Lending a Helping Hand: Résumés and Interviews
Lending a Helping Hand: Résumés and Interviews
July 22, 2011
When it comes to helping others, we tend to conjure up images of helping elderly ladies cross the street or helping a little boy get his kite out of a tree. The elderly and children are groups we often think about when it comes to helping others, but everyone needs a helping hand, even youth who are young, able, ambitious, and feel invincible.
As a Youth Services Officer (YSO), I have helped save many a résumé from destruction. Youth will come into a Service Canada Centre and hurriedly ask for help with their résumé. While reading them over, I’ve noticed spelling errors, lack of clarity or just bare bones information. If the youth wants to hand out those freshly printed résumés while wearing their muddied jeans and grass-stained sneakers, I have a moral obligation to politely stop them. In an age of increasingly casual attire, we youth sometimes underestimate the power of proper dress and image. This takes me to the topics of interviews and fashion.
I remember helping a youth who lived too far to come into the Centre. She was applying for an internship with an online fashion magazine and needed help with preparing for the interview. She had plenty of experience and a good résumé, but, as we all know, interviews are not easy. As the fashion industry was an enigma to me, this was my opportunity to learn something new. I researched the company, read the biography of the owner, and browsed some affiliated sites. I had to think like the boss of a fashion magazine when asking mock interview questions and ended up learning plenty. Who knew that leopard print was so popular last year or that “jeggings” were a thing? After helping her with basic and fashion related interview questions, her nerves were calmed, she felt prepared, and she nailed the interview.
By asking for a second opinion on your résumé, cover letter, interview attire and getting support on preparing for interviews, you might be getting the help you didn’t know you needed. It is surprises like these that can make the difference between getting a job and going back to the drawing board.
Lead Youth Services Officer, New Brunswick