Val Matta
Emphasizing Skills and Experience to Address Employers’ Needs
Posted on September 18, 2008
We tell job seekers to have an elevator speech ready at all times. What about the professional in charge of helping the job seeker? Having information ready to make a quick point or having a quick email topic to keep communication lines open is important for Career Services profession …
Create an Effective and Memorable Elevator Speech
Posted on August 12, 2008
“You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” – Mahatma Gandhi As the new academic year unfolds, we all hope our returning students come armed to be prepared and organized to embark on the activities of the Fall recruiting sea …
It Pays to Get a Jump Start on the Job Search
Posted on July 7, 2008
“Brick walls are there for a purpose…the brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough.” Prof Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University. What are your student’s brick walls when it comes to the job search? Perhaps it is not having an easy to use web service that c …
Resume Keywords
Posted on December 30, 2007
The importance of making sure resumes have the right keywords embedded in them plays a key role in getting the employers attention. Many employers require resume submission to be emailed, enabling them to automatically process the large number of received resumes. Their applicant trac …
Keyword Tips for MY JOBS
Posted on November 6, 2007
An Important part of the job search process is for students to complete self assessment exercises to ‘Know thyself’. Using their marketable skills as search words will help students get the most out of the “MY JOBS” function in CareerShift. Here’s a quick exercise to use as an example …
Informational Interviewing
Posted on November 6, 2007
Informational interviewing is exactly what it sounds like — interviewing designed to yield the information you need to choose a career path, learn how to break in, and practice the interviewing process. It’s a focused conversation with someone in your career field who can provide you …
Networking Tips
Posted on October 25, 2007
Remember to look up all of your old employers and co-workers. Job seekers can get so caught up in looking for positions at new employers that they neglect the co-workers and managers who already know and trust them. Make a list of co-workers and managers you have had, going back to hi …
Thank You Tips
Posted on September 13, 2007
With so many Career Fairs taking place this time of year, I thought I would share some words on the ever important ‘Thank You’ to share with your students. The Career Fair: resumes are prepared and approved, students dress up, make eye contact, and shake with a strong hand….what’s nex …
MY CONTACTS Tips
Posted on May 2, 2007
When you are using CareerShift.com to develop networking contacts inside an organization, you may want to use a few of these tips: (1) Say you find a Sales job in My Jobs that you are interested in. Click on the “Find Contacts at This Company” link and you will probably find close to …
NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING!
Posted on March 13, 2007
There’s a saying about successful Retail companies that goes “LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION”. Well, I’m going to propose a saying that pertains to successful job hunting, “NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING.” I’m not going to say that it’s all that simple to find a job, but networking …