Let’s talk about the issues that 40+ year olds are facing in the job market today. Almost 20% of all college and university students — about four million — are over the age of 35. So why do we automatically think of a bunch of 20 something’s when we hear “recent graduates”? This is also often the image that comes to mind for talent acquisition teams and is used to discriminate against older candidates. Jo Weech, Founder and Principal Consultant at Exemplary Consultants, explains the major problems that this misconception creates.

Exemplary Consultants provides business management consulting to small businesses and start-ups. Weech got involved in the process because she truly believes that work can be better for every person on the planet. She published an article back in July that got a ton of traffic, likes, and comments. Steven Rothberg, President and Founder of College Recruiter, had a conversation with her about some of her experiences, where the article came from, and some of the lessons that came from it. The lessons learned are not only useful for job seekers, but for those in talent acquisition as well. Continue Reading

If your organization has built or is building an Affirmation Action Plan, Tamara Seiler has great insight for government contractors to comply with requirements and compete for government funding, as well as leverage the data you are required to collect to improve your recruitment efforts. Seiler is Director of Compliance and Marketing Strategy at HudsonMann, and she is very familiar with challenges and trends related to affirmative action.  Continue Reading

With limited professional experience, it’s hard to know how to act when an employer is considering you for a role at their organization. We believe strongly in fair hiring practices. While employers can find plenty of advice for reducing bias in their hiring practices, job seekers should also be prepared to fight bias. Here we provide six tips for entry level job seekers who are nervous that their chances at job openings might be lower, due to bias against their gender, race, ethnicity, ability or other dimension of their identity.

1. “They’ll see me for my skills, right?” Um, yes… But realize that bias exists.

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HR has long measured recruitment success. Now, in the age of “big data”, we are generating so much more to measure. One benefit of analyzing big data is that with more information we’ll have better decision-making and reduce the stubborn subjectivity that comes with using human brains.

Right?

We should be cautious to assume that human bias will disappear just because we have more analytical tools at hand. In fact, big data can expose our bias and force you to walk the walk. Once you track all those numbers, some unconscious bias and unintended discrimination may emerge and will now be in plain sight. Ultimately, this accountability is a great step forward in recruitment. You’ll just want to make sure your company is ready to respond. Here are three examples of where it’s wise to examine your data practices.

Scraping personal data from online sources. It wouldn’t be too hard to discover a candidate’s race or sexual orientation, given how much personal trace we all leave on the Internet. We’d love to assume those factors make no difference, but too many studies have shown otherwise. Some minority job applicants have even resorted to “whitening” their resumes. A study published this year showed that minority applicants were more successful if they deleted information from their resume that hinted at their race, for example, if they attended a Historically Black College or were a member of Hispanic professional association.

Key word searching. Keyword searching can be a great way to sort out quality candidates among the thousands of real or potential applicants. However, employers must “apply the same rigor that they would use when creating job advertisements. For example, avoid any terms that could be considered directly or indirectly discriminatory (e.g., ‘‘recent graduate,’’ ‘‘highly experienced.’).”

Hiring tests. Many companies give candidates a test at the interview stage to help them make decisions based on qualitative data. It sounds great, and can be, if it’s administered fairly. If you use these tests, you must use them for all applicants. And you must—gasp!—actually pay attention to the data. For example, it wouldn’t be fair to only give the test to minority candidates (this happened), or ignore White candidates’ bad test results (this happened too).

Using big data can be used to make good hires. Just don’t forget to be honest with yourself. If you analyze a big pool of data to select qualified candidates, and they all end up being of one race and one gender, this is a sign you may have accidentally inserted your own bias. Go back to the steps in your process. Ask yourself, “Are my words or actions appealing to only certain demographics?” (This recruiting tech company uses their own big data to help you look at wording in your job postings, for example.) As one of America’s most popular economists, Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics fame, puts it:

We believe that if you get a pile of data representing a million decisions, that that’s better than asking three people what decisions they made. While I very much believe that to be true, and I very much applaud all the instincts for all of us to work with data in aggregate to distill the biggest truths, I also know that we’re humans and that …we’re biased in a lot of ways.

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Irrespective of the profession, when it comes to finding a suitable job, candidates need well written resumes to present themselves as the most suitable candidates in front of prospective employers. The document provides brief information about education, skills, and prior work experience candidates may possess. It is equally important for job seekers without making any discrimination on the basis of education, skills, experiences, and the nature of the job. It is necessary for individuals searching for senior positions or entry-level vacancies.

People have several misconceptions about resume writing, about including and excluding things, and formatting. Such misconceptions can be easily rectified after observing templates available on the web. But the real battle starts when new college graduates or individuals lacking the relevant job experience are writing resumes to brand themselves to employers. Nearly all new graduates start complaining that their resumes fail to create the right impression and are unable to help them to get a job interview call. 90% of the applicants think they are not being selected due to possessing zero or limited experience.

Although education and level of expertise matters to get good jobs with high status and to some extent, it is also a requirement for entry-level jobs. Obviously, no one will hire job seekers with inadequate and irrelevant education. Recent graduates might be experiencing the same situation. Despite possessing the relevant education and internship experiences, if grads are experiencing the same situation, they will actually need to recheck their resumes to know what they are missing.

Here are a few simple resume writing tips recent graduates have to keep in mind while creating their resumes to get internships or entry-level jobs in their relevant career fields.

1. Start with your personal information

Carefully, start by adding personal information like your full name, contact number, address, and an email address you check on a regular basis. Avoid misspelling these credentials, as they can be mistyped more frequently.

2. Write an effective objective statement

The career objective section is crucially important, and it should be added just after the contact credentials. In addition to placing it correctly, the objective must be very concise, covering the key components like the position you are applying for, the profession, and the most relevant skills. It enables your resume to stand out among the hundreds and thousands of resumes an employer might be sifting through.

3. Sensibly add educational information

Being recent graduates, the education section on their resumes is extremely important. Some candidates might not possess internship experience, and all they have are their degrees and certifications. Recruiters usually short-list candidates for entry-level and internship positions on the basis of their educational qualifications. Therefore, candidates must be very careful while adding and organizing educational information on their resumes. Start by adding the most recent degree and also mention the net GPA if it is three or more; don’t add the GPA if it is less than three. It’s better to mention the GPA of particular major if it is high enough. Don’t add unnecessary information about high school; instead, concentrate on current activities, work experiences, and accomplishments during college.

4. Consider adding the link of your professional profile

Although recent graduates are not classifying themselves into professional groups, they shouldn’t hesitate to create professional profiles on any of the suitable websites like LinkedIn. Grads are in the process of starting careers as professionals and should not underestimate themselves. Adding their professional profile links or portfolio links, in case they have made them during or after college, will portray a positive image of graduates’ personalities. It reveals they are eager to become professionals, and possess an innate love for specific career fields.

5. Use action verbs over pronouns

Don’t use first person or second person to describe yourself in a resume. Refrain using “I” or “me”. Also avoid using your name to talk about yourself in third person like “Anna is a fresh graduate” or “she is willing to join.” The best way to illustrate skills and accomplishments is using a few action verbs like created, developed, or managed under the heading of the department where someone might have worked. They give a natural tone to job seekers’ documents. Recruiters are well aware that candidates applying for entry-level jobs either don’t have work experience or that they lack the experience required to a vital job.

After considering these simple tips and tricks, recent graduates will be able to write effective resumes to obtain desirable entry-level jobs according to their educational qualifications.

For more resume writing tips to benefit your job search, check out College Recruiter’s blog and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Jenessa Baxter, guest writer

Author Bio: Jenessa Baxter is a Digital Marketer for Ultimate Recruitment Agency in Dubai. She writes about HR recruitment tips, leadership, HR management, and career consulting. Follow her on twitter @iamjenessabax

Even though the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that the vast majority of today’s college students—73 percent—are categorized as non-traditional college students, or adult learners, still struggle on university and college campuses to find adequate answers to their unique problems and challenges. One of the problems and challenges non-traditional college students face is preparing a great resume prior to entering (or re-entering) the workforce after graduation.

This 4-minute video featuring College Recruiter’s Content Manager, Bethany Wallace, provides non-traditional college students with resume tips.

If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.

1) Bend the resume rules.

Many of the standard resume tips college students find on the internet and even from career services experts are great tips, but they’re geared toward traditional college students, students who enroll in college immediately after high school graduation, attend college full-time without taking breaks in attendance, and graduate within four to five years.

Non-traditional college students and adult learners must be prepared to adapt the resume guidelines provided for traditional students, particularly if they have several years of work experience related to their college majors. Some of the guidelines non-traditional college students may want to stray from include sticking to a one-page resume and listing education at the top of their resumes. Depending on years of experience and level of experience, these guidelines may or may not apply.

2) Seek professional help.

All college students benefit from resume editing assistance. However, seeking resume writing and editing assistance is even more crucial for non-traditional college students since non-traditional college students often have multiple exceptions to the typical resume rules to address and multiple questions to ask. Should I list the part-time job I held for only three months and quit when I had my daughter? Is it better to list my sales management position or not since I was laid off after three years, and I was the only person who was laid off? These are questions best answered by a professional. Seek help from career services experts on your local campuses and from College Recruiter’s free resume editors. Don’t edit your resume alone!

3) Avoid affiliations.

Your parents or grandparents may have advised you to avoid talking about politics and religion on first dates. The same general rule goes for resume writing. Avoid listing volunteer work and service positions which reveal religious, political, or other affiliations. Non-traditional college students often feel more grounded and sure of themselves in terms of beliefs and values; however, use caution when sharing those beliefs on your resume.

If you insist on doing so, understand that putting your religious and political affiliations in writing on your resume may open you up to unintentional discrimination by potential employers when they review your resume during the screening process. Review the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website; a good rule of thumb is if it’s an illegal interview question, don’t willingly offer the information to recruiters and talent acquisition professionals by listing it on your resume before you make it to the interview.

4) Update your resume.

If you change jobs, take on more responsibility in your current position, join a new campus or community organization, or earn an additional scholarship or award, add this information to your resume. Regardless of the changes and accomplishments in your life, set a reminder in your phone or on your calendar to update your resume every six months. For non-traditional college students, this regular resume updating is crucial because non-traditional college students typically live active lifestyles, working part-time or full-time while attending college, all the while maintaining community involvement and tending to family responsibilities.

Think of a resume as a working document. You should never create your resume and then file it away. Always be prepared to email an updated copy to a recruiter or potential employer on a moment’s notice. You never know when someone in your social network may hear of a great job opening and think of you.

5) Tend to details.

Countless human resources managers and recruiters have passed over resumes with spelling errors, grammatical errors, and mechanical errors. Use past tense to describe prior jobs and present tense to describe your current position. Use spell check and grammar check. Take advantage of College Recruiter’s free resume editors. Visit the career services office on your campus. Ensure proper spelling of all job titles and companies listed on your resume. Do not misspell your own references’ names. These are small details, but details matter. Employers want to hire professionals who can handle making important daily decisions for their companies; submitting a seamless resume is the first step in proving you’re qualified to make big decisions. Remember, seek resume editing assistance.

6) Address gaps.

Non-traditional college students often have gaps in their work history. When you have gaps in your work history, you may choose whether to list them or not. If you don’t list the gaps on your resume, be prepared to explain those gaps in your work experience in your interviews and/or cover letters. If you list the gaps on your resume, list transferable skills and volunteer duties performed.

For example, if you took three years off from working full-time to stay at home with your child, and during that time you worked in the nursery at your church, volunteered during vacation Bible school, and babysat two other small children one day each week, you can list in-home childcare for three children for three years, volunteer teaching experience for 12 toddlers for a non-profit organization during each summer for three years, and volunteer childcare worker one day per week for 2-10 children. This experience might not feel substantial to you, but it demonstrates that you were involved in your community, managed others, planned lessons, taught skills and material to small children, and a variety of other tasks which you can list as transferable skills on your resume.

7) List all experience.

Entitle your work experience section “Experience.” This allows you the freedom to list all experience in this category, including your military experience, volunteer work experience, internships (paid or unpaid), and paid work experience. Whether you value your volunteer experience as highly as your paid work experience or not, many employers will. Don’t underestimate the value of your own experience.

For more career tips, follow our blog and our YouTube channel, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages.

LGBT employees now have protection when it comes to their rights in the workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, determined that since Title VII protects discrimination based on sex, employers can’t discriminate against LGBT workers concerning sexual orientation or gender identity. The determination is another step to equality in the workplace.

To help explore these issues, College Recruiter recently hosted a College Recruiting Bootcamp on LGBT and other diversity hiring issues on Tuesday, September 29, at the Twilio headquarters in San Francisco.

College Recruiter has been publishing the opinions from a number of talent acquisition and recruiting leaders about why and how employers should diversify their workforces. Marc J. Siegel, Founder and Managing Partner of Siegel Law Group Ltd., discusses how Title VII protects the rights of LGBT employees. Continue Reading

Employers should avoid discriminating against LGBT candidates and employees in same-sex relationships. The Supreme Court ruling in June of 2015 recognizes same-sex marriages across the United States and grants benefits that opposite-sex married couples receive. As a result of the ruling, employers must review their policies concerning employee benefits.

To help explore these issues, College Recruiter recently hosted a College Recruiting Bootcamp on LGBT and other diversity hiring issues on Tuesday, September 29, at the Twilio headquarters in San Francisco.

College Recruiter has been publishing the opinions from a number of talent acquisition and recruiting leaders about why and how employers should diversify their workforces. Beth Zoller, Legal Editor for XpertHR, explains how the Supreme Court ruling affects employee benefits of same-sex married couples. Continue Reading

Discrimination and harassment in the workplace should not be tolerated. LGBT employees and candidates need protection concerning comments on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Employers are responsible for establishing a policy that disciplines workplace discrimination and harassment.

To help explore these issues, College Recruiter recently hosted a College Recruiting Bootcamp on LGBT and other diversity hiring issues on Tuesday, September 29, at the Twilio headquarters in San Francisco.

College Recruiter has been publishing the opinions from a number of talent acquisition and recruiting leaders about why and how employers should diversify their workforces. Beth Zoller, Legal Editor for XpertHR, explains handling discrimination and harassment against LGBT employees and candidates. Continue Reading

Employers must avoid discrimination in the hiring process. Any mistreatment can cost them the best talent. Employers can make LGBT candidates more comfortable applying for jobs by taking certain steps.

To help explore these issues, College Recruiter is hosting a College Recruiting Bootcamp on LGBT and other diversity hiring issues on Tuesday, September 29th at the Twilio headquarters in San Francisco. Join us.

Prior to that event, we’ll publish the opinions from a number of talent acquisition and recruiting leaders about why and how employers should diversify their workforces. Beth Zoller, Legal Editor for XpertHR, explains how to eliminate discrimination during the hiring process. Continue Reading