To read Part One of this article, click here.

Preparing for a future career involves both long and short-term plans. Joining clubs, taking an internship and perfecting a resume are some of the actions students can take in order to appeal to future employers.

When it comes time to submit a resume, Cheryl Noll, chair of the School of Business, and Bobbi Kingery, career counselor, agreed that a short and targeted resume are what employers are looking for.

Noll suggested that students keep their resumes short and simple and to just tell employers what they can do for them.

Kingery said employers these days want to see a targeted resume.

“The majority of information on the (targeted) resume relates to your ability to meet the requirements of that job,” she said.

Both cover letters and resumes should be targeted towards the job a person is applying for.

She said to leave off activities and experience from a resume if it does not relate to the job being applied for.

Kingery said putting what you did for an organization is more important than listing organizations a person had belonged to.

“You’re better off having one or two things and being able to say what you did to contribute to that organization,” she said.

Participation in student organizations is important for some career fields.

Noll said some employers in the field of business would look at GPA as the first criteria to determine if an applicant will go onto the next level. Although a strong GPA is important, holding leadership positions in a student organization can set one applicant apart from the rest.

“It’s not just that you were in a student organization, or in a fraternity or a sorority,” Noll said.

She said holding leadership positions within those organizations are what will matter to employers.

Joy Russell, chair of the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary and Middle Level Educations, said participation in other programs, such as study abroad can also make a person applying for a teaching position stand out.

“The more experience you have working with diverse student populations, that sets you apart too,” Russell said.

She said students majoring in education require a balance of both grades and participation.

“If you’re a straight A student, but you’ve never done anything while you were here, never been involved in anything, you have as much of a chance of some one, you know, who didn’t finish,” Noll said.

Internships are another way students can gain experience and stand out when applying for a position. When it comes to finding an internship, James Painter, chair of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences, said choosing an internship that will show a student what the career field will be like and choosing a well-known company is important.

“That name on (the resume), if it’s recognizable to the people you’re going to be applying to, that’s what you want,” Painter said.

Students in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences are required to have at least one internship.

Majors, such as hospitality management, require more experience while dietetics requires experience, but matters more on accomplishing good grades and passing a national exam.

In the fields of child development and childcare, it is more important to have experience working with children, he said.

While still at Eastern, students have many opportunities to get involved and add to their resume in order to be more prepared for life after graduation.

Sam Bohne can be reached at 581-7942 or

shbohne@eiu.edu.