Hypothesis: Students find making resumes difficult and stressful
We had the opportunity to interview a staff member in a Co-op office, they had a lot of knowledge about both the student and employer hypotheses.
Here is how the interview stacked up to our hypotheses:
Cover Letter-
Hypotheses 4- HALF yes- Not that they don’t know what elements it is how to write those elements correctly.
Hypotheses 5-NO- It depends on the instance- varys
Hypotheses 6- YES- Students may change their tone a little but nothing close to what they need to be doing.
Below are the key points that were identified:
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Personality and company FIT need to be expressed in the job application.
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demonstrating why they want to work through – personality, NOT by reiterating the company
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TAILORING is very important- to the job- very specific
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Process – ID what they are looking for and customize it specifically to your experiences
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When Lynn coaches students she asks them to bring in the job posting – then read it over and decide where to go
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Using phrases like: Have a conversation- tell me what you did here- Think about what you did at XX in a XX lens (translate)
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Cover letters:
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write like you are talking to someone else- lots of students write in the wrong way- write like you talk
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What can i contribute and can i learn
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Students don’t have enough content- knowing your background, reflective process, SKILLS MATRIX
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Lots of students over complicate the issue- simple and easy, say too much. Being direct. Capture a couple of Targetted things that show you who you are.
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students struggle with the transition between paragraphs flow in a quick and nice way
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LinkedIn:
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Great way to get info about companies
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Students don’t realize what it is for- not a static page but an active engagement to network
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Biggest thing from employers- They notice students have a template and the personality doesn’t go through