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Career management
Resources

Cliff Notes on helpful resources from the Career Management department

Big Red Briefcase Cliff Notes

9 modules that help you through any stage of the professional development process, from finding what makes you passionate to nailing interviews and networking conversations

Big Red Briefcase

Discovery

Provides tips for building your brand and figuring out what you actually want to do.

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Module 1

Resume

Provides tips for building your brand and figuring about how to craft your resume to land the interview. Provides a helpful template as well as tips for formatting and wording. This can be super helpful if you need help refining your resume, but make sure you have an idea of experiences you could include within the resume. This resource is more about the best way to present those experiences out what you actually want to do.

Module 2

Networking

Provides tips on how to network, where to network, and whom to network with. This is great, but networking is better learned by doing. If you’re really unsure about your skills, check this out

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If you are a new student, this is a great resource about informational interviews for when you contact alumni for the first time.

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Module 3

LinkedIn

This module is all about how to make your best Linkedin profile and then how to best leverage that profile to build your network virtually. Included are great tips about how to craft posts, messages, and profile components.

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Module 4

Cover Letter

An amazing resource for writing cover letters, which let’s be honest, no one likes to do. The BRB walks you through the format, content, and common trip-ups on a cover letter. If you need a refresh on HADM 1650, this is the best place to go.

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Arguably the most important resource in the briefcase

Module 5

Interview Process

Discusses awesome tips to prepare you to succeed in every type of interview! Learn how you should dress, what you should bring for it, and how you can follow-up with the interviewer. This module can greatly enhance your abilities to find that summer internship or job after graduation!

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Module 6

Career Fair

Helps you to ACE them through teaching you how to make great first impressions. It covers how you should dress, shake hands, communicate over phone/email, and refine your social media reputation.

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Module 7

Diversity & Inclusion

Provides great contacts to the respective offices at both Cornell University at large, and at the Hotel School in particular.​

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Module 8

Additional Resources

Will help you polish up your resume, find more potential internship opportunities, career advice, and interview preparation! Highly suggest you to check them out, these resources are what makes SHA such a special place to be!

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Module 9

Career Development Toolkit Cliff Notes

Career Dev. Toolkit

The Career Development Toolkit is another amazing resource that can be accessed via Canvas. If soft skills are what you need help with, this is the place to go! 

 

Below is a list of the modules included in the kit:

  • Career Readiness

  • Exploration

  • Networking

  • Virtual Career Events

  • Interviews

  • International

  • Pre-Law

  • Resources

    • Job Search 

      • Cover Letters 

      • Resumes 

 

Some things to keep an eye out for:

  • Combine the tips listed under Resumes with formatting from the Big Red Briefcase and your resume will be polished in no time

  • The “Key Words in a Job Posting” activity is awesome and super helpful

  • There are many virtual activities, so if you want to practice professional development skills in a no-stakes environment this is perfect!

Career Readiness

Career Readiness

Before you start applying for internships and jobs, you must understand yourself and explore your options. That is the best way to find what is unique about you and start developing those skills

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Find your brand story, own it, and spin it. Not sure what it is yet? Can start by setting up a meeting with Career Management!

8 Core Competencies & ways to develop them

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

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Oral/Written Communication

Teamwork/Collaboration

Digital Tech

  • Create a personal website or maintain a social media page for a club

  • Free resources like Code Academy

Leadership
  • Get involved in Student Government or take on a leadership role in a student club

  • Get involved with your Residence Hall as a RA or with new student orientation as an orientation leader

Professionalism/Work Ethic

Global/Intercultural Fluency

Career Management

Make sure you know what it means to exemplify professionalism in your:
email
Phone calls
Social Media
Dress
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Habits
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Exploration

Exploration
ASK YOURSELF:

1

What do you enjoy?

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2

What matters to you?

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What are you good at?

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Does any job fit these interests, values, and strengths of yours?

Once you understand yourself, you can expand the list of possible career options, then start narrowing that list down and prioritizing what you need to do to get your dream job

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Not sure about the above questions? Go to the Career Development Toolkit for guides and assessments on each

Ways to test possible careers
Research the Industry
  • Books

  • Podcasts

  • TED Talks

  • LinkedIn - alumni network!

  • Glassdoor

Practice the Job Tasks/Skills

  • Clubs on campus

  • Classes on campus

nETWORKING

Networking

Networking

 

(n.) talking with people who can help you gain insight into your career, academic, and personal goals

the Career Development Guide will help you to:

Create your 30-second elevator pitch

Perfect your LinkedIn

Complete your CUeLinks profile

Optimize your personal brand including personal websites and social media

Write the perfect Informational Interview request email and know what comes after

Learn how to make the whole process less intimidating!

Resumes

Resumes

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The goal of a resume is to get the interview - be truthful, don’t embellish, and thrive

Resumes should:

1

Be no longer than 1 page and in chronological order

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Have a font size of 10-12 pt and margins between 0.5-1 inch

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Not have graphics or images

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Be Consistent in formatting, capitalization, style, etc.

Include the following
Education
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Skills
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Relevant coursework
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GPA
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Do not round up and keep at two decimal places

HONORS & AWARDS
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inTENDED GRAD DATE
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rELEVANT WORK & LEADERSHIP
cONTACT iNFO

(Name, address, number, email)

Other Resume Tips
  • Interviewers look at resumes for 8 seconds, skimming fast, so make sure it is highly skimmable!

  • Use the job description of the job you had 

  • Use action words to start every sentence, and keywords of the job description you are trying to get

  • Use your Business Computing format! Make it your own but keep it professional

  • Use AI to check over your resume - Vmock - an average score that is good is between 70–80

  • Only include high school activities if directly relevant

  • Check it over with Career Management - the experts!

  • See the Career Development Toolkit for more detail and examples

Hotel Career Management Center

Career Mgmt Center
Tips
Tip 1: Don’t be afraid to meet

Don't be afraid of not being 100% prepared! Although it is important to have an understanding of the purpose of the meeting, Hotelies have gotten helpful advice from meetings that they have scheduled as a chat/update. With their busy schedules, scheduling a meeting is sometimes a better way to get an answer to a question you may have rather than email.

Tip 2: Schedule in advance

When recruiting is in full swing, time slots often fill up fast or your usual career counselor is unavailable. If you know you want some advice for a career fair, sign up as soon as you know the dates of the career fair.

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Tip 3: Accept the calendar invites

The system should automatically send you an email with the Zoom link to your appointment. Accept the calendar invite so you get reminders for your appointment and have easy access to the Zoom link. It will save you the hassle of digging through your emails last minute.

Tip 4: The appointments have video

Although you do not have to be dressed professionally for the meetings, be aware that the session has both audio and video and plan accordingly.

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