The Resume Building/Interview Process/Job Hunting tips thread...

[superunknown23]

Online job boards are black holes. Those resumes go nowhere.
People get jobs thru networking (family, friends, aquaintances). Qualifications are almost secondary.
Since white folks dominate Corporate America, this is especially hard for minorities (you gotta be really exceptional or have connections).

 

[ProfessionallyTrill]

shyt has been really hard. I'm realizing I'm too "real" to be working for someone.

Looking to start my own biz soon

 

[malbaker86]

Do you guys get anything out of Linked In? It seems to me that there is absolutely nothing to gain except another way of getting someone's email address.

Ironically I got an interview this upcoming Friday from a job I found on LinkedIn. But I agree, it's pretty shytty

 

[Dirty Mcdrawz]

Right now I'm networking with this guy that works at UFC 360 magazine. I'm trying to get my foot in the door for their graphic design rand photographer assistant by doing cover samples and showing samples of my photography. It feels like I'm close but i don't know man. After I graduated I had an interview with Disney for a internship making 40k. They were gushing about my portifolio and telling me they love my work and personality. Thought I was for sure going to get the position...... 2 weeks later they called and told me they were going to go with someone else. shyt broke my heart

 

[unit321]

Appreciate you uppin this breh. I actually gave my director my two weeks notice 3 weeks ago after an incident at the office set me over the edge. Subsequently, she offered me a transfer to a different department, a 20% raise and an opportunity to head up a new Project in my own image.
It wasn't what I wanted or intended to have happen since I planned on quitting and picking up some BS job in the interim to pay the bills, but this new job and everything that came with it will let me pay off 2/3's of my debt, pay for my GRE to get into the grad school program I want and HR certification test all in one shot. Sometimes things work out for the best, and with these positives I'm in a better position to get into an HR position I really want while also building a nest and getting out of the check to check grind I've been in.

Ballsy move. Quitting without a job already lined up in a so-so job market is like asking to be poor and not really a good idea.

 

[EQ.]

 

[Ohene]

Anybody have phone interview tips? I've had a few recently for out of state positions and don't think they went very well. It's tough to get a feel when you aren't face to face.

Very tough. Lost out on a dream summer job for this reason last year. Fml

 

[Regular_P]

Very tough. Lost out on a dream summer job for this reason last year. Fml

So frustrating.

I'm just gonna move to the place I want to live and look for a job once I get there. No sense in trying from long distance.

 

[EQ.]

Good shyt all around brehs Currently looking to find a new gig in the Fitness world, alot of these posts and advice are helping tremendously. Grazie!

 

[Willy Waffle]

Good shyt all around brehs Currently looking to find a new gig in the Fitness world, alot of these posts and advice are helping tremendously. Grazie!

question, are you going to school to get into the fitness field? I've really considered it, but not trying to go back to school for the shyt. i know there are online classes which takes a few month and then you get a certification. but the thing is, i don't know if it's useful/credible.

 

[Francis White]

By far this is one of the better threads on here, I had started at the time a great job in design in December but the guy who owned the place was a madman, a total psycho and I quit after 6 days there. I was trying to find another job in the field but was coming up short and living in NYC with no job my money was almost gone until last Friday . I had thought about going back into corporate again as a buyer and I posted on LinkedIn on last Tuesday and got a reply and interview set up for last Friday and using tips and responses from this thread I got a job in the corporate office as a buyer making more money than I got in design and I'm the only black guy there in the office , the place is unionized and in a year I should be sitting pretty, so I salute this thread to the fullest, being prepared and willing to address your flaws is a must in this era. I mean I was one week away from losing my apartment and everything. So everyone in here who provided useful tips, I salute you .

 

[sm0ke]

since graduation, my job search has been a nightmare. I've given in and started applying to internships, but I'll post my resume here to see what needs to be revised. I'm applying to jobs related to finance and economics, mostly Financial/Data/Statistical analyst positions.

 

[BROS]

- reformat ASAP. use lines that stretch across the entire page for each section instead of underlining. you can look up how to do this, just type "---" (three dashes) or "===" (three equals) and hit enter. also switch out the default bullet point format, people notice that and it looks like you haven't put in enough effort
- generally, you need to be more specific in your skillset. "statistical models, econometrics, matrix alegbra" could be any number of things. mention the exact models or procedures, the more complicated the better
- on the same note, software skills are usually very important to employers. "1+ year" with Excel makes you sound underqualified. weren't you using it throughout high school? I would separate the Excel/Access/R stuff to a "Skills" section. list the exact software functions that you are familar with like "Excel - lookup functions, data management & filtering, pivot tables" "R - multivariate regression, ... , etc."
- its good to include work experience, but I would seriously trim that section, most of it would be irrelevant to an analyst role

good luck - not to discourage you but you are definitely going to need internship experience before breaking into financial analysis. either take a paid internship or make sure people get hired out of the program. DO NOT WORK FOR FREE

 

[ProfessionallyTrill]

@BROS you seem like you know this HR shyt pretty good.

Instead of "Objective", would a "Core Competencies" after "Education" help with matching the keywords the employers are looking for?

 

[EQ.]

question, are you going to school to get into the fitness field? I've really considered it, but not trying to go back to school for the shyt. i know there are online classes which takes a few month and then you get a certification. but the thing is, i don't know if it's useful/credible.

I graduated last year and got my degree in Exercise Science and just got my NASM PES certification, i'm doing the personal trainer thing at a gym but i'm looking to work as a strength and conditioning coach at decent university or fingers crossed a pro team. Unfortunately, you need some serious pull/ networking to be hired at a young age at a position like that.

If you're not looking to head back to school then i would suggest looking at getting some fitness certifications to help your credibility in the field. Personally, i trust NASM because everyone i look up to in the fitness world has either one or multiple of their certifications on hand. There is also NSCA if you are looking at the getting a Strength and Conditioning cert. My advice , figure out what part of the fitness/health world you want to be involved in ( coaching, strength/conditioning, nutrition etc) and look for the most applicable ways you can get into the field.