In a recent resume workshop, held on October 10 at room 146 at Learning Connection Room, students of Chabot College gained valuable insights into optimizing their resumes and handling the complexities of the job market. The event was organized by instructional assistant Patrick Wwamba featuring a skilled Head of HR with eight years of expertise Jaki Rangel. The main goal was to talk about how to get out into the working world, where you can apply, what you can expect, what those steps might be.

“It’s part of, we’re just trying to get students ready and I think the first year of college can be really daunting and especially the reality is a lot of our students need to have to work, have to look for work, whether it’s like on campus and outside of campus and as well don’t necessarily have the skills to or know even how to make a resume. So these are part of a series of different resources or skills that we would like our students to get familiar with because that’s kind of what the world expects them to know as well. Patrick Mwamba,  instructional assistant, Collaborative Space.

The speaker Jaki Rangel, known for her comprehensive understanding of human resource operations, offered guidance on creating resumes tailored to specific roles using networking platforms like LinkedIn.

“When I’m looking at resumes and I’m hiring for roles, that’s what I’m looking at as the first line on the hiring process. I’m looking at the humanity of people more than I’m looking at the specifics of the role because I don’t know what an analysis does. I don’t look at that. But I’m going to focus on why you want to work with us. What do you think you can bring to the organization why you’re looking to fill this role for our company?’ – highlighted HR expert.

The importance of adjusting resumes to match job descriptions using relevant keywords was emphasized by the speaker. She explained how to capture the attention of recruiters during the initial review process by specific tricks.

“If you increased sales a lot, that’s great. I’m happy for you, but I need facts and figures. Was it 10 x? Was it a 30% increase? Did you see your team grow by 50%? Those are hard facts and figures that in a 32nd scan of a single page, when that’s all I get to know about you, that I’m able to see whether or not it’s worthwhile to make the next step, which is typically a phone interview,” – explained Jaki.

HR expert also discouraged the inclusion of extra information, reminding guests to maintain a focused resume. One of the essential elements of a successful resume is the format itself. The speaker recommended sending resumes as PDFs rather than Word documents to ensure the preservation of formatting during the review process.

Furthermore, the speaker reminded the significance of thorough LinkedIn profiles, highlighting the impact of a clear online presence on potential employers. Professionalism and integrity during the application process are the big rocks according to Jaki.

‘’So my recommendation from scratch would be to find a template. So to go on to Canva, to go on to LinkedIn, to go on to ZipRecruiter, to look at other resumes and to use a template and plug in the information you have available to you ’’ – Jaki

Overall, the workshop encouraged guests to take proactive steps in their career search and requirements of potential employers. As the session came to a close, participants left equipped with confidence in navigating the job market.

‘’I did appreciate the tips in terms of letting us know what to not only put on a resume, but what to emphasize, what to remove and what not to focus on. The page constraint is a huge help. Letting us know insight into what the interviewer or reviewer is going through when they’re reviewing your application was a great help to know what we should embellish on a resume so that we get through at least the first few steps of the interview process. ’’ – Marlene Rolindoro.

The session concluded with a strong power of networking and using available resources. All Chabot members are encouraged to connect with professionals in their desired fields and seek mentorship and guidance from Jaki to boost their understanding of the job market and create a powerful resume. 

You can reach Jaki via email [email protected]