Recruiters are often asked by students what they believe to be important things for a student to keep in mind when presenting themselves before a potential employer. From a recruiter's perspective, there are two main focal points to an interview: the resume and the actual interview. Below is a list of tips for students to keep in mind when writing their resumes as when interviewing.

The resume is your first contact with a potential employer and can make or break your chances. The finished product should be professional and polished. College recruiters screen numerous resumes produced by students and have been surprised with the number of oversights. Here is a list of tips based on the most common oversights:

• Length of Resume: A one page resume is the preferred format. However, this does not mean reducing the font size to fit all your information on a single page. Instead, focus on writing more concisely. It is important to truly evaluate your various accomplishments and weigh them in order of importance.
• Organization: It is important to consider the importance of education and work experience versus personal interests. The most widely-used method of organizing categories is as follows:
  • Education
  • Honors
  • Work
  • Club/Organizations
  • Personal Interests
• Work Experience: Work experience should reflect any jobs that you held while in college (i.e. avoid mentioning jobs held during your high school career). Keep in mind that recruiters look for consistency in job duration (i.e. how long you hold a job).
• Clubs/Activities: Extra-curricular activities/clubs/organizations, as with work experience, should be reflective of experience gained while in college (i.e. avoid high school activities/clubs). Keep in mind that recruiters strongly value leadership positions held.
• Spelling and Grammar: Carefully proofread your resume for grammar and spelling errors. Career Services has advisors that will help review and proofread your resume – utilize these services. If you are unable to meet with a Career Services advisor, then have several friends review your resume for content matter as well as spelling and grammar.

The above tips are designed to not only aid you in writing your resume but should help you understand a recruiter's perspective. The length and organization of a resume help a recruiter to gauge a candidate's level of organizational and communication skills. Finally, the content and format of a resume aid a recruiter in determining not only the quality of a candidate but also the candidate's eye for detail.

The interview provides you with your first face-to-face contact with the employer. A candidate's overall appearance and demeanor should be the same as that of their resume: professional and polished. Here is a list of tips based on the most common oversights seen in interviews:

• Know Your Audience: Never make an assumption about your interviewers. The best example of this was when a U of A candidate decided to criticize the level of education at ASU. Unfortunately for her, she was unaware that one of the interviewers had actually obtained a degree from ASU.
• Prior Research: While most companies have web sites that you, as a student, can access to learn more about the company, visiting the web site is not enough. This alone does not tell a recruiter that you are genuinely interested in their company. In addition to using a company's web site, here is a list of important research tools:
  • Use Career Services to review a company's prospectus or year-end report.
  • Research the company's industry:
    • Have a general understanding of the prospective employer's industry, the current industry culture, any outstanding issues currently being played out in the media in regards to this industry.
    • Know the major competitors in the prospective employer's industry.
    • Know of any major take-overs or mergers that have recently occurred within the prospective employer's industry (and especially if it directly impacts the prospective employer).

• Student Interest: Show genuine interest in the prospective employer. Recruiters can tell when a student is truly interested in a position or is simply utilizing the interview (and the interviewer's time) for a "practice session."
• Evening Sessions and Career Fairs:
  • If possible, attend the Evening Session. The Evening Session provides you an opportunity to meet the recruiters, gain first-hand insight into the prospective employer, and ask any questions you may have.
  • If possible, attend any Career Fairs in which the employer may be participating so you can meet the recruiters (this may be more helpful in the situations where work does not allow you to attend the Evening Sessions). Make sure the recruiters know of your interest in interviewing with the company as well as if you already have an interview with the company.
• Interviewer Questions:
  • When answering interviewer questions, choose up-to-date examples to express your answer (i.e. use college-related experiences). Also, choose an example on which you can expand upon. Recruiters, many times, come across situations where a candidate's response is based on a "personal" situation but feel uncomfortable providing details. Please keep in mind that the interviewer is not probing for personal information but is simply trying to evaluate the thought process and skills utilized in the provided example. Therefore, it is extremely important to pick an example with which you are comfortable elaborating upon.
  • When replying to interviewer's questions, try to keep answers clear and concise. Many times students spend a great deal of time explaining the situation but never get to the meat of the answer (i.e. the question goes unanswered). Unfortunately, this may appear to the recruiter to be lack of organization on the candidate's behalf.
• Questions for Interviewers: It is always important to have questions for your interviewers. Even if many of your questions were already answered at the Evening session, try to have a list of follow-up questions (i.e. dig for further details on a topic). As a potential employee of the prospective company, make sure you understand what your specific job function will entail; avoid focusing only on the perks/benefits associated with the job.

As a closing, the above tips will not only serve as a guide for your job-search efforts but should help you to truly understand and feel comfortable with a prospective employer. Remember, that the interview is a two-way street that allows a prospective employer as well as a candidate to gain insight into each other. Many of the best candidates are those that are truly genuine in their interest in the employer, those who are able to grab situations from their current life experiences and use them as a response to a question, and finally, those who are sincere as opposed at those who are too practiced in interviewing techniques.