Job Hunter Newsletter
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Real World Experience

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Contents

Job Search Video

"Your Resume Experience Section"

You can be sure that whoever reads your resume will not skip the employment experience section so you need to make it meaningful and memorable. Informative but not overwhelming. Specific but not too detailed. You also need to include the information that matters. Get the help you need by watching our one-minute-video tip:

www.CollegeGrad.com/job-search-videos/your-resume-experience-section.shtml

CollegeGrad.com features more than 60 job tips in one minute video format. Review them all at:

www.CollegeGrad.com/job-search-videos

Contents

Job Search Tip of the Week, by Brian Krueger, author of "College Grad Job Hunter," the #1 book for entry level job search:

"Real World Experience"

A recurring theme in entry level job search is the lack of experience factor. "Where do I get experience if no one is willing to hire me?" Many students focus exclusively on seeking paid work experience as the only path to gaining resume experience. Be careful not to box yourself into this limited focus. As an active Hiring Manager, I look at any and all experience you may have accumulated to date, whether full-time or part-time, paid or unpaid.

Work experience makes you more marketable as a job candidate; it also gives you the opportunity to gain greater understanding about your chosen field. You will be able to find out in advance about many of the positives and negatives. Then you can truly enter your field with your eyes wide open. Or step back early from what might have been a major career mistake. Employers are not only looking for experience, but the right experience.

So as you approach the task of gaining real-world experience, do it from a "sponge" perspective—be ready to soak up every bit of information that comes your way. Full-time or part-time. Paid or unpaid. Worker or observer.

Internship Success
An internship or a co-op is often considered to be nirvana for the college student seeking work experience. The original "co-op" idea—combining academic study with practical work experience—has evolved into a broad-based experiential education program for gaining relevant work experience. The experience gained in an internship/co-op can be the key differentiator for many new college grads. Make no mistake—a successful internship can be your ticket to locking down a job offer (or several job offers) early in your final year.

Many schools offer academic credit for formal internships. In addition to standard work hours, you may be required to write a term paper to report and reflect on your internship/co-op experience.

Another adaptation of the "internship" term is to refer to summer employment as an "internship." This experience in the field also plays well in your job search, although you should not be concerned with finding summer work specifically listed as an internship. Depending on the size of the employer, if you ask if they offer summer internships, the answer may be "No." However, if you ask if they offer summer jobs in your field, the answer may be "Yes." Why the difference? Because some employers consider internships to be formal training programs in preparation for real work, while summer jobs are simply doing the real work. Whatever is closest to the real work is always the best experience.

Next newsletter: "The Volunteer Intern Technique"

Contents

Education Center

"Why Earning Your Master's Degree Makes Cents"

You know that continuing your education will improve your earning power, not to mention open new career doors, but is a master's degree really worth the investment? Research suggests it is. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a master's degree holder earns more than $10,000 more on average each year than one with a bachelor's degree alone, and nearly $500,000 over the course of his or her working life. Advanced education also improves your employment and advancement potential, opening up career doors you'd never imagined. What's more, online degree programs and flexible campus scheduling makes earning a degree while keeping your day job easier than ever before.

Find a Master's Program Today:

www.CollegeGrad.com/schools/masters.shtml

Contents

- Help Spread The Word!

Do you know of someone who can benefit from the information in this newsletter? Simply forward this e-mail to them and tell them to subscribe at http://www.CollegeGrad.com/newsletter. Thanks for spreading the good word!

Contents

Job Search Links:

Contents

- Job Search Book Online

There are at least two other entry level Web sites that offer books on job searching, proclaming that they will tell you everything you need to know about entry level job search.

However, there is a very important point about these books they don't mention up front: they cost money.

At CollegeGrad.com, we give you two things they don't:

  1. The #1 entry level job search book ("College Grad Job Hunter").
  2. It's free.

It's that simple. So don't buy the hype. Read the real information you need for FREE:

http://www.CollegeGrad.com/book

Don't ever pay for books or reports or resources of lower quality when you can access the very best quality information for free.

P.S. Yes, you can buy "College Grad Job Hunter" in hardcopy format as well at Amazon.com for $15 (actually, 30% off that price), but the online version is better. Why? Because the version at Amazon.com is being continually updated at CollegeGrad.com. So the most current version of the book is actually the online, free version.

Disclaimer: please note that all of the links were active as of the newsletter publication, but some may become inactive over time.


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