Program to equip Broncs with optimal job-hunting tools

By Benjamin Smith

It is common for students, especially in the current economic environment, to feel uneasy about leaving the nest they have built at college to fly into the working world. Rider’s new online resource Optimal Résumé hopes to ease these fears, according to the program’s website.
Optimal Résumé will launch in time for the beginning of the spring semester and it is highly encouraged that all Rider students utilize its features to the fullest. Included in the résumé builder are aspects designed to help best prepare students for realistic interview scenarios. They include the ability to record a video résumé and a mock interview tool, said Joyce Tyler, director of Career Services, in an email.
“[Optimal Résumé will] pull from different formats and objectives to format your résumé,” Tyler said.

Cody McElyea, a sophomore computer information systems major, said that he is excited about the opportunities Optimal Résumé will provide.
“I’m all for anything that can assist me in writing and getting my résumé out there,” McElyea said. “It’s hard as it is, and I’m sure [students] can use all the help we can get.”
The ultimate goal of the tools provided by Optimal Résumé is the construction of a personalized website devoted to selling the student user to potential employers, according to Optimal Résumé’s website.
Students will be able to record a video résumé so that employers will be able to preview their personalities and speaking styles. Also, users can hold a mock interview by choosing pre-selected responses to lists of potential employers’ questions. Responses are judged and a better answer will be provided should the student’s response be anything other than satisfactory, according to the website.
“We want you to have the tools necessary for today’s competitive job market,” Optimal Résumé’s website said. “We think Optimal Résumé will give you an edge.”
Peter McClelland, a junior accounting major said that he believes Optimal Résumé will be a tool to give him a one-up on the competition.
“Sounds good to me,” McClelland said. “Any way Rider can help me to gain a job in my career more quickly once I leave college would be great.”
While students are awaiting Optimal Résumé’s debut, there are other programs sponsored by Career Services that they can utilize.
Résumé labs are held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in the office of Career Services, located in the Bart Luedeke Center.
Led by Tyler, the sessions focus on the art of résumé building and writing, as well as on the “structure and elements for writing an introductory letter to a prospective employer and the content and tone for a follow-up letter post-interview,” according to the Rider website.
Career Services also hosts a biannual career day in the fall and spring semesters which focuses on networking businesses and local companies with Rider students.
The next career day sponsored by Rider will be held during the spring 2012 semester.