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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1985)
•» * Page 6, Section II, Portland O bserver, May 29, 1905 Writing your resume: Planning to marry soon. Howard University 1986 graduates Duane A. Dilworth and Jacquelyn M Brewer, center, receive congratulation* from fellow The resume is a necessary tool for every jo b hunter and is particularly c ritic a l to the new g rad u te. There are two primary reasons for this: 1. The new graduate usually has little background and experience to sell a prospective employer. 2. The level o f competition for en try-level jobs means that a prospec tive em ployer has a wide choice o f applicants, and first impressions are im portant; the resume is frequently the first impression. T h e most d if f ic u lt p art o f preparing a resume is deciding how to make it stand out when so many people with similar backgrounds are also in com petition w ith you. P u t ting several hundred words on one (or at the most two) pages in a m an ner th at w ill co n vin c e someone whom you have never met that you should be interviewed is a challenge re q u irin g yo u r best crea tiv e and composition skills. Before you begin preparing your resum e, review w h a t you know about the em ploym ent process. The problem the hiring organization has is th at n o n a c c e p 'a b le cand idates must be sorted out so that there will be m ore lim e to c o n ce n tra te on plausible applicants. Also, most of the su b je ctive ju d g m e n ts in the selection process are m ade in the early stages. So do not give a poten tial employer any reason not to in terview you by su b m ittin g a poor resume. Y o ur resume, then, must presell you Personality is not yet a factor, as th ere is no in te rp ers o n a l chem istry at this stage o f the selec tio n process. T h e p o te n tia l e m ployer reading your resume has no w ay o f kn o w in g w hether you are b rig h t or d u ll, elo q u en t o r in a r ticulate, personable or introverted, because at this tim e you are just a c o lle c tio n o f facts on a piece o f paper. It is, th erefore, critical that the proper inform ation be conveyed on the resume so th at a p o sitive decision w ill be made to interview you. student* after earning BS/DDS and B S /M D de grows. respectively, in only six year*. Brewer is the top-ranking graduate in the medical class Top med student to be June bride reer in medicine when she was in the by Henry Duvall As the spring rite o f graduation blossoms on college campuses nation wide. Howard University 1985 grad uate Jacquelyn M . Brewer has reason to be excited — doubly excited. The 24-year-old Richmond, V A , native is the top-ranking graduate in How ard’s medical class and plans to become a June bride, marrying a "study buddy” who proposed to her during their freshman year But Brewer and her fiance, Duane A. Dilworth, graduating from H ow ard’s dental school, are unlike most medical and dental graduates, who spend eight years en route to M D and DD S degrees. They earned their bachelor's and professional degrees in only six years. They were among some 2,000 graduates at How ard’s 117th, M ay 11th commencement. Brewer and Dilworth managed to cut two years from the traditional eight years through an accelerated program for highly motivated, aca demically outstanding students. While in high school, Brewer says she learned o f How ard’s accelerated B S /M D program from a visiting recruiter. The idea of earning a medi cal degree in just six years "seemed too good to be true," she stresses, noting that she had decided on a ca- 10th grade. Dilworth, a 23-year-old St. Louis native, had planned to matriculate at the University o f Missouri at Kansas City, where he was told he could earn baccalaureate and dental degrees in seven years. Bui a friend of the family convinced him that he should go to Howard in Washington, D .C . Winning academic awards and active in extracurricular activities in high school, both were high-caliber students whom any university would have welcomed. Attending a pre dominantly Black university, how ever, had a special appeal. Students entering How ard’s six- year preprofessional programs must rank in the top 5 percent o f their high school graduating class and have a combined Scholastic Aptitude Test score o f at least 1200. Along with high academic creden tials, maturity is a chief personal characteristic required of candidates for the B S /M D and B S /D D S pro grams, which are based in the t enter for Preprofessional Education in How ard’s C ollege of Liberal Arts. In addition to the B S /M D and BS DDS programs, Howard offers a similarly accelerated, ombined de gree program leading to the doctor of podiatric medicine degree in conjunc tion with the Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine. Students enrolled in the two-year undergraduate phase o f the three pro grams are offered no guarantees for admission to the university’s health profession schools or to the Pennsyl vania college. Brewer is the first student in H o w ard's six-year B S /M D and B S /D D S programs, which began in 1972, to graduate at the top of a class, accord ing to Dr. Clarence M Lee, associate dean o f the College of Liberal Aris. Both become the first physician and dentist, respectively, in their fam ilies. They plan to marry on June 15 in her native Richmond, V A . Brewer is making her own wedding dress — "100-pcrcent silk imported from C hina," she beams After a honeym<xin cruise to the Bahamas, they intend to move to hi, hometown o f St. Louis, where Brewer plans to intern in internal medicine ai Barnes Hospital. She wants to spe cialize in dermatololy. Dilworth hopes to work at a public clinic and become an associate in a private dental practice. His goal is to open his own office someday. Length is critical. L im it it to one page i f you can, never m o re than two. The objective is not to write an autobiography. O nly highlight your b a c k g ro u n d , q u a lific a tio n s , and skills to th is p o in t in yo u r life , n o tin g the re a lly p e rtin e n t i n f o r mation about yourself to make these facts as a ttra c tiv e as possible to a p o te n tia l e m p lo y e r. T his is essen tially an inventory o f your abilities and past accomplishments. Be accurate, factual, and logical so th at w hat is w ritte n fo rm s a p o s itive im age in the m in d o f the re ad er. D o not v o lu n te e r i n f o r m ation that might preclude a fact- to -fa ct m eeting, such as a specific geographic preference, a percentage o f ac ceptable tra v e l, or ab so lu te salary requirements. Tailor the resume to your interests, hopes, and career a m b itio n s by h ig h lig h tin g the ac co m p lis h m en t related to them T his may seem to be a d iffic u lt task if you have little specific w ork experience. I f th a t’ s the case, em p h asize interests and a m b itio n s , as w ell as your energy and enthusiasm to apply them. Be as sp ecific as possible in statin g a jo b o b je c tiv e , w ith o u t p re c lu d in g y o u rs e lf fro m some situation by stating it too narrow ly. F lexibility is an essential ingredient in finding the first job . You should have a num ber o f options in m ind. For example, you want a marketing jo b , but you might have to start in sales. Do not attempt to list separate o p tio n s here; change the jo b preference for your resume as each option is explored unless it is closely related to your prim ary choice. This m ay m ean m ore th an one resume fo rm at, but, w ithin reason, it could prove useful to you. Your jo b descriptions should tell how results were pro du ced, skills develop ed and used, and promotions attained. Every job has objectives, even the most menial, so you should not sell any o f your ex perience short. A n assignm ent or two might make a difference in your fa v o r. T o m ake yo u r jo b descrip lions as meaningful as possible, use short phrases and the most positive semantics. For instance, rather than say, " I n my sum m er jo b at X Y Z C o rp o ra tio n I was m ade research assistant." say. “ In my summer job at X Y Z C o rp o ra tio n I was promoted to research assistant." In stead o f " A s assistant in v e n to ry control clerk, I handled liaison with o th e r d e p a rm e n ts ," say. " A s assistant inventory control clerk, I was responsible fo r lia is o n w ith other departm ents." Most large organizations tend to look for specialists, so try to convey yo u r special skills as m uch as possible Emphasize special interests and c e rtific a tio n s achieved or a n ticipated; for exam ple, " W i l l work to w a rd M B A in F in a n c e ," C e r tification as engineer;" "Com pleted C A P e x a m in a tio n " and the lik e . List any m eaningful activities in or out o f school that are re la ted to your objectives. Following are some o f the m ajor d o ’ s and d o n 't's o f resume preparation: I .D o n ’ t attach a p ho tograph o f yourself. W hat you think is a good p ic tu re may not im press anyone else. 2. D o n ’ t say, " I ’ m lo o k in g fo r any kind o f work that will utilize my education." That may well be inter preted by the potential employer as lack o f direction and im m aturity. Be as specific as possible about a job objective w ithout being too restric tive. 3. D o n ’ t in d ic a te a specific re q u ire d sa lary . T h a t w ill be discussed at the ap p ro p ria te tim e, when both parties have established some m u tu a lity o f in te re s t. T h e right jo b should be the key now. I f you are good at w hat you do and Careers in banking. 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' Portland Community Col lags Call now lor an appointment Cascade Campus, 705 N Killingsworth, 283-2541 Rock Creek Campus, 17705 N W Springville Road, 645-4461 Southeast Center. 2850 S E 82nd. 777-8020 Sylvania Campus, 12000 S W 49th Avenue, 244-6111 Ann Payne Ann is vice president and manager ot the bank s Marketing Division She has a B A trom Notre Dame and has been in bank marketing since I960 She finds her work both challenging and rewarding As an industry in the midst ot deregulation, banking otters exciting opportunities tor marketing new products Q An FquH First Interstate Bank P» • -Í 1 • # - * ; Î-Z : Z - - - I . ■ \