Rockefeller Professional Preparation Program Session 4: Adulting 101

For the fourth session of the 18 Spring Rockefeller Professional Preparation Program (RP3), Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant Roberto Martinez led participants through the process of becoming hired and explained what makes an excellent resume and cover letter. Roberto started by introducing the idea of a professional identity and asked participants to reflect on what values, strengths and goals they have that tie together to form their personal professional identity. He guided participants through understanding how they express this online, namely how they can use social media, such as LinkedIn, to leverage their professional identity. Participants asked questions and shared ways to enhance one’s LinkedIn and to manage the type of impressions they give online.

Roberto then transitioned into discussing how to tell your story through the cover letter and how to avoid making mistakes in both cover letters and resumes. He emphasized the idea of tailoring your resume to each specific job and/or opportunity you are seeking and the importance of reaching out to recruiters. In regards to how to structure each resume, Roberto also stressed the importance of relevance by noting that “things that we think are important can be irrelevant if they do not pertain to the specific job.” Thus participants learned how to make their own resumes stand out and were able to ask questions and share impressions of sample resumes that Roberto used for discussion topics. 

Towards the end of the session, Roberto guided the participants towards examining how to answer tough interview questions, such as how to turn an example of a time when you failed into a learning experience and to use it to show how you handle conflicts. Participants also watched a short video on what it means to be your professional self. The session concluded with a summary of specific strategies on how to land the job you want and with participants reflecting on the session as a whole and what they can take away as they plan on entering the professional world.

-Written by Bethany Malzman ’19, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant for Communications and RP3