If you're looking for a job for the first time,
check out Quintessential Careers's in-depth tutorial
"Job Search 101," especially tailored toward telling college students
and new grads -- step by step -- everything they need to know to land
that dream job after graduation. Check out Job Search 101.
Feature Article: How to Complete Job Applications
A Job-Seeker's Guide to Successfully
Completing Job Applications
New to job-hunting? Dr. Randall Hansen's article is designed
to provide you with the critical information you need to
successfully complete a job application. Should filling out
an application be a stressful event? No. If you have a resume,
you should have just about all the information you need.
If you don't have a resume, now might be the time to create one.
College Seniors: FutureCollegeGrads.com wants to know
what you think about the process.
Whether you've already accepted an offer, are still
looking or are just getting started, we'd love to hear
how its going. You can access the College Senior
Job Search Survey by going to:
http://www.futurecollegegrads.com/survey/studentsurveyintro.asp.
QuintZine's Q&A with Career Expert Gary Tuerack
Gary Tuerack is a nationally known speaker,
author of Better Grades in Less Time,
and founder of Tuerack Training International.
Do grades really matter once you're out of school
and looking for a job? "What matters more is communication
ability," asserts Gary Tuerack. "In my opinion, the key is
making the most out of college to develop yourself -- not
just being focused, like most students, on the grade, but
rather on the education you're gaining. Anyone who makes
a priority of developing himself or herself wins in the
long run. Besides, most of
the stuff we learn in school
ends up, for the most part, regurgitated for the exam,
and then forgotten anyway."
Tuerack offers his best tip for academic achievement,
tells what he feels is the biggest mistake college
students make, and discusses his methods for
faster reading and better grades in our Q&A.
SnagAJob.com is a Web site dedicated exclusively to
providing the best part-time jobs for college and
high-school students. Prior to launch, according to the site,
the founders of SnagAJob.com spent many months researching
the ins-and-outs of online job searching, the student market,
and the response of educational institutions, all the while
becoming more and more convinced that students needed
an easier method by which to find part-time jobs.
Similarly, they realized that employers needed a more
efficient and cost-effective means to find part-time
help. Out of this research was born SnagAJob.com, Inc.
The driving force behind SnagAJob.com is an intense belief
that every student should have easy access to a multitude
of employment opportunities. Touted as being on its way to
becoming the Internet's largest part-time and seasonal job
listing Web site, SnagAJob offers personal customer service
for employers and students, as well as easy navigation and
account management.
As much as we love Richard Nelson Bolles's wise and wonderful
classic, What Color is Your Parachute?, we've always felt it
was somewhat better suited to
established jobseekers and
career-changers than to entry-level workers and college students. In
that sense, Jeff Gunhus's No Parachute Required could be poised
to fill a niche.
GetThatGig.com --
where young job-seekers (16-21) can find cool summer jobs and internships, as well as learn about extraordinary
career paths in all types of industries, from entertainment and education to healthcare and marketing -- and many
others. Search for jobs or post your resume. Free to job-seekers.
MySummers.com
-- where high school grads 18 and older who seek seasonal employment at camps can submit a registration form,
which is then sent to all the camps that use their service. Registration also allows you to search job listings.
Free to job-seekers.
Themeparkjobs.com
-- where job-seekers can find jobs in and around the world's theme parks. Job-seekers can search for all types of
jobs, post your resume, use a job agent, and more. Free to job-seekers.
workrover.com
-- a great site for all job-seekers seeking a part-time, seasonal, or temporary job. Job-seekers complete an "application,"
which then allows you to apply for jobs. You can also search for jobs by type, company, and driving distance.
Free to job-seekers.
Find even more additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest
Additions section.
Rhianna writes: "Perhaps you can help me. I cannot figure
out which career I want to go into! I have thought about it
and thought about it, taken career assessments and still
just don't know. I would like to return to college next year
to finish my bachelor's degree, but in what major?
If you can offer some advice or direct me to a good Web site,
I would so appreciate it!"
Mike writes: "I had finished interviewing with one company.
Now they want me to fill out a form with work history and
salary history. Do I have to tell them my current salary?"
J. Reynolds writes: "I have a two-year employment gap
on my resume. I took some personal time off for mental
recuperation, but I know I can't say this in an interview.
How can I fill this gap or make it look somewhat better?"
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
The Washington Center's deadline for summer internships
has been extended to April 20, because of continuing interest in
the summer program. Since affordable internship housing is at a premium this
summer, the center is accepting students from some non-affiliated
schools so they can be sure to have housing this summer in
apartments in Northern Virginia. Financial aid is available
for students in these programs: women-in-public-policy,
nonprofit-leaders, mass-communications, environment, diversity, and NAFTA.
Guaranteed aid of at least $1,000-4,000 applies to students
from Iowa and New Jersey colleges, state universities in Mass.
and Florida, and most colleges in Ohio. Students graduating this
semester may be interested in the center's College Plus One
internship program for recent college graduates. For more
information and for a copy of the application, see the
Center's Web site.
To ensure you have some good stuff to list on your resume, take
the advice of Jeff Gunhus, whose book, No Parachute Required, we
review in this issue:
Join clubs and organizations. Doing so makes you seem well-rounded
and socially adept.
Take on leadership roles. Volunteer for lead positions because
most employers seek leadership skills.
Organize an event. You show initiative, innovation, and organizational
skills when you do so.
Do a meaningful internship. Gunhus asserts that an internship
is the BEST way to help yourself after graduation.
Discouraged because you haven't heard anything after applying for or
inquiring about a job through a company Web site? You're not alone.
While career Web pages have become a major recruiting
channel for many companies, overall effectiveness of such
sites remains low, according to a new study by Kennedy
Information Research Group. For example, only 27 percent
of tested sites responded to potential candidate inquiries
within 24 hours. An alarming 63 percent never responded to
such inquiries, says the study, Benchmarking the Corporate
Career Web Site. Response time to candidate inquiries
was just one of more than two dozen "Key Success Factors"
identified by the study as critical to ensuring online
recruiting success. The study collected and analyzed data by
company type, including the country's largest public companies,
largest private companies, small and mid-cap companies,
fastest growing companies and best practice companies.
Quintessential Career Profiles features QuintZine
readers and visitors to Quintessential Careers
who have interesting career stories.
Did you obtain a job in an unusual way? Has
your career path been out of the ordinary?
Have you held one or more unusual jobs? Has
your job search been especially troublesome,
inspirational, or remarkable? We'd like to
tell your story. Tell us a little about your
career saga, and we may contact you for a
full profile. Write us at kathy@quintcareers.com
and let us know about you.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Case-based interviews
* Phone etiquette in the job hunt
* Guide to the company visit
* Researching your next job
* Letters of recommendation and references
* The art of follow up
* Career Portfolios
* How to handle a request for a salary history
* How to land an internship
* How to get a promotion
* Should you go to grad school/get an MBA?
* 10 easy ways to improve your resume
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
. . . and much, much more!
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Let last year's employer(s) and Uncle Sam
help finance your job search. Invest your
tax refund in a sparkling new
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Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters.
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and Cover Letters!
QuintZine
A publication of
Quintessential Careers
Publisher: Dr. Randall S. Hansen
Editor: Katharine Hansen
ISSN: 1528-9443
