Firstly, congratulations to everyone who got an offer in first round, y’all should be mighty proud of yourselves, that you have been granted the opportunity to obtain employment so soon, and can worry less about finding a co-op. To everyone else who either got ranked, or didn’t get anything, it’s okay. Remember to keep trying and you’ll probably be able to land an offer in continuous round. It’s definitely not the end of the world to be without an offer after the first round and there’s still plenty of chances in continuous to find a decent co-op. For those of you who may want to brush up on your resume or interview skills, here on some tips on finding a co-op in the later rounds.
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Edit and refine your resume. If you didn’t get many interviews, it’s probably your resume that needs some tweaking, so that your qualifications and highlights are getting the attention they need. Remember that most employers take 8-10 seconds to look through the whole thing, so you want your best qualities to be seen at first glance. For proofreading, either ask friends, drop-in at CECA, or post your resume to the UW reddit thread for critiquing.
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Practice interview skills. This is the most important thing after resumes, because the major deciding factor as to whether you get an offer is how well you perform at the interview. Through the interview, the employer determines whether you are suitable for the position and if they would want to work with you. Be prepared to handle questions pertaining to problem-solving, because you might get asked a few tricky questions. Interviews test your ability to sell yourself as the potential candidate for the job.
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Be sure to thoroughly explain. For all situations that you present to the employer, be sure to explain them thoroughly, while emphasizing your role and how you acted in each situation in a positive light. Be clear and strong in your explanations, so that you present yourself as an excellent candidate.
With that said, good luck everyone with your future interviews, and hopefully you can get your top choice!