Today's question: I've heard a number of horror stories involving job and internship applications. How can I avoid some of the most common "deal breakers?"Answered by: Robin Kahan, Tufts Career Services
Before I came to Tufts, I worked in HR in a large corporation for years, the last 5 as the College Relations Manager. In that role, I got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly side of students applying for jobs and internships. In all your interactions with employers you want to realize you are being judged.
Use a dictionary, spell checker, grammar checker and a friend who is a good proof-reader before sending your resume and/or cover letter.
A couple of small errors can ruin your chances of getting your resume to the hiring manager. The HR person is screening for attention to detail and may reject a good candidate because he or she types 'there' instead of 'their.'
Don’t
call me Mr.Oftentimes a name does not help you determine the gender of the person to whom you are writing, examples include: Alex, Pat, Taylor, and Chris. Do not guess! Use resources like LinkedIn or call the company to make sure before sending your letter. On a related note, you should make every effort to write to a person by name (not "To Whom it May Concern," or something similar, unless the organization requests this). I know managers who devalue an application if a candidate does not even try to find a name at the company.
If you are interviewing for a job at a company, you had better know about the company and why you want the job.
There is truly nothing worse than a candidate who shows up to an interview without doing his/her homework. You want to be able to bridge your knowledge, skills and abilities with what the company needs, and how can you effectively do that if you don’t know anything about the company?
Don’t ask about salary, but be ready to tell the company your expectations.
Again, do your homework. Understand salaries based on industry, location, size of firm, job title and other specifics of the position for which you are applying. My best advice is not to make it seem like salary is the most important element of the job for you- this rarely helps you land the job. Again, not having an answer to the question on salary expectations will make an employer feel you did not do your research. You don’t necessarily need to have a specific number - a range will do.
Whenever possible give a specific answer.
Interviewers are taught that past performance is the best predictor of future behavior. You want to give an actual example for each question posed. If you remember STAR (specific) situation, task, action, result– you will give an excellent answer in 4-6 sentences.
Do not “stalk” recruiters.
It is fine to follow-up on a resume or interview, but don’t do it every day. As a colleague of mine explained, recruiters will not want to “put annoying people in front of managers!"
Obviously, Tufts students never make any of the above mistakes. I just wanted to share some of the things that drive HR people crazy.
