Have you ever wondered what employers are looking at when they view a job application? Have you ever asked yourself what can set myself apart from everyone else? Or maybe you wanted to know the steps to take before an interview? We sat down with Christina O’Connell, the Director of the Center for Career Management, located in the Williamson College of Business Administration, to find the best resume and interview tips for students looking for an internship or graduating. 

The top three things an employer is looking for on an application

“What we are seeing through NACE, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a lot of employers are saying their top items to see listed on resumes are student involvement and leadership experience on campus, communication skills and teamwork skills, as well as having relevant experience,” said Christina.  “You want to make sure that you take every opportunity to get involved on campus. WCBA has many different student organizations that you can get involved with.”

When it comes to relevant experience, we are talking about internships or any type of job you may have held that has given you experience in the field that you are applying for. According to Christina, internships are the best way to demonstrate the experience that you’ve gained.

How you can make your application stand out

Employers receive tons of applications for one position so we felt it was important for students to learn what can make their application stand out. “When you fill out your application, make sure you fill in every single box or every single question that is asked, don’t leave anything blank. Be sure to include keywords from the job description in your resume and cover letter in case they are using an applicant tracking system that selects applications based on keywords. This way, your application is more likely to be seen.”

Christina also spoke about making your resume “visually attractive.” This means that you should make your resume simple and easy to follow. She recommends having contact information front and center as well as education and relevant work experience. This helps the employer know who they’re looking at. When your resume is complicated and the information that the employer is looking for is hard to find they will not hesitate to put your resume at the bottom of the pile.

The best things to include in a cover letter

The cover letter is one of the first things an employer sees. This can make them interested in you or just move your resume to the bottom of the pile. “With the cover letter you want to make sure that you proofread it, multiple times. If your cover letter has any grammar mistakes, an employer may not move on to look at your resume.”

A cover letter should be 4-5 paragraphs, the first paragraph should introduce yourself, what job you’re applying for and why you’re qualified. The second paragraph should state the reasons why you’re qualified for the position and some of your experiences, relevant to the job posting. The third section should tie in what you’re doing on campus, volunteer work, as well as leadership and communication skills. In the fourth paragraph, you need to include why you’re interested in working for that company and show that you did your research on the company. In the last paragraph, you will want to include your contact information.

Strategies when interviewing

“When a student has an opportunity for an interview, they need to know the job description and the position that they are interviewing for, whether it’s a job or an internship. They need to do their research on the company and understand what the company is doing as well as understand the individuals that they are interviewing with, so it’s always good to ask, ‘who will I be interviewing with’ so you can do your research,” said Christina. “This is something that most students never think about before an interview.”

You want to make sure that what the company stands for is also something that you stand for. Making sure that your morals line up with the company’s morals can also help you decide on whether or not you want to work at the company in the first place.

When answering interview questions, Christina suggests relating all your answers back to the job that you are interviewing for. She also says, “you always want to provide examples. A lot of questions now are behavior-based questions, which means you need to provide a specific example for every answer you are giving.” A good way to be prepared to answer these kinds of questions, is to come up with some answers before you even go into your interview. By doing this it will show the person interviewing you that you are prepared.”

At the end of the interview, it is essential that you have some questions to ask the interviewer. Christina says, “You have to ask questions, if you say no, it might look like you’re not interested in the job…it’s always good to have 3 to 5 questions written down to ask, but they can’t be questions you can find the answers to on the internet.”

It might be difficult to come up with questions you can’t find answers to on the internet. So, we asked Christina for some examples of questions that would be good to ask the interviewer. The first example she gave was, “What’s your favorite thing about working for this company?” Another was, “What are the 30, 60, 90 goals if I’m hired tomorrow?” These kinds of questions will let the person interviewing you know that you are truly interested in the job.

“With all the talk about interviewing, resumes, and applications, it is important to talk about how to connect with employers,” said Christina. In the Williamson College of Business Administration, there is a platform called Handshake. This was brought to the college by Christina and is a way to help connect students with employers and even other students. “Handshake is our career management database. All resumes should be uploaded into Handshake once you have it completed and ready to go. We look at every single one of them and provide feedback.” When your resume is uploaded it will be approved by either Abby Conrad, the Coordinator for the Center for Career Management, or Christina. Handshake compiles all of the job postings, with the majority connected to YSU. Companies that post job or internship postings are specifically looking for YSU students in WCBA. Christina also mentioned, “The companies are posting those positions just for the WCBA students, they may be posting at other universities as well but, they are taking into account the pull of college students they’re going to have.” The businesses that post on Handshake are specifically looking for college students. Whether it’s for a job or for an internship.

Additional advice

“LinkedIn…it’s easy to make that resume…it’s easy to get ready for an interview…but as you are searching for jobs you want to build your network, your professional network,” shared Christina. “Students who are struggling finding internships or jobs; when they come in to meet with myself or Abby we talk about LinkedIn and see if they are networking and making connections.”

LinkedIn is a great way to find individuals that work in the space that you want to be working in. You can ask them about what they do on a day-to-day basis to figure out if that is something that you would truly want to do. Making connections is one of the most important things in the business world, it can truly help you grow as a professional.

We’d like to thank Christina for all the wonderful insight and information that she shared with us.