New Career-oriented Software to Aid Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff

Career Services recently launched Optimal Resume, an online suite with features that allow users to quickly create cover letters, tailor resumes to different jobs, practice interviewing and organize and conduct searches.

Gary Morris ’88, director of the Compass student success center as well as its Career Services unit, said the new software will help SUNY Oswego students and alumni prepare for searching via a multifaceted interface used by more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide. Optimal Resume has a range of job-search tools, from skills assessment to mock interviews.

“Optimal Resume helps users realize their value and what they have to offer,” including credentials they may not have even realized they had, Morris said.

Christina Carnavale ’13, a SUNY Oswego senior majoring in human resource management, agreed.

“The skills assessment portion can help you take any experience, say a job working at Freshens in the Campus Center, and make it highlight the skills you got from that job,” Carnavale said.

Users can tailor resumes to fit the target industry. “The software comes with a range of different resume and cover letter templates that are designed for a certain job,” Carnavale said. “If you are trying to get into a graduate business school, there’s a template for that type of resume.”

Carnavale said she uses the software to prepare resumes for her own job search, as well as to help other students as a Compass Navigator.

“There are so many features to it,” Carnavale said. “Students can really do a lot on their own using this software.”

Feedback available

Other Optimal Resume features include the option of quick feedback anywhere at any time. Online availability makes it easy for students to work on their resumes and submit them for critique.

“Once they’re done with the resume, they can hit the review button and have
it sent to Compass staff for feedback,” Morris said.

The mock-interview toolset enables students and alumni to create a video where they respond to interview questions, as many as 20 per interview. Once the mock interview is complete, students can upload and send the video to Compass staff for feedback.

“With this software, students can do a mock interview anytime, anywhere, and have feedback in a few days,” Morris said. Users also have the option of spoken-only or written interviews.

Alumni benefit from free use

Optimal Resume can help alumni tailor resumes to different jobs, provide interviewing practice, organize and conduct searches and develop a personal brand online.

Morris said the new software will help alumni job-searching via a multifaceted interface used by employers seeking to better screen candidates. Optimal Resume has a range of other job-search tools, among them profile creation, skills assessment and mock interviews.

“It can be accessed for free from anywhere,” Morris said. “SUNY Oswego students and alumni all can have access to our services. If someone had a job interview in Switzerland and wanted some practice with interview questions, they could just upload a video and we could send feedback in 24 to 48 hours.”

Alumni can use the suite to examine the skills they have acquired and identify “what specific skills different jobs require and how they can tailor their resumes to reflect those skills,” Morris said.

Career Services will critique alumni resumes on a time-available basis, he said.

Optimal Resume also offers users the opportunity to create a website with resumes and portfolios of their work.

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