Job Search Skills

A job search can be summed up in three basic steps:

1. Know yourself
2. Know the job market
3. Be persistent!

Even considering a job search can produce anxiety, confusion and feelings of helplessness. It's even worse when you can't answer the question everyone is asking, "What do you want to do?"

One of the most frequently asked questions about the job search is "Where do I start?"

The answer: "Start with you."

Start by examining your interests, values and personal styles. The Office of Career Services can assist you with this by administering the COPS Career Guidance System and FOCUS (an online Career Guidance System), and other Career assessment tools such as:Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Keirsey Temperment Sorter. The COPS will give you insight into the occupational themes or areas based on your interest and work values. FOCUS provides you with a complete picture of your interests, values, personality, skills, and leisure activities. After you have assessed your personal attributes, the system searches its career and occupational database to help you analyze occupations and career paths that match your personal characteristics. These two assessment inventories can be powerful tools in getting a handle on who you are and what you are looking for in a career.

After self-assessment, begin to explore potential careers. The most successful method of doing this is networking. Talk to everyone you know about what they do for a living and how this might interest you. Focus your attention on two or three potential career fields. Talk with department chairs and advisors about careers in their areas. Visit Career Services for more resource contacts and information.

Once you have a general idea of what you want to do with your professional life, look for part-time work in those areas, contact the Career Services Office and inquire into internships in these professions, consider volunteer work. Do everything you can to gain real life experiences and begin to narrow your focus.

Once you have decided on a possible career, it is time to research potential employers. Learn all you can about possible employers, their products or services, their organizational philosophy and the outlook for the company's future. You may decide that a company is not right for you. This is good! It will save you from wasting your time and theirs in pursuing a "bad match." Once you have settled on three or four organizations, contact the Career Services for more resources and information. Review other workshops on the Career Services Web Page, i.e., Interviewing, Behavioral Interviewing, Interview Attire, Job Seeker Responsibilities, etc. Be prepared to talk knowledgeably to potential employers about your past experiences and how you can benefit their organization.

If they don't recruit on campus, locate contacts (networking) that can help you find out how to get in touch with those employers. Use the World Wide Web to gather information on companies that interest you. Look in newspapers for classified advertisements, read trade journals, talk to employment agencies, consider temporary work as a way of gaining experience and adding to your list of networking contacts. Look at the job search as a job itself, be professional in your appearance and correspondence. Always send thank you letters to those who have helped you in your job search, whether it is a potential employer or a network contact who gives you information or advice. Keep records of your efforts, who you spoke with, when, what was the outcome. And most of all, NEVER give up. There is no magic wand that can instantly get you a job, but persistence will eventually triumph!

Please send any comments or questions to Career Services Center.