Planning for Life after Graduate School: Reading Job Ads, Writing CVs, and Finding a Job Gayle

Nelson and Cheryl Delk In this Professional Development workshop, Gayle Nelson and Cheryl Delk offered insight and suggestions for increasing your potential as a job candidate after graduate school. The workshop focused on improving your CV, searching jobs, and teaching overseas. The first issue to be discussed was the importance of presenting a cohesive and well-developed CV. The CV is a Crucial First Impression to potential employers and should be tailored to the position you are applying for, as well as being consistent with wording and formatting. In the workshop, we were given a packet that included several sample CVs. We reviewed each CV and discussed the pros and cons of each. These CVs were used to point out common mistakes that are made when writing a CV. These mistakes include not being consistent with past and present tense verbs, abbreviations of state names, and listing month and year of previous employment. The other topics discussed were searching for jobs and teaching overseas. The packet included a page dedicated to job search resources, which included websites and links. We then discussed the international job market; in particular, the listings on ESL and EFL job search websites. Daves ESL Caf was used as an example and illustrated what we should look for in the listing, such as is it an international school, company, or college position. We were also encouraged to be careful when responded and accepting positions overseas. A couple of suggestions were to do research on the company or school to make sure they are legitimate and talk to other people that have worked for them in the past. This workshop really helped with my CV, as soon as got home I pulled up my CV and made some of the changes that were discussed. I reviewed the use of verbs and made sure that the past and present forms were consistent and that I incorporated appropriate action verbs. I also

rearranged my CV putting the most relevant experience at the beginning and the less relevant at the end, or under a different heading. The portion of the workshop dedicated to job searching and interview techniques were also beneficial to me. I was given information on the places to look for a job, creating a cover letter, interview dos and donts, factors that might effect hiring, and issues and concerns related to teaching overseas. This workshop has given me a plethora of resources and information to better prepare myself as a candidate for future employment.