Pape 4
Pendulum
April 13,1978
Beating the job competition
As graduation approaches,
many Elon students will enter
the job market, some for the
first time. In today’s job
market the job seeker may find
greater competition because of
the number of younger persons
and more women who now
hold jobs. As jobs are harder
to find, frustration occurs and
ihe graduate feels that his time
n gaining :ii: education has
been wasted. What can he^do?
Dr. Lawrence D. Brennan,
professor of business com
munication at New York Uni-
' ;rsity, has some helpful ad-
ce for frustrated job seekers,
n a seminar on “How to Get a
.lob” he stresses the most
important factor in obtaining
a job: “I want to work, work,
work for you, you, you!”
Dr. Brennan claims that
“there is an ideal job for
everyone: your trick is to get
that perfect job.” In addition
to choosing career paths, re
searching opportunities, and
packaging oneself as a pro
duct, Dr. Brennan considers
the two most important ele
ments in acquiring a job: the
resume and the interview.
The Resume
Dr. Brennan states that the
Interview is the determining
factor in whether or not a
person gets a particular job.
However, “the resume gets to
the interview table before you
do,” he says; “next to vour
last will and testament, your
resume will be the most
important document you ever
write. It is the most decisive
document in your job cam
paign. The resume is the
‘employable you at a glance’
since most resumes are not
read completely. In response to
a single job advertisement by a
Manhattan corporation, 1600
resumes were received. Out of
th.’se resumes about IOC
were read thoroughly; about
10 interviews were granted.
Thus, Dt. Brennan states, “If
your resume does not look
good in one glance you will not
have a chance for an inter
view.”
L>r. Brennan tells his class
that well trained personnel
executives look for those ap
plications that can be
“knocked out” at a glance.
“Knock outs” include mis
spellings, faint type, over
flowing margins, written-in
notations, lack of growth in
jobs and unexplained time
gaps. Dr. Brennan suggests to
his class, “If you’ve spent six
months out West smoking the
weed, put it on your resume as
six months of self-directed
study.”
The most common mistake
in resumes is vagueness. Dr.
Brennan suggests that the
problem can be eliminated by
using a special form which
includes space for such items
as a position-wanted synopsis,
detailed statements on educa
tion and work experience,
special interests and honors.
Although a person may not use
all this material it gives him
raw data from which to draw
when writing a resume.
Resume Rules
Dr. Brennan gives some
helpful hints on how to com
plete a resume properly:
Keep out jargon and boast
fulness; avoid complicated ex
pressions.
Use dynamic verbs like con
structed, created, hired, man- •
aged, expedited, developed,
achieved, earned.
Keep language concise. Say
“I managed,” not “I was re
sponsible for”; say “major;
marketing,” not “I majored in
marketing,” for example.
Always include a job objec
tive. If you have three different
objectives, you should have
three resumes. In the objective
News briefs
Literary Magazine
Colonnades, Elon’s hterary
magazine, has arrived. Resi
dent students will receive cop
ies in their mail ' nxes. Com
muters can find copies in the
library or in the offices of
Teme Reice, Dr. Andrew
Angyal, or Bill Sharpe.
Selection of Majorettes
Majorette try-outs for the
1978-79 year will be held on
Saturday, April 22, at 12 noon
in the band room. All those
intere.'ted should contact Sha
ron CKi k at 584-7996.
Eleclion-
SGA ol' lections April
18-19. f ol. ers and Sen
ate elections Ap 1 25-26.
Greek Week ‘78
Annual celebration begins
April 17 and continues through
April 20.
Metcalf cont.
Parties should be returned to
fraternity houser Now, it is
dangerous with parties off
campus because ilieie is a
greater chance of people hav
ing wrecks traveling to and
from parties if they have been
drinking. The safety factor in
volved warrants returning par
ties to the fraternity houses.
Extended infirmary hours: The
infirmary is open so few hours
that it is not useful to students.
Students who become ill on
weekends are unable to get
help since the infirmary is
closed. There Is nowhere to go
for help on weekends.
6. What previous political
experience have you had?
“I was senator in my sopho
more and junior years, and 1
worked with Bunny Carr. I
have learned a lot from him. I
have written two successful
bills: 1) Freshman men are
allowed to eat breakfast in
McEwen dining hall. Before,
they had to eat in Harper
because of the crowded condi
tions. A lot of the time they did
not eat at all. Breakfast is the
most important meal, so I
think It is important that they
are allowed to eat in McEwen.
2) Extended hours in the
library. This bill has helped
students, especially dorm stu
dents. The dorms are usually
too noisy to study and the
library provides a quieter
place.
Annette would like to en
courage all students to come
out and vote in the SGA elec
tions. More students need to
participate, says Annette.
section, don’t be selfish: the
message should be “I want to
work for you!”
Don’t list every job with
every company; imply ad
vancement but don’t look like
a job hopper.
Don’t give references’ names
on the resume unless you have
someone outstEinding like Pres
ident Carter.
If true, under personal in
formation, include excellent
health. If you don’t, it might
raise questions.
The ideal length is one page.
A resume that is too long gives
a personnel manager more
items to knock you off for.
com. p. 6
'1
The annual Greek Week celebration begins April 17. The week
features an array of events. Featured here is the ever popular
torpedoing event.
Photo by Robert House
WSOE expands broadcasting
by Robert Simmons
Elon’s student radio station
WSOE, has been expanded
over the last six months by new
members and additional equip
ment. Yesterday the station
started broadcasting from 6
p.m. to midnight daily.
Since September 1977, when
WSOE went into “test pro
gramming” with 10,000 milli
watts of power to the Elon
College, GIbsonville, and Bur
lington community, the new
radio station has increased its
“active” members from five to
25. Bill Zint, station manager,
says that the Increase in active
participation Is largely due to
the broadcasting course of
fered at Elon by Ann Ponder.
Last Thursday, five students
received their FCC third class
endorcement license to operate
an FM radio station. They are
John Holloway, Lynn Law
rence, Bill Zint, Ron Crotts,
and Victoria Huffman. This
Career corner..,.
now makes 10 people who can
operate WSOE. The test was
held at the FCC building in
Winston-Salem.
On April 3, WSOE started a
project of increasing broad
casting coverage to the sur
rounding communities. To do
this, WSOE staff members
removed the old 37-foot radio
antenna that was located on
the roof of Moffitt dorm at
Harper Center and installed an
80-foot ROHN 45G radio
tower. This tower Is located in
front of the Harper Center
complex. This move took three
days to complete at a cost of
SI,250. The new tower enables
WSOE to “increase broad
casting efficiency about 40%,”
according to Bill Zint.
Recently WSOE installed an
emergency broadcasting sys
tem that is part of the FCC and
North Carolina emergency
broadcasting system web. This
system is to inform people in
case of an emergency. WSOE
is in its final stages of con
struction and will be completed
very soon, according to Mana
ger Zint.
Piercing the skies at Elon’s
Harper Center is the new
80-foot radio tower of WSOE.
Photo by Bill Murphy
Opportunities open for 1978 grads
by Bobby Allnutt
Opportunities for most col
lege graduates will be the best
for the class of ’78 of any year
since 1970. Demand will con
tinue to be strong for grad
uates in engineering, health
sciences, computer and Infor
mation services, physical
sciences and business. Minori
ties and women, especially
those with degrees in business
and engineering fields, can
expect excellent job opportuni
ties. The liberal arts graduates
can expect better possibilities
in the job search.
The problem facing most
college graduates in June 1978
will not be unemployment so
much as it will be finding the
job that meets the level of ex
pectation. Most graduates ul
timately locate employment to
their liking, but the time re
quired In the search for a
career path is lengthening, es
pecially for the low achievers.
It is anticipated that this phas-
ing-in will become even slowei
as the market for an Increasing
number of specialists becomes
saturated, and the number of
college graduates In the job
market continues to increase.
Others will be squeezed out
of the job of their expecta
tions. This will not be due to
the job market nor to their
qualifications but, rather, be
cause they did not work hard
enough at landing a job.
Finding the right job takes
time, effort, energy and prep
aration. The career planning
and placement offices have
several tools to help students
conduct an aggressive job
search. Among the many new
books are How to Get the Job
That’s Right for you by Ben
Greco, What Color is Your
Parachute? by Richard N.
Bolles, Careerism: How to
Select a Successful Career
published by WWWWW In
formation Services, Inc.
Many services are available
to you in the counseling office.
Among the various offerings
are vocational testing, a career
file with descriptive folders
and brochures on occupations,
personal counseling, recruiting
schedules and the opportunity
to start a placement file. A
workshop will be offered on
April 26 to help students begin
self-exploration through iden
tification of values, interests.
personality types and apti
tudes. Students may sign up
for the workshop in the
counseling office.
There is no magic formula
and no one has a crystal ball;
however, many factors can
help predict trends. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics has
been Increasingly accurate in
predictions. Numbers needed
in various occupations and
salary-range predictions are
available in the Career Plan
ning Office.
If you need help in deciding
on a major, if you have
identified a major but would
like to know career opportuni
ties, If you know what you
want to do but do not know
how to start looking, if you
would like to take some tests to
understand yourself better, if
you would like to start a place
ment folder, or if you would
just like to talk with someone
about your future, drop by
Alamance 104 to see either
Larry Barnes in the placement
office or Bobbie Allnutt in the
career planning office. The
services are for all Elon
students.