Career Center Job Search TipsYour first job can establish your career path and set your future career trajectory. The below advice, strategies, and exercises should be helpful in making one of the most important decisions of your life. You know exactly what kind of career you want. Your resume is perfect. You have forced your friends to spend hours asking you practice interview questions. Everything is in order - except you do not know how to go about finding the job openings.
You know exactly what kind of career you want. Your resume is perfect. You have forced your friends to spend hours asking you practice interview questions. Everything is in order - except you do not know how to go about finding the job openings.
The first step is to shift your networking skills into high gear. Start asking friends and family members to ask their co-workers, friends, hairdressers, optometrists, accountants, and other acquaintances if they have either heard of any available, relevant job openings, or if they know of someone to whom you ought to talk.
Another good way to make connections is to contact your college alumni office or career services center to see if either has a list of alumni who have volunteered to serve as mentors and contacts to young jobseekers.
Also, if you have held internships in the past, get in touch with your employers and co-workers from those experiences and ask if they can point you in the right direction.
While there is truth to the adage that the best jobs are never advertised, that does not mean you cannot find a good job outside the networking realm:
Check out Internet job listings.
Go to trade websites for the career field in which you are interested. Often, occupations have professional associations with websites that include job listings. If you do not know the name of the association or trade organization that unifies your potential colleagues, do a search or ask someone in the field. Those websites are also an excellent way to cull contact names.
Go to job fairs. You can usually find advertisements for job fairs in your local newspaper.
Visit the websites of companies for which you would like to work. See if they have any job listings posted within the site.
If you are interested in working for a medium- or large-sized company, call the human resources departments of potential employers and ask if they have any job openings.
Read the classified section of the newspaper. If you want to relocate, find out what newspapers serve the places you did like to live and then browse those papers' classified sections on the web.
The most important thing to remember is that the job search is often like a roller coaster ride. You might find some great opportunities, only to find that positions have been filled. And, in turn, you might investigate something you do not think you are interested in, only to strike a gold mine. The important thing is to keep you head up, and keep pushing forward. As long as you are persistent and patient, you will either find a good job, or you will find a job that will serve as a transitional job that will open doors for you.
