ClickNSmart Team

Interview is one of the most important part toward your career path. The purpose for an interview is for a prospective employer to know more about your skill and knowledge.

How can you best prepare for a job interview?
1. You may want to check the company’s website (if there is one) in advance;
2. You should know your own interest and skills;
3. Prepare for an opening statement that tells a profile of who you are and your interest in the position;
4. Don’t forget to ask for the recruiter’s business card;
5. Dress appropriately in interview attire. You want to give a good first impression and look like one who can be an asset to the profession;
6. Don’t forget to ask questions to the interviewer about the position and the requirement to succeed in that position. This will show the interviewer that you’re enthusiastic about the job.

What you may want to do after an interview?
1. Be sure to send a formal thank you letter to the person that interviewed you. In the letter, you may want to share with him or her about the project discussed during the interview.
2. Continue to maintain contact with the person you interviewed;
3. When you decide to pursue the career field, you should send a letter by stating something like ” if you hear any job opportunities, i would really appreciate hearing from you. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.”

FYI: We also have an article on how to write a good resume as well at: http://topuniversity.clicknsmart.com/2010/05/how-to-write-a-good-resume/

“Preparation is the key to career success”

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

When attending multiple career fairs at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), I found out about the following information:
* What a graduating student can expect from the job market
* Which college degrees present the most job opportunities in the current time.

If you are a high school graduate and/or a college freshman, who is deciding what college degree you want to pursue, then you may want to consider the following 5 college degrees that are currently highly sought  in the workplace:

• Health Care Degree

Desirable degree : Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Pharmacy.

• Business Administration Degree

Desirable degree : Business Administration and Marketing

• Computer Science Degree

Desirable degree : Computer Science, Technology Support, and Information Technology and System

• Accounting/Finance Degree

Desirable degree : Accounting and Finance

• Engineering Degree

Desirable degree : Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Note that the above 5 degrees are not in any particular order. If you would like to find out more about a specific demand of each of the degree above, please feel free to find out more at:

The US Bureau Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oco/

We hope that this article can be beneficial for you.
Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

A cover letter should accompany each resume. It is used to support what you mentioned in the resume. A cover letter has a life expectancy of about 8 seconds. In this short amount of time, you must achieve the certain goal.

Goals of the Cover Letter:
- Clearly mention your skills and knowledge
- Explain how these credentials can make the best contribution to company
- Persuade the reader to continue on your resume

Rules for Cover Letter:
- Target the message
- Relate your skills and experiences to the specific position in the company

Focus on what you have to offer:
- Describe how your experiences, knowledge, and accomplishment
can benefit the company
- Write clearly to the point
- Check your letter for grammar error
- Use the same font that you used for the resume

Send your letter to specific person:
- Make sure you have the correct spelling name and title
- If you don’t know the person’s name, use “To Whom it May Concern”

Do not forget to sign your Cover Letter

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Resume is a powerful marketing tool to drive an interview. The objective is to communicate what makes you stand out as a job candidate. Your resume must be concise, appealing, and informative.

Why create a resume?
Good resume is the first step to get an interview. Your resume should summarize your skill, work experience, research experience, education, and accomplishment. Most employers spend 15 to 30 seconds on average to review your resume.

3 steps to empower your resume:
1) Take a stock of what you offer
such as : technical skills, personal abilities/attributes, accomplishments
and education (GPA)
2) Take an advantage of your skills.
such as : leadership, communication skills, computer, and team work
3) Take an advantage of your experiences
such as: internships, volunteer activities, research projects, and work
experiences.

Recruiters will be looking forward for your :
1) responsibility
2) strong interpersonal skills
3) ability to meet deadlines and handle high pressure situations

You must present yourself to catch the recruiter’s attention in about few seconds

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Job Search Jump Start

Job search on the internet is a powerful tool and has grown tremendously for a professional necessity. I am writing this blog post to provide you information about what you can expect when conducting job search over the internet. In addition, I also share some top online resources that will be beneficial if you’re currently in between jobs.

From Internet job search, you can:
1. conduct online job search in relation with thousands of career/job opportunity.
2. research a company and network with current employees of that company
3. send & save your resume electronically before people know there is opening. The recruiters will review your resume anytime.

The Best 6 Internet Job Search resources are:
- America’s Top Internet Job Sites
- Recent Graduate Websites
- The directory of websites for International Jobs
- The guide to internet Job Searching
- Best Career and education web sites
- Job-hunting online

” It’s time to conduct job search and enhance your career opportunity”
Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

The economy today is different than the past. In the past times, an engineering graduate could easily get a job. However, nowadays Engineering graduates are tough to get hired. Therefore, It is important for those of you that are still attending college to choose a specific engineering degree that are in demand today.

Below are the tables that show the growth in employment and job outlook by Engineering Specialty, based on United Stated Department of Labor 2009-2010 (www.bls.gov).

From this update data 2010, Biomedical engineering has the highest job growth, whereas Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering are tied as the lowest employment growth among all fields of engineering.
Now that you have this information, it is important to carefully choose what kind of engineering degree that you ought to pursue for your future career.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

If you are looking for a job internship, here’s are the following to-do-lists you should prepare:

1) Prepare a resume in advance
If you need help in preparing a resume, here’s an article about tips on writing a good resume:
http://topuniversity.clicknsmart.com/2010/05/how-to-write-a-good-resume/

2) Go to career center at your university
Make an appointment with a career counselor and discuss about your interests and the kind of job internship you’re looking for. In addition, don’t forget to ask for career advices to your counselor. Some universities allow their students to have access to the online career center, so take advantage of this opportunity.

3) Sign up for career-related workshops
There are many career workshops available throughout the semesters, so be sure to attend these workshops: resume writing workshop, job-search workshop, etc.

4) Go to Career Fair
You should attend all career fairs available both on-campus and off-campus because the more company representatives you meet and talk, the greater the chance for you to get an internship. In addition, networking with company representatives may also help you secure a full time job offer once you graduate.

5) Use the Internet for job search
There are many career websites such as: Monster, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, and others that you should explore. Nowadays, more and more employers are hiring many qualified applicants via online because it’s less expensive to do so. Therefore, you should also use online career sites when looking for an internship.

Good Luck and Be Confident that you will get an internship.

Written by ClickNSmart Team