Landing a job is a process, not luck, which starts with creating a résumé and writing a cover letter.
These documents can lead to the next step–an interview with an employer.
“A résumé is a marketing tool that students utilize in order to get an interview,” said Jaime Villanueva, senior coordinator for career education for UTRGV’s Career Center.
Résumés come in different formats. The Career Center has a specific template for students.
Villanueva said a résumé should be aesthetically pleasing, have a good flow or balance, and be in chronological order from present to past within 10 to 15 years’ experience.
Juan Rodriguez-Nieto, director of the Career Center, said the information on the résumé has to be accurate and the contact information on it has to be active. He recommends using an email address with your first and last name and a number.
“Using your university email address, for a student, is a very professional way to do it,” Rodriguez-Nieto said.
Another important tip is to fit the résumé to the job description.
“Whenever you are applying for a position, it is very important to look at the job description and tailor your résumé to fit that job description,” Rodriguez-Nieto said. “… The system will scan the job description, identify the key words and then it will scan the résumé looking for those skill sets. … If they don’t have those keywords, there’s not going to be a good match.”
To write a successful résumé, your writing has to be good and contain no spelling errors, said Louis Falk, a professor in the Communication Department.
“If you are writing one, you need to have someone else look over it,” Falk said.
What a résumé contains may vary. Villanueva explained what is contained in the Career Center template.
“Under the educational component, I would spell out everything. Don’t use acronyms,” Villanueva said. “If you have a GPA above a 3.0, we recommend that you add it on to your résumé. If you didn’t hit the 3.0 threshold, then just keep it out. … If [you’ve] done internships or study abroad, it’s already listed as well and some of the takeaways.”
The Career Center does not recommend adding information regarding your high school education on your résumé.
“High school prepared you for college, college prepares you for your career path,” Villanueva said. “There are some exceptions, like those incoming freshmen that have no college. Maybe first semester, but after the second semester, all that high school stuff needs to come off your résumé.”
He also suggested using action verbs under the “experience” section of the résumé.
“Start with an action verb, [such as] ‘awarded,’ ‘generated,’ ‘facilitated,’ ‘executed,’” Villanueva said. “Why? Because that showcases value.”
The well-written résumé may determine if the student gets the job, or not.
“Have other people read it and give you advice,” Lovett said. “This document should be very formal and should have zero defects. It needs to be perfect, ’cause if we see an error in a résumé then, probably, we wouldn’t consider that candidate further than that.”
When employers advertise a job, they may receive dozens or more résumés.
“When we find one with a spelling error, or an error, that’s when we eliminate very quickly,” Lovett said.
An employer or the company may tell the student that the résumé is important and the cover letter is optional.
“If that happens, our recommendation is that students should submit a cover letter,” Rodriguez-Nieto said.
Lovett compared it to an introduction.
“It refers the reader to the résumé. … It’s a degree of politeness, you might say, to have a cover letter,” he said, adding that it reminds the reader which position the applicant is applying for and about the qualifications.
A cover letter is also important because it tells the employers why they should look at your résumé in the first place, which might lead to an interview.
“Don’t exceed one page, address it to an individual, sound positive and confident, write an attention-getter introduction–why you are interested in the position [and] where you found the position,” Villanueva said.
Interview
The cover letter leads to the résumé and the résumé, to the interview. The interview is the most important step in the hiring process.
It is used by the employer to see “[if] they visually see you in that position,” Villanueva said.
“Do you have the qualifiers, experiences to be successful,” Villanueva said.
In an interview, students should be prepared to ask questions, but should not ask any questions that signify that they did not research the job, Falk said.
“The traditional ones are probably going to be … ‘Tell me about yourself,’ and this is where it’s really important that you paint a very positive picture, that you talk positive about the degree of the university, your family, your community. Give a positive impression because that is what employers want to see,” Lovett said about the questions employers might ask.
Some questions that should not be asked in an interview are about salary and vacation. But if students are interested in the company, they should ask about the hiring process, Rodriguez-Nieto said.
Post-interview
During the waiting period after the interview, have a plan of action on what to do afterward, Villanueva said.
If the first employer does not respond in a reasonable period of time, start applying for other jobs. Do not get emotionally attached to a specific job.
However, “only apply for jobs that you qualify for,” Villanueva said.
The Career Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in Cortez Hall 129 on the Brownville campus. In Edinburg, the center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Student Services Building in Edinburg.
