Dr. Lowery,
With my graduation date fast approaching, and no employment waiting for me, I am looking for any way to get my Resume into the hands of employers. One of my friends clued me in to the fact that you have a database of Resumes that you allow employers to access. Is there any way I could add my Resume to it as well? Any further advice on job hunting would be appreciated as well. Thank you for your time.
Joe
Joe:
I would be happy to add your resume to http://Civilgrads.tamu.edu Incidentally, if you put “civil engineering graduates” or “civil engineering resumes” into Google, Civilgrads comes up pretty high.
1) Write your resume using Word or some similar word processor. It must be outstanding to get a job in this market. You should probably save the document as an Adobe pdf file (Save As), since many employers are leery of opening a .docx document for fear of viruses.
2) See http://civilgrads.tamu.edu for typical resumes. Some have photos, which I think helps tremendously. Some are very well written, some are minimal. Employers notice such things. In the past such things didn’t matter since everyone got 10 job offers anyway. Now they matter a lot. Put your very best foot forward. Everything you worked hard on and accomplished should be included, regardless of how long the resume gets. If they get bored they will just stop reading it. They won’t throw it away. See also https://lowery.engr.tamu.edu/2021/07/19/general-information-on-getting-a-job/ for more tips.
3) Post it on your web server or on a free site such as https://sites.google.com/. You can just copy and paste your .pdf or .docx document into the Google site. Not too fancy, but it works, minimally. The advantage of this is that In the future, should you wish to update it, you have direct accesses to it. You don’t have to ask me to change it for you. Here’s a recent one uploaded by Mr. Minter showing what you can do if you spend some time on it. Very nice. Here’s mine. Ugly, but only 2 minutes effort. If you are still a student at A&M you can also post stuff at http://people.tamu.edu/. However, once you graduate they will cancel your account and you will still have to move it to another site if you want to continue to display it.
4) If you graduated some years ago and just can’t get a free site to work because of how much things have changed, then send me a .pdf (preferable) or a Word copy of your resume and I will post it on my site. The problem there is you can’t change it. You have to email a revised copy to me every time you want to make a change, and then email me to remove it when you get a job. If you are a current student, then you will have to drop by and prove that you are a double amputee and thus can’t get a free site to work. Otherwise, you danged well should have the smarts and perseverance to make yourself a public web site. You will definitely want one in the future.
5) If you are an international student you should go ahead and answer questions that most companies will demand to know, but may figure it’s just too much trouble to get and will discard your resume:
- Do you definitely intend to stay here long enough for them to train you and then make a profit on you?
- How much trouble will you be to keep here? (Paperwork, fees, expenses, …)
- How many forms have to be signed before they can hire you?
- How many hoops will they have to jump through to satisfy immigration, etc.?
- State exactly what will be required of them and make sure you fully address how little trouble it will be for them to do any paperwork to hire you.
- If appropriate, state “Have permission to work for 2 years after which time I will apply for permanent residency”, or whatever, so they will immediately know that you can start work without any effort on their part.
- If you were born here but inherited your parent’s last name of Hasbalahan, you should add at the top of your resume: Born, Corpus Christi, Texas or US Citizen. Many people put this on their resume anyway.
One student wrote “OBJECTIVE: I am seeking a full-time position in project development and control, cost estimation, scheduling, risk management, or data analysis, preferably with a firm in the Houston Metroplex. Although I have extensive international experience, I will be staying in the U.S. after graduation. My fiancé is currently in the last processing stage of her green card application and I will obtain Permanent Residency through marriage next year. Before that I can work based on the Optional Practical Training program”.
6) Then email me the following information in a single email using “My Resume, and your name” in the subject line:
- Your name
- The date you graduated, or plan to graduate, which should also be listed on your resume.
- What your interest is (General, Structural, Environmental, Graduate Students, etc.)
- The address where your resume is posted (if posted, for example http://sites.google.com/site/loweryattamudotedu.
Note that if you currently have your resume posted on your TAMU account (for example http://people.tamu.edu/~lowery/) the university will close it when you graduate. Be sure and move any such material to your free web site. Also, when you graduate you will no longer be listed as a student which I use to send you job information.
Also note that if you use me as a reference and they call me, I will have to contact you first to make sure you want me to talk to them, as per FERPA regulations. Make sure you warn me that you are using me as a reference and that I have your email address.
Keep me informed and let me know if I be of any help, and how. If you need a letter of recommendation, please see http://lowery.tamu.edu/recommend/
Good luck,
L^3
Howdy:
If you are still looking and the SEC career fair didn’t go so well for you, I recommend an appointment with one of the career counselors at https://careercenter.tamu.edu/current-students They will sit down with you at a scheduled appointment and not only polish your resume, but also help you find jobs at firms that don’t come to the career fair. They know best how to use tools like LinkedIn to put yourself out there and to search for the best opportunities. It will be worth your time.
Robert “Bob” A. Appleton, P.E.
Associate Professor of Practice
Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
DLEB Building, Room 108
3136 Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-3136
Office – (979)458-8217