To help students polish their extra-curricular activities and professional skills, the Office of Career Services (OCS) is hosting virtual resume drop-ins every Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
With the career fair fastly approaching, attending a drop-in session is a great resource for students to have their resume reviewed professionally. The career fair will be held through Handshake on Wednesday, September 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm. Associate Director for Career Counseling Programs, Christy Dunston, explains the positive effects receiving resume critiques can have on students.
“Our hope is that all students would have their resume critiqued prior to attending the career fair because it can help a student feel confident about the resume they are providing to recruiters,” Dunston said. “After speaking with a career center staff member a student will have a polished and up to date resume that is ready to hopefully land them an interview with a company.”
A resume is a student’s formal introduction to a brand, business, or corporation. In order to be successful, it is important for students to put their best professional foot forward. Dunston explains why it’s so important that students use this resource provided by the university.
“The resume drop-ins are an essential service for students to utilize because they can speak to a career services staff member on how to target, market, and polish their resumes for specific opportunities” Dunston said. She also stated “Additionally, resume drop-ins do not require an appointment so students can log into Zoom anytime during the designated hours to review a critique.”
Demontre Dabney, a junior international management student said the resume drop-in was beneficial because it showed him what he needed to work on.
“It helped me realize I needed to get involved on campus with orgs and that I needed to gain more leadership positions within those orgs,” Dabney said.
Sophomore kinesiology student Alexis Coard states because she utilized the resume drop in her Freshman year she was afforded a networking opportunity at the career fair that same year.
“After re-wording my resume and changing it around I got the opportunity to talk to some physical therapists from Charlotte, NC who had worked with the Carolina Panthers,” Coard said.
Based on Dabney’s experience, he explained how complicated the process of resume critiques were prior to COVID-19. Alluding to the fact, that students should take advantage of the flexibility of OCS’s new resume drop-in process.
“Before, I set up an appointment a week in advance. Once you arrive, they would tell you what you did right, what you did wrong, what you need to add, and what you need to take off. Then they’d hand you a piece of paper which was a resume checklist with resume tips so you could go back over it on your own,” said Dabney.
Students interested in resume assistance are encouraged to join the Zoom call provided by OCS via Aggie Email. A career coach is provided in order for students’ resumes to be critiqued. OCS staff has requested that student resumes be in a word document and ready to be emailed to a staff member.
Students should also check their aggie emails for any updates regarding the virtual drop-ins. To check for updates regarding virtual drop-ins, view resume drop-in hours, and obtain the Zoom meeting link information in Handshake, students should check under the resources tab. To check for late drop-in hours, students should look under the events tab.
Registration for the Career Fair via Handshake is required.