Critical First Job Tips: Key Job Search Advice -- #4

Q-Tips: Critical First Job Tips
Key Job Search Advice -- #4

These job and career-related tips -- for all students and recent grads searching for your first real jobs -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.

If you have the right mix of skills, experience, and job-hunting expertise (and maybe a little luck), you should be able to find a job in any economy. But job-seekers who report that they've sent out hundreds of resumes are usually mistakenly using a scattershot approach to getting a job. That is, you have fired off your resume to hundreds and hundreds of employers without really having a plan or a precise target in mind. And a scattershot approach rarely works. Think about what you really want to do. What kind of job are you looking for? What kind of company do you want to work for? Have you thought about a career path? Before you send out another resume, spend some time really thinking about these issues. You may want to read a great article by Kathryn Lee Bazan: Research Your Next Job by Targeting Your Preferences and Ideal Companies.

Then, spend some time developing a plan, assisted by our Job Search 101 tutorial. It's free -- and full of lots of ideas for helping you map out your plan. Once you're done with the first two resources and ready to target specific companies, go to our Guide to Researching Companies, where you'll find key resources for getting the specific information you need for your job search.

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Interested in career opportunities in podiatry? There are approximately 14,000 practicing doctors of podiatric medicine in the United States. And according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the job growth for podiatrists is expected to be 10 to 20 percent because "more people will turn to podiatrists for foot care as the elderly population grows." The Handbook continues, "Employment of podiatrists would grow even faster were it not for continued emphasis on controlling the costs of specialty health care." In addition to growth, the need to replace podiatrists who leave the occupation will create employment opportunities. Relatively few opportunities from this source are expected, however, since most podiatrists continue to practice until they retire; few transfer to other occupations.

Key sources for information about education, careers, and jobs in podiatry include the podiatrists section of the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine, and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

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If you feel you've tried everything and still can't land a job, check out our article, Ten Questions to Ask Yourself if You Still Haven't Found a Job, published on the Quintessential Careers site. There are no magic formulas that get you a new job. Job-hunting is often a long-term project that takes a lot of sweat and effort. There is a misconception that even in the best markets all people can easily find a new job in a short period of time. Job-seekers sometimes project a sense of disappointment or failure when discouraged about their job prospects. Those vibes can easily be detected by potential employers, turning them off to your potential. You may need to re-evaluate your entire job-hunting strategy, such as by talking with a close friend or colleague, a career counselor, or someone in the career services office at your alma mater. You need to have an objective opinion about your search.

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How should you deal with interview questions about grades if your academic performance has been less than stellar? Take comfort in the fact that many employers are more interested in a job-seeker's previous accomplishments and in what skills they could bring to the job. GPA is some measure of academic success, but what it really measures is questionable -- and there are certainly no conclusive studies that tie academic success to workplace success. One way around an average overall GPA is to focus on the upper-division courses or courses in the major. This GPA is generally higher. So, if you have a 2.1 overall, but a 3.1 in your major, use your major GPA on your resume and in your interviews. Second, examine mitigating circumstances. Did you hold a part-time (or full-time) job while attending college? If you held down part-time jobs to pay for college, or worked full-time while attending college, you can talk about the lessons learned from multitasking and balancing work and education. Third, examine your extracurricular activities. Did you participate in an extraordinary number of extracurricular and/or volunteer activities? Use these activities to help explain that you were seeking a well-rounded education that included both classroom learning and experiential learning. Finally, if the employer is irrevocably focused on GPA, you probably don't want to work there anyway. The degree is what matters -- not always the path one takes to get it.

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Is it appropriate to request a prospective employer to pay for your airline ticket to an out-of-state interview? Any employer worth working for will buy your airline ticket, arrange for your transportation from the airport to your hotel, and pay for your hotel stay. Some pre-pay, others reimburse. In a number of smaller firms and certain industries, companies do not pay for travel expenses and use the approach: "when you're in the area, give us a call and we'll set up an interview" to get around paying expenses. If you have any questions about who is paying, be sure to ask. It's better to know beforehand; employers shouldn't be offended by the question.

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One of the biggest challenges college students face is gaining work experience before they graduate. Where can college students gain the necessary experience? Try these sources:

internships
summer jobs
campus jobs
entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs
temporary work
volunteer work
research projects
certification courses
campus activity positions
fraternity/sorority/social club positions
extracurricular or sports leadership positions

This information comes from the Quintessential Careers Job Search 101 Tutorial, specifically the Gaining Experience section. You can find more detailed information there about each of the above categories, as well as many other strategies for best preparing yourself for the job market.

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What is corporate culture? At its most basic, it's described as the personality of an organization, or simply as "how things are done around here." It guides how employees think, act, and feel. Corporate culture is a broad term used to define the unique personality or character of a particular company or organization, and includes such elements as core values and beliefs, corporate ethics, and rules of behavior. Why is understanding the employer's corporate culture important? Because the organization's culture will affect you in many, many ways, such as: hours worked per day/week, availability of options such as flextime and telecommuting, how people interact with each other in the workplace, how people dress for work, benefits offered employees, office space, training and professional development opportunities, perks -- just about everything related to your time at work. How can you learn more about the climate and culture of companies? By observing all the employees while at the interview -- what they wear, how they relate to each other, what their office space looks like. You can also learn more about an organization's culture by going to the company's Web site, taking informational tours, speaking with people who work for the company, reading annual reports and company newsletters, researching the company in business and industry journals, and interviewing human resource personnel or recruiters.

Get even more advice and resources about understanding corporate culture by reading our article, Uncovering a Company's Corporate Culture is a Critical Task for Job-Seekers.

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We get numerous emails from college students who are about to graduate with little or no actual experience. There is simply no excuse for any college student not to have some kind of work experience through summer jobs and/or internships. There are just so many advantages to gaining work experience, from learning first-hand about corporate culture and office politics to gaining a better understanding of your career path and learning valuable skills.

Many -- if not most -- employers recruiting college graduates, especially business school grads, want the students they interview to have some work experience. That work experience typically occurs through internships and summer jobs. If you didn't do an internship, you probably should have some sort of answer prepared in case you are asked why. Even if you have not "worked," you probably do have experience. Look at any volunteer experiences, through which you probably acquired numerous valuable skills that can easily transfer to the workplace. And you probably have been involved with numerous major projects in your classes in which you also learned and employed new skills.

Go to the Transferable Skills section of Quintessential Careers to learn more about emphasizing your set of key skills. Also go to the career services office at your college and work with those professionals to build a job-search strategy designed especially for you. You'll be able to find a job, but it will take developing a resume that focuses on your key skills and experiences, using your network of contacts, and implementing the advice from the career services office.

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Are you cut out for a career in law? To find out, look at your personal network and see if you can meet with a corporate lawyer or two and conduct informational interviews with them. Solicit their advice about majors, minors, law school, and law careers. Seek a multidisciplinary education, focusing your studies in business, communications (oral and written), economics, math, and information technology. Students who are planning to attend law school to become corporate lawyers often major in business administration or accounting. The reason you want a well-rounded education is that there is much more to being an attorney than the law. You should choose courses that will help you develop proficiencies in writing and speaking, reading, researching, analyzing, and logical thinking. Start researching law schools -- and once you develop such a list, go to each school's Web site (or catalog) and see the courses they recommend to best prepare you for law school -- and for a career in law.

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Want to work on a cruise ship? There are any number of "cruise ship jobs" Web sites, but all of them charge a fee, starting at $40. We have serious reservations about job-seekers ever having to pay for job information or leads, so we really can't recommend any of them. Instead, review some of the jobs sites in two sections of Quintessential Careers: Cool, Unusual, and Seasonal Jobs and Jobs in Hospitality & Tourism.

Finally, develop a list of the cruise ship companies you want to work for and conduct a "cold calling" job campaign. You can read more about this proven job search method by going to our article, Cold Calling: A Time-Tested Method of Job-Hunting.

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Career expert/author David Helfand advises jobseekers "to recognize that they have the power within them to create their own good luck. You've heard the saying that luck is 'when preparedness meets opportunity,' which may sound a bit corny but I believe it's true for life in general and especially so when it comes to career matters" Helfand said in an article for Quintessential Careers. "If you have any doubt try this little exercise. Think of a recent success/accomplishment (small or large) that was unexpected. Now ask yourself did that come about on its own or as a result of some action that you took (though seemingly unrelated at the time and perhaps one month to a year or more prior)? Did you choose at some point to participate in some way rather than not to? Chances are you probably just answered yes, you took some action, chose to participate and experienced unexpected positive results at some point thereafter. You created luck (perhaps when preparedness met opportunity) for yourself."

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Writing skills are not only important but essential to career advancement, advised Phil Hey, professor of English and writing at Briar Cliff College, in the Q&A interview he did with Quintessential Careers. "Poor writing skills can:

keep you from being considered for an interview;
get you sent back even to high school to acquire the competency you should have had at hire;
lose the trust and confidence of customers, co-workers and bosses;
cost the company money to straighten out misunderstandings; and
keep you from succeeding, apparently without reason, when your superiors don't want your writing to represent the company."

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In the Q&A interview he did with Quintessential Careers, teacher and writer Martin Kimeldorf observed that "the temporary nature of employment in America has finally hit home. This phenomenon has created a community of job-seekers that now really is inclusive and helpful. This community now includes people who are unemployed and the rest of us who are temporarily employed. As a result, more and more people are willing to help their fellow job-seekers. Most of us are willing to help people with informational interviews or with networking because we know we might be job hunting next."

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Interested in a career in environmental science or studies? Go to the Career Exploration section of Quintessential Careers, where we have several resources, including our favorite "what can you do with a major in...?" Websites.

Here is just a partial list of careers for graduates in environmental studies: agricultural scientist or technician, conservation agent, environmental analyst or technician, EPA inspector, forester, laboratory analyst, naturalist, park ranger, planner (urban or regional), teacher, wildlife manager, and writer - as well as many other careers.

Another great site to go to is The Environmental Careers Organization, whose mission is (in part) "the promotion of environmental careers, and the inspiration of individual action. This is accomplished through internships, career advice, career products, and research and consulting." One other good site is Environmental Jobs and Careers.

Finally, you can find a collection of environmental job and career sites in the Jobs in Agriculture, Zoology, and the Environment section of Quintessential Careers.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips.

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Q-Tips: Critical First Job Tips Key Job Search Advice -- #4

These job and career-related tips -- for all students and recent grads searching for your first real jobs -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips.

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

Q-Tips: Critical First Job Tips
Key Job Search Advice -- #4