New resume program created for campus freshmen

By: Antho­ny Zepperi
Novem­ber 18, 2019
The Dai­ly Campus

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Connecticut’s Cen­ter for Career Devel­op­ment has begun a resume cri­tique pro­gram for fresh­men, which will be a guid­ing force in help­ing them with their future careers.

Rita Ton­leu, a resume crit­ic, said the pro­gram is ben­e­fi­cial to students.

“This will help fresh­men in the long run to pos­si­bly get jobs in their futures,” Ton­leu said. “This will give them access to future intern­ships and jobs.” 

Ton­leu said in the pro­gram, stu­dents par­tic­i­pate in work­shops to help with build­ing resumes. It is part of the resume writ­ing assign­ment for fresh­men UNIV classes.

Accord­ing to the Cen­ter for Career Devel­op­ment (CCD) web­site, the 20-minute cri­tique ses­sions are offered daily. 

Ton­leu said the pro­gram helps stu­dents cre­ate effec­tive resumes. 

“We try and guide stu­dents to use any and all the resources avail­able,” Ton­leu said. 

Accord­ing to Ton­leu, after work­shops, there are pre­sen­ta­tions which are part of the first year expe­ri­ence. This step is where marks are made with sug­ges­tions on their resumes.

The Cen­ter for Career Devel­op­ment cri­tiques over 175 stu­dents’ resumes per week, Ton­leu said.

Addi­tion­al­ly, stu­dents can make appoint­ments at the CCD and search for poten­tial intern­ships, co-ops and jobs through UConn’s part­ner­ship with Hand­shake, Ton­leu said.

Ana Clara Blesso, Asso­ciate Direc­tor of Career Coach­ing and Expe­ri­en­tial Learn­ing at the Cen­ter for Career Devel­op­ment, said this pro­gram is pop­u­lar among students. 

“It is a pop­u­lar ser­vice and it’s a great way to engage with our office,” Blesso said. “Slots are con­sis­tent­ly full.” 

Blesso said these cri­tiques ben­e­fit stu­dents who are look­ing to make their resumes stronger. 

“It is always good to have anoth­er expe­ri­enced set of eyes look­ing at the stu­dents’ resumes,” Blesso said. 

Blesso said the pro­gram is free of any per­son­al opin­ions regard­ing the stu­dents’ resumes. 

“This is a judge­ment-free envi­ron­ment,” Blesso said. “We want to have an inclu­sive one.” 

Resume cri­ti­quers get hired through intern­ships, accord­ing to Blesso. They get trained for sev­er­al weeks by sev­er­al staff writ­ers and can apply in February. 

Blesso said the career cen­ter has seen many stu­dents come back for appointments. 

“We see stu­dents come back reg­u­lar­ly,” Blesso said. “This shows how much stu­dents ben­e­fit from the program.”