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I’ve finally taken the plunge and upgraded to the newest release Wordpress. So, far I’m really digging the interface. Kudos to the folks over at Happy Cog for designing the UI, it really is a brilliant piece of craftsmanship.

You’ve probably also noticed the new theme, designed by Ed Merritt. Its a very clean minimalist design. It’s again inspired me to open up the design I started making months ago.

I should also be posting more in the near future, and continuing the series “Making the Jump” that I started back in January. I’ve got a lot planned for upcoming posts and features for the site. In the meantime check me out on Twitter.

Making The Jump — Part 1: Interviewing

Posted by mikelikesbikes under: Featured; Life; Work.

As some of you know, I graduated from OSU about 6 months ago. Since then I’ve been making the transition from student to professional. In this 4 Part series I’ll be talking about lessons I learned along the way from Interviewing to Settling In.

Today’s article is about interviewing. For me this was the first time I was interviewing for a job that required more than a simple 1 page application. In my opinion this is also the stage where people derail the first few years of their career by not putting in the proper effort. Hopefully this article will help you outline some key areas to ensure that you will be ready to put your best foot forward.

Interviewing

Get Started Early — If your school is anything like OSU you’ll probablybe competing for positions with your classmates. If that’s the case, get a jump on the competition by starting the process early. This can be anything from reviewing your resume (more than that in a in a moment), to researching the local job market or even setting up interviews.

Revise, Revise, Revise! — Your resume is a statement of who YOU are. It’s your opportunity to put your best face forward. Make sure you highlight projects where you really excelled. This is not your chance to portray yourself as an imaginary super you. Keep the resume completely truthful.

Use Your Resources — If your Career Center offers a Career Fair, sign up immediately. Its a great chance to see what’s out there and interface with representatives from local and national companies. Career Fairs are your first chance to to make a lasting impression with these companies, so be prepared to present yourself professionally. Also, bring your planner so that you can fill it with interview and informational session times.

Pare Down Your Choices — There’s no better feeling than having more invitations than you expected. But my advice is to keep your interview schedule manageable. So if you find yourself in this position, start by ranking your offers and only accept as many as you can handle. My magic number was 5. Each offer requires you to do a few hours of background research on each company, and at least 2 possibly 3 interviews per offer. Limiting your choices will allow you to keep the process manageable, and you’ll be better prepared for each interview.

Do Your Research — there’s no better way to show an employer you’re interested than to know the company. For many employers, mine included, this is a must. Employers want to know that you’ll be a good fit for the company and the company will be a good fit for you. It goes both ways. So, take a look at the company’s mission and see if you fit. It’s better to find out at this stage that it won’t work than to find out once you’ve started.

Be Yourself — It sounds cliche. But being yourself is the best way for your interviewer to get to know you and judge whether you’ll fit well. Its also easier for you and will keep you calm and collected through the stressful bits of the process. Also, don’t forget your manners. Please, Thank You (send them a quick email thanking them), and Ma’am/Sir go a long way.

Interviewing should not be scary if you’ve done your homework and kept your choices manageable. Obviously your mileage will vary depending on how hard you’ve worked to get to this stage of your career.

In the next part of this Article I’ll be taking a look at how to approach the last few months of school.

Do you have any useful advice for interviewees? Feel free to share in the comments (and register if you haven’t already).

as of right now 8 of my last 10 hours of work at the client have been spent switching between different SVN branches. Kill me now.