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So basically I will be graduating with my masters in Communications from a state university in Northern California in like 2 months. Since high school I have been doing internships for both public and private sectors in a variety of fields from hr/human capital, social media, program analyst, public relations for an major entertainment PR firm in LA, television programming for a major cable network at Fortune 1000 media corporation, brand ambassador for a social media site. Yes lots of experience, 2 page resume of experience from internships. So far since I got my bachelors I have been contacted for jobs in the bay area, but I do not like it here. I want a change of scenery and have decided that I want to apply for jobs in Los Angeles, Miami, NYC and San Diego. Does anyone have any advice for me? I feel like my experience is all over the place and I know these cities are all hard to break into, but I want to live and work somewhere, where I can be happy. Anyone have any advice? Any advice about how to land a job in these cities even though I have 2 more months in Norther CA? Any advice will be welcomed, but I want to know what to look forward to and how to make my mark in these cities and how to possible narrow my searches down.
1. Find a few career areas to focus on, do separate resumes for each area and cut resume down to one page. You may end up with 3-4 different resumes. One for communications, HR, PR, etc.
2. If you have friends and family in the other cities, try to use their address on your resume.
3. Target specific companies and industries, visit their sites multiple times per week to see if new job posting pop up.
4. Customize your resume to each job ad and pepper your resume with key words.
5. Don't get discouraged. It's going to take a while.
6. Have someone you respect and trust review your resumes and cover letter.
7. Force yourself to apply to a certain number of ads per day like 10-15 per day. This way, you will force yourself to seek out less obvious jobs where you have to use your transferable skills. Job hunting can be a numbers game.
8. After you send a resume, forget about it unless you get contacted. Don't emotionally dwell on how many resumes you're sending out.
9. Hustle, hustle, hustle.
10. Be prepared to interview out of town.
11. Use whatever connections you have. Are you a member of a frat or other career related group? Make the most of your social media contacts.
1. Find a few career areas to focus on, do separate resumes for each area and cut resume down to one page. You may end up with 3-4 different resumes. One for communications, HR, PR, etc.
2. If you have friends and family in the other cities, try to use their address on your resume.
3. Target specific companies and industries, visit their sites multiple times per week to see if new job posting pop up.
4. Customize your resume to each job ad and pepper your resume with key words.
5. Don't get discouraged. It's going to take a while.
6. Have someone you respect and trust review your resumes and cover letter.
7. Force yourself to apply to a certain number of ads per day like 10-15 per day. This way, you will force yourself to seek out less obvious jobs where you have to use your transferable skills. Job hunting can be a numbers game.
8. After you send a resume, forget about it unless you get contacted. Don't emotionally dwell on how many resumes you're sending out.
9. Hustle, hustle, hustle.
10. Be prepared to interview out of town.
11. Use whatever connections you have. Are you a member of a frat or other career related group? Make the most of your social media contacts.
I've had my resume by a few people so far and they all think that the 2 pages is fine. But you think that 1 page would be better?
I was thinking that you may want to work on your patience if you bumped this to the top after only a few late night hours when most readers/posters were probably asleep.
It may take months and months of hard work to get the type of job that you are seeking. Patience will be very important in that process.
I've had my resume by a few people so far and they all think that the 2 pages is fine. But you think that 1 page would be better?
Its hard to say without seeing it. I have seen some unwieldy 2-page resumes and I have seen some great ones. As long as everything in there is absolutely needed and there is no filler, 2 pages should be OK.
Its hard to say without seeing it. I have seen some unwieldy 2-page resumes and I have seen some great ones. As long as everything in there is absolutely needed and there is no filler, 2 pages should be OK.
Someone with no real career employment needs a 2 page resume of unrelated intern work?
Unless they are internships that contribute directly to related experience, I would try really hard to reduce the 2 pages to a single page. A recent graduate with a long resume will naturally trigger the interviewers to scrutinize for filler. For technical fields, there is a lot of fodder in that content that can immediately knock you out as potential dishonest person. So while its OK assuming content, you had better being capable of handling the scrutiny with good responses.
I've seen resumes that provide an overview of all the experience in a single section at the beginning. Then list the internships afterwards with a very short description of the internship responsibilities. This brings the focus to your skills in a single section rather than spreading them within your internship timeline.
No doubt, they will pick and choose to ask specifics on certain internship positions BUT at that point you will engage in conversation rather than spend it defending your resume content.
Of course, this may be different from field to field....
I have very strong feelings against recent grads having 2 pages on their resume. When I graduated from undergrad, I certainly had enough experience for 2 pages, but cut it down to 1. Now that I have a few years of experience and am working on a masters degree, I just have to be more chosey about what I put in a resume. I also have been involved in the hiring process at work and find that 2 pages gets repetitive and gives a lot more opportunity for mistakes. Not to mention that in the communications field, your writing needs to be tight.
Consider using a skills resume rather than a traditional resume - that way you can list all of the various experiences at the bottom to show you have more than the average internship experience, but also bring out the most salient skills requested by the job ad. A skills section is also helpful for cutting down on space - I have 3 columns of skills listing all of the relevant programs I know how to use, social media platforms I am proficient in, and other short points to catch a keyword filter.
My advice in getting a job in a new city is to work over your alumni networks. Jobs are more likely to hire a recent grad, but having an alumni connection in the companies and cities you are interested in is key. Use linkedin.com/alumni to find what the major employers in the communications fields are for alumni in your cities of interest. Reach out to them to ask for an informational interview. Be polite and remember that you are asking them for help, and never ask for a job out of an informational interview (too pushy) UNLESS you know the company is hiring for something you are qualified for, and then ask for advice.
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