Deck 18: Building Careers and Writing Résumés

Question 1

Generally speaking, most employers prefer to look for job candidates

A) at college job fairs.
B) within their own organization or through referrals from people they trust.
C) who have posted their résumés online.
D) through an outside consulting firm.

Answer 1

within their own organization or through referrals from people they trust.

Question 2

Approximately ____ percent of all job openings in the U.S. are never advertised.

A) 10
B) 30
C) 80
D) 90

Answer 2

80

Question 3

Major job boards such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have made it

A) impossible to find good jobs in a specific area.
B) virtually impossible not to find a job you like.
C) far easier to stand out from the crowd of other applicants.
D) much more difficult to stand out from other applicants.

Answer 3

much more difficult to stand out from other applicants.

Question 4

The hidden job market is

A) a list of jobs published only in specialized journals.
B) made up of jobs available only to applicants of a certain age.
C) made up of all the job openings that are never advertised.
D) none of the above.

Question 5

As part of your search for employment you should

A) research specific companies.
B) check websites and newspapers for job openings.
C) network.
D) do all of the above.

Question 6

A typical recruiter devotes ___________ to each résumé before tossing it into either the "maybe" pile or the "reject" pile.

A) 45 seconds
B) 2 minutes
C) 5 minutes
D) 10 minutes

Question 7

Using a boastful tone in your résumé

A) is the only way to avoid sounding unsure of your qualifications.
B) helps you stand out among other applicants.
C) causes prospective employers to question your self-evaluation.
D) is expected in today's tight job market.

Question 8

"OCR" stands for

A) online character reference.
B) optical character recognition.
C) occupation criteria record.
D) online chronological résumé.

Question 9

To prepare your résumé for the scanning process, you need to

A) rewrite the whole thing.
B) format it to be OCR-friendly.
C) use a special software program.
D) do all of the above.

Question 10

When e-mailing your résumé to a prospective employer, you should

A) always send it as a Microsoft Word attachment.
B) make it less formal than you would for other formats.
C) insert it as plain text into the body of the message unless you are specifically asked to send it as an attachment.
D) use lots of colors to make your résumé stand out.

Question 11

When posting your résumé on websites such as Monster.com, you should

A) avoid including your Social Security number, student ID number, or driver's license number.
B) make your résumé longer than you would for other formats.
C) use a personal, "chummy" tone.
D) do all of the above.

Question 12

In today's marketplace, college job fairs appear to be the prime source of jobs-regardless of an applicant's experience.

Question 13

Major job boards such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have made it more difficult for applicants to stand out from the crowd.

Question 14

Employers generally prefer to look outside the organization to fill openings rather than hire from within.

Question 15

Recruiters typically spend about 5 minutes to each résumé before tossing it into the "maybe" or the "reject" pile.

Question 16

Most employers now prefer functional résumés to both chronological and combination résumés.

Question 17

An applicant with a criminal record should always disclose that information on his or her résumé.

Question 18

Experts agree that every résumé should include a statement of the applicant's career objective.

Question 19

Prospective employers generally do not like résumés that are boastful.

Question 20

Virtually any font is appropriate for a scannable résumé.

Question 21

Employers are generally understanding if a candidate has only one or two typos on his or her résumé, although having more than that can decrease one's chances of getting an interview.

Question 22

When posting your résumé to a website, you should always provide your home address.

Question 23

Typically, recruiters devote less than ____________________ minute(s) to each résumé before tossing it into either the "maybe" pile or the "reject" pile.

Question 24

The ____________________ ____________________ section of a résumé states what you wish to accomplish in your work, although experts disagree about its effectiveness.

Question 25

Volunteer work that demonstrates your abilities should be listed in the ____________________ and ____________________ section of your résumé.

Question 26

Résumés prepared for an electronic database should include a ____________________ summary that lists all the terms that could help match your résumé to the right openings.

Question 27

A printed, unformatted version of your résumé makes it easy for employers to ____________________ it into a database.

Question 28

To make it easy for employers to scan your traditional paper résumé into their databases, you must convert it to ____________________ format.

Question 29

When e-mailing a copy of your résumé, it is generally best to include it within the ____________________ of the message.

Question 30

Define the "hidden job market" and explain what it suggests about most employers' approach to finding candidates for job openings.

Question 31

Briefly explain what information you should seek out at the very beginning of your career search.

Question 32

Briefly describe four steps you can take to prepare for and successfully complete your search for employment.

Question 33

Describe how today's employers generally approach the employment process.