*These are pictures from the Big 4 dinners. Oh, how I miss the fancy dining.*

The first year of MPA was full of some of the most significant choices I have had to make in my college life.  What do I want to do?  Where do I want to live?  Who do I want to work for?  All a bit nerve-wracking for any one of us to deal with…on top of all our HW and EXAMS!!!!

But now looking back on it, I have found a few tips and tricks that made my recruiting process sooo much easier.

Tip #1:

“Your resume is what gets you in the door; your interview gets you the job.”  Remember this, because many people with stellar interviewing skills don’t even get the chance because they did not polish their resume beforehand.  The business school is there to help, though.  I know, everyone thinks that after BA 101 or even BA 324 that their resume is “the cat’s meow.”  WRONG—the perfect resume is constantly being updated.  Between the months of August when school started and March when I “dropped” my resume on OCR (Online Campus Recruiting), my resume went through 13 revisions.  THIRTEEN!!  And I still know it can improve.

The Ford Career Center needs to become your new home and the employees, your new best friends.  Go in, sit down with them and prepare for the long process.  And please, do not be discouraged when your first draft looks like a red pen exploded on it.

Each time you go back, your resume will be that much better, but someone will always have suggestions on what to change.  Change this verb to that one, or delete this because it has nothing to do with the job you want, or…  Whatever they say, just be patient, and listen because they are there to help, and they know what they are talking about.

P.S. Make sure you do not go back to the same person over and over.  Change it up; a fresh perspective is often needed.

Tip #2:

Attend an etiquette dinner or meeting.  Remember back in high school when your dad had his boss over for dinner, and you were told to act all polite and sweet?…yeah, that does not even come close to reality.  You are adults now and will be judged as such.

Sign up quickly, though.  Spots for the dinners fill up fast but are full of extremely important information.  If you think you have the dinner handled, make sure you are up to standards on the rules for dress.  Girls, I do not know how you do it…all those complex rules.  Guys, don’t think you have it easy either because the rules are ever changing.  What is business casual?  How to tie a tie and which one to use?  And do not even get me started on people who cannot match their socks, shoes and belt.  Come find me, I will help you out!

Tip #3:

Now that you have the important necessities done, practice-practice-practice…Oh, and what do you know, McCombs hosts mock interviews with REAL employers ever year.  Hmm, what a coincidence?!?  Sign up for one, two or even more.  The more you practice, the better you will get.  These are real recruiters but without all the pressure.  Feel free to relax…this is not going to hurt your chances with a company.  At the end, they give you feedback on your strengths and weaknesses, and like with your resume, you make revisions and give it another shot.

Whatever you do…do not be late or skip an interview (even a mock interview).  This will put you between a rock and a hard place, have you removed from OCR (oh so precious) and get you in trouble with companies you want to work for.  Inside secret…while a lot of these firms compete for business and employees, all of their HR personnel are friends and eat lunch together each week.  They talk, and if you skip an interview…throw in the towel, because that will be the knockout punch.  Plus, you make McCombs look bad, and I don’t like that.

Tip #4:

The real interview is just around the corner, you are getting ready, and you have done all that you think you could, but wait! Have you done your research?  You need to interview them just as they need to interview you.  Know your company.  Know their background, know their strategy and vision and have questions.  The interview will be going along great, and they will put that resume down, look up at you and speak the same five words: “Do you have any questions?”   YES YOU DO!

Have questions prepared, do not ask yes or no questions, and if you can draw a question from something you talked about during the interview, they love to see that you were listening to what they said.  (They like to talk about themselves so give them the chance, fire a few questions back at them.)  Before you know it, your time will be up, and you will find that you probably just had the best interview of your life.  Get some sleep, and prepare for your next one in the morning; Mid-cap and Big 4 have all their interviews back-to-back for two weeks followed by three weeks of dinners and then office visits…it is a wild ride.

And last, everyone needs to continue polishing their skills because you never know when you will have to use them next.