Cal State Fullerton’s Entertainment and Tourism Club (ETC) hosted a members-only professional development workshop in Titan Student Union’s Ontiveros on Oct. 4. This workshop gave ETC members exclusive tips and tricks on resume writing provided by a professional guest speaker.
ETC’s event invited speaker Laura Neal, who has worked as the arts career specialist at CSUF’s Career Center for 22 years, to speak with the students and guide them through what makes a good resume.
As an exposition, Neal discussed with the group that throughout her years in college, she did not know what career path she wanted to take. A lot of confusion surrounded her about what a career entailed after college, and she didn’t know of any guidance available to help her navigate.
“I just stumbled my way through college and made my way through,” Neal explained.
However, Laura remarked that if she had had the career resource knowledge back then that CSUF offers now, her career path may have been more focused or efficient.
It was not until she found her job at CSUF’s career center that she discovered all of the career resources available to help students. Therefore, Neal set out to offer CSUF students the career guidance she missed while in college.
Neal’s 45-minute presentation going over resume building was invaluable to the students, considering most attendees, if not all, will be vying for highly competitive entertainment jobs after graduation.
Regarding resume pointers, Neal advised students to be specific and intentional with the experience they add. No “one resume fits all” exists, so Neal said students will constantly tailor their resume to reflect the job they are applying for.
Also, Neal introduced students to the S.T.A.R. method, a tool to help write compelling experience descriptions on resumes. Describe the situation, task, action and result of the work completed; that way, you have a better chance of standing out to employers.
Neal offered additional advice when it comes to relaying past job experience. She vocalized that although it may be tempting to embellish work that you have completed in the past, honesty is the best route.
“Do not exaggerate, just be clear,” Neal stated.
After Neal’s presentation, she led a peer-review resume session. Each of the 30 attendees partnered up with another person and reviewed each other’s resume. That way, participants could receive feedback from others and discover new ways to format their resumes.
As the evening wrapped up, ETC’s photographer Ahni Im, took complimentary professional headshots of all ETC members who were in need of one.
The workshop lasted from 7-9 p.m. and offered free Porto’s, courtesy of ETC.
