Career Development

Resumes

100

What piece of information needs to be at the top of your resume?

Your name!

200

Name two common category headings to be found on a resume?

Education, Relevant Experience, Work Experience, Skills, Volunteer, Leadership

300

(PHONE/COMPUTER QUESTION)
What does "ATS" stand for in relation to job searching? What is one tip to "beat" that ATS?

Applicant Tracking System (ATS): 

• Carefully tailor your resume to the job description every single time you apply.
• Optimize for ATS search and ranking algorithms by matching your resume keywords to the job description
• Use both the long-form and acronym version of keywords (e.g. “Master of Business Administration (MBA)” or “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)”) for maximum searchability
• Use a chronological or hybrid resume format (avoid the functional resume format)
• Don’t use tables or columns as they often cause major parsing errors
• Use a traditional resume font like Helvetica, Garamond, or Georgia
• Don’t use headers or footers as the information might get lost or cause a parsing error
• Use standard resume section headings like “Work Experience” rather than being cute or clever (“Where I’ve Been”)
• Save your file as a .docx or .pdf if possible

400

This accompanies a resume, and helps you introduce yourself in a personal, memorable way. It is typically less than a page long and should be unique for each application.

Cover Letter

500

(ALL TEAMS)

One of the hardest parts of writing a resume is writing the experience phrases (the bullet points under your relevant experiences). A good experience phrase is written in the format: [action verb + skill/experience/knowledge + specific/quantifiable impressive information]

Write an experience phrase for a sales representative who took over a region with poor sales and turned it around (feel free to make up your own data points). 

Varying

Needs format: [action verb + skill/experience/knowledge + specific/quantifiable impressive information]

Choosing a Major

100

Apart from "Bible", name one of the top three most popular majors at Northwestern?

Psychology, Nursing, Business Administration

200

If under the right circumstances, personal bubbles mean nothing to you and you enjoy stabbing people, what major should you do?

Nursing

300

If you want to learn to use science, technology, and math to solve problems and create things, you should probably study what major?

Engineering

400

If you want to combine your passion for art, design, technology, and storytelling, what major is right for you?

Animation

500

(ALL TEAMS)
What percentage of undergraduate students change their major at least once while in college? (closest to  the number gets the points)

80%

Internship

100

A student working at an organization to gain industry specific work experience and in some cases it satisfies requirements for their major is known as what?

An internship

200

Survey's of employer's indicate that the most valuable thing on a candidate's resume is relevant work experience. It also indicates, that most employer's prefer for recent graduates to have relevant work experience in the form of ________________.

Fill in the blank.

Internships

300

According to one source, the average rate to which ___________ are at some point offered a full-time position at the same organization is 56.1% (other sources say its higher!). 

Fill in the blank.

interns

400

Who should you talk to find out about your internship requirements?

Advisor

500

On average, how much more money does an employee make (per year) if they held a relevant, paid internship prior to employment?

$10,000

Skills/Attributes

100

Name one of the top 8 skills/attributes employers look for on a resume. (multiple teams can get points)

Communication skills (written + verbal), Problem-solving skills, Ability to work in a team, Initiative, Analytical/quantitative skills, Strong work ethic, Leadership, Detail-Oriented

200

Which attribute is more desired by employers: Written or Verbal Communication?

Written

300

Which attribute is most valued by employers: "Ability to work in a team", "strong work ethic", or "Leadership"?

Ability to work in a team

400

(ALL TEAMS)

Write a experience phrase (a bullet point phrase that goes under an experience on a resume) for someone that worked at Caribou Coffee that reflects how they might have used problem-solving skills in their job.

Varying responses

500

What is the difference between "Soft Skills" and "Hard Skills"?

Soft skills typically refer to attitude/personality attributes, while Hard skills refer to specific technical skills or knowledge (i.e. MATLAB, C++ Programming, Speaking Spanish, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word, the list goes on...)

Networking/Interviewing

100

What is the most used online professional networking website/program?

LinkedIn

200

What's one of the first things you should do after an interview or meeting someone new through networking?

Follow up with a "Thank You".

300

What is the STAR method for answering interview questions?

Situation/Setting

Task

Action

Result

400

(All Teams)

Give your best description of networking?

Varying Answers

500

(ALL TEAMS & PHONE/COMPUTER QUESTION)

Use LinkedIn to find a UNW alumni who works for Facebook, what is their name.

Travis Zimbelman

Micah Vono