By Claire Klieger
It’s ok. You can admit it if the thought of the impending OCR process makes your palms sweat. How will you stand out among the sea of impressive applicants from Penn? With loads of info sessions daily and those waves of deadlines and the added drama of all deadlines being at midnight, where do you even begin?
1) Accentuate the Positive. Rather than getting stuck on the ways you think you aren’t competitive, focus on what strengths (and you all have them) you bring to the position. The easiest way to do this is to first understand what skills an employer is looking for so…
2) Know the industry. Following what’s going in the industry is critical to setting yourself apart. Not only will it help you better understand the differences between major players, but also establish yourself as someone who is genuinely interested in this line of work.
3) Research the Employer. Employers want to hire someone who is excited about working for them. You can’t create this impression well if you don’t know much about the organization. So, hop to it! Scour their website, Google them, and ideally, talk to people who work there (don’t forget about PACNet).
4) It’s not quantity, it’s quality that’s important. Sure, you can’t apply to as many positions if you target each cover letter for the individual industry/job type (with a few sentences specific to the employer), but it is definitely time worth spending.
And, of course, use Career Services as your life preserver! There is a great online orientation to OCR as well as some useful FAQs on our website.
