience to employers,

in resumes and in interviews,

in the language that the employers use themselves