Advice: Jobs and Careers
Internships open doors to jobs and opportunities
“I was in a 20-hour-a week internship program here at Skowhegan Savings Bank when I was in college. I had to keep a blog of my day-to-day activities, and then present my internship program to my college class. And that really opened the door for me. During my internship, my manager at the time basically asked me if I was interested in a position there and if I would consider working there when I got out of college. I liked what I was doing and it was really interesting to me so I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I thought it would work out really nicely for me and maybe turn into a career.”
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Making mistakes on your resume
“There are three areas I can think of in terms of advice on resumes. Number one, be careful of typos. It may sound obvious, but we see them all the time. The other area would be using a correctly spelled word in the wrong place. Finally, the other errors we see a lot are just classical blunders. Misperceptions can make the difference between whether your resume is followed up on or put in the ‘do not call’ pile.”
— in Mistakes he has seen reviewing resumes and cover letters
Featured: Be aware of how you present yourself to employers
“With Facebook and other social media, we encourage students to think twice about anything that could be accessed about them off the internet by employers, and whether or not that is something they would like employers to see. We have heard stories from employers who have typed a name into a search and found things the applicant really would not want them to see.”
Preparing for a job interview
“When you’re going to apply for a job, it’s always important to know the company you’re applying to. Go to their website, know what their mission statement is, know what they’re doing, and always have questions for them about what the job is. Not questions about money or anything like that, but about the company itself. It’s just as much about if you fit the company as it is about getting the job for the pay. You want it to be a good fit because if you’re not happy in your job you’re going to be miserable.”
— in Job advice
Advice for finding a job
“Have a very open mind and have a lot of things to fall back on. I got all excited here and there because I would think I found the perfect job. Then I’d apply to it, just the one job. I’d wait and wait and nothing would happen. Sometimes people just don’t get back to you; the job will be filled almost immediately after it is advertised. Basically what I would say is don’t get your heart sent on anything. Often times you’ll find a bunch of different jobs that you enjoy in the strangest places. Try not to put all of your eggs in one basket.”
— in Job advice
Microsoft certification program after high school
“I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got out of school. I was kind of panicking, because I was like, ‘What do I do now?’ I went to a job fair and asked around about the kind of jobs that would allow me to make decent money after a year. One of the things that was suggested was to be a CNA, but I knew that wasn’t for me. The other thing that people said was to get Microsoft-certified, because that only takes one eight-week course. It ended up taking me about a year to get certified, but once I had the certification I got a job almost right away and was making $17 an a hour, which was awesome.”
