Getting the Job

Advertising My Availability

The first step I took in order to advertise my availability for a summer internship was to create a thoughtful and well-organized resume. Before I actually began drafting my resume I decided that I needed to assess my personal skills and qualifications. I created a list of all of the classes I had taken in school that were relevant to the computer industry. Next, I listed the skills I had learned in these classes that I thought would be useful to place on my resume. I also generated a list of projects I had worked on in these classes in which I used the skills I had learned. Finally, I created lists of academic honors I had received, relevant extracurricular activities that I have taken part in, and previous work experience I had gained while attending JMU.

Once I was satisfied with my personal assessment I consulted many Internet career guidance sites such as Monster.com and HotJobs.com. These sites offer a lot of good advice on how to create a resume. They often publish articles that explain the type of information that should be placed in a resume, the type of information that should not placed in a resume, and the type of resume layouts that are most effective. Excellent sample resumes are also often posted on these sites to give job seekers and idea of how to construct their resume.

At this point I had all of the information I needed to begin the first draft of my resume. I spent many hours placing information I felt was important into my resume, editing it for grammar, checking punctuation, correcting spelling mistakes, and deleting information that I felt was irrelevant and redundant. Next I focused on the layout of my resume. I used white space, different sized text, and bold font to make the resume easy to read and also to emphasize important information about myself.

The final step in preparing my resume for distribution was to have other people critique it and offer feedback about things that I should change or things that I should add. I contacted the JMU computer science liaison, Mr. Alan Berg by email and asked if he would review my resume. After he agreed I to meet with me, we set up a meeting date and time. Mr. Berg offered me a great deal of advice on things I could do to improve my resume. After meeting with Mr. Berg many times and perfecting my resume, I finally felt that it was ready to be submitted to companies and online resume collection sites.

I posted my resume on JMU’s Madison Trak, an online service similar to Monster.com. Each week Madison Trak notified me about new internship opportunities that were available and also about interviews that would be taking place on campus. I also submitted my resume to a number of companies through the employment opportunities sections of their website. Finally, I gave my resume to friends, family, and neighbors and asked them to notify me if they heard about any open internship positions.

Finding out about Job Openings

In order to find out about job postings I typically just used prospective employers websites. I would visit websites of companies where I was interested in working and access their employment section. Many of these websites allowed prospective employees to drop off a copy of their resume in a Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format. Many of these websites also allowed prospective employees to fill out an application online.

Another way in which I went about finding out about prospective internships was to view Madison Trak. Madison Trak is JMU’s online career search website. This website allows registered students to search for jobs or internships based on criteria they specify, such as which industry they would like to work in and what location in the United States they would like to be placed. Although Madison Trak gave me an idea of where to look I did not find its services very useful. Madison Trak only listed a few relevant internships and many of them were not in locations that were suitable to my needs.

The final source I used in order to find out about internship openings was by checking my email for job announcements posted by JMU’s Computer Science department. Each month I would receive a few job announcements from the CS department via email. Many of these job offers were for full time positions; however, quite a few were also for internships. The computer science department’s email announcements turned out to be the most valuable resource I used because this is where I found my summer internship.

Landing My Internship

In late April I received an email from the computer science department announcing that FGM, Inc. was looking for current college students to join their summer internship program. The company was asking that all interestedents reply to the email and send a copy of their resume and cover letter. I replied to this email and sent all the necessary information that I was asked to send. Four days later I received an email notifying me that FGM had received my resume and that they would contact me if they were interested in setting up an interview. Three weeks later an email arrived from FGM’s human resources department asking if I would be interested in interviewing for an internship position. I replied to the email and we set up a date and time for the interview.

In order to prepare form the interview I consulted the career advice sections of websites such as Monster.com. These sites posted a lot of valuable information about how to prepare for a job interview. They offered tips on how to dress, how to sit, and how to maintain excellent non-verbal communication. These websites also listed common interview questions that are typically asked by companies. This was very helpful because I was able to “script” answers to these questions. By doing this I felt much more prepared and much less nervous about the interview. The most important thing I did in order to prepare for the interview however was to visit FGM’s website and read about the company, its history, and the type of work it did.

The interview at FGM was a grueling process that lasted about 3 hours in total. I arrived at FGM early in the afternoon and my first task was to fill out an application and other forms related to the interview process. I was given brochures and pamphlets about the company’s history, its customers, the benefits they offered, and the role they played within the community. While filling out these forms I spoke briefly with a person from human resources. She basically just asked if I had any questions, talked to me about the company, and helped me fill out the paperwork.

During the actual interview process I spoke with three CS/IT employees. I was asked a variety of technical questions ranging from what my previous academic and work experience had been to what programming languages I was familiar with. I was also asked questions about what contributions I could make to the company, what technologies I enjoyed working with, and what JMU doing to prepare it’s students to become active members in the future workforce.

During the interview I spoke very directly, very truthfully, and maintained good eye contact and posture. I also asked a lot of questions, which showed that I was interested in the company and their work. This also allowed me to take control of the meeting and showed that I was a self-starter. The overall interview process went very well; however, I would have done a few things differently. To begin with, I would have eaten a light snack or meal before the interview. I did not realize that the interview would take so long. Also, the interview took place in Dulles Virginia, which is about four hours away from my home. I probably should have driven up the night before and got a good nights sleep prior to going into the interview.