Sections:Jobs
Career Launch: Finding That First Job Career Launch Book Sections: - Add a Section Not Listed - Assessing Yourself More people have more career choices than ever before; and almost everyone has more opportunities than they envision. Before striding resolutely down any one path, halt a bit and plan this life-bending journey. Now is the time to quietly, without pressure and distraction, sit back and examine your position. Make a written list of your skills, your assets, and personal strengths. Then add to these your education - formal and experiential. - Crave to Accept: Ranking Career Choices Being good at one area doesn’t mean you like it. Envision work that you do enjoy. Consider both the daily routine and the overall career. Do you like the entire line of work or merely one job within it? Broaden your Preferred Fields List by browsing professional sites, visiting the library magazine sections, and making a few calls to those currently holding a desirable position. Before ranking these dream areas and beginning your search, balance them against costs of additional training - in time and money. How much do you really need to survive in an ideal job? - Your New Job Career hunting is its own temporary, full time job. It is intense, as fraught with difficult decisions as any future enterprise you undertake. It demands discipline akin to dieting or term papers. Design the optimum environment and schedule. Set up your home office/workspace with a weekly journal with specific tasks and time allotments. Set goals based on items to cover, e.g. companies to research and visit. The public library provides free internet. You may even want to establish your office at a library carrel to help you focus on your work day. - Attitude Adjustment Hunting for work is terrifying because there truly is no set path guaranteeing achievement. Every labor is a trial balloon. Many demons of doubt and despair will plague your daily efforts. Unjustifiable shame gallops swiftly behind. Count on it. Spotting these demons as they slither into your thoughts can help banish them. Seeing your new career-hunting as an enterprise and focusing on daily tasks helps somewhat in keeping a positive mindset. Getting out to attend Job Fairs and Network Sessions also helps. Other techniques are out there. - Sources and Resources From professional organizations to internet newsletters, more profiles of careers and specific companies exist that you can ever cover. Such websites as Quintessential Careers (quintcareers.com) and Careers.com provide basic background, listing geographic opportunities, average salaries, required skills, etc. Houses of faith, libraries, social media, chat groups, and large social clubs (e.g. your outing club) may be mined for members of your chosen profession or firm. Conserve your precious time. Deal with receptive organization officers who know their members. Remember, people are your ideal resource. Other sources abound. - Employee vs Private Contractor It’s the same skills. You are only choosing the method of remuneration. Signing on as an employee brings the secure paycheck, social camaraderie, and mind-freeing benefits such as healthcare coverage. It also involves a certain grinding routine. The private contractor boasts the entrepreneurial thrill, freedom, and often more varied work environs. Neither is a lifetime commitment. The decision may depend on which is being hired in your field currently. One may act as access to the other. Consider the many points. - Paper Promotion Does a resume or actual glossy brochure best sell me? What are beneficial elements and sure red flags in the standard resume? Is my best bet having a professional do a basic resume, then custom tailoring each to the audience? What should I put on my business card other than “Will work for Food”? Whom do I send What? And the most important question: What does my audience want and need to know? - Websites & Classifieds The odds of actually achieving a job via a nameless entry in the “Skills for Sale” section of a jobs website or print classifieds are slim, but not unknown. However such listings do provide a great resource, noting areas of opportunity, companies that are hiring, and of business language to use in your own search materials. Scan the type of ads in each listing with a Goldilocks eye: nothing near your field is too cold; a million similar ads makes the competition too hot. On the fringe is just right. - Getting Out and About No one will come get you. If you’re not out visibly in circulation, you’re like the brilliant manuscript that lies moldering in a desk drawer. Professional organizations always seek visitors. (Yes, invest in the lunch fee.) Swallow that unjustified shame and let your Linkedin and social friends know that you are in the market. A non-addictive dose of job-search meetings helps. The ideal setting is one where business people are meeting not as employers, but for some other purpose. Trade conferences and exhibit halls are a great way to catch an owner or executive with a an unexpected employment proposition. Such places are many. - Targeting a Company Visit on the sly first. Whether it’s the exact company or just one in your field, tour the firm incognito. Take a tour, connect through a friend, or simply look up an executive’s name and ask for a few minutes of his time. Have a few scripted introductory lines ready, a few facts about the business and company. Immediately afterward write down your impressions. Finding the exact right company may be hard, so try something close for a first try. What are the attributes that make a company desirable? - The Formal Interview Each circles each in wonderment with just a hint of suspicion. It may be by phone, Skype, or face to face, but the candidate’s first and follow up interviews with a potential employer is a testing ground for both. Is the image I want to put forth a foolhardy or wise one? Yes, I have armed myself with study of the officers, product, finances, and a few drop-in facts. But is it pushy to present my suggestions for improving this firm now? How do I comport myself during this trial by fire? - Marketing Your Best Assets This dress is within bounds of the rest of the company. I know, I’ve secretly checked. Now, I need to present myself as distinctive, yet not odd. How do I present my referrals and testimonials? How aggressive, amiable, intelligent do I need to portray myself? Is it different for each encounter? - The Exact Right Words We think in words and your words brand you. “Enable,” “Empower,” “Leadership” - the business realm lies abuzz with meaningless phrases whose overuse breeds more dismissal than information. You require your own personal trademark phrases, and an elevator pitch that’s pithy, catchy and distinct. Also a few unique answers to standard interview questions would sure come in handy. First, jot down the ideas. Then, after you have studied clever song lyrics (Broadway tunes abound), the better sports commentators, and browsed the book of quotations, then play with a few. There are many ways to court the Muse of the Well Turned Phrase. - Salary and Remuneration Notes Society rewards its contributors unevenly, and seldom based on the value of their contribution. Likewise, if employees were remunerated based on their value to the firm, we’d all be billionaires. But if you are innovative, not all compensation needs be made in cash salary. Analyze what compensation costs the company least and gives you the most. List your specifics and several alternative positions. Then get real, and deal. What you want comes in many packages, in many methods.
