Marketing Your Degree
As you talk with employers about the merits of your background, don’t forget to tell them about some of the relevant aspects about your educational experience on the St. Paul Campus. Employers will be impressed by the many field trips, industry speakers, case studies, and classroom projects included in many St. Paul Campus degree programs. Your knowledge of industry trends and best-practices will give you a head start when you hit the work world. This is one of the great advantages you will bring to an employer over other candidates.
The question is, how can you communicate this information during your job search so the employer can appreciate the relevance of your classroom experiences?
On your resume
You may wish to include a heading on your resume (or a sub-heading of your “Education” section) that describes relevant coursework, classroom projects or field experiences. Here are a few examples:
Example 1:
Education:
Bachelor of Science, May 2006
College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science
Major: Agricultural and Food Business ManagementClass project: Participated in model commodity trading exercise through which I traded corn futures. One of top five students in the class in terms of earnings.
Example 2:
Forest Resources Project Work:
Gained first-hand knowledge of forest species conservation through a 3-week field session at the Cloquet Forestry Station
Conducted analysis of soil types in Isanti County using GIS technology for classroom project.
Example 3
Housing Experience
Frogtown Community Association St. Paul, Minnesota
Class project Spring 2005
Assessed 500 houses within St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood for structural status. Learned to use rating system through xxx course. Goal was to determine the overall value of neighborhood housing stock and to provide hard data for grant proposals.
In a portfolio:
A portfolio can be an excellent way to show tangible evidence of your accomplishments. Often classroom projects yield materials that make great additions to a portfolio. Here are some ideas from a few of the majors. What projects have you worked on which would make a good contribution to your portfolio?
Major Portfolio item
Horticulture Design blueprints
Retail Product trend report
Environment and Natural Resources GIS printout
Scientific and Technical Communication Web site screen prints
Animal Science Equine nutrients analysis
Clothing Design Photos of Senior Show
During the interview
Employers are especially impressed when you can give specific examples of the skills you have acquired through your classroom experiences. Here are a few examples that show how this information can be integrated in an interview:
Interviewer:
Tell me about a time you needed to analyze information in order to make a decisionSTC student:
As part of my Scientific and Technical Communication major, I took a class in audience analysis. One of our assignments required us to serve as consultants to the Training and Development department of a major bio-medical company. We collected audience reactions to a new website, analyzed the results and reported the results to the client. My primary responsibility within my group was the analysis phase of the project. It was especially rewarding to learn that the company actually implemented the changes we recommended.Interviewer:
Tell me, what experiences have you had in the field of marketing so far?Bio-based Products Marketing student:
Through my major I have taken significant marketing coursework. The advantage of my major is that most of the class projects have been applied to companies like yours within the Bio-based products field.