April 2002


The Latest Career Capers for College Grads

By

Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.

President of Workforce Associates

and author of

NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet

Available online and in print from Author House

You’re just about ready to put that mortarboard on your head and sail away from papers, term projects, lab experiments, and endless reading but where are you sailing to? Finding that first job entails as much rigor and discipline as meeting your professors’ demands for the last four years.

And the economy is not helping your search. Employers are still reporting that they expect to hire nearly 20% fewer new college graduates this year than they did only two years ago, according to IOMA’s Report on Salary Surveys. Drake, Beam, Morin reported that the average job search lasted about 3.5 months at the end of 2001 so now is the time to get started!

The key to successful job hunting involves three basic steps:

    1. Taking the time to double check about which career and field you really want.
    2. Doing thorough research about companies and business developments and trends in your field.
    3. Broadening your job search to cover more not just one city or state and being flexible about the kinds of positions you’re willing to take.

Before you target certain companies or fields, it’s a good idea to review your career plans. Many students pick their future careers willy-nilly — to please parents, because they have heard vaguely good things about the field, etc. They really have not determined whether this field is the right one for themselves. Career tests help you to choose a career that fits your temperament and talents. They can also give you the chance to gain useful insights into a whole variety of factors that you may not have considered about your future career.

Fortunately there are many tests to choose from that are online. Within several hours, you can easily find out if your proposed career is the one that you’ll love doing. Here is some of the hundreds of candidates to check out:

Career Advantage is a comprehensive seven-step process that costs $24.95. Well worth the investment.

The Kuder Career Planning System was designed to help individuals discover their career interests, to explore a variety of occupations, and to promote lifelong career planning. Used by many high schools and colleges throughout the country. Free info plus $14.95 to take the full battery. Highly recommended.

Self-Directed Search by Dr. John Holland helps you explore hundreds of careers that match your interests and personality. Reasonable cost.

Your Daily Internet Job Search Plan: Research & Action Steps

Just like you’ve had a daily routine of classes to attend, here is a suggested game plan to use every day during your job search.

  • Join several free email services. There are hundreds to choose from. Use one for each of the electronic resumes that you’ll be sending out. That way you’ll know which job application that the company is responding to. Be sure to record which email for which application!
  • Research 10 target company websites and monitor them frequently.
    • Vault is an excellent site to find out what it’s like to work at a specific public company. It’s often called the "electronic water cooler." and look for the chat room for a specific company. You can monitor the chats or fire away with your own questions.
    • Hoover’s has excellent information about major companies.
    • Fortune magazine has lists of their biggest 500 companies as well as the 100 US companies that are the best to work for.

  • Research 10 job searching websites (local, regional and national, and by occupation) and submit your customized resume to them.
    • Every local newspaper has a job search section online. You’ll also find that many local TV stations have jobs online.
    • There are hundreds of niche job boards. Some of my favorites are craigslist that covers major cities around the country with jobs in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. The Chronicle of Higher Education lists jobs in academia as well as foundations, research and training institutes, etc.
    • There are many job sites just for college graduates. The National Association of Colleges and Employers offers JobWeb that includes virtual job fairs to check out. There are also College Grad Job Hunter and CollegeRecruiter.
    • There are also websites for every ethnic group. Some of the better known are The Black Collegian Online, BlackVoices, LatinoWeb, LatPro, and Asia-Jobs.

  • Read your professional association news online daily as well as 4 business, local, national, and international newspapers.
  • Research labor market information for your area. This is a great way to find out what are the current salaries for entry-level workers, the ways in which employers are recruiting workers in your field, and the skills requirements for these jobs. Check out Eriiss or your state’s website for employment security or labor departments. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also has excellent information about labor market information in your area plus projections about what the "hot jobs" are out to 2010.

  • Develop a list of 50 keywords to describe your technical and people skills to employers. WorkKeys is a site that provides excellent information for students about the importance of "soft skills" in their proposed careers. Eight soft skills are ranked for each of hundreds of jobs. The information about the importance of teamwork, technology savvy, writing and listening skills will be invaluable to incorporate in your electronic resume.

  • Check 6 search engines and online references daily for new resources.
    Google
    Metor
    refdesk
    CEOExpress
    Teoma
    Daily Business Review
  • Develop a slightly different version of your resume to highlight your experiences, academic courses, and talents with each individual company that you’re trying to reach. Comb through their career section on their website to find out about their corporate culture and weave those words into your resume. Also paraphrase the words that they use in their job description and incorporate them into your resume. Prepare clever subject heading titles to catch the eye of the HR recruiter.

    Check out Rebecca Smith’s website for tips in writing electronic resumes

    Another source is Proven Resumes
    Lots of good information interspersed among their product offerings.
  • Update your resume to databases that you’ve already submitted your resume to. Be sure to adapt it to each job you apply for.

  • Answer your email promptly but take care to do a thorough spell check before you hit the send button.

Next month, we’ll take a look at how sophisticated and interactive job boards have become. In the meantime, I can be reached at jlommel@WorkforceAssociates.com Have a Happy April Fool’s Day and successful sailing into your new career!

Home

Copyright © 1995-2007 Gary Johnson Communications. All rights reserved. BraveNewWorkWorld, NewWork, NewWork News, Careers in the NewWork World, WITNE, and WITNE: Women in the New Economy are trademarks of Gary Johnson Communications.