A background check for a job is more than likely in your future. From minor infractions to major crimes, learn the common deal breakers for employers.

You can swear on your dog and promise up and down that you’re a trustworthy person, but chances are, a potential employer isn’t going to take your word for it. A background check for employment will likely be done before they can officially welcome you aboard. A whopping 98% of businesses perform background checks on job candidates, a survey by risk-alert firm Endera found.

The good news: As a job seeker, you have some protections. Employers must receive written permission from you before running a background check, and if anything in the reports leads to the company deciding against hiring you, the employer is required to inform you and provide you with a copy of the report.
Look, no one likes having a background check; even seasoned job seekers may still be concerned about companies prying into their personal information. After all, can you really be sure you’re as squeaky clean as you think?

Maybe. Maybe not. What dings your record for one job might not have the same effect in a different job. Meaning, if you were convicted of a crime that is relevant to the job’s responsibilities, you’ll set off a red flag. Hiring standards can vary by employer and may be regulated by federal or state law, and employment screening criteria can also vary depending on what industry you’re in, explains Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

In other words, “a person does not really ‘fail’ a background check, although a screening company might use that terminology,” says Stephens. “Rather, the question is whether an individual meets the hiring standards set by the particular employer.”

That said, there are some red flags that generally make employers hesitant to hire job candidates. Read on to learn what can make you fail a background check for employment.

Criminal history
Criminal records searches are used by 93% of employers that conduct pre-hire screening, according to Sterling Talent Solutions’ 2017 Background Screening Trends & Best Practices Report. But many employers take into consideration the nature of the crime and whether the job candidate received a criminal conviction, Stephens says.

And even then, the majority of employers (59%) only disqualify 5% or fewer applicants based on past criminal convictions, the Sterling survey found—and 67% of employers said they would proceed with a candidate evaluation after finding a conviction not divulged initially on an employment application, with most saying that they would give a candidate the opportunity to explain their criminal past.

However, there are some industries where a clean record is of utmost importance; for instance, jobs that require high-security clearance will deny you if you committed a major offense or one that was related to addiction, mental health issues, sex offenses, or cybercrimes. It’s a similar situation with jobs wherein you’d serve vulnerable populations (children and the elderly), such as caregiving, teaching, school bus driving, etc.

Drug and alcohol tests
Many employers make job offers contingent upon candidates passing a drug or alcohol test and, unfortunately, American workers are testing positive for drug use at the highest rate since 2004, according to the annual Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index.

Credit history
Have a few blemishes on your credit report? In most states, employers are allowed to see a candidate’s credit history before extending a job offer. But having subpar credit isn’t typically a deal-breaker, says Jeff Shane, president at Allison & Taylor, a professional reference-checking and employment-verification company based in Rochester, Michigan.

“Unless you’re applying for a financial position, where you’ll have access to the business’ financial instruments, like a company credit card,” he says, “your credit won’t really matter to an employer.” If you’re applying to a job that requires you to handle money, however, your credit history will indeed be a red flag to employers.

Bankruptcies
More thorough background checks for employment will uncover bankruptcy filings, but employers can’t see on a background check the reason why you filed for bankruptcy—meaning the onus is on you to explain what your financial troubles were and what steps you’ve taken to regain your footing. Again, this will matter more for financial jobs than for non-money-handling jobs.

Most employers understand if a divorce, medical issue, or some other unexpected event caused you to file for bankruptcy, but it’s best to have this conversation in person.

Driving record
Having a couple of speeding tickets or moving violations on your driving history shouldn’t be a warning sign to employers. The exception, of course, would be if you were applying for a job that requires you to drive, since having a driving accident while you’re on the clock could mean financial or legal consequences for your employer.

If you have a DUI on your DMV record, though, be prepared to explain the circumstances to your prospective employer.

Employment history
Some background checks include a report of the job candidate’s employment history—a list of all the companies you’ve worked for, your job titles, and dates of employment. Thus, your resume should be free of falsehoods and accurately reflect your work history.

Education
When running a background check, many employers will verify the job candidate’s education credentials—and some employers will go the extra mile by asking candidates to show certificates of achievement or awards. Assuming you were honest about your education history on your job application, you have nothing to worry about.

The post Things that can make you fail an employment background check appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Many have heralded work from home arrangements as the future of work. This, coupled with advances in technology, have made it easier than ever to stay connected. And crucially, as hiring has become increasingly competitive over the past decade, employers have responded by expanding benefits like working from home to give employees more flexibility.

However, the novel coronavirus outbreak has forced companies’ hands to encourage or mandate employees to work from home. This unexpected challenge for employers to manage remote workforces and for employees to remain interconnected and productive at home may ultimately offer a proving ground for future work from home policies.

In this research, we analyze the current state of work from home benefits using a unique dataset of hundreds of thousands of benefits reviews on Glassdoor. We first examine how many workers today (as of March 9, 2020) have access to work from home options and how that has evolved over the last decade. We then investigate what types of workers or employers are more likely to have access to work from home options, studying how access varies by employment status, industry, occupation, and employer size.

As employers and employees alike are forced to figure out how to do their jobs in new ways, examining the state of work from home policies and how they have evolved over the years is especially timely.

Access to Work from Home Policies Has Doubled Over Last Decade
Currently, 54 percent of workers report having access to work from home benefits in the United States, according to Glassdoor data. That represents a substantial increase from only 28 percent of workers reporting access to the benefit in 2011. In the chart below, we show that access has steadily increased each year from 2011 to today’s high.

Satisfaction with work from home benefits has also increased from the early 2010s, now reaching 4.3 out of 5. By comparison, some of the most prominent benefits, like health insurance (3.7 out of 5), vacation & paid time off (3.8), and 401(k) plans (3.8), a rate much lower than the ability to work from home in terms of employee satisfaction.

Interestingly, 11 percent of workers report being unsure whether their employers offer work from home benefits or not. This lack of clarity may reflect poorly communicated policies or social pressure not to work from home. Regardless of the reason, this does represent a missed opportunity to educate employees on the full range of benefits they have available to them.

While work from home benefits has increased rapidly over the last decade, some workers have less access to these benefits than others. While 52 percent of full-time workers from 2019–2020 report having access to work from home benefits, only 20 percent of part-time and temporary workers report access to the same benefit.

Contract and freelance workers also report a similar prevalence of work from home options as full-time workers, reflecting the diverse nature of contract work. While some contract workers are employed in jobs that require being physically present, there are also many contract jobs in white-collar professional services like graphic design or copywriting which can be done remotely.

And while part-time workers report far lower access to work from home options than full-time employees, their access has nevertheless also doubled over the last decade. The rapid pace of growth for both part-time and full-time workers, however, has actually widened the gap in access to work from home benefits. The gap in access to work from home benefits between full-time and part-time workers started the decade at a 21 percentage point gap in 2011, which has now expanded to 35 percentage points in 2020.

Access Varies by Industry and Occupation
Technology and employer motivation are not the only barriers to work from home arrangements. Some jobs and industries by necessity require workers to be physically present in order to do their jobs. For example, most jobs in food services, retail, transportation, and construction must be done in person, whether interacting directly with customers or with goods. In the chart below, those industries are grouped near the bottom, with fewer than 3 in 10 employees having access to work from home benefits.

By comparison, professional and technical services like information technology and insurance top the list with almost 3 in 4 employees reporting the ability to work from home. Workers in these industries primarily have desk jobs and are less tied to a physical office. The tech industry, in particular, is known for pioneering new modes of work and has been an early adopter of remote work.

Even so, it may be surprising to see, for example, that 11 percent of workers in the food services industry can make work from home arrangements. The higher-than-expected figures can be attributed to the difference between industry and occupation. A marketing manager at Burger King’s headquarters, for example, works in the food services industry despite not working in a food services occupation.

When comparing across occupations, the disparity in access to work from home policies becomes even larger. In the chart below, we show access to work from home benefits for broad occupation groups. While 73 percent of workers in consulting occupations report being able to work from home, only 5 percent of workers in transportation occupations can do the same. The stark difference between desk jobs that are more mobile (e.g. communications, HR, marketing) and jobs that require a physical presence (e.g. healthcare, manufacturing, retail) is even more obvious than it is between different industries.

Some occupations do not fit cleanly into this distinction between desk jobs and manual jobs. For example, even though legal work is a professional services industry, only 41 percent of workers in legal occupations report being able to work from home.

Interestingly, access to work from home options is exceptionally high for consulting, a full ten percentage points above the next occupation group. Consulting in some ways is the perfect opposite of transportation jobs, which are at the bottom of the list. While both occupations involve travel, transportation workers are transporting goods, whereas consultants are transporting their services. Working from home is not possible when transporting goods, but working remotely is fully possible if not desirable for consultants who may be traveling away from their home office often anyway.

For some jobs, the ability to offer work from home arrangements is constrained by the nature of the work itself. For example, it is unlikely that retail and food services jobs will allow work from home anytime in the near future. Even so, advances in technology have made working remotely possible even for education and healthcare workers in ways previously thought impossible. Those trends are reflected in the chart below, which shows that work from home policies have increased for every occupation group, though benefits have still grown fastest for professional and technical jobs.

Smallest Employers Have an Advantage Offering Work from Home
Half of the employees working at companies with less than 50 employees report having access to work from home options. While this is lower than at the largest employers, workers at these small employers notably report higher levels of satisfaction with their work from home options than medium-to-large employers, positioning small businesses as offering the best of both worlds: high access to work from home options and high levels of satisfaction.

While large employers have the infrastructure and ability to more easily offer work from home arrangements, small employers may benefit from being able to leverage close relationships to keep productivity and connectedness high when working remotely. Larger employers may also have more social pressure discouraging employees from working from home. Medium-sized employers appear to suffer from pressures from both sides, losing some of the satisfaction benefits of being a smaller, close-knit employer while also lacking the capabilities of larger employers to offer robust work from home arrangements.

How Does Work from Home Access Vary Geographically?
Of the top 15 states (including Washington, D.C.) with the most access to work from home arrangements, the first five—Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island—all feature access to a major urban metro area characterized by a large concentration of professional services workers.

Interestingly, Washington state and California, home to major tech hubs, are further down the list. This is likely due to the states’ large and diverse economies, which employ workers across a wide variety of industries that have less access to work from home arrangements.

However, major tech hubs—such as San Francisco, CA, San Jose, CA and Seattle, WA—still provide high levels of work from home options for their workforces. Large cities, especially ones with a high density of professional services, also feature prominently on the list. There are, however, some mid-sized cities as well, including Raleigh-Durham, NC, Glassdoor’s #1 Best City for Jobs in 2020.

Conclusion
According to Glassdoor data, work from home benefits have expanded dramatically over the last decade, with employers doubling access to work from home options for American workers. However, access varies substantially among different occupations, employers, industries and cities. While over half of full-time workers have access to work from home benefits today, only 1 in 5 part-time workers have the same access.

Although access to work from home benefits has grown across industries and the U.S. over the last decade, the recent rapid adoption of these policies in response to the coronavirus outbreak will, without a doubt, change how both employers and employees view this type of offering. Ultimately, however, the larger question is whether this disruptive period of time will mark a permanent sea change for the workplace. As more companies are forced to re-evaluate their work from home policies, we may see a broader realignment in how Americans work.

The post Working From Home: Has The Future of Work Arrived? appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

With the rise of online learning, there’s no shortage of classes you can take that offer you a certification in a particular trade, skill or software program. But outside of positions that require certifications — pilots, emergency medical technicians and insurance agents, for example — do any of these make a real difference in a job application? We reached out to recruiters and HR professionals to get the answer.

The consensus: Certifications certainly can make a difference, but not all certifications are created equal. Below are some of the ones that recruiters say actually move the needle in their decision to hire a candidate — if one of them is relevant to your field, consider looking into it!

Role-Specific Certifications

1. Human Resources Certifications (PHR, SPHR, SHRM)

While not a requirement, many recruiters agree that job seekers in the HR field can benefit greatly from professional certifications.

“If I’m hunting for an HR professional, I’ll want to be sure they have certification from SHRM,” says Laura Handrick, Senior Workplace and Careers Analyst at Fit Small Business.

“I am going to be more interested in seeing certifications (or formal degrees) related directly to their career progression (e.g., PHR, SPHR for Human Resources),” adds Dawn D. Boyer, CEO of D. Boyer Consulting.

2. Project Management Certifications (PMP)

“Anyone can claim to have the leadership and organizational skills of a Project Manager, but a certification in this field really adds value to a candidate’s resume,” says Ashley Riedesel, Technical Recruiter at OakTree Staffing & Training.

“Employers love to see this since employees with the PMP certification tend to have a more sophisticated approach to taking projects from inception through to completion across different methodologies,” adds Bryant Vargas, Director of Recruiting, Information Technology at Atlas Search.

Bonus: While this certification is especially helpful for those in the Project Management field, the knowledge you gain can also be broadly applied to other fields at the manager and leadership level.

3. Sales Certifications (Challenger Sales, Spin Selling, Sandler Training)

“Selling skills are often gained from experience, but candidates can stand out by including formal training or certification from a well-known sales philosophy on their resumes. A few examples: MEDDIC, Challenger Sales, Spin Selling, Sandler Training, etc.,” says Jordan Wan, Founder & CEO of CloserIQ. “This shows the candidate has the discipline to back up their raw skills with learnings from sales experts to improve their selling ability.”

4. Help Desk/Desktop Analyst Certifications (A+, Network+)

A caveat here: recruiters say these certifications aren’t quite as impressive for more senior roles, but if you’re in an entry-level position, they can help your resume stand out.

“An A+ cert looks great for a lower-level position like help desk or desktop. It’s a really good starting point and will definitely help you find your footing in the IT industry,” says Chase Wagner, Technical Recruiter at OakTree Staffing & Training.

Recruiters may also like to see Network+ certifications, says Senior Technical Recruiter Kamron Cox, also of OakTree Staffing & Training. “These are easier to get but do look good for those types of roles,” Cox shares.

5. Network Certifications (CCNA, CCNP, CCIE)

If you want to be a network engineer or admin, Cisco offers a variety of certifications that can boost your application.

“A good network engineer/admin typically would have a CCNA or CCNP, and for the heavy hitters, you’re looking at different levels within CCIE,” Cox says.

The CCIE in particular “is a series of the highest level of Cisco Certifications offered for Network Infrastructure Leaders who design, build and implement enterprise networking systems,” Vargas says. “Candidates must first pass a written exam and then pass a hands-on lab exam. When employers see that you’ve dedicated yourself to passing the written and lab portion of their CCIE it shows not only subject matter expertise, but also dedication and perseverance.”

Software Certifications

1. Salesforce

From sales to marketing to customer service and more, many departments in a corporate setting rely on customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, and Salesforce is one of the most popular choices.

“It’s like the Google of CRM systems… most everyone uses [it],” says Wes Lieser, Executive Recruiter & Practice Director of Demand Generation & Marketing Technology at Versique. “If someone is Salesforce.com certified, then I know they’re going to be well-versed in analytics.”

2. Hubspot’s Inbound Certification

Hubspot is primarily a tool for marketers, but it encompasses many different functions within that field — odds are, if you have a role within marketing, a Hubspot Inbound Certification can only help.

“There are only a select few certifications that actually move the needle forward when assessing a candidate… The first is Hubspot’s Inbound Certification,” says Keith Johnstone, Marketing Manager at Peak Sales Recruiting. “It provides a framework and methodology for basic inbound marketing strategies and tactics like SEO, blogging, email marketing and social media.”

3. Google Certifications (Publisher,  Analytics, AdWords, etc.)

Google has a tremendous range of products and services, and almost as many certifications. Whether you’re in digital marketing, data science or software engineering, there’s likely a Google certification that you can benefit from.

“We look for candidates that have the Google Publisher University certificates. There is one for each of Google’s flagship supply-side products: DoubleClick Ad Exchange and DoubleClick for Publishers,” says Kean Graham, CEO of MonetizeMore. “It’s rare to see candidates that have these certificates but when we do see them, we snap them up. We have found these candidates tend to be at a consistently higher level than the others.”

Johnstone looks for candidates with Google Analytics certifications under their belts. “These courses allow students to learn everything about Google Analytics from how to analyze reports, set up goals, campaign tracking to data collection, processing and configuration and more complex analysis and marketing tools,” he says.

Rachel Lehn, Manager of Business Operations at Perfect Search Media, says her company “[looks] for current certifications in Google AdWords… As an agency, almost all of our employees have those certifications,” she shares. “If a candidate has current certifications, we know that they have at least a basic understanding of Google AdWords and Google Analytics, which are core platforms for our service offerings of paid search advertising and search engine optimization.”

The post 8 Certifications That Actually Impress Recruiters appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

{This article originally appeared on The Muse.}

If you’ve just secured your first job out of college and you’re feeling a little anxious, you aren’t alone. In fact, the feeling isn’t much different than the “first day of school jitters.”
But some of that same back-to-school advice still has value for recent grads. Whether you’re going off to a new job in the big city or a small town), here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re planning for that first day of work:

1. Go to Bed Early
   Spend the night before your new job getting ready. Lay out your clothes, pack your bag, get a good night’s rest—and resist that urge to celebrate your new job with friends and cocktails on the night before. Show up to work alert, energized, and ready to make a great first impression.

2. Arrive to Work on Time
   Sometime before that first day, do a trial run of the morning traffic flow to iron out any congestion hiccups. Map out your commute and take into consideration any subways transfers or possible traffic issues. Arrive calm, cool, collected, and confident—not running five minutes late, frazzled, and already stressed out.

3. Dress Appropriately for the Job
   The first day of work isn’t the time to ask about the corporate dress policy—keep it conservative until you’ve had a chance to look around. Common sense says too tight, too short, or too low is a definite don’t.

4. Have a Lunch Plan and Keep a Nutritious Snack in Your Purse
   Keep something quick and easy to eat on hand in case of emergency. A bag of nuts, dried fruit, or a granola bar will keep indefinitely in a desk drawer or your purse. One exec I know was so excited on her first day of work that she forgot to eat lunch entirely. She began feeling faint and jittery by mid-afternoon, and it was so bad she had to go home. Don’t let that be you.

5. Avoid Tuna Fish
   Lunch at your desk may be tempting, but keep your lunch choice odor free. It’s best to get out of the office, or at least eat in the company break room to give yourself a change of scenery—and a chance to meet some of your new colleagues.

6. Make Friends With Your Colleagues
   Don’t wait for your new peers to walk up to you first (although it would be good manners for them to do so). Show your confidence by extending your hand for a shake and introduce yourself using both your first and last name. Using only your first name makes you appear juvenile or of lesser authority.

7. Don’t Jack Your Desk Up With Tchotchkes
   Keep your blow-up palm tree at home. The photo of you and your partner making out on the beach? That also stays on your bedroom shelf. Keep your décor classy, and don’t overdo it on Day one.

8. Play Nice With Others
   A colleague may try to lure you into their camp with “helpful” warnings about co-workers or unpopular company policies. Don’t be swayed by someone with an axe to grind. Office gossip is everywhere, but make a point to be like Switzerland and stay neutral.

9. Don’t Open the “Ex” File
   Whatever you feel about your previous job or boss, you’re making a fresh start—so leave your past employment woes at the door. And remember to keep an open mind. The way you did something at your last job may not be how they do things here, so tread lightly at first and learn all that you can before jumping in with suggestions on how things should be executed differently.

10. Keep Your Game Face On
    The first day can overwhelming. Or maybe you’ll be so excited about your first “real” job that you’ll have to fight the urge to do back flips down the hall. Either way, stay cool. Exude warmth, approachability, and enthusiasm for your job, but remember you’re a professional now—maintain your dignity and focus.

The first day can set the tone for your new work experience. You don’t need to be anxious about it and you don’t need to know everything when you walk in the door—but take the time to prepare in advance, do your research, arrive early, ask questions, smile, and enjoy the first day of your corporate life.
Congratulations on your new job!

The post 10 Ways to Avoid the First Day Jitters appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

You’re finishing up your final year in school, and it’s time to start considering your next move: your first job on the path to what’s sure to be a wildly successful career.

You probably know about the parent-approved must-haves: good salary, medical benefits, 401(k) matching. But what else should you keep in mind as you’re choosing that first position?

As you’re planning your first foray into the professional world, think about these four food-for-thought questions.

1. Where Else Could It Lead?

Your first job will likely be an important stepping stone in your career. So, you want to make sure that it can lead to more — and greater opportunities in the future.

Does the company you have your eye on offer a clear-cut career path for employees to advance internally? As you’re interviewing, ask questions about how project assignments are determined and ways that you’ll be able to gain more responsibility once you’re there. Inquire about your interviewers’ background and history with the company, look at employees’ LinkedIn profiles, and research the company’s website to see how the high-achievers arrived in their positions.

Figure out what networking opportunities are available, too. Is there a budget for you to attend professional events? Will you work with high-profile clients that might open doors for you in another stage of your career? We’re not advocating looking for your second job as soon as you start your first, but it’s always a smart idea keep your eyes open to networking possibilities that will help you down the line.

2. Will it Make Me More Marketable?

If you know that you want to be in a certain industry or functional area, but you haven’t settled on a specific role, look for positions that allow you to build transferable skills.

For example, you may not want to work with databases long-term, but taking a role where you learn about different software packages, methodologies, and data mining can make you an excellent candidate for any future job that will require number-crunching and technical savvy.

Alternatively, you may not plan to stay in sales for the majority of your career, but if you start there and learn how to explain product features, assess customer needs, and manage your time effectively, your years spent “in the trenches” will make you marketable for a variety of positions.

3. Will it Make Me Well-Rounded?

The best way to build transferable skills is to be involved in different types of projects. It’s a great way to gain insight into roles you may not have otherwise happened upon, and at the same time gather brilliant experience and the ability to tell future potential employers “been there, done that!” So, look for positions that allow you to work with different functional areas and take projects that might be out of your comfort zone.

During the interview process, ask about how the teams work in the organization. Does each department work independently, or is it a collaborative process? Who will you report to, and will you have the chance to interact with and learn about different departments?

Look, too, for positions that allow you to dive into different types of projects. Startups and smaller companies can be great choices for this exact reason: on a tiny team, the marketing person may do some budgeting, the accounting person may need to pull data on customers, and the operations person may end up helping out with customer service. Working in an environment like this, you’ll not only get a good sense for other career options that might be available, but when you apply for your next job, you’ll be able show that you’re flexible and a team player—plus have a ton of diverse achievements to showcase on your resume.

4. Who Will I Learn From?

You won’t know everything when you first start your career, and that’s okay. Your first job is supposed to be a learning experience — so look for a company that encourages the more seasoned employees to mentor and train newbies. Ask about opportunities to meet with other members of the organization, especially women who are a few levels above your current position (those are the brains you want to pick!).

Also ask about the chance to engage in training sessions so you can get a sense for how the company values ongoing education. Ask about new-hire orientation, too. Do they take time to show you how to succeed at the company, or do they throw you in the deep end and hope you can swim? (If so, this may not really be an ideal first company to work at.) Is your supervisor going to have an open-door policy, or will you be expected to figure everything out on your own? (Again &mdash ;if that’s the case, think twice!)

It’s also not unusual for companies to pay tuition for relevant graduate degrees. Participating in a company-sponsored grad program can build your professional opportunities, plus get you a degree on someone else’s tab — a great perk to take advantage of if you can.

Finding your first gig is a thrilling and nerve-wracking time. Hey, we know it’s overwhelming! But with these helpful hints, you’ll be well on your way to a great career.

The post What to Look for in a First Job appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

In recent years, internships have gone from nice-to-have-on-a-resume to absolutely critical. Employers today go on to hire about 50 percent of their interns as full-time workers, according to the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. And the share is growing every year in industries like construction, consulting, accounting and scientific services.

This new emphasis has upended the traditional recruiting calendar on campuses nationwide. With more companies drawing from their intern pools, recruiters have shifted their attention from hiring soon-to-graduate seniors to scoping out juniors, even as early as the fall term, for summer internships. Postings for internships now make up a significant proportion of the overall entry-level job openings in engineering, graphic design, communications, marketing and information technology, according to Burning Glass Technologies, a data analytics company that studies the job market.

“There was a time when 50 employers came to recruit for interns,” said Patricia Rose, director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania. “Now we have 180. They want to wrap up talent before anyone else.”

No one wants to be the first full-time employer of new college graduates anymore. Internships are “a really smart way to recruit,” said Adam Ward, head of recruiting at Pinterest, where about one-third of interns are hired in permanent jobs. “It’s all about trying before you buy.”

With so many employers hiring their interns, the last internship before graduation is perhaps the most important one. “He who gets them last gets them for good,” Mr. Ward said.

So how do students make the most of these short-term experiences? I asked four recent interns in different industries to share their advice.

Start Early

Matthew C. Pickett now works in the State Department’s public affairs office, where he had his first internship the summer before college. “Having an internship or working as a teenager gives you a sense of how an office functions; you learn how to network, and you see what different jobs are like,” he said. “I also learned how to navigate in a group environment with people of all ages, not just my peers.”

He returned to the department every summer, building up the skills that got him hired after graduating from George Mason University in 2015 with a degree in history.

Sell Yourself

In her junior year, Megan Mullen managed to meet most of the 70 employers attending a career fair at Indiana University. “You have 15 seconds to give an elevator pitch,” she said. “You can’t just hand them a resume and expect them to read it. They won’t.”

Her advice: “Don’t just repeat your resume. Tell them a story, bring up experiences that aren’t on your resume and tie together your skills and experiences to show how you can help them. Getting an internship is a sales job.”

That day, Visa invited Ms. Mullen for an interview. She got the internship.

Once you’re there, she said, “don’t be afraid to tell people your career goals and what you want to do. They want to support you. Speak up.”

“But also be careful what you say,” she added. “I was unsure if I wanted to live in California,” where there was a full-time job with Visa. “I mentioned that uncertainty to my manager, who misconstrued it as me not wanting any offer that would place me in California.” Ms. Mullen, who graduates in May in informatics, will start in the fall on Grant Thornton’s cyber risk team.

Do Your Research

Companies hire interns who show genuine interest in their businesses, not those who are just looking for a summer job, said Lauren L. Morrison. She spent hours researching Ford before the carmaker held its information session at Florida A&M University, where she was majoring in business administration. “By then, I knew what they were trying to do to improve customer service,” she said. “During a conversation with the recruiter I was able to connect the company strategy to what I learned in my business classes.”

Ms. Morrison landed a marketing stint with Ford in Orlando, Fla., and was the only intern in the office. “I was laser-focused,” she said. “I sat at my desk every day until my mentor told me that if I did just that for the rest of the summer, I’d be just a number in a large company. I went around and asked people what they were working on and if they needed help. I got another project that way, where I had to present to the regional managers at the end of the summer.” Her managers were impressed. Ford offers jobs to about half its 600 interns every year. Ms. Morrison was one of those hired.

Be Patient

Zane MacPhee thought that interning with a minor-league baseball team before his junior year would get him to the big leagues the following summer, where he would do big things analyzing player data to improve the team’s performance. “I quickly learned that major league teams only take interns after graduation.” He went back for the summer to the minor league team, the Walla Walla Sweets of Walla Walla, Wash.

After graduation from Whitman College, he landed an internship with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but still no moneyball in the front office. Rather, he was a marketing intern picking subjects for the Kiss Cam. “When that ended, I sent out résumés to every major league team. I got one bite.” It was for another internship, this one with the Minnesota Twins.

“It was a small front office. I was able to show what I knew, so the Twins hired me. I never knew it would take so much time and grunt work to get where I am. You’ve got to pay your dues.”

The post Former Interns Tell How They Landed a First Job appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Millennials are now America’s biggest generation — isn’t it time we started paying more attention to the way we manage them? According to information collected by the US Census Bureau, millennials, who are categorized as being born between 1982 and 2000, now exceed 83 million, outnumbering baby boomers by more than 13 million.

We spoke to career and workplace expert, experienced hiring manager, published author and founder and president of Come Recommended, Heather Huhman, about her top tips for successfully managing millennials.

First things first, when it comes to millennials, forget your preconceived ideas about them being lazy, entitled and difficult to work with. In fact, Ms. Huhman says millennials are not so much different to any other generation in the workplace. Despite that, millennials are not without their own special quirks, which managers would do well to be aware of.

“Millennials want their work to mean something, to believe in the values of their employer, and to feel respected by leaders,” Ms. Huhman says. “When treated right, you can expect hardworking and innovative team players. But when mismanaged, expect disengaged employees who won’t hesitate to leave for better opportunities.”

To engage millennials, Ms. Huhman recommends inspiring them with your company’s mission and values. Among millennials who said they will stay with their employer for more than five years, 88 percent said they feel a sense of purpose. Furthermore, Ms. Huhman says it is essential to show millennials the results of their hard work and to let them know that it is meaningful and that they are valued.

Motivating Millennials

When it comes to motivating your millennials, Ms. Huhman says the key thing to remember is that millennials are hungry for new opportunities. This means that they want to learn new skills and become better professionals. Ms. Huhman recommends professional development programs, which she says have a highly motivating impact. “Empower millennials with the skills needed to move up in their career,” she said. “When you invest in their development, they will be motivated to invest back in the company, delivering their best work.” Currently, 71 percent of millennials say they are unhappy with how their leadership skills are being developed and 63 percent say their leadership skills are not being fully developed.

What to Avoid

Managing millennials requires a unique approach. You can forget about employing the old “earn your dues” mentality — this will only backfire when it comes to millennials. Ms. Huhman says it is important to value your employee’s input, no matter how old they are or how long they have worked for you. “Listen to their ideas and feedback, reward excellent performance at every level, and award opportunities to those who deserve them, not those with the most seniority.”

What You Can Learn From Millennials

Millennials are a mobile generation. According to a Gallup survey, millennials access the internet from their phones more than any other generation. Ms. Huhman suggests managers can learn a lot from their millennial employees’ mobile habits. “Use mobile apps and tools to enable working on the go, speed up paperwork and other HR functions, and keep the team connected,” Ms. Huhman says. “Streamline the office and make flexible work easier — your millennial employees will love you for it.”

With an overwhelming number of millennials now making up the workforce, it is essential for managers to approach their professional development in the right way. Your management approach can either motivate, or send your millennial team running for the hills. Remembering that millennials desire a sense of purpose in their work and letting go of the “pay your dues” mentality will set you on the right path to effectively managing the millennials in your team.

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Q. You’ve just graduated from college and are entering a tough job market. What kind of interview preparation will help you stand out?

A. Research the company and the industry, says Adrien Fraise, founder of Modern Guild, which provides online career coaching to college students and high school seniors. “Know the major industry trends and news,” he says, and be able to talk about how they could affect the company.

Find out who runs the company and how they got there. “Look at their profiles on LinkedIn and see if you find a common bond,” says David Lewis, the chief executive of OperationsInc., a human resources outsourcing and consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. “If you are able to say, ‘I went to the same college as you’ or ‘I also majored in psychology,’ that demonstrates you really did your homework.”

Familiarize yourself with the company’s products or services and look for ways, even small ones, to possibly expand or add value. Note the positives, then talk about opportunities you see, says Moses Lee, C.E.O. of Seelio, a platform that lets students and recent college graduates post samples of their work and search for jobs.

“Let’s say you are talking about a recent marketing campaign,” he says. “You could say, ‘I enjoyed that campaign and if I had the opportunity to work on it, I might frame it so it resonated with millennials, too.’ ”

Q. What questions can you expect, and how can you prepare to answer them?

A. You may be asked to walk the interviewer through your résumé, so prepare concise, articulate anecdotes to illustrate what you did or learned in each experience you’ve listed, Mr. Fraise says. Highlight what you achieved and the skills you used – and how you want to keep using them. “Rehearse in front of the mirror and then in front of others,” he says. “Be so comfortable with it, it doesn’t sound scripted.”

Interviewers often ask questions like “Can you give me an example of when you had to work as part of a team or learned something new quickly?” Mr. Lewis says your examples might come from experiences in a club, fraternity or sorority. “Did you organize a membership push? Plan events? Do recruiting?” he says.

If you’re asked a question like “Why did you choose your college major?” be complete in your answer. “Don’t just say ‘because I really like psychology,’ “ Mr. Lewis advises. Instead, note from a business perspective why you liked the subject. “Maybe you found the classes to be informative about human behavior, which is a key to success in anyone’s business,” he says.

Take along samples of your work – whether from an internship, a class or an extracurricular activity – in a folder or on a laptop computer or tablet.

And always prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview, says Alexa Hamill, American campus recruiting leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia. Questions on the interviewer’s own career progress are a way to conclude, she says: “What opportunities have been presented to them? How were they trained and developed? This shows you are looking at the job as something potentially long term.”

Q. You want to exude confidence and maturity. What are some ways to bolster your confidence before an interview?

A. Develop a personal elevator pitch – a 30-second to one-minute summary of your academic career, your interests and what you did outside school – and correlate that to the job you want, Ms. Hamill says. PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a free tool on its site to help think through those questions, she says.

Q. What are some basic interview etiquette rules, in terms of dress and behavior?

A. Turn off your cellphone before walking into the company’s offices, and don’t take it out during your interview. “Don’t remind me you’re a 22-year-old,” Mr. Lewis says. “Have a firm handshake, maintain eye contact and don’t fidget.”

Remember not to talk about inappropriate topics like a recent fraternity party or something you saw on Facebook, Ms. Hamill says. When speaking to interviewers, “face them with your knees pointing toward them, sit up straight and stay engaged,” she says. After the interview, send a thank-you e-mail and include a link to your online portfolio or Web site if you have one.

Unless the company recommends dressing casually or informally for the interview, men should wear a suit and tie and women should wear a suit or skirt and blouse, Mr. Lewis says. You may be the only one in the office dressed that way, he says, but it’s usually better not “to walk into an interview dressed as if you are already part of the team.”

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Whether you’re in college and starting to think about your career path or considering a career change to a new field, you might be asking yourself, “What do I want to be?”

But a more important question to think about may be: “Am I marketable to a variety of positions?”

Truthfully, no matter what you’re interested in, there are a few key skills that will serve you well across industries and roles. Plus, if you build and master multiple skill sets, you’ll be a desirable candidate for many types of jobs, even if your career interests change over time.

After surveying employees from industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, as well as small to mid-size companies like Castlight, Room77, and Prezi, about what they look for in new hires, we found a lot of unpredictable answers (for example, being considered “smart” was low on the list). But fortunately, the top skills they’re looking for are all things you can learn, no matter who you are or what you want to do.

Prepare yourself for career success by becoming fluent in these five business skills.

1. Quantitative Analysis

Data is the backbone of many organizations, and your ability to organize, analyze, interpret, and present that data is important whether you’re creating an app or looking for ways to attract new customers. Specifically, employers said they value an ability to review organized data and create an action plan based on it. So, if you’re able to dig into the numbers and emerge with real insights, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. (Hint: In an interview, bring up a project in which you worked with data, and share how it informed your next steps.)

Get the Skill

MOOCs (or Massive Open Online Courses) are a great resource for learning data analysis (or anything, really). Check out Udacity’s Exploratory Data Analysis course, or find others from Udemy or EdX.

2. Excel

What’s the most important tool in your quantitative analysis arsenal? Excel. While you can learn how to use it on the job, many jobs don’t want (or don’t have time) to teach employees how to do it. So, if you come in knowing how to proficiently use Excel – and I mean really use it – you’ll save your employer tons of time and be much more marketable as a new hire.

Get the Skill

You can find a number of in-person Excel courses in your area (check Yelp for reviews before you enroll), or try the free training videos from Microsoft.

3. Creative Thinking

This is a hard skill to teach or learn, but the ability to think creatively can make a huge difference in the way a hiring manager views you. With the business world changing faster than ever, employers are excited by innovators and those who look beyond the status quo. They want people who can think outside the box, share new ideas, and improve upon current systems – from day 1.

Get the Skill

While there’s no real “how-to” guide for creativity, you can boost your ability to think innovatively with resources like the virtual Design Thinking Class from the Stanford d.school or Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley.

4. Communication Skills

Employers are looking for strong communication skills from the get-go. They want to know that you will effectively represent the company when communicating with colleagues and clients in emails, phone calls, meetings, presentations, and day-to-day work. Most importantly, they want to see that you’re able to clearly share your point of view in a concise and professional way. The good news? You can easily show this off during the hiring process when emailing potential employers or speaking in an interview.

Get the Skill

Communication skills take practice, and one of the best ways to grow is by getting feedback. Check out the Beyond Business summer program, which combines the practice of marketable skills with feedback from professionals and mentors.

5. Humility

This answer may seem surprising, but employers were quick to point out that it’s an in-demand skill. Sure, companies want you to come in confident and excited, but they also value flexibility and a willingness to learn, especially in new hires. While you shouldn’t feel that you have to hold back when it comes to sharing your thoughts and ideas, you should get comfortable being wrong and learning from it. Ask questions, spend time getting to know about the position and company, and don’t come into a job assuming you know more than your boss.

Get the Skill

The best way to gain this skill? As Nike said, just do it. Be gracious, humble, and eager, and demonstrate your flexibility by not only being open to feedback, but incorporating that feedback into your work.

The post 5 Skills That Will Impress Every Hiring Manager appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

If you are driven to being the best in your profession, you possess the ideal combination of experience, knowledge and training, and you’re confident in your ability to complete most projects with relative ease and achieve the desired end results.

Conversely, when you undertake a project without the proper experience, knowledge base and training, more often than not, you’ll make costly errors and the end result is prone to be flawed and will fail to yield the desired results. From personal experience I ask how many of you would attempt to clear a critical virus from your computer on your own. Need I say more!

Based on my experience, writing a branded resume and LinkedIn profile is easy for some and can be detrimental for others. If you are an experienced, skilled and confident wordsmith with a knowledge base and the training to build a Hire Profile and determine what employers really want to read in a resume, and you can select, categorize and articulate complementary skills and achievements and know how to establish a personal brand the final product will not only be outstanding it will stand out. If you don’t have this background, a DIY resume is doomed to be mediocre at best. Nonetheless when I say writing a resume is easy for someone who knows what they are doing, I do not want you to confuse the word easy with effortless, because they’re not one and the same. Most things that we term easy, even for a skilled professional, are far from effortless. Whether you‘re better off doing it yourself or having a professional do it for you comes down to how high or how low you consider the stakes to be if you fail to hit the mark.

To make this clearer for you here are a few examples you can relate to.

1: For a skilled CPA, filing a complex HNW income tax return may be easy. Still it requires an inordinate amount of effort to keep up with the changes in the tax laws, in compiling the proper data, determining which supporting forms the client is required to file and, not withstanding, the inordinate number of billable hours that go into meeting with a client, answering their questions, and time spent actually preparing and reviewing the return.

Having done it many times before, being familiar with similar cases and knowing what must be done makes the job easy for a skilled CPA. However the complexity of the project and the need for perfection requires a tremendous amount of effort on behalf of the preparer to make certain the finished return comes out perfect in every way. This is why most people who have a lot to lose or gain when filing a tax return don’t risk preparing it themselves. Instead they entrust the task to an accounting professional with a proven track record.

2: Next let’s look at an auto mechanic. How many of you feel comfortable changing your car’s oil? How many of you are equally comfortable doing a brake job or tuning up your car? Finally, how many of you feel qualified to rebuild your motor or transmission if that is what is needed to get your car back on the road?

To a truly-skilled mechanic, all these are easy. However the more complex ones require a concerted effort to get it done right. Dare say maybe 40% of us would change our oil and less than 20% would attempt a brake job or tune up on our cars; and I think very few of us would even consider working on the engine or transmission. Universally, I find when it comes to automobiles people leave the work to a professional because they have the know-how to do the job right and we don’t.

I’m not brazen enough to say a resume is the most important component in a successful job search; however, there is a positive and negative consequence attached to the final product. The more professional the resume looks and reads the better your chance is of getting the job you want and speeding up the time to find it.

If you’re trying to decide if you need a professional resume or whether a DIY resume will suffice, consider these two things:

1: What is at stake if you submit a mediocre or sub-par resume? Nothing, a little or a whole lot?

2: Can a professional do a substantially better job than you can, a slightly better job than you can or your work is equal to theirs, and does the quality of the finished product matter to you?

If you think there is little to lose having a passable resume, I suggest you go for it and write your own.

For those of you who would hire an accountant or auto mechanic because they offer better results than you would get alone, I recommend hiring a resume writer.

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