We all know how interviews can be nerve wracking, especially if you’re a graduate interviewing for their first job. However, there are always ways to prepare to make you feel more at ease.

1. ALWAYS research the industry and company beforehand.

Frankly speaking, KNOW your audience. There are a multitude of ways to prepare for this.

Talk to your contacts and visit the company website as well as other social media platforms. Check out their publications and any personal employee blogs regarding the company. The bottom line is, do you research. There is no such thing as too much research.

1. Review common interview questions.

Common questions include: “Why do you want this job?”, “What sets you apart from other candidates?”, “Tell me about yourself” and so forth.

Make sure you know your resume like the back of your hand but also prepare other things to talk about such as hobbies or other activities you do!

1. Make a list of questions that you would like to ask during the interview.

This may seem like a free for all but tread carefully. Ask business related questions, but avoid topics such as salary, vacation days, and other benefits. When topics like these come up, it makes it hard to not seem like you are excited for the job solely for the benefits presented.

Examples of good questions would be: “What are some of the challenges in this position?”, “What do you feel it is going to take to be successful in this position?” and so on.

1. Quantify, quantify and quantify!

When you are giving the rundown of yourself in response to the typical introduce yourself or tell me about yourself, make sure you describe the activities you carried out with percentages or specific numbers.

Remember, the more specific the better.

1. Speak the right body language.

Remember to dress appropriately and make eye contact during the interview. Do not forget a firm handshake and introduce yourself as well as a firm handshake to thank the interviewers for their time.

Have good posture, speak clearly and don’t wear cologne or perfume!

Finally, the most important tip of all is to just relax, be yourself and be confident. If you think you had a bad interview, don’t give up. You can call or send an email to the interviewer letting him or her know that you did a poor job of communicating and why you think you are a good fit for the job. Reiterate everything you have to offer and state that you would like an opportunity to contribute. Although it depends on the company, if you don’t try, your chances are exactly 0.

Good luck and ace all those interviews!

Education is one of the key sections employers pay attention to on the resume. This section lets your employers know of your background and how well you may fit the role. If your education section is pertinent to the qualifications of the job, this may immediately set you apart from other candidates.

Information You Should Provide

• The name of your school
• The location of your school (City, State (2 letter abbreviation)
• The degree you obtained (if applicable)
• The field of study
• The graduation year
• The GPA (may consider not including if it is below 3.4)
• The honors, awards, academic recognition, coursework, activities or other achievements obtained during your education

The education sections is USUALLY the shortest section. We recommend you to keep it around 15-30 words.

KEY TIP:

If you are a recent graduate, your education section should be accentuated since that contains the bulk of your experience. You should place the education section in a prominent place such as at the top of your resume.

If you have been in the workforce for some time, the education section would preferably go below professional experience and would be short. This is because, employers wold be more interested in the work you have done for previous companies.

How to List Completed Education

Recent Graduate(1-5 years)

Because you are a recent graduate, it is acceptable for the education section to come first. You can include the dates of attendance, honors received as well as GPA. If you have attended m ore than one school, list the most prominent one first.

University of X, 20XX-20XX

Bachelor of X in X

X Certificate

X Honor

Experienced Professional (5+ years of experience)

Because you have experience in the workforce, your education section should be below your professional experience. You can remove specific details about your education section such as GPA or attendance dates since you want to accumulate the majority of interest towards your real life experience. However, if you have your Masters or PHD, include those in rank of level.

X Graduate School of Management | City, State

Master’s of Business Administration (MBA)

University of X | City, State

Bachelors of X in X

How to List Incomplete or In-Progress Education

In-Progress Education

Even if you are not finished with your degree, employers are still interested in what you are studying and specific coursework or special recognition relevant to the job. If you are still a student, the education section should go right below your contact information.

University of X | City, State

Expected Graduation Date Month 20XX

Coursework:

Honors:

Incomplete Education

If you have incomplete education, you can still list the coursework you have completed.

University of X | City, State

Completed Coursework: X, X, X

For your education section, be honest and strategic about your content. Include important pieces of your ongoing or completed education that you know are relevant to the job position.

Becky Graebe vividly remembers two things about an Advanced Learning Institute conference in September of 2018 where she joined Danielle Guzman to deliver a presentation about mobilizing employees into authentic brand advocates. 

1. The room of 100 people was silent as Guzman described how Employee Advocacy helped make Mercer the talk of the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
2. What happened after they left the stage. 

“Danielle walked back to her table and was literally inundated with people wanting to know more,” said Graebe, Senior Director, Communication Expert, at Dynamic Signal. “I had never seen anything like it.” 

Guzman held court for another 90 minutes before finally having to hurry to catch a flight. 

“At the airport, I bumped into the event organizer and she told me: ‘I didn’t think they were ever going to let you go,’” recalled Guzman, Mercer’s Global Head of Social Media and Distributed Content. “I remember thinking that it would have kept going if I could have stayed. You could tell that there was a tremendous amount of interest.” 

There’s a reason for that. Mercer had unleashed a juggernaut at the world’s best-known business conference. 

The “Davos Squad” harnessed the voices of about 300 Mercer employees to amplify the company’s message at the forum. Mercer generated a social share of voice that was four times greater than its eight closest competitors – combined. The brand finished No. 10 among all organizations in social media conversations behind only media outlets such as Bloomberg and CNBC.

ly successful showing for a small, motivated team that crafted and executed an innovative strategy that was centered entirely on organic social media and employee engagement to spread the Mercer story. 

“This was a great opportunity to bring our employees together in a very connected way around something that they passionately believe in and allow them to be the voice of Mercer,” she said. “Employees are a tremendous competitive advantage, and Davos Squad is proof of that.” 

It’s also why Guzman was honored at the 2018 Summit by Dynamic Signal conference as the Communicator of the Year. At the 2019 Summit, Guzman was back on stage talking on the importance of quality content to drive a successful employee communication and engagement program.  

“From Day One, Danielle had a vision for what Mercer could accomplish if they worked together and stayed insanely focused on results,” Graebe said. “She recognized the potential. She created a strategy jam-packed with creative content, solid tools, and fun. It’s why they blew past initial goals to achieve something no one could have imagined. Danielle and her team showed people what was possible, and that’s exciting. Everyone wants to be part of that kind of energy.” 

Mercer’s success stems from Guzman’s belief that there’s always a way to overcome obstacles. 

“I just look at everything as an opportunity,” she said. “If three doors are closed, something else will open. If I’m going to spend a lot of time at work, I want to be excited about my projects and our team and feel satisfaction at accomplishing great things together. I’m not a person who just checks a box and says, ‘Thank god that day is over.’ That’s just not me.” 

Guzman is an accidental expert in social media and Employee Advocacy. It definitely wasn’t her intended career path during her climb in the business world. 

In 2016, she joined Mercer as the Solutions Marketing Leader for their investment business. But during a break before beginning her new job, Guzman took up a new hobby – social media. After plowing through the “For Dummies” series of books on the topic, she developed a serious social media presence by actively starting and guiding conversations on a range of business topics. (Guzman now has more than 44,000 Twitter followers alone.) 

“I could see that digital was where the world was heading, so I decided it was time to learn more about this space,” she said. “And now I’m in a career I love.” 

In 2017, Guzman was given the opportunity to take over Mercer’s social media efforts. She immediately looked for a way to galvanize employees behind the channels in a way that would elevate their voices across the globe – benefiting both them and the brand. 

Her team found it: Davos. 

It was certainly a project that could benefit Mercer through greater exposure at the world-renown conference. But internally, it also would drive closer collaboration throughout the organization – from social media to PR to communications to strategic marketers to leadership. It really would “take a village.” And Guzman’s team believed the real prize would be rallying Mercer employees around a common cause, making everyone feel part of something bigger themselves, while also giving them a chance to better establish their personal brands. 

In just a few weeks, the team created the Davos Squad nickname, put the word out to employees using the Mercer Voices platform powered by Dynamic Signal, and then sent branded hats, gloves and scarves to those who wanted to participate. (The swag was the only expense to the program.) Oh, and there was a request: Put on your new gear, take a photo of yourself, and post it on social media. 

Did they ever. It was the start of something big. 

“We didn’t expect what happened,” Guzman said. “It just exploded. We were flying by the seat of our pants, but we just got click after click after click.” 

What happened in Davos didn’t stay in Davos. Employees sharing the company story gave Mercer a massive visibility lift – and a 3,000-percent increase in reach from 2017. 

It turned out that Guzman and the team were just warming up. At the 2019 conference, they far eclipsed their success of one year earlier. Mercer saw an 89 percent increase in reach, a 28 percent increase in social impressions, and was the fifth-most most engaged company globally at the conference – and the No. 1 non-media organization.

Mercer “blew 2018 out of the water on every level,” Guzman added.

Her team now is using their Davos experiences as a springboard for a year-round employee influencer program using the Dynamic Signal platform. 

“We’ve really created a culture around this at Mercer, and it’s all very exciting,” she said. “It just shows what’s possible.” 

 It’s also why people are lining up to hear the story.