Landing The Right Job For You

By Richard L. White, Ph.D.

Director of Career Services

Rutgers University-New Brunswick .

 

For the past 21 years-nine as a corporate recruiting manager and 12 as director of Career Services at Rutgers University -I have given job seekers advice on how to find the right job. One message has stayed consistent in good times and bad: it requires a lot of work to get work, especially a position that fully utilizes your talents and provides personal and professional satisfaction.

Where do you start? Here's a five-step “action plan” that should get you pointed in the right direction.

1. Contact Your College Career Center . Whether you are still in school or graduated some years ago, a great starting place is your college career center. All colleges and universities around the country-both four-year and two-year schools-have offices with career counseling staffs to assist you in making the transition from academic life to a job or further schooling. Visit your career center's website and see what services they provide. If you are living some distance from your college or university, don't despair! Ask your career center about “reciprocity” at other schools. Most schools around the country provide some services, often at no fee, to students and graduates of other schools. Contact your career center for details.

2. Determine Your Interests, Skills and Values. Set up an appointment with a career counselor at your college or university. Your counselor will assist you in identifying and defining your interests, skills and values as they related to the world of work. You counselor may also recommend one or more career, personality or skill assessment tests, which will help you to determine the professions most suitable to your interests and skills.

3. Write or Revise a First-Rate Resume. Put together a resume that will get recruiters' attention. Include a CAREER OBJECTIVE just below your name and contact information at the top of your resume. This is a brief statement of your short-term career goal, including your key skills. Here is an example of a strong career objective: “A position as a sales representative with a consumer products organization, where I can utilize my marketing, organizational and communication skills.” Other sections of your resume should include EDUCATION, HONORS, RELEVANT COURSEWORK, WORK EXPERIENCE, SKILLS (language, computer and personal), and ACTIVITIES. Current students and recent graduates should limit their resumes to one page. Two pages are appropriate for experienced-level job seekers. Once you have developed or revised your resume, make sure you have it critiqued by a career counselor or a professional person.

4. Network. Once you have determined your interests and skills and have a strong resume in hand, your next key step is networking. Often I hear college students or recent graduates say, “I don't have a professional network. I've only had a couple of part-time jobs.” Think again, only more broadly than the workplace. We all have a personal and professional network. Think about friends, family members, neighbors, your roommates' parents, local merchants (at home or in your college community), professors, members of the clergy, family doctors or lawyers, and so on. Also check to see if your career center or alumni relations office has an alumni network. For example, at Rutgers we offer a network of over 1,000 alumni who are eager to provide career information and advice. The network is organized both by undergraduate major and current profession. After compiling your list, including work or home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses begin to make contact. Ask if you can set up informational interviews either in work or home settings. Don't walk in and ask for a job. The most effective networking is much more subtle. Find out how your contacts got their jobs; what they like and dislike about their current or past positions; and most importantly, who else you can talk to. The best networks are like the pebbles in the pond, which begin small but create ever-widening circles.

 

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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