考大學有幾難?
多學位學歷低 大學畢業質素低
中大濫發碩士學位 沈祖堯無力喝停
學位重要嗎?
8 reasons this is an excellent résumé for a recent college graduate
Approximately 1.9 million students in the US graduated from college this year. Some are going into their post-college job search with an extensive résumé, while others have no experience whatsoever.
It doesn't matter where you fall on the spectrum, as long as your résumé catches the recruiter's attention and makes a great first impression in the six seconds they spend reviewing it.
To get a clearer picture of what makes a résumé stand out, we asked Amanda Augustine, a career advice expert for TopRésumé, to create a sample of an excellent one for a recent grad with some work experience.
While your résumé may look different depending on the industry you're in or the experience you have, the one below should serve as a useful guide for new college grads:
What makes this an excellent résumé for a recent grad? Augustine outlines the following reasons:
1. It includes a link to his professional profileAll recent graduates should have at least one profile established for their professional brand, she says.
"Those who plan to work in a more creative field should develop an online portfolio and list the link to that site on their résumé as part of their contact information."
If you're concerned about employers finding your personal profiles, increase the security settings or consider changing the account name on your personal accounts to your first and middle name, so they won't be associated with your professional brand.
2. The professional summary isn't fluffyWhile it can be tempting to throw a few buzzwords such as "proactive" and "motivated" into a professional summary, recruiters know these terms are mere fluff and won't be impressed when they see them, says Augustine.
"Don't tell employers that you're a great team player; explain how your team was able to improve a process, increase alumni donations, or received acknowledgment from the school for their exemplary volunteer work."
3. His GPA is listedThe general rule of thumb is that if your GPA is above a 3.0, then you should include it in your entry-level résumé, she explains. If the GPA in your major is higher than your overall GPA, use that instead.
"Anything below a 3.0 should not be included on your résumé. However, be aware that recruiters know why you didn't include the GPA and may ask you about it during the interview process."
4. There's no mention of high schoolEmployers want to know what you've done lately, not what you accomplished four years ago or more, before you went to college.
"Focus on highlighting your activities, accomplishments, and the work experience that took place during your college career, calling special attention to anything that directly supports your job goals," Augustine says.
5. His course work isn't includedSince this job seeker has relevant internship experience and other extracurricular activities that demonstrate his sales and marketing skills, there's no reason to note that he has taken "Intro to Communication" or "Principles of Marketing."
"In addition, this knowledge is implied in his new degree in communications," she says. "If you don't have any relevant experience from your internships or other activities on or off campus, you may need to include a list of relevant courses you've taken."
However, she suggests sticking to the higher-level classes since no one wants to see "Intro to Finance" on the résumé of an aspiring financial planner.
6. It doesn't use pronouns"While there is some debate among talent acquisition professionals these days about the need to add a more personal tone to résumés, the generally accepted practice is to refrain from referring to yourself in the first person with pronouns such as 'I' or 'me,'" explains Augustine. "Similarly, don't use pronouns or your name to talk about yourself in the third person (i.e. 'Shane is a recent graduate,' or, 'He is seeking opportunities to…')."
7. He used action verbs to describe his roles and responsibilitiesDid you notice how each of the bullets under Shane's roles begins with an action verb? "They don't mention what Shane was 'responsible for' doing; instead, the focus is on what he has accomplished and how he contributed to an end result," she says.
"When you're new to the workforce, you may not have many major accomplishments and contributions to include in your résumé; however, you can use action verbs, like 'created,' 'led,' 'managed,' 'improved,' 'developed,' and 'built' to describe your activities."
8. It doesn't include a list of referencesCut "References available upon request" from your résumé.
"As an entry-level professional you only get one page of résumé real estate, so don't waste it with this information," Augustine says. "Employers usually don't ask for this information until you're called in for a face-to-face interview, and they know you'll provide it if they request it."
Approximately 1.9 million students in the US graduated from college this year. Some are going into their post-college job search with an extensive résumé, while others have no experience whatsoever.
It doesn't matter where you fall on the spectrum, as long as your résumé catches the recruiter's attention and makes a great first impression in the six seconds they spend reviewing it.
To get a clearer picture of what makes a résumé stand out, we asked Amanda Augustine, a career advice expert for TopRésumé, to create a sample of an excellent one for a recent grad with some work experience.
While your résumé may look different depending on the industry you're in or the experience you have, the one below should serve as a useful guide for new college grads:
What makes this an excellent résumé for a recent grad? Augustine outlines the following reasons:
1. It includes a link to his professional profileAll recent graduates should have at least one profile established for their professional brand, she says.
"Those who plan to work in a more creative field should develop an online portfolio and list the link to that site on their résumé as part of their contact information."
If you're concerned about employers finding your personal profiles, increase the security settings or consider changing the account name on your personal accounts to your first and middle name, so they won't be associated with your professional brand.
2. The professional summary isn't fluffyWhile it can be tempting to throw a few buzzwords such as "proactive" and "motivated" into a professional summary, recruiters know these terms are mere fluff and won't be impressed when they see them, says Augustine.
"Don't tell employers that you're a great team player; explain how your team was able to improve a process, increase alumni donations, or received acknowledgment from the school for their exemplary volunteer work."
3. His GPA is listedThe general rule of thumb is that if your GPA is above a 3.0, then you should include it in your entry-level résumé, she explains. If the GPA in your major is higher than your overall GPA, use that instead.
"Anything below a 3.0 should not be included on your résumé. However, be aware that recruiters know why you didn't include the GPA and may ask you about it during the interview process."
4. There's no mention of high schoolEmployers want to know what you've done lately, not what you accomplished four years ago or more, before you went to college.
"Focus on highlighting your activities, accomplishments, and the work experience that took place during your college career, calling special attention to anything that directly supports your job goals," Augustine says.
5. His course work isn't includedSince this job seeker has relevant internship experience and other extracurricular activities that demonstrate his sales and marketing skills, there's no reason to note that he has taken "Intro to Communication" or "Principles of Marketing."
"In addition, this knowledge is implied in his new degree in communications," she says. "If you don't have any relevant experience from your internships or other activities on or off campus, you may need to include a list of relevant courses you've taken."
However, she suggests sticking to the higher-level classes since no one wants to see "Intro to Finance" on the résumé of an aspiring financial planner.
6. It doesn't use pronouns"While there is some debate among talent acquisition professionals these days about the need to add a more personal tone to résumés, the generally accepted practice is to refrain from referring to yourself in the first person with pronouns such as 'I' or 'me,'" explains Augustine. "Similarly, don't use pronouns or your name to talk about yourself in the third person (i.e. 'Shane is a recent graduate,' or, 'He is seeking opportunities to…')."
7. He used action verbs to describe his roles and responsibilitiesDid you notice how each of the bullets under Shane's roles begins with an action verb? "They don't mention what Shane was 'responsible for' doing; instead, the focus is on what he has accomplished and how he contributed to an end result," she says.
"When you're new to the workforce, you may not have many major accomplishments and contributions to include in your résumé; however, you can use action verbs, like 'created,' 'led,' 'managed,' 'improved,' 'developed,' and 'built' to describe your activities."
8. It doesn't include a list of referencesCut "References available upon request" from your résumé.
"As an entry-level professional you only get one page of résumé real estate, so don't waste it with this information," Augustine says. "Employers usually don't ask for this information until you're called in for a face-to-face interview, and they know you'll provide it if they request it."
This essay got a high-school senior into 5 Ivy League schools and Stanford
High-school senior Brittany Stinson learned Thursday she was accepted into five Ivy League schools — Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, and Cornell.
She also got into Stanford, which has an acceptance rate of 4.69% — a lower rate than any of the Ivy League schools.
"I'm sort of still in shock. I don't think I've processed everything yet," she excitedly told Business Insider.
The Ivy League is notoriously hard to get into, as the hundreds of thousands of other applicants to the eight elite schools are well aware.
The schools Stinson was accepted into have acceptance rates ranging from 13.96% to 4.69%.
Stinson graciously shared her Common Application admissions essay with Business Insider, which we've reprinted verbatim below.
Prompt 1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother’s eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrialsized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco.
Notorious for its oversized portions and dollarfifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I’ve developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weightloss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more wellmannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity.
While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the ‘all beef’ goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirtythree ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia's workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52” plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson’s controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory’s dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits – qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likeable–and tender.
I adopted my exploratory skills, fine tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalochicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, crosscountry running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest.
My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the “what”; I want to hunt for the “whys” and dissect the “hows”. In essence, I subsist on discovery.
She also got into Stanford, which has an acceptance rate of 4.69% — a lower rate than any of the Ivy League schools.
"I'm sort of still in shock. I don't think I've processed everything yet," she excitedly told Business Insider.
The Ivy League is notoriously hard to get into, as the hundreds of thousands of other applicants to the eight elite schools are well aware.
The schools Stinson was accepted into have acceptance rates ranging from 13.96% to 4.69%.
Stinson graciously shared her Common Application admissions essay with Business Insider, which we've reprinted verbatim below.
Prompt 1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Managing to break free from my mother’s grasp, I charged. With arms flailing and chubby legs fluttering beneath me, I was the ferocious two year old rampaging through Costco on a Saturday morning. My mother’s eyes widened in horror as I jettisoned my churro; the cinnamon sugar rocket gracefully sliced its way through the air while I continued my spree. I sprinted through the aisles, looking up in awe at the massive bulk products that towered over me. Overcome with wonder, I wanted to touch and taste, to stick my head into industrialsized freezers, to explore every crevice. I was a conquistador, but rather than searching the land for El Dorado, I scoured aisles for free samples. Before inevitably being whisked away into a shopping cart, I scaled a mountain of plush toys and surveyed the expanse that lay before me: the kingdom of Costco.
Notorious for its oversized portions and dollarfifty hot dog combo, Costco is the apex of consumerism. From the days spent being toted around in a shopping cart to when I was finally tall enough to reach lofty sample trays, Costco has endured a steady presence throughout my life. As a veteran Costco shopper, I navigate the aisles of foodstuffs, thrusting the majority of my weight upon a generously filled shopping cart whose enormity juxtaposes my small frame. Over time, I’ve developed a habit of observing fellow patrons tote their carts piled with frozen burritos, cheese puffs, tubs of ice cream, and weightloss supplements. Perusing the aisles gave me time to ponder. Who needs three pounds of sour cream? Was cultured yogurt any more wellmannered than its uncultured counterpart? Costco gave birth to my unfettered curiosity.
While enjoying an obligatory hot dog, I did not find myself thinking about the ‘all beef’ goodness that Costco boasted. I instead considered finitudes and infinitudes, unimagined uses for tubs of sour cream, the projectile motion of said tub when launched from an eighty foot shelf or maybe when pushed from a speedy cart by a scrawny seventeen year old. I contemplated the philosophical: If there exists a thirtythree ounce jar of Nutella, do we really have free will? I experienced a harsh physics lesson while observing a shopper who had no evident familiarity of inertia's workings. With a cart filled to overflowing, she made her way towards the sloped exit, continuing to push and push while steadily losing control until the cart escaped her and went crashing into a concrete column, 52” plasma screen TV and all. Purchasing the yuletide hickory smoked ham inevitably led to a conversation between my father and me about Andrew Jackson’s controversiality. There was no questioning Old Hickory’s dedication; he was steadfast in his beliefs and pursuits – qualities I am compelled to admire, yet his morals were crooked. We both found the ham to be more likeable–and tender.
I adopted my exploratory skills, fine tuned by Costco, towards my intellectual endeavors. Just as I sampled buffalochicken dip or chocolate truffles, I probed the realms of history, dance and biology, all in pursuit of the ideal cart–one overflowing with theoretical situations and notions both silly and serious. I sampled calculus, crosscountry running, scientific research, all of which are now household favorites. With cart in hand, I do what scares me; I absorb the warehouse that is the world. Whether it be through attempting aerial yoga, learning how to chart blackbody radiation using astronomical software, or dancing in front of hundreds of people, I am compelled to try any activity that interests me in the slightest.
My intense desire to know, to explore beyond the bounds of rational thought; this is what defines me. Costco fuels my insatiability and cultivates curiosity within me at a cellular level. Encoded to immerse myself in the unknown, I find it difficult to complacently accept the “what”; I want to hunt for the “whys” and dissect the “hows”. In essence, I subsist on discovery.
尖子教路 大企業面試心得 03 AUG 2016
【晴報專訊】大學畢業後,不少人都感前路茫茫。有獲5間投行實習生資格、現職摩根大通暑期分析師的港大學生,分享成功獲大企取錄成為Managment Trainee(簡稱MT,見習行政人員)的致勝心得,指應徵者要把握每個關口,展示過往卡片或個人成就作品集,以提升獲聘機率。
獲5間投行實習生資格、現職摩根大通暑期分析師的謝旻希,就讀港大計量金融系三年級。他表示,考畢文憑試即任職敦豪國際(DHL)行政培訓生,雖性質不涉金融,但他認為,就業規劃須及早奠定基礎,作為日後爭取更佳工種的籌碼。
思考自己有何符合條件
「贏在起跑綫」的他,大學首2年已分別曾任8份實習職位,其面試秘訣是不要只顧在面試中突圍而出,更重要是日常生活中戰勝對手。他建議,有志入行者,應先探討金融市場缺乏哪類人才,思考自身有何條件符合要求。
而面試時,要向考官展現積極自學形象,而非一張「白紙」等人教。他形容,自己並沒特別強項,但基礎金融知識無所不曉,每一關皆可順利渡過,認為「全能」應徵者是致勝之道。
他教路,面試問題不可「逐條」準備,應先訂下四大重點,包括願景、經驗(實習、商業比賽和大學交換生計劃中的得着)、行為(團隊合作時將出現的困難處境)、及技術(企業融資知識),逐一構思答案。
MT培訓班 稱不成功不收費
坊間出現「尖子MT培訓班」,助大學生打入金融機構做MT,更列明不成功不收費。有職業培訓中心導師指出,金融系競爭激烈,大學一年級已須開始部署就業計劃,形容「戰爭」是剛開始。
HK Careers職業培訓中心導師Steven Liu表示,各院校金融系學生皆對行政培訓生職位虎視眈眈,尤以投資或企業銀行備受追捧,每年有逾3000人申請銀行培訓生。
他指,頂級金融機構存不明文規定,申請者須為GPA達3.0以上的三大學生,建議非三大或毫無經驗者,可申請1年實習計劃,競爭較少,惟須考量延遲畢業的影響;大一生宜多參與學系活動,如「上莊」等,作為申請中小企暑期實習生的籌碼。
【晴報專訊】大學畢業後,不少人都感前路茫茫。有獲5間投行實習生資格、現職摩根大通暑期分析師的港大學生,分享成功獲大企取錄成為Managment Trainee(簡稱MT,見習行政人員)的致勝心得,指應徵者要把握每個關口,展示過往卡片或個人成就作品集,以提升獲聘機率。
獲5間投行實習生資格、現職摩根大通暑期分析師的謝旻希,就讀港大計量金融系三年級。他表示,考畢文憑試即任職敦豪國際(DHL)行政培訓生,雖性質不涉金融,但他認為,就業規劃須及早奠定基礎,作為日後爭取更佳工種的籌碼。
思考自己有何符合條件
「贏在起跑綫」的他,大學首2年已分別曾任8份實習職位,其面試秘訣是不要只顧在面試中突圍而出,更重要是日常生活中戰勝對手。他建議,有志入行者,應先探討金融市場缺乏哪類人才,思考自身有何條件符合要求。
而面試時,要向考官展現積極自學形象,而非一張「白紙」等人教。他形容,自己並沒特別強項,但基礎金融知識無所不曉,每一關皆可順利渡過,認為「全能」應徵者是致勝之道。
他教路,面試問題不可「逐條」準備,應先訂下四大重點,包括願景、經驗(實習、商業比賽和大學交換生計劃中的得着)、行為(團隊合作時將出現的困難處境)、及技術(企業融資知識),逐一構思答案。
MT培訓班 稱不成功不收費
坊間出現「尖子MT培訓班」,助大學生打入金融機構做MT,更列明不成功不收費。有職業培訓中心導師指出,金融系競爭激烈,大學一年級已須開始部署就業計劃,形容「戰爭」是剛開始。
HK Careers職業培訓中心導師Steven Liu表示,各院校金融系學生皆對行政培訓生職位虎視眈眈,尤以投資或企業銀行備受追捧,每年有逾3000人申請銀行培訓生。
他指,頂級金融機構存不明文規定,申請者須為GPA達3.0以上的三大學生,建議非三大或毫無經驗者,可申請1年實習計劃,競爭較少,惟須考量延遲畢業的影響;大一生宜多參與學系活動,如「上莊」等,作為申請中小企暑期實習生的籌碼。