I’ve been on a bunch of job interviews. I’ve been interviewed by one person, a panel of three, in multiple cities, for varying sizes of companies, and for everything from retail to administrative to creative positions. There are a few general rules for job interviewing:

Eye contact
Speak succinctly and with clarity
Allow the interviewer to lead the interview
Bring multiple copies of your resume handy
Do prior research on the company your interviewing with

These will definitely help get you out of The Shire. However, there’s one golden rule above them all that is guaranteed to make you a “can’t miss” prospect.

It’s not about what they can do for you, it’s about what you can do for them.

They called you in. They called you in to see what you can offer them. This approach will have you focus on what your strengths are, allow you to comment on what exemplifies the company you want to be apart of, and how you can become an indispensable addition, because you can contribute.

Maybe you can refill a stapler in under 6.5 seconds. Maybe you can run a half-mile in 2 minutes-whatever your skills, strengths, or accomplishments, this kind of mentality allows you to focus on those and how they work within the system you’re attempting to get involved with.

You don’t have to phrase this as in, “This is what I think you’re missing,” but rather, “This is what I love about this place, and here’s how I can add something to it.” It makes you appear proactive, eager, appreciative, and a team player. Because that’s the key to any job: remembering that you’re not going to be on your own the whole time but working with other people.

It’s not about what they can do for you, it’s about what you can do for them.

Every question they ask, think that thought. Every time you see an opening to elaborate on an answer, think that thought. It’s a way of keeping your focus in the room. You have something to offer them. Make the offer.

Always Be Closing,

The Dude

I can’t believe that in less than 3 months I’ll be a college graduate.  I’ve tried avoiding it, but that failed. Somehow my mom wasn’t thrilled with the idea of me wanting to stay and party at the #1 party school no matter how much I tried to convince her that I wanted to open my mind to a new world of educational and enlightening wonders.

Yes, the thought of graduating still makes me nauseous (I’d prefer a tequila hangover any day) but these past few months have been a period of reflection for me; that amazing game-winning beer pong shot, the many “I did WHAT” stories, the intense study sessions for required classes that I’ll never need in my real life….

With the real world looming on the not-so-distant horizon, I realize that my time at Penn State has been legen…wait for it…DARY, but there’s still so much useful stuff I don’t know. So now I’m sitting here, up to my ears in job applications, wishing that maybe instead of forcing me to take Geology 101 (and spend major cashola on it), my school would have offered some more useful classes… Read More »

It’s internship hunting season and, thanks to the economy, it’s more competitive than ever. That means it’s more important than ever to make a really good first impression. Being that I spent the past week alone sifting through over 100 applications for CollegeCandy’s summer internship positions, I know a thing or twelve about what makes a successful application.

If you want to spend your summer beefing up your resume, learning the ropes and, most likely, getting someone else’s coffee, take a few of these things into consideration:

Stand Out.
Most internship coordinators receive a lot of applications, making it incredibly difficult to remember every single one they looked at. If you want to be remembered, you gotta stand out.

Resume Do:
Move away from the traditional/boring resume format and try doing something a little different. (You can find ideas online.) I once received a resume that had a great pop of bright green on the top and a very simple green line down the left side. Three years later, I still remember that applicant.

Resume Don’t:
Say something stupid. My friend was recently reading through internship applications for a position at her advertising firm. Under “interests” one applicant listed: “Facebook creeping, collecting bar wrist bands, and beer pong.” Not only was she under 21, but she was completely unprofessional. Yes, she was trying to be creative and stand out, but this was clearly the wrong way to do it. Read More »

Job Wanted.

When we all entered our senior year of high school, the question on everyone’s mind was where they’d be going to college. We worked our asses off to get decent SAT scores and spent every weekend for months writing essays about why we were more wonderful than the thousands of other students applying for the same coveted place on campus.

Four years and a degree later, I now find myself asking a different question: I did all of this for what, exactly?

Of course, I’ve had the time of my life in college. The parties, the late night gossip fests with my roommate, the 4 a.m. diner visits – all of it was totally worth memorizing SAT vocab words and relearning geometry. But when it’s all said and done (which in my case is way too close for comfort), with $120,000 down the hole, what does my little graduation certificate get me exactly?

Apparently, not much. Read More »

So you’re stuck on campus for Spring Break, watching people flee to warmer climates or their parents’ house. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to be bored. There are plenty things to do on campus that are fun and don’t break the bank.

Have a beach party – just because you’re not at the beach doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you are. Break out the bikinis and shorts, blend up some margaritas and blast the songs that remind you of summer. Invite others that stuck on campus. You might even find a cute boy you can ‘lei’.

Theme parties – Still not in shape to don your bikini? What about another type of theme party? Have a moustache party (no you don’t have to grow one, just squiggle a nice one on your finger and hold it up to your face). Or you could try out our makeup tips for a decade party. Or how about a party from one of those fabulous places you didn’t get to travel this break. Fiesta anyone? Read More »

This is your chance to blog on CollegeCandy.com. Find out how!

Summer job hunting tips.

Is an Old School 2 in the making?

Poll: Will Paris go to jail?

Graduation fashion do’s and don’ts.

Fab Find: Woven Plaid Bikini, top $38, bottom $38.

You’re definitely a college student if …

Ah, my little résume, how you confuse me so. You either bring me heaps of paychecks, or just heaps of rejection. I hate you.

During college, we all must put on our serious face, and begin working on our “real” résumes that will hopefully lead us into the scary, professional world. Not those stupid résume templates they made us fill out during high school, where the only jobs we could list were babysitting, JV Cheerleading, and serving frozen yogurt at T.C.B.Y (for three weeks before getting fired for not “taking the job seriously”). Well…that was what mine looked like, anyway.

The dreaded résume is inevitable, and there are definitely rules to follow if you want to create one that is kick-ass, as opposed to one that gets shuffled in with the masses, never to be seen again. There are tons of sites out there that will tell you what you SHOULD do with your résume. Read More »