Careers
Give Our Newest
Tar Heels A Proper
Carolina Send-Off
arolina Clubs across
the country will host
events this summer in
honor of our newest
crop of Carolina
students. Student send-off
receptions are a great way for
new students to meet their
fellow classmates and alumni
while socializing and learning
more about Carolina.
Send-off receptions can range
from ice cream socials to full-scale
barbecues. Find out what the
club in your area is doing. Visit
alumni.unc.edu/sendoffs or call
(919) 962–6705.
GENERAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Designing a Resume Like DaVinci
Oyour career,
n a recent trip to Italy, I had the oppor- to help understand
tunity to see the original painting of the qualifications your life
The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci’s mag- the employer is
nificent fresco housed in the refectory of seeking. Use this
the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in information to LINDA
Milan. This well-known masterpiece, proba- match your expe- CONKLIN
bly one of the best examples of point per- rience to the employer’s needs.
spective, demonstrates the enormous cre- Use a summary statement of four or five
ativity and technical mastery of the artist. sentences to give an overview of relevant
Leonardo, as he is referred to in Italy, was skills. Support the summary with specific
truly a Renaissance man, excelling in art, accomplishments in the body of the
music, sculpture, architecture and design. In resume. Avoid generalities such as “strong
addition to his paintings, Leonardo is famous organizational and management skills.”
for his inventions. He created sketches of Instead tell the employer how you used
designs and ideas ranging from the ordinary those skills to have an impact on the bot-
to the sublime: waterwheels and locks for tom line.
canals, flying machines, mechanical toys, stage “Top-performing senior level IT executive
machinery and underwater traffic systems. with a combination of technical, management
Leonardo was definitely a man ahead of and consulting experience in global Fortune 500
his time. His forward thinking made him a companies. Implemented technology systems and
legend in his own time. And it also made process re-engineering to aggressively pursue new
him a savvy job seeker; he recognized that market opportunities. Proven ability to identify
although he had numerous talents, the best and capitalize on cost-cutting opportunities to
way to find a job was to align those talents to achieve organizational goals.” This summary
the needs of a prospective employer. In 1481, statement gives a powerful overview of
Leonardo wrote a letter to the Duke of what the applicant brings to the employer.
Milan, describing himself as a designer of Next, use your accomplishment state-
war machines and, almost as an afterthought, ments to back up the claims in the summa-
added that he was a sculptor and a painter. ry. Demonstrate your transferable skills and
In spite of Leonardo’s incredible accom- emphasize the results you achieved. Select
plishments as a talented musician, a remark- accomplishments that will speak to and
able inventor and a brilliant scientist, he capture the attention of the new employer.
marketed the skills and experience that he Your accomplishments will provide sub-
knew would be of most value to the duke. stance for the resume and differentiate you
In his letter, Leonardo focused on his abili- from other qualified candidates.
ty to build catapults, dredge canals, design Like Leonardo, you want to strive for rel-
weapons and construct portable bridges — evance; determine what the employer needs
skills that would be attractive to a wealthy and address it. Include the things that will
official who was trying to defend his city interest the employer, not just the things you
from warring neighbors. find interesting. Also, if there is something
There is an important lesson to be from the past that you no longer want to
learned from this approach. Many job seek- pursue, don’t spend time and space on the
ers do not understand that a resume is real- resume talking about it. If you were a paraly a marketing tool — not an autobiogra- legal for years but now want to be an office
phy or compilation of job responsibilities. manager, do not keep talking about being a
The resume should highlight the things in paralegal. Reframe your experience to help
your career that would be of interest to a the new employer see you in the new role. ■
prospective employer, not simply focus on
your work history.
To create a compelling resume, first
identify the requirements of the job. Go to
the employer’s Web site or to career sites on
the Internet to get a job description. Look
for key words and phrases used repeatedly
Linda Conklin, GAA manager of Alumni Career Services,
provides career coaching and monthly teleclasses. The
Aug. 18 teleclass will be “Create Your 30-Second Commercial.” More career-related information can be found
on the Web at alumni.unc.edu/career. Contact Conklin
at linda_conklin@unc.edu or (919) 962–3749.
