First Job & Resumes

Which of the following is NOT a goal for your resume?

• Convince an employer to hire you
• To sell yourself to get an interview
• Inform an employer how to contact you
• Attract an employer's attention

Which of the following are components of a successful resume?

• Contact Information
• Professional Photograph
• Educational Background
• Honors/Awards Won
• Previous Work Experience

Which of the following is the best sentence to include on your resume to describe a previous job working at an ice cream shop?

• Fastest ice cream scooper two years running
• Implemented a new scooping procedure to decrease customer service time by 20%
• Used new scooping procedures to improve customer satisfaction

The best strategy to convince an employer that you are a great candidate is to include as many facts and accomplishments as possible.

• true
• false

On average, how long do employers spend reading a resume?

• 0-30 seconds
• 31-60 seconds
• 1-5 minutes
• 5+ minutes

Which of the following are components of a successful cover letter?

• Addressed to the hiring manager
• Cuts right to the chase of why you think you'd be a good fit for the company
• Includes a sense of humor
• Emphasizes your potential value to the company
• 1-2 pages

Identify the problems with this cover letter.

• Not addressed to a specific individual, ideally to the hiring manager
• Too general; doesn't list the specific job that the applicant is applying for
• It is a general template and shows that the applicant didn't put much thought and effort into it
• The cover letter is quite effective because it is short and to the point

Siddhartha is applying for a job that he saw advertised online. The job description says to send a resume to [e-mail]. Siddhartha should NOT send a cover letter since it is not requested in the job description.

• true
• false

A hiring manager created this chart after analyzing the number of errors on the resumes of all the candidates who received offers from his firm. Analyze the chart and select the statement below that is TRUE.

• You don't need to review your resume too closely since over 50% of offers went to candidates with more than 4 errors on their resume.

• About 80% of offers went to candidates with one error or less on their resumes so you better review your resume for errors several times before sending it out for jobs

• Some candidates were hired who had more than 10 errors on their resume

• You should be more concerned about how you describe your skills on your resume compared to grammatical errors or typos.

It is ok to tell a little fib on your resume since most companies don't verify your background information.

• true
• false