Students blog

Congratulations, you got an interview!

Now what?

For many, interviews are the most nerve-wracking part of the internship or job search. There are steps you can take to prepare for an interview that will help you make a great impression on your interviewer and may ultimately help you land the position!

Before The Interview:

1. Research the company. You’ll want to find information like the company’s mission statement, any big projects that the company recently completed and made public, and any recent mentions of the company in the news or in relevant journals. If you go into an interview with this knowledge, you will show your interviewer that you have a genuine interest in working for their company and that you have a high level of professionalism compared to other applicants.
2. Be ready to dress for the job you want. If you can, try to find out how current employees in the role you are interviewing for dress. You should try to emulate this look during the interview. If this isn’t possible, use your best judgment when deciding between formal business attire and business casual. This can be dependent on the industry you’re looking to go into and the individual company culture. Another important thing is to be sure that you go into the interview well-groomed. In general, you should be clean and free of offensive odors.
3. Research commonly asked interview questions. There are lots of resources out there with questions that are often asked during interviews. Certain websites may even provide you with example answers. The important thing is to familiarize yourself with the questions that may be asked during your interview and to prepare your own answers. You want to show your interviewer that you would be an asset to the company, so you should take every question that is asked of you as an opportunity to share your relevant skills and experience.

Tips To Remember:

• Be conversational! One of the things interviewers will look for is your ability to hold a conversation because they are trying to gauge how well you will be able to communicate with clients, coworkers, and higher-ups.
• Remember that your interviewer once sat in the same seat you’re in now. Be personable, pleasant, and don’t be afraid to use humor if appropriate!
• Your body language says just as much about you as your words (if not more!) Make sure you make an appropriate level of eye contact, nod or show other signs of acknowledgment when you are being spoken to and make yourself appear as calm and collected as possible.
• Bring copies of your resume for yourself and your interviewer! This practice has become somewhat obsolete with advancements in technology, but it’s still a good idea to bring your resume to reference during the interview.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Interviews are meant to help you just as much as they’re meant to help your interviewer decide if you would be a good fit for a certain role. Make sure you ask questions about factors that are important to you, like work-life balance, parental leave, PTO, company culture, etc. If you are looking for a company that values employees having a work-life balance and your interviewer tells you that this is not something the company is concerned about or flat-out refuses to answer, the company may not be a good fit for you.

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Meeting new people in your field or interviewing for a new job can be stressful for everyone, especially introverts like myself. Gaining comfort with introducing yourself to a large group of people such as a club, prepares you for an interview where you are usually only meeting a couple of recruiters. Lucky for us college students now, technology provides us with excellent ways to present ourselves professionally and network with peers or recruiters virtually. First impressions are crucial to the networking and interviewing process, but with a few helpful tips, you will thrive whether you are originally an introvert or extrovert.

Social Media Branding

Nowadays online platforms such as LinkedIn are often the beginning of first impressions for professional relationships. Personal branding is crucial to create a consistent and qualifying image that will impress potential employers. LinkedIn is widely used by hiring managers to vet candidates’ experience, which is why it is very important to expand past your resume. Utilizing functions on LinkedIn, such as honors/awards or volunteer work can allow you to demonstrate your character beyond your resume and provide further insight to employers.

The most important aspect of building your LinkedIn account is the About Me section, in which you can summarize your current activities, interests, and goals relevant to your career path. Aside from professional media platforms, it is also important to maintain a consistent image across other social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.

Networking

As a college student, the first place to begin in-person networking is in your classes. From there you can meet people in different clubs or organizations. Joining a club is a great way to build your network, participate in something you are passionate about, and add to your resume. Many colleges have networking events for different departments that allow students to meet and converse with professionals in that field. One tip for success at formal networking events is to have a QR code on a mobile device that links to your LinkedIn profile, so you can continue the conversation and leverage that connection. Open-mindedness is key when meeting with new people, any connection, regardless of how small, could have a positive impact on a future job opportunity.

Interviewing

After social media branding and networking, interviewing is the next step in proving yourself as the perfect candidate for a position. The resume you submit for each job application should be tailored to the said job description. For example, if the job requires organization, time management, and teamwork skills, those should be the skills you highlight on your resume. The most common interview question is “tell me about yourself”, so having a pitch prepared that blends your past experience, present ventures, and future goals is a great tip for a successful interview.

In addition to framing your resume around the job description and preparing an introduction pitch, you should also have specific examples from your past experience that relate to the assignments of the job you are applying for. The final interview tip is to always have questions prepared regarding the role you are applying for. A couple of questions to ask include: What does a typical day entail in this role? How would you describe the company culture? How do you measure success for this role?

Maintaining a consistent social media image, employing network connections, and preparing an informative introduction will promote confidence and preparedness contributing to an excellent first impression during an interview.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

Many colleges and universities host career fairs during the Spring semester. These fairs offer fantastic networking opportunities for students, however preparing for these events can also be stressful. During the event you’ll typically have 5 to 10 minutes to talk with a recruiter or a company to make an impression. It is very useful to have copies of your resume handy. Once the conversation with the recruiter is complete it is a common practice to give them a copy of your resume so that they can remember you.

Your resume is essentially a marketing document where you are positioning yourself in the best way for the job you want. A resume should also be dynamically changing. It could be a steep learning curve to build one from scratch, but as you get in the habit of updating your resume frequently it becomes a healthy good habit. Here are a few pointers to help you understand more about resume building and formatting, and better position you into taking a stab at creating your first draft.

1. Use A Good Template

No matter how strong your background and experience are, good formatting will make your resume more eye catching to recruiters. If you are not Word document savvy, simply look up resume templates online and download a template that is the most applicable for you. Sometimes your school career center might also have these templates so make sure to look there as well!

2. Grammar

It is very important to have consistent grammar throughout your resume. You want to be as detail oriented as possible on this paper because it is the only medium for a recruiter to know you. A grammatically correct resume will allow you to stand out among peers who might be competing for the same role. Some great methods are keeping the same verb tense, ending every sentence with a period, and making your sentences clear and concise.

3. Design

Some standard resume features are a full single page of content including your name, education, address, contact, work experience, and achievements. You can adjust the resume content depending on what you need to say. You also can add a pop of color, use funky fonts, or even add a great picture of yourself in your resume to convey character. HOWEVER, be mindful on how the recruiter might read into this! Some fields might prefer a “conservative” resume style where content and achievements are the focus. Recruiters in fields like marketing and graphic design might appreciate more creative designs because the resume will demonstrate your skill in creating visually appealing products. Just make sure you understand who your audience is and tailor your resume accordingly.

4. Final Drafts

The resume in a job application is one of the main and crucial components that allows a recruiter or a hiring manager to get to know you and quickly assess whether there is a good fit between you and the potential employer. It is always a good idea to run your resume by your friend or family member to proofread and identify any last-minute errors. If you happen to find yourself stuck, recognize that you have various options and resources to use. The simple yet not so obvious one is your university career services.

5. Evolution

Your resume should be ever evolving. This doesn’t mean just adding your experiences as you progress in your career, but also modifying it from time to time and removing anything that becomes irrelevant. You might take up various career paths so when you are updating your resume for a new position, you probably do not have to list everything you did since high school. Strive to get into the practice of updating your resume after the end of each semester.

Using these tips will help you to be ready to jump on opportunities as they come and to feel prepared for them. Preparing for career fairs to apply for internships or jobs can be intimidating for some students, but it doesn’t have to be. Even if you don’t have a lot to put on your resume, having a high-quality resume is a game changer.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

If you haven’t created your LinkedIn account, it certainly is not too late to do so! Not many realize that LinkedIn is purely beneficial to your career, and online persona; it’s a great resource to contact recruiters, alumni, and countless other people you’ve come across professionally. Whether you’re creating your LinkedIn for the first time or updating your profile, here are a few tips to best utilize this platform to your advantage!

First Impressions

First and foremost, make a few simple updates your profile by adding a profile picture, headline, and bio. Although a professional headshot is ideal, any professional-looking photo or even a picture taken of you against a neutral background taken with your cell phone camera should suffice. If you have an iPhone, simply place the camera app in “Portrait Mode” to achieve a clear and focused DIY headshot! Add a headline with your current job/degree prowess, and there’s a solid start right there!

Next, add a bio in the ‘About’ section on your profile. This does not need to be any longer than 100-200 words, but it is nice to provide an introduction into yourself. Think about it as a condensed cover letter. Make sure there is a space for additional contact as well, such as your email address. You want your profile to look good and to make the lasting impression that is easily transferable to a contact at any point in the future.

Experiences & Activity

All jobs, internships, and volunteer activities can be listed here on your profile! While it is beneficial when you list associations and institutions with their own respective LinkedIn pages, any experiences that have made an impact on you that can be spoken about has its place on your page. An easy way to update this section is to copy and paste bullets from your resume or supporting documents into the description text box. It is also possible to rephrase a summary of the experience in paragraph format. If choosing the second option, make sure to keep it brief!

Education is also important to list in your profile. Any degrees or programs completed or in progress should be listed here. Your alumni network is vast, and this shows potential connections that you both have the institution in common, which helps to instill talking points.

Make Connections!

When meeting someone in class, a networking event, a coffee chat, or any other occasion involving a potential life connection, you may as well add them as a connection on LinkedIn! There is an option to leave a note when connecting if you would like to say thank you for their time, or simply remind them when/where you interacted. For any number of connections up to 499, the exact number is publicly listed on your profile. Once the threshold of 500 connections is made, then it is shown as “500+”. For that reason, it is not necessary to spend time connecting with numerous individuals. Once you get connected with your high school or college class, there will be hundreds already established within your network. Once connected, one’s profile is a “1st” connection when you are signed in.

It is also doable to reach out to secondary connections! When someone is one degree of separation from your profile on LinkedIn, they show up for you (and vice versa) as “2nd”, and any more degrees of separation away is “3+”. In this case, a 2nd connection can be made into a 1st connection when your mutual puts you two together, or by personally reaching out to the 2nd connection due to a dedicated interest.

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth the Cost?

Premium has a heavy cost to it, and thankfully this can be accessed via a free trial for each account. There are a few bonuses that come with this subscription, and from personal experience utilizing the free trial, I find it can be quite helpful when actively searching for a job or internship, but not necessarily year-round.

There is a yellow badge that appears next to your name on your profile to notify others of your premium access. Those with Premium can see who specifically is viewing their profile and receive metrics based on viewers. Up to five “InMail” credits are given, which allow for direct messaging to recruiters! This can be especially helpful when applying for sought after roles to place yourself above the standard application process.

All in all, I would say it is definitely worth taking advantage of the free trial when it will be useful for you to do so. From there, it is up to you to figure out when to continue having LinkedIn premium. Just make sure to turn off auto-renewal when you begin your trial!

LinkedIn is the top networking and job searching site. It’s free set up make it easy to make connections and get noticed by potential future employers. Try these tips and you’ll get your LinkedIn profile in top shape in no time!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

“Everything happens for a reason.” Oh, how many times have I heard this phrase after getting rejected by fifteen companies for an internship? It is a stressful feeling when you were the smartest kid in high school but suddenly when you transition to college you are no longer the smart one. You start competing with people that are on the same level as you and now you have imposter syndrome. Rejection is something I did not encounter until I started college. I did not quite understand this concept of ‘everything happens for a reason’ until something good finally came along.

As a responsible college student, I felt heartbroken and insecure with each rejection on an internship application, especially since I felt I had tried my best, stayed active in school, and had a better than average academic performance. Was there something wrong with my accent, my style? Was I somehow not smart enough for these jobs? There are many times I wanted to give up and never try again for an internship, job, or even a leadership position. That is when I encountered mental health problems.

It is not fun to be depressed and sad and stressed all the time. It affected my academic progress. I could not concentrate in school because I felt like it was pointless. However, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Coming from a South Asian household, I have seen my immigrant parents who came to this unknown land, having the same feeling where they are lost and stressed. No idea where they might get their next meal. I used their hardship as my inspiration to never give up and to keep moving forward. I utilized three techniques to overcome my rejection by continuing to: move forward, keep trying, and networking.

Moving forward

When it comes to rejection, it is best to move forward because taking things personally will not help you move forward in life. You can be sad and depressed all day, but that won’t help you get the job that you desperately want. Yes, rejection may be the worst feeling, but opportunities are always within our reach. Learning to trust the process is the biggest confidence boost anyone can ever have.

Searching for an internship or a job as a college student can certainly be very stressful. There are many moving parts from building a perfect resume, marketing yourself, meeting the right people, and sometimes being lucky enough. While considering all factors that are supposed to go right to land a position, it is hard to stay mentally sane. Do not feel alienated if you feel pressure, it is common to get stressed when starting your career.

I am a college senior, and I have been down the “applying to a job” road several times before. One thing that all jobs have in common is interviewing. Interviewing is one of the important steps to landing a job. So here are some tips on how to stay poised while applying and interviewing!

1. Identify What You Want

There are an astonishing number of jobs out there; meaning that there are many paths for you to choose. When applying you need to list out your goals and intentions. Do you want something to make some money? Do you want an educational experience that relates to the industry that you are interested in? Do you want to meet new people and network? There are no right or wrong answers, all you need to do is sit down and brainstorm a list of your priorities.

2. “The Perfect” Resume

Many people may apply for the same opening you did, especially if it is a huge corporation. To make the hiring process manageable, many firms tend to process resumes through a “software”. This is not a reason to be intimidated; all you need to do is make sure you use keywords in your resume that demonstrate both hard and soft skills. And the last thing you want is for your resume to be thrown out because of spelling errors, so make sure your grammar and formatting are a hundred percent accurate. Run your resume by a friend or a family member to make sure it is the perfect version of your resume.

3. Research The Role

After you submit your resume, you may get a call for an interview. This is an achievement itself, but now the real work begins. Make sure you research your firm and the role. This helps you better formulate your answers and tie them back to why you are interested in the role to begin with. It shows the employer that you are interested in the job because you spent time learning about it.

4. Prep

Interview prepping can be difficult as it is impossible to know what questions you will be asked. However, good preparation is simply knowing yourself. Think about all the times when you had to be a leader or made an impact, take these stories, and convert them into potential answers that demonstrate various desirable skills. Interviewing is all about marketing yourself; the better you tell your story, the more memorable you will be.

5. Stay Poised

In addition to preparing for the interview make sure you eat well and get a good night's rest. It is important to take care of yourself physically and mentally because it reduces stress and nervousness.

Interviewing for a job or internship is daunting, but with enough preparation, you will be able to speak eloquently in front of your future employer. When you are familiar with what stories you want to tell and ideas you want to express, the interview will start to feel more like a conversation.

Want to read more on this topic from other students? Check out these blogs on finding and securing an internship, making the most of your internship experience, and more advice on interview prep.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

When you’re in the midst of a job search, you are actually selling a product – yourself. The ability to sell yourself to someone is an important skill. When this is done properly you can separate yourself from other people in a professional environment. Let’s talk about how to prepare to sell yourself and the key components that you should consider.

Do Your Research

Prior to meeting with a recruiter, you must do some research. It is rare that I encounter someone who enjoys doing research, but this step is critical. When talking to a potential employer about an opportunity in an environment such as a career fair, doing the necessary research can set you apart from other individuals competing for the same opportunity. Here are the three things that you need to research and understand:

• The recruiter: It is important to research how long the recruiter has been with the company, their role with the company, where they graduated from and anything else that you can find that can allow you to relate and build rapport.
• The actual company: If you are looking for an opportunity with an organization at the very least you should know the service or product that the company offers, their target market and mission statement.
• Yourself: Get comfortable speaking about yourself and your story. It is also important to practice how you are going to tie your story and experiences with the company’s culture and mission.

Researching and understanding these things can put you ahead of the curve and provide you with the confidence to speak with the person you will meet with. I will note that you will not always know these things as some opportunities might be more random than others, but it is always good to take time and ask questions to uncover facts about the company and the person you are speaking to.

Ask About What You Want

After you have completed your research, you should then think about what you want. This is known as the “ask”. People will do everything that we have spoken about to a tee but at the end they do not ask for anything. This wastes everyone’s time. When preparing to talk to a recruiter understand what you want out of the interaction and ask them for it. If you want a job, internship or informational meeting make sure that you have sold yourself well enough to have convinced them to consider granting you the request.

Practice Makes Perfect

Now that you have the necessary information to sell yourself to someone make sure that you practice before meeting with them. The more you practice the more comfortable you will be in these settings. Put everything we have talked about so far together and execute. Introduce yourself, show that you have done research on the person you are speaking with and the company, tie your story/ experience in with the company, and finally go for the ask!

I would wish you luck, but luck is for the unprepared!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

LinkedIn is a powerful tool that allows students and professionals to connect at the click of a button. Due to this, it has become a handy platform that allows its users to utilize networking, career building, and job hunting. Here are some ways to promote your LinkedIn to create an effective page.

Professional Profile Picture

For starters, the importance of a strong profile picture and background is something you need to prioritize. A common issue is that you may not have a professional headshot. I have good news: two options can help you outside of scouting through old pictures of yourself. For instance, most colleges offer free headshots in their university career center or have specific days during a career fair or welcome week. However, if this is not available at your college or you are currently not in school, you can take a fantastic headshot at home. All you need is good lighting, a solid background, a professional shirt, and either a self-timer or someone to take the picture for you. In addition, choose a neutral background image that supports what you are interested in, such as an art piece. The profile picture and background you choose reflect your brand.

Simple Introduction

Next, the introduction should be clean, simple, and straight to the point. The headline is where you can put current info that stands out. For instance, you can put what you currently do: Pearson Campus Ambassador, Student at this University. Underneath that, you can re-enter your current position, education, location, and industry. Think of this as another opportunity to show off more about you.

Write in Your Job and Educational Background

List your work experience in chronological order in the Experience section underneath your headline. Show how long you were at a position, the location, job type, company, and add details about the position. The description section allows you to highlight the noteworthy details of your role in a brief informative paragraph. Since the section is short, highlight your achievements and the overview of what you did. The specific details are for your resume. Add anything relevant to your goals and career path. Include jobs that showcase your knowledge and experience of the industry.

LinkedIn Extras

The next sections cover education, organizations, licenses, and certifications where you can highlight what you studied. Specifically, you can list out major, minor, concentration within the field of the study section and then list out your activities and societies while there. Show off your well-rounded side and let employers or colleges see your interests. Keep this section brief and more of an ordered form. In the Organizations section, you can list the specifics, the purpose, and position. This is a great way for you to highlight your involvement. Similarly, the Honors and Awards section is where you can list out things you’ve won and where they occurred. Furthermore, if you’ve taken a separate class where you’ve gotten a certification such as being CPR trained or having a license in Excel you can place that here.

The Courses section is useful to utilize, as well. It allows employers to see if you’ve taken relevant coursework and how far you are in your degree program. Additionally, I recommend filling out the Skills section and taking the skills tests if you can. It allows you to show off your skills and what you are talented in.

I hope that this gives you an idea of how to develop your LinkedIn further to benefit you so that you can highlight yourself more proficiently and build your network.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

With the beginning of a new semester comes everyone’s favorite season: recruitment. After applying for a job, sitting down for an interview can be nerve wracking. Whether you’ll be searching for a position for this school year or already looking ahead to next summer, I’m here to provide some insight on how to make this process easier and to help you land a quality job or internship.

Advance Preparations

Once you land an interview, there are some things you need to do ahead of time to be successful day of. These include:

1. Research. The best thing you can do as a job prospect is to research the company prior to an interview. Learn about what they do, what they care about, and how they help the community around them. This is absolutely key for showcasing your interest in the company, which is ultimately one of the first steps in building trust with your potential employer.
2. Prepare. Know your resume like the back of your hand. You will be asked about prior experiences and how they relate to the job you are applying for. Be sure you can answer this and elaborate on any other experiences listed.
3. Ask Questions. Do not be afraid to ask questions! Compile a list of questions in advance to respond to the ‘Do you have any questions for us?’ question. Ask the interviewer what they like about their company, what they would change. This kind of curiosity leads to ideas and eventually greater advancements.

Day-of-Interview Plan of Action

If your interview is in person, be sure to arrive on time and in the necessary attire. Make sure you have a reliable mode of transportation, a second (and third) copy of your resume, and more than enough time to get to your interview location.

If the interview is via video call, consider what will be in your background during the call. Find a spot around your home that looks organized and has minimal distractions. Or set up a virtual background if necessary. Minimize background noise. Check that your Wi-Fi is running, that your computer is functioning, and that you have the link readily available prior to the call. Have an internet outage contingency plan. Could you join by phone if your wi-fi suddenly goes down?

One last bit of advice - always, always, always thank the interviewer for taking the time to discuss your job opportunity. Follow-up with a thank-you email. Time is the most valuable asset in the world, yet it is most often overlooked. If you recognize and appreciate that somebody has taken the time out of their day to help you, it opens up many opportunities to form a quality relationship in the future.

If you are able to follow my advice, I promise you will have a great chance of getting the job!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us -  click here  to pitch your idea and get started!