Friday, February 3, 2017

Are You Taking Advantage of Our Free Resources?

Did you know that as an alum, you have free access to multiple resources to enhance your professional network? You can start with the big picture by accessing thousands of contacts through LinkedIn and the Tufts Online Community, or if you have a specific career field or geographic location in mind, tap into Shared Interest Groups and Regional Chapters through Alumni Relations. Go beyond your personal Tufts network and explore the benefits of professional organizations and industry associations. 

Resources Include:
  • LinkedIn: this site includes more than 57,000 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and affiliates.
  • Tufts Career Networking Group on LinkedIn: a group of 7,000+ members open to providing career advice.
  • Tufts Online Community: alumni directory that provides access of all 100,000+  alumni around the world
  • CareerBeam (accessible through the Tufts Online Community): a massive directory of people, companies, job listings, and professional organizations, such as the Mass Biotechnology Council and Global Association of Risk Professionals.
  • Shared Interest Groups: professional groups of alumni, including the Tufts Lawyers Association, Tufts Environmental Alumni, and Tufts Social Impact Network. Other groups include cultural and identity groups like the Tufts Muslim Alumni Associations and Black Alumni Association. 
  • Regional Chapters: covering 30 states and 30 countries, including multiple chapters in California and Pennsylvania, and the Netherlands, Japan, and Turkey. 
Make the most of your Tufts network through our upcoming career webinars, which are led by industry experts. On February 15, Don Gabor, networking expert and best-selling author of How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends, will show you how to increase you odds or connecting with colleagues, clients, and prospects at company events, industry conferences, and other business meetings. Topics include establishing networking goals and preparing for events, breaking the ice, turning small talk into conversations, and more.



Networking to Build Business Contacts
February 15, 2017, 8 pm EST









Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Power of the Infographic Resume

Getting noticed as a job candidate isn’t always easy. That’s where an infographic resume can help you out, especially if you're a creative professional. Join Hannah Morgan, author of The Infographic Resume, for a webinar that will teach you how to showcase your talents visually, how to convey your personal brand graphically, and will provide free and low-cost resources to help you get started.

The Power of the Infographic Resume 
February 1, 2017, 8 pm EST

You might be wondering how did we get to a place where rainbow-colored graphics and charts have replaced one-page resumes often displayed by black type on a white background? We're in an age of data visualization and design thinking where the best way to tell a story is through images.

Simultaneously, the career development field has embraced storytelling as a means for self promotion, whether it's the narrative you convey in your elevator pitch, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile. Our career stories not only include qualitative data, but are also effectively conveyed through statistics and quantitative data, which is hard to capture in a 1-2 page resume. According to the Interactive Design Foundation, data visualization is a powerful means to discover and understand stories and present them to others.

A search on infographic resumes will bring up the good, the bad, and the ugly, so it's hard to know if and when to use an infographic and how to choose a design and format. Fast Company's "How To Create An Infographic Resume That Won't Repel Hiring Managers" suggests that an infographic resume isn't for everyone, and in face, even candidates who decide to use one should view it as complement to their conventional resume. Many companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS) that scans a resume for keywords; these systems can't effectively scan an infographic.

Creative professionals are often advised to demonstrate skills through an infographic resume; however, if graphic design isn't a strength, it's wise to stick with a visually appealing resume that complements a portfolio of their work. Websites like Behance and Coroflot make it easy to display work alongside other members of your creative community. If you are interested in checking out samples, see the dzrine blog for best practice and take note of candidates' career fields - that's the key to figuring out whether you should be using an infographic resume.