This was news to me.

As an MBA May 2010 graduate, I assumed that I should follow the usual procedures used when I graduated with my BA in 2006. I started working on my resume and cover letters with the MBA Career Development counselors, and started sending my resume and applications into the abyss of job databases belonging to a variety of competitive companies. Days passed, months passed, and I received no replies.

“Hmm,” I thought. “It must be the recession.”

Then I started talking to some friends of mine, some of which worked more modern, smaller companies, and some of which worked for well established Fortune 500 companies. They all told me the same thing—that I wasn’t applying to jobs the right way. This was news to me, since I thought I was following all of the proper steps. So, over the course of a month I had my friends look at my resume, offer advice, and put me in contact with Human Resources representatives from competitive companies allowing for me to take advantage of information interviews. This is what I learned:

If you are interested in working for a specific company, try to find a contact via social networking sites or through personal relationships. My friends suggested using LinkedIn heavily to determine who I knew and in what industries. After doing some research I found that I was connected by one or two degrees of separation from companies I was interested in. LinkedIn clearly displayed who I knew and how, so it was easy to figure out who to contact. I also gave my resume to friends and family members at different companies, who would keep me in mind if they heard of any job openings.

Make sure that your resume is selling yourself—in the right way, and to the right industry. After talking to a head hunter at a company of interest, I was asked if “Administrative Assistant” was a necessary title on my resume. I was confused as to why this was even an issue, and she informed me that this title could have actually been hurting my applications more than I realized. Despite my MBA and work experience, this title was representing less experience than I actually have.

The “cookie cutter” cover letter might not be the way to go depending on the culture of the company. I was highly interested in applying for a position with a small and vibrant start-up company that I met at an MBA career fair, who allows for companies to use their product as a promotional tool by creating scavenger hunts all over Boston. During our conversation, they asked me to write a “kick butt” cover letter and think outside of the box. So in addition to submitting a traditional cover letter, I also submitted my cover letter in the form of a scavenger hunt—allowing for me to better understand their product and submit my cover letter in a unique way.

“Work Experience” isn’t necessarily just what you get paid to do. I had been a board member of a non-profit for over a year, and essentially helped launch the non-profit from scratch. But I assumed that this was not in any way related to work experience since it was volunteer work, so it only received one line on my resume at the very bottom. Another head hunter strongly suggested putting this position at the top of my resume and be more descriptive, since the work experience gained from my board position might be more relevant than my current full-time position.

As the solar industry changes and new start-ups enter the market, it is important for applicants to use their connections to their advantage and apply to jobs in a more modernized way.

What has your job-search experience been so far? Share your knowledge and experience with our group by posting a comment!

Leah Ben-Ami

Contributing Editor – Solar Careers

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