1. Job Seeking Skills Planning for YOUR future!

2. Assess Yourself  Find out where your interests lie  Know what jobs fall into your career cluster  Learn the qualifications needed  Resource: kuder.org Step by step planning process

3. Employability / Soft Skills Skills Most Sought After by Employers  Communication Skills Listening, Verbal, Written “Exceptional communicator who effectively conveys information verbally and in writing”  Technical Skills Word processing, spreadsheets, email  Flexibility, Adaptability “Flexible team player”

4. Cont’d  Interpersonal Skills  Leadership Skills  Multicultural Sensitivity and Awareness  Planning / Organizing Goal setting,  Problem Solving Ability to find solutions using creativity and reasoning

5. Main Goal: To obtain an interview Cover Letter Include WITH your resumé Also known as -- Letter of Application **TIP** Know WHO to write the letter to.

6. Resumés -- 4 types:  Simplified ***  Chronological Most traditional By order of jobs & education  Functional Dates are down-played Changing careers, gaps in careers, volunteer work  Electronic Via internet, scannable Web resumés: multimedia format  Audio, graphics, video, pictures

7. Name, Address, Phone, Email:  No nicknames  School (college) AND home  Cell phone – professional voice message  Email should be one that you check DAILY reply within 24 hrs. have one for junk & one for business professional name

8. Objective:  Optional  Should match the job you are applying for  Be as specific as possible  Go online and search for good examples

9. Education:  Starts accumulating in 9 th grade  GPA 3.0 +  Remember to list special programs (ex: Career Tech) or training workshops you have attended

10. Work Experience:  What’s relevant??? EVERYTHING!!! Community service Unpaid Internships  No work experience??? Use simplified/functional style  Use action verbs trained, assisted, organized

11. Skills/Abilities:  List specific things you know how to do MS Word – mail merge, document formatting (letters, memos, reports) Communication Skills – customer service training, conflict resolution training Programming - Java, HTML, C++

12. Activities/Leadership Roles:  ***Critical***  YOU must be willing to do something in order to build this part of your resume  Once in college, get involved in NEW activities stop listing things from high school  Don’t list things you only attended once

13. Honors & Achievements:  What makes YOU unique Started a system that improved efficiency Good performance reviews Student – performance evaluations Promotions Leadership roles

14. Interests (optional):  List something that relates to the job Organizing things (admin. jobs) Programming skills (computer jobs) Language skills are VERY important Math - Working with numbers (finance)

15. TIPS:  Be concise, one page  Best qualities – be honest!  Relevant experiences  Avoid “buzzwords” (multitasker, versatile)  Neat, attractive  LIMIT bold, italic, underlines  Use Spell Check (it won’t catch everything) Errors = TRASH CAN!!!

16. Reference Request  Ask Early Personally Someone who represents you well  Provide the writer with: Specific details about the job’s qualifications Addressed, stamped envelope  Waive your right to read the letter