College Matters

My AmeriCorps VISTA experience has concluded, so I’m no longer working 60+ hours per week. It has indeed been a life changing experience. It’s been a path of self discovery and purpose. I’ve finally found a place to call home: Belfast, Maine. I’ve been going through letters from the last year - which I’ve continued answering, just haven’t had time to bring them out of email onto the site - and decided, in light of finally finding “home”, this one is relevant. A college graduate and job seeker wants to move to the land - any land! - of far, far away. She doesn’t understand why she can’t find a job, despite not being bound by geography.

As I told her, in the current economy, being open to relocating only broadens your potential interests. It does not necessarily broaden your serious prospects, especially as a new graduate. A company takes a big risk hiring someone who must relocate for the position, whether or not the company pays for the relocation. What if the person hates the new location? What if it’s somewhere they’ve never been before, and they have no family or friends for support? These are personal questions that an employer simply cannot ask, but are extremely relevant to an employee’s long term potential. A company also takes a big risk hiring a new graduate with little or no work experience. Put those two risks together, and the likelihood of getting hired across latitude and longitude lines decreases significantly.

Does that mean she’s stuck living in one place until the pendulum of the economy swings the other direction? Definitely not! I know I’ve blogged briefly about AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, but my next several blogs will be much more detailed, related to my year of experience and the benefits - both the selfish and the unselfish. You’re a college graduate? Want to move? Try out a new life? A year - or two, or three, or a lifetime - of service to your fellow man is a fantastic way to do it.

Write an original resume, just like every other college graduate. Make it unique, just like everybody else. Don’t use a template, but make sure it’s organized succinctly. Do not pass “go,” do not collect $200, take some Prozac for your job hunting stress levels and find your way to Boardwalk. Or at least the orange properties…

Argh. The whole process is such a ridiculous game. Universities should require all seniors to take a three-hour resume writing course. Moan and groan, no one wants extra coursework added to the degree plan – fine, it should be a substituted for one of those elective underwater basket weaving courses.

Resume evaluation “services” feed all of us the same exact spiel. They tell you not to use a template (especially the kind on MS Word) as they’re writing or reading you their standard evaluation template! Then the innovative advice continues: your resume doesn’t stand out. Make it original. Make it uniquely like every other college graduate’s “unique” resume. Then, when asked how to do that, the standard response is an offer to write your resume for you at some overpriced sum.

The irony, as I told this student, is that the person “evaluating” (by that I mean sending a slightly tailored form email) and potentially re-writing your resume hasn’t themselves achieved success in the traditional job market. It’s a freelance writer – and I have respect for freelance writing, since that’s what I do, but it doesn’t qualify me to write someone’s resume.

I can, however, give honest advice regarding where to go for thorough, free resume assistance. First, every campus has a career services department. It’s there to advise current students as well as alumni, and I urge everyone to take advantage of it; your fees pay for it anyway, so make those fees count for something. Next, visit the human resources department(s) on campus, and specifically seek out the people that handle hiring university staff (not faculty, department heads and committees do that and the process requires an entirely different type of resume). Speak candidly with those that hire staff, and ask what a successful resume looks like. How did they get hired? Would they be willing to let you glance their resumes? Most will be flattered and at the very least offer to look at yours.

Additionally, look for up and coming websites that offer free examples and advice. The people that start these websites often do so because they see the deficiencies in mainstream contemporary sites. If you want straightforward, specific advice, with an irreverent sense of humor, check out Psychotic Resumes. Another great new resource I’ve found is Career Guide 101, which embraces a more traditional style of organization on the site – so take your pick, based on your personality and career goals. Both offer diverse and helpful perspectives, and will offer advice beyond the ubiquitous and generic “Be original.”