Prepare to apply with Career Coach

Learning objectives 

• Use LinkedIn in a job search.

• Search for work opportunities aligned with your skills and goals.

• Prepare a resume and cover letter.

• Identify people who have experience that aligns with your career goals.

• Use informational interviews to get advice for career goals.

Lesson 1: Build and improve your resume 

Estimated duration: 2 hours, Level: Intermediate

1. Watch the LinkedIn Learning course to learn how to write a resume (2h 27m).

2. Reflect and summarize on what makes a resume great. Update your current resume or create a new one using what you learned from the course.

   Tip: Use a template to enhance your resume format and turn on Resume Assistant in Microsoft Word. Resume Assistant shows you examples of how real people in the fields you're interested in describe their work experience and skills. 

3. Pair with a peer in-person or on Microsoft Teams and exchange resumes. Give your peer feedback on the format, objective, skills, and overall presentation of their resume. Make changes to your own resume from your classmate’s feedback.

4. Open Career Coach. Select Profile > Skills Explorer. Upload your resume or transcript. Review your skills on the Profile page under My skills. Consider adding these skills into your resume.

5. Get advice from career services or your faculty advisor about how to improve your resume and tailor it for your applications

Lesson 2: Explore opportunities

Estimated duration: 1 hours, Level: Intermediate

1. Watch the LinkedIn Learning course to learn about finding opportunities that are meaningful to you (39m).

2. Reflect on what you want to do or learn from your next opportunity, which could be a job, internship, co-op, volunteering role, or something else entirely. How can you find opportunities that are right for you? What’s your plan for searching for them and applying?

3. Open Career Coach. Select Careers. Search by title, skill, company, or internship. Save any you’re interested in.

4. Review your LinkedIn profile. Make sure your skills, experiences, awards, and interests are up-to-date and connect with alumni in your field. To do so, open Career Coach. Select People. Use Filters to search alumni by the companies you are interested in. Select an alumnus to connect with. When you’re ready to connect, select Connect to send a personalized message. Select Add a note, then add a Greeting and Why you want to connect. Select Send LinkedIn Invite in the bottom right corner.

5. Go to Career Coach. Select Dashboard. Go to the Find real-world experience section. Explore opportunities in volunteering, internships, co-ops, and more to gain real-world experience.

6. Pair with a peer in-person or on Microsoft Teams to share your reflections, compare, and discuss each other’s answers.

7. Get advice from career services or your faculty advisor on which opportunities align the most with your skills and goals, and how to get those opportunities.

Lesson 3: Use LinkedIn for job searches

Estimated duration: 1 hour, Level: Intermediate

1. Watch the LinkedIn Learning course to learn about building your LinkedIn skills (24m).

2. Reflect on how to improve your LinkedIn profile using what you learned from the course and make changes if needed.

3. Pair with a peer in-person or on Microsoft Teams to share, compare, and reflect on what you learned about using LinkedIn for job search.

4. Get advice from career services or your faculty advisor about how to improve your online presence.

Lesson 4: Practice informational interviews

Estimated duration: 1 hour, Level: Intermediate   

1. Watch the LinkedIn Learning course to learn about the power of informational interviews (49m).

2. Reflect on who you can reach out to when you want to learn more about a company or opportunity. What are things you can do right now to build your network? What questions can you ask to learn if a job aligns with your skills and goals? Consider creating a list of questions you can ask to learn if a job aligns with your skills and goals.

3. Open Career Coach. Select People. Explore alumni profiles. Identify an alumnus who you want to practice an informational interview with. When you’re ready to connect, select Connect to send a personalized message. Select Add a note, then add a Greeting and Why you want to connect. Select Send LinkedIn Invite in the bottom right corner.

4. Pair with a peer in-person or on Microsoft Teams to share your reflections, compare, discuss, and brainstorm on your experience with information interviews.

5. Get advice from career services or your faculty advisor about how to make the best out of an informational interview.