Senior Year Job Search Strategies: Five Steps From Your Launch to Your Landing

Black Collegian, Oct 2003 by Sims, Kathy L

Now that graduation is on the near horizon, your search for a full-time career position is front and center. You are facing a transition from college to a professional work environment. It's important to exploit all the career services and resources available from your college or university while you are still on campus! And it's equally important not to feel intimidated or overwhelmed with either the methods or the prospects. These broad-sweeping and guiding principles for your senior year will help you navigate a five-step career process and launch an effective job search campaign:

* Plan ahead and set reasonable career goals for yourself. Campus interviews, job listings, and campus career fairs will help you identify prospective employers and career positions.

* Confirm your remaining degree requirements at the beginning of the year so there are no "surprises" when it comes time to graduate.

* Start asking these questions: "What types of jobs are available?" "How do I find the job that's right for me?"

* Discover the ABC's of a successful job search by attending workshops at your campus career center. Consult with a career counselor.

* Prepare for your first job. Talk with alumni about their first year on the job and some of the challenges you can expect.

* Use your contacts to identify job opportunities and gel referrals.

* Exploit all opportunities. Attend career fairs and employer presentations.

Step I: Getting to Know Yourself

There's a big difference between getting a job and reaching a career destination where you love what you do! The first step toward self-discovery is one that you will repeat many limes in your life: an inventory of your interests, values, personal style and skills. Even if you have a good idea of what you want to do, self-assessment is vital to writing a resume and doing well in an interview. For a discussion of self-assessment see "Self-Assessment: Knowing Yourself and What You Want to Do" in this issue.

Visit your campus career center to learn how you can conduct a thorough in-depth self-assessment. There are many exercises and on-line tools that can help you identify your most marketable skills and attributes, define your career values and interests, and understand your competencies, strengths and weaknesses.

Step II: Understanding Careers

Now that you know yourself, you're ready to move on to the next question: "What kind of work do I want to do and where do I want to do it?" The following is a checklist of things to do that can increase your general understanding of careers and organizations:

* Find out where people who have your skills, interests, personality, values and needs work. Conduct informational interviews to learn how and why they do what they do.

* Pinpoint what types of industries and companies are looking for someone with your skills and capabilities. Is a graduate degree required?

* Think about job titles with characteristics that match your self-assessment. You can get ideas from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

* Consider your ideal work environment. Do you prefer a large corporation, small business or start-up? A government, nonprofit organization or educational institution?

* Conduct informational interviews with people who are already working in career fields you're considering.

* Keep an open mind. Envision new and previously unimaginable career possibilities.

* Assess your on-the-job experience through internships and summer jobs.

* Research geographic areas where you would like to live and work. Do you prefer an urban, suburban or rural setting?

* Become a frequent visitor to your campus career center and its website. Read about careers, job trends, salary information, work environments and qualifications.

Once you begin the application process, you will focus your research more specifically on the companies and the positions you are targeting.

* Know the Industry, Organization, and Position - Candidates who know the employer's business and the requirements of the position are the ones most likely to make it to a second round of interviews.

* Industry research helps you understand typical career paths, identify appropriate level positions, and gather information about salaries and working conditions in your field of interest. It helps you get to know the competition, rank, and reputation of different companies in the field.

* Company research will help you prepare appropriate points to emphasize and questions to ask. Things you should understand before you begin interviewing include information about the company's core business and culture, and why you are interested in interviewing with the firm. Learning about the company's financial status can help determine the company's stability (an important consideration when evaluating job offers). Ideally, before you interview with any company, you should know at least the following: the company's mission, products and services, sales volume, locations, divisions & affiliations, and plans for expansion.