Formal Announcement of New Website

Check out the formal release of the new website that allows all accademic degrees to use Student Resume Books by searching our name under Google News or click here.

Interview Tips

Here's a snipet from a question I was asked the other day that I figured was worth adding here.

A few things to consider before the interview...

First, you have put yourself in their shoes. Speak in terms that interest them, meaning that they want to know what you are going to do for them that the others won't, aka best value. Don't talk about how you want to gain work experience, rather mention that you are interested in working your way up the ladder of their reputable company (even if you don't necessarily). Employers love motivated and loyal employees and that's how you want to phrase your answers. 

They are probably going to pull the standard questions of your greatest strengths and weakness. And of course they will ask some curve ball like, "Tell me about a time where your morals were compromised." Prep for these ahead of time and things will be much easier. 

A method I like to take is to turn the interview around on them. People love to talk about themselves and like those who allow them to do so. Ask about how they got to be where they were and what they enjoy about the company and why they have a leg up on the competition. This also allows you to learn about the company which is what you should also be taking away from the interview. Before you give up your valuable time, you want to know if it is worth the paycheck right? 

After the interview, follow up that day with a thank you email. Often employers don't have a set hire date so with other projects going on, it may come down to you being persistent in following up if they are going to hire you. Every 2-4 days would be acceptable unless they mention otherwise. 

Job Shopping

Every student determines their own career path…

But it doesn’t need to be a terrible experience.  It can actually be somewhat fun and educational.  Yes, educational…meaning it will help your career to take full advantage of the job search period, aka job shopping. 

There’s two points I want to make in this entry.  The first is that you should set up as many interviews as possible, even if the correlation between what you want to do for living is vague.  The second is that while you are getting more comfortable at these low stakes interviews is that you will be, in fact, learning about what you are about to do for the next X amount of years of your life.  Soak it up like a sponge.  Free knowledge is great and wisdom is paramount.

If you think about it, there are not too many times in your early career that with a simple request that you can sit down with the top dogs and pick their minds about what they do to succeed and what they see as you needing to do to succeed.  Often they will let you in on their trade secrets too. 

When I was interviewing for my first job out of college, I interviewed just about everywhere.  During these interviews I would meet all the directors, VP’s, and Presidents.  Granted, these weren’t all Fortune 500 companies, but I had more face-time with these guys than when I signed full-time with one.  

With that said, you may even considering calling a potential employer for an “interview” even if you know the job isn’t for you because of the salary requirements aren’t there or it isn’t the size firm you want to get your career started.  Practice your interview skills and learn about the industry.  When the right job comes, you’ll be all set to knock their socks off. And of course, you never know where you may end up; you might just like what they have to offer.

I know this isn’t exactly the economy for job shopping, but nevertheless the opportunity is there.  You just have to go out there and find it.  We can help you with that.  Visit www.studentresumebooks.com

How SRB Can Supplement a Student’s Job Search

We all know that there are plenty of avenues that a student can take when the time comes to start paying off some of those incessant bills.  There’s directly calling companies to see if they’re hiring.  There’s posting you resume with some of the “Monsters” out there.  And then there’s your university’s career resources.

These are all good places to look and you should use these resources.  You should use all these resources if you want to land the best fitting job for you.  There are great jobs out there, but there are also a lot of people searching too.  You need to give yourself the best chance at these jobs by letting people know that you exist and are looking for employment. 

Now, it wouldn’t make much sense if I left Student Resume Books (SRB) out of this conversation and how it can supplement your job search.  

SRB is different from the big job boards on the web.  The big difference to students is that SRB owns a certain unique niche.  The advantage here is that it targets the right people rather than all people like in the big job boards.  Only employers looking to hire college level students for full or part time are looking through our books.  That means you aren’t competing for employers looking for “5-10 years experience” that seems to be attached to every job posting on those boards. 

In addition, we like to pride ourselves on our ability to get a bit more personal in helping with the job search.  When students fill out the “Companies I’m Considering” entry, we go after these companies to get your resumes in their hands.

I know most of these sites are free, as we are too, but I really believe that for the time it takes to submit your profile and resume at www.studentresumebooks.com and the potential doors that can open, that we really are the best value out there on the web in regards to job searching.

We are a newer company and strive to help where we can.  I’d love to hear from our users, critics, or passers by.  There are many choices out there and we know to stay alive in this business that we need to stay relevant.  Your comments are appreciated.

Scott Johnson

President

www.studentresumebooks.com

First Attempt at Blogging

This being the first blog for the website, www.StudentResumeBooks.com, I figured it would be of some benefit to explain a little about what this website is, or does, or how it can help you for that matter.

There are two uses for this website:

• For college students to find employers by means of posting a resume to the website under the ‘Students’ portal.  Students can be in search of an internship or may be about to graduate and are looking for the first place to launch their careers. 

• For employers looking for entry level employees.  We’ll get into more detail how below.

 So what sets Student Resume Books (SRB) apart from some of the other job websites that are out there?  Well, the most obvious answer is that SRB is for a specific career level…those fresh into their careers.  For employers, this means that they come to SRB with these applicants in mind.  For students, this means time isn’t wasted apply for positions that might be out of reach.  And did I mention it is free to students?

Another great function of SRB is that students don’t only just post their resumes, but they also post profile information about the what, where, when, why, and how they want to be employed.  This helps connect the right companies with the right employees.

Currently SRB uses a unique format in the way it distributes its product.  We compile books of resumes (hence the name) according to industry or area of study.  Employers can purchase one in several formats and quickly find a great selection of potential applicants.

As the Spring 2009 Semester begins, this will mark the first semester that Student Resume Books will be available to all academic disciplines of study.  I ask for feedback as we don’t want any areas of study left out nor do we want to give anything but the best service to our users.  All comments are welcome.  Please send them to comments@studentresumebooks.com.

Scott Johnson

President

Student Resume Books