Career Mentor Dashboard

CORE/Career Development & Vocation

Position Description

Help Students Discover Possibilities. Build Confidence. Make a Difference.

Position Overview

Career Mentors are peer educators and student leaders who help fellow Augustana students build career readiness through education, encouragement, and meaningful connections.

Working alongside the professional Career Development & Vocation team, Career Mentors teach career development best practices, facilitate learning experiences, review professional materials, connect students with campus resources, and help create a welcoming environment where every student can confidently explore their future.

Rather than serving as professional Career Coaches, Career Mentors empower students by sharing knowledge, modeling professionalism, fostering reflection, and connecting students with the people and resources that support lifelong career success.

About Career Development & Vocation

Career Development & Vocation, part of CORE (Careers, Opportunities, Research & Exploration), believes that career development is a lifelong process, not simply the preparation for a job after graduation.

Through the CORE Career Development Model, students are encouraged to:

  • Know Yourself – Discover strengths, interests, values, and purpose.
  • Explore Possibilities – Learn about careers and opportunities.
  • Gain Experience – Connect learning with internships, research, employment, leadership, and service.
  • Launch with Confidence – Tell your story and pursue meaningful careers or graduate education.

Career Mentors help bring this model to life by making career education approachable, engaging, and accessible for every student.

Key Responsibilities

Career Education & Peer Support

  • Teach career development best practices related to:
    • Resumes and cover letters
    • Internship and job search strategies
    • LinkedIn profiles and networking
    • Career exploration
    • Augie Choice
    • Action Plans for Experiential Learning
  • Conduct one-on-one Career Mentor sessions.
  • Encourage students to reflect on their strengths, interests, experiences, and goals.
  • Connect students with campus resources, technologies, and experiential learning opportunities.
  • Refer students with advanced questions or specialized needs to professional Career Coaches.

Career Resources & Programming

  • Complete first-round SkillsFirst resume and cover letter reviews.
  • Assist with Career & Life Design Studios and career education workshops.
  • Facilitate presentations and selected workshops after completing training.
  • Support employer events, outreach initiatives, classroom presentations, and campus programming.

Career & Life Design Lab

  • Welcome students, faculty, staff, alumni, employers, and visitors.
  • Create a welcoming, inclusive, and student-centered environment.
  • Help maintain an organized, professional, and inviting Career & Life Design Lab.

Collaboration & Professional Growth

  • Collaborate with Career Coaches, CORE student employees, faculty, staff, alumni, and employers.
  • Complete cross-training with CORE student employees.
  • Attend required meetings, training, and professional development.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Successful Career Mentors are:

  • Excellent communicators who enjoy helping others learn.
  • Welcoming, approachable, and relationship-oriented.
  • Dependable, organized, and professional.
  • Comfortable presenting to individuals and groups.
  • Strong writers with attention to detail.
  • Able to work independently and collaboratively.
  • Committed to creating an inclusive environment for students from all backgrounds.
  • Willing to learn new technologies, including SkillsFirst and other career platforms.

Requirements:

  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.
  • Good academic standing.
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality.
  • Commitment to representing CORE professionally.

What You’ll Gain

Serving as a Career Mentor provides meaningful leadership experience while developing competencies aligned with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Career Mentors strengthen their abilities in:

  • Career & Self-Development
  • Communication
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork
  • Equity & Inclusion
  • Critical Thinking
  • Professionalism
  • Technology

Students also gain experience in:

  • Teaching and facilitating learning
  • Public speaking and presentations
  • Customer service
  • Relationship building
  • Career education
  • Networking
  • Event planning
  • Peer leadership
  • Professional communication

Why Become a Career Mentor?

As a Career Mentor, you’ll do more than support fellow students; you’ll help shape the Augustana student experience.

You’ll become a trusted peer educator who helps students discover opportunities, build confidence, and take meaningful steps toward their future while developing leadership skills that will serve you long after graduation.

Career Mentors don’t just prepare students for careers. They help students discover possibilities and build lives of purpose.OB TITLE: Career Mentor

DAYS/HOURS: Weekly hourly limits apply, up to 10 per week for domestic students and up to 20 hours per week for international students (per federal regulations). There is some flexibility in creating your own schedule, though we have a specific need for student availability between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. This schedule is determined each semester.

OVERVIEW: Team members in Career Development & Vocation, part of CORE (Careers, Opportunities, Research, Exploration), are available to provide comprehensive career education and professional development resources, services, and programs for Augustana students and recent graduates.

Career Development & Vocation partners with students by providing career coaching, curated resources, and networks, as well as opportunities for career readiness skill development, so that they may develop personalized pathways leading to lives of purpose and meaning.

Career Development & Vocation desires for all students to be confident and career-ready with a personalized pathway leading to lives of purpose and meaning.  We aspire to provide the best career and vocational guidance, the most useful curated resources and networks, and highly engaging opportunities for career readiness skill development.

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Career Mentor Learning Outcomes & NACE Career Competencies

Career Mentors develop career readiness through real-world responsibilities that align with the NACE Career Competencies, preparing them for meaningful professional experiences and future careers.

NACE Career CompetencyHow Career Mentors Develop This Skill
Career & Self-DevelopmentThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by participating in professional development and training, engaging in goal setting, and reflecting on their own career readiness through mentoring others.
CommunicationThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by facilitating one-on-one appointments, editing resumes and cover letters, and giving presentations to students and prospective families.
Critical ThinkingThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by problem-solving during appointments, offering individualized feedback to students, and making recommendations for career-related materials.
Equity & InclusionThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by working with students of diverse backgrounds, adapting their communication style, and promoting inclusive support practices in all student interactions.
LeadershipThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by taking initiative in projects and events, leading peer interactions, and serving as a representative of CORE in a professional and public-facing role.
ProfessionalismThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by managing appointments responsibly, adhering to confidentiality standards, and representing CORE with professionalism in all settings.
TeamworkThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by collaborating with fellow mentors and CORE staff, contributing to group projects, and providing and receiving constructive feedback.
TechnologyThe Career Mentor will have the opportunity to develop their skills in this area by utilizing platforms such as SkillsFirst, Microsoft Office, Google Meets, and Handshake to assist students and complete administrative tasks.

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Setting Up Your Career Services Account in Handshake

To link your Career Services account with the Student account, you must use the same email address that is connected to your Career Services account.

While logged into your Career Services account, click on your name in the upper-right corner of the Handshake screen, then click on Switch Users. If Switch Users isn’t listed, or if you click on Switch Users and you don’t have Switch to Student Account on the following screen, you will need to be sure you are given Career Services Access.

Configure Your Personal Appointment Availability (Appointment Blocks & Types)

Individual career services users need to designate blocks of time to indicate when they are available for scheduled appointments, and which appointment types they offer during those times.

Visit this Handshake Page to learn how to set both your appointment blocks and types.

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Accessing & Reviewing Resumes

There are two ways resumes and cover letters will be shared with you for review.  

  1. Student Appointments: Accessing & Reviewing Resumes in Appointments
  2. SkillsFirst: Accessing & Reviewing Resumes from SkillsFirst 

Regardless of how you receive or give feedback for reviews, you will need to look for and understand these resume and cover letter reviewing principles and use the Resume Review Checklist.

Your response should begin with one of the following:

If everything looks good reply with:

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and feedback we receive from employers, I do not have any suggestions for revisions. 

Your resume is great!  Time to start getting it out there!

Thank you again for allowing us to review your resume.  Here are some resources that might be useful:

*Copy and paste these URLs into your browser*

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

Before moving on to next resume, don’t forget: Documenting Resume Review

If resume needs easily correctable changes reply with: 

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and feedback we receive from employers, your resume needs some work.  

Please review the suggestions and make any changes. Once you have updated your resume, I invite you to submit it again for review. If you have questions about these suggestions or need help, let me know.  

Add appropriate text from Pre-written Feedback Content

Thank you again for allowing us to review your resume.  Here are some resources that might be useful:

*Copy and paste these URLs into your browser*

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

Before moving on to next resume, don’t forget: Documenting Resume Review

If the resume needs a lot of work, that would be better communicated in an appointment. Reply with: 

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and feedback we receive from employers.

Your resume needs a lot of work that would be better communicated in an appointment.  Please schedule an appointment through Handshake for Resume and/or Cover Letter Writing > Resume and/or Cover Letter Review, or feel free to come in during our drop in hours: Monday-Friday from 2pm-4pm. 

In the meantime, here are some resources that might be useful:

*Copy and paste these URLs into your browser*

  • Viking Score: https://careers.augustana.edu/channels/https-careers-augustana-edu-viking-score/
  • Job Search: https://careers.augustana.edu/channels/job-search/
  • Internship Search:https://careers.augustana.edu/channels/internship-search/ 
  • Grad/Prof School Search: https://careers.augustana.edu/channels/career-ready-grad-school-search/

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

Before moving on to next resume, don’t forget: Documenting Resume Review

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Documenting Resume Review

Before sending the email reply, you must track your review in Handshake.  This helps us collect data on who is engaging with our office and tracks your work.

Handshake Entry

  • Log in to Handshake
  • Be sure you are in as an administrator: Switch Users → Career Services Account
  • Click Appointments on the left navigation bar
  • Click New Appointment from the tabs at the top of the screen
  • Choose a Category: Resumes and/or Cover Letters 
  • Choose an Appointment Type: Digital Appointment
  • AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE you will see “You may search for and select available slots below. If you want to manually enter the appointment details you may do so here.”
    • Click here at the top of the screen to manually enter the details of the appointment
    • Enter the following information:
      • Staff Member: Select your name from the drop-down
      • Start Date:  You can keep what is automatically entered or add the specific date and time
      • End Date: See Above
      • Appointment Type: Digital Appointment
      • Student: Search using the student’s name
      • Status: Completed
      • Appointment Medium: Remote Appointment
      • Help Requested: Add “resumes@”
      • Click Create
  • You will be taken to the student’s profile
  • Click on Notes and add any notes you’d like
    • You can copy and paste what you sent to the student
    • DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE ADD NOTE button or your note will not save

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Accessing & Reviewing Resumes in Appointments

This is a general outline to guide you through the appointment process.  Before taking your first appointment we recommend that you:

  • Shadow at least three in-person or virtual appointments
  • Conduct a mock appointment with your supervisor 
  • Conduct a mock appointment with an experienced Career Mentor

Meeting Your Appointment

  1. Appointment Notification: You will be notified that your appointment has checked in through Handshake
  2. Getting Your Appointment: Go out to the waiting area and locate the student by saying their name or are you here for a resume appointment?
  3. Introduce yourself: I’m Laura, a Career Mentor, and I’ll be reviewing your resume.  Walk them to your area.
  4. Appointment Type: Clarify what type of Resume Appointment they are expecting:

Resume and/or Cover Letter WRITING Support

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Accessing & Reviewing Resumes in SkillsFirst

Accessing Resumes from the Account

  1. Go to: https://skillsfirst.com/organizations/augustana
  2. Log in using your email address and credentials
  3. After logging in, you’ll land on your organization member dashboard
  4. Click “Augustana College” in the top banner to load the organization profile dashboard
  5. Finding Pending Content
    • Option One: If there is content pending review, you will see a review center notification with quick links to the list of pending documents. Click a link to load the list of pending items
    • Option Two: Select a gallery
    • This is a global resume (or cover letter) list that includes resumes submitted for review as well as all other document samples.  All documents are ordered by the create date in reverse chronological order. 
    • To find those pending review:
      • Look on the left-hand menu and scroll down to Review Status
      • Select Pending Review
  6. Once inside the Review Center, you’ll see documents that require review.
  7. Click on a document to open it.

Reviewing and Giving Feedback from the Account

  1. Examine the document looking closely for items listed on theResume Review Checklist or on the Cover Letter Review Checklist
  2. Examine the document  and use the provided tools to add comments or suggestions directly on the document.  You can add comments and/or use the SkillsFirst Annotator Tool.
  3. Provide Feedback: Standard feedback should include one of the following:

If everything looks good click Looks Good! and add:

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and feedback we receive from employers, I do not have any suggestions for revisions. 

Your resume is great!  Time to start getting it out there!

Thank you again for allowing us to review your resume.  Here are some resources that might be useful:

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

If resume needs easily correctable changes click Requires Edits and add:

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and employer feedback, your resume needs some work.  

Please review the suggestions and make any changes. Once you have updated your resume, I invite you to submit it again for review. If you have questions about these suggestions or need help, let me know.  

Add appropriate text from Pre-written Feedback Content

Thank you again for allowing us to review your resume.  Here are some resources that might be useful:

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

If resume needs a lot of work that would be better communicated in an appointment, click Requires Edits and add:

Thank you for submitting your resume for review by Career Development/CORE. Based on best practices and feedback we receive from employers.

Your resume needs a lot of work that would be better communicated in an appointment.  Please schedule an appointment through Handshake for Career Development & Coaching > Resume and/or Cover Letter Support

In the meantime, here are some resources that might be useful:

Your Name
Career Mentor, Augustana College

After thoroughly reviewing the document and providing feedback, click the “Submit Review” button.

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AI Keyword Optimization

Our proprietary AI model provides keyword suggestions for specific job postings to help users tailor their resume and increase the probability that their resume will pass the ATS and get into the hands of hiring managers. 

Users paste the target job description in the resume builder to get a list of categorized keyword suggestions. Keyword categorization helps users easily visualize key job requirements and think about where to insert keywords in the resume. 

Keyword categories include: action verbs, competency, job interactions, degree major, relevant experience, job characteristics, job title, job task, degree, location, certification or license, organization, education or coursework, employment requirement, and job type.

Existing Resume: If a user already has a resume, they can upload it to get instant AI keyword suggestions.

Building a Resume: Users can get keyword suggestions when they build a resume using other methods, like start from scratch, edit a sample, or LinkedIn profile import.

Editing a Resume: While editing the resume, users can click the AI Keyword Suggestions button (above the section tabs) to get suggested keywords. Paste the job description and click the Get Suggestions button. Copy relevant keywords and paste them in the appropriate sections on the resume.

Matching Resume to Job Description: In Preview mode, users click the AI Keyword Suggestions button (above the document) to paste a job description and see matching keywords highlighted on their resume.

Key Words

  • Scroll the right column to see all keyword categories. The number of keywords in each category is shown. Scroll within each category and expand/collapse categories as needed.
  • A green dot next to a keyword indicates that a match is found on the resume. A red dot means no match is found.
  • On the resume, matching keywords are highlighted in green.
  • If keywords are missing but you are confident you can demonstrate that keyword, copy missing keywords in the right column, and then click Edit to paste the keywords in the relevant sections on the resume.
  • The job description and suggested keywords are automatically saved and remain until the user replaces the job description.
  • We suggest users name the resume to reflect the job posting that it is optimized for (e.g., “Software Engineer_Mindex”).
  • Users can clone resumes to quickly keyword-optimize for different positions.

A few other details:

  • Keyword matching is not case sensitive (e.g., “accounting” keyword will match “Accounting”)
  • Action verb matching is tense sensitive (e.g., “prepare” will not match “prepares”)
  • Singular and plural forms are separate keywords (e.g., “cat” is a separate keyword from “cats”)

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Pre-written Feedback Content

Copy and paste feedback using all of the appropriate pre-written feedback content

  1. Contact Information 
    • Your name as you want to be referred to professionally (Jon Baker, Jonathan Baker, Jon E. Baker) and formatted to stand out appropriately
    • Phone number with area code, cell phone is best.  Voicemail should be set up so that your name is stated, indicating to employers that they have reached the correct phone number.
    • Email address (professional addresses only)
    • LinkedIn profile link if your account is up-to-date (optional)
  1. Objective and/or Skill Highlights
    • A clear objective helps focus on key information. Although you may wish to make your objective broad, do not make it so broad that it says nothing. If you are pursuing employment in more than one field, simply create different objectives for each field and job application.  There should only be one objective per resume.
    • Your career objective should answer the question, “What do I want to do?” Is it for graduate school, a part-time job, an internship, a professional position after graduation, or a scholarship? Make sure your objective is clear.
    • Consider including a “Skill Highlights” section that summarizes your resume and key skills.  You can use this space to match your accomplishments to the qualifications of the job to which you are applying. 
    • These should be written in the third person, not using “I” or “me” throughout, and should provide the top items that set you apart as a candidate. Think of the top three or four things that highlight you as a candidate and differentiate you from the other candidates in the pool. 
    • If you speak other languages, you could highlight them here. Additionally, if you are from abroad, your work-authorization status may be mentioned in order to reduce confusion with prospective employers.
  1. Education
    • For each degree-conferring institution beyond high school:
      • Name of educational institution or specialized training program
      • Location (city, state) of each institution
      • Degree or certification obtained
      • Major(s)/minor/area of concentration or emphasis
      • Actual or anticipated graduation date (month and year)
    • Additional/Optional items to include:
      • GPA/Major GPA (usually >3.0). Include all decimal points with the scale.  If you include a Major GPA, also include your cumulative GPA.
      • Certifications and/or licenses related to career goal
      • Relevant coursework, projects, and/or thesis
    • High School information
      • If you are a freshman or sophomore student, having high school information is acceptable on your resume. Once you have enough experience during your college years, we recommend that all high school information be deleted.  
    • Transfer Students: Do not list schools from which you did not receive a degree.
    • Coursework if you have little career-related experience
      • Courses that you took that are related to the position you are applying for can be included on your resume.  List the title of the course & course number.  Include the semester and year taken.
  1. Experience (one or more sections)
    • Career Related OR Relevant Experience: any area in which you may have significant experience and is related to your career goal, even remotely
    • Additional Work Experience: List jobs you have had to show consistency, longevity, or that you know how to work.  This section does not require bulleted action word statements.
    • Briefly describe for each position:
      • Job title, organization name, city, state, date (month and year) 
      • List your responsibilities for each position using bulleted action statements to describe situations and achievements 
    • List each experience in reverse chronological order; more recent first.  If your most career-related experience was a year ago and listed towards the bottom of your resume, create a new section.  The section can be titled career-related experience, relevant experience, or any title where you can group your most significant experiences related to the position.
  2. Little Career-Related Experience
    • If you have little experience related to your career objective, think about class projects that demonstrate your skills.  List these just like a position with the name of the project, name of the class, Augustana College, and semester (Fall 20XX).  Then list the objectives, tasks and accomplishments of the project just like you would list bulleted action statements under each position.
  3. Interests: The trend is to keep away from any extraneous information that does not connect to your career goal.
  4. Technology/Computer Skills: List any industry-specific tech skills, Microsoft Suite, Google Suite, etc.
  5. Languages and level of verbal and written proficiency
  6. Grammar, Spelling, Typos
    • No grammatical or spelling errors
    • No personal pronouns (I, me, my, etc.) are used
    • Unless necessary, avoid definite and indefinite articles in descriptions such as “a”, “an”, “the”
    • All information is delivered in bullet, action-word statements
  7. Highlight Strengths
    • Always include what’s working well
    • Identify key achievements and skills
  8. Tailoring the Resume
    • Discuss the targeted job or industry
    • Share how they can customize the resume content using SkillsFirst to:
      • Emphasize relevant experience and skills
      • Include keywords and phrases from targeted position
    • Highlight achievements and results
  9. Resume appears to be AI-generated
    • “Some of the wording sounds very polished, almost like it could have been written with AI. That may not be the case, but I’d recommend reviewing it to be sure it reflects your authentic voice and how you’d describe your experiences. Employers will want to hear you come through.”
    • “Some of the phrasing sounds more polished than conversational, which can sometimes happen if AI tools are used. I recommend reviewing to be sure the voice matches yours; you want your personality and strengths to shine through.”  
    • “A few sections read a bit more polished than what we usually see, almost like they could have been drafted with AI. Even if that’s not the case, I’d encourage you to make sure the language sounds like you and reflects how you’d talk about your experiences in person. That will make your resume feel more authentic and consistent.”  

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Presentations

  1. SkillsFirst Micro Presentations (4 per semester) Start Strong with SkillsFirst
    • Mentors are responsible for identifying and scheduling 4 Micro SkillsFirst presentations to campus. This could include organizations, teams, classes, residence hall groups, etc. 
    • Canva Presentation & Handout provided
  2. Career Development Presentations
    • Mentors may be asked to present or co-present on other topics such as: 
    • Resume & Cover Letter Writing, CORE Orientation, Career Development & Vocation Overview: Resources & Viking Score
    • Pop Up Tables (B4 fairs)
    • Weekly Pro Tips to Lisa for Social Media (CM schedule, follow up)
  3. Admissions or Athletic Meetings
  • Kathryn will schedule the meetings in Hanshake. The name of the student will show “Prospective Visitor Admissions |Athletic Student”. You will also receive a Google Calendar Invitation. Please accept both invitations.
  • Day of visit
    • Pick up a CORE visit folder behind the desk to give to the student
    • Watch for visitor(s) and give them a warm greeting
  • Flow of the Conversation (20 min)
    • Welcome & Connection (3 min)
      Introduce yourself (name, year, major, fun fact)
      Ask:
      “What’s something you’re excited about for college?”
      “Any majors or career paths you’re curious about?”
  • What is CORE? (5 min)
    • CORE = Careers, Opportunities, Research, Exploration
    • “It’s not just one office, it’s a network of centers that support you from day one.”
    • Mention a few centers:
      • Career Development & Vocation
      • EDGE Center (leadership & creativity)
      • Study Away & Off-Campus Programs
      • Undergraduate Research & Creative Scholarship
      • Upper Mississippi Center & Community Health & Wellness
      • Personal story: Share how YOU used CORE.
  • Viking Score (5 min)
    • Show flyer: “Viking Score = Augie’s career-readiness program.”
    • Tagline: Track Your Progress. Earn Rewards. Launch Your Future.
    • 4 Stages: Exploring → Preparing → Gaining Experience → Launching
    • Earn points by: coaching sessions, events, worksheets, internships, etc.
    • Rewards each year + recognition at graduation.
    • Personal story: Share one activity you earned points for.
  • Augie Choice (3 min)
    • $2,000 grant for internship, research, or study away
    • Makes big experiences affordable & possible
    • Story: Yours or a friend’s (ex: study abroad, internship funding).
  • Wrap-Up & Invitation (4 min)
    • Key message:
    • CORE supports every student, from day one.
    • Viking Score helps you stay on track & celebrate progress.
    • Augie Choice removes barriers for life-changing experiences.
    • Ask:
      • “What part of CORE sounds most exciting to you?”
  • Close warmly:
    • “When you come to Augie, CORE will be your team for exploring options, gaining experience, and launching your future.”
  •  Quick Phrases to Use
    • “CORE is here for everyone, not just upperclassmen.”
    • “You don’t need to have it figured out — we’ll help you explore.”
    • “It’s about connecting academics to the real world.”
    • “Viking Score makes progress visible and rewarding.”
    • “Augie Choice means you’ll actually be able to afford big opportunities.”
  • Other Notes:
    • Visitors may be running late or arrive early. Please be flexible and accommodating to their schedules
    • Greet visitors at the CORE Commons. You may sit at a table in the Commons or use the Olin 127 Conference Room if available.
    • You should have the visitor’s schedule in the calendar invite, they also have the schedule with them. Find out what time their next appointment is so that you don’t run over the time.
    • Offer to walk them to their next appointment or point them in the right direction
  • Tone Reminders:
    • Keep it conversational & welcoming
    • Ask questions, listen actively, and connect to their interests
    • Share at least one personal story (resume, internship, study away, career coaching, etc.)
    • Use the CORE flyer + Viking Score flyer as visuals
  • Complete the appointment in Handshake

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Resume and/or Cover Letter WRITING Support

This appointment type is to take a student through resume and cover letter writing basics or to review an existing resume.  

⭐ Some students may have been invited in after having submitted a resume using SkillsFirst, and they need a lot of assistance.  You will work with them to make the many changes that might have been too difficult to give feedback online.  Most likely, they will need a lot of explanation and coaching.

  1. Introduction
    • Introduce yourself
    • Ask how you can help the student (resume writing, review, cover letter, etc.)
    • Let them know that your suggestions are based on employer feedback and training
  2. Ask Questions
    • Learn the purpose of the resume so you have context for your review
      • Class assignment?
      • Specific internship or job opening?
      • Graduate school application?

FOR A RESUME BUILDING APPT: Show SkillsFirst

  1. Bring up SkillsFirst and have them log in
    • Go to careers.augustana.edu
    • Click on Priority Resources
    • Click on SkillsFirst
    • Share the three ways they can begin using SkillsFirst
      • Upload Resume: Upload your resume and edit it with our builder
      • Edit Sample: Choose a template and samples to edit
      • Start from Scratch: Choose a template and enter your content
    • Ask them how they would like to begin
  2. Upload Resume
    • Select the Upload Resume Option
    • Create a name and description for the resume and click Save
    • Click the Upload Resume button to browse your directory and choose a resume
    • Once the resume is uploaded, show them some of the tools they can use to edit their resume (listed below)
  3. Edit Sample
    • Click the Add Resume button on the organization member dashboard or in the personal resume galleries.
    • Select the Edit Sample option.
    • Choose a design template.
    • Choose sample content. Use a variety of filters to find an appropriate sample.
    • Click the Preview button to view the sample in the selected template.
    • Preview the template with sample content. Click the Use This Sample button to proceed.
    • Click the Edit button to edit the sample content.
    • Once the resume is selected, show them some of the tools they can use to edit their resume (listed below)
  1. Start from Scratch
    • Select the Start from Scratch Option.
    • Choose a design template.
    • Add a name and description for the resume and click Save.
      • Your name, account headline, and account email are automatically added to your contact information.
    • Click the Edit button to start adding content to the resume.
    • Update the contact information and click Save.
    • Click the Add Section button to add sections to the resume.
      • Choose from our list of commonly used resume sections or create a custom section.
      • Save the section and then enter the section content.
    • Once the resume is selected, show them some of the tools they can use to edit their resume (listed below)
  1. SkillsFirst Tools
  1. Submit Resume to Review Center
    • Click ‘submit for human review’
    • Select Review Group: Career Mentors 
    • Resumes will be reviewed within two business days
    • Quick Tip: Before submitting, use the GPT AI scan to refine your documents. It helps us better understand your target job and speeds up the review process.
  2. Tailoring Resume
    • Discuss the targeted job or industry (O*net job titles)
    • Share how they can customize the resume content using SkillsFirst to:
      • Emphasize relevant experience and skills
      • Include keywords and phrases from the targeted position
    • Highlight achievements and results
  3. Additional Considerations
  4. Questions and Discussion
    • Invite questions from student
    • Address specific concerns or requests
  5. Closing
    • Express gratitude for coming in
    • Offer a handshake or appropriate goodbye gesture
  6. After the Appointment
    • Follow up via email by summarizing what you discussed and sharing some resources that might be useful:
    • Handshake Entry
      • Log in to Handshake
      • Be sure you are in as an administrator: Switch Users → Career Services Account
      • Click Appointments on the left navigation bar
      • Open Your Calendar and find your appointment
      • Start appointment
      • To add notes about what was discussed:
        • DO NOT ADD on this page under notes
        • Instead, click the student’s name on right-hand column
        • On the right-hand blue section under Actions, click View & Add Notes
        • Add any notes you’d like or you can copy and paste what you sent to the student
        • DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE ADD NOTE button or your note will not save

FOR A RESUME REVIEW APPT:

  1. View the resume by one of the following:
    • Have student pull up their resume on their computer
    • Have student send a copy of their resume to you to view on your computer
    • Print resume
  2. Review Resume using the Resume Review Checklist
    • Contact Information 
    • Objective and/or Skill Highlights
    • Education
    • Experience (one or more sections)
    • Languages and level of verbal and written proficiency 
    • Computer/Technical skills and level of proficiency 
    • Interests are only included when relevant to the objective
    • Overall Appearance
    • Check for spelling and grammar errors
  3. Highlight Strengths
    • Discuss what’s working well
    • Identify key achievements and skills
    • Address areas for improvement
  4. Tailoring the Resume
    • Discuss the targeted job or industry
    • Share how they can customize the resume content using SkillsFirst to:
    • Emphasize relevant experience and skills
      • Include keywords and phrases from the targeted position
      • Highlight achievements and results
  5. Additional Considerations
  6. Questions and Discussion
    • Invite questions from student
    • Address specific concerns or requests
  7. Action Steps
    • Summarize the key takeaways
    • Provide the next steps or action items
    • Set a timeline for revisions
  8. Closing
    • Express gratitude for coming in
    • Offer a handshake or appropriate goodbye gesture
  9. After the Appointment
    • Follow up via email by summarizing what you discussed and sharing some resources that might be useful:
    • Handshake Entry
      • Log in to Handshake
      • Log in to Handshake
      • Be sure you are in as an administrator: Switch Users → Career Services Account
      • Click Appointments on the left navigation bar
      • Open Your Calendar and find your appointment
      • Start appointment
      • To add notes about what was discussed:
        • DO NOT ADD on this page under notes
        • Instead, click the student’s name on right-hand column
        • On the right-hand blue section under Actions, click View & Add Notes
        • Add any notes you’d like or you can copy and paste what you sent to the student
        • DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE ADD NOTE button or your note will not save

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SkillsFirst Annotator Tool

This allows you to add annotations to pdf files and resumes.

  1. Annotations are added as a layer upon the pdf and not merged with the original document so document owners can access original file.
  2. Use the clipboard icon to open the annotator
  3. Annotation options include pen, text, comment, tick and cross
  4. Set the width and color of pen annotations
  5. Set the font size and color of text annotations
  6. Click to place comments and have dialogue about specific document features
  7. Add ticks (check marks) and set width, size, and color
  8. Add crosses (“X marks”) and set width, size, and color
  9. By default, all annotations are visible. Click “Only My Annotations” to see your annotations, and click “Only Others’ Annotations” to see annotations added by others. Click “Hide Annotations” to view the original documents, and click “Hide Pdf” to only see the annotations layer.
  10. Under ellipses (…)
    • Click “Download Annotated Pdf” to download the annotated document
    • Use the drop-down menu and select “Download” to download the original document
  11. Be constructive and specific in your feedback.