The Resume Masterpiece

It`s no secret that a resume is your ticket to landing a job, getting recruited by head hunters, or initiating the first steps for locking an interview at ESSEC Business School .

Resumes are the face of what you have got to offer, a big sign stating your added value and ‘game’ for companies, schools and recruiters. It is your marketing plan of your unique self, a showcase of all of the admirable and unique values that your profile consists of. It is like your very own Mona Lisa, and yup, you got it, you are DaVinci.

"Resumes are the face of what you have got to offer, a big sign stating your added value and ‘game’ for companies, schools and recruiters"

In order to fabricate this masterpiece, here are some simple guidelines that we can suggest to you in order to make your resume clear, precise, clean and aesthetically pleasing, just like a noteable piece of art from the Renaissance era. We are going to give you an art lesson in structuring your very own personal marketing plan.

Lesson N°1 – Resume Writing = Marketing

ADVERTISE

It is no secret that your resume is your sales pitch, your marketing strategy, your direct reflection and differentiation of yourself as opposed to other candidates. Your resume is designed to scream « I am an awesome candidate, hire me ! », and « I am so much cooler than the rest of these candidates, pffffff please ».

 "...you are advertising yourself." 

So, know in advance before sitting down and writing your resume that you are advertising yourself. You need to communicate to the recruiter that once you are hired, all of the benefits that are presented on your CV will come pouring down on the company and people will shout hallelujha. Show that you will and can be successful for the potential job or school that you are applying to.

DO THE RESEARCH

Any good marketing plan is research based, as you will thoroughly learn here at ESSEC.

Look up and hit the books about the company you are applying to or the school you wish to attend, and formulate your CV according to their interests – this will boost your visibility, as entities always are eager to interview candidates who have some kind of connection to the establishment.

Your resume must demonstrate that you have at least 70% of the entity’s requirements to have a legitimate hope of landing an interview, with a 30% shot at a silver lining. Stalk the company or school to know as much as you can about them and what activity they are involved in currently – the web, social media tracking and networking with people you know are always great ideas in order for your resume to shine.

Better yet, if you have the luck of knowing anyone in the place where you want to slam an interview, take them out for coffee or lunch and ask what they are looking for in a resume. Everyone likes food and company.

"You need to be unique – it’s boring to have identical resumes. Tailor in your creativity and pizzaz"

CUSTOMIZE

You need to be unique – it’s boring to have identical resumes. Tailor in your creativity and pizzaz when formulating your CV, but also make sure to adhere to the company’s or school’s needs – the extra effort will land you an interview. 

Thus, your marketing is unique, but informed and precise, with a specific targeted audience. This ensures that your resume is definitely an attention grabber, just like Leonardo’s masterpiece.

Lesson N°2 – Your Resume’s Job is to land an Interview

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

Sad, but true. It’s totally about the recruiter and how they view your profile. Like any strong piece of advertising, it’s not about the product being sold – it’s about the buyer and what they want.

Let’s take a look at Coke advertisements: They say very little about the soda pop bubbles, but they communicate the fact that people who drink it are happy and have a lot of bright and shiny people around them. The focus is on the benefits of drinking Coke. So, be Coke - your resume is about the benefits of hiring you.

"...your resume is about the benefits of hiring you."

Lesson N° 3 – An aesthetic resume is an Attention Grabber

Beauty is pain. To make your CV look fantastic and fabulous, many revisions need to be done to make sure that your work of art is aesthetically pleasing, clear, and logical to the recruiter’s eye. 

If this is your first time writing one, take a gander in the library and find a book about resume writing – inside, you will be sure to find many examples of what a good resume is supposed to look like.

After using these rough guidelines, think out of the box and make your CV unique. You want to make sure to differentiate yourself from all of the other candidates applying for the job. Being fresh is never a bad idea.

"You want to make sure to differentiate yourself from all of the other candidates applying for the job. Being fresh is never a bad idea."

Lesson N° 4 – Never Lie

Though you might be tempted, make sure to not create a white lie on your resume to strengthen your chances of landing a job. Chances are, in an interview the recruited will automatically see right through your past experiences and your competencies.

If you put that you speak six languages for instance and in reality only speak two, you will be busted when a native speaker happens to drop by during your interview to chat in Mandarin with you. Lying never benefited anybody, especially when applying for jobs and schools.

Lesson N°5 – Give a Fresh Perspective

Even though resumes are personal marketing, you still gotta keep it original. Make  sure to show the entity that you are applying to that you are a diamond in the ruff. It is always  refreshing to see character in a CV.

 "Make  sure to show the entity that you are applying to that you are a diamond in the ruff."

With that being said, it’s time to go to work. Go to town on your masterpiece – who knows, maybe your CV will get auctioned to a special exhibition in the Louvre.

Go get ‘em tiger.

The Apprenticeship: fusing work and study (p.4)

Dominik Weiss

In the Apprenticeship-series on this blog, we follow our students who have successfully pursued an apprenticeship*. In
this final episode, Saint Gobain's Purchasing Department  apprentice Dominik explains his take on the value of the apprenticeship.

Before coming to ESSEC, doing an apprenticeship was not on my To-Do List, as I had already undertaken a Trainee Program before. Therefore, my plan was to complete an internship in France and then to finish the Master as quickly as possible.

In the end and against all odds I decided to do an apprenticeship. Why did I make this decision? The most important reasons to me were the language factor, the responsibility and the career opportunities.

As I want to start working in France after graduation, my French level has to have a certain standard which for me is not reachable through a six months’ internship. I have a lot of responsibility in my apprenticeship which was essential to me and the crucial factor to take on the position. Even though I have already worked for almost two years in a company, this was an experience and level of responsibility I haven’t had before. An apprenticeship is an investment of the company in you. This is a very valuable professional experience as it shows the added value that you bring to the company, especially while working in another country.

Personally I found my apprenticeship on the “Forum Campus”, which is a career fair organized once a year at ESSEC. I hosted Saint-Gobain during the Forum and had a chance to have long and interesting conversations with the company representatives. Even though I applied to different positions and companies online, the best way to create interest and get noticed is by talking to companies’ representatives in person. This also fastened the process and opened the door for my apprenticeship.

"...I found my apprenticeship on the 'Forum Campus'..."

So far it has been two months since I have started the apprenticeship and I really enjoy it. I have just started fulltime, as my semester ended, and I will get my new missions for the rest of the year soon. 

Based on the reasons mentioned above an apprenticeship for me is something that a student should always have on the back of his mind regardless of the fact that he might have already enough work experience to validate for the degree. In any case it is a great experience!

*An apprenticeship constitues a fusing of work and studying: the apprentice (the student) studies part time and works the rest of the time for a company. The company in return pays the tuition fees of the student and a salary. In the past, quite a few students have financed their studies this way. Read more on apprenticeships here.

The Apprenticeship: fusing work and study (p.3)

Aditya Vijay

In the Apprenticeship-series on this blog, we follow our students who have successfully pursued an apprenticeship*. In this episode, Sodexo's Corporate Responsibility Analyst Aditya explains how he sealed the deal.

I got my apprenticeship after about 2 months of intense job search. It was a bit challenging for me because I didn’t have business education background, any previous work experience and I don’t speak French. 

I received great help from Career Services. I spent about 2-3 days creating my cover letter and resume and got it reviewed by career services and a senior student. I applied for a number of jobs and realized that jobs in the career service section at myessec.com is the best source for me to find an apprenticeship. 

I gave few interviews but didn’t succeed because of my poor French skills. It is very important to analyze what stopped you from succeeding after each rejection. After getting an interview call from Sodexo I talked to ESSEC alumni who were working in the company and gathered information about company’s culture and possible interview questions to prepare well. 

After 4 rounds of interviews I got selected.  My suggestion to other students is that you should apply to a good number of jobs, talk to people who are working in the company you are applying for, spend sufficient time on creating your cover letter and resume and don’t get disheartened from rejection but take it as a learning lesson. 

*An apprenticeship constitues a fusing of work and studying: the apprentice (the student) studies part time and works the rest of the time for a company. The company in return pays the tuition fees of the student and a salary. In the past, quite a few students have financed their studies this way. Read more on apprenticeships here.

The Apprenticeship: fusing work and study (p.1)

Lois d'Iribarne

In the Apprenticeship-series on this blog, we follow our students who have successfully pursued an apprenticeship*. In this episode, Canal Plus' Recruitment and Talent Management apprentice Lois explains how she sealed the deal.

I found my apprenticeship thanks to the ESSEC annual forum in February. I gave my CVs to five companies, two of them called me back, and I was successfully hired by Canal Plus. It was a bit of a challenge because there were 5 rounds of interviews, some of them extremely close to one another, and I was doing the same with other companies at the same time. 

I think that the reason I was hired was because I really captured the vibe of the company. Canal Plus has a very dynamic environment, and the company`s culture is based on boldness and entrepreneurial spirit, so I tried to bring out the more natural and energetic aspects of my personality. It’s important to find a place that is compatible with your spirit. I, for example, refused a mission in another company, not only because I was not that interested in the task, but also because I felt uncomfortable during my interviews, didn’t bond with the people I met and talked to, and the spirit around seemed extremely uptight.

If I had one suggestion for other students going through interview rounds, it would be to be honest with your hypothetical employers. Most of the time, they can tell when people are being too fake. Secondly, if you change your personality completely, say whatever you believe the employer wants to hear, and pretend to love everything they talk about, even if they do make you an offer, it will not be an offer you like because it won’t match what you truly want, and you will end-up half-heartedly accepting, or refusing it all in all. It’s risky to be yourself because you take the risk of being rejected, but when you do get a job, you get a cooler job.

*An apprenticeship constitues a fusing of work and studying: the apprentice (the student) studies part time and works the rest of the time for a company. The company in return pays the tuition fees of the student and a salary. In the past, quite a few students have financed their studies this way. Read more on apprenticeships here.

5 Tips to Secure That Internship at a Fair

by Dominik Weiss. 

     The Forum Campus is the major recruiting event at ESSEC. More than a hundred companies offer students the unique opportunity to receive first-hand information and to ask their questions.

The Forum Campus is my second recruitment fair at ESSEC and I would like to share with you what I have learned and changed after the first fair to be more successful!

1. Speak French, the effort counts: The chances of getting an internship are equally divided between French and international students at ESSEC. Nevertheless, making the effort as an international student to speak to companies in French shows extra motivation. This is an attitude companies in France value very highly and which might open many doors.

·  2. Speak to as many companies as you can: It is wise to strategically pick the companies you want to speak with to have sufficient time for each of them. Nevertheless, do not stop afterwards, or worse leave the fair. Continue speaking to companies, in many cases companies you did not have on your mind have very interesting and challenging opportunities.

·     3. Speak to the companies at the right time: To avoid waiting for ages to speak to companies, go at the right time. Especially right after the Fair starts is a very good moment. Most of the students do not go straight in the morning. Also, lunch time or late in the afternoon are good to avoid the rush-hours, however here you might take the risk that the company representatives are tired or hungry and will not take as much time for you as in the morning.

·       4. Get in the flow: Speaking to companies is all about selling and presenting yourself. To be at your best you need to be in “the flow”. Before you speak to the company you are interested in take the time and speak to 1-2 companies you are not that interested in just to practice and not to be nervous when it matters.

·   5. Host a company!: Hosting a company is the best and easiest way to convince a company that you are a perfect fit for them. Furthermore, the opportunity to spend the whole day with the representatives of a company is a great and interesting experience. It enables you to speak to more than one of them, so you can get insights in different departments of the company. 

Do not let this unique chance slip!