| Thursday, April 9, 2009 |
| How to get a job |
I've been there. The job searching. The filling out of application after application. The stress of the interview. It's enough to drive a man mad. And in an economy such as this one work is ever harder to come by. So, to aid my fellow blog readers who are looking for jobs, I've compiled a list of things not to do if you're applying for a job. For those of you not too familiar with what I do, I coordinate tutoring and mentoring at the U of A. I also aid in coordination of Supplemental Instruction and am in charge of hiring for all three. My staff consists of probably between 60 and 80 people a semester. For the last week I have been accepting applications for positions for the fall semester and have been jotting down my favorite questions I've received via email and my favorite quotes from applications that have been submitted.
So without further ado, here are my suggestions for when you are job hunting:
1) Spell the hiring guy's name correctly. I realize Mr. Richard is probably a more common name than Mr. Rickard - but it's probably best to copy paste the name from the application.
2) If you don't know your previous employer's phone number, don't write "I don't know" in the box. Look it up. It's called a phone book. Even leaving it blank would have been better, I probably wouldn't have even noticed.
3) If the job advertisement lists a website and instructs you to apply online, do not email a resume to the email that is listed for questions.
4) If something is listed under "Job Responsibilities" it's probably not the best idea to email the prospective employer telling them that you are "not interested" in some of the responsibilities - even if you follow it up by saying you are willing to do some of the other responsibilities.
5) Carefully read the entire job advertisement. If it specifically states that the job is for fall 2009, chances are it is not a summer position.
6) If the minimum cumulative and major GPA is 3.0, and you list 3.0 for both, I'm going to check your GPA immediately. Do you really think I'm not going to notice that your GPA is really 1.4?
7) Speaking of major GPA (which is the GPA of one's major) it's fine if you don't know what that means, but it's probably a good question to ask a teacher, advisor or friend - not the guy that is sizing up how smart you are.
8) If you write that you are "Consideering" the position in the subject of an email, you will likely not be "consideered" for the position. Spelling errors happen, I make some myself. But for Pete's sake, at least proofread the subject line.
9) If you receive a response to a question you have asked, it is not ok to write back and say that you will take the job unless there was a clear offer of a job (there wasn't).
10) References for a position should come from previous employers, or in the case of tutoring, in the form of a professor. Using a fellow student as a reference is pretty much the dumbest thing I can think of. |
posted by Brian @ 8:40 AM  |
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| Thursday, April 2, 2009 |
| Another rainy day in Fayetteville |
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| posted by Brian @ 8:11 AM |
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