YouTube Roundup for November 2024

There’s a chill in the air . . . but we won’t leave you out in the cold. The Career Center always has your back when it comes to the job search, with in-person advice and online resources such as these YouTube videos:

From the Job Interview Questions for Teens Playlist:

How Teens Can Answer, “How Would You Welcome a Customer?”

“You only get one chance to make a good first impression” – so the way that you welcome customers is crucial. In this video, Career Specialist Lynnette Lee and Guest Presenter Nate DeLaune demonstrate ways to answer this question that will help you make a good impression on both customers AND hiring managers.

From the Common Job Application Tutorials Playlist:

How to Apply for a Job at Smoothie King

In this video, Career Specialist Cynthia Payton demonstrates how to complete an online job application for fast food restaurant Smoothie King.

From the Vaults: This Month’s Golden Oldie Spotlight:
From the Enrichment and Skills Training Playlist:

edX: An In-Depth MOOC Review

Go back to school without spending a fortune! MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – can be a fantastic way to get valuable job skills, training, and certifications at a low cost. In this video, Career Specialist Richard Wright discusses the popular MOOC edX, detailing the types of courses they offer, as well as the options and costs for different professional certifications.

Written by Lynnette Lee

Job Search Tips for Ex-Offenders, Part 1: The Resume and Application

The single greatest determining factor in reducing recidivism is ensuring that people who’ve served their time are able to find steady employment upon re-entering society. Unfortunately, formerly incarcerated citizens often face unique obstacles in the job search. If you have a criminal record (which is extremely common in the state of Louisiana), here are some job-search tips to help:

Should I include my criminal record on my resume?

  • You do not have to mention your incarceration at all on your resume. But be prepared to discuss it in the interview. The difference is, the interview will give you a chance to explain your record and ease the hiring manager’s worries. The resume will not.
  • If you don’t mention your incarceration on your resume, there will be a gap in your work history. You may need a functional resume to cover that gap.
  • If you gained valuable skills, education, or work experience in prison, you probably should put it on your resume. You may even be able to disguise it, so that it’s not obvious that you were incarcerated.
  • Whether or not you include your incarceration, make sure that your resume highlights the skills you have  which are most relevant to the jobs you’re applying for.

How can I disguise my incarceration on my resume?

  • Use the name of the state or parish, not the name of the prison, when listing work experience.
    Example: Landscaper, State of Louisiana, 2007 – present
  • Use the name of the contract company you worked for while incarcerated.
    Example: Cook, ACI Food Services, 2012 – present
  • Make it look like you work directly for the prison.
    Example: Program Clerk, Angola Prison, 2013 – 2017
  • For educational programs, use the name of the organization that provided your training.
    Example: GED, Adult Literacy Advocates, 2016

Should I include my criminal record on the application?

  • Only mention your incarceration if they specifically ask about it. Since the passing of “Ban the Box” laws, a lot of applications no longer ask if you have a criminal record. If they don’t ask, don’t tell. The best time for you to discuss your criminal record is in the interview.
  • If they do ask about your criminal record, you must answer honestly. But don’t just say, “Yes.” Take the opportunity to explain your record. Don’t appear hostile, negative, or unrepentant. Don’t blame other people. Instead, take responsibility for your mistakes, and emphasize your path to rehabilitation.

Helpful Resources in the Baton Rouge Area

  • Christian Outreach Center. Re-entry program includes transitional housing, employment, and transportation. 225-377-8582.
  • One Touch Ministry. Re-entry program includes housing, education, and employment. 225-359-9911. 
  • The Capital Area Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (CAPRI). Email stobin@ebrcjcc.org.
  • Any book by author Ronald Krannich, including The Ex-Offender’s Re-Entry Assistance Directory, The Ex-Offender’s Quick Job Hunting Guide, Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders, and The Ex-Offender’s Job Interview Guide. All of these books may be checked out from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.
  • The Career Center (inside the Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard) can offer personalized assistance with job search strategies, online applications, resumes, and interviews. We also have a YouTube channel with hundreds of helpful job-search-advice videos, including a playlist focused on jobseekers with criminal records: Resources for Ex-Offenders – YouTube.

Written by Lynnette Lee

[Please note: This article was originally published on the Career Center’s blog in 2018 and has been re-published here with updates to reach a new audience.]

YouTube Roundup for October 2024

Our most popular series is back!
From the Job Interview Questions for Teens Playlist:

How Teens Can Answer, “What Is Great Customer Service to You?”

Customer service is a crucial aspect of most entry-level jobs. Hiring managers frequently ask questions like this in order to gauge how you will treat their customers. In this video, Career Specialist Lynnette Lee and special guest Maya Nowak demonstrate a good approach.

From the Resumes Before & After Playlist:

Resume Quick Tips: How to Modernize an Outdated Education Section

When you’re a fresh graduate, your education is the centerpiece of your resume. But if it’s been a while since you graduated, you may need to update your approach to this section. Certified Resume Writer Lynnette Lee explains in this video.
This video is part of our Resumes Before and After series, which showcases common resume mistakes and our recommended solutions.

From the Vaults: This month’s Golden Oldie Spotlight
From the Seven Deadly Sins of Job Searching Playlist:

7 Deadly Sins of Job Searching, Part 1: Only Searching Job Boards

The methods of the job search have changed greatly over the past few years. In this video, Certified Career Coach Anne Nowak explains why simply applying for advertised openings – whether in the classifieds or online – is often not enough anymore.
The Seven Deadly Sins Series takes an in-depth look at the seven most common mistakes that hold jobseekers back in their search.

Written by Lynnette Lee

The Resume: Special Rules for Students and New Graduates

For most jobseekers, writing a resume is largely a matter of describing their previous work experience. This can be frustrating for young people, who often don’t have much real-world experience. Thus, a young person or new graduate may want to take a slightly different approach to resume-building. Here are some helpful tips.

Education

For someone in or fresh out of school, your education is the most valuable thing you have to offer. Therefore, you want to put it near the top of your resume – above work experience – and go into fairly extensive detail. Include the name of your degree and school, your major and minor, your date of graduation, and your GPA (if it’s 3.0 or better). Additionally, you may wish to include information about your most relevant courses taken, internships completed, academic awards received, and extracurricular activities participated in. You may include those things as part of the Education section, or you may create individual sections for each.

Work Experience

As a fresh grad, you won’t have much work experience. But you may have more than you think. Brainstorm. If you had a part-time job in high school or college as a cashier, babysitter, tutor, housecleaner, or lawnmower, you can include that. If you had an internship or externship, you can include that. If you volunteered with an organization for several months, you can include that – list it as you would a normal job, but include “Volunteer” as part of your job title. For each job you list, focus on your skills and accomplishments at that job which are most relevant to the kinds of jobs you’re applying for.

The Kitchen Sink

If you don’t have much work experience, you can flesh out your resume by including the other things you do have. Make a list of everything you’ve done, then organize it into categories. Popular categories include: Academic Awards, Athletic Honors, Extracurricular Activities, Leadership Experience, Volunteer Work, Clubs, Computer Skills, Office Skills, Languages Spoken, and Achievements.

Additional Resources

The Career Center has a YouTube video that goes into more detail on this topic: My First Resume. When you’re ready to write, try out our three templates specifically designed for new graduates: here, here, and here. You may also check out these books from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library for ideas: Best Resumes for College Student and New Grads, Creating Your High School Resume, and Resume 101. Alternately, if you would like personalized help in putting together your resume, please visit the Career Center inside the Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA.

Written by Lynnette Lee

[Please note: This article was originally published on the Career Center’s blog in 2018 and has been re-published here with updates to reach a new audience.]

The Resume: Special Rules for Senior Citizens

When you write a resume, there are several criteria to keep in mind for how you present yourself. You of course want to focus on highlighting your best accomplishments and most relevant skills. You want to keep your resume relatively short and easy to read. You also want to make sure that your resume is visually appealing, clearly formatted, and free of typos. But there’s one more thing you might be judged on of which you may not be aware: your age.  Skilled employees with decades of experience may be perceived as too old for the job. Here are some tips to avoid the perils of age discrimination.

Education

At this point in your career, your work experience is usually more valuable than your education. Therefore, unless you graduated recently, your education should go to the bottom of your resume. Likewise, unless your degree is fairly new, you should give only a minimum of information about it – name of degree, name of school, city and state, and major (if applicable). Do not include dates of graduation if it’s been more than 10 years. You do not want to open yourself up to age discrimination.

Work Experience

It can be unwise, if you’re a seasoned employee, to provide your entire work history on a resume. Not only would doing so make your resume extremely long, but it would also advertise the fact that you’re a senior citizen – and open you up to age discrimination. Instead, you will usually want to give only the past 10-15 years of work history. That’s usually plenty to establish your skills and credentials. Also, be careful not to say anything like, “35 years of experience as an RN.” Instead, say, “15+ years of experience as an RN.”

Exceptions

Sometimes, there is a compelling reason for a jobseeker to want to include experience which is more than 20 years old. Perhaps you have a large gap in your recent work history and need to go back farther to establish your experience. Perhaps you’re trying to return to a field that you used to work in 25 years ago. Please be aware of the age discrimination issue, and weigh carefully whether including older information will help you more than it hurts you. If you decide to include older experience, you may wish to use a functional resume template such as this or this, which draws attention away from dates. Here are two articles with more detailed information on how to write a functional resume.

Additional Resources

For more information on the special rules for jobseeking as a senior citizen, you may wish to check out Getting the Job You Want After 50 for Dummies or 50 Steps for 50 Year Old Job Seekers from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Alternately, if you would like personalized help in putting together your resume, please visit the Career Center inside the Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA.

Written by Lynnette Lee

[Please note: This article was originally published on the Career Center’s blog in 2018, and has been re-published with updates to reach a new audience.]

Monday Motivation

In every position that I’ve been in, there have been naysayers who don’t believe I’m qualified or who don’t believe I can do the work. And I feel a special responsibility to prove them wrong.

Sonia Sotomayor

YouTube Roundup for September 2024

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” — Albert Camus.

If you would like this ‘second spring’ to be a season of renewal for your career, we’re here to help. One good place to start is with the useful resources on our YouTube videos:

Top Ten Companies Offering Fertility Assistance

This video provides a detailed analysis of our top 10 companies which provide its employees financial assistance for fertility treatments. We explain how much money each company offers, under what conditions, and for what type of treatments.

From the Resources for Teens Playlist:

How Teens Can Answer, “How Long Do You Plan to Stay with Us?”

Hiring is expensive, so managers want to make sure their employees will stick around long enough to be worth it. In this video, Career Specialist Lynnette Lee and special guest Alyssa Greenup discuss how your answer can demonstrate your commitment.

From the Enrichment and Skills Training Playlist:

Introduction to Mometrix Database: Test Prep and More

The Mometrix database contains hundreds of study guides, flashcards, and practice questions for school entrance exams, employment tests, and vocational certifications. In this video, Career Specialist Kathryn Cusimano discusses how to use this database, which is offered for free to all East Baton Rouge Parish Library cardholders. She also takes a look at the database’s bonus features, including career guidance and job search advice.

Written by Lynnette Lee