Notes from Mike Gaul’s presentation to AnS 311 on Wednesday January 19, 2011
How’s the job market?
2010 – 85%
2009 – 80%
2008 – 77%
2007 – 73%
2006 – 67%
What are these data? They are from CNN Money Magazine (2010) and www.CollegeGrad.com
(2006-2009) and represent the percentage of students who went home to live with Mom &
Dad after they graduated from college.
What is driving that trend of college graduates moving back home? Mainly the high cost of
living and a dismal job market. College graduates who move back home are called
“boomerang kids” or “boomerangers”. Some parents (who “downsized” after their last
child “left the nest”) are having to build additions onto their homes to make room for the
boomerangers to come back home.
Unemployment rates
a. National unemployment rate: ~10%
b. Iowa unemployment rate: 6.8% (one of the lowest in the nation; worst is Michigan: ~15%)
c. In Spain, there is a 40-45% unemployment rate among people aged 18 to 25 years old.
ABC News web site (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/fullpage?id=9549471):
The Decline: The Geography of a Recession
January 2007 unemployment 4.6% → 9.7% (November 2010 unemployment)
One major company rescinded all December 2008 and May 2009 full-time job offers, as well as
summer 2009 internships.
Bottom line message: there is a GLUT of talent available for the job market. If you want a job,
you have to have experience and make yourself stand out from the crowd!
July 2010 Wall Street Journal article: Will agriculture prove to be the hot new sector of the 21st
century? The answer is undeniably yes!
Now is a great time to be an agriculture student. Last year, the College of Agriculture & Life
Sciences Career Fair had more companies looking for students than the College of Liberal
Arts & Sciences and the College of Business Career Fairs COMBINED
Fall 2009 ISU Ag Career Day: 1350 interviews conducted by 72 companies.
www.AgCareers.com job postings up by 5,000 from 2009 to 2010
Many employers are concerned about the lack of effort by students to secure internships &
employment. NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) article:
March 2009 survey of 6,000 soon-to-be college graduates
63% of students were worried about finding a job after college graduation
40% had not yet begun the job search in March, even though they will graduate in
May/June
One recent graduate communicated with his/her academic advisor:
“Hey, not much going on here. I’m working at Sherwin-Williams here in Denver, and
snowboarding the rest of the time. Haven’t took anything permanent, but still looking.”
To get a good job, students must be:
FOCUSED
DIRECTED
CONNECTED
*** Learn art of networking; if you’re not networking, you won’t be working ***
*** Often, it is not who YOU know, but who knows YOU. ***
Iowa State University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Career Services
141 Curtiss Hall (south end of 1st floor)
Ames, IA 50011-1050
Phone: 515-294-4725
Fax: 515-294-2198
Mike Gaul, Director, E-mail: mikegaul@iastate.edu
Lois Benning, Administrative Specialist
URL: www.career.ag.iastate.edu
In the future, will be located on the ground floor of Curtiss, south of Rotunda
SERVICE OFFICE that assists with anything dealing with careers:
- Resumes
- Cover letters (often the weakest link in the application process)
- Ag Career Day
- Networking
- Career consultation
- Interview preparation & mock interviews (interviewing is an art!)
- Career consultation
-
Part-time job opportunities (not listed centrally)
Facilitate on-campus interviews by employers
Looking for a part-time job?
Ag Career Services office has part-time job opportunities that are NOT posted on the job board
and are NOT posted on the centralized career management service.
On-campus interviews
Most on-campus interviews are held in the fall. In the 2009-2010 school year, 82% of campusbased interviews were held between the fall Ag Career Day and finals week of fall semester.
Ag Career Day
click on “Ag Career Day” tab on Career Services home page
Historically, ~ 500 students attend to meet with ~ 75 prospective employers in the spring (much
smaller event than the fall)
Wednesday February 2, 2011; 10 am – 2 pm; Memorial Union
Tips for success at Career Day:
1) BE THERE!
2) Go alone (buddy system doesn’t help you get internships/jobs)
3) Go early (before things get too busy)
4) Take plenty of resumes
5) Look on the web site before you go & develop a strategic plan about who to see
6) Dress for success: only 1 chance to make a good 1st impression!
7) Practice your 60-second “infomercial” to sell yourself before you go
8) Direct eye contact & firm handshake. Remember the 7-second rule: most employers
will “size you up” in the first 7 seconds they see you/talk with you.
9) Obtain a business card from every employer with whom you speak – build a portfolio of
your contacts
10) Ask if he/she will be interviewing tomorrow and if you can get on their interview
schedule (probably, Thursday February 3)
Another useful tab on the Career Services home page is the “Career Service Notes”. At this tab,
you will find a listing of upcoming interviews, available jobs, etc.
The “Students” tab on the Career Services home page will take you to a link for the Iowa State
University Career management Service (ISUCMS) login (https://ecms.eng.iastate.edu/students/)
ISU Career Management Service (CMS)
CMS has been at ISU for 8 or 9 years; Ag & Life Sciences has been a participant for ~ 6 years
It is FREE to students!
Last year, there were over 40 Million hits on this web site!
When using CMS, a student can apply for as many jobs as he/she wishes, but each prospective
employer only sees an applicant’s materials (resume, cover letter) pertaining to that employer’s
job opening.
Go to the web site to activate your account.
A) Your username is your entire ISU email address (e.g., student@iastate.edu).
B) A password was created for you when you were pre-loaded into the system, but many
students don’t know it (or have forgotten it), so click on the link for “forgot password”
Once you log in, go to profile and double click
1) Find the academic tab
a. enter applicant type (e.g., “experiential education”) & SAVE CHANGES
b. be sure to check the appropriate work authorization status & SAVE CHANGES
2) Find the privacy tab
a. leave privacy tab checked YES to receive e-mails & SAVE CHANGES
3) Password/preferences tab
a. Reset your password to something you will remember for a long time
b. CMS may can be used by alumni after they graduate from ISU (but keep in mind
that “iastate.edu” e-mail goes away 6 months after graduation)
4) Documents tab
a. can can upload a variety of document (resume, cover letter, transcript, etc)
b. to load document into CMS system
i. click on “add new” button
ii. click radio button for document type
iii. can upload up to 30 documents in the system (but it is probably best to load
only a few documents to keep things simple and to avoid the problem of sending
the wrong file to a prospective employer)
5) Job tab
a. can register as student or alumnus
b. can sort on college or major
c. can select permanent job vs. internship (experiential experience)
6) Employer tab
a. Can do a key word search
You can also set up the system to get e-mail notifications on a new job, etc.
DON’T USE THE RESUME BUILDER FEATURE ON CMS, as it will make your resume look just like
everyone else’s (and you won’t stand out from the crowd).
Interviews: open sign up (not very common) vs. pre-select
RESUMES
Three basic rules of thumb for preparing your resume (which is a living document that should
be updated at least once or twice per semester):
1) Have fun with it!
2) Be error-free! Most employers spend 20 seconds reviewing a resume. A typographical
error is a sure-fire way to lose the opportunity for an internship/job interview. DON’T
RELY ON SPELL CHECKER ALONE! Only have one chance to make good first impression.
The three most commonly spelled terms on resumes of ISU College of Ag & Life Sciences
students are: VEISHEA, Frederiksen Court, Block & Bridle)
3) Tell the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth (one human resources manager
indicated that > 50% of resumes had some sort of falsification – a sure-fire way to be
passed over!)
Other resume tips:
a) Do NOT place a photo of yourself on your resume (potentially opens up discrimination
law suit issues for employer)
b) Plain white paper is fine – it FAXes well and it is cheaper than fancy resume paper
c) Avoid graphics (including “background graphics”) on your resume
d) Do NOT place any personal data on your resume (height, weight, age, marital status,
sexual orientation, religious belief, political affiliation, etc).
e) Always project yourself in a positive manner (avoid mentioning inappropriate things
such as some items that certain students post of themselves on Facebook)
Resume fine-tuning:
1) Avoid templates, including the infamous AnS 110 resume template! Be unique to set
yourself apart from the competition.
2) Your name should be prominent at the top. Use 18-point font for your name. Other
resume headings can be 14-point font, with text at 11- or 12-point font.
3) Make your contact information easy to find. Give your campus/university address as
well as your permanent address (especially if you still go home for summers). Label
your cell phone number so employers know it is your personal number. Be careful what
type of “greeting” you have on your phone. When employers want to leave a message
for you, they may not appreciate your humor. Be professional! Include e-mail and snail
mail addresses,
4) Objective statements are probably necessary ONLY if you are looking for a highly specific
internship/employment opportunity OR if your activities/work experiences don’t match
well with your major or your desired career
5) Education: start with current (ISU), and include community college or other transfer
institution below. As juniors in college, high school is not necessary (but could be added
if you moved out of state to go to college, and that is not obvious from your permanent
address). See sample format below.
6) Cumulative grade point average (GPA): Include under education. Prospective employers
want to see it! If you leave it off your resume, employers will assume the worst. Only
leave it off if your GPA is 2.40 or lower. Don’t make excuses for a low GPA on your
resume, but feel free to mention legitimate reasons for a low GPA in your cover letter
and in the interview (changed majors, financing 100% of college education so had to
work 30+ hours/week, non-traditional student [married, have kids, working full-time
plus being a full-time student]).
7) International experience – where did you go? What did you do? Leave off family
vacations, leisure travel without a significant learning experience. OK to list high school
trips that had educational/cultural component.
8) Work experience: See sample format below.
a. bullet points are nice
b. list in reverse chronological order (most recent first)
c. state employer [bold font], location of job, date, job title [italics]
d. review the list of “action verbs” on the class web site – use variety when
describing your duties
e. avoid the pronoun “I”
f. be careful with verb tense (past [jobs completed] vs. present [current jobs])
g. think about buzzwords in your field of interest & use them
h. try to quantify your experiences
i. NO MORE THAN 5 BULLETS PER WORK EXPERIENCE
j. Put your family farm as your “last” work experience “raised on a diversified
family farm….”
k. Always account for all summers as a college student
9) Activities/honors
a. Fast becoming one of the most important parts of a resume – helps distinguish
students with similar work and educational experiences; used as “tie-breakers”
b. Stress LEADERSHIP, enhanced interpersonal skills
c. OK to mention scholarships you’ve received
d. If many volunteer activities, may want to consider a separate heading/subheading
e. OK to list a few highly significant high school activities/awards, but separate
them from college ones
10) References
a. LIST THEM!!
b. Usually 3 – arrange in 3-column format
c. Balance between work and academia
d. Can list in random order, or alphabetically, or LIST YOUR “POWER REFERENCE”
FIRST
11) A 2-page resume is OK. Staple the pages, but mail flat in a large envelope – do not fold!
It is also OK to use 1-page resumes that list only references on the second page.
Resumes don’t get jobs – they get interviews!
Sample formats for education
Iowa State University Ames, IA
Bachelor of Science degree: May 2013
Major: Animal Science
Minor: General Business
GPA: 2.78/4.0
Iowa State University Ames, IA
Bachelor of Science degree: May 2013
Major: Animal Science
Minor: General Business
GPA: 2.78/4.0
Iowa State University Ames, IA
Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science: May 2013
GPA: 2.78/4.0
Des Moines Area Community College Des Moines, IA
Associate of Applied Science Degree: May 2010
Major: Animal Science
GPA: 3.44/4.0
Des Moines Area Community College Des Moines, IA
Coursework in Animal Science: August 2009 - May 2010
GPA: 3.44/4.0
Central High School Anyplace, TN
Diploma earned with distinction May 2008
GPA: 4.87/5.0 (or Class Rank: 3/402 students)
{list only if you moved out of state to attend college and your out of state address is not shown
elsewhere on your resume}
Sample format for work experience
Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Ames, IA
Laboratory Assistant, August 2010 – present
• sterilize glassware used for tissue culture reagents
• procure blood samples from pigs used for development of diagnostic assays
Iowa State University Animal Science Department Ames, IA
Undergraduate Research Assistant, August 2009 – August 2010
• analyzed feedstuffs for protein content in ruminant nutrition laboratory
• operated HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) machine
Smith Family Farm Smallville, IA
Farm Laborer, Age 7 – present
• raised on a 280-acre diversified family farm
• operated tractors, hay balers, and other machinery
• provided daily care of 110 head of commercial crossbred cows