by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. Landing a job -- a job you want with an employer you respect -- is the ultimate final exam for most college students. Are you the type of student who likes to score well on exams and quizzes? Or are you simply looking for key tools to improve your post-college job-search? Whatever your motivation, here is the study guide for our College Grad Job-Hunting Readiness Quiz -- full of key tools and resources to help you ace the quiz and have better success with your job-hunting. Understanding and perfecting these 15 areas related to your job-search -- from identifying specific jobs and careers to researching salaries -- will give you both greater confidence and success as you seek the best job offer upon graduation.
1. Identifying Specific Jobs/Careers You need direction if you want to find a job that you will enjoy; just having an idea of “something in marketing” will lead to a frustrating job-search with few or weak job offers. Consider some of the resources we have in our career exploration section of Quintessential Careers.
2. Narrowing Geographic Locations Even if you are open to relocating for the right employer, narrowing your initial search will help you identify prospective employers located in the areas you wish to live.
3. Developing a Basic Resume Once you develop the core of a basic resume, remember that this version of your resume is really just a starting point -- because you should be adjusting each copy of your resume that you submit, tailoring each to the specific employer and job opportunity. While our resume section is one of our deepest, we recommend this one article in particular: Powerful New Grad Resumes and Cover Letters: 10 Things They Have in Common.
4. Finding Prospective Employers
How do you research prospective employers? Go to our Guide to Researching Companies, Industries, and Countries. How do you know the companies you find are a good match for you? Take our Workplace Values Assessment for Job-Seekers.
5. Seeking Career and Job-Search Advice Consider reading: It's Never Too Early -- or Too Late -- to Visit Your College Career Office.
6. Using Network for Uncovering Job Leads Networking -- by a very vast margin -- is the very best way to track down job leads and career opportunities. You can visit our networking resources to find valuable tools and resources, but we recommend starting with this article: Networking Timetable For College Students.
7. Building Career Network Informational interviews are a fantastic tool for learning more about careers and companies, but they are also great for networking. Read more in this article: Informational Interviewing: A Powerful Tool for College Students. If you don't know the best industry or professional organization to join, ask your professors. You can also use these tools: General Professional Organizations and Associations for Networking.
8. Identifying People to Serve as References Learn more in this article: The Keys to Choosing and Using the Best Job References in Your Job Search.
9. Attending Job-Hunting Events Even if you do not see any specific employers that excite you in an upcoming career fair on campus, attend it anyway – to practice your elevator speech and gain confidence in speaking with recruiters. A career fair may also lend itself to developing additional networking contacts. Learn more about the how to work career fairs in this section of Quintessential Careers: Job Expo and Career Fair Resources.
10. Using Strategic Online Job-Searching Strategy While the major job boards get the majority of brand recognition through their advertising, most experts agree that they do not hold as much value as niche boards. That said, it can't hurt to pick one to search job leads and post your resume.
Here's where you can find links to job boards on Quintessential Careers:
11. Preparing for Job Interviews The largest section of Quintessential Careers is our interviewing resources, so to help you narrow your focus, here are the most important tools for you:
12. Gathering Work Samples If you have a large number of samples and awards and recognitions, you might consider creating a career portfolio, which you can then bring with you to job interviews. Web-savvy grads can also create online career portfolios. For more assistance and to learn more about the types of content you can put into your portfolio, go to this section of Quintessential Careers: Career Portfolio Tools and Resources for Job-Seekers.
13. Strengthening and Protecting Online Identity But don't just stop at tightening the privacy settings on your accounts; take the next step and Google yourself. If nothing significant comes up, consider posting some thoughtful responses/reactions on prominent blogs in your career field -- using your full name. While employers typically do not expect much for college grads, having any kind of (positive) presence in search engine findings can give you an edge over other job candidates.
14. Researching Salaries It's also important to know when and what to expect when the salary topic arises in the job interview -- and how to negotiate the best job offer. You can learn all you need to know using some of the resources and tools in this section of Quintessential Careers: Salary Negotiation and Job Offer Tools and Resources.
15. Learning Job-Hunting Etiquette Finally, the best way to cement the great impression you made in the interview is by writing thank-you letters. Find articles and sample thank-you letters in this section of Quintessential Careers: Thank-You Letter Resources for Job-Seekers.
Final Thoughts (and Tools) In case you are seeking even more resources to help with your job-search, feel free to review some of these college student/grad articles and/or visit our Job-Search 101 Tutorial.
Questions about some of the terminology used in this quiz? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
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