Internships & Careers

Career services directors field many common questions such as these below. Read, make notes and incorporate this advice into your job or internship strategies.

Q: Does a resumé always need to be only one page?

• A: Not always, though employers often believe that undergraduates should be able to describe their qualifications in one page. If you use more than one page, make sure you have two pages of good material, not filler or redundancies. If you have an advanced degree or a lot of work experience, you may need more than a page. Resumés sent electronically as one file may also be longer. Resumé scanners and software convert resumés to one file for scanning, so two pages is fine.

Q: Is an objective always necessary?

• A: You don’t have to have an objective, but a concise, relevant objective can help the person considering your application decide if your goals fit in with the organization or company. Because employers favor those who demonstrate a sense of career direction and because word processing allows you to change objectives easily, you should think carefully before omitting an objective or trying to use one objective for different positions. Keyword summaries at the top of resumés can be used in the place of objectives if you are submitting a resumé online. Often these resumés are scanned electronically for keywords.

Q: Should the Education section always appear at the top?

• A: It depends. Most journalism-related fields value related experience above degree work and expect to see academic information further down the page. For students seeking jobs in other fields, your Education section can be first, especially when you include or course work or projects and honors that can help make you a more attractive candidate.

Q: Should high school information be included?

• A: First year students and sophomores might use high school academic, extra-curricular and work experience, but once you are an upper-level student, most of your entries should be from college. Rare exceptions would be top state or national honors or achievements or a professional internship held during high school.

Q: Does GPA need to be included?

• A: If you are proud of your GPA, include it. High GPAs trigger more positive reactions from employers, but GPA is only one factor. GPA information may be offered selectively in some cases, such as GPA in a major or GPA in recent semesters for those whose starts have been poorer than their work lately.

Q: What if I don’t have any experience?

• A: Any experience has value, whether paid, unpaid or volunteer, as long as you focus on transferable skills and work habits rather than only on what is identical with the field(s) you seek to enter. In your Experience section, focus on skills you’ve used rather than just tasks you’ve done. However, keep working on getting career-related experience!

Q: Do interests, hobbies and other personal background need to be shown?

• A: It’s not necessary, but such information can help demonstrate success, energy level, commitment and paint a picture of who you are, which an employer may use to evaluate “fit” to a position and with an organization. Unique experiences may also demonstrate traits employers value. Age, marital status, height, weight and other data unrelated to qualifications should not be included to avoid biases or discriminatory practices.

Q. What are some other things that shouldn’t be on a resumé?

• A: If you’ve had a bad work experience, for whatever reason, you should omit it. If you are a member of an organization that you or others consider controversial or offensive (for example: student political groups or activist organizations) and you don’t want your membership to jeopardize your chances for landing a position, you may want to exclude it. Also, if you joined a student organization, but never participated, you should omit it because lack of involvement can be interpreted as lack of commitment and a ploy to pad your resumé. The bottom line is this: everything on your resumé is fair game for an interviewer or company representative. If you’re not proud of it or don’t feel comfortable discussing it, leave it out.

Q: Must references be included?

• A: These days, opinion is divided. One opinion says don’t include them because most employers will assume that active job seekers have references to offer at the appropriate time. This opinion would argue that even space devoted to “References Available Upon Request” is not needed. The other opinion is that especially in the case of entry-level jobs and for internships, references are a good idea because you are competing with many others who have similar educational backgrounds and levels of experience. Providing references will give already understaffed and overworked recruiters the opportunity to save some steps in their screening and interviewing process. It is perfectly acceptable to include a section sheet of references with your resumé.