(BPT) – If you’re heading out into the workforce for the first time, there’s plenty of prep work to do. An employer’s first impression of you could very well be your resume.

Christine Pacheco, director of career services at The Art Institute of Colorado, and Kristin Frank, director of career services at The Art Institute of Phoenix, share the top dos you should include to get noticed and get your foot in the door – and the don’ts that could get your resume tossed in the trash.

First, the dos:

* Do look at the job description and then tailor your resume to the specific needs of the job, advises Frank. Your skills need to match what the employer is looking for. Pacheco stresses the importance of key words that should be included in your resume. “Your resume could be scanned electronically and if key industry words and words from the job description are not in it, it will get tossed before it ever gets to a human being,” she says. That means you should be tweaking your resume for each job.

* Do ensure you’ve completed at least one internship to include on your resume, even if your program of study did not require it. Explain how you contributed to the organization and how you made yourself stand out. Make sure to stress the professional skills you honed during that time. If you’ve done freelance and contract work in your field, create a ‘freelance/contract work” section and list all your clients.

* Do list your membership and participation in professional organizations, and if you haven’t joined a professional organization for your field, do so immediately. “It’s important to show a genuine interest in your industry,” explains Frank. Make sure to also list any professional certifications you’ve earned while still in school.-

* Do utilize your college’s career services department. Advisors can assist you in formatting and tailoring your resume and may be able to provide you with job leads. They can also help you prepare for the actual interview.

* Do list your work-related and non-work-related accomplishments. Make sure the non-work accomplishments still showcase your benefit to a potential employer. For instance, if you planned your sorority or fraternity annual philanthropy, focus on the leadership skills you utilized and the organization the event benefitted. If you’ve completed a marathon, list that as well. It showcases your ability to stick with a project and follow through. It could also wind up being a pretty interesting topic of conversation during the interview. Just be prepared to discuss your skills and accomplishments, when asked.

Which brings us to the don’ts:

* Don’t embellish. Because you will be asked about your marathon or how you increased your company’s ROI during your three-month internship, make sure everything you put on paper is true. If not, it could come back to bite you.

* Don’t send before you proofread. “We still see typos and missing names, email addresses or phone numbers,” says Pacheco. Few things annoy hiring managers more than that kind of easily avoided carelessness. It tells an employer that you do not have attention to detail and that you complete sloppy work. In an era with spell-check, most of this can be easily avoided.

* Don’t use that “cute” email address you created in college. A hiring manager will be hard-pressed to take “partygirl@email.com” or “lovetheladies@email.com” seriously, warns Frank.

* Don’t include irrelevant info on your resume. A philanthropic event you organized for your fraternity is a plus, the spring break trip you spearheaded may not impress, nor will your award for most parties attended in a semester. Make sure the information you include showcases your responsible side. Your future employer does not want to imagine you calling in sick because you stayed out too late the night before.

* Don’t go on and on. “I’ve seen executive-level resumes that stuck to a page or two,” says Pacheco. Make sure your resume is clear and to the point.

Already thinking about Commencement? Take a look at some newly added speeches from our Spring 2010 student speakers to find some inspiration. http://uctrmaui.hawaii.edu/series/sp10-commencement/

If you’re interested in viewing our other commencement speech videos from 2011 or 2012 you can view them here. Maybe you’ll recognize an old classmate of yours!

Choose one of the links above to view a speech from graduate Ashley Lewis speaking for Lehua Gardanier.

The SECE on-line employment system allows students to search for jobs from any computer, any time of the day, seven days a week. Eligible students can obtain employer contact information through a referral process, streamlining the ability to apply and interview for available jobs.

To begin the search, visit http://hawaii.edu/sece and login in using your UH username and password then complete the Student Registration.

Once at the Main Student Menu, you can check to see what job programs you are currently eligible for.

Helpful Tips:

• Select jobs that compliment your goals or interests. Look for valuable work experiences that allow you to grow and learn.
• There are six program areas (University, Non-University, Federal Work Study, Internships, Cooperative Education, and Full-Time). Find the program that best suits you.
• If you find that you are currently NOT eligible for any programs and would like to know why, feel free to contact CareerLink for more information.

Get started now! Find an Internship/Job at SECE

The links above is a short tutorial on how to view the Class Availability.

The Check Class Availability sites reflect the most current information about classes. Check to see how many seats are still available in a class and view course reference numbers, instructors, times, locations, etc.
Information is automatically updated each time you refresh/reload the screen.
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Laulima is the University of Hawaii’s web-based online course management system, utilized by all UH campuses including the community colleges. Whether a class is face-to-face, hybrid, or totally online, Laulima may be utilized by both instructor and students for content delivery, communication, and testing.

To use Laulima, you need an Internet connection (broadband required) and a recent web browser (Firefox strongly recommended and is a free download at: (http://mozilla.com/firefox) and a UH username/guest account. Depending on the content of the course, you may need additional resources (eg. pdf reader, PowerPoint reader, word-processing software, etc). You may want to either poll your participants to see if they meet the technical requirements or alert them ahead of time regarding the software requirements necessary for the course.

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The links above is a short tutorial video on how to use STAR & the “What if Journey”.

STAR Advisor is a web-based Academic Pathway that provides an intuitive snapshot of a student’s academic pathway.

Helpful Tips:

• Academic Pathway Tab: show how students are progressing towards their program requirements.
• Dr. C Academic Planner Tab: an online planning tool that allows students to drag and drop courses into future semesters.
• What If Journey Tab: allows one to match the academic record of a student against other degree programs. “What If Journey” Tutorial in STAR
• Batch Tab: allows one to upload a text file with Banner IDs to the server to be processed.
• Courses Tab: provides a detailed view of the student’s course information.

Get started now by logging in to STAR or UH Portal

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The UHMC CareerLink and Counseling Departments will host the Spring semester Career and Transfer Fair on Thursday, April 18th in the Pilina Multipurpose Room. Graduates in transition seeking employment and current students searching for summer employment may attend the Career Fair from 10:00am-1:00pm. We encourage all attendees to come prepared in appropriate interview attire, bring your resume and cover letter. If you need assistance refining your resume or cover letter, please visit Career Link at Ka Lama 207 for assistance.

For students considering transferring to another institution or preparing for entrance into a Bachelor’s Degree program, we encourage you to attend the Transfer College fair from 11:00am-1:00pm. The University Center Maui will have a table at the Transfer Fair with information on the various Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Certificate’s they offer through distance learning. We encourage everybody to stop by. The Transfer College fair is from 11:00am-1:00pm.