KyleWGood day, Knights! My name is Kyle Wuensch. I am a General Business major here at the College of Business, with an extensive background in recruiting. I have written for the Career Pros blog before, in which I talk more about my background as a recruiter. I talked about a few, of what I consider to be important, career tips that you should follow. These tips included:

  • The importance of a college degree in today’s society
  • Partaking in extracurricular activities while in school
  • Maintaining a steady career path
  • Not lying on your resume

Today however, I have a few different subjects I would like to cover in depth. These topics include being open to change with your career, the importance of internships, and the need for a concise resume. Some of this advice may be the best you ever receive in regards to climbing the ladder of Corporate America.

 

So first off, let me talk about why internships are such an important aspect of obtaining a secure career upon graduation. Since I’m sure 99% of those reading this are students let me say; now is the best time to focus on acquiring an internship. As I mentioned in my previous post, when a hiring manager sees a college degree on your resume it only affirms to them you have the capability of learning in order to complete a task. However, it does not show them that you have any real experience, whatsoever. This is obviously where the importance of internships comes in. By acquiring an internship, you are going to be able to showcase to your potential future employers that you do in fact have real world experience and won’t need extensive training to be brought up to speed in your position. This makes you a much more valuable asset to an organization, and will highly increase your chances of receiving multiple job offers upon graduation.

Next, I want to touch on why you need to have a concisely written resume. Before I talk about what is expected of most recruiters nowadays, I want to talk about the definition of the word concise.

CONCISE: Adj.  -giving a lot of information and in a few words.

The second part of that definition is the important part. “…in a few words”. This is important because I see a large number of resumes from people that are 5 pages long, which include an entire list of all the courses they took in college, as well as their GPA going all the way back to elementary school. While all that information is great to know, it is just not necessary when applying for a job. Your resume should ideally not exceed one page in length, and include only relevant information for the job you are applying for. For example, I worked at Publix as a bagboy during my teenage years but wouldn’t necessarily include that experience on my resume if I were applying for a job that is finance related. However, I might include it if I were applying for a customer oriented position, such as a sales account manager. That’s because I can highlight my extensive training in customer service from one of the best grocery companies in America, as well as my extensive experience with customer interaction from my time served. Essentially, you need to be able to discern what is and what is not important to include so that you can create a concise resume that delivers a clear picture of your worth to a potential employer or recruiter.

Last I want to touch on a point that will be more relevant once you have graduated and are working; which is staying open minded when it comes to your career path. As a recruiter it is my job to tell people about potential job opportunities I have available, that could possibly enhance their career in several ways. You would be astounded at the number of people who don’t even take the time to hear about the opportunity before saying no and hanging up the phone. Keep in mind though, there is absolutely NOTHING you could lose by hearing about a new job opportunity. Chances are if you are receiving a call from a recruiter, they already looked at your LinkedIn profile and have determined that you would be a good match for their position. Often times, these new job opportunities will include better pay, more challenging opportunities that keep you interested in your work, and a better company culture. Which is why I say you have nothing to lose, because worse comes to worse is you just say, “no sorry that’s not for me”. Additionally, often times you might know somebody who would be interested in the job; in which case you could potentially be eligible to earn a referral fee depending on the recruiting firm. And what is better than free money? Nothing!

These are just a few more of the important tips that you should always keep in mind when navigating your career path. Corporate America can be an unforgiving place, so it is always important that you look sharp and come off as an important asset to any given organization.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my post. Please feel free to add me on LinkedIn(insert URL link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-wuensch-80214463) and message me with any questions you have. Thanks!

 

Kyle Wuensch